114 THE WHEAT CULTURIST. 



The Tappahannock Wheat. 



This excellent variety of winter wheat has not been 

 introduced to any considerable extent in the United 

 States. Hon. Isaac .Newton, Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture at Washington, experimented with this wheat ; 

 and the same season he died, 1867, he pronounced the 

 Tappahannock the earliest and most promising of all 

 the varieties of winter wheat with which he experi- 

 mented on the government farm. Mr. Newton states 

 that this variety does not seem to be so prolific as some 

 other kinds ; but the grain is of a fine quality, and it 

 makes excellent flour. He thought this variety is 

 much less liable to disease and the ravages of the fly 

 than some other varieties. Farmers in other States 

 besides Virginia, who have raised this kind of wheat, 

 state that, as a general rule, the Tappahannock is ex- 

 tremely hardy and prolific, when the seed has been 

 saved with care, from year to year ; the yield of fine 

 flour is large ; the plants endure the winter extremely 

 well ; and all things considered, the Tappahannock is 

 an excellent variety of wheat, 



The Mediterranean Wheat. 



This variety is said to have been introduced from 

 Genoa, in 1819, by J. Gordon, of Wilmington, Dela- 

 ware. It was cultivated for many years with eminent 

 satisfaction, as the wheat midge injured the crop none 

 to speak of. In many instances the straw was not suffi- 

 ciently stiff to maintain an erect position till harvest. 

 As it was more expensive harvesting lodged wheat, and 

 as the yield was diminished by the falling down of the 



