668 
been known and much esteemed in the south of 
England, particularly in Kent and Sussex, and 
was introduced thence to France and Scotland. 
Its straw is short; its ears are small, close, and 
compact; its chaff has a white colour, and is co- 
vered with a fine velvety down; and its grains 
are middle-sized, well formed, and of a semi- 
transparent whitish colour. “This wheat,” says 
Colonel Le Couteur, “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° be- 
low freezing; but the crops of this wheat raised 
by my neighbours were perfectly insensible to it, 
and of great produce. This wheat is not re- 
markable 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 occasionally, 
varying the manure intended for it, it is possible 
that it may never degenerate. The only objection 
to it is the huskiness or velvety ear, which in 
damp weather 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.” This wheat is now cultivated 
pretty extensively in France; but has not been 
found at all suitable to the comparatively humid 
climate of Scotland. 
The white Hungarian wheat was introduced 
from England to France and from France to 
Scotland ; and it is extensively cultivated in the 
Orleanois and in some of the northern districts 
of France under the name of English wheat. It 
has a nearer resemblance to the Chiddam and 
the Uxbridge wheats than to any other which 
we have yet described; and it is 6 or 7 days 
longer in arriving at maturity than most of the 
common winter wheats. Its ear is white, of me- 
dium length, very compact, and square-like, and 
terminates abruptly or without tapering ; each 
of its spikelets contains four grains; its chaff is 
smooth and thin; and its grains are small, short, 
rounded, white, and slightly transparent, and 
constitute a remarkably beautiful sample, and 
weigh at the rate of 66 lbs. per bushel. 
White Flanders wheat is held in great esteem 
in the northern parts of France. It appears to 
differ little from the white Essex wheat, and 
possibly may have been derived from that va- 
riety, and perhaps owes all its difference from it 
to the effects of climate and cultivation. 
White Naples wheat is much cultivated in the 
southern parts of France; and was introduced a 
considerable time ago to the neighbourhood of 
Paris, but was found to be not hardy enough for 
that climate; so that, in British cultivation, it 
can rank only as a spring wheat,—though it is 
| 
TH ee an et ema, 
STIS BSP TAD DO PNG TUE VRS OIE IT TENN Sy ENED 
| 
induration from the influence of our climate to 
take even that rank. Its ear is long and not very 
compact; its terminal spikelets have awns of 
from a quarter of an inch to one inch in length; 
its chaff is delicately tinged with a dull yellow 
or copper colour; and its grains are large, consi- 
derably Bigneied and of a yellowish white col- 
our, and weigh well in sample. 
The white Touzelle wheat also is cultivated in 
the south of France, and has been found too 
tender to endure the winters in the latitude of 
Paris. Its ear is rather more compact than that 
of the white Naples wheat; its chaff is of the 
same colour, but so exceedingly thin and brittle 
as to allow the fully ripe grains to be readily 
shaken out by even a light wind; and its grains, 
when grown in the ngishbourhood of Paris, have 
a brownish-yellow colour, but, when grown in the 
south of France, are much whiter. 
The white beardless Odessa wheat is the best 
and the only meritorious of a considerable num- 
ber of varieties of wheat which have been intro- 
duced at various times from Odessa into France. 
It is extensively cultivated in Auvergne, but is 
more sensibly affected by cold than the common 
wheats of that province; and it has been found 
as suitable in France for spring sowing as for 
winter sowing ; but, as tried in a comparative 
experiment in the vicinity of Edinburgh, it was 
nearly a fortnight later in arriving at maturity 
than the common winter wheats of Scotland. 
Its ear is rather loose and irregular, and has a 
colour inclining to light brown ; and its grains 
are long, above average size, and whitish coloured, 
and taper slightly towards the point. 
The Hopetoun wheat or Shirreff’s Hopetoun 
wheat originated in an ear of wheat culled in 
1832 from a field on the farm of Drew in Hast- 
Lothian; and was brought into cultivation by 
Mr. Patrick Shirreff, and sold for the first time 
in 1839, “ After numerous trials in Hast-Lothian 
for two seasons,” said Mr. Shirreff in 1841, “ this 
variety is rising in public esteem, and has been 
successfully grown in many parts of Scotland, as 
well as in Gloucestershire, Kent, and Bucking- 
hamshire. Everywhere this variety has put 
forth ears of large size, supported on tall 
and strong straw, and yielded grain of fine 
quality; and in England it is represented to 
have been much less affected this season with 
red gum, blight, and mildew, than other varie- 
ties growing contiguous. Last year a compara- 
tive trial was made by Mr. George Bell on the 
farm of Inchmichael, Perthshire, with Cheva- 
lier and Hopetoun arhicane the crop of the 
latter being represented as too thickly planted. 
Both kinds yielded 36 bushels per acre; but the 
grain of Hopetoun wheat was best in quality, 
and weighed 2 lbs. per bushel heavier. Another 
comparative trial was instituted in East-Lothian 
by Mr. Alexander Begbie, on the farm of Seg- 
garsdean, with Hunter, Chidham, and Hopetoun 
| perhaps too late in ripening, and too subject to | wheat, the latter being thinnest 3 in plant, and the 
