WHEAT, 



147 



LETTER XXXV. 



Western Region, August, 1820. 

 IVIy Dear Sir, 



I FIND that my letters have unexpectedly at- 

 tracted so much attention, that I consider it ex- 

 pedient not only to change the place of my resi- 

 dence, but to coaceal it under some general de- 

 nomination. In passing along the main street of 

 Canandaigua I overheard some boys say — there 

 goes Hihernicus, and 1 assure you that my diffi- 

 dence took the alarm, and I soon resumed my er- 

 ratic life. 1 am now one of the nomades, without 

 any fixed habitation, wandering from place to 

 place, and collecting new ideas and feelings 

 wherever they are to be found. 



In the district of country called Rome, a spe- 

 cies of wheat, or triticum, was shown to me as in- 

 digenous. The novelty of the idea pleased me 

 so much, that I pursued the discovery through all 

 its labyrinths and ramifications. 



Some years ago, it was discovered in a wet soil 

 and in a beaver meadow, near Western, and also 

 in a swamp covered with woods, near Rome. Its 

 stalk is more compact, and its leaves larger, than 

 that of the common wheat. Its height is also 



