DKY-LAXn GRAINS TN THE GREAT BASIN. 17 



FARMING METHODS IN GRAIN PRODUCTION 



f 



For the ])urpose of (lotorinining the most siitisfactory methods to be 

 followed in the production of grains, particularly wheat, on the dry 

 lands, a number of experiments are being conducted at the substation. 

 In each of these tests a single variety is used, so that differences in yield 

 may indicate the values of the different methods. 



PLOWING. 



SPRING COMPARED WITH PALL PLOWING. 



A wide diversity of o])ini()n exists among the farmers of the 

 Mountain States as to the relative value of spring plowing and fall 

 plowing. A test of the two methods is conducted at the substation. 

 One i)lat is plowed as soon as possible after the wheat crop is removed 

 in the autumn and is allowed to lie untouched until the following 

 spring. The other plat is plowed in early May. After this plat is 

 plowed, the two plats are treated in exactly the same way, both lying 

 fallow during the summer and being planted to one variety of wheat 

 the following autumn. The test seeks to determine (1) the effects 

 of the fall and spring plowing on the moisture conditions, (2) the 

 influence on the crops j^roduced by the two plats the following year, 

 and (8) the comparative expensiveness of the two methods. The 

 test was not begun at Nephi until the fall of 1908, and only the 

 moisture studies for one year, 1909, are available, in addition to the 

 observations made on relative expensiveness. 



The principal argument advanced in favor of fall plowing is the 

 belief that more moisture is thereby conserved. Widtsoe and Merrill ^ 

 note an instance in which they found a difference amounting to 

 "more than 506 tons of water to the acre in the first 5 feet of soil" in 

 favor of land plowed in the fall. The results of the 1909 work at 

 Nephi, however, showed no advantage of either method in the matter 

 of water conservation. The two plats were sampled on April 5, June 

 26, and wSeptember 18 to a depth of 6 feet, and no important differ- 

 ences in moisture content were found. Whether the 1909 soil- 

 moisture conditions on those two plats were normal or exceptional 

 can be determined only by future studies. It is believed that in 

 years having comparatively dry winters the fall plowing would j^rove 

 a benefit. 



The first crop to be grown in this test was planted in the autumn of 

 1909. It is believed that this crop will show some difference in favor 

 of one or the other method, if there is a difference in the desirability 

 of either. There is a possibility that, aside from considerations of 



a See Bulletin 91, Utah Agricultural Experiment Station. 

 38838— Cir. 61—10 3 



