70 AGRICULTURE 



the average yield for your vicinity. Which crop pays the 

 better, and by how much per acre ? 



3. Growing the Wheat Crop 



Wheat grows best on virgin soil, or on land that has 



been renewed by means of clover, manure, or some other 



form of fertilizer. The new regions opened up in the West 



at first produce large crops, but soon fail in yield if wheat 



. is raised continuously without rotation with other crops. 



Preparing the seed bed. Since wheat is one of the 

 crops that can not be cultivated after planting, the seed bed 

 should be prepared with especial care. The ground should 

 be plowed, and then disked or harrowed until it is well 

 packed and finely pulverized. The preparation for the fall 

 and spring seeding is essentially the same. If the ground 

 is new, the plowing may be shallow. The older soils require 

 deeper plowing. 



Spring wheat is sometimes disked in on corn land with- 

 out first plowing the ground. This, however, is a careless 

 method of farming, and has been proved by careful experi- 

 ments not to secure so large a yield as from plowed land. 



Selecting and preparing the seed. As in the case 

 of corn, the best seed for wheat is usually that grown near 

 home. New varieties and seed grown at a distance should 

 not be used for the general crop until carefully tested by 

 agricultural experiment stations and found adapted to the 

 locality. 



Wheat selected for seed should possess the following 

 qualities: (1) A plump bright grain of good wheat; (2) 

 a stiff straw, able to withstand adverse weather; (3) a 

 compact head, ripening early, and not easily shattered ; (4) 

 good bread qualities; and (5) ability to resist insect ene- 

 mies and diseases. 



Once the type and variety selected for seed are decided 



