WHEAT. 31 



wheat into the vacant spaces, and wherever the 

 plants appear weak and thin. By this means the 

 uniformity of the crop is restored; and if the opera- 

 tion has not been delayed beyond the beginning of 

 April, the spring wheat will be matured and ready 

 for the sickle at the same time with the earlier sown 

 plants. This mixture of grain is of no consequence 

 to the miller, but it would be manifestly improper to. 

 employ the produce as seed. When spring wheat is 

 sown by itself, the season for this operation is in 

 April, or the early part of May, from which time on- 

 ward the farmer has but little to dread from any sever- 

 ity of weather in the above-mentioned districts. It is 

 said that this species of wheat is not subject to blight. 

 According to the analysis of Sir Humphrey Davy, 

 the nutritive quality of this kind is not quite equal to 

 that of winter wheat, the proportions being 95 1 per 

 cent in the latter, and only 94 per cent in the former, 

 of the entire bulk of the grains. The gluten con- 

 tained in the two kinds varies in a greater degree, 

 that of winter wheat being 24, while that of spring- 

 sown corn is only 19, so that the winter variety is 

 most eligible for the purpose of the baker. 



WINTER, or LAMMAS WHEAT Triiicum hyber- 

 num may easily be distinguished by its appearance, 

 being much more vigorous in the stem, more erect 

 and thick in the ear, and, in comparison with the 

 other, destitute of beard or awn, for which reason its 

 bloom is more conspicuous. The same cause may 

 be cited to account for the fact, that its pollen is 

 both more easily diffused and more liable to be de- 

 stroyed. 



This plant is sown in autumn, stands through the 

 winter, and ripens its seed in the following summer. 

 Slight varieties of this species are exceedingly com- 

 mon in different localities, and are probably attribut- 



