The Story of Wheat

Bearded winter wheat.

        Wheat is today the commonest and one of the most important of all grains and cereals. It contributes greatly to the diet of North American families, for from it are made the finest of breads.
        The exact geographical origin of wheat is still a mystery. The Egyptians claimed that it originated with Isis, their goddess, and the Chinese believed that wheat seed was sent to them as a direct gift from heaven. Probably it first grew as a wild plant in central Asia around the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and at some early date primitive man discovered the seeds of this wild plant and found them good to eat.
        Wheat has been found in the ruins of the Swiss Lake region; it has been found in ancient Egyptian graves; the Bible refers to it time and again; it has been raised in Mesopotamia for more than 5,000 years. Although the exact date of its domestication cannot be told, wheat is thought to be the most ancient of all cultivated grains.
        The Spaniards introduced wheat into this continent when they brought it to Mexico in 1520. The following century the English carried it to New England and to Virginia, and since then many kinds of wheat have been produced to meet the needs of different soils and different climates.
        At first, owing to the difficulties of preparing the soils, the settlers raised just enough wheat for their own use. In those early days grain was sowed by hand and cut with scythes. Treading or pounding the wheat threshed it or separated the grains from the straw.
        These old methods took time and made it necessary for large numbers of men to harvest the wheat. Today, machinery takes the place of many men, and if you have ever been on a farm at harvest time, you know how quickly and how thoroughly the machines do the work. It is at this harvest time that you may look out over great fields of wheat turned a beautiful golden yellow. In the western part of the United States some of the fields are enormous, one private farm sometimes growing 1,000 acres. In western Canada wheat is king of all agriculture. Fields stretch hundreds of miles to the east and to the west, and elevators dot the landscape. One single wheat field could easily contain 7,000 acres.
        Wheat is also raised in South America, Australia, New Zealand, the northern and southern tips of Africa, Europe, China, India, and Egypt, but not all of these countries have modern ways of caring for their wheat as we have.
        If you should go to Palestine today at harvest time, you would see the reaping done in a manner similar to that of long ago. It would remind you of the old Bible story of Ruth and Boaz. The men, wearing vivid turbans, white garments and leather aprons, work in the fields with the women, who are usually dressed in blue homespun and white flowing veils. They cut the wheat with hand sickles, wrap each sheaf with a few straws, and pile it up to dry. Some of the wheat usually drops and is left behind, and this is gathered up by the widows and orphaned girls for their own food. The Bible story tells you that Ruth gathered the remaining wheat in the field of Boaz. Camels carry the grain from the fields to the threshing floors, where the women and children drive cattle or donkeys over the piles of sheaves. After the workers and gleaning women leave the fields, the shepherds bring in their flocks of sheep to graze there.
        What a difference there is between the wheat fields and reaping in America and that of Palestine and of long ago. However, no matter how the wheat is raised, taken care of and harvested, it is still considered the 'staff of life' for many people all over the world. Wood 

Woman harvesting wheat, Raise district, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Learn about wheat with George the Farmer.