WINTER WHEAT IN WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA. 7 



PREPARATION OF SEED. 



The seed should be carefully cleaned and graded to remove all dirt, 

 weed seeds, and small slirunken kernels. If smut is present the seed 

 should be treated, as there is great loss from this parasite in seasons 

 favorable for its development. One method is that of wetting the 

 grain with a solution consisting of 1 pound of formalin to 40 or 50 

 gallons of water and then covering with a blanket or tarpaulin. The 

 grain is allowed to remain covered for about two hours and is then 

 spread out and occasionally stirred until dry, when it may be stored 

 in a bin or in sacks free from smut. By this method, however, the 

 smut balls are left in the grain and may break in the sacks in hauling 

 or in the drill and thus infect the grain to some extent. If the grain 

 is steeped in barrels or vats, or a good smut machine is used, the smut 

 balls can be skimmed off and all infection prevented. The grain is 

 sometimes sown udthout diying, in wliich case it is necessary to seed 

 at a little heavier rate because of the swelling of the grain when wet. 



TIME OF SEEDING. 



The general belief is that w'nter wheat must be sowoi early in this 

 section to obtam a good 3"ield, the time usually considered best bemg 

 from about August 15 to September 1. However, the results so far 

 obtained at the Bellefourche Experiment Farm do not support this 

 view. 



In the fall of 1907 five plats of Turkej'- winter wheat were sown at 

 intervals of about two weeks, beginning September 1. The highest 

 jield (25.5 bushels per acre) was obtained from the plat seeded Novem- 

 ber 1. The plats sown October 1 and October 15 3delded nearly as 

 much, but the one seeded September 15 jdelded only 20.3 bushels per 

 acre and that seeded September 1, 23 bushels. These plats were 

 sown on new land broken during Jmie, 1907, backset m August, and 

 worked with a disk and harrow until a good seed bed was obtained. 

 The test was continued in the same manner in the seasons of 1908-9 

 and 1909-10, except that the first plat was sown August 15 and the 

 land was prepared by summer-fallowing. In 1909 the best yield (43 

 bushels per acre) was obtamed from the seeding of October 1. The 

 plats seeded August 15 and November 1, which were tlie earhest 

 and latest seedings, respectively, 3aelded 5 bushels less, which was 

 the lowest yie'd obtained. 



In 1909 two plats were sown on each aate at intervals of two weeks 

 from August 1 5 to November 1 . Those sown October 1 failed to 

 come up because of cold weather soon after seedmg, and some of the 

 plats were injured by blowing. Of those harvested, the best average 

 yields (19.3 bushels per acre in each case) were obtained from the 

 plats seeded August 15 and September 15. The plat sown Septem- 



[Cir. T't. 1 



