L 135 3 



On Jerusalem Wheat. By Dr. John Keemk. 

 Read September 8th, 1807. • 



Philad. Septr, 2d, 1807. 

 Sir, 



This letter with a head of the Jerusalem wheat, will 

 be handed you by Doctor Mease, secretary to your so- 

 ciety. — In December 1805, 1 wTote to Mr. Humphreys, 

 of Dublin, requesting him to favour me with some of 

 tliat wheat : this request he complied with, by sending 

 me a small bag, containing about a quart and an half 

 pint, which I had sown in different kinds of soil, to as- 

 certain in which kind it would thrive best, and ripen 

 soonest. One third part I had sown on high ground on 

 the 15 September, 1806; this ground was not in a high 

 state of cultivation. The other two parcels were sown 

 in low ground, highly cultivated, one and two weeks 

 later than the first. That which was sown on the 15th 

 September, was fi.iliy ripe on the 12th July, 1807. The 

 other two parcels did not ripen so soon, nor so perfectly, 

 as the first ; whence it appears that it should be sown as 

 early as possible. In my opinion 1st Septr. would be 

 the most proper time for sowing it. 



From reading some observations on that part of the 

 eastern country, from which this wheat was brought 

 to Ireland, I am confirmed in my opinion of the neces- 

 sity of its being early so^vn. From the time this wheat 

 starts to grow, to the time of its ripening, there is very 

 little rain, if any, in the climate of Jerusalem. This 

 wheat requires a high degree of heat to ripen it, and as 



