THE WHEAT CULTURIST. 



39 



of fibre so attacked was soft, livid, and dead ; and the 

 extremity toward the spongiole was shrivelled and also 

 dead. In the livid portion, the suckers were but little 

 developed and mixed with the Botrytis filaments ; but it 

 was evident that the chief injury to the roots was pro- 

 duced by the Penicillium, whose filaments adhered 

 firmly to their epidermis. In none of the other pots 

 had the roots of the spelt come into contact with the 

 organic substances deposited in the soil." 



Blossoming of Wheat. 



In order to enable the beginner to understand more 

 perfectly the character of the wheat plant, I shall en- 

 deavor to explain by the accom- 

 panying illustration, Fig. 7, the 

 blossom of the growing wheat. 

 This figure represents a glume 

 of wheat in bloom, magnified 

 twelve times, a represents a rup- 

 tured anther, which is that part of 

 the wheat blossom that contains the 

 pollen grains in which is found the 

 male fecundating fluid, principle, 

 or property of the blossom, by 

 which two different kinds of grain 

 growing in close proximity hyb- 

 ridize, or mix. That part marked 

 h is termed the filament, or thread, 

 from its thread-like form; and it 

 connects the anther to the ovule 

 or glume, as the case maybe. The 

 entire organ, a, b, is called a stamen, a, c, c repre- 



Fig. 7. 



