468 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



2. SPELT. There is cultivated in parts of Prance, and in 

 Flanders, an inferior kind of wheat, called spelt, (in French, 

 cpeautrc*} which mainly differs from other wheat in that it 

 retains the husk on the grain, until separated by a machine. It 

 is in many places used for bread ; and in nutritive matter, as far 

 as chemical examination goes, it bears a proportion to wheat of 

 thirty-nine to fifty. It is said to exhaust the soil much less than 

 wheat, but this point is controverted by high authority. It will 

 yield well on a poor soil, and for this it is often chosen ; but it 

 will afford, also, an ample compensation for good treatment. 

 The straw is stiffer than that of wheat, and, though harder, is 

 preferred by cattle. It will bear to be cropped once or twice 

 in its early growth for green forage, and is deemed excellent 

 for this purpose. It endures the drought like rye, and will grow 

 well upon lands which are too light and dry for wheat. The 

 difference between the weight of the grain of spelt with its 

 husk o\i, compared with wheat, is as forty-two to seventy-six : 

 and the ordinary difference in price is as seventy-two to one 

 hundred, al mving for the extra expense in hulling and grinding. 

 Under very g* d cultivation it is stated to yield about thirty 

 bushels to the aci^ w j t h tne hull, or in the husk. 



Of this grain the*. are two ki n d s ordinarily cultivated, the red 

 and the white. Somt o f eac h ^ m & are bearded, and some with 

 out beard ; and there ^ a spring and an autumn variety, 

 although, by careful select on o f t } ie earliest ripe, the autumnal 

 is without difficulty convert^ i nto t h e spring variety. It is 

 said, likewise, that under a negh^ nt culture, the beardless will 

 become bearded, and that under a ^ ^ cu ltu re and a rich soil, 

 the bearded will lose its awns. The rti variety is preferred, as 

 more hardy, and suffering less from wet nr C old, as giving a 

 stronger and more abundant straw, being less Abject to disease, 

 and producing a better flour. 



The quantity of seed required to an acre is doubk O f that for 

 wheat, because it is sown in the husk. A crop ot hemp is 

 sometimes taken from the land ; if this is got off early, \urnips 

 are then sown, and after the turnips, spelt. If the crop of pota 

 toes are kept clean, spelt is sometimes sown after them : IP. 

 which case the land is not ploughed, but simply dragged or 



Triticum spdta. 



