Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-03-02
Wheats Known About
$4,000 Years Ago Are
Still Being Cultivated


Chicago, March 1.-Wheats which
are known to have been used by
primitive man 10000 to 5000 years
ago and which are still cultivated in
certain parts of the world, form part
of the new exhibit of cultivated
wheats which has recently been added
to the economic collections Of Field
Museum Of Natural History here.
Modern cultivated wheats from
various parts Of the world complete
the exhibit. Most of the wheats have
been acquired through the coopera-
ton of the office of Cereal Investiga-
ton of the Department Of Agricul-
ture. This department is constantly
engaged in growing new and old
varieties of wheat in order to deter
mine their suitability under various
conditions in the United States.
Wheat was first. introduced into
this country in 1920 by the Spaniards
and later into New England and Eir-
ginia by the early settlers, according
W 1IiiSSloI IL. ~ LAWS VI tAO AAAN
scum.
"In Europe and Asia it has been
grown since prehistoric times" Mr..
Davis states. The beginning Of its
cultivation belongs to an early period
in the history of the human race.
Mankind has probably always used
the seeds of the wild grasses for food
Some of these furnish very fair
sized grains and from such our Gull
tivated cereals are unquestionably
derived, though Nbotanists cannot now
always trace them to their wild pro-
totypes. An example of such is the
wild Emmer of Palestine, large
grained wild grass which has been
claimed by some to be the ancestor
of our cultivated wheats of today.
Certain primitive wheats are still
grown in places in southern Europe.
Such are the Einkorn, Emmer and
Spelt, each of which probably rep
resents a group of wheats of. sepa-
rate origin. The Einkorn still grows
wild in Siberia and elsewhere in the
South of Europe. Spelt is the oldest
of the cultivated wheats. 1t las
probably the wheat Of ancient Greece,
Rome and Egypt.
Together with these simple forms
there are to be seen such unusual
forms as Polish Wheat, which in
spite of its name does not come from
Poland, but from the mountainous
regions of Spain; Alaska Wheat
which is of the type known as the
Miracle Wheat" or "Seven- headed
Wheat of Egypt; and Club Wheat
grown in Chile and in our Rocky
Mountains.
THE Durum Wheat from Russia,
which furnishes flour for macaroni
and pastes looks much like long
bristle barley. The small bristly
Turkey Wheat has become one of our
leading hard winter wheats of the
United States. Wilhelmina, a north
European soft wheat may be seen
together with the chief Ameri an
! types. Tho hard spring wheats OF
, the northwestern great plains region
! of the United States and Canada are
| represented by Marquis, Red Fife
| and Kitchener varieties. Particu-
| larry remarkable is huge-eared
wheat called Dicklow, grown unde!
| irrigation in Idaho.
Adjoining the wheats at the mu-
scum may be seen some of the main
kinds Of barley. Ordinarily the most
bristly OF the grains among these
is a perfectly bald variety, which is
grown for hay and may survive,
as a fodder. long after cultivation OF
the others becomes obsolete with the
cessation of malt making.
There has also been added an
interesting case of wild grasses,
ranging from Alaska and Canadian
fodder grasses to the Silver PGmpas
| Grass of South America and Natal
| Grass. This South African grass now
| helps to impart a roscate hue to the
| plains of the sandy peninsula OF
Florida