wheat; disking corn-stalk ground in early spring for planting 

 to oats, barley, spring wheat, alfalfa, etc. We find that in the 

 eastern two-thirds of the state alfalfa can be started to better 

 advantage when planted in autumn than when planted in the 

 spring, provided a thoroughly firmed seed bed can be estab- 

 lished. A common practice, therefore, is to grow some early 

 spring-planted and early maturing crop, such as wheat, oats or 

 barley, after which the ground is prepared with the disk and 

 seeded to alfalfa in late August. If the land is plowed, the time 

 elapsing between harvesting and planting is too short to allow 

 the soil to become thoroughly firmed into an ideal seed bed, 

 even with considerable disking. On the other hand, however, 

 disking without plowing has become recognized as the efficient 

 method of placing such lands in condition for alfalfa hence its 

 general use. Both money and time are saved in this way and 

 a crop often established where otherwise it would have been 

 impossible. Likewise, a firm seed bed is necessary in which to 

 plant cowpeas in July after small grains have been removed 

 from the field. Cowpeas are becoming recognized as a valuable 

 crop to grow after a small grain crop, the same season. A 

 considerable acreage is planted in this way each year, with the 

 area constantly increasing. The seed bed is usually prepared 

 by disking rather than by plowing, because it can be done more 

 effectively and more economically. 



The rainy season of Kansas usually terminates in early 

 August. That is to say, very little rain falls, ordinarily, be- 

 tween the 15th of August and the first of October. Autumn 

 plowing, therefore, is made rather difficult unless the moisture 

 precipitated earlier in the season is retained in the soil. Disk- 

 ing immediately behind the header or binder (to establish a 

 soil mulch and thereby retain moisture) is widely practiced 

 among good farmers. In this way July plowing is made pos- 

 sible with a consequent larger yield of wheat, usually double 

 what it is on land equally as good but not disked or plowed 

 until late August. 



We find that cornstalk ground will produce more oats to 



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