88 the wheat cultukist. 



The Nomenclature of Wheat. 



Wheat hybridizes so readily, and varieties lose their 

 identity in so short a period of time, that farmers are 

 in doubt, whenever a given variety of wheat is spoken 

 of, whether they really understand what kind of wheat 

 they are talking or reading about, or not. I have ob- 

 served that wheat, which is raised and said to be of a 

 given variety in one section of the country, is so differ- 

 ent from it in another State, that when compared, side" 

 by side, the grain is quite as different as two distinct 

 varieties. The old " Bald Wheat," which was once — 

 say about the year 1830 — one of the finest varieties of 

 wheat that was ever cultivated, lost its identity in a few 

 years, by being allowed to hybridize with other varie- 

 ties. The same is true of many other varieties. In 

 some sections of the country, varieties of wheat that 

 were originally awnless, have some awns or beards ; and 

 certain varieties which were known as bearded or awned 

 varieties, became partially bald. Under these circum- 

 stances, one feels like a man pursuing his course in an 

 unknown, dubious, and uncertain way. If our Govern- 

 ment possessed sufficient authority and influence to take 

 hold of this subject in a proper manner, and establish a 

 common standard of merit and an intelligible descrip- 

 tion of each variety, and keep every variety entirely dis- 

 tinct from year to year, farmers in different parts of the 

 country would be supplied with some reliable guide in 

 the selection of the various desirable varieties of wheat. 



Now, why should farmers not have standard varieties 

 of grain at Washington, by which to compare the varie- 

 ties of grain produced on their own farms ? It appears 

 to me that if our Government would establish some 



