WHEAT 53 



Greenville, South CaroUna, Montgomery, Alabama, Nov. 8. 



Nov. 6. Columbia, South Carolina, 

 Atlanta, Georgia, Nov. 7. Nov. S. 



Decatur, Alabama, Got. 15. Shreveport, Louisiana, Nov. 11. 



Memphis, Tennessee, Oct. 28. Dallas, Texas, Nov. 15. 

 OpeHka, Alabama, No^^ 9. 



The average date of killing frost will usually prove a satisfac- 

 tory date for so'W'ing wheat in the northern and central parts of 

 the cotton-belt. North of the cotton-belt, a date shghtly ahead 

 of the average date of killing frost may afford a larger yield. 

 South of the area where the Hessian fly occurs, the sowing of 

 wheat may be several weeks earlier than the average date of 

 first killing frost. 



54. Climate and soil as related to the best date for 

 sowing wheat. — The cooler the climate, — that is, the 

 higher the latitude and the greater the altitude, — the 

 earlier must wheat be sown to afford the maximum yield. 

 Early sowing usually affords the largest yield, since it pro- 

 vides a longer time for the plant to develop a strong root 

 system, to tiller or thicken more completely, and to collect 

 plant-food. However, extremely early sowing is inad- 

 visable, even in regions where the Hessian fly is not 

 present, since this causes the plants to enter the boot 

 stage — that is, to form stems — before all freezing weather 

 is past. In this stage plants of all of the small grains 

 are especially liable to injury by a degree of cold that 

 would not prove harmful to plants that had not begun 

 to form stems. 



The poorer the land the more urgent the need for a rather 

 early date of sowing, so that the early sowing may encour- 

 age tillering, which is not favored by poor soil. 



For the central part of the cotton-belt, the first half 



