The Bulletin. 7 



In view of the rapidly increasing price of wheat and the thou- 

 sands of acres of land in the State well suited to the production of 

 this crop on a profitable scale, the State Department of Agriculture 

 deems it wise to foster and encourage the growth of this crop among 

 our farmers. 



When we remember that the great wheat region of the Northwest, 

 where good crops may be grown without irrigation, is nearly all 

 occupied, and that these virgin soils lose their crop-producing power 

 rapidly after five or six years of continuous wheat culture, the present 

 high price of wheat in our midst should carry a definite meaning to 

 North Carolina wheat growers. Why should not the farmers of the 

 State make wheat growing a profitable branch of their farm economy ? 

 Everything seems to be in their favor. The wheat growers of the 

 West must harvest their crop and let their land lie idle till the next 

 season. One crop per year is all they may hope to get. But in our 

 State many of the growers can follow their wheat with either a crop 

 of cowpeas for seed or hay, or they may sometimes put corn in on 

 the newly broken stubble. This latter practice is rarely advisable, 

 however, except where heavy and special fertilization is practiced. 

 It is quite feasible and generally advisable to have a crop of either 

 cowpeas or soy beans follow the wheat crop, as this plan gives the 

 farmer a double profit in a single year and leaves his land in better 

 condition for the growth of succeeding crops. 



CULTIVATION. 



The farmers in the Piedmont and Mountainous sections of the 

 State are familiar with the ordinary methods of wheat culture as 

 practiced in the State. Usually, the crop follows wheat or peas which 

 have grown on a wheat or other small-grain stubble, or is sown on 

 corn stubble after the crop has been removed. In the eastern part 

 of the State cotton is sometimes out in time to allow wheat to follow 

 this crop. More generally wheat follows corn. Where level cultiva- 

 tion of the corn has been practiced, and where the land was well 

 prepared for the corn crop and there is not too much trash in the 

 way of grass and weeds on the land, the wheat may be put in with a 

 drill after the corn has been removed, or else cut and shocked on the 

 land, by giving the land a thorough disking beforehand and going 

 over it a sufficient number of times to make a good nice seedbed 

 two to four inches deep. Many farmers, however, prefer to give 

 the land a light plowing before putting in the crop, even where corn 

 has been grown. This latter practice is likely the best where there 

 is much weeds and grass on the land, which cannot be gotten rid of 

 well with a disk harrow; but the plowing should be shallow and 

 should be done a sufficiently long time before seeding — one month 

 will answer, especially if there are some rains in the meantime to 



