871 



f 



seq,). Wheat in many varieties is cultivated in the United States, 

 Canada, British India, Ai^gentine, Australia, Russia, Chile, New 

 Zealand, Roumania, Persia, Netherlands, Belgium and more or 

 less all over the Northern Temperate zone, the countries 

 specified being the chief sources of the commercial supplies. 



As a food-grain it is so well-known as to need no description. 

 As a food-crop in Nigeria it is said to be scarcely within the 

 reach of the poor class; but it is appreciated by the wealthy 

 for malcing a brown flour ; also used by the white residents for 

 making bread ■with or without the admixture of imported white 

 flour (Dudgeon, N. Nig, Gaz. July 31st, 1909, p. 156. Samples 

 of wheat from Kano and Zaria analysed at the Imperial Institute 

 were found to contain. Gluten 11»3 and 10-7 per cent., GHadin 

 5-9 and 6-3 per cent, respectively as compared Tvith 9*9 per 

 cent, of Gluten and 5 per cent, of Ghadin in a sample of North 

 Western Spring Wheat from U.S. America; Grain Merchants in 

 London valued (Oct. 1909) the Kano sample at about 36^. 6d, 

 and that from Zaria about 375. 6d. per 480 lb. c.i.f. and as the 

 result of milling and baking experiments it was reported that 

 the grain from Kano would find a ready sale in the United 

 Kingdom and that for quaUty it was not far behind '* Gluyas," 

 a wheat stated to be particularly suitable for cultivation in 

 British East Africa (N. Nig. Gaz. April 30th, 1910, p. 93; Bull. 

 Imp. Inst. 1910, p. 118; Col. Rep. Ann. No. 656, 1910, p. 33; 

 No. 687, 1911, p. 33) introduced from the Agricultural College, 

 Roseworthy, South AustraHa (Circ. No. 24^ Dept, Agric. Nairobi). 

 The greater part of the wheat sown in Kano is reported to be 

 obtained from the town of Begwai and neighbourhood in the 

 sub-district of Madowaikin of the Province, The wheat farms 

 are divided up into Komai in the same way as the onion farms 

 and watered by the same method of irrigation. The produce 

 of one Komi is worth about Id., it is sold by the mudu (a smaller 

 weight) at 2d. a mudu at harvest time, the price rising to 3^. 

 or more by the end of the season — one mudu should contain the 

 produce of two Komai, and a wheat farm of 600 Komai would 

 therefore give a gross profit of about £2 10^. or say, a net profit 

 of about £2 (Gepp, Report on the sub-district of Dan Isa : 

 N. Nig. Gaz. April 29th, 1911, p. 95, Suppl. p. viii). It is here 

 (Kano) recommended that the seed be sown in November or 

 December so that harvesting — five months or so later — may be 

 done before the rains begin (I.e.) ; but it is also reported that in 

 Kano wheat is grown as a rainy season crop, being sown in May 

 (Dudgeon, N. Nig. Gaz. July 31st, 1909, p. 156). Cultivated 

 chiefly in the north on riverbanks with irrigation (Dalziel, Hausa 

 Bot. Voc. p. 8). In Zaria wheat is frequently sown in October 

 and occupies land in the dry season which may have l^n under 

 rice during the previous rainy season ; goat manure is applied 

 to the field and it is irrigated from an adjoining river, or from 

 weUs, calabashes, or " shadufs " being employed to raise the 

 water to the channels (Dudgeon, I.e.). 



