Book VI. WHEAT. 813 



5009. To procure new varieties of wheats, the ordinary mode is to select from a field 

 a spike or spikes from the same stalk, which has the qualities sought for ; such as larger 

 grains, thinner chaff, stiffer straw, a tendency to earliness or lateness, &c. ; and picking 

 out the best grains from this ear or ears, to sow them in suitable soil in an open airy 

 part of a garden. When the produce is ripe, select the best ears, and from these the 

 best grains, and sow these, and so on till a bushel or more is obtained, which may then 

 be sown in a field apart from any other wheat. In this way, many of the varieties of 

 our common winter wheat have been obtained ; as the hedge-wheat which was reared 

 from the produce of a stalk found growing in a hedge in Sussex, by one Wood, about 

 1790. Other varieties have assumed their distinctive marks from having been long 

 cultivated on the same soil and climate, and take local names, as the Hertfordshire red, 

 Essex white, &c. 



5010. Marshall, (Yorkshire) mentions a case in which a man of accurate observation, having in a piece 

 of wheat perceived a plant of uncommon strength and luxuriance, diffusing its blanches on every side, 

 and setting its closely-surrounding neighbours at defiance, marked it ; and at harvest removed it sepa- 

 rately. The produce was 15 ears, yielding 604 grains of a strong-bodied liver-coloured wheat, differing, in 

 general appearance, from everv other variety he had seen. The chaff was smooth, without awns, and of 

 the colour of the grain ; the straws stout and reedy. These 60-1 grains were planted singly, nine inches 

 asunder, tilling about 40 square yards of ground, on a clover stubble, the remainder of the ground being 

 sown with wheat in the ordinary way; by which means extraordinary trouble and destruction by birds 

 were avoided. The produce was two gallons and a half, weighing 20|lbs. of prime grain for seed, besides 

 some pounds for seconds. One grain produced So ears, yielding 1235 grains ; so that the second year's pro- 

 duce was sufficient to plant an acre of ground. What deters farmers from improvements of this nature is 

 probably the mischievousness of birds; from which at harvest it is scarcely possible to preserve a small 

 patch of corn, especially in a garden or other ground situated near a habitation ; but by carrying on the 

 improvement in a field' of corn of the same nature, that inconvenience is got rid of. In this situation, 

 however, the botanist will be apprehensive of danger from the floral farina of the surrounding crop. 

 But from what observations Marshall has made he is of opinion his fears will be groundless. No evil of 

 this kind occurred, though the cultivation of the above variety was carried on among white wheat. 



5011. But the most systematic mode of procuring new varieties, is by crossing two sorts, as in breeding; 

 that is, bv impregnating the female organs of the blossoms of one ear with the fecundating matter or 

 pollen of the male organs of the blossom of another variety of a different quality. Thus, supposing a 

 farmer was in the habit of cultivating a very good variety, which he wished to render somewhat earlier, 

 let him procure in the blossoming season, from a verv earlv soil, some spikes of an early sort just coming 

 into blossom ; and let him put the ends of these in water, and set them in the shade so as to retard their 

 fullv blossoming till the plants he has destined to become the females come into flower. Then let him cut 

 out'all the male organs of the latter, before they have advanced so far as to impregnate the stigma; and, 

 having done this, let him dust the stigma with the blossoming ears of the early or male parent. The 

 impregnated stalks must then be kept apart from other wheats that the progeny may be true. When the 

 grains ripen, let him sow the best; and from the produce, when ripe, select the earliest and finest spikes 

 for seed. Let him sow these, and repeat the choice till he procures a bushel or two of seed. This oper- 

 ation has been successfully performed bv T. A. Knight (1633) ; and though it may be reckoned too delicate 

 for farmers in general, it will be looked'on by the philosophical agriculturist as not improbably leading to 

 results as important as those which have attended the practice in the case of garden fruits and flowers. 

 The scientific farmer may consult on this subject Bishop's Causal Botany already referred to, the 

 Gardener's Magazine, and Saggio Botanico Georgico intorno I'liibridismo dclle Piante, by Billardi. Pavia, 

 1809. 



5012. The propagation of wheat by transplanting may be employed to expedite the progress of cultivat- 

 ing a new variety of ascertained excellence. To show what may be gained in time by this mode, we shall 

 quote from The Philosophical Transactions an account of an experiment made by C. Miller, son of the 

 celebrated gardener of that name, in 1766. On the 2d of June, Miller sowed some grains of the common 

 red wheat; and on the 8th of August, a single plant was taken up and separated into 18 parts, and each 

 part planted separately. These plants having pushed out several side shoots, by about the middle of 

 September, some of them were then taken up and divided, and the rest of them between that time and 

 the middle of October. This second division produced 67 plants. The e plants remained through the 

 winter, and another division of them, made about the middle of March and the 12th of April, produced 

 500 plants. Thev were then divided no further, but permitted to remain. The plants were, in general, 

 stronger than any of the wheat in the fields. Some of them produced upwards of 100 ears from a single 

 root Many of the ears measured seven inches in length, and contained between 6(1 and 70 grains. The 

 whole number of ears which, bv the process above mentioned, were produced from one gram of wheat, 

 wa6 31,109, which yielded three' pecks and three quarters of clean corn, the weight of which was 471bs. 

 7 ounces ; and, from a calculation made bv counting the number of grains in an ounce, the whole number 

 of grains was about 38d,840. By this account we find, that there was only one general division of the 

 plants made in the spring. Had a second been made, Miller thinks the number ot plants would have 

 amounted to 2< 00 instead of 500, and the produce thereby much enlarged. 



*50I3. In making a choice from all the species and varieties which we have named, the 

 thin-skinned white wheats are preferred by all the best British farmers whose soil and 

 climate are suitable for this grain, and for sowing in autumn. In late situations, and 

 less favourable soils and climates, the red varieties are generally made choice of; and 

 these are also generally preferred for sowing in spring. Red wheats, however, are con- 

 sidered as at least fifteen per cent, less valuable than the white varieties. No subvaricty 

 ever continues very long in vogue ; nor is it fitting that it should, as degeneracy soon 

 takes place, and another and better is sought for as a successor. Hence the only re- 

 commendation we can give, as to the choice of subvarieties, is, to select the best trom 

 among those in use by the best farmers in the given situation, or nearest well-cultivated 

 district. 



.5014. The soils best adapted for the culture of wheat, are rich clays and heavy loams ; 

 but these are not bv any means the only description of soils on which it is cultivated. 

 Before the introduction of turnips and clover, all soils but little cohesive were thought 

 unfit for wheat ; but, even on sandy soils, it is now grown extensively, and with much 

 advantage, after either of these crops. The greater part of the wheat crop throughout 



