Cultivated Grains 309 



inches or greater than 8 to 10 inches is not often desirable. 

 The advantages that follow early breaking are due to the in- 

 creased amount of moisture stored and the encouragement 

 given to the formation of nitrates in the soil. (If 128). 



445. Early and Late Plowing. Many experiments 

 have been made that show how great the gain is when 



Fig. 198. Increase blocks of wheat and oats planted from seed grown in head rows. 

 Increase blocks planted in this way afford another opportunity for comparing 

 quality and yield. 



Courtesy Prof. Frank Spragg, Michigan Agricultural College. 



early breaking is compared with late breaking. At the 

 Oklahoma Experiment Station, three plots were plowed 

 on dates indicated in the table in 1f 446. In the early plow- 

 ing, the soil was moist and readily formed a mellow bed 

 that absorbed and largely retained the summer rains. 

 The medium late breaking broke up lumpy and was drier, 

 while the very late breaking was so weedy, and broke up 

 so lumpy that it required about eight times as much labor 

 to get the land in reasonably fair condition for seeding. 



