CEREAL CULTIVATION GREAT PLAINS 369 



been practiced. The rolling may be of advantage after 

 an open winter, when the ground is loose and dry, or as a 

 corrective of heaving of the soil caused by alternate freez- 

 ing and thawing. The latter, however, does not occur 

 much in this area outside of northern Texas. The harrow- 

 ing may be of value on soils having a tendency to crust, 

 and in a dry period following winter or early spring rains. 



Harrowing the small cereals after they are up is con- 

 sidered to be of much value in Manitoba and Saskatche- 

 wan. In many instances of the employment of the sur- 

 face packer in Saskatchewan previously mentioned (388), 

 it was used after the plants were 2 to 4 inches high, with 

 beneficial results, it is claimed. From experiments at the 

 North Dakota station, it appeared that " harrowing wheat 

 conserved the soil moisture and proved beneficial." An 

 average of the results of 2 and 3 years' trials at demon- 

 stration farms in Montana shows no benefit from harrow- 

 ing winter wheat in the spring, but a direct loss, to which 

 must be added the cost of cultivation. 



In 4 years of experiments at the Nebraska station, 

 no increased yield was obtained from the cultivation of 

 winter wheat. There was considerable loss in cultivat- 

 ing broadcasted wheat, because so many plants were 

 destroyed by the harrow. Rolling early in the spring when 

 growth had started gave an average increase in yield of 

 5.1 bushels to the acre. Harrowing after rolling always 

 reduced the gain from rolling alone. The weeder was 

 better than the harrow. The average yields in 7 years' 

 trials in cultivating oats showed 4.8 bushels to the acre 

 gain in favor of cultivation (Montgomery, 1908). 



398. Pasturing the grain crop. In the Great Plains, 

 except in unusually wet seasons or long-continued autumn 

 weather in the southern portion, it is rarely necessary to 



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