126 THE SOILS AND CROPS OF THE FARM. 



much thinner seeding may be practiced than where 

 tike winters are severe. The fact seems to be that 

 when the winters are mild the plant largely adjusts 

 itself to its surroundings, so that it makes but little 

 difference how much seed is sown, but if the winter is 

 seveire and the wheat partly killed, if the wheat is 

 sown thickly there may be still wheat enough left to 

 raise a fair crop. 



The Statistician estimates the average quantity 

 of winter wheat sown as 13-8 bushels per acre, 

 and of spring wheat 1^ bushels per acre. Pro- 

 fessor Brewer found by means of circular letters sent 

 to representative farmers throughout the country 

 that the amount sown in the middle Atlantic States 

 was 7 to 9 pecks, in the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys 

 6 to 8 pecks, and in California 3 to 8 pecks, the 

 smaller amount being used in the drier regions. 



Winter wheat may be rolled in the spring, when 

 there is much heaving of the soil, in order to pack the 

 soil about the roots. The cost of thus smoothing the 

 surface may often be repaid by the increased facility 

 with which the crop can be harvested. ' When grass- 

 seed is sown with the grain, rolling should never be 

 neglected. 



Wheat is sometimes harrowed in the spring but it 

 is a practice that cannot be recommended. . The cul- 

 tivation of wheat, much as we cultivate corn in this 

 country, is not unusual in England, although less 

 usual than formerly. Cultivation of wheat has been 

 tried in this country to a limited extent, but it has 

 almost always been harmful rather than beneficial. 



Harvesting. — The wheat harvest of the United 

 States begins in Texas in the early part of May and 



