254 



SOIL PHYSICS AND MANAGEMENT 



quality. An average yield of 123 bushels per acre was produced 

 on the Montana Experiment stations in the dry-farming areas. 



Seeding. In semi-arid regions seeding must be done more 

 carefully than in humid regions. A deep mellow seed bed must 

 be thoroughly prepared and too much work cannot be expended 

 upon it. The seed bed should be such as to act as a storage reser- 

 voir for water and sufficiently compact so that the moisture will be 

 near the surface to germinate the seed. After the seed is planted 

 or during the process of planting the soil should be compacted 

 around the seed. For this reason the press drill should be used 

 quite generally in seeding. It permits uniform distribution and 

 covering of seed. Broadcast seeding invites failure. 



Yieds of Loftfunise Wheat With Different Methods of Seeding, 10 Utah Station 

 (Bushels Per Acre) 



From the preceding table it will be seen that the drilled wheat 

 gave an increase of 7.0 bushels in one case and 13.6 bushels in 

 another over the broadcasted. 



On semi-arid land it might be supposed that deep seeding would 

 be necessary. The depth must depend upon the character of the 

 soil and the amount of moisture it contains. In heavy clay plant- 

 ing should be from one to one and one-half inches, while planting 

 in sandy loams may be as deep as three inches. Where wheat was 

 planted three inches deep in heavy clay the yield for an average 

 of five years was 18.3 bushels, while where the planting was done 

 at one and one-half inches the yield was 26.9 bushels per acre. 11 



The amount of seed to the acre should be a little more than half 

 that required in humid regions. A heavy seeding results in almost 

 certain failure. It very frequently happens that the moisture in 

 the soil will be sufficient to start the plants of a light seeding in 

 fine shape, while those of a heavy seeding would all be stunted. 



