REQUIREMENTS EOR PRODUCING PROFITARLE CROPS. 19 



investigations tend to prove that the flat-growing types of true 

 whiter wheat will not succeed in the valley soils of California, espe- 

 cially in their present condition of weediness.) 



(7) The young gram should be thoroughly harrowed as soon as the 

 ground is dry enough in the early spring, thus covering all of the 

 young weeds which have started during the rainy season. 



DEVELOPMENT OF BETTER VARIETIES OF WHEAT. 



The proper cultivation of the soil is essential to the production 

 of good yields of all varieties of wheat. It does not follow, however, 

 that every variety of wheat will give good yields even on fertile soil 

 properly cultivated. This erroneous idea prevails among certain 

 gram growers. The United States Department of Agriculture has 

 tested hundreds of varieties of wheat in different sections of the 

 country and has found that comparatively few of these varieties are 

 adapted to the prevailing climatic and soil conditions of each sec- 

 tion. Varieties which produce good yields in one section of the 

 country are found to be absolute failures in other sections. 



Variety Tests in California. 



Although a large number of varieties of wheat have been tested 

 in California by this Department during the past five years, very 

 few of these are adapted to the climatic and soil conditions of this 

 State. California presents such a variety of climates that a type 

 of wheat which may give excellent results in one section of the 

 State does poorly in another. Our investigations thus far are not 

 of long enough duration to enable us to state definitely the variety 

 of wheat best adapted to any particular locality of the State. How- 

 ever, the results indicate that for the localities in which tests have 

 been made we have now varieties which are better adapted to the 

 prevailing conditions than those commonly grown by the farmers. 

 We are able, therefore, with a fair degree of certainty, to recommend 

 varieties for a large portion of the State. 



Table II presents a list of some of the varieties of wheat which 

 have been grown in California in connection with the investigations 

 of the Department. The average yields to the acre, the number of 

 days required to reach maturity, and the fruiting period (the number 

 of days between the time of blossoming and the time of ripening) are 

 based upon the plat experiments continued for three years in the 

 San Joaquin Valley. The results obtained from the same varieties 

 when grown in the Sacramento Valley compare very favorably with 

 those indicated in this table. A few of these varieties are proving 

 to be well adapted to both the localities in which they have been 

 grown. 



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