^ WHEAT 129 



abundantly supplied with organic matter. Winter killing 

 is less likely to occur on clay than on loamy soils, and 

 comparatively better yields of wheat are secured on this 

 type than are obtained from corn soils. 



METHODS OF CULTURE 



117. Place in the rotation. — In the corn belt states 

 where both corn and oats are grown in the rotation, the 

 usual sequence is corn, oats, wheat, hay. When wheat, 

 is the only grain crop in rotation, the wheat follows corn, 

 and it is in turn followed by hay. While a corn, wheat, 

 and oat rotation is usually a three-year rotation, it may, 

 by cutting hay from the field for two years, be extended 

 to four years. In parts of the Great Plains area, wheat is 

 grown in continuous culture, largely because farming 

 operations are so extensive that a rotation cannot well be 

 practiced. As the population increases, the size of farms 

 will decrease and after a few years, perhaps, a well-defined 

 rotation will have become the usual practice there. 



118. Preparing the seed bed. — The method of pre- 

 paring the seed bed for wheat, of course, will be influenced 

 by the rotation practiced and whether it is seeded in the 

 fall or spring. In the winter wheat sections, when a 

 four-year rotation is followed, the oat stubble land must 

 be prepared for wheat. The most common method, 

 perhaps, is that of plowing the land a few weeks before 

 the time of seeding. In recent years the disking of the 

 land instead of plowing has become a common practice. 

 Whether plowing or disking is the method employed, an 

 important factor, probably the most important factor in 

 many cases, is the handling of the soil in such a way as to 

 retain as much of the season's rainfall stored in the soil as 

 possible. Moisture is often a factor which determines 



