Wheat 



5 



WHEAT GROWN IN SOIL MANURED WITH 

 PHOSPHATES 



districts. Although it is now little used, its cultiva- 

 tion is of great antiquity, as shown by the finding 

 of grains of this plant in the famous lake dwellings 

 of the Stone Age in Switzerland and Hungary. 



(2) Wheal and Spelts. The spelts are amongst 

 the grains which have been cultivated from the 

 most ancient times, and they were the chief cereal 

 of Egypt and Greece. They were cultivated by 

 the Romans and distributed throughout the Roman 

 Empire. The plant has decreased in importance, 

 but it is still of great value in the south of Spain, 

 as it is very hardy and can be depended upon to 

 give an average crop even on poor soils. Some of 

 the varieties of spelt have ears like those of ordinary 

 wheat, whilst others are bearded like barley. 



Another variety is the two-grained spelt, fre- 

 quently known by its German name of emmer. 

 Starch wheat or rice wheat are other popular names. 

 The ears are usually bearded. Long known in 

 cultivation, it has also declined in favour, and is 

 now principally grown in southern Germany, 

 Switzerland, Spain, Servia, Italy, etc., as a summer 

 grain. There are different races differing in the 

 colour of the grain, which may be white, red, or 

 black. Attention has recently been devoted to this 

 grain as, like the macaroni wheats, it thrives in the 



dry regions of North America where irrigation is impracticable. This subject is discussed 

 more fully below in relation to so-called " dry farming." The third group includes the 

 true wheats, and these may be sub-divided into four classes. 



(a) Common Wheats. This class includes all the most valuable kinds for making bread. 



Some have ordinary ears, others are bearded ; the colour and other characteristics 

 of the grain vary, and innumerable varieties, each with its own name, are 

 distinguished. 



(b) Dwarf or Hedgehog Wheats. These are low-growing wheats with very short but 



thick and strong straw. They are grown on poor soils, principally in the Austrian 

 Alps, Wurtemburg, Alsace, Turkestan, Switzerland, and Chili. 



(c) English Wheat or River Wheat. Although called English wheat this kind is but 



rarely cultivated in England, being chiefly found in the countries bordering on 

 the Mediterranean. The flour derived from it is not well suited to making 

 bread, and must be mixed with flour from the kind next mentioned. 



(d) Hard or Flint Wheat. The ears of this group of wheats are furnished with long, 



bristly awns. The grain is hard and contains a large amount of the substance 



known as gluten, which will be referred to later. Flint wheats are most important 



in Spain and northern Africa. They are of special interest as yielding the best 



flour for the preparation of macaroni, Italian pastes, etc. 



(3) Polish Wheat. This, the last member of the wheat group, has large, somewhat flattened, 



curious blue-green ears, and the straw is often almost solid instead of being hollow like the 



others. It grows into a large plant, the straw being four or five feet high, but only gives a 



small yield of grain. This species is supposed to have originated in Spain, in which country 



it is still cultivated on a large scale. 



We will now proceed to describe the general mode of cultivation of wheat. 



