80 AGRICULTURE 



good <b read qualities; and (5) ability to resist insect ene- 

 mies and diseases. 



Once the type and variety selected for seed are decided 

 upon, the wheat should be run through a fanning mill. 

 This will select the heaviest and plumpest grains, as well 

 as remove the seed of noxious weeds. If care is taken thus 

 to secure the best of the crop for seed each year, there need 

 be no fear of the seed "running out." On the contrary, the 

 variety may actually be improved. 



Methods of planting. The method formerly used in 

 planting wheat was to sow it broadcast on the plowed 

 ground, and then harrow it in. This is a very wasteful way 

 of planting, however, since some of the wheat fails to be 

 covered, and is picked up by the birds; some of it is just 

 barely covered, and fails to secure good roots; and some 

 of it is covered too deeply, and grows imperfectly. 



The method now used in all successful farming is to 

 plant the wheat with a drill. This sets the seed at a uni- 

 form depth, -and gives it a moist fine bed of soil. Nu- 

 merous experiments have shown that the best depth to 

 plant wheat for average years is from one and a half 

 to three inches. Wheat, like corn, loses both time and 

 strength by being planted too deeply. 



Wherever possible, wheat should be drilled in rows run- 

 ning east and west. In dry regions, the prevailing winds 

 then blow snow and dirt into the drills instead of out of 

 them, as is the case when the rows run north and south. 

 In east-and-west rows the drill also tends to shade the roots 

 of the plant, and so protect them from the frequent thaw- 

 ings and freezings which occur in the case of winter wheat 

 when the sun shines directly into the drill. Because of 

 these uses of the drill ridges, the ground should not be 

 harrowed after the wheat is sown. 



