460 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



This would indicate a total seed requirement of about 5,000,000 

 bushels, of which California uses a little more than 3,000,000 bush- 

 els, Oregon nearly 1,000,000, Washington about 820,000, and 

 Idaho 121,000 bushels. 



Summer Fallowing. Summer fallowing is generally practiced 

 all over the entire region, largely owing to the fact that there is 

 practically no rotation feasible. On a considerable portion of the 

 area devoted to wheat in this section it is also impossible to grow 

 a fertilizing crop to plow into the ground, as is the custom in the 

 more humid sections of the country, as there is barely sufficient 

 moisture for the staple crop. 



The soil on the summer-fallowed land derives great benefit from 

 the disintegration of its otherwise insoluble ingredients by the ac- 

 tion of the air; but the chief benefit derived is from the rain of two 

 seasons falling on the land on which one crop is to be produced. 

 The greater portion of the wheat land of this region is capable of 

 absorbing all the rain that falls, and the maintenance of a loose, 

 clean surface as presented by the summer fallow prevents evapora- 

 tion. In addition to this, early sowing gives the land a long grow- 

 ing season, with the result that a good crop is nearly always raised 

 on land which has been treated in this manner, even though the 

 rainfall during the growing season is scant. 



Summer-fallowed land is frequently sown in May of the sea- 

 son following its period of idleness ; where pasture is needed, the cat- 

 tle are allowed to graze on the young wheat during the entire sum- 

 mer season, and in the fall the final growth of wheat is allowed to 

 start. Probably half the wheat land of the entire Pacific coast re- 

 gion is summer fallowed each year. This gives one crop on an aver- 

 age every two years, but if a sufficient amount of rain falls immedi- 

 ately after harvest it is possible to raise two crops in three years by 

 reseeding promptly. No fertilization of the wheat fields other than 

 by summer fallow has been attempted except by individual farmers 

 or in an experimental way by the State bureaus and experiment sta- 

 tions. 



THE MILLING QUALITIES OF WHEAT. 



The value oFlEe wheat to the- producer is determined by its 

 ability to yield profitable returns for the expense of producing it. 

 One factor in determining this is the price per bushel which the 

 consumer of the wheat pays him for it. The price which the con- 

 sumer can pay is in part controlled by the food value of the grain 

 and its products. It is this food value which is meant by the ex- 

 pression "quality of grain." It would seem at first thought, there- 

 fore, that the quality of the wheat would be determined by a simple 

 estimate of the amount of each of the several food principles which, 

 it contains. This is not the case, however, since practically the en- 

 tire class of consumers of wheat use it not as wheat but as bread. 

 Before it can be consumed as bread it must first be milled into flour, 

 and the practical value of the wheat to the consumer lies chiefly in 

 the flour which it will produce. The measure of the value of the 

 wheat is, therefore, in its milling qualities. The question for con- 



