The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1881-05-25
A short History OF wheat.

Our historical knowledge of wheat
is more complete than that ofany
other grain, for the reason that wheat
has beet more largely used for hu-
man foal than any other cereal, al
though historians assure us that bar
lev was used by mankind in the in
fancy OF the world, long before ii
was guilty I'D for its fruit. The va
rieties OF leat, says q contempo-
nv, are al,aa,t numberless and their
characters very different under the
influences of cultivation and climate.
There are said to be l60 distinct va
rieties in the museum OF Cornell
University. On the slopes OF the
mountainsof Mexico and Xalapa
the luxurianee of vegetation issuch
that wheat does not form ears. In
Japan It is said, wheat has been de-
veloped by Japanese farmers, that
no matter now much manure is
used, the straw will not grow larger,
though the length of the car IN
creases. The heighth is rarely more
than two feet, and often not more
than 20 inches.
Through selection, winter wheat
/ has been changed to summer wheat
in three years, and summer wheat
converted ia the same time 20 winter
wheat. In general, wheat is the
most esteemed OF the cereal produc-
tions, but in Abyssinia, according
to Parkins, tue -four of the "tef'' or
"dogussa, scarcely pala;able to
Europeans, is preferred by the aa-
tives to any other grain
Isis was supposed to have intro
duced wheat into Egypt, Demeter
into Greece, and the Emperor Chin
Wong into China about 5000 d. c.
In Europe it was cultivated before
the period of history, as samples
have been recovered from the lacus-
trine dwellings of Switzerland. In
England it was probably not cult
vated by the ancient Britons, bat
the Anglo-Saxons when Bede wrote,
early in the eighth century, sowed
their wheat in the Spring, and in
the days of Queen Elizabeth its cul-
tivation was but partial.
Indeed, wheat was IN article OF
comparative luxury till nearly the
seventh century. In India it seems
not 10 be native, but introduced,
for its Sanscrit name signifies food
of the barbarian" yet three .yarie-
ties are mentioned in the Bhayapra-
kasa, one of which, large grained,
is said to have come from the West
and another, a small grained OF
beardless wheat, it is said TO have
been indegeous to Middle India.
The first wheat. raised in the
"New World" wassssown by Span
iards on the land of Isabella, in
January, 1894, and on March 80 the
ears were gathered. The foundation
of the wheat harvest of Mexico Is
said to have been three or four
grains carfully cultivated in 1880,
and preserved by q slave of Cortez
The first crop of Quito was raised
by Franciscan monk in front Of the
convent. Garcilasso de la Vega af-
firms that in Peru, up to 1871
wheaton bread had not been sold in
Cuzco.
Wheat was first sown by Gosnold
on Cuttyhunk, one OF the Elizabeth
Islands in Buzzard's Bay, off Massa-
chusetts, in 1862, when he explored
the coast. In 1904, on the Island
! of St. Croix, near Calais, Maine, the
Sieur de Aonts had some wheat
sown, which fiourished finely. In
1911 the first wheat appears to have
been sown in Virginia. La 1926
samples of wheat grown in the Dutch
colony at New Netherlands were
shownIin Holland. 1t is probable
that wheat was shown in the Ply
mouth colony prior to 1929, though
we find no record of it, and in 1923
wheat was ordered from England as
seed. In 171S wheat was introduc-
ed into the valley of the Mississippi
by the "Western Company" In
1899 it was among the cultivated
crops of the Simos Indians of the
Gila river, New Mexico.-London
/ Lire Stock Journal.