60 WHEAT 



METHODS OF SEEDING 



When possible always sow wheat with a good 

 drill. Drilling requires less seed than broadcasting 

 because the seeds are more evenly distributed 

 and more evenly covered, thus giving a more 

 uniform germination. Drilled wheat is less likely 

 to winter-kill because of the stronger plants, and 

 there is a slight protection afforded by the shallow 

 furrows. Many comparative tests at several 

 experiment stations have given increased yields 

 from drilling from two to ten bushels per acre. 



In the spring wheat states, wheat follows corn 

 with good results when the seed bed may be well 

 and cheaply prepared simply by disking and har- 

 rowing. Winter wheat may follow early potatoes, 

 or other early maturing intertilled crops which 

 have been well cultivated, without plowing. Also, 

 it is common practice in Kansas and states farther 

 south to drill wheat with a one-horse drill in 

 standing corn. 



When wheat follows wheat or other small grain, 

 while the general practice is to plow or list the 

 stubble land soon after harvest and prepare the 

 seed bed by giving the necessary surface cultiva- 

 tion, yet in parts of western Kansas and Nebraska 

 many farmers disk in preparing the wheat seed 

 bed without plowing, and much wheat is simply 

 "stubbled in," or drilled in the stubble without 

 any cultivation previous to sowing. This is a 

 careless method, and yet where the soil drifts 

 badly it seems advisable to practice it sometimes 

 and not plow every year. 



