HILL WHEAT. 



cestors were dapeJ, were principally msule of these, and of 

 etlnj^o roots. 



The potatoes themselves were &old by itinerant dealer*, 

 chiefly in the neighbourhood of the Royal Exchange, and 

 purchased when scarce at no inconsiderable cost, by those 

 who had faith in their alleged properties. The allusions to 

 this opinion are very frequent in the plays of that age. 



Small seeds 

 called hill 

 wheat. 



Preduceti 

 spring wheat 

 of the ordinary 

 size. 



Came from 

 some part of 



India. 



Highly desira- 

 ble to lodrn its 

 origin, and 

 whether wild. 



Every anecdote that tends to throw light on the introduc- 

 tion, or on the probable origin, of plants now cultivated for 

 use, is certainly interesting, even though it is not quite per- 

 fect; I venture, therefore, to add the following. 



Seven or eight years ago, Mr. Lambert brought to me a 

 small paper of seeds, on which was written, " Hill Wheat ;" I 

 opened it, and found the seeds contained to be scarce larger 

 thari those of our wild grasses.; but when viewed through a 

 lens, they perfectly resembled grains of wheat. 



Of these seeds, he was so good as to spare me a few, 

 which I sowed in a garden, the remainder he sowed ; our 

 crops very unexpectedlj'^ proved to he wheat of the spring 

 kind, and the usual size, the grains of which were nearly, if 

 not quite, atj large as those of the ordinary spring wheat. 



On this, Mr. Lambert applied to Mrs. Barrington, from 

 whom he had received the seeds, for information of the 

 country from which they came; but she had, among the 

 multiplicity of seeds received by her about the same time, 

 forgot the exact history of them ; all she knew was, that they 

 came from India, but from what part of India, she did not 

 recollect. 



From the writing on the paper, ** IliU Wheat, ''^ it is proba- 

 ble they came cither from the Peninsula, or from the hilly 

 country, far within land from Bengal, as the province of 

 Bengal itrself is a flat alluvial soil, entirely level. 



The hill wheat, however, is no doubt known to some per- 

 sons, who cither are now in India, or have returned from 

 it into this country; and it is certainly a matter of some 

 importance to know, what thry can infonn us on the sub- 

 ject of it ; especially whether this wheat is a cultivated, or a 

 w lid plant ; as w.e shall, if the latter is the case, ascertain two 

 of the greatest desldtrata of cultivators; the country where 



wheat 



