USES OF WHEAT 153 



A very simple rotation is: First year, corn; second year, 

 wheat; third year, clover. Such a rotation is adapted to light 

 soils or to building up run-down soils. This is especially 

 true if the corn and grass crops are fed to stock and the 

 manure returned to the soil. Another common rotation is 

 one covering five years: First year, wheat; second year, 

 hay; third year, pasture; fourth year, corn; fifth j^ear, oats. 

 Such a rotation is suitable where all the land is tillable, where 

 the grass crops may be grown, and where diversified farming 

 is practiced. In the Southwest, where difficulty is experi- 

 enced in getting grass started and where alfalfa is the main 

 hay crop, the following rotation is often followed : First year, 

 corn; second year, wheat; third year, oats. To add a vege- 

 table matter to the soil, cowpeas or soy beans are seeded as 

 soon as the grain crops are removed, and plowed under later 

 in the fall. In the South, a common rotation is: First year, 

 corn and cowpeas; second year, wheat and cowpeas; third 

 year, cotton. In the tobacco sections of the South, a rotation 

 often followed is: First year, tobacco; second year, wheat; 

 third year, clover. 



193. Wheat as a Nurse Crop. In sowing grass seed with 

 wheat, it is quite often mixed with the seed grain and sown, 

 and in other cases it is sown with a grass seed attachment on 

 the drill or seeder. Timothy seed may be sown with winter 

 wheat in the fall when the wheat is seeded, but as a rule it is 

 much safer to sow clover seed in the spring than in the fall. 

 Grass seed may be seeded in the spring on winter wheat 

 land, and the land harrowed to cover it, without detriment 

 to the crop. 



USES OF WHEAT 



194. As Human Food. The chief use of wheat the world 

 over is for flour to be used as human food. It contains more 

 gluten than other grams, which, on account of its elastic 

 dough, makes it preferable for bread making. There are 



