Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Andra tidehvarfvet. Nordmännens färder till Norra Amerika och deras kolonier härstädes (986—1347) - II. Vinlandsfärderna
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159
dock möjligt, att det tillhörde något annat trädslag, som var
snarlikt den nordiska björken (Betula).
3. Thorvald Erikssons resa. Då Leif hemkom till Grön¬
land, ansåg hans broder Thorvald, att det upptäckta landet
the common wheat the water is absorbea in it. On the return of night,
the ground is again frozen, and then the expansive power of frost pro-
duces the destruction of the plant, by eradicating it, or breaking the roots
to pieces, and bursting the stalk where the water has penetrated. Rye
is not affected in this way, because it is not so permeable by water, and
because its roots are stronger, more elastic, and strike deeper into the
earth. In like manner the wild wheat of Oneida County is said to resist
the power of frost, and this is imputed to the same causes which proteet
the rye.“
“As I am persuaded that the history which I have given of this
wheat is substantially correct, it presents a very interesting subject for
investigation. Is it indigenous, or was it originally imported wheat, and
accidentally conveyed to the places where it was found? If the former,
it is the very grain which nature created for our soil and climate. If
the latter, it has been evidently improved by its wild state and spontane-
ous growth; — a circumstance of an anomalous character, and contrary
to the usual course of nature.“
“Although I am not prepared to give a decided opinion on this sub¬
ject, yet I may be permitted to observe, that there are cogent arguments
against the latter hypothesis.“
“The plant was found in a swamp and in a meadow, and appears to
delight in a wet soil, which is not congenial with the common wheat. It
presents not only a different aspect, but seemes to have peculiar and
characteristic qualities.“
“Linnaeus, if I remember rightly, made six species of Triticum.
Sixteen species are now enumerated, besides varieties, and these are found
in the most diversified climates: the Murwaary Wheat of Barbary; the
Spring Wheat of Siberia; the Spelter of Grermany; the Wheat of Egypt,
of Switzerland, of Poland, and of Sicily, cannot be derived from the same
country. Ceres, who, a^cording to the heathen mythology, discovered
corn, was said to have had her principal seat in Sicily; but this granary
of the ancient world has no exclusive claims to the most important of the
Cerealia. The Froment tremais, which arrives at maturity in these
marshes, is as different from the other kinds of Triticum, as it is possible
for different species to be; and it unquestlonably could not have had an
identity of local origin with them.“
“I have been a long time of opinion, that many of our native plants
have been improperly considered as naturalized; and as I am anxious to
claim the möst important culmiferous plant as an indigenous production,
I have no hesitation in donominating this wheat, discovered near Rome,
Triticum Americanum.“
“I also transmit by this opportunity specimens of a plant called the
Wild Rye which grows spontaneously and in considerable quantities in
the country bordering on the upper parts of the Mohawk River; and I
believe it might be eultivated to advantage.“
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