WHEAT. 



3 



the year following ; but the latter is sown and perfected all 

 in one year. 



Much discussion has arisen amongst scientific men^ as to 

 the native country of the wheat ; the evidence however ap- 

 pears to be in favour of a district of Eussia in Asia^ inha- 

 bited by the Bashkirs^ where it is supposed the wheat-plant 

 has been found growing wild. This district is in the 

 Russian Government of Orenburg, and is inhabited by a 

 warlike race of men^ of Turco-Mongolian origin^ who are 

 admirable cultivators of various kinds of grain, and are 

 particularly celebrated both for their excellent management 

 of bees, and bravery in defending the Kirghiz steppe for the 

 Emperor. If this Tartar province is indeed the original 

 country of the Triticum vtdgare, the culture of which em- 

 ploys millions of our fellow-men, and the produce of which 

 feeds hundreds of millions, it should be to us the most in- 

 teresting spot on the globe, instead of an almost unknown 

 comer of the Czar^s dominions. 



Besides the two varieties mentioned, there are several 

 others which are occasionally grown, viz. variety d, T, tiirgU 

 dum (a name which signifies swollen), the ear is short and 

 irregularly thick ; variety T, turgidum composUim, this is 

 not only short and thick, but several small secondary ears 



