THE WHEAT CTJLTURIST. 47 



CHARACTERISTICS OF A PERFECT YARIETY OF WHEAT. 



As the growing wheat plants and ripening grain have 

 so many enemies to encounter, and as variable climates 

 and changing seasons greatly affect the quality of the 

 grain and the yield per acre, it is eminently desirable 

 that a variety should be selected for seed which will 

 escape if possible, all the injuries incident to the wheat 

 crop. I will mention the most desirable characteristics 

 of a superior variety of winter wheat. 



1. Early maturity. This characteristic must not be 

 overlooked, as a period of only a few days in the matu- 

 rity of the crop, will often decide whether the farmer is 

 rewarded for his labors, or whether the wheat midge 

 destroys most of the crop. 



2. Prolificacy. By this I mean, that the variety shall 

 be pure, having been cultivated with unusual care on 

 a fertile soil, until the yield will be as large as it is 

 possible for the soil to produce of any other variety of 

 wheat. 



3. Midge-proof. The glumes, or chaff, of certain vari- 

 eties of wheat grow with an open chaff, which enables 

 the wheat midge to commit its ravages with very little 

 hindrance ; while the chaff of other varieties grows close 

 to the kernels, thus offering a very effectual preventive 

 to the entrance of these pests of the wheat field. A 

 variety that grows with a loose and open chaff should 

 be rejected, and a kind of seed chosen that grows with 

 the chaff close to the kernels. 



4. A thin sk.in, or ~bran. Some varieties of wheat 

 will yield several pounds more of flour than another 

 variety. For this reason, that wheat which will yield 

 the largest quantity of flour per bushel, is more profit- 



