1118 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR WINTER WHEAT GROWERS. 



Winter wheat more than any other crop requires a 

 good seed bed because of the adverse conditions through 

 which it is required to grow. 



In preparing the seed bed, first plow thoroughly and 

 to a good depth. A firm, fine seed bed will have a ten- 

 dency to prevent winter killing. If the soil is left loose 

 and unpacked, the roots will grow deeper in a vertical 

 condition, and as the soil is heaved by freezing and 

 thawing, they are very apt to be broken. While if the 

 seed beds is firm, the roots will develop more in a hori- 

 zontal direction and thus rise and fall with the soil as it 

 freezes and thaws. 



If your soil is poor and unproductive, you will find 

 that stable manure is the best fertilizer you can use. It 

 will not only supply plant food, but will improve the 

 physical condition of your soil. The best plan to follow 

 in using commercial fertilizer, is to study your soil needs 

 and then apply the kind of fertilizer that will give the 

 best returns. 



To continue to raise a good crop of winter wheat it 

 is best to follow a careful rotation of crops. By grow- 

 ing wheat year after year, there will be a tendency for 

 the yield to decrease even though good methods of fer- 

 tilizing are followed, but by careful rotation of crops, it 

 will be possible to keep the yield more nearly the normal 

 amount. 



Select a variety of seed that is adapted to your local- 

 ity and to your soil. This can be determined best by 

 comparison or by selecting seed from localities that are 

 of similar climate. If you are in doubt about the variety, 

 write your State Agricultural College, for they will prob- 

 ably be able to give you this information. 



The wheat used for seed should be tested. Of course, 

 you cannot test it as you do your seed corn, but you 

 can sprout a small quantity. Grain that tests less than 

 90 per cent should not be used for seed. However, if 

 it is necessary to use such seed, allowance should be 

 made in the amount sown per acre. 



There are two kinds of smut prevalent in wheat which 

 greatly decrease the yield and also the quality. The 

 methods of treating for smut may be obtained by writing 

 your State College. 



It is highly important in growing winter wheat that 

 only plump and good kernels be used for seed. The 

 strength and vigor of the plant is determined very largely 

 by the kernel from which it grows. Professor Zabits, of 

 Ontario, has found that by carefully fanning and grading 

 the seed and planting only bright, plump kernels, the 

 yield can be increased as high as 33 per cent over the 

 amount harvested when average seed of the same variety 

 is used. 



strong, they are more susceptible to winter killing. On 

 the other hand, if planted too early, a green luxuriant 

 growth may result which is apt to be injured by freezing 

 and thawing. 



If your wheat seems to be falling off in quality and 

 in yield, or seems to be mixed with other varieties, build 

 it up by obtaining some good seed of the variety adapted 

 to your locality. Plant this seed in a patch by itself. 

 The seed patch need be only a few acres at the side of 

 your field, and may be planted first. Use only the very 

 best grain for planting this patch. 



In raising winter wheat, remember that it pays to: 



Select a variety of grain adapted to your locality. 



Fan and grade your seed. 



Test your seed. 



Treat for smut. 



Prepare a firm seed bed. 



Use a drill. 



Control the Hessian fly by time of planting, and by 

 destroying infected straw. 



Grow a seed patch. 



Preparing the Seed Bed. 



Use the grain drill, for it will plant the grain at a 

 uniform depth which will insure the grain coming up at 

 more nearly the same time. By experiments it has been 

 found that drilled grain will produce from three to nine 

 bushels more per acre than broadcasting. 



In sections where the Hessian fly is troublesome, it 

 is best to plant as late as possible, but care should be 

 exercised not to plant too late, for if the plants are not 



OFFICIAL NOTICES. 

 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. 



The Secretary of the Interior has authorized the hold- 

 ing of an auction sale on September 27 of town lots in the 

 Government townsite of Simms, one of the new towns 

 on the Sun River irrigation project, Montana. 



These lots include some of the most desirable busi- 

 ness and residence sections. Simms is surrounded by a 

 large area of irrigable land occupied by a very desirable 

 class of settlers. It lies about 30 miles west of Great Falls 

 on the Sun River branch of the Great Northern Railroad, 

 now under construction. 



The irrigable area is being extended as rapidly as the 

 necessary works can be constructed, and this sale offers 

 exceptionally good openings for a lumber and coal yard, 

 implement house, elevator, bank, drugstore, creamery, 

 blacksmith shop and livery stable. 



The Secretary of the Interior has issued the following 

 order for the Lower Yellowstone irrigation project, Mon- 

 tana-North Dakota: 



By order issued May 1, 1911, under the provisions 

 of the act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat., 388), known as the 

 Reclamation Act, and the act of February 13, 1911 (36 

 Stat., 902), anouncement was made that water-right ap- 

 plications at $45 per acre could be made and filed with the 

 special fiscal agent of the Reclamation Service for the 

 before May 24, 1911. In compliance with request made 

 to the Department for an extension of this period, it is 

 hereby ordered that water-right aplications may be ac- 

 cepted on or 

 before D e- 

 cember 1, 

 1911, if pre- 

 sented t o 

 the special 

 fiscal agent 

 af the Recla- 

 mation Ser- 

 vice for the 

 project, ac- 

 c o m p anied 

 by a pay- 

 in e n t of 

 $1.50 per 

 acre, and 

 such water- 

 right appli- 

 cation if fin- 

 ally accepted 

 in the man- 

 ner provided by the said order of May 1, 1911, shall be 

 subject to all the conditions and limitations thereof. 



The Secretary of the Interior has authorized the Rec- 

 lamation Service to execute contract with Mr. Orrin H. 

 Stratton, of Spokane, Washington, for furnishing 1,215 

 Imeal feet of 28-inch wood stave pipe on the Tieton unit 

 of the Yakima irrigation project, Washington. The con- 

 tract price is $4,720. 



