Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 
81 
improver towards the close of his life in 1876. In the case of 
nearly all our improved varieties of wheat, such as Chidham, 
which is said to have been found in a hedge, the circumstances 
of the discovery are unknown. Fortunately, Mr. Shirreff amused 
his declining years by writing, for distribution among his 
friends and patrons, a small volume,* in which he published the 
facts of his discoveries. As some of his varieties of wheat and 
oats were very widely distributed and are still popular, while 
others have almost disappeared, the history of his successes 
and failures must be full of instruction. I propose giving some 
of the main facts. 
In 1813 Mr. ShirrefF observed in one of his fields of wheat, 
which looked miserable from the effects of a severe winter, one 
green and spreading plant far more vigorous than the rest, 
having been endowed, we may suppose, with a stronger consti- 
tution. He manured this plant to increase its yield, and it 
proved to be a new and marked variety, with taller straw than 
Hunter's, and not so apt to lodge, and possessing, as its first 
appearance indicated, a remarkable tillering propensity. The 
new sort was put in the market as " Mungoswell's Wheat," and 
Mr. Shirreff was able to say in 1873 that it was still extensively 
o-rown in East Lothian. 
In 1824 a tall oat-plant was selected, having straw longer 
than any of the named varieties which Mr. Shirreff grew in his 
collection, for the purpose of comparison. The grain was longer 
than that of the potato-oat, weighing well, and yielding meal 
unequalled in quality and whiteness. Besides the peculiarity of 
its length, the straw grew very irregular in height. This second 
of Mr. ShirrefTs new varieties — the Hopetoun oat — is mentioned 
as a favourite by several of my correspondents, and is widely 
grown in Scotland, in the countries of the Baltic, and in parts 
of North America. It spread very rapidly, on its introduction 
by Mr. Shirreff, into the oat-growing districts here and abroad. 
Several of my correspondents speak of " White Hunter's " 
wheat, which is really one of Mr. ShirrefT s happy selections, 
named by him Hopetoun. He found it on the farm of Drem, 
near his own, in 1832, and it has since spread over a wide range 
of country and climate. I remember it in the south, with all 
the marked characteristics mentioned by Mr. Shirreff, the straw 
growing equal in length, so as to give a deceptive appearance 
of thickness of crop, the grain white, but changing in the south 
to a stronger colour. 
The next novelty was Shirreff's oat, a marked and prolific 
• 'Improvement of the Cereals.' By Pa'rick Shirreff. Edinburgli and 
London : William Blackwood and Sons, 1873. 
VOL. XX. — S. S. G 
