264 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



WHEAT. 



THIS is one of the most important and extensively-cultivated of the cereals, and next to 

 maize, or Indian corn, is the most productive of all the grasses belonging to the genus 

 Triticum. It has been cultivated for the food of man from the earliest ages, the Bible, 

 as well as the Egyptian and Chinese records, substantiating this fact; and although it is not 

 known in a wild state, most botanists incline to the belief that it had its origin in the central 

 portions of Asia. Rice forms the principal sustenance of the vast population of India and 

 China; corn and the various other grains also contribute to the support of multitudes of the 

 human family; but wheat forms one of the principal articles of food of the most powerful 

 and civilized nations of the world. It may be cultivated in a variety of soils, and will adapt 

 itself to either cold or warm climates, but thrives best in the temperate zones, and in soils 

 that are rich and rather heavy. The lowest mean temperature in which wheat will ripen is 

 about 57.2. 



While the increased consumption of wheat in a country is an indication of an improved 

 style of living among the general population, its extended culture is also an index of an 

 improved agriculture, since it is only on soils naturally fertile, or that have been rendered so 

 by careful cultivation, that it can be successfully grown. 



Varieties. There are already many varieties and sub- varieties of wheat, and the num 

 ber is constantly being augmented by either the accidental discovery of new ones, or by 

 cross-fertilization artificially brought about for this purpose. Some of these varieties are 

 more hardy than others; but among the most popular kinds cultivated, some may be found 

 that can be successfully grown in almost any section of the United States and the southern por 

 tion of British America. 



The most common classification of wheat is that made by the time of its sowing, it being 

 sown both in autumn and spring; hence the terms, &quot; winter wheat &quot; and &quot; spring wheat.&quot; This 

 distinction, however, often misleads, for while it is true that there are certain varieties best 

 adapted for autumn and spring sowing respectively, it is also true that many kinds will admit 

 of being sown at either season. The spring wheat has been obtained by means of a gradual 

 change in the time of sowing. As a general rule, winter wheat, in localities adapted to its 

 cultivation, gives a stronger growth of straw and larger yield of gram than the spring wheat, 

 and the heads grow more erect and full, with heavier grains. Many of the varieties that 

 give the most favorable results in cultivation at the South are not hardy enough for the cli 

 mate of the Northern States, while many of the winter varieties are not sufficiently hardy for 

 the extreme North. The selection of seed should always be adapted to the climate, and the 

 more hardy varieties sown in the colder temperatures. 



Spring varieties may bring a surer crop, and involve less risk of loss to the farmer, in 

 localities where the winters are so long and severe that the crop sometimes &quot;winterkills,&quot; 

 though this may frequently be due to improper preparation of the land through lack of under- 

 draining, or other causes; but is often due to want of hardiness in the wheat plant. The 

 wheat-growers are constantly forced to seek new varieties to keep up the average yield. 



Some writers attribute this frequent tendency to deterioration in quantity and quality to 

 be a natural inclination to return to the original unimproved, uncultivated condition; but we 

 believe, if the real cause were known, it would be found to be more in the deterioration and 

 exhaustion of the soil, together with a lack of judicious care in selecting the very best seed 

 of the crop for sowing, and that if farmers would restore those elements extracted from the 

 soil, in the production of the harvested crop, in the form of proper fertilizers, before sowing 

 the succeeding one, and select only the choicest and most perfect seeds for that sowing, the 

 deterioration, so often the complaint of the farmers, would not be known. 



