WHEAT. 



WHEAT. 



care was taken that the seed from which each 

 was raised should be the best and plumpest 

 that could be obtained. 



The first five columns need no explanation 

 beyond what is given at the head of each ; the 

 sixth, shows the number of grains lost from 

 casualties. If the frost had been the only agent 

 in the destruction of so many of the seeds, this 

 column might have been considered as a very 

 accurate index of the relative hardiness of each 

 variety. This, however, is not the case ; for 

 the havoc which the birds made must also be 

 taken into account. It was thought at the time 

 that more injury was sustained from the latter 

 cause by those varieties planted on the 21st 

 than by any of the others ; but this does not 

 appear to have been the case, for, if the great 

 loss sustained by these had been wholly owing 

 to the havoc committed by the birds, it is evi- 

 dent that the varieties marked Nos. 12 and 15 

 would not have been so slightly injured, while 

 Nos. 11, 13, 14, and 16 suffered so severely. 

 The figures in this column may, therefore, be 

 said to indicate with tolerable accuracy the re- 

 lative ability of each variety to withstand the 

 effects of a severe and changeable winter, such 

 as that during which the experiment was made. 

 The number of plants of each variety which 

 came to perfection is placed opposite the name 

 of each in the seventh column. This was as- 

 certained by pulling each as they respectively 

 ripened, and counting the plants of each before 

 proceeding to the others. In this way, by a 

 simple subtraction, the numbers contained in 

 the sixth column also were ascertained. 



When all the plants of any variety had been 

 pulled, the number of ears also belonging to 

 them was counted, and the results are placed 

 in the eighth column. 



By dividing these by 99, the number of square 

 feet which each variety occupied, we obtain the 

 number of ears in each square foot; and this 

 is placed opposite the name of each wheat, in 

 the ninth column. 



The average number of ears to each root, 

 ascertained by dividing the number of ears by 

 that of the roots, is placed in the tenth column. 

 This column shows the degree in which each 

 species possesses the important property of 

 spreading and shooting out stems, or, as it is 

 technically termed, of tillering ; and it will be 

 seen that they vary in this respect greatly. 



After having been pulled and dried, the wheat 

 was carefully rubbed out ; and, after the light 

 and imperfect grains had been separated, the 

 weight of the remainder was taken, and placed 

 opposite each sort, in the eleventh column. 



The thirteenth column contains the number 

 of bushels per acre raised from each variety. 

 As the quantity produced was so small, there 

 was some difficulty in obtaining the particulars 

 which this column contains. 



The mode adopted was this : The average 

 weight of several of the varieties was ascer- 

 tained, by weighing 8 pints of each, to be at 

 the rate of 64 Ibs. per bushel, some being rather 

 more and others less. The number of bushels 

 were then obtained from the weight of wheat 

 per acre, by dividing it by 64. 



The weight of straw, which is placed in the 



fifteenth and sixteenth columns, was ascertain- 



1122 



ed after the roots had been cut off, and after it 

 lad remained out sufficiently long to dry it 

 jerfectly. 



After the earth had been removed from the 

 roots, which had been cut off with about two 

 nches of the stem, they were weighed, and the 

 result placed in the seventeenth and eighteenth 

 columns. The object of this was to ascertain 

 the amount of vegetable matter left in the soil 

 ifter the wheat crcrp has been removed, and 

 he result greatly exceeds any conception of it 

 hat had been previously entertained. 



The inferences which, it is presumed, may 

 be drawn from the above details, are the fol- 

 owing: 



1st. With regard to the hardiness of the va- 

 rieties, which, as we have already said, may, 

 o a certain extent, be deduced from the parti- 

 culars contained in the sixth column, that they 

 may be placed in three classes. Nos. 5, 6, 8, 

 12, 15, 4, and 2 being the hardiest; Nos. 13, 14, 

 16, and 10 being the most delicate; and Nos. 

 1, 3, 7, 9, and 11 occupying an average station. 



2d. With regard to the property of tillering, 

 of which we have already spoken, that Nos. 12, 

 14, 16, and 1 possess it in the greatest degree; 

 that Nos. 3, 13, 4, 5, 6, 15, 8, and 2 possess it 

 in the least; and that Nos. 7, 9, 10, and 11 hold 

 a medium rank. 



3d. That with respect to the relative value 

 of each variety mentioned in the table, No. 12 

 is undoubtedly the best of any, in productive- 

 ness, and in being sufficiently hardy; that No- 

 13 is as undoubtedly the worst of any, as will 

 be seen by a reference to any of the columns ; 

 and that the others vary greatly, some possess- 

 ing nearly three times the productiveness of 

 others. 



These 16 different sorts of wheat, with the 

 exception of Nos. 13, 15, 16, which are beard- 

 ed, are merely varieties of one species of the 

 genus Triticum; and the circumstance of dif- 

 ferences existing among them, some possess- 

 ing three times the value of others, shows that 

 any variety is capable of improvement. This,, 

 indeed, is shown by many other plants besides 

 the wheat. The originals of the potato, the 

 carrot, and the turnip, were comparatively in- 

 significant and useless in their application as 

 food, and it was only by careful and repeated 

 cultivation that they were at length brought to 

 their present condition, and made to hold such 

 an important rank among the many nutritive 

 plants cultivated for the food of man and beast 

 It is supposed, then, and where it has been tried 

 experience shows it to be a fact, that, by first as- 

 certaining the best of many varieties of wheat, 

 and planting the finest and plumpest seeds se- 

 lected from the best sample that could be obtain- 

 ed of it, the last of a succession of crops, the first 

 of which was raised in this manner, and all the 

 others from seeds selected out of the produce 

 of the preceding harvests, would, at length, 

 afford a wheat of a more productive and valu- 

 able kind than has hitherto been used by the 

 farmer. The experiment here detailed is, then, 

 merely the first step in the process ; it merely 

 points out the best of the varieties which were 

 tried. The improvement of these by repeated 

 cultivation still remains to be effected. 



During the growth of the wheat, a journal 



