CHAPTER II.

WHEAT.

By common consent, and in every climate where it can be cultivated, WHEAT-Triticum-is held in the highest estimation of all the cereal grains. The cost of its production, compared with that of some other substantive articles of aliment, does, indeed, occasion it to be but little consumed in countries where the bulk of the inhabitants are constrained by poverty to subsist upon the cheapest description of food that will sustain life. Where, however, the people are in a situation which enables them to indulge their choice in respect of food, wheaten bread, with scarcely an exception, constitutes the chief material for consumption.

Grain of Wheat, upper and under sides.

A full-grown and perfect grain of wheat will, on examination, be found to resemble the above figures. In form, it is a compressed oval, and is inclosed firstly in certain chaffy scales, which are readily to be separated from it, and secondly in a membranous tunic, which invests the seed much more closely. Along that side of the grain which, while the plant was growing, was turned towards the rachis, a groove may be observed. At the base, on the op

posite or convex side, is to be seen a small protuberant oval space, which indicates the germ or embryo of the future plant, and which is at this time covered by the tunics. The vessels whereby the grain was attached to the plant, and through which it drew nourishment until its maturity, had their point of attachment at the basal termination of this protuberance. When the seed is perfectly ripe, the umbilical vessels separate; the point of separation speedily heals in the same manner as a portion of a deciduous tree from which a matured leaf has detached itself, and the grain may then be easily threshed out from the chaff in which it had lain buried; sometimes, indeed, it sheds itself spontaneously.

Several species, and a still greater number of varieties, of wheat are to be found. Many of these differences are doubtless to be referred to influences of climate and modes of culture. There are but two sorts generally and extensively cultivated in this kingdom, and these have distinguishing names given to them, in agreement with the seasons in which they are sown, one being called Spring or Summer Wheat, the other Winter or Lammas Wheat.

SPRING, or SUMMER WHEAT-Triticum æstivum -is supposed to be a native of Siberia, in the land of the Beschkirs. It is less hardy than the wintersown kind, and the whole plant has a weaker appearance; the stem is thin and delicate, the ear more slender and less erect, and it is provided with much longer beards or awns. This description of grain, which, in our uncertain climate, cannot be safely or productively cultivated throughout the kingdom, is yet domesticated in the more southerly and the midland districts. As its grain is smaller than that of the commoner sort, and as its produce is less abundant, the farmer would not be led to its culti

vation, could he be certain of success with earlier sown seed, or if, in the progress of his agricultural operations, the land could always be got ready for the autumnal sowing.

Ear and Plant of Spring Wheat.

The principal advantage to be derived from the adoption of summer wheat consists in the security which it offers against the injurious effects of a cold and rainy spring; so that in situations and seasons where winter-sown wheat is so far injured as to destroy all prospect of a harvest, this delicate but more rapidly growing species may be more confidently depended on for yielding its increase. Some farmers, when they perceive that the seed they have sown in autumn fails and goes off in patches from any untoward causes, are accustomed to rake spring

wheat into the vacant spaces, and wherever the plants appear weak and thin. By this means the uniformity of the crop is restored; and if the operation has not been delayed beyond the beginning of April, the spring wheat will be matured and ready for the sickle at the same time with the earlier sown plants. This mixture of grain is of no consequence to the miller, but it would be manifestly improper to employ the produce as seed. When spring wheat is sown by itself, the season for this operation is in April, or the early part of May, from which time onward the farmer has but little to dread from any severity of weather in the above-mentioned districts. It is said that this species of wheat is not subject to blight. According to the analysis of Sir Humphrey Davy, the nutritive quality of this kind is not quite equal to that of winter wheat, the proportions being 95 per cent. in the latter, and only 94 per cent. in the former, of the entire bulk of the grains. The gluten contained in the two kinds varies in a greater degree, that of winter wheat being 24, while that of spring-sown corn is only 19, so that the winter variety is most eligible for the purpose of the baker.

WINTER, OF LAMMAS WHEAT-Triticum hybernum-may easily be distinguished by its appearance, being much more vigorous in the stem, more erect and thick in the ear, and, in comparison with the other, destitute of beard or awn, for which reason its bloom is more conspicuous. The same cause may be cited to account for the fact, that its pollen is both more easily diffused and more liable to be destroyed.

This plant is sown in autumn, stands through the winter, and ripens its seed in the following summer. Slight varieties of this species are exceedingly common in different localities, and are probably attribut

Ear and Plant of Winter Wheat.

able to some peculiarities in the mode of culture, The common varieties of winter wheat are distinguished from each other according to the colour of the tunic enveloping the grain, and the difference observable in their chaff. The colours are usually divided into white and red, the latter of these including many different shades of brown. Red wheat is commonly said to be more hardy than white; it is therefore thought better suited for cultivation in bleak and upland districts. The plant is, however, not so productive as the white, and the flour which it yields is seldom of so desirable a quality.

The cultivation of another description of wheat, called, from the form of the ear, the DUCK-BILL, of