132 Effective Farming 



ited to areas in some of the Southern States and in California. 

 It is an important article of food and its use by American peo- 

 ple is increasing. With the extensive export of wheat to feed 

 European peoples at war, the other grains are assuming addi- 

 tional importance as human food. 



WHEAT 



59. Distribution and characteristics of wheat. Nearly 

 all countries having a temperate climate produce wheat. 

 The United States, Russia, France, and India are the largest 

 producers. This cereal is also grown extensively in Austria- 

 Hungary, Italy, Argentina, Germany, and Canada. In the 

 United States the five leading wheat states are North Dakota, 

 Minnesota, Kansas, South Dakota, and Nebraska. 



Wheat is an annual belonging to the grass family. The 

 spikelets are arranged alternately on the rachis, or top of the 

 stem, forming a spike. The culm in most varieties is hollow 

 except at the nodes. In a very few varieties, however, the 

 stem is partly filled with pith. The length of stem varies 

 considerably in different varieties and when the crop is grown on 

 various soils. Some varieties have stems that reach a height 

 of two and one-half to three feet, while others on the same soil 

 will grow to be four or five feet tall. Wheat tillers freely, 

 often one seed producing a dozen or more stalks. The leaves 

 are rather short and narrow and vary in different varieties in 

 length, width, smoothness, and prominence of veins. The 

 leaf -sheath is hairy as in rye; whereas in barley and oats it 

 is smooth. As the plant matures the leaves wither and when 

 the seeds are ripening only the top of the stem and the upper 

 leaf are green. The roots are fibrous and are found mostly 

 in the upper fifteen to twenty inches of soil. When a kernel 

 of wheat sprouts in the ground, three temporary roots branch 

 from the hypocotyl and make up the temporary root system. 

 After the plumule is above the ground, permanent roots start 

 from a node of the stem. The temporary roots soon wither 



