bSY-LAND GRAINS IN THE GREAT BASIN. 25 



"VYliile Tablo TX does not show a uniform relation between the 

 yield and the ratio of (i;rain to straw, it indicates the relatively laro;e 

 quantity of straw jjroduced by the early planted i)lats. The highest 

 grain-yielding plat, planted October 1, produced about the normal 

 amount of straw, the ratio being 1 to 1.11. The grain produced on 

 this plat was plump and sound, while that on the plats planted 

 August 15 and September 1 was badly shrunken. The dangers 

 incident to heavy foliage production are not so great when the sum- 

 mer is comparatively wet. In fact, if there is plenty of moisture all 

 through the growing season, heavy foliage is not a disadvantage at 

 all, but the Mountain States very seldom experience wet summers. 

 The disadvantages of early planting, then, lie in the danger of autumn 

 drought and, in the absence of this, in excessive foliage production. 



Factors in late planting. — Wlien wheat is planted late — November 

 1 or thereabout — there is a strong likelihood that it will not come up 

 until the following spring. Frequently this is not a disadvantage, but 

 it is usually found best to have the plants up in the autumn, especially 

 if the soil contains seed of weeds that germinate early in the spring. 

 AMiere this is the case, the wheat plants are in danger of being 

 crowded out in the struggle for growing space that invariably takes 

 place when plants of different kinds occur on the same soil. If the 

 wheat gets a good start in the autumn there is little danger that the 

 weeds will crowd it out. T^ate planted wheat has another disadvan- 

 tage — the danger of injury from low temperatures at the time the 

 seed is germinating. In early November the temperature is often 

 high enough for a few days to start germination, but it very frequently 

 falls to zero so suddenly that the young and sensitive plantlets are 

 killed or seriously injured. This sudden cold results in a poor stand 

 of plants with impaired vigor. The likelihood of the crop failing to 

 germinate in the autumn and being crowded out by weeds and the 

 dangers incident to unfavorable temperatures, then, are the principal 

 reasons why late planting should be avoided. 



The best time to plant. — No ])articular time can be positively desig- 

 nated as the best time to plant. There are cases where very early 

 planting has produced better results than medium or late planting; 

 occasionally late i)lanting produces maximum yields. The main 

 factors to be considered in connection with early planting and with 

 late planting have been already described. There are seasons when 

 these factors do not operate undesirably. There are doubtless 

 localities where early planting is invariably to be preferred, and there 

 are others where late planting always gives the best results. In the 

 Mountain States, where the rainfall is never very high, a variation 

 of an inch or two one way or the other may produce striking effects, 

 and such variations frequently occur. The records covering a num- 

 ber of years show, however, that on the average the summers are 



[Clr. 611 



