370 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



9-10 EDWARD VII., A. 1910 



strong growth and a high degree of development in the winter wheat. In a season 

 somewhat dry, the fields having thick stands are the first to show the efi^ects of drouth. 

 So it would hardly he wise for farmers in the district to change the customary amount 

 of wheat sown (from 30 to 60 lbs. per acre) until a few further seasons' testing fur- 

 nishes more reliable conclusions as to the best amount of seed to sow under the condi- 

 tions in this district. 



EXPERIMENT WITH DIFFERENT DATES OF SEEDING. 



The first wheat was sown on August 15, 1907, and sowings were made twice a 

 month from then to December 1, at the rate of 30 lbs. per acre with the following 

 results : — 



It might be of interest to mention here that the present indication (March 31) for 

 the crop of 1909 is, that the sowing made August 15 is going to do better than that 

 of September 1. 



THE CULTURE OF WINTER WHEAT. 



As there are a great many letters being received asking for infomiation con- 

 cerning the best method of cultivation for winter wheat, when to sow, the quantity 

 of seed to use, &c., a brief outline of the method in vogue in this district is here given. 



Although a winter wheat known as Odessa has been grown in the Cardston and 

 Pincher Creek districts for the last twenty years or more, the first hard winter wheat 

 raised on a commercial scale was not sown until the fall of 1901, when llr. E. E. 

 Thom.pson, then of Spring Coulee, imported a car of Turkey Red from Nebraska. 

 Although there have been further importations of the same kind of seed into the 

 province, most of the four million odd bushels threshed this past season are from that 

 first car of seed. 



For sieven seasons this wheat has been sown from July to December', the seed 

 varying in quantity per acre from two pecks to six pecks and more. Naturally, some 

 failures have been met with, but one important fact has been established beyond 

 question, that the district is peculiarly adapted to the growing of hard winter wheat. 

 Of the details, such as the best mode of preparing the ground, the best time to sow, 

 and the right quantity of seed to use, much is still to be learned. In all agricultural 

 experiments, the average of a number of seasons is required before reliable conclusions 

 may be drawn. 



PREPARATION OF THE LAND. 



If sod is to be used, it should be broken in May and June, while the soil is moist 

 and before the rainy season is over. May breaking usually gives better results than 

 June breaking. The sod should be rolled or flattened down as fast as it is broken, to 

 facilitate the rotting process. It is the custom to break 3 J to 4 inches deep and 



