No. 7. Varieties, Properties, and Classijication of Wheat. 



209 



has a short straw, white and slight, it is also 

 little liable to shed tlie grain. Tiiat of No. 

 8, is still shorter, but fine, and excellent tor 

 fodder, indeed tliey appear to be amon<T the 

 very best, as cattle eat tiiem all greedily ; as 

 I have before observed, this last being a hoary, 

 or velvet eared variety, may not be suited for 

 a damp climate, as it retains moisture for a 

 considerably longer period than either of the 

 former .«orts — but on dry uplands it is highly 

 productive, and valuable in every respect. In 

 damp situations, the smootli eared sorts, both 

 white and red, I apprehend to be the best. 

 The Talavera I have raised from a single 

 grain, has a slight white straw; it is rather 

 apt to lay in rich soils, the ear being appar- 

 ently too heavy for the stem ; but a variety 

 very similar to it which was given me by 

 Professor La Gasca, that was sown on a poor 

 soil this spring, came very fine in the ear, 

 though it not being above three feet high in 

 the sWavv, enabled it to carry its head up- 

 right. Should it continue to possess this 

 quality in richer land it will be a great im- 

 provement in the variety ; this I shall be en- 

 abled to ascertain next season. 



Air. Knight, the President of the Horticul- 

 tural Society of London, has given some valua- 

 ble hints with respect to raising new varie- 

 ties from seed ; and has described the mode 

 of intercrossing them, by impregnating the 

 female blo.ssoms of one variety witli the pol- 

 len or fecundating matter, of the male organs 

 of the other, whi<;h if not done with some de- 

 gree of care and attention, being a nice and 

 difficult operation, may produce many varie- 

 ties of habits peculiarly liable to sport. I 

 imagine that the only sure mode of prevent- 

 ing such an intermixture would be to leave 

 only one female blossom on the plant to be 

 impregnated, thus insuring a single variety 

 of the precise quality required. 



There can be no doubt that with due at- 

 tention, the practice can be established as 

 satisfactorily as the success that has been met 

 with by those who have attended to the in- 

 tercrossing of Geraniums, now grown of all 

 shades and colors almost at will. 



CLASSIFICATTOV. 



The attempt to class the varieties of wheat 

 is necessary; it is a laborious and difficult 

 undertaking, which should be performed by a 

 more scientific person than the writer. But 

 as no one bas yet done .so, as a branch of 

 agriculture, in those plain terms which may 

 be intelligible, not to the botanist, or scien- 

 tific reader only, but to the great mass of 

 farmers, I shall risk the trial for those sorts 

 that are in usual cultivation. 



I leave to botanists the seven species of 

 Triticum, named in that very useful work, 

 Loudon's Encyclopedia of Agriculture, also 



the attempt at classification that is made in 

 Sinclair's very excellent book on Grasses, 

 neither of these works explaining what I 

 should consider to be the principal object in 

 view, the nature and real qiuilities of each 

 variety, as to their properties for making 

 bread. 



A gentleman who may be planting a gar- 

 den, is desifous of having peaches, figs, pears, 

 grapes, apples, even gooseberries, of particu- 

 lar seasons, flavors, qualities and colors; 

 these are all named, and so intelligibly 

 classed, that if the nurseryman deceives iiim 

 in one or two of them, he is set down as a 

 person who is not to be depended upon; yet 

 these luxuries which do not directly affect 

 the real prosperity of the country, are per- 

 fectly well understood ; but the nature of the 

 most precious of all those plants, which one 

 of the most profound writers Jias called "the 

 only produce of land which always, and ne- 

 cessarily, aff^)rds some rent to the landlord," 

 appears to have been overlooked — perhaps 

 because it was so plentiful and so diminu- 

 tive. If Doctor Franklin's adage, "take care 

 of the pence, and the pounds will take care 

 ; of themselves, is true," it is not less correct 

 to say to a husbandman, in the selection of 

 his seed wheat, " take care of the pecks, and 

 the quarters will take care of themselves." - 



To render the classification of wheat fvell 

 understood, it should he so clear and simple, 

 that any farmer should be enabled to state the 

 precise variety he wishes to raise, by apply- 

 ing to the seed merchant, a branch of busi- 

 ness which should belong to the corn trade. 



I should propose a classification as follows : 



BEARDLESS OR WINTER WHEATS. 



Class L White Wheats, Smooth Chaffed. 



2. do. do., Velvet Hu.sked. 



3. Red do., Smooth Chafied. 



4. do. do., Velvet Ilnsked. 



5. Yellow do., Smooth Chaflfed. 



6. do. do.. Velvet Husked. 



7. Liver do., Smooth Chaffed. 



8. do; do., Velvet Chaffed. 



BEARDED OR SPRING WHEATS, 



1. White Spring Wheat, 



2. Red Spring Wheat, 



3. Yellow do. do. 



4. Hoary do. do. 



The subvaricties should be given a number 

 and name, which number should be first add- 

 ed to the local names given to each, for 

 which one common name should be substi- 

 tuted. 



ARRANGEMENT. 



1st. The name of the wheat, and the par- 

 ticular soil and climate it may be suited for, 

 the proper period for sowing it, whether it 

 be liable to injury from drought, moisture, or 



