CHAPTER XIX 



COMMON BREAD WHEAT 



Triticum vulgare, Host. Icon, et descr. Gram. Aust. iii. 18 (1805). 

 T. aestivum, L. (bearded). \ e P7 Q Qf - / T _ r .\ 

 r. *;, L. (beardless). I *' P/ ' 5 ' 8& ( ' 753) ' 

 7\ sativum, Lamk. Enry. Me*A. ii. 554 (1786). 



(T. aestivum, L. 

 = - T. hybernum, L. 



{T. turgidum, L. 



T. vulgare, Vill. ( = T. aestivum, L.). #w*. P7. </. Dauph. ii. 153 (1787). 

 T. sativum, Pers. 5jyw. P/. i. 109 (1805) : 



a. aestivum. (3. hybernum. \ j. durum. 



ALTHOUGH bread can be made from Macaroni (T. durum), Rivet (T. 

 turgidum), and other wheats, it is from Triticum vulgare that the world's 

 bread is chiefly produced. The peculiar physical quality of the gluten of its 

 grain specially fits it for the manufacture of spongy, digestible bread, 

 and in this respect it surpasses all other races. In addition, on account 

 of its great adaptability to a variety of climatic conditions, it is the most 

 widely distributed of all. More of this race is grown than of any other, 

 some forms of it being found in every country wherever wheat of any kind 

 is cultivated. 



Bread wheat is one of the most ancient of cereals, examples of ears of 

 grain in considerable abundance having been discovered in various parts 

 of Europe on sites occupied by man in Neolithic times and the Bronze and 

 Iron Ages. 



In the earliest periods the grains were distinctly smaller than the 

 forms now cultivated, but all grades up to the large plump grains near 

 to those of T. turgidum are met with in the later deposits. 



The most primitive of prehistoric wheats of this race appears to be a 

 variety hitherto found only in the Neolithic store-chambers at Lengyel 

 (Hungary) and described by Deininger under the name T. sativum Scythi- 

 cum. In this form the apex of the grain tapers to a narrow point, the 

 whole being pear-shaped, with little or no sign of a furrow on the ventral 



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