WHEAT. 



WHEAT. 



a portion of the flowers prove barren. It is I 

 generally, if not always, a spring-sown crop;! 

 grows strongly, and its stalks are nearly solid. 

 Bread made of its flour is said to be of a dry 

 quality. It is well known in commerce that 

 the incomparable Nuremberg and Frankfort 

 starch and flour are solely obtained from spelt- 

 wheat. The grain cannot be divested of its 

 husks by thrashing, and therefore requires to 

 be passed through a mill. It should however 

 be sown or drilled with the husks on. 



10. One-grained wheat, or St. Peter's corn 

 (T.monoccocum), PI. 2,g,is readily distinguished 

 from all the other wheats by its general ap- 

 pearance, in which it resembles barley. Its 

 spikelet consists of three or four florets, one 



-of which only is for the most part fertile, and 

 hence its name of one-grained wheat. The 

 fertile floret has a long awn. The stem of this 

 species of wheat is slender and rigid; and, 

 from being both hard and fine, the straw is ex- 

 cellent for thatching. It is allied to the spelts, 

 with which it was classed by some of the older 

 botanical writers. This species is principally 

 cultivated in the mountains of Switzerland and 

 other elevated regions of Europe, and in barren 

 soils. In consequence of its containing less 

 gluten than common sorts, it answers better for 

 being boiled into gruel and for being baked 

 into bread. The four-sided form of the ripe 

 ear is so regular, that it has the appearance 

 of being carved in ivory. It has never formed 

 an object of cultivation in this country, and 

 does not appear to possess properties to entitle 

 it to be introduced. 



11. Polish wheat (T. polonicum), PI. 2, c. 

 This species has long awns, and is distin- 

 guished from all the others by its long and 

 leafy calyx and corolla. It is cultivated in 

 Germany, in Poland, and in Spain. It 

 brought into notice, and partially cultivated, in 

 some of the counties of England, in the latter 

 part of the seventeenth century ; and it is said 

 to have been valued on account of its produc- 

 tiveness of flour. But, although it may be 

 possessed of this quality, its florets are often 

 infertile, and it does not merit a more extended 

 culture in this country. Unless sown sparing- 

 ly, it is apt to lodge, in consequence of which 

 the quality of the corn is impaired. 



Varieties. The minor varieties of any spe- 

 cies of wheat are not permanent in their cha- 

 racter, though, under given conditions, they 

 will remain unchanged for an indefinite period. 

 Under other circumstances, however, they de- 

 generate ; and hence particular kinds that were 

 once valued have now ceased to be so. The 

 best advice that can be given, therefore, in the 

 choice of varieties and sub- varieties, is to select 

 those which the practice and experience of the 

 principal farmers of the neighbourhood have 

 stamped as the best. Colonel Le Coutenr, one 

 of the best authorities on the culture of wheat, 

 has given us the result of his experiments and 

 great experience, upon four of the best pure 

 and improved varieties of wheat lately intro- 

 duced into England. (Journ. Roy. Eng. Jlgr. 

 Soc. vol. i. p. 113.) 



1. White downy. This excellent variety is 

 believed to be the same that is so well de- 

 scribed by Boys in his General View of the Agri- 



culture of Kent, as the " Hoary White," or " Vel- 

 vet-eared," said by him to have been much 

 prized by the millers, but then entirely lost. 

 The seed after being washed and steeped was 

 sown in drills 7 inches apart, at the rate of two 

 bushels or a little more to the acre. The wheat 

 was carefully hand-hoed in the month of May, 

 which caused it to tiller freely. The preceding 

 crop was potatoes. This wheat will withstand 

 the most severe weather. The season 1837 to 

 1838 was a very trying one, both as to wetness 

 and severity of cold, the thermometer having 

 -fallen to 18 below freezing ; but the crops of 

 this wheat raised by my neighbours were per- 

 fectly insensible to it, and of great produce. 

 This wheat is not remarkable for its early 

 maturity, though it cannot be called a tardy 

 variety. It is not subject to degenerate, and 

 if attention is paid to sowing the seed pure, 

 and annually, or even occasionally, varying 

 the manure intended for it, it is possible that 

 it may never degenerate. The only objection 

 to it is the huskiness or velvety ear, which in 

 damp weather is retentive of moisture; and in 

 snatchy seasons the grain is more apt to sprout 

 than the smooth-chaffed varieties. It is not 

 much affected with dust-brand; and when 

 pickled and limed, has never been found with 

 smut-balls. It is little liable to shed, even 

 when over-ripe, and will resist very heavy 

 gales without being laid or broken. 



2. Jersey Dantzic. The seed is described as 

 having been raised from a single ear, originat- 

 ing from seed procured from Dantzic, selected 

 from the finest " high mixed." It is, however, 

 suspected to be identical with some excel- 

 lent sorts, called in Sussex, Kent, and some 

 parts of Surrey, the "Chittums;" in other 

 parts "Pegglesham;" in Berkshire, "Trump;" 

 in Essex, " Hardcastle ;" in some counties, 

 "Old Suffolk;" in Scotland, "Hunter's White;" 

 and assuming several other names. This 

 wheat is not quite so hardy as the " hoary ;" it 

 is, nevertheless, considered sufficiently so to 

 succeed throughout the kingdom, excepting the 

 northern parts of Scotland. In rich soils it 

 tillers amazingly, and produces a longer straw 

 than the hoary, nor is it so liable to sprout in a 

 moist climate from being smooth-chaffed : in 

 very severe, moist, and stormy weather, it will 

 be laid sooner than the hoary. 



It ripens a week earlier at least than the va- 

 riety last described, and should be reaped 

 while the grain can be marked by pressure 

 from the thumb-nail, as it is rather liable to 

 shed if over-ripe, a disadvantage which the 

 hoary is peculiarly free from, as it is tenacious 

 to the ear. In the dry season this wheat will 

 afford a beautiful, clean, white straw, fit for 

 bonnet-making, or any purpose of thatching : 

 it is firm and tenacious. In wet seasons it is 

 rather subject to rust, which, under such cir- 

 cumstances, almost all wheat suffers from. 



3. Whittington Wheat. The seed was ob- 

 tained from Mr. Whittington himself, and was 

 a very fine, pure sample. The grain is large, 

 full, and plump, rather of a whitish-red cast, 

 and a little thick-skinned. The seed was 

 washed, pickled, drained, and limed, then sown 

 in drills seven inches apart, about three bushels 

 to the acre. When the seed is large, it is con- 



1119 



