3-9 Taranan belte re being rapidly mands of the Sereased popu lation, and was t 18 m main elevators are being constructed. It soon aanada is destined eventually to produce the bulk of ons American export wheat. The cold climate is unfavorable to the production of eorn and many other crops, and it is very likely that the growing of wheat will be one of the great permanent industries of Canada, especially as the population is so largely agricultural.' 992 Wheat in the United Kingdom.-The imports of wheat by Great Britain are far greater than those of any other country and approximate two-fifths of those of the world. It is this fact which gives the United Kingdom its position of unusual importance in the wheat industry. About the time of Christ the Normans made England so productive of "corn" (wheat) that a large amount of grain was exported, and England was known as "The Granary of the North. At the close of the eighteenth century the average crop of Great Britain was over 60,000,000 bushels. In 1852 the wheat acreage was over 3,500,000 acres. With the development of wheat production in the United States and other countries having great natural advantages over the United Kingdom, the price of wheat declined to such a degree that it became more profitable for the latter country to grow other crops and to import the bulk of its wheat. By 1868, less than 2,500,000 acres of wheat were grown in Great Britain, and the acreage continued to decline for over a quarter of a century. Less than 2,000,000 acres of wheat are now annually grown, but the yield is over 30 bushels per acre. During the decline in wheat acreage the price fell in still greater proportion. Wheat imports to England began about 1846. Australian Wheat Production.-Wheat growing has not always been a profitable industry in Australia. It has been claimed that there is less return there for the farmer's labor than in any other civilized country. Wheat thrives best on the cooler and drier lands of the southern part of Australia. Many farmers, however, have abandoned wheat raising for the cultivation of the grape vine, which is a more profitable crop in good seasons. Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia are the chief wheat growing states. The yield per acre is never large, and short crops often result from severe droughts. For this reason Australia is not a reliable exporter. The production of wheat has been increasing, however, and 1 Saunders, Wheat Growing in Ca nada, 1904. 2 Warner, Landmarks Eng. Indus. Hist., pp. 8-11. 2.5 3.5 4.5 Characteristics: Probably derived from Einkorn; leaves usually Distribution: Extensively in Russia and Servia; Germany; Spain; 5.5 Use: Quite extensively for human food in portions of Russia, Germany, Switzerland and Italy as "kaska," a sort of porridge from crushed emmer; grist; "pot barley;" bread; also used for feed. 4.4 Triticum sat. spelta. 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 Name: English, spelt; German, spelz or dinkel; French epeautre. Varieties: Winter and spring varieties white-bearded; black-bearded; Use: Flour is placed in same rank as common wheat flour; fed to stock. 5.4 Triticum sat. compactum. 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 Name: Club or "dwarf wheat." square head wheats; also "hedgehog wheat," Characteristics: Little more than two feet high, being a dwarf; heads very short, often squarely formed; commonly white, at times red; bearded or bald; spikelts very close, three or four-grained; grain short and small, red or white; great yielding power; stiff straw; non-shattering;_eary maturity; drought resistant. Distribution: Pacific coast and Rocky Mountain states of the Varieties: Generally known as "club" or "square head"; dwarf; Use: Yield the flour desired in certain localities; crackers; breakfast foods. 6.4 Triticum sat. turgidum. 1.5 2.5 Name: Poulard or pollard wheats; English (a misnomer), rivet; Characteristics: Rather tall; broad velvety leaves; stems thick and 3.5 Distribution: France, Egypt, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Southern Russia, other Mediterranean and Black Sea districts, and experimentally in the United States. 4.5 5.5 7.4 1.5 2.5 Varieties: Poulard; composite wheats (T. compositum), known as Miracle, Egyptian or Mummy wheats, having branched or compound heads whose grains develop unequally. Use: Macaroni and other pastes; bread; mixed with bread wheats to produce flour desired by certain French markets. Triticum sat. durum. Name: Durum, macaroni, or flint wheats. Characteristics: Hardest grain and longest beard known among wheats; plants tall; leaves smooth with hard cuticle; heads slender, compact, at times very short; always bearded; grains glassy, sometimes rather transparent, yellowish, long; very sensitive to changes of environment; high gluten content; drought and rust resistant; spikelets two to four-grained. 3.5 4.5 1.6 2.6 4.6 3.6 5.6 6.6 Distribution: Practically the only wheat of Algeria, Spain, Greece, Varieties: Gharnovka, Velvet Don, and Arnautka (Azov Sea region, Russia) United States. Kubanka (east of Volga river, Russia), United States. Saragolla (southeast Italy). Goose wheat (Canada. Dakota). Trigo candeal and Anchuelo (Argentina). Nicaragua (Central America, Texas). There are perhaps several dozen other varieties. 5.5 Uses: Macaroni; semolina; noodles; all kinds of pastries; bread; it is coming to be used for all purposes, in some regions, as ordinary wheat flour. 8.4 Triticum vulgare. 1.5 2.5 3.5 Name: This is the common bread wheat. Characteristics: Well known; heads rather loosely formed; bearded or bald; chaff usually smooth but may be velvety; spikelets generally three-grained, but may be two, and rarely four; stem usually hollow; all the characteristics vary widely (see varieties). Distribution: Practically over the whole globe, within the limits already given (see varieties). 4.5 Varieties: (Carleton's division, based not on botanical but on environmental characteristics). 1.6 Soft winter wheats: Grain amber to white; produced by moist mild climate of even temperature; found in eastern United States, western and northern Europe, Japan, and in portions of China India, Australia, and Argentina. 2.6 3.6 4.6 Hard winter wheats: Usually red-grained; usually bearded; relatively high gluten content; grown on black soils in climate characterized by extremes of temperature and moisture. Found chiefly in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Oklahoma in the United States (the wheat of Crimean origin known as "Turkey red"), in Argentina (the Italian wheat, Barletta), in Hungary and Roumania, in southern and southwestern Russia, and to some extent in Canada, northern India, Asiatic Turkey, and Persia. Hard spring wheats: What has been said of the hard winter wheats also applies to this group, the difference being that the growing season is shorter, and the winter too severe for winter varieties. They are found in central and western Canada, the north central states of the United States (these are the fife and blue-stem wheats), east Russia and western and southern Siberia. White wheats: Soft and very starchy; grains harder and much drier than those of the soft winter wheats; fall or spring sown, even in same locality; grown chiefly in the Pacific coast and Rocky Mountain states of the United States, in Australia, in Chile, in Turkestan, and the Caucasus. 5.6 Early wheats: Grain soft or semi-hard, amber to red; main characteristic is that they ripen early. Found in Australia and India, have a slight representation in California, and include some of the dwarf wheats of Japan. 5.5 Districts in the United States (Carleton's division). 1.7 Present average yield per acre, about 143 bushels. Harder-grained, more glutinous varieties. Hardier winter varieties for the most northern portions. 3.8 Early maturity. 4.8 Rust resistance. 2.6 Semi-hard winter wheat. 1.7 Present average yield per acre, about 14 bushels. 2.7 Chief varieties grown. Valley. 6.8 Nigger. 7.8 Dawson's Golden Chaff 8.8 Early Red Clawson. Present average yield per acre, about 93 bushels. Chief varieties now grown. Fultz. Fulcaster. 3.8 Red May. Boughton. 4.8 Rice. 5.8 Everett's High Grade. 6.8 7.8 Currel's Prolific 8.8 3.7 1.8 Purple Straw. Needs of the grower. Rust resistance. 2.8 Early maturity. Resistance to late spring frosts. 4.6 Hard spring wheat. Present average yield per acre, about 13 bushels. |