32 



THE IRRIGA TION AGE. 



breeding some of the later broods that 

 had not got their growth. The idea was 

 that with good feed and care these will be 

 as large by spring as those hatched early 

 in the season, and which get nearly their 

 full growth by the holidays. But this is 

 rarely the case. The late turkey, small 

 at Christmas, becomes stunted, and never 

 attains tbe size it would if hatched earlier. 

 Breeding from these immature and 

 stunted turkeys runs out the breed. 

 Some experienced turkey breeders keep 

 their largest fowls for breeding and retain 

 them until they are two years old. The 

 chicks from these older turkeys are 

 stronger and less liable to die off while 

 young. The young of tue turkey is a 

 tender bird at the best. It will pay to 

 breed only from birds that have attained 

 good size and full maturity. 



WHEAT GROWING. 



The results of trials at the experiment 

 station at Stillwater, Okla., and the prac- 

 tical experience of wheat growers all over 

 the territory show that early ploughing and 

 early sowing for wheat have given the 

 highest yields and the best wheat. At 

 the experiment station, wheat on ground 

 ploughed on July 19, yielded a little more 

 than twice as much as that ploughed on 

 September 11, the seeding in both cases 

 being done on September 15. The ex- 

 planation of this is that the early ploughed 

 land is in condition to absorb and retain 

 the moisture while that which has just 

 been ploughed is not in good condition for 

 the germination of the seed. 



Wheat seeded September 15 yielded 37; 

 October 15, 35; and November 15, 23 

 bushels per acre. The early seeding was 

 .much less affected by rust than the last 



seeding. These results agree with those 

 of former years. Seeding should be com- 

 pleted before the middle of October and 

 better resulfs will be obtained from seed- 

 ing from the middle to the last of Sep- 

 tember. 



As to varieties, the hard wheat as a 

 rule are preferred in the western half of 

 the territory and the soft wheat in the 

 eastern. At the station, the highest yield, 

 44.52 bushels per acre, was obtained from 

 Sibley's New Golden; the lowest 37.70 

 from Big English. German Emyeror, Tur- 

 key, Pickaway, Red Russian, Early Ripe, 

 Fulcaster, New Red Wonder, Fultz, Mis- 

 souri Blue Stem, and Early Red Clawson 

 all gave satisfactory yields. All of these 

 varieties aae medium earlw, with but a 

 few days difference in heading and ripen- 

 ing. The seed is all kept up to high 

 standard by careful selection and grading 

 each year. If more fanning mills were 

 used in the preparation of seed wheat, 

 there would be less complaint of varieties 

 "running out" and less of demand for new 

 varieties. 



Smooth meadows make the labor of 

 mowing easy. If yours are all rough or 

 stony, it will pay to go over them this 

 fall with a heavy roller, having on it a 

 box in which to put the stones: pick up 

 every one. This will save broken knives 

 on your mower next summer. 



Many a farmer would find it profitable 

 to smooth the roadside and seed it to 

 grass, and then use it for pasturing his 

 own stock or cut it for hay. '\ he road 

 will be thus kept much neater and at 

 less expense than by permitting it to 

 remain rough and to grow up in weeds. 



