1 88 THE WHEAT PLANT 



in comparison with the area devoted to ordinary bread and macaroni 

 wheats. In districts in South Germany in which T. Spelta is extensively 

 grown small areas are devoted to T. dicoccum, in place of barley as a 

 spring-sown cereal, and a small amount is raised in Switzerland, France, 

 Italy, Serbia, Spain, and the United States. In some of these countries a 

 little of the free grain is utilised for human food, but the greater portion 

 grown there is fed in the husk to horses and other stock in place of oats 

 and barley. It is cultivated on a much larger scale for human food in 

 Russia and Abyssinia, and is also grown for the same purpose in moderate 

 quantity in India, especially on irrigated land in Madras, Mysore, Bombay, 

 Berar, and the Central Provinces. 



It was apparently grown in Egypt in small quantities about the begin- 

 ning of the nineteenth century, but is not found there in cultivation now\ 

 There are reports of it as a cultivated crop among the Kurds in the pro- 

 vince of Luristan in Western Persia (Haussknecht, 1868) and in Yeman, 

 Arabia (Glaser, 1891). 



I have no records of its cultivation at the present day in Asiatic Turkey 

 nor in China. 



Emmer will grow on soils which are too light to yield a good crop of 

 T. Spelta. The method of cultivation adopted for the latter is applicable, 

 however, to Emmer (see p. 326). It is more or less immune to rust fungi 

 and suited to warm, dry climates ; the majority of forms are rapid-growing 

 spring varieties, with erect caespitose habit and little power of resisting frost. 



One late variety with black glumes, however, is more hardy, and is a 

 typical winter form whose young shoots lie close to the surface of the 

 ground. 



The yield per acre varies between twenty-five and fifty bushels of 

 " spelt " grain. 



The grains are starchy and the flour obtained from them is especially 

 white and highly esteemed for the manufacture of the finest pastry and 

 cakes. As an addition to soup, they are superior to " pearl " barley or 

 Dinkel grain. A fine starch can be prepared from the flour. 



GENERAL CHARACTERS OF T. dicoccum, Schiibl. 



The young plants of all varieties except Black Winter Emmer have an 

 erect habit, with comparatively broad leaves, measuring 7-8 mm. across. 

 The wheats belonging to this race fall into two groups, viz. : 



1. Indo- Abyssinian Emmers ; all early forms, with four- to six-nerved 



coleoptiles, yellowish-green leaves, short straw, ears with brittle 

 or tough rachis. 



2. European Emmers, later in growth, with two-nerved coleoptiles, 



glaucous leaves, taller straw, and fragile rachis. 



