WHEAT. 81 



or bearded, and the beardless wheats, change and 

 run into each other in different soils and climates ; 

 and even the Egyptian is known to change to the 

 single-spiked common plant." — {Encyc. Amer.) On 

 the contrary, the spelt and one grained have never 

 been known to change their peculiar characters ; 

 and the spelt in particular, by the nature of its ad- 

 hering husk, appears as distinctly marked as rice or 

 barley. 



Adapted to all the temperate countries and all the 

 elevated regions of the torrid parts of the globe — 

 possessing the greatest quantity of nutritive matter 

 to be found in any vegetable or animal substance — 

 affording a substance by nature superior to anything 

 else for the composition of bread — if these qualities 

 can entitle any single plant to the preference and 

 cultivation of man, that preference must belong to 

 wheat. Through the whole of Europe, except the 

 extreme north, in China, Asia Minor, Syria, Persia, 

 the north and south of Africa, and almost the whole 

 of North and South America, wheat is grown to a 

 greater or less extent, nothing but extreme heat or 

 extreme cold opposing effectual barriers to its culti- 

 vation. 



The most permanent varieties of cultivated wheat 

 are the red and white berried, and the spring wheat, 

 the berry of which is usually red. " Winter wheat 

 sown in the spring will ripen in the following sum- 

 mer, though the produce of succeeding generations 

 of spring-sown wheat is found to ripen better." — 

 {Encyc. Amer.) We have doubts, however, as to the 

 entire correctness of this statement ; as in several 

 experiments which have fallen under our knowl- 

 edge, winter wheat sown in the spring did not come 

 to maturity. To ensure its ripening the first season, 

 it appears necessary that germination should be 

 commenced previous to sowing, as the period, if 

 sown as spring wheat usually is. does not seem long 

 enough for winter wheat to perfect the process of 



II.— a 



