THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



CHAPTER I. 

 WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 



ORIGIN. 



The Word Wheat can be traced back through the Middle 

 English whete to Old English hwaete, which is allied to hwit, 

 white. The German Weizen is related to weisz, which also 

 means white. The French ble suggests blemir, to grow pale. 

 Perhaps wheat was called white, to distinguish it from rye and 

 other dark colored grains. Triticum, the botanical and classical 

 name, doubtless comes from tritus, which is a participle from 

 the Latin terere, to grind. The Italian frumento, and the 

 similar French froment, are descended from the Latin word 

 for corn or grain, frumcntum, which originated in frux, fruit. 

 The Spanish trigo has evolved through French and Latin from 

 the Greek trigonon, which has for its roots tri, three, and 

 gonia, a corner or angle. Thus the most widely used names 

 of the wheat plant were determined by the characteristics of 

 the seed, as color, shape, the property of having to be ground 

 for food, and the natural relation of the seed to the plant. 



The Geographical Origin of wheat has never been certainly 

 determined. Such evidence as exists seems to point to Mesopo- 

 tamia, but this is largely a matter of opinion. While wheat 

 has been found growing apparently wild, the doubt always 

 seems to remain that it may have simply escaped from culti- 

 vation. However, the belief that wheat once grew wild in the 

 Euphrates and Tigris valleys, and spread from these to the 

 rest of the world, has wider acceptance than any other. De 

 Candolle's conviction rests largely on the evidence of Berosus 

 and Strabo, while Lippert, in addition to the former, also 

 cites Olivier and Andre Michaux. Darwin appears to have 

 favored the same theory. From this center wheat is sup- 

 posed to have spread to Phoenicia and Egypt. The Chinese 

 considered it a gift from heaven. Homer and Diodorus 

 Siculus say that it grew wild in Sicily. Humboldt denies 



