148 WHEAT. 



greater, and except having short beards at the 

 apex, it is in other respects bald. It is said to re- 

 sist the power of frost, and to be proof against 

 winter killing. 



Is this wheat indigenous, or was it imported 

 and accidentally conveyed to the places where it 

 is found ? 



If the latter, why is not wheat found growing 

 wild in more cultivated paits of the country ? I 

 am persuaded that it is an indigenous plant; and 

 if so, it may be considered one of the greatest dis- 

 coveries of the age. It is the vegetable destined 

 by nature for this climate, and it casts light upon 

 the natural history of the most important of the 

 cerealia. -which has hitherto been enveloped in ob- 

 scurity. 



Wheat grows in the old world from Egypt to 

 Siberia, upwards of 30 degrees of latitude. Pen- 

 nant says that wheat will ripen as high as latitude 

 62 north, but so uncertain is the crop throughout 

 Sweden, that it is called the seed of repentance. 

 A species of wheat which is called Siberian, and 

 which has been found growing wild in that coun- 

 try, ripens in a latitude still more north than that 

 laid down by Pennant. Kaimes observes, that — 

 • ; Writers upon Natural History have been solici- 

 tous to discover the original climate of wheat, rice, 

 barley, Sec. (which must, from the creation, have 



