TRI 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



TRI 



703 



corn countries except England, where, on account of the 

 immense consumption of malt liquors, Barley is more in 

 demand. There are fifty varieties of this sort of Wheat: 

 the variety best known in this country has awns like Barley, 

 and is sometimes on that account called Rough or Bearded 

 Wheat. The pickle or grain in it is red ; but it has not so 

 bold or full a sample as Winter Wheat, though it weighs 

 better, and is preferred by all honest millers who know its 

 nature and value. Some farmers mix it with different pro- 

 portions of Winter Red Wheat, as the Red Lammas, which 

 resembles it so much in colour, that they never fail to profit 

 by the practice, as it increases the weight of the mixture 

 more than it diminishes the quality of the sample, and also 

 renders it more productive at the mill. The proportions 

 employed are usually about one half, or rather less than that 

 quantity, in such mixtures. The average weight of Spring 

 Wheat is in general about sixty pounds per bushel. The 

 bread made from its Hour is said to be sweeter than that from 

 winter corn of the Wheat kind ; and also more nutritious, 

 containing a larger proportion of gluten, or half animalized 

 matter, in its composition. The bread is also allowed to be 

 more palatable to those who eat it habitually. Sir Humphrey 

 Davy has shewn that it has more gluten, or real nutrient mat- 

 ter, in it, when compared with other grains of the same kind, 

 than good Winter Wheat, in the proportion of twenty-four 

 to nineteen in the hundred ; and that with respect to the 

 bran, there is only a difference of two parts more in the 

 hundred, when compared with good Winter Wheat of this 

 country : from which it follows, that the difference in price 

 between it and such Wheat, when of equal weight, should 

 only be in that proportion. The advantages which would 

 attend the more general introduction and growth of this sort 

 of Wheat, demand particular attention, as they are both of 

 a public and private nature. In the latter point of view, it 

 is of great importance for the farmer to be able to raise so 

 valuable an article as Wheat, though sown late in the spring, 

 or even in the beginning of summer. It was formerly 

 thought, that after Turnips, which crop was considered as 

 the basis of good husbandry on light sorts of land, that 

 Barley, including Bear or Bigg, was almost the only crop 

 that could be grown with advantage, as the sowing of Winte-r 

 Wheat in the spring could only be attempted or practised in 

 a partial manner. But it now appears that Spring Wheat 

 may be raised and grown with as much ease and facility, 

 and with more profit, than the inferior sorts of Barley. A 

 still more important circumstance in favour of Spring Wheat 

 is, that it appears not only to be exempt from the blight or 

 mildew, but not liable to risk of damage or injury from the 

 grub or wire-worm, which is not attributable to the nature of 

 lands or seasons ; for the farmers of the extensive tract known 

 by the name of South Holland, in the county of Lincoln, in 

 which there are various kinds of rand, uniformly declare, 

 that they were compelled many years ago, by the frequent 

 attacks of the blight and mildew, almost entirely to abandon 

 the sowing of Winter Wheat, and to substitute Spring Wheat 

 in its stead, the latter not being liable to the disease of blight 

 or mildew; as has been lately proved in a field of twelve 

 acres, remaining wholly exempt from that disease, in a dis- 

 trict where every other field was miserably infected with that 

 prevailing disease. It must, however, be admitted that 

 Spring Wheat is as liable as other kinds to be affected with 

 the smut, and consequently that it must be carefully washed, 

 bruised, or pickled with a very highly-saturated solution of 

 common salt, in such a manner as to prevent the danger of 

 this sort of infection. It has been objected to the grain of 

 this sort of Spring W'heat, that it is of a hard flinty quality ; 

 VOL. u. 124. 



but it is answered, that our millers find no difficulty in 

 grinding it: and it is well known, that the hardier and more 

 flinty the grain, the better and livelier is the flour. In 

 regard to safety, no crop can be more certain than Spring 

 Wheat, when sown in a proper season, with good well- 

 washed or pickled seed, in the manner already stated, and 

 on land properly prepared for its reception. As to the sorts 

 of land, and the situations in which this sort of Wheat can 

 be produced, it has been found that almost all the kinds, from 

 the clayey marly descriptions, to those of the light sandy 

 sorts, are capable of affording it: but it is most suited to such 

 lands as are remarkable for promoting a quick vegetation, 

 and growth in the grain. It is also important to be known, 

 that land of the fenny kind, with a bottom of the turfy 

 earthy sort, is particularly adapted for the growth of Spring 

 Wheat, which will rise on it in a speedier manner than on 

 any other land ; and land of this quality not being suited 

 to the growth of Winter Wheat, which is liable to be thrown 

 out of them by frosty seasons, on account of their lightness; 

 by having all such lands in the different parts of the united 

 kingdoms, sown in suitable courses with Spring Wheat, a 

 vast, and scarcely calculable advantage, it is thought would 

 be produced. Spring Wheat of the true kind, though sown 

 so late as the middle of May, has been found to become 

 ripe at the same time with the Autumnal or Winter Wheat; 

 and therefore there is no advantage obtained by sowing 

 it earlier, as that which has been put into the ground 

 in April, has become ripe as early as that sown in the begin- 

 ning of the preceding month. In its growth it is said not to 

 tiller in the manner of Common or Winter Wheat, but shoots 

 up, and advances immediately and directly from the moment 

 of its appearance above the surface of the ground. The 

 grains or corns, which are smaller than those of the Common 

 Winter Wheat, become larger and finer by being grown on 

 better and more fertile land. It deserves to be tried in the 

 mountainous parts of Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and 

 some other northern districts, where little or no Wheat is 

 sown, the situations and exposures being too cold and open 

 for Wheat sown in the autumn, there to survive the severity 

 of the winter. It has been noticed, that though under par- 

 ticular circumstances Spring Wheat, when lately tried, has 

 generally succeeded, and that it is now the prevailing hus- 

 bandry in an extensive district in Lincolnshire, and as the 

 growth of Wheat has become of more importance than ever, 

 no sufficient reason can be assigned why it should not be 

 raised in every district of this country, which is calculated 

 for the growth and cultivation of so important a national re- 

 source. On various soils, in some seasons, it frequently 

 happens that autumnal sown crops of Wheat are seen to 

 have failed, and gone off in patches: but the uniformity of 

 the crop may be restored by raking Spring Wheat into the 

 vacant places, in the beginning of April, which will be ready 

 for the sickle quite as early as the Autumnal-sown Wheat; 

 and although this mixture would render the produce highly 

 improper for seed, still, for the miller's use, no objection can 

 be made. 



2. Triticum Hybernum ; Winter, Lammas, or Common 

 Wheat. Calix four-flowered, tumid, even, imbricated, abrupt, 

 with a short compressed point. Root consisting of downy 

 fibres ; stems one or more, erect, straight, from three to 

 five feet high, round, jointed, smooth, leafy ; leaves linear, 

 pointed, flat, many-ribbed, rough, entire, rather glaucous; 

 stipules jagged, bearded; spikes solitary, two or three inches 

 long, dense, two-ranked, smooth; joints of the common stalk 

 bearded; glumes smooth; corolla of the upper spikelets more 

 or less awned. Native country unknown. It is by no means 

 8Q 



