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EXTRACTS FROM AN ARTICLE UPON 
Varieties of Wheat and Methods of Improving them, 
By MR. H. EVERSHED, 
In the “JOURNAL of the ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY of ENGLAND,’’ 
VoL, XXV., Part I., April, 1889. 
Messrs. Carter’s experiments in the cross-fertilisation of wheat commenced in 1883, when twenty- 
two crosses were effected between sorts of wheat which had been previously collected and sown for 
that purpose in the autumn of 1882. The experiments were partly suggested by the offer of prizes by 
the Royal Agricultural Society for the best new varieties of wheat, and partly by personal observation 
of the disastrous consequences of late harvests in Scotland, where wheat frequently remains in the 
field till the end of October or even in November, the varieties in cultivation ripening too late for 
the climate. 
The plan laid down at the outset was the use of good parent sorts and the crossing of varieties as 
wide apart as possible in appearance and character. The objects to be attained were early maturity, 
productiveness, hardiness, and high quality both of grain and straw. Another object kept in view was 
the crossing of red and white wheat, so as to obtain in one grain the colour of white wheat with the 
strength and body of red. Among the earliest results may be mentioned that in 1884 the twenty-two 
cross-bred wheats produced an average of twenty-two ears per plant, and that in 1885 each ear, 
taking a full ear of each cross, produced an average of sixty-five grains. 
It is important to notice that ordinary cultivation was resorted to, as opposed to thin seeding and 
the production of giant ears. The experiments were carried out at Messrs. Carter’s Forest Hill 
Nurseries, and as these are near my house I have enjoyed at all times and seasons the frequent 
opportunity of inspecting the trial plots. I must be content to offer a very brief summary of these 
experiments, showing the varieties of some of the wheats that have been used as parents, and the 
peculiarities of the offspring. 
In crossing red and white wheat together a white sort called Fill-measure, with smooth chaff and square ears, was 
crossed with Selected Red Square Head wheat as the male p.arent. Tlie offspring has longer straw than either parent, 
and longer ears than the male, which has, however, clearly influenced the cross-bred offspring in the shape of the ear 
and the colour of the grain. This same successful cross turns out to be satisfactory in regard to quality, as well as 
being one of the earliest wheats next to the Talavera group. 
Another cross between Royal Prize Red and another long-eared variety, exhibits a curious freak, since the long, 
square, thick-set ears are distinct from those of either parent. In another cross between the same red wheat and a 
long-eared white wheat, as male, the influence of the latter has been most potent in the colour of the grain ; while, 
curiously chough, the offspring ripens a fortnight earlier than either parent. 
A cross between a woolly-chaffed white wheat and a smooth-chaffed club-headed red for male, proves exceedingly 
productive and vigorous, one plant having yielded sixty ears, and a field crop having produced at the rate of fifty-four 
bushels per acre. The colour of the grain shows the influence of each parent alike. 
In another case square-headed white, fern. tie, and long-eared white, male, have produced a wheat which proves to 
be the last sort to thrust its ear from the she.ath of the stern, while, next to Taiavera, it is one of the earliest to mature. 
Except that the ear is closely packed, it favours most the male parent, having an ear and grain of the same colour and 
the same length of straw. 
. A cross was effected between Talavera and Royal Prize Red for the purpose of obtaining the early habit and superb 
quality of the former, combined with the vigorous constitution of the latter. The result proves a decided success, the 
offspring of the cross, or rather the latest selection from it, possessing the desired qualities. 
' The selection from a cross between a bearded April wheat and an American bearded variety proves earlier than 
either parent, with grain quite equal to that of the well-known Russian Kubanka. This, of course, is a spring wheal, 
and the habit derived from its parents must be kept up by constant sowing in spring.* 
One of the most singular results of crossing is found in a sort which has received the characteristic name of 
Birdproof. The female parent was Fill-measure, the male an American bearded wheat, and the cross exhibits sharp- 
pointed awns on some of the glumes at the apex of the ear, a defence which birds have shown themselves shy of 
approaching. 
Many other crosses have been effected, and the offspring are now under selection, but the 
foregoing account of some of the most immediate and characteristic results of crossing distinct 
varieties will perhaps suffice. 
* Perhaps 1 may venture to commend this sort to certain districts in the Far West, where only the quick wheats can escape ilie 
spring and autumn frosts and mature within the very short limits of the allotted season. The cross has been grown side by side with 
some Russian wheats grown in Canada on official recommendation, and sent to Messrs. Carter by Professor Saunders, and has greatly 
excelled them in the amount of produce as in other respects.*— H. K. 
