CULTIVATION OF WHEAT 69 



Perhaps the only region in the world where nature still oc- 

 casionally seeds the ground by her own methods so efficiently 

 as to produce a crop is on the Pacific coast of the United States. 

 Some wheat is nearly always "shed" or shelled out before or 

 during harvest, and, if cultivate! into the ground by harrowing 

 or discing, produces what is known as a "volunteer" crop. If 

 not enough has been shed, frequently a little more is scattered 

 over the field, and instances are not uncommon where 25 to 30 

 bushels per acre have been yielded by such volunteer wheat 

 lands. 



The Amount of Seed required per acre varies with time and 

 method of seeding, with soil and climate, with different varie- 

 ties of wheat, and even with size and quality of seed of the 

 same variety. One variety may have only half as many grains 

 in a bushel as another. A bushel of shriveled wheat will have 

 more grains than a bushel of plump wheat. The lower the 

 germinating power, the more seed will have to be sown per 

 acre. Less seed is required if the time is early, if the rainfall 

 is light, if the soil is fertile, if the seedbed is well prepared, 

 and if the grain is drilled. The yield, however, is not propor- 

 tionate to the seed sown, for by tillering more or less, the 

 wheat plant adjusts itself to its environment. The most usual 

 amount sown per acre in the United States is about 5 pecks. 

 It varies from 2 pecks in parts of California to 9 pecks in 

 Ohio. The average amount sown per acre in the United States 

 is 1% bushels in the winter wheat regions, 1% bushels in the 

 spring wheat regions, 7 to 9 pecks in the Middle Atlantic 

 states, 6 to 8 pecks in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, and 3 

 to 8 pecks in California. 1 



The Time of Seeding varies so much with soil, climate and 

 different varieties of wheat that, taking the world around, any 

 time during the entire year is the best time for some particular 

 locality. For the United States Carleton says: "It is a pretty 

 safe rule to follow the practice of sowing always at a date 

 which is considered to be early in that locality. At the proper 

 time the seeding should be done at once, without regard to 

 weather conditions." '' Local conditions must always determine 

 the time for any particular locality. For example, if an attack 



1 Hunt, Cereals in Amer. (1904), p. 86. 

 3 Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1900, p. 541, 



