164 



WHEAT. 



the furrows amid the wheat. Other varieties scarcely grow 

 four feet in height. The wheat of Palestine is of the general 

 character used by our farmers, and seldom, except in very 

 favorable spots, bears more than eighteen to twenty bushels 

 per acre. In favorable positions, and when properly treated, 

 the crop sometimes exceeds twenty-eight, or even thirty, 

 bushels. The soil in its virgin state, according to a late 

 analysis, (&quot;Palestine Past and Present,&quot;) is supposed to be 

 capable of the richest culture and the finest production of this 

 grain. When Sir Gardner Wilkinson opened a tomb in Thebes, 

 he took from a vase some grains of wheat. In 1840, a few 

 grains were planted in an open garden in Albury, near Guil- 

 ford, and there flourished, after having been buried near three 

 thousand years. The ears averaged seven inches in length, 

 and from fifteen to twenty ears on each root or from one grain. 

 It was bearded, and resembled what farmers call &quot; Egyptian 

 wheat.&quot; Other instances of the growth of wheat taken from 

 mummies have been recorded, showing how long the life 

 remains in the seed. 



