ORIGIN OF THE CEREALS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2117, 2 February 1886, Page 4

ORIGIN OF THE CEREALS.

Reckn r numbers of Nature contain interesting papers, by Professor Schubeler, ou the original habitat of some of the cereals, and theirsubsequentculthationin the Scandinavian lands and Iceland, of barley and rye more especially. It would appear that barley was cultivated before other cereals in Scandinavia, and that the generic term "corn" was applied among Northmen to this gram only trom the oldest timed, and that in the Norwegian laws of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, wherever reference was made to the " Kornskat "—or standard by which land in the northern lands wai, and .still is, rated in accoi dance with the corn it i-s capable of yielding — the term was nnderbtood to apply to barley. I'ioof of the high latitude to which the cultivation was cirried in early ages is afforded by the Evil's Saga, where mention is made of a barn in Homeland (b"Bde«s. N. lat.), used for the storing of corn, and which was so large that tables could be spread within it for the entertainment of 800 guests. In Iceland barley was cultivated from the time of its colonisation, in 870, till the middle of the fourteenth century, or, according to John Storrason, aa lately as 1400. From that period down to our own times barley has not been grown in Iceland with any systematic attention, the islanders being dependent on the home country for their supplies of corn. In the last century, however, various attempts were made both by the Danish Government and private individuals to obtain home grown corn in Iceland, and the success with which these endeavours were atteuded gives additional importance to the systematic undertaking which has been set on font by Dr Schubeler and others within the last three years for the introduction into the island of the hardier cereals, vegetables, and fruits. As many as 332 samples of seeds or ornamental and useful plants, most of which were collected from the neighbourhood of Christiana, are now being cultivated at Reykjavik under the special direction of the local government doctor, Herr Sohicrbeck, who succeeded, in 1883, in cutting barley 98 days after the eowmg of the seed, which had come from Alton (70 deg. N. lat.) And here it may be observed that this seems the polar limit in Norway for anything like good barley crops. The seed is generally sown at the end of May, and in favourable seasons it may be cut at the end of August ; the growth of the stalks being often 2£ inches in twenty-four hours. North of 60deg or 61deg barley cannot be successfully crown in Norway at more than from 1800 to 2000 feet above the sea level. In Sweden the polar limit is about 68deg or 66deg, but even there, as in Finland, night frosts prove very destructive to the young barley. In some of the field valleys of Norway, on the other hand, barley may, in favourable seasons, be cut eight or nine weeks after its sowing, and thus two crops may be reaped in one summer. According even to a tiadition current in Thelemarken, a farm there owes its name, Triset, to the three crops reaped in the land in one year ! Rye early came into use as a breadstuft in Scandinavia, and in 1400 the Norwegian Council of State issued an ordinance making it obligatory on every peasant to lay down a cci tain portion of of his land in rye. In Norway the polar limit of summer rye is about 69deg, and that of winter rye about 61 cleg ; but in Sweden it has been carried along the coast as far north as b'odeg. The summer rye crops are generally sown and fit for cutting about the same as barley, although occasionaly, in southern Norway, less than ninety days are required for their full maturity.

Our own Mbn. — During the recent debate in the Dunedin Presbytery on the appointment of Professor of Mental and Moral Science at the Otago University, which ended in the recommendation of the Rev. Dr. Salmond, Mr Adam said " they should now be able to supply all the educated men necessary for this country. They did not send Home now* for thtir doctors or lawyers, neither did they send Home for their editors, not even to the Australian Colonies, for only recently a member of the literary staff of the Dunedin morning newspaper had been elected to the position of subeditor of one of the most influential journals in Australia. Victoria and New South Wales, too, were now receiving from this land most gifted engineers and surveyors."' Idextiucatiox. — The Melbourne correspondent of the Ararat Advertiser writes :—" In the case of a man named Cox, who was sentenced to ten years the other day for sheep • stealing, the ' muttons ' were identified in an ingenious manner. The police had found it necessary to bring a shepherd all the way from the Pentland Hills. When asked if he could point out the stolen sheep, lie expressed himself in doubt, but thought his dog could. It seems that there was one ram in the flock that had an invincible dislike to ' < ollie, ' and •went for him on sight.' A mob of sheep were diiven up to a point and the dog sent after them. The moment he came in bight there was a commotion in the centre of the iloc't, and out came the identical ram in full chase. The way the prisoner's face fell when this incident was related was a caution. Mj:>TKEh.-> and Sernant. — The Sydney Morning Herald relates the following episode : — Au American lady who is about to commence housekeeping again, after a prolonged tour ot Europe and the United States, offered good wages for a general servant. She was s>o severely catechised by the girls she spoke to, that at last she gave up her quest in despair and resolved to resort again to the registry office. The conversation which passed between her and an immigrant girl immediately before she left the depot resembled very much the old joke which has had so many initiations : — Lady : " Are you engaged '/" Girl addressed: "No ma'am." L. : "You are a general servant?" G. : ••Yes." L. : •• What wages do you waut ? I live at North Shore, and you will not have a hard place." <j. : " 14s a week. What family have you V L. : "Two children." G. : "Any washing?" L. : The most of that is given out." G. : "Do you allow visitors?" L. : "Oh, yes; you can see a friend occasionally, and I can let yon have many an evening off." G. : "Is the work hard ?" L. : ' ' Well, no. We give out all the scrubbing and washing, and my husband and I attend to the cooking and the children, while the servaut plays lawn tennis. You don't play lawn tennis ? No ! Ah, you won't suit us." Not an Exacgkkation. — It is related of the late Emery Storm, the notorious American lawyer, that when he was in London, he was entertained by Lord Coleridge. Among the after-dinner speakers was one gentleman, who expressed his great admiration for the energy and success of the interior metropolis of America, but he frankly confessed his displeasure at one thing. He had been informed that in the city from ivhich the guest of the evening hailed, commercial honour was at so low an ebb that hundreds of merchants failed in the course of a year, always with large liabilities and small assets. Stores, in his reply, said : " Gentlemen, I declare to you that during the twenty yearn I have lived in Chicago not one business failure has occurred involving a sum exceeding ten or fifteen thousand dollars. Not one, sir, in twenty years." The Englishmen, both astonished and captivated, tried "Hear! hear !" with much enthusiasm. After a time, however, au inquisitive friend cornered Storrs, and enquired : " Wasn't that statement of yours about there being no important failures in Chicago for twenty years slightly exacrgorated, Mr Storrs?" " Rxaggeratod ! Not in the least, sir. Not a particle, sir. It was simply a blank'd lie." — Figaro.