THE WHEAT CROP. 15 



Rivet, Common. Ears smaller and less compact than 

 the next variety; awns stay on longer; grain long and 

 flinty; heavy cropper, but being somewhat later at 

 harvest than the Cone Rivet, is only suited for early 

 districts. 



Rivet, Cone. Ears white and velvety, square and com- 

 pact; grain whitish yellow, and larger than the Com- 

 mon Rivet ; straw bold, long, and stout ; generally hardier, 

 and less liable to diseases ; sample poor in quality ; yield 

 very productive. 



Egyptian. Ear woolly ; straw long, stiff, and filled with 

 pith ; differs from the other varieties of Turgid wheats by 

 the form of its ear, the lower florets being elongated, and 

 forming in appearance distinct ears. This is the variety 

 so frequently met with under the name of "Mummy 

 Wheat/' It is, like the others, a very productive sort, but 

 of a like inferior quality. 



At the Exhibition of 1851 specimens were exhibited of 

 Hybrid Wheats, obtained by the systematic crossings of 

 different known varieties, and prize medals were awarded 

 to the successful experimenters. 1 " The specimens excited 

 great interest, from the importance of the process in other 

 departments of the vegetable kingdom, and the known 

 difficulty of hybridizing the cerealia- in particular. This 

 arises from the great care required to extract unexpanded 

 anthers from one parent, and to replace them with the 

 pollen of another preventing, at the same time, the stig- 

 mas to be fertilized from receiving any other pollen than 

 that artificially applied, and guarding them afterwards 

 from the attacks of birds, and a variety of disturbing 

 operations. The result appears in most cases to be an 

 offspring stronger than either parent." (Jury Report on 

 Class III.) 



In discussing the agricultural relations of wheat, the 



1 Mr. Maund, of Worcester, and Mr. Hugh Raynbird, of Basinsstokc. 



