FIELD CROPS. 847 



moi.st and mollow; that plowed August 15 turned up more or less diy 

 and lumpy. Both these sections were harrowed at intervals after 

 plowing" until seeding time. The section plowed September 11 was 

 weed3^ It turned up lumpy, and was dry as far down as the plow ran. 

 Rains w^hich had greatly benefited the earlier plowed section were 

 without measurable effect on this. Repeated disking, harrowing, and 

 rolling was necessar}" to get it into any kind of shape. It is estimated 

 that about 8 times the labor was put on it that would have been needed 

 had the ground been moist at the time of plowing. All the sections 

 were seeded September 15. The wheat in the earlier plowed section 

 germinated promptly and continued to grow without check. On the 

 late plowed sections many plants perished for want of moisture, and in 

 the summer following the crop matured later, was more seriously 

 affected by blight, and the grain was more shriveled. The yields from 

 the different sections averaged as follows: Early plowed 31.32 bu., 

 medium plowed 23.48 bu., and late plowed 15.3 bu. per acre. 



"An important point to consider in connection witii late plowing for wheat is the 

 weeds on the ground, that help take its moisture and go to seed, making foul ground 

 for future crops. Where this experiment was situated the soil was unusually free of 

 weed seed, but some were present. On the August plowing the weeds were scat- 

 tered and a part of them had gone to seed, but many of them were not matured. On 

 the September plowing the weeds had gone to seed, but were not thick on the ground. 

 Preventing weeds going to seed, and ridding the land of others that are started and 

 destroyed by the frequent harrowings on early plowing, will well pay for an extra 

 effort to do early plowing, to say nothing about the increase in yields of wheat that 

 are obtained." 



In the experiment to test the relative merits of earh^ medium, and 

 late seeding, plats were seeded September 15, October 18, and Novem- 

 ber 15. The yields obtained from the different seedings were as fol- 

 lows: Early seeding 36.8 bu., medium 31.81 bu., and late 23.47 bu. per 

 acre. The grain from the late seeding weighed 7 lbs. less per bushel 

 than from the early or medium seeding. With late seeding, especially 

 on poorly prepared land, about i bu. seed per acre more than usual 

 was required. In 6 former trials at this station the November seeding 

 ranged in 3delds from 1 to 13 bu. per acre, the October seeding 4 to 30 

 bu., and the September seeding 15 to 49 bu. 



Wheat has been grown continuously since 1892 on the same ground 

 w ithout manure. In 1898 one-half of the land was manured with barn- 

 3'ard manure at the rate of 15 tons per acre. The results obtained for 

 the 2 seasons 1898-99 and 1899-1900 show yields of 30.6 and 36.8 bu. 

 per acre, respectively, on the manured part, and 12 and 18.1 ])u. per 

 acre, respectively, on the unman ured. 



Of 17 varieties of wheat grown in 1900 Sibley New Golden gave the 

 largest yield, 44.5 bu., and Big English the smallest, 37.7 bu. per acre. 

 The following varieties, most of which have been grown at the sta- 

 tion for 6 years, are recommended: Soft smooth tnfteats. — Early Red 



