WHEAT 



259 



ing from Kansas north to Minnesota and the 

 Dakotas. The varieties most popular on the Pacific 

 coast are Australian, Oregon Red Chaff, Blue Stem, 

 White Winter and Little Club. 



In selecting a variety, it is well to try out those 

 that do best near home and to study how they have 

 done at the experiment station. By so acting you 

 can choose a variety that will best serve you as a 

 standby. If satisfied with your choice, improve it 

 by selecting the seed wheat each year, using the 

 seed plot to the full limit that the choicest heads 

 and choicest grains may be saved to further im- 

 prove the wheat stock. 



Preparing the Land. — One of the real secrets of 

 successful winter wheat culture is in this early 

 preparation of the soil. Farmers have learned that 

 ground for wheat should be plowed as soon as the 

 previous crop has been removed and allowed to be- 

 come compact before seeding time. It will not do, of 

 course, to plow the ground and give it no further at- 

 tention. It must be harrowed or disked often enough 

 to keep down weeds and to keep the upper layers 

 pulverized, forming a dust mulch which prevents 

 the escape of valuable soil moisture. Where the 

 ground is full of weed seed, this is a most excellent 

 method of getting rid of these pests. The weed 

 crop is prevented from seeding and the seed in the 

 ground from last year germinates and the young 

 plants are killed. Even such persistent perennials 

 as cockle-burr, velvet leaf and jimson weed can 

 finally be controlled. It may require two or three 

 years of such treatment to get rid of the worst 

 pests, but persistence will always result in success. 



The ground for wheat should be carefully plowed ; 

 in most sections 5 to 7 inches deep. Every bit of 



