72 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. [March, 



those whose use would be fatal to animal life. Plants like 

 animals have their instincts and aversions ; and there is a secret 

 power, whose foot-prints are not visible to mortal observa- 

 tion, which controls every thing. This ordinarily places 

 within the reach of the plant, and directs its pursuit after that 

 peculiar nourishment, which its peculiar nature demands, and 

 teaches it to obtain from the earth, or the air, or the light, or 

 the rain, the particular elements which belong to it, and ar- 

 range them under such forms and modifications as constitute 

 its proper character, and, if we may so speak, its personal 

 identity. 



It is happy for us, that it is not necessary, in order to a suc- 

 cessful cultivation, to be able to explain these subtle mysteries 

 of nature ; but it would be folly or infatuation to disregard 

 actual knowledge and facts, which experience in multiplied 

 forms and places has fully determined, whether we are able or 

 unable to explain their causes and modes of operation. 



Varieties of Wheat.-— The plant of wheat, perhaps more 

 than any other, requires careful cultivation. Its history is 

 not known. It is classed in the family of the grasses, and 

 is supposed to have been brought to its present condition 

 by careful culture. This theory probably is mere assump- 

 tion, as it is not unlikely that it was in the beginning a 

 bread grain ; but without doubt careful selection and culture 

 have multiplied the varieties and improved the quality. It is 

 found under two forms — the flint or dark colored ; the white 

 or thin skinned. It is sometimes found bearded or the seeds 

 covered with long awns, and sometimes bald or without awns. 

 Some varieties are early, and accomplish their growth in three 

 and four months, while other kinds do not perfect their seeds 

 under a period of eleven months. Of these varieties, it is 

 believed, after careful observation, that the white and soft- 

 skinned varieties succeed best in dry soils and warm climates. 

 The red and flint varieties prefer a moist soil and a cool tem- 

 perature. The downy varieties are more exposed to suffer 

 from mildew from the circumstance of their retaining the mois- 



