782 
ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW YORK 
MID6K. RLY. TBS WSSAT BAR AND ITS CHARTS. 
its eggs we proceed next to show where it places them. And to 
distinctly understand the situations in which these eggs are 
found, as well as numerous other particulars in the operations 
and economy of this and other insects which infest the ears of 
wheat, it is essential that the structure of the ears should be 
clearly understood. A few words on this subject are therefore 
necessary. 
On looking at a head or ear of wheat (the spike as it is termed 
by botanists) we see it is formed of a number of headlets or little 
heads (spikelets) which are placed alternately one above the other 
along the opposite sides of the central stalk or stem, in two flat¬ 
tened rows, rendering the head somewhat four-sided in its shape. 
Each of these little heads is made up of five florets or little flowers, 
crowded together side by side. Each of the two outer flowers 
on each side of the headlet usually perfects a kernel of grain, 
while the inner or upper flower is always false or abortive. But 
in a poor soil, where the heads are not well filled, the flowers on 
one or on both sides of this central one will be false also. Thus, 
as the grain ripens, each of these little heads usually comes to 
be formed of four kernels and their chaff's, placed compactly toge¬ 
ther side by side. Let us now part these chaffs from each other 
and from the kernels, to see how many scales or valves there are 
enveloping each kernel, and how we may designate them when 
we wish to speak of a particular one. Beginning as you always 
will, on the side of one of the headlets, we firrit separate the 
chaff a (see fig. 10, plate ii,) which is always blunt at its end, 
much as though its point had been cut off. Next we come to 
the chaff b, which is the largest one, and from 'the end of which 
grows the awn or beard. Then we reach the kernel, d, which is 
always placed with its grooved side facing the next chaff c. 
Passing then to the next kernel, we find it has only two chaff's, 
one having the beard at its end, corresponding with l, the other 
like c. And next we reach the little false flower in the middle of 
the headlet, in which no kernel is ever developed. We thus see 
that each of the kernels is enclosed in two chaff's or scales, b and 
c, and that the two outer kernels of each headlet have in addi¬ 
tion to these a third scale a. Botanists heretofore and in Mr. 
Kirby’s day distinguished the two scales b and c as forming 
the corol and a as being the calyx of the flowers, whilst the 
term glume was applied to all these scales, like our word chaff. 
