562 Convertibility of Wheat into Cheat or Chess. 



to the appearance of cheat in his wheat fields, was in the habit 

 of examining plants of this kind from time to time. The plant 

 he exhibited, and which was but recently taken from the field, 

 consisted of four stalks, not in the least broken, and as perfect 

 as when they were growing in the fields. Each of these stalks 

 bore a profusion of the heads of cheat, and nothing whatever 

 that approached, in the least degree, to an ear of wheat. As 

 far as the heads went it was a perfect specimen of cheat or 

 chess. The plant, having been carefully drawn from the field, 

 had all its roots attached to it, without any visible fracture, and 

 in the most natural manner. Mr. Conway, however, drew my 

 attention to the skin of the kernel of the seed from which this 

 plant had proceeded, and which was attached to the radicle, in 

 a situation quite distinct from the lateral roots. The skin was 

 that of a kernel of wheat, and upon applying a microscope to it 

 I found that it had been a kernel of wheat, and nothing else ; 

 not differing in the least from the skins of wheat seed as they 

 are often found adhering to the radicle of wheat plants, bearing 

 regular ears of wheat when the heads are well formed. This 

 was the opinion of Mr. Conway, who declared himself satisfied, 

 from the inspection of this plant, that, in this particular instance 

 at least, a ker?iel of wheat had produced a plant beai-ing four 

 stalks with ears of cheat or chess. Mr. Conway informed rae 

 that one or two of his neighbours had found similar plants this 

 Summer, and had come to the same conclusion, that cheat could 

 be produced from wheat seeds. 



The evening before my interview with Mr. Conway, the ap- 

 parent convertibility of wheat into cheat was the subject of a 

 long conversation between Mr. Madison (under whose hospit- 

 able roof I found a most welcome head-quarters during my tour 

 in Virginia) and myself We had been old correspondents on 

 agricultural subjects, and we entered into it co?i amore. That 

 venerable man, who at the age of eighty-two preserves all the 

 vigour of a highly polished and unrivalled mind, related to me the 

 many experiments he had personally conducted in his garden at 

 Montpelier, by sowing cheat to produce wheat, but all in vain, he 

 had never succeeded in prevailing upon it to retract its perverse 

 deviation from its type ; and Mr. Madison had paid too much at- 

 tention to the production of cheat in wheat fields, not to be im- 

 pressed with the many strong reasons there were to suppose that 



