Barry O'Brien, age 12, of Great Falls, Mont., for his question:
WHEN WAS WHEAT FIRST GROWN?
Wheat is the common name for cereal grasses that are cultivated by the peoples of the temperate zones. Wheat is one of the world's most important grams. Remains of wheat have been found by archeologists working on sites in the Middle East dating from 7000 B.C., indicating that it has been raised since prehistoric times.
Wheat was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians and by the prehistoric Europeans. Bread wheat was identified at a site in southern Turkestan that dates back to 6000 B.C. and evidence of the grain was also found in Crete.
The cultivation of wheat in the Americas was introduced by the Spaniards in Mexico and by the English in New England and Virginia.
Wheat is a tall, annual plant that reaches an average height of four feet. The leaves, which resemble those of other grasses, appear early and are followed by slender stalks, terminating in spikes of gram that are so called ears.
According to the regions in which they are grown, certain types of wheat are chosen for their adaptability to altitude, climate and yield. The common wheats grown in the Soviet Union, the United States and Canada are spring and winter wheats, planted either in the spring for summer harvest or in the tall for spring harvest. .
The main use of wheat is the manufacture of flour for bread and pastries. In general, hard varieties are used for bread flour and soft varieties for pastry flour. Wheat is also used in the production of breakfast foods.
Low grades of wheat, and by products of the flour milling, are used as feed for livestock. A minor amount of wheat is used as a coffee substitute, especially in Europe, and wheat starch is employed as as sizing for textile fabrics
Kansas, North Dakota, Washington and Montana are the leaning U.S. wheat producing states.
World output of wheat at the start of the 1980s was more than 425 million metric tons, an increase of about 23 percent over the previous decade.
The Soviet Union was the largest wheat producer, with 21 percent of world output, followed by China with 14 percent (up from nine percent a decade earlier) and the United States with 13.7 percent.
The other .major wheat producers are Canada and India. In Canada, wheat farming is centered in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba.
Diseases of wheat are connected with parasitic fungi. The chief of these diseases are rust and smut. Wheat is also liable to injury from several insect pests. A particularly important insect pest is the Hessian fly.
In the U.S., wheat is usually planted by sowing machines of the drill or broadcast type. Little cultivation is necessary beyond preparation of the land by plowing, harrowing and, sometimes, dusting to control pests.