THE WHEAT CULTURIST. 137 



How THE KERNELS OF WHEAT ARE FORMED. 



In a few days after the blossoms of the wheat plant 

 have fallen, the tender kernels appear enveloped in the 

 chaff; and the material that forms the flour of the grain 

 is in a liquid state, having been brought np from the 

 fertile soil through the medium of the roots, stems, and 

 leaves of the growing plants. At this period, the ker- 

 nels are much larger and more plump than they will be 

 after the grain is fully matured. If the kernels be 

 crushed at this period in the growth of the wheat, a 

 thick milky liquid will exude. After a few days, this 

 fluid material changes to a plastic state. 



The grain is then said to be in the "dough state." 

 "While the substance that forms the kernel is in a liquid 

 condition, the grain is spoken of as being in the " milk 

 state." All the exquisitely line material that enters into 

 the composition of the grain, is brought up to the ear 

 in particles inconceivably small, having been picked up 

 by the organs of the growing plant, and conveyed in 

 the fluids of the stem and leaves to the kernels. It is 

 exceedingly interesting to consider the untold number 

 of living mouths attached to the numerous roots that 

 pervade the entire soil, securing only a choice morsel 

 here and there to be carried up to the head for the pro- 

 duction of seed ; and it is a most interesting fact to 

 contemplate, that the roots of the wheat plant are so 

 exceeding dainty, that they will reject entirely large 

 quantities of the choicest kind of plant food, if it is not 

 in exactly the right condition for making a choice arti- 

 cle of wheaten milk. The consideration that all the 

 choice wheat of commerce is the product of a milky 

 substance which is formed of a material in the soil that 



