GRASS CROPS. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 



GRAIN CROPS. 



WHEAT is the most important of the grain crops although 

 it is surpassed in value and quantity by corn. It is the 

 noblest of all farm crops, being the staff of life to the human 

 race, and the daily bread of civilized mankind. It is a pro- 

 duct of civilization, and is not found growing wild; indeed 

 its origin is unknoAvn, and is a matter of dispute among per- 

 sons who are curious about such questions. Consequently 

 it is the most susceptible plant that is grown to the circum- 

 stances and conditions of its culture; and hence it varies 

 very much with its locality, climate, soil, and the kind of 

 manure or fertilizers used. The wheats of tho Eastern states 

 are entirely changed in character after two or three years 

 of culture in the west, and the grain grown in the dry cli- 

 mate of Colorado, Dakota, and Oregon, differ so much from 

 that grown elsewhere, as to be easily distinguishable even 

 by a photograph. Hence the attempt to change the char- 

 acter of wheat by the introduction of seed from distant local- 

 ities will fail, excepting temporarily; for the variation 

 caused by special environments will soon change the char- 

 acter of the seed, and any difference which might have ex- 

 isted will soon disappear. Thus the improvement of the 

 grain must come by selection of seed, and by high cultiva- 

 tion ; and not by the introduction of foreign grain, however 

 superior its appearance, character, and yield may be. It is 

 most probable that all the different varieties of wheat, or 

 the supposed different varieties, which number hundreds or 

 thousands, are after all nothing more than the product of 

 climatic influences which are paramount in the growth of 

 this grain ; for there is nothing permanent in their character, 

 and a change of locality speedily changes the characteristics 

 and reduces or advances them as the case may be to a 

 similaritv with the native kinds. 



