READING APRIL 527 



A ' White Golden Drop ' is also met with possessing dull white 

 or light red ears and brownish-yellow grain. 



(v) Browick. — A variety with short very dense ears resembling 

 those of Squarehead, but possessing red glumes and grain of 

 moderate quality only. It is especially suited to damp, heavy 

 land, where it is often very productive. 



(vi) Squarehead's Master. — A red chaff Squarehead variety 

 with short very stiff straw. Well adapted for cultivation on land 

 in good condition where it yields very large crops. The grain 

 is of very fair quality. 



d. Ears red, glumes with velvety hairs. 



Varieties with these peculiarities of ear are comparatively few 

 and practically unknown in this country. 



Section II. Bearded varieties. — In these the flowering 

 glumes have long awns as in Fig. 1 70. Some of them are hardy, 

 but most are tender wheats only suitable for spring sowing, and 

 not much grown in England. 



They are usually grouped similarly to the beardless varieties 

 mentioned above. 



(i) Sheriff's White Bearded.^A winter variety sometimes 

 sown in spring. It has white ears and yields white grain of 

 medium quality. 



(ii) Beading April. — A rapid-growing variety, capable of ripen- 

 ing grain even when sown as late as April in certain favourable 

 localities. It has long, lax ears of reddish colour. The spike- 

 lets often contain four grains, which are light red and of fair 

 quality. 



This variety is apparently a slightly improved form of the Old 

 Fern Wheat. 



In all spring sown varieties the yield is inferior to those sovvn 

 in autumn. 



Climate and Soil. — For its full development wheat requires 

 a warm, somewhat dry, climate. 



In hilly districts the plants are small and the yield scanty, 



