WHEAT 131 



water to come up from the subsoil to supply water neces- 

 sary for germination, the latter may be delayed for several 

 weeks. In preparing the soil for wheat, the same general 

 principles will be involved as were discussed in the cor- 

 responding part of the chapter on corn. Oat stubble 

 should be plowed or disked as soon as the oats can be 

 removed from the field, and the land further prepared by 

 frequent harrowing so as to prevent rapid loss of moisture 

 until the seed is planted. Sometimes it is advisable and 

 entirely practical to disk the land before plowing it. 

 This renders the further preparation less difficult and often 

 saves much time as compared with plowing only. In the 

 three-year rotation, wheat most often follows corn. 

 Usually corn land cannot be given much preparation before 

 seeding the wheat, since the corn remains on the field 

 until, or even after, the wheat is sown. However, much 

 can be done to prepare the seed bed for wheat, both in 

 pulverizing the soil and keeping it free from weeds by 

 careful cultivation of the corn crop. Sometimes a light 

 drag may well be run ahead of the drill to loosen up the 

 soil. This practice is often followed when the wheat is 

 drilled in the standing corn. If an early variety of corn is 

 grown, it may usually be put into the shock before wheat 

 seeding, in which case a disk or cultivator may be em- 

 ployed to prepare the ground for sowing. For spring 

 wheat the land may be either plowed in the fall or early in 

 the spring. The preparation of the seed bed from fall or 

 spring plowed land does not differ from the practices 

 already described. 



119. Preparation of wheat for seeding. — Wheat to be 

 used for seeding should be run through the fanning mill to 

 remove the weed seeds, dirt, chaff, and damaged kernels. 

 After the wheat has been thoroughly cleaned by the use of 



