5i6 CULTIVATED WHEATS 



its base should be prominently visible through the pericarp ; if, 

 on examination with a lens, the hairs at the tip appear few and 

 much broken, the sample has most likely been subjected to 

 rough treatment in order to give it an artificially bright ap- 

 pearance. 



The pericarp of fresh good grain is bright; in old seed it 

 is dull ; the sample should have neither musty smell nor bad taste. 



3. Cultivated Wheats. — With the exception, perhaps, of one- 

 grained wheat, none of the true wheats have been met with in a 

 wild state and their origin is unknown. 



Whether the hundreds of forms in cultivation are the product 

 of a single species or of several is also not certain. 



Three species are, however, generally recognised by the lead- 

 ing authorities, namely : — 

 ■ Species I. One-grained Wheat {Triticum motiococcum L.). 



Species II. Polish Wheat (Triticum Polonicum L.). 



Species III. Triticum sativum Lam. of which there are 

 three races as given below and an almost endless number of 

 varieties and sub-varieties. 



Species I. One-grained Wheat or Small Spelt {^Triticum 

 monococcum L.). — ^This species is of pale grass-green colour when 

 unripe and possesses a flat, short, compact ear at first sight 

 resembling two-rowed barley {A, Fig 167). The spikelets have 

 two flowers one of which is abortive the other produces a single 

 ripe grain. The flowering glume of the fertile flower bears a 

 long awn and the straw is stiff and almost solid. 



The grain is free from the glumes but does not fall out when 

 the ear is thrashed ; the rachis of the ear is brittle and behaves 

 on thrashing as the spelts mentioned below. 



One-grained wheat is sometimes cultivated on poor soils in the 

 mountainous districts of Spain, Switzerland, and Eastern Europe 

 but is of little practical importance. 



The yield is from 25 to 35 bushels of spelt grain pei 



