No. 2. Varieties^ Properties, and Classification of Wheat 



45 



The second sort was from a square, com- 

 pact variety of wheat, the grains being very 

 plump, round, of a coffee-like form, very thin 

 skinned and white. Tliere was a pale red in- 

 ferior variety among it, much thicker-skinned, 

 but without any perceptible external appear- 

 ance in the ear. 



The third, was a downy or hoary variety, 

 one of the " Veloates" of the French and 

 "Triticum Koeleri" of Professor L\ Gasca; 

 a velvetty or hoary sort, which is supposed 

 to be very permanent in its duration, as re- 

 lates to keeping pure. I found, moreover, that 

 there were a few red grains, some yellow, and 

 some liver-colored sorts among this, in small 

 proportions it is true, but being of prolific 

 habits, subsequent experience has taught, that 

 they would soon have destroyed the purity of 

 the crop, if cultivated without constant atten- 

 tion. 



The fourth selection was from a variety of 

 red ear with yellow grains, more peaked than 

 the "Golden Drop;" these were all plump and 

 well grown, but though of productive habits, 

 afford less flour and more bran than the white 

 varieties. I discovered a red variety among 

 it, bearing white grains, which I suspect to 

 be very prolific and hardy. I gave a sample 

 of it to Sir John Sinclair, who greatly en- 

 couraged mo to prosecute my researches, as 

 being of tlie highest importance. There were 

 also red ears, bearing liver-colored grains, but 

 these were chiefly lean and ill-grown. 



I generally, but not invariably, found, that 

 the grain of white wheat was the plumpest, 

 or possessing the greatest specific gravity, or 

 largest quantity of meal, a subject to which I 

 shall devote a short chapter. 



The aspect of the grain in that dry season, 

 led me to suspect, that white sorts of wheat 

 will succeed best on dry soils and in warm 

 climates, and that red and yellow, or the dark- 

 er colored, prefer wet seasons or moist soil.s. 



The care I took in making these selections, 

 and the great number of sorts I found, of all 

 shades and colors, forming varieties and sub 

 varieties, as they are named by Professor La 

 Gasca, confirmed my conviction, that the on- 

 ly chance of having pure sorts, was to raise 

 them from single grains, or single ears. 



It is but fair to add, that even the pains I 

 took in making those first selections, amply 

 rewarded my labors, as the produce of my 

 crops was increased from an average of about 

 twenty-three or twenty-five bushels an acre, 

 to about thirty- four, and since I have raised 

 wheat from single ears or carefully selected 

 sorts, I have increased my crops to between 

 forty and fifty bushels the acre. Hence, I 

 have no doubt, that with extreme care, in ob- 

 taining the best and most suitable sorts of 

 wheat, that land in high tilth, with fine cul- 



vation, may be made to produce sixty or sev- 

 enty bushels the acre. 



Columella, while recommending much at- 

 tention to be paid in choosing seed, says: " I 

 have this further direction to give, that, wh«'n 

 tiie corns are cut down, and brought into the 

 threshing floor, we should even then think of 

 making provision of seed for the future seed- 

 time ; for this is what Celsl's says — " where 

 the corn and crop is but small, we must pick 

 out the best ears of corn, and of them lay up 

 our seed separately by itself." 



" On the other hand, when we shall have a 

 more plantiful harvest than ordinary, and a 

 larger grain, whatever part of it we thresh 

 out, must be cleansed with the sieve ; and 

 that part of it, which, because of its bulk and 

 weight, subsides, and falls to the bottom of 

 the sieve, must always be reserved for seed; 

 for this is of very great advantage, because 

 unless such care be taken, corns degenerate, 

 though more quickly indeed in moist places, 

 yet they do so also in such as are dry. Nor 

 is there yet any doubt, but that from a strong 

 seed, there may be produced that which is not 

 strong; but that which at first grew up small, 

 it is manifest can never receive strength, and 

 grow large ; therefore Virgil, as of other 

 things, so of this particular concerning seeds, 

 has reasoned excellently, and expressed him- 

 self in this manner: — 



" I've seen the largest seeds, tho' view'd with care, 

 Degenerate, unless the industrious hand 

 Did yearly cull the largest. Thus all things. 

 By fatal doom, grow worse, and by degrees, 

 Decay, forc'd back into their primevous state." 



Thus, we perceive, the Romans, at the pe- 

 riod of the Christian era, were urged to be 

 careful in the selection of their seed wheat 



A FIRST COMPARATIVE EXPERIMENT. 



Perceiving that there were so many varie- 

 ties of wheat of similar external appearance, 

 as even to baffle the experienced eye of Pro- 

 fessor La Gasca, who once more obligingly 

 pointed out several varieties of different co- 

 lors, which he suspected to be the most pro- 

 ductive; I proceeded to put into practice what 

 had occurred to me, to be the only secure 

 mode, to ensure the growth of pure sorts of 

 wheat; namely, to grow them from single 

 grains, or from single ears, and to follow up 

 the plan, by afterwards sowing only the pro- 

 duce of the most productive, so as to form a 

 stock. 



Hence at the same lime, that I grew the 

 sorts selected by the eye, in a field, drilled 

 near other corn, in order to secure them from 

 the birds, thus greatly to improve the purity 

 of ray general crops, I adopted the following 



