FARMERS' REGISTER— CHANGE OF WHEAT TO GRASS. 



127 



Avilh tlic family of llie bromes, in a herbarium of 

 the Brilish irramhia^, which was prepared lor me 

 by tlie late rclebrated JMr. Geoi-i^-e Don, of Forfar, 

 and whicli lias been ireijucntly examined by emi- 

 nent botanists, and much prized: but although it 

 possessed the fveneral characters of a brome, it did 

 not exactly coincide with any of the individual 

 species in the herbarium. It then, fur the first 

 time, occurred to nie, that it might more nearly 

 agree with the giant fescue, and on turnnig over 

 to it, Ibund this conjecture to be correct. Now 

 this species Avas placed by Linn;eus in the bronie 

 iiunily, hut removed to that of the fescue by Sir 

 James Smith, whose authority is noAV followed; 

 and it may be here observed, that in the natural 

 .system of Jussieu, the xoheat is made the interme- 

 diate link between the fescue and the brome. 



In the course of the season, I had mentioned 

 the above particidars to various of my scientific 

 li'iends, to whom I stated my conviction of their 

 (ruth, not only from what I had learned Irom Mr. 

 ■Scott, who is Avell versed in botany, but also Irom 

 the circumstance, that, some years ago, when 

 passing tlirough a field of joung grass, on the 

 liirm of Dysart, in the same" district, which had 

 been sown among ivhcat, I found a large tult of 

 the giant lescue, and was puzzled how it had got 

 there; and it also occurred to me, that if the 

 brome was the type of our cultivated wheat, that 

 other species might also spring from ditierent dis- 

 eased states of It, and particularly the one which 

 infests it so much, notwithstanding the care usual- 

 ly taken to screen it out of the seed. 



Lattei'iy, liaving been urged to make farther in- 

 quiry into tlie original facts, and having occasion 

 to be lately in the neighborhood of Montrose, I 

 called upon Mr. Bell; but his tuft of grass had 

 been accidentally destroyed only a lew weeks be- 

 fore. He, however, readily offered to accompany 

 me to inspect what belonged to his neighbor, Mr. 

 Strachan; and on our way, I was glad to learn 

 fi"om liim, that the common brome (provincially 

 named sleepies in that quarter, from the opinion 

 that the bread made of its flour is conducive to 

 sleep,) liad also made its apjjearance from the dis- 

 eased seed; and that smutted wheat, sleepies, and 

 another grass, had all grown from the smutted 

 wheat-bails sown in the previous autumn; neither 

 the Avheat nor sleepies having been in flower 

 when I hud met Mr. Bell at Trinity Muir 

 market. 



On our arrival at Balgove, Mr. Strachan took 

 us info his garden, and we there saw a tuft, the 

 l)roduce of smutted wheat-balls, consisting of a 

 mixture of smutted wheat, sleepies, and another 

 grass, but the latter not in a state to be accurately 

 recognised, fixrther than that it was a brome; and 

 at some distance, he showed us another tufl, 

 which consisted partly of sound wheat, and partly 

 of smutted balls, and which was the produce of 

 winnoAvings, or small wheat, but clean and not 

 smutted. Mr. Strachan also showed us some 

 ncAvly braided from smut, sown this season, to 

 see what may be the result next year, there 

 being a bet depending on it in Montrose. He has 

 also sown some of the seed of the sleepies; and 

 Mr. Bell is likewise continuing his experiments. 



On inriuiry, JMr. Strachan, who is now an aged 

 man, iiifi)rmetl me, that, fully twenty years ago, he 

 hap[iened to throw out a mixture of small and 

 smutted wlicat to the poultry, at a distance from 



the dunghiJ, and that, some time afterwards, he 

 was surprised to observe a strong tuft of grass 

 springing u[); for, as he justly concluded, it was 

 very unlikely that the fowls would leave any of the 

 grain; and it then occurred to him, the smut-balls 

 would certainly vegetate, which he has repeated- 

 ly verified since that time by direct experiments; 

 and his neighbor Mr. Bell, having seen those, also 

 began, six or seven years ago, to make similar ex- 

 periments, and which have been attended with 

 similar results; but as the sowing ahvajs took place 

 in spring until last year, the plants had never 

 flowered. 



It seems that particular care is necessarj' in sow- 

 ing smut-balls, that none of tliem be m the least 

 injured or broken; and also if" they get much rain 

 or damp before they sprout, they will be destroyed; 

 and to avoid risk, Mr. Strachan sometimes places 

 the entire head into tlie soil, without takuig the 

 balls out of the ear. 



On comparing a specimen of these s/ecp/es taken 

 from Mr. Stracliau's tufl with the bromes, in my 

 hcrbariuin, I find it to be the Bromvs jnuUiJlorus, 

 and to which Mr. Don has appended the remark, 

 '■'co7umon in lohcat-Jields.^^ Another specimen has 

 the appearance of the Bromus mollis, but is so 

 much decayed, that it cannot be accurately refer- 

 red to. The untbrtiuiate destruction of the tuft 

 raised by Mr. Bell, prevented me ascertaining 

 Avhether there had been any more of what resem- 

 bled the giant fescue. In regard to the origin of 

 these specimens, the facts are as above narrated; 

 and if they are hereafter verified by others, besides 

 explaining very satisfactorily the cause <^'' the 

 bromc-grass being such a fi'equent weed in wheat 

 districts, will give rise to the new and uiteresting 

 view in vegetable physiology, that, after a certain 

 stage of cultivation, a limit takes place, beyond 

 which cultivation caimot be carried; and that plants 

 are subject to Avhat may be termed a disease, in 

 respect to the wants of man; but which limitation 

 may perhaps be a provision in nature, to revert the 

 cultivated grains back into their original type. 



From the neat condensed view of the opinions 

 of many eminent practical men and Baturalists 

 upon smutted wheat, given in a late number of 

 this Journal by Mr. Donaldson, the mystery of hs 

 origin, its nature, and inveteracy of cure, are set 

 forth in a very lucid manner. No notice, however, 

 is taken of the vitality of smut, so as it can repro- 

 duce grains or grass; neither liave I been able to 

 trace that fixct elsewhere, and Mr. Straclian's dis- 

 covery appears, therefore, to be entirely new. 

 From his experiments it may be inferred, that 

 smut is, at least, in certain cases, produced froni 

 light seed, and that its vitality is not destroyed, 

 but merely impaired ftom producing healthy wheat, 

 as some stalks of it reproduce smutted balls, and 

 others healthy brome seeds, which bear a strong 

 resemblance to rye; and, as justly remarked by my 

 friend, the Rev. John M'Yicar, these dillerent 

 states of the balls become objects of much interest. 

 That the brome of botanists is the true type of 

 loheat, the present experiments certainly do not 

 Avarrant, for the change may be merely an inter- 

 mediate step. As, however, neither reheat nor rye 

 has ever yet been found in a native state, it is to be 

 hoped that Mr. Strachan's discovery will attract 

 the serious attention of naturalists, and the results 

 to which it points be flilly investigated; ami it is 

 Av'ilh such a \iew only that 1 have teeu induced to 



