WHEAT is universally acknowledged to be the most valuable of all cereal grasses, the most popular of all breadstuffs, and next to maize the most productive. Its cultivation dates from the earliest ages, and as in ancient Egypt and Palestine it ranked as a chief crop, so now it may be thus considered in the temperate portion of Europe, Asia and Africa. The wheat districts in this country are of illimitable extent, the vast proportion of which are now covered with virgin soil as yet untouched by the hand of man. So boundless is this tract of country that reasonable calculations suggest the capability of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio val leys alone—if placed under cultivation, to support a population equal to one half of the inhabitants of the globe. Wheat is an annual plant, and although nowhere succeeding better in its growth than in sub tropical regions is a hardy plant, and when covered with snow will endure even the unusually severe winters so often experienced in the north of Europe. It requires, however, for its successful cultivation a mean temperature, of at least 55° Fahr. for three or four months of the year. Owing to the different climates in which wheat is produced, its cultivated varieties are numerous, more so in fact, than in any other sort of grain. New kinds are continually presenting themselves many of which are held in high estimation in certain districts. The chief varieties are the Bearded and Beardless, which correspond closely with Winter and Summer Wheats, and the White and Red Wheats, which are thus distinguished by the color of the grain. But put ting on one side the mere classification of wheat, it is obvious that its intrinsic value depends on the quality of the flour it yields. The best wheat yields from 75 to 80 per cent. of fine flour, the inferior kinds seldom averaging more than 68 per cent. and some times only 54-56 per cent. It should be remembered that gener ally speaking, the smoother and thinner the grain is in skin, the greater is the quantity of fine flour produced. A large portion of the wheat husk is separated from the flour by the miller, and is known as Bran. Wheat is subject to diseases which are fre
quently productive of serious loss to the farmer and are generally owing to the presence of parasitic fungi, and also to the ravages of different species of insects as the Hessian fly, wheat fly, corn moth, wireworm, Young winter and spring wheats are often infested with the larva of the ground beetle which is very destructive. Of all the preparations of flour that obtained from wheat is far more nutritious than that of barley, oats, or rye. As wheat has ever been the most highly esteemed of all the cereals especially for bread-making, so the progress of agriculture, and really of wealth in many countries is traceable to its increased and extensive culti vation. Irrespective of its importance for domestic-food purposes, wheat has attained a celebrated notoriety in the political and com mercial world. In the former, ere to day, it has held the reins of power, has created parties, developed partizanship and decided the issues of parliamentary or congressional strife. In the latter, it has proved an attractive source of speculation and an objective point for financial ambition. It has been the compeer of gold in the race for gain, and has given and removed fortunes in a day.
The principal produce exchanges throughout the civilized world resound with the noisy clamors of " bulls " and " bears," as the fluctuating prices of the grain are clicked by the telegraph and confusedly echoed among the excited throng. Corners have been created and ruin forced almost in the twinkling of an eye by the capricious determination of a favored few who struggle for the sole possession of this precious grain. Thus prices are enhanced and the poor ground down, until, as recently shown in Chicago, this speculative gambling in the chief necessary of life, becomes so enormous and criminal, as very properly to place its votaries within the meshes of the law. Too plain language cannot be used against this pernicious practice and it is devoutly to be hoped that Congress may be impressed to legislate upon the subject.