656 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 11 



VARIETIES OP WHEAT. 



From tlio Grneses Farmer. 



At the first meetinj}^ of the English Agricultu- 

 ral Society, the fii'st prize of twenty sovereigns, (or 

 about 97 dollars,) was awarded to Col. Le Cou- 

 teur lor his account ol" the most approved varie- 

 ties of wheat cultivated in England. Col. Le 

 Couteur has doubtless paid more attention to wheal 

 and made more accurate experiments in its culti- 

 vation, than any other person living, and his opin- 

 ions are therefore emitled to great weight. We 

 condense from the retiiarks of Lord Spencer, the 

 President of the Society, a sketch of the favorite 

 kinds, with some other particulars. 



The first kind, or the one deemed the most val- 

 uable, was the Hoary White or Velveteen, from 

 the chaff having a downy or velvet leel. This 

 wheat after being repeatedly washed in brine that 

 would float an egg or a potato was again washed 

 in lime. The land was argillaceous, and had been 

 well manured with dung, and prepared with the 

 ashes of sea-weed and lime, in places that seemed 

 to require such a dressing. The seed was sown 

 on the 29th of January, two bushels per acre, and 

 and was harvested the 16th of August. The ave- 

 rage produce was 48 bushels of 62 lbs. each. 

 This produced of fine tlour 2,402 lbs., pollard 126 

 lbs. and of bran 416 lbs. The esiimated clear 

 profit of an acre of this wheat was £15 6s. 9d. 



The next variety in quality ancl value was the 

 Jersey Dantzic, but known in ditferenl places by 

 various names. This wheal has a smooth chaH',and 

 is not liable to smut. It ripens a week earlier than 

 the velveteen ; but in a wet warm season is consi- 

 dered subject to rust. The produce ol an acre of 

 this wheat was 4.3i bushels, with 430 lbs. of chaff, 

 and 4,681 lbs. of straw. Eighteen pounds of the 

 flour made a loaf of 25^ lbs. weight, thus proving 

 its value for making bread, as absorbing and com- 

 bining with nearly one-hall' Its weight of water. 

 The average profit per acre of this wheat is esti- 

 mated at £ 12 14s. 6(/. 



The third variety was the Whitlington, which 

 was sown in drills three inches apart, on land that 

 had borne potatoes the previous year, subsequently 

 to which it hud been dressed with lime atid sea- 

 weed ashes. The vvlieat was 29 days coming 

 up, but the crop was abundant, the straw being 

 generally six (eet, and some of it seven feet in 

 height. It ripens some ten days later than the 

 Dantzic wheat, but does not degenerate. The 

 average produce per acre was 33 bushels, with 

 483 lbs. of chaff', and 7,786 lbs. of straw ; the lat- 

 ter being greater in amount than in any other 

 species but one. There were obtained from one 

 acre 1,454 pounds of flour, 477 lbs. of bran, and 

 47 lbs. of pollard. "The bread made from it is 

 dark, but it keeps well lor several days." The 

 profits cf this wheat per acre are estimated at £ 12 

 lis. 



The fourth variety noticed was the Talavera 

 Bellevue, sown on the 3d of February on a liijht 

 rich loamy soil, 3 bushels per acre, in drills. The 

 seed being very large an extra quantity is required. 

 It is hardy, appearing above the ground in 25 

 days ; and is no more subject to disease than 

 the generality of white wheats. On account 

 of the weight of the ear this wheat is liable 

 to lodge, or be driven down by the wind. The 

 produce was 52 bushels per acre, or 3,172 lbs. of 



grain, 282 lbs. of chaff, and 6,480 lbs, of straw. 

 There were 2,485 lbs. flour,38 lbs. ofpollard,and 588 

 Ills, of bran. This wheat makes a fine while bread. 

 The profits per acre was estwiiated at £ 16 Is. 



Some other kinds were noticed, as the Golden 

 Drop, veiy productive ; the Common Prolific, a 

 coarse wheat ; and Brown's i-'roiific, a good wheat 

 on soils suitable to iis growth ; but all, in the opin- 

 ion of Col. Le C, yielding in value to the lour 

 first varieties named. From the amount stated 

 as the average of the crops, it would not seem to 

 exceed that of many fields in the Genesee country; 

 though the general average in E ngland is far 

 greater than in the United States. Of the four 

 varieties prelerred, the Whitlington, from which 

 so much lias been expected in this country, stands 

 the lowest in the scale of productiveness. From 

 what we had heard of the quality of the berry of 

 this wheat, as exhibited in the species imported by 

 Mr. Thorburn, we were not prepared to find it a 

 wheat that would make 'dark bread,' which it 

 seetns is ihe fact. The incidenlal remarks on the 

 time of sowing these wheals, and the period elaps- 

 ing belbre vegetation, will explain in part the 

 mistake into which the purchasers of the Whit- 

 lington wheat have fallen in this country, in sup- 

 posing it to he a spring wheat in one sense of the 

 term. The English larniers sow wheal from Sep- 

 tember to April ; and the wheats sown during the 

 winter, as they do not veiietate or come forward 

 till March, are called spring wheats, in distinction 

 from those sown in September or October, and 

 vegetating immediately. The spring wheats, pro- 

 perly so called, are there usually sown in A[)ril, 

 The average temperature ol'Greal Britain is much 

 lower than with us, consequently grain of all 

 kinds ripen more slowly, and ihe harvest is pro- 

 portionably later than with us in the United States. 



There can be no doubt that new and valuable 

 varieiies of wheat can be produced by skilful cul- 

 tivation ; and though it is not probable that all Ihe 

 most esteemed varieiies in Great Britain would 

 succeed well in this country, or prove as valua- 

 ble in our climate as in theirs, still we think welt 

 of the efforts made to introduce the most ap- 

 proved kinds, and do not question that our farmers 

 will find their interest in so doing. In all attempts 

 10 cultivate English wheat in this country, how- 

 ever, the difference between our seasons and theirs 

 must be borne in mind, or ihe sowing will take 

 place at improper times, and certain disappoint- 

 ment be the result to the cultivator. 



EFFECT OF PUMPKIN SEEDS ON ANIMALS. 

 From tlie Maine Farmer. 



il/r. Editor: — I have heard it remarked that if 

 cows were fed with pumpkins freely, their milk 

 was lessened in quantity, or tj.iereby diminished. 

 I doubled the ftct; but if it was so I supposed that 

 they produced flesh, or caused the animal to run to 

 lat. A person near ine observed that the lijct did 

 exist when the seeds were not removed, nor did 

 they produce flesh as I had supposed. Said he,it is a 

 known liict that pumpkin seeds have a very great 

 effect on the urinary vessels. We all know that 

 they are used medicinally for this purpose. And 

 such is their power, that they cause such juices of 

 the system as naturally run to milk or flesh to pass 



