260 DRY LAND FARMING 



hay crop. The header may be used, but the areas grown 

 are not usually large enough to make such harvesting 

 advantageous. 



The oat crop is generally cured in the round shock 

 in areas where strong winds prevail. The crop may be 

 readily and safely stacked when cured, or it may, of 

 course, be threshed from the shock. The ordinary thresh- 

 er is commonly used. The average yields on dry land 

 will be about 40 bushels, with maximum yields of, say, 

 75 to 80 bushels. 



GROWING SPELTZ 



Speltz, more properly designated emmer, is of com- 

 paratively recent introduction. It holds the grain which 

 it produces tightly in the chaff scale and consequently 

 resembles barley more than wheat. It is markedly 

 drought-resistant, but the yields differ much in different 

 localities. In the west it is grown solely for the purpose 

 of providing food for live stock, for which it has a value 

 ranking almost equally high with barley. Heretofore 

 spring varieties, mainly, have been grown, but during re- 

 cent years Buffum has evolved some winter varieties of 

 much promise that have proved hardy on the plateaus of 

 Wyoming and Colorado. 



Soils. Since speltz is a rugged plant, it may be 

 grown on a wide range of soils. Of course those that 

 are well stored with plant food and that hold moisture 

 well will give the best crops, but good crops may be 

 grown where the moisture content is low. It would 

 seem correct to say that it will grow on soils lower in 

 plant food than would be suitable for barley, but has 

 not more power than barley to grow on alkali or gumbo 

 lands. 



Place in the rotation. The best crops of speltz 

 grown in the semi-arid country will come after fallowed 

 land or land that had grown a cultivated crop, but such 



