Varieties of IMieat and Methods of IwjirooiiKj Ihan. 245 
in Essex Hardcastlo, iu some counties Old Suffolk, ;ind in Scot- 
land Hunter's White. About twenty years before the expres- 
sion of that opinion Mr. William 1 rumper raised the sort called 
shortly Truwp, taking the original ears from a field of wheat in the 
Thames ^'alley near Windsor. It certainly resembles Hunter's 
AYhite, though it is not identical with it. Vilmorin describes 
it as a very productive wheat, with a handsome grain, plump and 
heavy, a sort not subject to disease, and preferring kindly soils 
a little calcareous. The straw is long, and it is rather liable to 
become laid. It ripens in good time, provided it is not sown too 
late in autumn. The quality of the grain is as good as its 
supposed alliance with Chidham would lead us to expect. Like 
Chidham, it is not widely distributed, though well known in the 
south of England. 
Hunters Wheat was discovered and propagated by Mr. 
Hunter of Linefield, -near Dunbar, eighty years ago, and it 
shows its northern origin by its hardiness. Of all the white 
wheats it is the least sensible to cold, and this character, 
together with its good yield and superior quality, has won for 
it high estimation in the colder parts of France. The grain 
is scarcely so long in shape as that of Trump, and may be 
recognised by the small or pointed ends. It has long straw 
like Trump, and its general characteristics would lead us to 
place it in the same group with that wheat and with Chidham. 
Vilmorin says that many distinct varieties of wheat pass 
under the name of Chidham. The true Chidham is a pro- _ 
ductive wheat in kind soils in Surrey, Sussex, and Kent. 
The straw is rather below the average height, the ear is 
usually well filled with grain. Its quality is first-rate, and it 
keeps up its reputation in its own districts, where, as a rule, 
only white wheats are grown. 
JIardcasfle is another good old sort which has for a long 
period held its own. In the trials of seed wheat reported by 
Mr. Carruthers (Journal, 1881) Mr. James Long's selection 
of Hardcastle received a silver medal for superiority of pro- 
duce, and Messrs. Carter received a similar honour for red 
wheat. Hardcastle has large ears, white and heavy grain, 
abundant straw, and great constitutional vigour, which secures 
its freedom from blight when other sorts suffer. It is not 
surprising that j\lr. Charles Howard should have written, " I 
now grow nothing but Hardcastle, or Hardcastle and Browick 
mixed, which do well together. There is no better variety of 
wheat." 
There is, however, no best sort of wheat for all soils alike, 
ajid in some neighbourhoods white ■wheat does not succeed, 
