390 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



the blades are retarded, which gives time for 

 the roots to strengthen. We read in the 

 Memoirs of the Academy of Stockholm, that 

 it is observed that the wheat which has pass- 

 ed the winter beneath beaten or trodden 

 snow, yields the finest and most abundant 

 harvest. It would be useful to try the ex- 

 periment of rolling a part of a field of wheat 

 when covered with snow ; as it seems pro- 

 bable that the frost would, in that case, 

 sooner penetrate to the corn than when the 

 snow T remained untrodden. 



The quality of wheat is known by its 

 weight, bright colour, and compact and per- 

 fect shape. When damped to make it swell, 

 it obtains a dull w^hitish cast ; and it is re- 

 markable, that corn is so much heavier than 

 water, that twelve bushels of it dry, w 7 ill 

 w^eigh forty pounds more than the same 

 quantity that has been damped. M. Duhamel 

 invented a curious kind of granary for pre- 

 serving corn, a description of which may 

 be found in his Trait e de la Conservation des 

 Grains, and which deserves the most serious 

 attention for its utility. 



The principal use of wheat is for 



" Bread, that decaying man with strength supplies/' 



Pope. 



