290 J)E«C'KirnVK KOTANV. 



it was the most iinportaut crop. In the western hemisphere wheat was not 

 Icnown until the sixteenth century. Humboldt mentions that it was accident- 

 ally introduced into Mexico with rice brought from Spain by a negro slave 

 belonging to Cortes, and the same writer saw at Quito the earthen vase in 

 which a Flemish monk had introduced from Ghent the first wheat grown in 

 South America. 



Cultivation. — Wheat is a true patrician ; it will not thrive upon scanty fare, 

 nor flourish without attention. It is what agriculturists call a gross feeder ; 

 it not only demands a deep, heavy soil, but the soil must be well tilled and 

 highly fertilized in order to satisfy this prince of the cereals. Without these 

 conditions it refuses to yield largely, but responds with liberal harvests to 

 generous cultivation. 



In the rich bottom lands of the Mississippi valley, the southern plains of 

 California, and the wheat-growing lands of southern Russia, nothing is needed 

 but to prepare the ground and sow the seed to insure a large yield ; but in 

 old and long cultivated districts the most careful attention to suitable fertil- 

 izers is necessary to secure even moderate crops. The yield per acre varies 

 from ten to sixty bushels. In the well-worn fields of the Atlantic states the 

 yield is frequently not more than twelve bushels, and thirty bushels is a very 

 satisfactory crop. In the rich alluvial soil of the central states the yield fre- 

 quently reaches fifty bushels, and sometimes sixty. The quantities vary with 

 soil, climate, and mode of cultivation. 



A notable case of high farming was brought before the court in ancient 

 Eome. A farmer was accused of sorcery for raising better crops of Avheat than 

 his neighbors. When the accused appeared before his judges, who sat in the 

 open air, he brought with him and exhibited his agricultural implements, supe- 

 rior in construction, his well-fed oxen, and his callous hands. Pointing to his 

 cattle and implements, he exclaimed : " Here, O Romans, are my tools of 

 witchcraft, which I employ to make my crops." His judges pronounced him 

 innocent, reprimanded his accusers, and advised them to follow his example. 



Use. — A bushel of wheat weighs 60 pounds and will make 47 pounds of 

 flour, leaving 13 pounds of middlings, bran, and waste. 



This grain now constitutes the staple food of most of the ci%ilized peoples 

 of the earth. The flour is made into bread, cakes, puddings, pastry, crackers, 

 biscuit, etc., and is so well known as to need no further description. The Jews 

 were acquainted with the making of leavened bread, which they no doubt 

 learned while in Egyptian bondage. When leavened bread was first used, 

 and who first made it, is nowhere recorded. Homer speaks of leavened bread 

 at the time of the Trojan War. Pliny states that there were no public bakers 

 in Rome until about 200 years before Christ. 



The straw of wheat is used for the manufacture of hats for both men and 

 women. The fine Leghorn straws are manufactured from the stalks of the 

 wheat collected while green, and bleached in the sun. Wheat is sometimes 

 used as a forage crop. A variety has been introduced from Japan which 

 seems to be very useful for this purpose. 



Marts. — The great wheat markets of the world are : Odessa, on the Black 

 Sea ; Riga, on the Baltic ; the North German ports ; Constantinople ; London 

 and Liverpool, in England ; Chicago, San Francisco, and New York, in the 

 United States ; and Toronto, in the Dominion of Canada. 



ORYZA, L. (Rice.) Spikelets 1-flowered, in compound panicles ; 

 flowers perfect, with 2 very small, bristle-formed glumes ; paleje 2 in 



