THE WHEAT CROP. 3 



to secure the necessary balance between their nutritive 

 constituents, before they could form the basis of a diet 

 equivalent to that represented by wheat. Wheat seems to 

 have been given specially to man as the fittest source of 

 supply of his daily food, the subordinate animals, com- 

 panions of his daily toil, and necessary for his existence, 

 contenting themselves, nay preferring either of the other 

 grains barley, oats, or beans when left to their own 

 selection. 



The wheat plant appears to have been known and valued 

 from the earliest periods. 1 In the Bible we have frequent 

 mention of it as being known by the Jews and Egyptians; 

 therefore we may fairly assign to it an Eastern origin. 2 

 Its range, however, is greater than that of most of our 

 other food-plants its cultivation extending from within 

 the tropics to wellnigh the limits of the temperate zone of 

 the northern hemisphere. 3 



This wide range of climate, which enables the inhabi- 

 tants of so many different countries to enjoy the advantages 

 of its cultivation, is occasioned by the numerous species 

 and varieties of which the genus Wheat is composed, some 

 being suitable for the climate of India, others for that of 

 Northern Europe, while all seem to thrive well in the 

 zones of intermediate temperature. If we look for the 

 principal wheat-producing countries in Europe, 4 we shall 

 find them to be England, France, Germany, Northern Spain 

 and Italy, Prussia, Hungary, Southern Russia, Poland, 

 and the countries bordering the Black Sea. In Asia, the 

 countries lying between the Black Sea on the north, and 

 the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea on the south, compris- 

 ing those regions mentioned in our Bible records, represent 



t 



1 Gen. xxx. 14. 



3 The original country of our cereals is referred to in Vegetable Kingdom, 

 P. 112, and ably discussed in Gardeners' Chronicle, 1844, pp. 555, 779. 

 3 Drontheim, lat. 63' 25" 1ST. * See Johnston's Physical Atlas. 



