WHEAT 39 



wheat, however soft wheat succeeds well on 

 bottom lands of a loamy, light texture. 



To produce the best quality of hard wheat 

 requires fertile soil, land well supplied with nitro- 

 gen and rich in the mineral elements of plant food. 

 The soil should be well balanced in fertility. If 

 there is an over-supply of nitrogen caused by 

 heavy manuring or by growing alfalfa or clover, 

 there is likely to be a rank growth of straw which 

 may lodge and the heads fail to fill, resulting in 

 light, shrunken grain. 



A fertile soil which is well supplied with organic 

 matter and humus will produce a much larger 

 yield of wheat under similar conditions of culture 

 and rainfall than a less fertile soil or one lacking 

 in vegetable matter. The humus will take in 

 and hold more water, the organic matter acting 

 as a sponge to absorb and retain the moisture. 

 Also the fertile soil will supply a stronger solution 

 of plant food, thus producing a greater growth 

 with the same amount of water than an infertile 

 soil. Thus the fertilized soil has the advantage 

 in two ways: first, it absorbs and holds more 

 moisture and supplies it to the growing crop; 

 second, it makes better use of the soil water, the 

 plant requiring often 50% less water because of 

 its stronger solution of plant food than the soil 

 low in fertility and lacking in organic matter. 



Therefore, it is necessary to rotate crops, grow 

 legumes and use manure and fertilizers to main- 

 tain and increase soil fertility, also to conserve soil 

 moisture by proper culture methods in order to 

 secure the largest yields of wheat. Moreover, 



