The Wheat Crop 189 



blanket over the surface will tend to keep the moisture in 

 and will promote the germination of the grain. 



Of course, in that part where the corn has been grown 

 there will be wide spaces where the corn shocks stand in 

 rows which cannot be sown to wheat. But these spaces 

 can be utihzed in spring, after the shocks have been re- 

 moved, for getting the farm supply of oats for feeding, 

 and on most farms where wheat is the money crop, the 

 oats crop is only of importance as feed for the farm 

 horses and is seldom an important sale crop. 



The date for sowing the winter wheat 



SowLg^Wheat ^^^P ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ chmate of the 

 locality. What would be early sowing in 

 one part of the winter wheat belt would be late sowing 

 in another. Too early sowing must be avoided because 

 of the danger that the crop will be attacked by the 

 Hessian fly in the fall. Hence, we have always advised 

 that the first appearance of a hoar frost should be the sig- 

 nal for wheat sowing, as after that there will be little dan- 

 ger from the fall fly, and there will still be time enough for 

 the crop to get strong enough to pass the winter in safety. 

 This rule would make the sowing from early September 

 on the northern limit of the winter wheat belt to November 

 on the southern side. 



From Pennsylvania, southward, we would 



wheat seeding. In the northern part of this 

 section it may at times fail from a hard winter following, 

 but in that case there is always another chance to sow in 

 the spring, as most farmers now do. In the northern part 

 of the winter wheat belt, the clover is best sown in early 



