26 



THE ^'HEAT CULTUEIST. 



4, 5, 6, 1 an awned glume and kernel is represented, 

 with the grain laid bare. Before thi'ashing-machines 

 were invented, farmers considered it an important chai*- 

 acteristic of wheat to thrash easily, and be free from 

 white caps. The old bald wheat, and the Hntchinson 

 wheat always thrashed easily. But the TThiteflint 

 variety furnished white caps in nntold numbers. But 

 now some wlieat-growers consider the Whit eflint variety 

 the most desfrable, as the kernels are enveloped closely 

 in the inner chaff ; consequently, the wheat midge is not 

 so apt to injure the grain as if the chaft" were more 

 open. 



How Kerxels of "Wheat Geemen'ate. 



"Lo I on each seed, within its slender rind, 

 Life's golden threads in endless circles \^-ind ; 

 Maze Tvithin maze the lucid webs are rolled. 

 And as they hurst, the living flames unfold : 

 Grain within gn-ain. snccessire harvests dweU, 

 And boundless forests slumber in a shell." 



The germination of a kernel of gi*ain, the manner of 

 the growth of the roots of the young plant and their 

 ramifications through the soil, the unfolding of plumule, 

 or stem, and the full and perfect development of the 

 ear and the full qoyw in the ear. all considered collec- 

 tively, constitute a wondei-ful mystery ! When we con- 

 sider what a very minnte and tender thing the genn of 

 a kernel of wheat is ; how easily a score of enemies may 

 destroy it, or how quickly some adverse infiuence of 

 cold or heat, or of both operating alternately, may de- 

 stroy the natality of the germ, it is really a wonder 

 that farmers are ever able to produce a single bushel of 

 wheat. 



The accompanying illustration represents a kernel of 



