Varieties of Wheat and Methods of Imp-oving them. 249 
whether looked at in face or profile — slenderer towards the top 
than at the more compact base, with a long grain, full and 
stout, veiy white and thinned off at the ends. The same marked 
characteristics appear in seven or eight French wheats, and in 
our own Ilopetoan, Pearl White, Silver Drop, and White Kent. 
White Hunter and Trump belong to the same section, as well as 
Mr. Shirrelf's Mungoftirdl Wheat, derived from a plant which 
he selected in one of his fields in 1813 for its vigorous appear- 
ance, Hopetoun being a similar selection of Shirreffs from an 
adjoining farm. 
White Victoria is another very important wheat, classed by 
Vilmorin in the same section as the above. It bears a close 
resemblance to Red Chaffed Dantzie, and was probably imported 
from Dantzie into this country. Its popularity is proved by 
its numerous synonyms, and by the fact that several seed-mer- 
chants have adopted it, each of them bestowing upon it a name 
of his own choice. According to Vilmorin, Lawson called it 
in 1858 White Sicaii., others have named it Prince Albert, Prince 
Albert White, Oxford l¥ize White, Normandij White, Champion 
Prize White, Challenge, Mold's Ennobled White, Hereford Wheat, 
Jersey Dantzie, and so on. In the International Exhibition 
of 1851 it appeared as Australian White Wheat. 
The next example is a coarse strong wheat, of totally different 
character from the last, bearing as its chief English name that 
of Kessingland. It was also named by INIr. Hham, in 1836, 
Essex Red Wheat ; by Mr. Hallett, Hallett's Pedigree Nursery ; and 
it appears in Lawson s list, in 1857, as Woodley's Superb, and else- 
where as Haigh's Prolific. In France its principal name, among 
at least a dozen, is Victoria d'Automne. It has tall, stout, and 
very hollow straw, furnished with numerous large leaves, a big ear 
flat and broad, glumes fantailed, often bent, rarely white, almost 
always salmon-coloured or tawny. The grain is reddish yellow, 
large, oblong in shape, and full. This variety is largely grown 
in England, and is well suited to rich, sound, and well cultivated 
soils, and climates that are exempt from severe frosts or excessive 
heat. Few sorts of wheat yield heavier crops of straw and 
grain, provided the land is well farmed. It should be sown in 
good time in autumn. It commences its growth more promptly 
in spring than many kinds of wheat, and even before the appear- 
ance of the ear it can be recognised by the length^ and large 
size of the leaves. 
Mr. Shirreff's Square Headed Wheat is the representative of 
an important group largely grown in England, Scotland, and 
the Continent. The wheats of this class have white straw, 
shprt, Yerj stiff and upright. The eaj- is square find compact, 
