GROWING GRAIN CROPS IN DRY AREAS 227 



machines which head and thresh the grain in one oper- 

 ation. The Polish and Macaroni wheats, being drought- 

 resistant and good yielders, are in some instances grown 

 for feed. 



The time to sow winter wheat is influenced by lati- 

 tude and altitude. The difference between the best 

 season for sowing the crop in the extreme northern area 

 of the wheat belt and the extreme southern is more than 

 a month. In the northern areas winter wheat must be 

 sown earlier and spring wheat later by the difference 

 mentioned. In these areas August is the favorite month 

 for sowing winter wheat ; in central areas September and 

 in southern areas October. Sowing thus early gives the 

 plants stronger and deeper root growth, which enables 

 them better to withstand winter weather, and it gives 

 stronger top growth, which furnishes better winter pro- 

 tection. In southern Alberta and in some parts of north- 

 ern Montana, wheat is sometimes sown in July, but sow- 

 ing thus early may tend in some instances to incur the 

 hazard, first, of infection by the Hessian fly, and, second, 

 of drawing so much on the powers of the plant that 

 growth the next year will not be sufficiently vigorous. 

 This to some extent may be checked by grazing. Early 

 planting is usually to be preferred, as it may prevent 

 loss by drought in the later fall, heaving by frost, and 

 drying out and perishing by cold. 



Generally speaking, spring wheat may be sown as 

 soon as the 'ground is fit for cultivation in the spring. 

 This may not always apply where the winters are char- 

 acterized by warm spells, followed by severe freezing 

 weather. About parallel 49 wheat sowing is usually done 

 in the latter half of April, though in some instances it is 

 sown earlier. Where the frost goes deeply into the soil, 

 sowing on autumn-plowed land may frequently begin 

 while the frost is not yet melted far down below the 

 seed bed. 



