S P R 



S P R 



provinces of that traft of country Bleds-tremo'ts, from the time 

 it takes between feed-time and harvtit ; that in Spain, it ia 

 called Trigo de Miirxo ; in Portugal, Trigo Tremes ; and in 

 Germany, Sommer IVhaitxfn ; according to the lanc^uages of 

 the different countries ; all of which names are faid to mark 

 in a diftnift manner the difference between this and the winter 

 corn of the fame fort. It has alfo been aflerted on the fame 

 authority, that fpring wheat may be fown in autumn, and that 

 if it (hould fnccecd, it will produce a beautiful fample, but 

 that as it is, like barley, a tender plant, a fcverefroll will kill it. 

 Some have, however, fuppoled it to be a native of fome part 

 of Tartary, but it is evidently the produftion of a warm cli- 

 mate, fuch as that noticed above. It has been claffed by 

 Ray, and probably others, as a dilHnft fpecies or fort of 

 wheat. In regard to its introduftion into this country, it is 

 commonly believed to have been introduced or brought into 

 it about the year 1773, or probably a littlp earlier, under 

 the names of Siberian wheat, Switzerland wheat, or ble de 

 Mars, as above. It is faid, however, to have been mentioned 

 by Harnfon, an hiftorian in the time of Elizabeth, though 

 he reprcfents ft as having been then only known to a few 

 hufljandmen or farmers. 



It has alio been faid that fpring wheat was known to the 

 Romans as a fpecies or fort diftindl from the common 

 autumn or winter kind, and defcribed as fuch by Columella, 

 who confidered and believed it very acceptable to the farmer, 

 when, in confequence of floods, rains, or other fimilar 

 caufes, the autumn or winter wheat was prevented from 

 being fown or put into the ground by him. And that the 

 Rev. Mr. Dickfon, in his " Hufbandry of the Ancients," 

 has likewife confidered it as well adapted to the wet cold 

 climate of Scotland, where, on account of heavy rains, and 

 other caufes, the farmers are not unfrequently reftrifted in 

 regard to the quantity of autumn or winter wheat that can 

 be fown or got into the ground. 



The writer firft noticed has, however, remarked, that it 

 does not appear from the older books on hufbandry, that 

 it was at any former period much grown or cultivated in 

 this country ; and that the more modern ones are in general 

 filent on the fubjeft of it : they mention, indeed, under 

 the name of fpring wheat, every kind of winter wheat 

 which will ripen when fown after turnips in the month of 

 February ; but little or nothing- is faid on real fpring wheat. 

 This, it is conceived, is probably the reafon why the real 

 fpring wheat has been fo htlle known, the cultivators of 

 land in general conceiving themfclves to be adtually in the 

 habit of fowing fpring wheat, when, in reality, tliey were 

 o;ily lubftitutiiig winter wheat in its place, have been little 

 mclincd to inquire into the properties or qualities of the 

 real fpring wheat, when they had an opportunity and the 

 means of io doing. 



The inquirer already noticed dates, on the authority of 

 an intelligent correfpoiident, that above thirty years ago, 

 the emprefs Catharine font a bufhcl of fpring wheat to his 

 majefty, which the king gave to Mr. Ducket, the cele- 

 brated farmer of Efher, in the county of Surrey, who cul- 

 tivated it for fome time, and fold a number of bufhels from 

 it for feed. Notwithltanding which, not a vellige of it 

 now, it IS faid, remains in all that neighbourhood. On 

 which, it may be obferved, that, as coming from Ruffia, it 

 might not be the bed fort of fpring wheat, of which there 

 are fo many varieties, as will be leen below : that a fmall 

 quantity, thus accidentally introduced into a dillrift, might 

 get into improper hands, and be given up from thought- 

 lednefs or inattention : that the dideience of price between 

 wheat and barley, coniideriiig the difference of produce, 

 was then fo incoiitiderable, as to induce farmers to give 



up the culture, not only of fpring, but even of winter 

 wheat : and that the introduftion of many other ufeful 

 objefts and praftices, befides that of fpring wheat, has at 

 firft many obftacles, difficulties, and impediments to contend 

 with. The late Dr. Walker, in a work noticed below, 

 has likewife obferved that this fort of wheat, or the true 

 fummer wheat, as he calls it, ii; a grain very little known 

 in this country, though much crown in the northern parts 

 of France, as well as in Jerfey, Guernfcy, and in other places. 

 It was tirft brought into Ayrfhire, in Scotland, from the 

 ifland of Jerfey, by John, earl of Loudoun, during fpring, in 

 the year 1766. And that, on being fown in a heavy clayey 

 foil, and upon one of a more early kind, in the former on 

 the 7th of April, and in the latter on the 4th of the fame 

 month, it was reaped or cut down on the 26th of September 

 in the firll cafe, and on the 4th of the fame month in the 

 lalt. In both inftances, it afforded ten Linlithgow bolls of 

 wheat, which are above forty Wincheller bufhels, upon the 

 Scotcli acre. When the grain was weighed, a boll of it 

 was found to be only two pounds lighter or lefs than a 

 boll of winter wheat. 



Spring wheat of the true kind, though fown fo late a* 

 near the middle of May, ha.; been found to become ripe at 

 the fame time with the autumnal or winter wheat, and that 

 there is no benefit gained by early fowing with it, as that 

 which has been put into the ground in April, has become 

 ripe as early as that fown in the beginning of the preceding 

 month. In its growth, it is faid by fome that it does not 

 tiller in the manner of common or winter wheat, but fhoots 

 up and advances immediately and direftly from the moment 

 of its appearance above the furface of the ground. The 

 grains or corns, which are fmaller than thofe of the common 

 winter wheat, become larger and finer by being grown on 

 better and more fertile land. It is fuppofed to fucceed 

 well on low fenny forts of land, which are apt to be flooded 

 during the winter feafon : and that it is highly deferving 

 of being tried in the mountainous parts of Derbyfhirc, 

 Yorkfhire, Lancalhire, and fome other northern diitrifts, 

 where little or no wheat is fown, the fituations and ex- 

 pofures being too cold and open for wheat fown in the 

 autumn to ftand the feverity of the winter frofls, thaws, 

 and rains, without perifhing and being deilroyed. It hat 

 been noticed, that though, under particular circumftances, 

 fpring wheat, when lately tried, has not always anfwered 

 perfettly well, yet that in many cafes it has fucceedcd to 

 a with, and that it is now the prevailing hufbandry in an 

 extenflve diftridl in the county of Lincoln : that the growth 

 of wheat has become more important and effential than ever, 

 fince it has become fo much more generally ufed as food : 

 and that the price now fo much better and more fully rewards 

 the induflry of the grower or hufbandman. All thefe 

 circumftances being taken into full coniidcration, no fub- 

 ftantial reafon can, it is thought, be affigned, why fpring 

 wheat fhould not be railed in every diftriA of this country 

 which is calculated for the growth and cultivation of fo 

 important a national refourcc in this fort of grain, and 

 without the poffeflion of which, it is indeed thought that 

 this country cannot be permanently independent of foreign 

 fupply. 



The writer of the above Inquiry Hates, that there are, it 

 is faid, about fifty varieties of fpring, or this fort of wheat ; 

 but that the kind or variety belt known in this country 

 has awns like barley, and hence that it u fometimet known 

 under the name of rough or IrardfJ wheat. Tito pickle or 

 grain in it is red ; but it has not to bold or full a fample 

 as winter wheat, yet it weighs better ; it is conJequently 

 preferred by all honeft millers, who know its nature and 

 4 L 2 value. 



