ABOUT FEUITS, FLOWERS AXD FARMING. 133 



Selection of Seeds. — The varieties of Avheat, already 

 very numerous, are constantly increasing. No farmer 

 should be satisfied with anything short of the best kind of 

 wheat. Suppose an expense of many dollars to have been 

 incurred in procuring a now kind, if it yield only two 

 bushels more to the acre than an old sort, it will more than 

 pay for itself in the first hai'vest field. It should be observed 

 that diflerent soils require different varieties; and every 

 farmer should select, after trial, the kind which agrees best 

 with his land. 



A standard wheat sliould be hardy, strong in the straw; 

 not easy to shell and waste, prolific, thin in the bran, Mhite 

 in flour, and the flour rich in starch and gluten. The 

 earliness or lateness of a variety afiects its liability to dis- 

 ease. 



Much may be done by every farmer to secure a variety 

 suited to his soil from his own fields. Let a watchful eye 

 observe every remarkable head of wheat — a very early one, 

 a very long head, any which have an unusual sized grain, 

 or is distinguished for any excellent property. By gather- 

 ing, planting scj)aiatt]y, and then culling again, each 

 farmer may improve liis own wheat ten fold. Indeed it has 

 been in this way that several improved varieties have been 

 procured. 



Of spring wheat, the most valuable kinds are, Italian 

 Spring Wheat / bearded, red berry, white chafi*, head long, 

 bran thick, flour of fair quality. Tea or Siberian Bald , 

 bright straw, not long ; berry white, bald ; flour good ; 

 extensively cultivated in New England and northera part of 

 New York. Valuable variety. 



Black Sea Wheat. — White chaff, bearded, berry red, 

 long and heavy, bran thick, flour inferior. Ripens very 

 early, and seldom rusts or mildews. 



The following are also the spring varieties. Egyptian 

 Wild Goose or California. — Large and branching head, 

 bearded, berry small, bran thick, flour coarse and yellow. 



