450 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



2 GEORGE V., A. 1912 

 CULTURE OF WINTER AND OF SPRING WHEAT. 



So many letters of inquiry concerning' the growing of winter wheat and also of 

 faring wheat are received at the Station, that it may be excusable to repeat what was 

 said in last year's report and give a very brief outline of the general practice followed 

 in the growing of these crops in southern Alberta. Anything in the way of preparation 

 of the soil that will apply to spring wheat is qf course applicable in general to oats 

 or to barley. 



PREPARATION OF SOD LAND. 



The sod should be broken in May or June, while the soil is moist and before the 

 rainy season is over. May breaking usually gives better results than June breaking, 

 the reason for this being that less of the rains is used up by the growing grass and, 

 consequently, more is stored in the subsoil; also, the moist weather of June is con- 

 ducive to the rotting of the grass roots. The sods should be rolled or flattened down in 

 some manner as fast as broken. This connects the furrow slice with the subsoil and 

 facilitates the rotting process. The rolling should be done at noon and at night before 

 the teams leave the field. If a tractor is used, a weighted roller should be attached 

 behind the ploughs. The common practice is to break 3£ to 4£ or even 5 inches deep; 

 after this, the surface cultivation should be shallow. No attempt should be made to 

 cut through the sods with the discs, but merely to go deep enough to form a mulch 

 on the top to prevent rapid evaporation. If one is prepared to do this surface culti- 

 vation after rain, while the sods are moist, it will be found that the land is worked 

 more economically and to much better advantage. Enough work should be done to 

 get sufficient loose material to fill in the cracks between the sods which will then rot 

 /sufficiently during the summer to be loose and in good condition for growing a crop 

 the following spring. It is generally found necessary, if a thorough job is desired, 

 to double-disc the land twice, using a drag harrow and possibly a float after each 

 double-discing. The latter is a contrivance made of four or five two-inch planks a 

 foot wide, twelve to sixteen feet long, laid flatways and lapped so as to resemble some- 

 what a washboard. This implement, when weighted with stone or sod added to the 

 weight of the driver, crushes quite effectively small pieces of sod which, when dry, 

 could not Le broken up well with a drag harrow. The float should be followed 

 immediately with a harrow, for evaporation takes place very rapidly from the land 

 when the surfac* is left too smooth. If the floating is done just before seeding, the 

 seed drill will, of course, roughen the surface. A light harrowing immediately after 

 seeding is advisable. 



For the best results with spring grain, this work should be done on the sod during 

 the previous summer (say before the rush of harvest). In this way, all the land 

 requires in the early spring of the next year is a harrowing just as the frost draws out, 

 to prepare it for the seed drill. 



SOWING ON FRESH BREAKING. 



Considerable land during the past few years has been broken in April and immedi- 

 ately sown to grain. Although fair results are often obtained in this way. it is not 

 a practice that can be recommended, for, if the season is dry, the resulting crop may 

 be disappointing, and, on account of the sods not having had a chance to rot properly, 

 the second crop is not nearly as good as the second crop after breaking the land in 

 May or June and allowing it to lie fallow that summer as described above. 



BACKSETTING. 



Although it is not customary to backset in this district, it is a practice that can- 

 not be too highly recommended. When backsetting is to be done, the sod should be 

 broken as shallow as practicable and immediately rolled, or, if a roller is not available. 



