Varieties of Wheat and Methods of Improving them. 241 
able for each sort. Nursery, for example, is a good sort to follow 
a sheep-fold ; and — to iiuMition another case in point — a large 
grower of Velvet Chaffed White remarked, " I never sow it after 
clover." Those who did so, in the fen country, where this 
gentleman formed, paid the penalty of their inexperience by the 
blighting of the crop. At the commencement of this short paper 
I wish to state that its object is solely practical. It will be de- 
voted almost entirely to the varieties of wheat, to their behaviour 
under varying conditions of treatment and climate, and to their 
improvement, from an agricultural point of view, by various 
methods, and especially by cross-fertilisation. 
The history of the leading wheats, their breed and parentage, 
and by what title they gained their prominence, would prove 
exceedingly instructive. Unfortunately, however, for that part 
of my subject, few of them can boast of a history extending 
more than a few years back, and sometimes the records do not 
run back ten years. I asked the origin of a wheat which its 
introducer believes to be by far the most productive wheat in 
the world, yielding more per acre and having heavier grain 
and taller straw than any other wheat on which the sun ever 
shone. It was discovered in a valley in the south-east of 
Europe, and was brought to England iive years ago. This is a 
fair illustration of the origin of most of our best sorts. 
But although the origin of our wheats is obscure, the most 
important part of their history — the value of the crop which 
each sort yields under given conditions — still remains to be dis- 
cussed, and this is a part of my subject which has always excited 
keen interest at every market table, as well as in the pages of 
this Journal. The very first article, from the pen of Mr. Pusey, 
in its first volume, issued in 1839, commences with a statement 
on the importance of the wheat crop. This is a point which 
in passing may be at least alluded to for the sake of showing 
the importance of adding, however slightly, to the yield of the 
annual crop of wheat by the introduction of improved varieties. 
Mr. Pusey stated that the annual growth of wheat in England 
and Wales was estimated by Mr. MacCulloch at 12,850,000 qrs., 
worth, at 50s. per qr., nearly 31 million pounds sterling. The 
present annual growth in the United Kingdom does not exceed 
9 million qrs. ; but, as the crop is still held to be indispensable 
in the corn-growing districts, and still covers two million four 
hundred thousand acres, it is not surprising that at each re- 
curring seed-time, in every market where seed-wheat is on sale, 
farmers are found eager to obtain the best and most productive 
varieties. It must be satisfactory to the members of our Society 
to be reminded that it has, times out of mind, lent itself to the 
VOL. XXV.— S. S. R 
