in  its  Effect  on  Cultivation. 
651 
titles  of  wheat  are  grown  in  Ireland  or  the  western  counties  of 
England,  and  what  is  grown  there  is  of  interior  quality ; hence 
in  comparing  the  prices  of  wheat  it  is  always  found  that  the 
south  and  eastern  counties  are  quoted  as  the  highest,  generally 
from  2s.  to  3s  per  quarter  above  the  north  and  midland  counties, 
and  os.  to  4s.  higher  than  that  grown  in  the  eastern  parts  of 
Ireland.  But  though  wheat  requires  heat  and  dryness  to  ripen 
and  perfect  its  seed,  yet  being  one  of  the  grasses,  it  requires  for 
the  development  of  its  stalk,  &c.,  moisture  and  warmth  during 
its  growth  as  a grass,  and  its  fibre  will  be  deficient  unless  the 
season  be  favourable  from  April  to  June.  This  was  illustrated 
in  1846,  the  straw  that  year  being  generally  light ; and  in  that 
year  the  south-eastern  parts  of  Britain  had  rather  light  crops, 
though  abundant  yield  for  the  quantity  of  straw,  and,  contrary  to 
the  regular  course  of  things,  wheat  in  the  midland  counties  ex- 
celled the  wheat  of  the  south  and  eastern  counties  ; and  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Dublin  that  year  the  crops  of  wheat  were 
splendid.  In  fact,  never  were  the  wheat  crops  better  in  moist 
situations  than  in  1846.  With  respect  to  the  effects  of  elevation 
in  retarding  harvest  I was  early  led  to  think.  My  grandfather, 
uncle,  and  father,  each  had  large  farms  in  Yorkshire ; and  that 
of  my  grandfather  was  nearly  at  the  level  of  the  sea,  that  of  my 
father  at  an  elevation  of  200  feet  to  300  feet,  and  that  of  my 
uncle  at  an  elevation  of  450  feet  to  500  feet,  but  on  the  limestone 
of  the  oolite  formation,  whilst  my  father’s  and  grandfather’s  were 
on  a strong  loam  formed  by  the  blue  lias.  My  grandfather  and 
the  neighbourhood  at  the  same  level  were  invariably  a week 
earlier  than  my  father  in  commencing  their  harvest ; whilst  my 
father  always  wras  a week  earlier  than  my  uncle.  Since  then  I 
have  made  frequent  observations  which  have  caused  me  to  con- 
clude that,  cceteris  paribus,  harvest  (wheat  harvest  especially)  is 
delayed  a week  by  every  300  feet  of  ascent.  The  observations 
on  which  the  above  opinion  is  founded  have  been  made  in  most 
of  the  northern,  eastern,  and  midland  counties.  I have  found 
the  delay  not  so  great  on  the  Yorkshire  and  Lincolnshire  wolds, 
but  about  a week  along  the  range  of  hills  formed  by  the  oolite, 
and  rather  more  on  the  hills  formed  by  the  old  red-sandstone 
and  magnesian  limestone,  the  average  being  stated  above  for  the 
whole.  These  remarks,  of  course,  refer  to  table-land.  On  the 
sloping  sides  of  hills  nearly  all  depends  on  their  inclination 
being  to  the  north  or  south,  &c.,  as  will  be  evident  from  the 
figure  at  p.  622.  Wheat,  to  arrive  at  maturity,  must  have  an 
average  temperature  for  two  months  (or  from  its  commencement 
to  flower  till  its  seed  be  matured)  greater  than  57°  ; and  taking 
the  average  of  seasons  in  the  British  Islands  this  condition  will 
not  be  fulfilled  at  an  elevation  greater  than  700  feet  in  the  south. 
