The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1858-08-24
wHEAT---ITS ORIGIN.

boct number ofa Northern Maya
rioN' Co+,lrIsv onr attention was directed to an
a-.;.le entitled "Wheat and Its Assoo!a'ioh'
49, ,non nernsal proved to be exceedingly IN
ta ,res and we'll worthy Of areprln1 III our
columns It's length, however, prevents l's PuI'i
cation entire so We must content oui0eie' ":
hr;ef compcndium No cereal now grown III ~ >
.,nia or North Carolina, occupies Id Se1 on"lo
oI,hl;c attention, and we presume no TOPIC cotiu
bo introduced. which will be more likely 10 ennst
no attenton alike of planter and merchant. nc
e-t;ca before US traces the history OF wheat from
+bo earliest known records down to the present
time It's supposed original IS found IN "lio
~ e.uo,n on the shores of the Mediterranean;
E i; then traced to the Persian province OF hazen
deron. Northern India, in the country OF Ue VI uSi
clans to Mesopotama, and to the pfalrles OF eAdo
We have in the Magazine simple Plate " '"o
Fovntian wheat, found in mummy OF the yra-
mids. = family circle gathered around the home
baked loaf an ancient granary OF the tine OF Ci7
Pharoabs, figure of the Goddess Ceres, sample
pate Of the various kinds Of wheat, two pictures u
the harvest field one with the reapeTs at WORK,
and the other with the gathered sheaves, the oio
mill Boaz and Ruth, and lastly sample OF OHgh'-
ed wheat The article e yes the poetry ana prose
of the history the qualities Of the different sPecleS
the mode Of cultivation, &c, &C. OF this mdispehsa
bic grain. The Greeks, it is stated, claimed to bf
the in, ertors of bread though dependent upon
Ecynt fer the wheat; and Humboldt says that
negro slave of Fernando Cortez, was the first WING
cultivated wheat in New Spain or the New GRID
The following the great gram ports or oe1
positories Of the world according to the article, I'M
the order of Importance: Buffalo, Chicago, Arch-
angel, Galataz, Ibraiia, St. Petersburg, Odessa
Dantzic Riga-the two ports OF America leading
all the world.
The highest price that -four has reached during
! sod ,r IL CaiI tn have been
1776, when it sold at SIG per barrel 1t may be
worthy OF remark here, that the writer Ct this
knew -four to be sold il this city, in 1919, he
thinks, at So per barrel.l In 1917 it was quoted
at SIS In 1917, the period Of the Irish famine,
-four never exceeded SO. The prices Of bread
stuf1s were higher in 1885 than for sixty years, If
we except the seasons Of l776 and 1917. From
the minutes kept at the Office Of the Van Rens-
s,laer Mansion at Albany, for sixty-orc years,
where large amounts Of rents payable in wheat
or cash equivalent, on the ls Of January of each
year, we learn that wheat has only five times been
81 or upward bushel, while it was seventeen
tires at 81, and twice at - cents. The average
ricc for the whole period was 81 38c., and for the
sa,st thirty years 81 25
i lie idea that moneyed men can command the
price Of breadstns, receives its quicuS IN the iO
loving paragraph:
Fluctuations in the price Of -four arc ;Ecribcd to
spcculations by capitalists That moneycd men
may affect locality for few days is possible but
no combination of all the bankers i'll existence can
command the price Of breadstufs. The world con-
sunes eight thousand millions of bushels every
year, and the cost is about four thousand millions
of dollars What we shall give for this important
necessity for the preservation of race, is hid
den among the mysteries Of nature, depends upon
the machinery OF the seasons, upon the viii Of
God. In the deep caverns Of the North be pre-
parcs the hoar frosts which kill the roots; from the
cvanescent clouds come the rain and the dcws
which rust the stalks; the rays Of His wilt up
the terminating flower and from Him comes also
those secret influences which ripen the crops and
spread them upon the ground, in every quality of
real wealth more valuable than eold.-IttersGury
Express.