ON THE SMALL GRAINS 



Mr. Cook's researches have shown that there 

 are races of wheat growing wild in Southwestern 

 Asia that are prototypes of the cultivated wheat. 

 The resemblance of northern wild forms to the 

 cultivated varieties is striking. Yet the differences 

 are also conspicuous. The wild wheat has a looser, 

 less compact head, and some varieties have the 

 peculiarity of shedding the spikelets that hold the 

 grain individually, each spikelet being provided 

 with a barbed shaft which serves the purpose of 

 helping the grain to attach itself or even to bury 

 itself in the soil. All of which would be expected 

 in a wild wheat, which is found also in the wild 

 oats and rye as well as in rice. 



The kernels of some wild wheats are not large, 

 but some of them are of more or less edible 

 quality. 



A chief interest in the plant centers about its 

 seeming immunity to rust. And the question at 

 once arises as to whether it may not be possible to 

 hybridize these wild wheats with the cultivated 

 ones to secure resistance to disease as well as 

 unusual variation, vigor, and hardiness. 



Tests calculated to discover possibilities in this 

 direction are now being made, and there is every 

 reason to hope that they will have valuable results. 



It may be added that the wild wheat is not 

 universally self-fertilized. The stamens and pis- 



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