48 



THE WHEAT OULTURIST. 



able to cultivate, than a variety which affords a larger 

 percentage of bran. 



6. Hardiness in winter. Yery few farmers in our 

 country recognize this characteristic of wheat. Either 

 they do not believe it, or they have not given the sub- 

 ject sufficient thought to satisfy their minds, that one 

 kind of wheat may produce tender plants that the cold 

 weather will destroy, while the plants of another variety, 

 growing in the same soil, will not be injured by the cold 

 weather. I consider this characteristic of wheat one of 

 the most excellent features that can be named in any va- 

 riety of winter grain. 



Let me not be misunderstood on this point. 1 do 

 not mean that the young plants of a hardy variety will 

 not be lifted out by the freezing and thawing of wet 

 ground, while the plants of a tender variety will be de- 

 stroyed by the upheaval of the surface of the land. That 

 is not my idea. I^o wheat plant can resist the action 

 of the frost in heaving out the roots, when wet ground 

 freezes and thaws. But, what I desire to be understood 

 on this point is, that on dry land, which is naturally 

 dry, or has been made so by under-draining, the plants 

 of one variety of wheat will endure the rigors of winter 

 without injury, while those which sprang from another 

 variety of wheat sowed at the same period, will experi- 

 ence such serious injury by the cold weather — not by 

 being lifted out by the frost — that the product of grain 

 will not be half a crop. 



A farmer can determine by observation whether a 

 wheat plant has been lifted out of the soil by the 

 frost, or whether the dead or injured stems and leaves 

 remain as they grew. If wheat plants die without being 

 lifted out by the frost, the evidence is conclusive that 



