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BULLETIN 297, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the following spring. The highest yield was obtained from the plats 

 sown on September 16. The poor yield from the plat sown Septem- 

 ber 1 was due to low germination. 



In the fall of 1910 the two sowings germinated at about the same 

 time and the plants made a vigorous growth. The plat sown Sep- 

 tember 16 showed good germination but less growth than the two 

 earlier seedings. The plants on the plats sown October 1 emerged 

 but made little growth before winter, while in the plats sown Octo- 

 ber 16 and November 1 the seed germinated but the plants did not 

 emerge. As there was little precipitation during the fall, winter, 

 and spring, practically all of the plants were dead by May 1. There 

 was a higher moisture content and better survival in the late-sown 



Fig. 7.— Plats of winter wheat in the date-of-seeding test on the Belle Fourche Experiment Farm. ( Photo- 

 graphed October 24, 1912.) 



than in the early-sown plats. The fall of 1911 was so dry that the 

 date-of-seeding as well as other tests with winter wheat were a com- 

 plete failure. 



In the fall of 1912 the test was replicated three times on fiftieth- 

 acre plats instead of being sown on a single tenth-acre plat. An 

 earlier and a later date of seeding, August 6 and November 16, 

 respectively, were added to the test. The seeding of September 16 

 was not made, because the soil was so dry that germination could not 

 be obtained. Good stands were secured from the plats sown on each 

 date. A view of the plats on October 2 1 is shown in figure 7. The 

 earliest date of seeding produced the highest yield. 29.2 bushels. 



Because of the variations from yea!- to year, (he difference in 

 average yields obtained from the various dates of seeding was not 

 great. If the plats sown October 1, 1909, had not failed to germinate, 

 that date probably would have given the highest average yield for 

 the four years when crops were produced. The next highest yield 



