16 WHEAT. 



that 9 millions of people in England are fed on wheat, 1,500,000 on 

 barley, 4,500 on oats, 500,000 on rye, and 500,000 on peas and beans. 

 Thus the proportion to each person would be of wheat 8 bushels ; bar- 

 ley 10 bushels ; oats 10 bushels, or peas and beans 8 bushels. The 

 consumption of oats is thought to be underrated, there being more fed 

 on them by the diffrence of 18 millions of bushels consumed; and 

 those fed on peas and beans must also, we think, be similarly under- 

 estimated, as seen above. 



The quantity of grain raised This in France, annually, is estimated 

 at 497,769,640 bushels. 16 per cent, of this is consumed in seed, 19 

 per cent, in feeding animals, and 2 per cent, in distilleries and brewe- 

 ries. This and other facts we shall hereafter mention, show that not 

 less malt liquors but ardent spirits, are consumed in greater propor- 

 tions in France than in England and Ireland ; probably from 50 to 100 

 per cent, less, and with the exception of wines, 50 per cent. The 

 wheat grown annually in France is about 176 millions of bushels; 

 the proportion of grain, consumed therefore, by each person is about 

 10 bushels, or two more than in England; and the whole amount cf 

 grain raised is about equal to the consumption; but when deficient it 

 is imported from the Black Sea. In Hungary 105 millions of bushels 

 of strain are raised, which, supposing none to be consumed in seed or 

 distillation, afford but 6^ bushels for each of 13 millions of inhabitants. 



The annual expectations , for 25 years, from Dantzic, the depot for 

 the productions of Poland, are 1,602,640 bushels of wheat, and 540- 

 088 bushels of Rye. But, in 1830, there were exported from that 

 place 3,232,000 bushels. This port and Hamburgh are the two great 

 grain markets of the North of Europe. Spain exports wheat largely 

 to Great Britain; the amount in 1831 was 1,264,000 bushels. The 

 amount exported from Odessa, on the Black Sea, the only grain-port in 

 the south of Russia, is annually about 3,421,976 bushels. Little if 

 any is exported from Sicily, though once the principal granary of Rome. 



WHEAT (Triticum) c. 3, o. 2, Gramineae, sp 16-28. Ds. A. 4 ft. 

 This, of all the genus graminae and of the cereal grains, is universally 

 esteemed as the most valuable, although the comparative cost of its pro- 

 duction induces less attention to its cultivation in some countries than 

 to other grains. It is especially remarkable that it sustains the ex- 

 tremes of heat and cold, and it is therefore one of the greatest gifts of 

 nature. It is now the chief food of the people of Ameriea ; and, as 

 we have shown, is exported in large quantities, both in grain and flour. 

 There are several species and a still greater number of varieties of this 

 grain, most of which last are attributable to differences in climate and 

 modes of culture. All kinds are however distinguished in this coun- 

 try by the season in which they are sown, as Spring or Summer Wheat, 

 and Winter Wheat. 



