FOR IIKTTKR moi'S U5 



Care of the Field — If for any reason it is impossible to j)lovv 

 early for wlieal, and the clover plant has been left on the i^round, 

 tlie clover should be mowed and drawn off the field or burned 

 before plowing. It is then better to make a shallow seed bed, 

 say four or five inches, compacting- the soil as thorouglily as 

 possible. Burning the fields before plowing accomplishes two 

 purposes: first, the removal of too great a bulk of vegetable mat- 

 ter; second, the destruction of many insect pests. Experiments 

 have shown tliat cut-worms are among the pests destroyed in 

 this way. 



Many farmers consider the tramping af land by cattle a great 

 factor in compacting the soil. Where fields can be pastured be- 

 fore plowing for wheat, the double benefit is secured of adding 

 fertility in the form of the manure produced, and compacting 

 the soil. On virgin soils the practice is almost universal of pas- 

 turing the wheat itself while the plants are young. Experience, 

 how^ever, does not show that pasturing wheat is an unmixed 

 blessing. This is probably owing to the fact that cattle are 

 left in the field when it is too wet, and, under these conditions, 

 both wheat and fields are injured. Taking into account, on the 

 other hand, the fact that this pasture is often worth a dollar an 

 acre to the farmer as food for his stock, the yield of wheat need 

 not be increased to make pasturing profitable. Spring pastur- 

 ing seems less objectionable than fall, and many think it aids in 

 reducing insect pests. Letters from twenty different Kansas 

 farmers in regard to pasturing wheat, show eighteen out of 

 twenty in favor of it, and they estimate the value at from fifty 

 cents to three dollars an acre. 



Plo^v^ing for Wheat — In sections of our country where new 

 soils are available and the land has not been cropped, the plow- 

 ing for wheat should be shallow, only a few inches the first 

 year, and increased from year to year until the desired depth is 

 reached. An interesting fact about seeding on new soil is the 

 length of time profitable crops may be grown without barnyard 

 manure or fertilizers of any kind, and with no rotation of crops. 

 In some instances wheat has followed wheat for ten or twelve 

 years with no decrease in yield. One account tells of wheat 

 lodging and enough being left on the ground to seed the entire 

 field, and a heavy crop being harvested the following season 

 without the use of any implement until harvest time. Our 

 country is fast approaching the time when such tales will seem 

 incredible. The countries of the old world will have to be our 

 teachers to show us the secret of maximum yields on long 

 cropped soils. 



Proper Tillage — Bearing in mind that the preparation of 

 the seed bed for wheat is the only cultivation that can be given 

 to insure a good crop, it is of the utmost importance that every- 



