WHEAT 57 



seed patch, the seeds for which are all from plants 

 selected as the best. 



59. Change of seed. — As a general rule, there is no 

 advantage, and often a decided loss in yield, in bringing 

 seed wheat from a different latitude, instead of sowing 

 grain grown in the same climate. Southern seed wheat for 

 Southern fields should be the rule, except where the home- 

 gro^^Ti crop has been a failure, resulting in small, shrunken 

 grains. There is no inherent advantage in change of seed. 

 Acclimatized seed is more productive and, in the case of 

 wheat, earlier. 



60. Tillage. — Since wheat is usually sown either broad- 

 cast or else in rows 6 to S inches apart, it usually receives 

 no tillage after the plants come up. Yet occasionally 

 farmers have drilled wheat in rows far enough apart and 

 have cultivated the crop, -with resulting large yields. Such 

 tillage, if given at all, should be extremely shallow, espe- 

 cially in the latter part of the growing season, since many 

 of the roots of wheat are near the surface. It is practicable 

 to till wheat by the use of a hght spike-tooth adjustable 

 harrow, or weeder. 



The stiffer the soil and the smaller its supply of vege- 

 table matter the greater is the benefit from harrowing wheat 

 before the booting stage. Wheat sown by -a grain drill is 

 more satisfactorilj^ harrowed than broadcast wheat. But 

 in neither case is the stand materially thinned by the use of 

 a weeder or harrow when conditions are favorable; for 

 example, — stones and litter absent and plants several 

 months old, but not mth stems of any considerable length. 



61. Pasturing wheat. — Since wheat makes an excellent 

 winter pasture for practically all kinds of live-stock, it is 



