584 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



wheat. Head very long, grain hard and heavy, 

 straw large and yet apt to lodge. This wheat is 

 remarkable lor its great forwardnesp, and can be 

 sown in the spring as well as in the autumn. It 

 has a variety which is red and beardless, and 

 which only differs Irom the bearded in these two 

 respects. I owe both to Mons. Durand of Metz, 

 a distinguished farmer. BU poulard blanc, while 

 poulard wheat. This grain belongs to the spe- 

 cies of large bearded wheat called poulards, the 

 grain of which is generally of an inlijrior quality 

 and but little esteemed. But the white poulard 

 is decidedly better in this respect than the rest, 

 while at the same time, it has with (hem the 

 merit of being very productive, boih in grain 

 and straw, and is more hardy than the finer 

 wheat. Its straw is full and hard. J3U bleu 

 conique, conical blue wheat, is one of this same 

 species of poulards, and is distina^uished lor the 

 great size of its grain and the abundance o( its 

 yield. Ble de miracle, Trltkam, compositum, 

 or Egyptian wheat, is remarkable for its branch- 

 ing head, that is composed of many heads united 

 'intone large head. It has a very large round 

 grain. Alihough this wheat has been at diffierent 

 periods very much extolled, and has the merit of 

 being very productive, the culture of it is but lit- 

 tle extended, because it is difficult to suit it with 

 a proper soil, and it makes a coarse and indifferent 

 :flour. It is extremely apt to degenerate and to 

 dwindle to a single head. The straw is full and 

 very hard. Ble de Pologne, Polish wheat, is 

 distinguished for the great length and size of its 

 heads, the meshes of which are of an extraordina- 

 ry dimension; it is also remarkable for the form 

 ■ of the grains, which are very long and as hard as 

 glass. Its appearance causes it to be called Po- 

 lish or Russian rye. This wheat is ol a good 

 quality, but I have always found it of a small 

 yield. It can be sown in the spring, although 

 autumn is prelerable; in the last case it fears 

 humidity more than the other kinds of wheat. 

 It is less exacting than the most of them in re- 

 spect to the quality of the soil that it requires. It 

 succeeds quite well on sandy lands suitable for 

 rye. The straw is long, full, and hard. Froment 

 de Mars, Triticum sativum vernum, spring wheat. 

 This grain is not cultivated as much as it de- 

 serves to be. If excessive rains, an inunda- 

 tion, or insects have destroyed, or very much in- 

 jured the fields of wheat sown in the autumn, or 

 if the farmers by an unfavorable and wet season 

 have been prevented from sowing their grain, 

 it results in a deficit sometimes considerable in 

 the crop of wheat, which could be obviated by the 

 different kinds of spring wheat, if their culture 

 was more general and extensive than it is. This 

 resource could the more easily be exiended be- 

 cause spring wheat will grow on much land too 

 light lor those kinds sown in the autumn. Among 

 the varieties of this grain we will name the fol- 

 lowing. Froment de Mars d epi blanc, sans bar- 

 bes. White beardless spring wheat, is the most 

 cultivated about Paris, but it is more frequently 

 found mixed with the following kin<l than pure. 

 ji epi blanc barbu, white bearded, is a little more 

 forward than the preceding. Rouge sans barbes. 

 Red beardless. A variety which I have received 

 Irom the north, and which appears to be very 

 pood. Carre de Sicile, red, short, stout and 

 beardless. Trimenia barbu de Sicile is Ibrward 

 and yields well. 



JBle Fellemberg, straw and head as long as in 

 the winter wheat. It is subject to shatter and for 

 that reason should be cut a little before it has 

 matured. 



BIk Pictet, is a variety of the preceding ; its 

 chaff retains the grain better and it is equal if 

 not superior in other respects. Ble d' Odessa et 

 de Taganrock have in the numerous experiments 

 made in France succeeded generally very well. 

 It is however difficult to class them, because most 

 frequently the parcels imported under these names 

 have been ibund to be a mixture of many varie- 

 ties. That which predominates resembles the 

 Trimenia barbu de Sicile. 



Ble de Cap, Cape wheat, has a nice, yellow, 

 h'ard and full grain. In my experiments in 1822 

 it withstood the drought better than alm.ost any 

 of the other kinds of wheat. 



These different grains should be sown in the 

 middle of April, and if necessary even on the first 

 of May, but they should not be sown so late as that 

 through preference. Those which have appear- 

 ed to succeed best when sown so late are the 

 white bearded, he Carre de Sicile and the 

 Trimenia barbu. For many years there has 

 been recommended under the name of ble de Mai 

 (May wheal) a variety of grains which are said 

 to be sown in that month with entire success. 

 Some comparative pxperimenls have proved to 

 me that these are only the spring wheats already 

 known, and 1 am convinced that we passes no 

 wheat exclusively adapted to late sowing and 

 which really merits the name of ble de Mai. 



Epeaiitre, Triticum spelta, spelt wheat,*' is 

 on account of its hardihood a useful species in 

 cold and mountainous regions, or in very tenacious 

 lands, where it succeeds better than any others. 

 Flour from the spelt wheat is superior to all other, 

 but the grain is very difficult to extract from the 

 chaff-. 



There is a spring variety which is esteemed in 

 some parts of Germany ; it is called Epeautre de 

 Mars. 



La petit Epeautre, Triticum monococcum, ia 

 equally remarkable for the facility with which it 

 grows on indifferent lands, even on those suita- 

 ble for rye. Il is the plant cultivated in some 

 cantons under the name ol'Jtiz sec, (dry rice.) 



Mais, Ble de Turquie, Ble d^Indie, Indian 

 corn. 



The utility of this grain for man and beast ia 

 well known. Corn delights in good ground, but 

 will grow tolerably on those of an inferior quality, 

 which however must be manured. It may be 

 planted li-om the end of April, to the last of May, 

 at pleasure, in straight rows about three feet apart, 

 and about two feet apart in the row. Some plant 

 it closer in the row, but then it is necessary to 

 increase the distance the other way. They give 

 it two or three workings, placing fresh earth about 

 the plant at each, and at the last they hill it up 

 entirely. They pull off the shoots and suckers 

 that come near the root. They cut the tops above 

 the last ear after the fecundation has taken place, 

 which is known to be the case when the pistils 

 which hang from the top of the ear, like a silken 

 beard, become dry and black. These parts taken 



* This is the principal wheat of Saubia and the north 

 of Switzerland, and is also a good deal grown in 

 Spain. 



