92 PRINCIPLES OF FARM PRACTICE 



sixty-four cents for the Great Wheat Belt, and eighty-one 

 cents for the Corn Belt. Although the cost is greater now, 

 these relations are doubtless much the same. Owing to 

 greater cost of production the farmers of the Corn Belt cannot 

 compete in wheat raising with the farmers of the other two 

 regions, unless the difference may be balanced by some other 

 gain. 



In the two latter regions wheat is the main crop. In the 

 former it is a secondary crop used in rotation with other crops 

 and is not expected to contribute directly to farm profits. 



Wheat raising to be profitable in the Great Wheat Belt 

 must be conducted on an extensive scale. The acreage must 

 be large, though a smaller acreage might yield a profit if 

 more attention were given to the preparation of the soil 

 for seed. It is a question how long continuous cropping, 

 which is generally practiced, may be continued profitably. In 

 the wheat-growing sections of California, where continuous 

 cropping has been practiced for many years, the yield has 

 decreased greatly. Such experience seems to indicate the 

 danger of this practice. Referring to California, a wheat 

 expert says: "The general effect of the past and present 

 methods has been the development of poor physical condition 

 of the land, largely the result of depleted humus, until the 

 soil refuses to produce profitable crops of the commonly 

 grown varieties of wheat under the old system of farming, 

 and besides, the soil has been made foul with weeds." 



The solution of this difficulty is one in which farmers 

 engaged in wheat growing should be interested. The methods 

 suggested by the California Agricultural Experiment Station 

 offer a good solution and apply not only to California, but 

 to the entire Pacific, Western, and Northern wheat regions. 

 The essentials of these methods are restoration of the 



