156 
Varieties of Wheat* 
SELECTIONS. 
Wheat.— The minor varieties of any species of wheat 
are not permanent in their character, though, under 
given conditions, they will remain unchanged for an in¬ 
definite period. Under other circumstances, however, 
they degenerate; and hence particular kinds that were 
once valued, have now ceased to be so. The best ad¬ 
vice that can be given, therefore, in the choice of va¬ 
rieties and sub-varieties, is to select those which the 
practice and experience of the principal farmers of the 
neighborhood have stamped as the best. Colonel Le 
Couteur, one of the best authorities on the culture of 
wheat, has given us the result of his experiments and 
great experience, upon four of the best pure and im¬ 
proved varieties of wheat lately introduced into England. 
1. White downy .—-This excellent variety is believed 
to be the same that is so well described by Boys, in his 
General View of the Agriculture of Kent, as the “ Hoary 
White,” or “Velvet-eared,” said by him to have been 
much prized by the millers, but then entirely lost. The 
seed, after being washed and steeped, was sown in drills 
seven inches apart, at the rate of two bushels or a little 
more to the acre. The wheat was carefully hand-hoed 
in the month of May, which caused it to tiller freely. 
The preceding crop was potatoes. This wheat will 
withstand the most severe weather. The season 1837 
to 1838 was a very trying one, both as to wetness and 
severity of cold, the thermometer having fallen to 18° 
below freezing; but the crops of this wheat raised by 
my neighbors were perfectly insensible to it, and of great 
produce. This wheat is not remarkable for its early 
maturity, though it cannot be called a tardy variety. 
It is not subject to degenerate, and if attention is paid 
to sowing the seed pure, and annually, or even oeca- 
sionally, varying the manure intended for it, it is pos¬ 
sible it may never degenerate. The only objection to 
it is the huskiness or velvety ear, which in damp wea¬ 
ther is retentive of moisture; and in snatchy seasons 
the grain is more apt to sprout than the smooth-chaffed 
varieties. It is not much affected with dust-brand; and 
when pickled and limed, has never been found with 
smut-balls. It is little liable to shed, even when over¬ 
ripe, and will resist very heavy gales without being laid 
or broken. 
2. Jersey Dantzic. —The seed is described as having 
been raised from a single ear, originating from seed 
procured from Dantzic, selected from the finest “ high 
mixed.” It is, however, suspected to be identical with 
some excellent sorts, called in Sussex, Kent, and some 
parts of Surrey, the “ Chittums;” in other parts, “ Peg- 
glesham;” in Berkshire, “Trump;” in Essex, “Hard- 
castle;” in some counties, “ Old Suffolk;” in Scotland, 
“ Hunter’s White;” and assuming several other names. 
This wheat is not quite so hard as the “hoary;” it is, 
nevertheless, considered sufficiently so to succeed 
throughout the kingdom, excepting the northern parts 
of Scotland. In rich soils it tillers amazingly, and pro¬ 
duces a longer straw than the hoary, nor is it so liable 
to sprout in a moist climate, from being smooth-chaffed: 
in very severe, moist, and stormy weather, it will be 
laid sooner than the hoary. 
It ripens a week earlier, at least, than the variety 
last described, and should be reaped while the grain can 
be marked by pressure from the thumb-nail, as it is 
rather liable to shed if over-ripe, a disadvantage which 
the hoary is peculiarly free from, as it is tenacious to 
the ear. In a dry season, this wheat will afford a 
beautiful, clean, white straw, fit for bonnet-making, or 
any purpose of thatching: it is firm and tenacious. In 
wet seasons it is rather subject to rust, which, under 
such circumstances, almost all wheat suffers from. 
3. Whittington Wheat. —The seed was obtained from 
Mr. Whittington himself, and was a very fine pure 
sample. The grain is large, full, and plump, rather of 
a whitish-red cast, and a little thick-skinned. The seed 
was washed, pickled, drained, and limed, then sown in 
drills seven inches apart, about three bushels to the acre. 
When the seed is large, it is considered prudent to add 
half a bushel or more to the acre. I consider this to be 
a very hardy wheat, affording much herbage and straw, 
very fit for being eaten down by sheep in the spring, 
when sown early in the fall. The Whittington is ra¬ 
ther a late wheat, ripening a week or ten days later 
than the Jersey Dantzic before described, though it was 
in bloom on the same day. From the purity of the seed, 
and the uniform appearance of the crop, it does not ap¬ 
pear likely to degenerate, nor does it seem more liable 
to disease than other wheats. The straw is brittle, and 
many ears break off. I am of opinion, from what I have 
witnessed, that the value of this description is much 
over-rated: the millers dislike it, and in certain situa¬ 
tions it is apt to blight. 
4. Bellevue Talavera. —This admirable variety is in¬ 
valuable where it is adapted to the soil and climate. 
The seed being large, a greater quantity of it should be 
allowed than usual. This wheat has succeeded in the 
north of Scotland, and is sufficiently hardy to withstand, 
the winter in its grassy state, but it is otherwise more 
valuable as a spring crop: without doubt it maybe 
sown as late as the first week in February in all the 
milder parts of England, with a prospect of reaping 
quite as good an average crop from it as from any othei 
wheat, but with a certainty of obtaining more flour than 
from most. There is no tendency to degenerate ob¬ 
servable in this wheat, as far as the experience of five 
or six years goes; nor, from its early habits, is it at all 
likely to become intermixed by fecundation from other 
varieties, though sown about the same period, as it will, 
in such cases, flower a fortnight or three weeks before 
them. It is not more liable to disease than ordinary 
white wheats, and affords a very fine clear white straw: 
it is, indeed, one of the Italian bonnet-making varieties. 
There is, however, one disadvantage in it, which is, that 
the ear is so heavy that it is apt to break down, though 
not break off, when swept by a gale about the period of 
ripening; but it has a countervailing good quality, of 
ripening the grain equally well though bent down ; as 
is the case with spring wheats, which ripen their seed 
well though quite laid, which with winter- wheats is 
doubtful. Another peculiarity is the tenacity of the 
chaff to the ear, more remaining on it after passing 
through the threshing-machine than any other variety 
I am acquainted with.— Johnson’s Encyclopedia. 
Pulverizing the Soil. —To demonstrate that dews 
moisten the land when fine, dig a hole in the hard dry 
ground, in the driest weather, as deep as the plough 
ought to reach; beat the earth very fine, and fill the 
hole therewith ; and after a few nights’ dews, you will 
find this fine earth become moist at the bottom, and the 
hard ground all round will become dry. Till a field in 
lands: make one land very fine by frequent deep plough¬ 
ing, and let another be rough by insufficient tillage al¬ 
ternately; then plough the whole field crosswise in the 
driest weather, which has continued long, and you will 
perceive, by the color of the earth, that every fine land 
will be turned up moist, but every rough land will be 
dry as powder from top to bottom. In the driest wea¬ 
ther, good hoeing procures moisture to I’oots; though 
the ignorant and incurious fancy it lets in the drought, 
and therefore are afraid to hoe tlieir plants at such times. 
There is yet one more benefit hoeing gives to plants 
which by no art can possibly be given to animals : foi 
