CHAPTER XXVI 



Wheat {Triticum saUpum) 



Wheat is a cereal grass, widely distributed over the 

 civilized world and of vast economic importance. 'It is 

 grown primarily for its grain, the flour of which is made 

 into various forms of human food. The by-products of 

 wheat are used as feed for Uve-stock. 



371. Antiquity of wheat. — The great antiquity of 

 wheat is evidenced by the fact that it has been found in the 

 prehistoric habitations of man. As far back as the Stone 

 Age one or two small-grained sorts of wheat were used by 

 the earliest Lake Dwellers of western Switzerland. The 

 Chinese grew the crop 3000 years B. C. The most ancient 

 languages mention wheat, although under different names. 

 It is generally agreed that the cultivation of wheat ante- 

 dates the written history of man. * 



372. Nativity. — The original habitat of wheat has 

 never been determined with certainty. The most gen- 

 erally accepted belief is that wheat once grew wild in the 

 Euphrates and Tigris valleys. That wheat has been found 

 growing wild in western Asia has been claimed by someTjUt 

 without conclusive evidence. 



373. Biological origin. — The biological orgin of wheat, 

 like its nativity, is somewhat obscure. Many believe that 

 our cultivated wheat traces back to the wild annual grasses 

 belonging to the genus JEgilops occurring abundantly in 

 southern Europe. ^ The Minnesota Station ^ points out the 



1 Dondlinger, P. T., " The Book of Wheat," p. 3. 



2 Minn. Agr. Exp. Station, Bui. 62, " p. 81." 



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