The Mystery of the Degenerate Wheat
A local doctor presents a strange botanical specimen that challenges the agricultural wisdom of 1859.
An interesting controversy has long existed as to the production of chess by sound wheat under any circumstances, and the theory that such degeneracy is contrary to nature, and impossible, has become generally acquiesced in, though by some still stoutly denied. Yesterday we were shown, by Dr. T. B. Thompson, a head of a wheat stalk complete in its outward appearance, containing no grains, the germ having been killed by the frost—but from the base of the head in the second or third row of husk there was a distinct growth of chess pods, indicating that after the growth of the wheat had been prevented by frost, it had taken a new direction and was well developed in a degenerated form. It is an exceedingly interesting specimen, and may give rise to renewed discussions. The most probable theory of the phenomena seems to be that the chess is the development of one of the dormant germs within the grain, which, in the absence of fertilization, tends to an egg without the yolk.
“The theory that such degeneracy is contrary to nature, and impossible, has become generally acquiesced in, though by some still stoutly denied.”
In the 19th century, farmers often debated 'transmutation'—the false belief that wheat could turn into the weed 'chess' (cheat grass) under stress. While modern science has debunked this, the story captures the era's intense curiosity about the natural world and the local agricultural anxieties of early Steilacoom.
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