324 



FARMERS' REGISTER— REVERSION OF WHEAT INTO GRASS. 



ON THE REVERSION OF ^VHEAT INTO GRASS. 



By Mr. Main, Chelsea. 

 From tlie Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. 

 I beg to offer a few remarks on the "Reversion 

 of wheat into grass" as stated in a paper* by Mr. 

 VV. Blackadder in the December Number of your 

 Journal. Mr. Bkiclvadder's supposition is not 

 new. If 1 mistake not, one of the earliest writers 

 on agricuUure, — ColumeHa or Pliny, I forget 

 which, — conceived that the original tjpe of our 

 cultivated wheat was the Jiromiis mollis, soft 

 broom-grass; and I have met with an old tarmcr 

 in the county of Hertford, who was of opinion, 

 that light winnowings of wheat if used lor seed, 

 become changed into ray (Bromus secalinus) and 

 darnel ( Lolium teniulcntmn.) 



That there should be various opinions respecting 

 the original type of wheat is not at all wonderilil; 

 because, uuhke many other cultivated plants, no 

 trace of it in a wild state is any where to be met 

 with — not even in its native country, Egypt. It 

 is perfectly true, that the sorts cultivated in the 

 northern and alpine regions of India, are far infe- 

 rior to the varieties cultivated in Europe — more, 

 indeed, like rye than wheat. Still, even there, 

 vWld wheat is not found. But this, I think, may 

 be easily accounted for. No plant requires the 

 protection of man more than wheat; it is not only 

 his "staff of life;" it is equally coveted by every 

 granivorous bird and every grazing beast, whether 

 in its green or inits mature state. It is seldom we see 

 the scattered grains arrive at perfection in our lanes 

 or hedges, and if a plant springs up in the latter 

 situation and comes to maturity, the increase its 

 quickly devoured either by birds or mice. In fact, 

 the protection of the rick-yard, barn, and granery, 

 is absolutely necessary for the preservation of 

 wheat for the use of man. With respect to the 

 opinion of tlie Hertfordshire farmer, his mistake 

 (as it certainly was) is easily accounted for. If 

 either ray or darnel grew in his wheat — and Cew 

 crops can be seen entirely free from one or other 

 — their seeds would most likely remain with the 

 lightest portion of the bulk; and if this inferior 

 sample were, through penuriousness, chosen for 

 seed, a great share of tiie succeeding crop would 

 certainly be ray or darnel, or both; confirming the 

 blind and careless cultivator, that his "svv^ans had 

 become geese." But whether such a transforma- 

 tion, as that of wheat into any of these grasses, can 

 in any way take place is the question. 



In viewing the whole vegetable kingdom, we 

 observe genera, species, varieties and subvarieties; 

 the last carried out, in many cases, beyond all ap- 

 preciable limits. The types of many genera are 

 no more like the varieties obtained from them by 

 high cultivation, than if they were totally distinct 

 and different beings. For instance, the sloe and 

 the magnum-bonum plum; the gean and Knight's 

 black-heart cherry; the crab of the hedge, and the 

 monstrous rennet apple. Among herbs, compare 

 the wild with the drumhead cabbage; the wild 

 with the Altringham carrot; and the perennial 

 ryegrass with Pacey's variety of the same. Bo- 

 tanists enumerate near thirty species of wheat, 

 and some hundreds of varieties; but not one of 

 these can be fixed on as being the type of the 

 summer and winter sorts now in cultivation; both 

 being, in all probability only varieties. Taking 



* See Farm. Reg. p. 126, Vol. II. 



into consideration the difference of structure and 

 qualities exemplified in the cultivated varieties allu- 

 ded to, we only see an amplijicat ion of parts. In 

 some the roots and stem are enlarged, as aspara- 

 gus; in others the number and size of foliage and 

 flowers, as cauliflowers and cabbage; some have 

 the integuments of the seeds enlarged, as the ap- 

 ple; others the seeds themselves, as the cob-nut, 

 and the Windsor bean. In all these changes, 

 however, increase of volume is the most striking 

 characteristic of variety. There is no change of 

 generic character, or of constitutional organization; 

 and therelbre v>'e are led to conclude, that no genus 

 is capable of being translbrmed into another. 



None of the natural orders of plants bear a 

 stronger resemblance to each other than do the 

 158 genera composing G'ramiaecBj viewing them 

 li'om the Jiambusa arundinacea, a tree grass, down 

 to u-Hrahamilis, the least hair-grass" on Mount 

 Caucasus, a strong likeness runs throughout. 

 Notwithstanding this general similitude, every 

 genus is distinctly marked both physically and bo- 

 tanically; and there appears not the least likelihood 

 that they are amalgable into each other or change- 

 able in any other way than as is remarked abo\e. 

 We have, it is true, instances of vegetable mules, 

 that is, intermediate productions oetween two 

 species partaking of some semblance of both pa- 

 rents; but these instances are not only extremely 

 rare, but the progeny, like animal mules, are im- 

 perfect in reproductive functions, and quickly cease 

 to exist. Florists' mules, obtained by cross im- 

 pregnation among kindred varieties, show changes 

 of habit or colors only, not changes of generic 

 character. 



Applying the foregoing observations to the cir- 

 cumstances detailed by Mr. Blackadder, I would 

 infer, that there has been some mistake in the in- 

 stances cited. That the giant-fescue eippeared on 

 the spot where the smutted wheat was deposited, 

 there can be no doubt; but that this grass sprung 

 from dead grains of wheat is perplexing. Smut- 

 ted ears or grains of wheat, barley, or oats, never 

 flower, and consequently cannot be fertile.* The 

 smutted grains of wheat, however, when mixed in 

 ihe bulk, are nearly of the same size as those of 

 darnel, and might be easily mistaken the one for 

 the other; and thus, I dare say, it has happened in 

 the trials of Messrs Strachan and Bell. 



Both the raj^ and darnel require to be sown in 

 the autumn, in order to their flowering in the fol- 

 lowing summer. The first yields a heavy crop of 

 seed of excellent quality, relished by every bird and 

 beast; the second hns a long spike of large seeds, in 

 flavor as bitter as gall, and ni quality intoxicating, 

 and even dangerous if ground in bread corn or mash- 

 ed in distillers. This is like the sleepies mentioned 

 by Mr. Blackadder. 



Being at a meeting of the Linnean Society a 

 fortnight ago, I mentioned the circumstances oi 

 the "reversion of wheat into grass," to Messrs 

 David and George Don; they both agreed with me 

 in thinking that the seeds of the fescue or brome 

 had been uaintenttonalhj sown with the smutted 

 grains of wheat. 



*What is here taken for o^ranted, namely, that smut- 

 ted grains of wheat never flower, and cannot therefore 

 be fertile, constitutes, we conceive, the ver}^ essence of 

 the question "Whetlier such a transformation can in 

 any way take place?" — Editor Jour. Agr. 



