acre, and is often beneficial in’ bringing the ears 
to perfection: it also causes a greater weight of 
grain, but seldom increases the quantity of straw. 
These are the principal manures that have been 
proved to be useful for wheat. There are many 
others; but even a bare enumeration would oc- 
cupy too much space. 
“More wheat is now produced per acre, by 
greater attention being paid in choosing the 
most prolific kinds. It should, however, be borne 
in mind that the most prolific are also very fre- 
quently of a coarse quality, and commonly lose 
in price what they gain in quantity. At the same 
time it is admitted by those who have put the 
question to a test, that the most productive are 
often the most advantageous to the grower. In- 
stances, indeed, have occasionally occurred where 
heavy white wheat of the finest quality has been 
tried by the side of a coarser description, and has 
equalled it in quantity; but this must be consi- 
dered an exception to the rule, and not the rule 
itself. On rich soils, where an abundance of straw 
is produced, short and stiff-strawed wheat yields 
the best crop, as the weak and long-strawed 
wheat is liable to be spoiled by being laid. Such 
varieties as Spalding’s prolific and Piper’s thick- 
set are suitable for rich land. On very produc- 
tive wheat-land in Norfolk, Piper’s thickset pro- 
duced such abundant crops, that on its intro- 
duction into that county it at once obtained the 
name of Protection wheat. On the contrary, 
short-strawed wheats like Piper’s thickset are 
very inferior to long strawed wheat on land that 
yields alight crop. Mixed wheat (red and white) 
is sown in some parts of the country, care being 
taken to select two sorts that ripen at the same 
time. The advantages to be derived from a 
change of seed from a hot to a cold soil, and 
vice versa, have already been mentioned. Plants 
removed from one climate to another will in some 
measure continue in the same habit of growth. 
Thus seed brought from a warm country will 
produce an early crop, though it will be inferior 
in hardihood to plants grown from seed brought 
from a cold climate; and it will be found, that, 
whilst the latter improves by cultivation, the 
former deteriorates.” See the articles Fatnow, 
Rotation or Crops, and MANuRE. 
The Sowing of Wheat—The great amount of 
waste which usually occurs in the sown seeds of 
wheat, as well as in those of other grains, is no- 
ticed in the article AcricuLTURAL SEEDS; the 
steeping of seed-wheat as a preventive of disease 
is noticed in the article Smut; the doctoring of 
seed-wheat, as well as the seeds of other farm 
crops, with the view of promoting fertility, is 
noticed in the article Seep; the comparative ad- 
vantages of the thick and the thin sowing of 
seed-wheat, together with the proper conditions 
and covering of the soil in the deposition of the 
seed, are noticed in the article Sow1ne; the com- 
parative advantages of the broadcast and the 
drill methods of sowing are noticed in the article 
WHEAT. 
‘Dritt-Huspanpry ; and the process and proper- | 
ties of the dibble-sowing of wheat are noticed in 
the article Disbrine. 
Wheat seed possesses in a very high degree the 
extraordinary faculty of being able to re-germi- 
nate after having been desiccated subsequently 
to its first germination. A specimen of wheat 
which had germinated was subjected by Saussure 
to avery powerful desiccation aided by the most 
energetic means which chemistry could supply, 
and at a temperature of even 158° Fahrenheit ; 
yet it germinated again, even after an interval of 
several months. Wheat is also capable of re- 
sisting several successive alternations of desic- | 
cation and germination. If, in its first germina- 
tion, the radicles have made a certain progress, 
no further development takes place in the second 
germination, but other radicles are formed. This 
valuable property of wheat accounts for the cir- 
cumstance of its remaining several months in the 
ground, in dry seasons, before making its appear- 
ance ; and the surprising vitality which it evinces. 
has been exemplified in the wonderful fact that 
some wheat seed found among the cerements of 
Egyptian mummies, and therefore far upwards 
of two thousand years old, has germinated on 
being committed to the soil. A wise farmer, 
however, will not trust too much to the mere 
vigorous vitality of any seed-wheat for his crops, 
but will use all care that every specimen be per- 
fectly sound and fresh, and will look only to the 
first germination of wheat-plants as likely to por- 
tend a productive and seasonable ripening. 
Seed wheat ought always to be of the best qua- 
lity which can be obtained; and, where choice 
is limited, a perfectly sound and fresh specimen 
of a second-rate variety ought to be preferred to 
adamaged or doubtful specimen of a first-rate 
one.. A seemingly prime specimen, indeed, will 
sometimes produce an inferior crop, while a seem- 
ingly poor specimen will produce a good crop; 
but such a result must be ascribed to soil and 
season or other favourable circumstances, and 
may be supposed to arise in defiance of the pecu- 
liar condition of the seed; for just, as all other 
things being equal, the best sample of grain will 
produce the best flour, so the best specimen of 
seed-corn will produce the best crop. And in 
fact the well known rules for judging the com- 
parative value of wheat grain for the miller ap- 
ply very closely to the judging of its fitness for 
the sower. “It should be retained a minute or 
two in the closed hand, and then passed gently 
through it, to ascertain if the grain be plump, 
hard, dry, and smooth, with a certain sense of 
mellow fulness in the feel; for, if it handles 
rough, and does not slip readily through the 
fingers, it will be found thick skinned, damp, and 
unprofitable to the miller. 
it may be, it should also be carefully examined, 
to see that it be of a bright and healthy appear- 
ance, the grains of nearly equal size, and unmixed 
with the seeds of weeds and smutty or sprouted 
685 | 
Of whatever species — 
