Selection of Seeds.—The varieties of wheat, already very numerous, are constantly increasing. No farmer should be satisfied with anything short of the best kind of wheat. Suppose an expense of many dollars to have been incurred in procuring a new kind, if it yield only two bushels more to the acre than an old sort, it will more than pay for itself in the first harvest field. It should be observed that different soils require different varieties; and every farmer should select, after trial, the kind which agrees best with his land.
A standard wheat should be hardy, strong in the straw; not easy to shell and waste, prolific, thin in the bran, white in flour, and the flour rich in starch and gluten. The earliness or lateness of a variety affects its liability to disease.
Much may be done by every farmer to secure a variety suited to his soil from his own fields. Let a watchful eye observe every remarkable head of wheat—a very early one, a very long head, any which have an unusual sized grain, or is distinguished for any excellent property. By gathering, planting separately, and then culling again, each farmer may improve his own wheat ten fold. Indeed it has been in this way that several improved varieties have been procured.
Of spring wheat, the most valuable kinds are, Italian Spring Wheat; bearded, red berry, white chaff, head long, bran thick, flour of fair quality. Tea or Siberian Bald; bright straw, not long; berry white, bald; flour good; extensively cultivated in New England and northern part of New York. Valuable variety.
Black Sea Wheat.—White chaff, bearded, berry red, long and heavy, bran thick, flour inferior. Ripens very early, and seldom rusts or mildews.
The following are also the spring varieties. Egyptian Wild Goose or California.—Large and branching head, bearded, berry small, bran thick, flour coarse and yellow,
ripens late, and subject to rust. Although branching, it is not productive. There is a winter variety also. Rock Wheat, from Spain.—Chaff white, bearded, berry red and long, bran thick, flour of fair quality, hardy, shows small, well adapted for new lands and late sowing. Black Bearded.—Long cultivated in New York—stem large, heavy head, berry large and red, beard very long and stiff, produces flour well. Red Bearded, English.—Chaff red, bearded, beards standing out, berry white, weighs from sixty to sixty-two pounds. Scotch Wheat.—A large white wheat, berry and straw large.
Spring wheat does well on soils which heave and throw out winter wheat. It is deemed a good policy to sow some spring wheat every year, that, if the winter wheat fails, a crop may still be on hand.
An account of the best varieties of winter wheat, we extract from the Western Farmer and Gardener:
“White Flint.—A winter wheat, very white chaff, withstood Hessian fly well, has yielded fifty-four bushels to the acre, weighing from sixty-three to sixty-seven pounds per bushel. Improved White Flint.—This from early selection from the first. White Provence, from France.—A white wheat—shows small heads, well filled and large. Old Red Chaff.—White wheat, old—subject to fly. Kentucky, White Bearded.— White wheat, sometimes called Canadian Flint—early, good for clay soils. Indiana Wheat.—White wheat—berry white and large, ripens early, not so flinty as the White Flint, good flour, valuable for clayey soils. Velvet Beard, or Crate Wheat.—White wheat—English variety, chaff reddish, berry large and red, straw large and long, heads long and well filled, beard very stiff, flour yellowish. Soule’s Wheat.—A mixed variety, heads large, berry white, not very hardy. Beaver Dam.—Old variety, berry red, flour yellowish, ripens late. Eclipse.—English, not hardy. Virginia White May, from Virginia.—Winter, good flour, chaff white. Wheatland Wheat, from