12 BULLETIN 398, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



broken in 1907. In 1910 it was necessary to grow the barley varie- 

 ties on land that had been cropped to barley the previous year. In 

 1911 and 1912 the flax varieties were sown on ground that had pro- 

 duced a crop the year previous. In all other cases the varietal ex- 

 periments were conducted on fallow ground. A good job of breaking 

 is shown in figure 5. 



Where the land was continuously cropped, the plowing was done 

 in the spring and a good seed bed prepared before sowing. The 

 fallow ground was usually plowed in June or July, after weeds and 



Fig. 5. — Sod land in the Judith Basin broken with a moldboard plow. The plow should have been 

 followed by a heavy roller to flatten the furrow slice and bring it In contact with the moist subsoil . 



volunteer grain were well started. Plowing was done with a disk 

 plow to a depth of 7 to 8 inches. It was found that if the land was 

 worked down smooth after plowing there was likely to be considerable 

 blowing of the soil during the winter; consequently, it has been the 

 custom to leave the land rough until spring, when it is worked down 

 with the disk and spike-tooth harrows to form a good seed bed. 



In the preparation of the land an effort has been made to follow 

 actual farm practices as closely as possible. In some cases it has 

 been necessary to do some cultivating and hand weeding in order to 

 keep the land uniform, but on the whole the plats have not received 

 any more cultivation than would be given under good farming 

 conditions. 



