130 THE CEREALS IN AMERICA 



" No, 3 Red Winter WTieat shall include Red Winter Wheat not clean and pluir|i 

 enough for No. 2, but weighing not less than fifty-four pounds to the measured 

 bushel. 



" No. 4 Red Winter Wheat shall include Red Winter WTieat, damp, musty 01 

 from any cause so badly damaged as to render it unfit for No. 3." 



III. HISTORY. 



192. Antiquity. — The cultivation of wheat is much older 

 than the history of man. Very ancient monuments, much older 

 than the Hebrew Scriptures, show its cultivation already estab- 

 lished. The Egyptians and the Greeks attributed its origin to 

 mythical personages. The earliest Lake Dwellers of Western 

 Switzerland cultivated a small-grained variety of wheat as early 

 as the Stone Age. The Chinese grew wheat 2700 B. C, and 

 considered it a direct gift from Heaven. Wheat is one of the 

 species used in their annual ceremony of sowing five kinds of 

 seeds. Chinese scholars believe it to be a native of their 

 country. 



193. Original Habitat. — The existence of different names for 

 wheat in the most ancient languages confirms the belief in its 

 great antiquity. It has been asserted that wheat has been 

 found growing wild in Western Asia, but the evidence is not 

 conclusive. The Euphrates Valley is believed by De Candolle 

 to be the principal habitation of the species in prehistoric times. 

 So far as known, wheat was not grown in America before its 

 discovery by Columbus. 



194. Reasons for Culture. — Its ease of cultivation ; its adap- 

 tation to a climate favorable to the beginning of civilization ; its 

 quick and abundant return ; its ease of preparation for use ; its 

 abundant supply of nutritious substance ; possibly its rapid im- 

 provement under cultivation and the fact of its being paniferous, 

 or possessing that special quality which adapts it above any other 

 grain to the making of light bread, were probably some of the 

 reasons which caused primitive man to begin and continue its 



