116 



Pure and imj)roved Varieties of 



ating from seed procured from Dantzic selected from the finest 

 " High Mixed." It is, however, suspected to be identical with 

 some excellent sorts, called in Sussex, Kent, and some parts of 

 Surrey, the Chittums," in other parts Pegglesham ; " in Berk- 

 shire, Trump ; " in Essex, " Hardcastle ; " in some counties, 

 Old Suffolk ;" in Scotland, Hunter's White and assuming 

 several other names. 



2nd. Culture: yiz., preparation and quantity of the seed ; time 

 and method of solving, both as to preceding and following crops, 

 and as to varieties of soil. — The seed was prepared precisely in 

 the same manner as the last described : it was sown on the same 

 day on a contiguous piece of land of the same nature as the last 

 described for the purpose of comparison, therefore prepared and 

 manured in like manner, 



3rd. Hardihood and power to withstand severe winters. — This 

 wheat is not quite so hardy as the '^'^ Hoary;" it is nevertheless 

 considered sufficiently so to succeed throughout the kingdom, 

 excepting the north parts of Scotland. In rich soils it tillers 

 amazingly, and produces a longer straw than the Floary, nor is it 

 so liable to sprout in a moist climate, from being smooth chaffed : 

 in very severe^ moist, and stormy weather, it will be laid sooner 

 than the Hoary. 



4th. Early maturity and time of severance of crops. — It ripens 

 a week earlier at least than the Hoary, and should be reaped 

 while the grain can be marked by pressure from the thumb-nail, 

 as it is rather liable to shed if over-ripe, — a disadvantage which the 

 Hoary is peculiarly free from, as it is tenacious to the ear. 



This was reaped about the 12th of August. 



5th. Tendency to degenerate and liabilities to disease.-^The 

 experience of five years has not found this wheat to degenerate. A 

 sample raised this year, from that procured as above stated, was 

 quite pure and unmixed, it may be said, as only 93 ears of foreign 

 growth were picked from one hundred sheaves, which were care- 

 fully examined in order to free the sort from any of stray kinds 

 which might accidentally have got intermixed with it. This is a 

 practice which I now constantly follow with the wheat set apart 

 for seed for the ensuing year. 



In a dry season this wheat will afford a beautiful clean, white 

 straw, fit for bonnet-making, or any purpose of thatching : it 

 is firm and tenacious. In wet seasons it is rather subject to 



