450 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



the result of artificial cultivation. The speculation will do 

 neither harm nor good. There is little reason for the supposition; 

 and it seems extraordinary that similar changes are never wit 

 nessed at the present day. It is certain that the wheat cultivated 

 at the present time does not differ from that found in the pyra 

 mids of Egypt. 



There are nearly thirty different kinds of wheat cultivated in 

 France, including both autumn and spring varieties. In respect 

 to this distinction, there is little doubt that, by a careful selection 

 of the earliest ripe, after a time, the autumn may be converted 

 into a spring wheat ; and the spring wheat, being repeatedly 

 sown in the autumn, would presently lose its properties of early 

 ripening. It would be imprudent to prescribe any particular 

 species for universal or for general use, as the different kinds arc 

 adapted to different localities, some being much earlier than 

 others, and therefore, though yielding a less product, ripening 

 before the droughts of summer, and escaping, in some degree. 

 the dangers of blight ; and others being more susceptible to 

 injury from frost. The white wheat of Flanders is a highly 

 esteemed variety ; and is said to be the same as a wheat known 

 in England by the names of the Eclipse wheat, the Wellington, 

 and the Talavera. It is highly productive and beautiful, and is 

 particularly suited to lands of the richest quality. The white 

 wheat of Provence is pronounced the most excellent variety for 

 the quality of its grain ; its straw is very tender, and therefore 

 liable to be lodged; arid it is too delicate for a cold climate. 

 The Lammas wheat is of an excellent quality ; early in its 

 ripening ; it sheds its grain easily in the field ; it therefore 

 requires to be cut early. It is very susceptible to injury from 

 cold. These are all winter wheats but what is called a spring 

 wheat in Europe is a wheat which should be sown in February ; 

 whereas, in the United States, that only is called a spring wheat 

 which may be sown, with a surety of its ripening, in any part 

 of March or April. 



The Tuscan wheat, used in the manufacture of the celebrated 

 and beautiful Leghorn bonnets, is a spring wheat, with very 

 short heads, and produces little grain. The Victoria wheat, of 

 a good quality, and brought to France from Colombia in South 

 America, and represented as ripening in sixty days, was not 

 found , in France, in advance of the common wheats of the coun- 



