No. 1. Varieties, Properties, and Classification of IVheat. 



11 



scribed, and thus differeth from it, in that this 

 kinde hath many eares, coming forth of one 

 ^reat eare, and the beards hereof be shorter 

 than of the former kinde. 



"5. Brigiit wheat is like the second before 

 described, and ditferetii from it in that this 

 kinde is tinir K()uare, somewhat briglit and 

 shining, the other not. 



" [ think it a very fit thing (he states in a 

 note) too adde in this place a rare observation, 

 of tlie transmutation of one species into an- 

 other, in plants ; yet none that 1 have read 

 have observed, that two several grainas, per- 

 fect in each respect, did grow at any time in 

 one eare: the which I saw this yeare 1632, 

 in an eare of white wheat, which was found 

 by my very good friend Master John Goodyer, 

 a man second to none in Industrie and search- 

 ing of plants, nor in his judgment or knowl- 

 edge of tiiem. This eare of wheat was as 

 large and faire as most are, and about the 

 middle thereof grew three or foure perfect 

 oats in all respects: which being liarde to be 

 found, I held very worthy of setting downe, 

 for some reasons, not to be insisted upon in 

 this place." 



He also entertained the opinion, that, wheat 

 " 171 a 7noist and darke soile, degenerateth 

 sometime, lo be of another kinde." 



The singular fact mentioned above, relates 

 to the chapter on the disposition of wheat to 

 sport; but 1 have copied it as I found it. 1 

 principally wished to sliow how few varieties 

 were then known, and how indistinctly they 

 they were described. 



Modern writers have merely designated a 

 number of varieties, but no attempt appears 

 to have ever been made to class them correct- 

 ly, or to ascertain their relative values by 

 comparison. 



In Sinclair's " Hortus Gramineus Wobur- 

 nensis," forty-two of the cultivated varieties 

 are enumerated, as winter or sprin": wheats, 

 according to the arrangement of Linna?us, 

 which this illustrious writer has merely given 

 as a sort of botanical classification. The 

 Maixon Riistique, for 1835, enumerates thir- 

 ty-nine varieties ; and although a short notice 

 is given of them, it is by no means sufficient, 

 as their farinaceous qual ities are not explained, 

 nor is the classification, according to Profes- 

 sor La Gasca's* notions, as he called all beard- 

 ed wheats, spring wheats; though he admitted 

 many of them would be increased in produce, 

 by being sown as winter wheats, and that 

 many winter wheats might be made as late, 

 and produce as much as spring wheats. 



• Professor La Cisca, Curator of the Royal Gardens 

 at Madrid, whose extensive collections of the varieties 

 of wheat and botanical researches into its nature as 

 a plant, chiefly scientific and theoretical, led the author 

 to make practical experiments, on the growth and pro- 

 perties uf wheat as a nutriment, which have already 

 led to important resulte. 



It is a classification of wheat, pointing out' 

 the relative value, of varieties ; in their ()uan- 

 tity of meal, the weight of bran and jwUardfe, 

 with the weight of straw of each, and theu" 

 adaptation to soils which is now required. 



That this would be a desideratum, no one 

 1 imagine will deny; but that it re(iu ires time, 

 attention, and perseverence, to make such 

 discoveries, will also be conceded, when it is 

 stated that 1 already possess upwards of one 

 hundred and fifty varieties, or sub-varieties. 



FAULTS IN ORDINARY PRACTICE. 



It may be useful, first to point out the de- 

 fects, in the present practice of husliandry 

 with respect to wheat. The usual mode, with 

 the best farmers, is to purchase seed wheat, 

 where it is supposed to be clean, and pure, by 

 the last expression, meaning wheat of one 

 sort, or as little mixed as possible. But the 

 ordinary practice, with those who may be said 

 to supply the nation, is to procure seed wheat, 

 where it can be got cheapest, without regard 

 to mixture or purity, provided the sample is 

 good, and appears likely to grow; others do 

 worse, and imagine, that poor lean shrivelled 

 wheat, the refuse of their own stock, or some 

 coming from a distance, as a chanfre, is all 

 th:it is required to ensure a crop. Other care- 

 lessness, previous to, or after culture, need 

 not here be treated of, as that would equally 

 affect the best, as well as the worst seed. — 

 One observation it would be well to make, now 

 that the old practice of putting fresh manure 

 to land intended for wheat, is decidedly dan- 

 serous, inasmuch as it tends to produce much 

 grass or straw, and less grain, which grain is 

 also of a dark a nd coarse nature. Stable dung 

 should be applied plentifully to the prepara- 

 tory crop, and when lime or ashes are not 

 nnicurable for the wheat crop, the early and 

 free use of the hoe will supply thoir loss in h. 

 great measure; but none save decomposed 

 stable dung should be applied to wheat, if that 

 manure be necessary. This is merely stated 

 as a general observation, as there may be 

 soils which, without manure, would be wholly 

 unproductive. The experience of the writer 

 being at present chiefly limited to what are 

 commonly held to be good soils. 



The writer, in 1831, thought his crops were 

 tolerably pure, yet on Professor I^a Gasca 

 walking through them, he selected from them 

 twenty-three sorts, of which, some have since 

 been discovered to be three weeks later in 

 ripening, than others. Hence, I repeat, it 

 must be pbvious, that corn harvested in an 

 unequal state of ripeness, cannot be the best 

 for the purpose of making bread, — when th ■ 

 greater part of the grain has been reaped in 

 the state the farmer considered was fittest for 

 the miller ; whilst the lesser part haa beea 



