100 FOR BETTER CROPS 



Yield per Acre — Another table, taken from the report of 

 the Kansas experiment station, not only shows the time of 

 germination and proportion of seed that grew, but follows the 

 crop to time of harvest and gives the yield per acre on six experi- 

 mental plots. 



stand Wt. per bu. Yield per acre, bus. 



Fair 60| lbs. 29.69 



Fairly good 60 lbs. 30.64 



Good 591 lbs. 31.55 



60 lbs. 30.45 



60ilbs. ' 30.51 



60 lbs. 29.91 



The agricultural department calls especial attention to the 

 importance of drilling the rows of wheat east and west, in seed- 

 ing wheat in semi-arid regions, as the prevailing winds will then 

 drive the snow and dirt into and around the drills instead of 

 out of them. From practical experiments this has been found 

 to be a point of importance in other sections. Another reason 

 for this practice is that rows running north and south receive 

 the direct rays of the sun between the ridges, while in rows 

 running east and west the ridges tend to shade the plants. It 

 is not so much freezing that injures the wheat, but freezing and 

 thawing to such a depth that the roots of the plant are dis- 

 turbed, and anything that will check frequent thawing is bene- 

 ficial. 



Enemies of Wheat— The story of the wheat plant would be 

 incomplete without some reference to the enemies that attack 

 the wheat from the time the seed is cast into the ground until 

 the day it is used commercially. The wheat midge, Hessian fly, 

 chinch bug, wheat plant louse, wheat straw worm, wheat bulb 

 worm, army worm, andsawflies lie in wait for the growing plant, 

 while smut and rust get in their deadly work and weevil invades 

 the storage bins. 



How shall this host be combated ? Anything that can be done 

 to start a vigorous growth in the fall will aid in keeping down 

 these insect pests and protect the plant from ravages by fungus 

 enemies. It is even better to ignore the possible ravages of the 

 Hessian fly, and get an early vigorous growth on the wheat 

 fields in the fall than to allow late sown plants to go into the 

 winter with a sickly growth unable to withstand the vicissi- 

 tudes of winter. By making the best possible seed bed, by the 

 judicious use of stable manure and commercial fertilizers, by 

 drilling the seed, by underdraining and a wise rotation of crops, 

 the best conditions possible are secured for a vigorous growth 

 of the wheat plant and consequent strength to resist its many 

 enemies. 



Some enemies of the wheat crop have not been mentioned — 

 in fact their name is legion — but many so seldom harm the crop 



