CEREAL CULTIVATION WESTERN AREA 397 



several years. The time of plowing will often be settled 

 by a necessary distribution of labor, requiring a part to 

 be done in the fall and a part in the spring. 



424. Cooperative experiments in Utah. In experi- 

 ments at Nephi, Utah, in cooperation between the United 

 States Department of Agriculture and the Utah Ex- 

 periment Station, the average results of 4 years' work 

 showed a gain of 1.7 bushels an acre of winter wheat in 

 favor of spring plowing compared with fall plowing (Car- 

 don, 1915, pp. 6-11). The spring-plowed plats were also 

 observed to be more free from weeds and volunteer grain 

 during the fallow period, than fall-plowed plats. It was 

 also calculated that the cost of the fall plowing method 

 was $1.75 an acre more than that of the spring plowing 

 method. As these results are considerably different 

 from those above mentioned (423), and opposed to them, 

 it seems probable that local differences of soil and climate 

 have much influence. There is a lack of reliable informa- 

 tion on this very important subject in the Western 

 area. 



425. Early and late plowing or disking. There is 

 little or no difference of opinion on the value of early 

 plowing or disking in the fall or spring. Thorn and Holtz 

 (1914, p. 12) found that between April 1 and September 1, 

 9.6 per cent of soil moisture was lost from stubble soil 

 plowed April 1 and packed, while 37.5 per cent was lost 

 from the same kind of soil plowed June 1 and packed. 

 Fall-plowed soil disked April 1 lost 12.3 per cent soil 

 moisture in the same period, while fall-plowed soil disked 

 June 1 lost 26.8 per cent. 



In 2 years' experiments at Moro, Oregon, on the time 

 of spring plowing of summer fallow for winter wheat, 

 Stephens (1915, p. 35) obtained results as follows:- 



