WHEAT 



"WHEAT 



667 



not- been properly timed and cross-fertilization has 

 not followed. By making several identical crosses 

 a sufficient number of seeds can be secured for 

 further plantings. 



Various methods of growing such seed are sug- 

 gested. Whatever the method followed, it should 

 permit of the greatest possible development of the 

 plants from each individual seed. It will be found 

 that a great difference will appear in the plants 

 succeeding from the first cross. A close study of 

 these will reveal that only certain ones will pos- 

 sess the characters desired, and when these are 

 planted and another generation secured, some will 

 be found to reproduce as fixed types while others 

 will show an unstable character. It is generally 

 conceded by wheat-breeders that four to five years 

 are necessary firmly to fix any desired type so 

 that it will reproduce itself perfectly, 



Selection. — It is possible from a single cross to 

 . secure a considerable number of new varieties. As 

 soon as these are secured they must be carefully 

 studied before being finally selected as desirable 

 types. This study may reveal that further crossing 

 with either of the parents or other types is needed 

 to effect the improvement desired. In fact, many 

 of the standard pedigreed wheats of the country 

 are the product of successive crosses and inbreed- 

 ing. This is well illustrated in the well-known 

 variety, Genesee Giant, which is the result of no 

 less than eight successive cross-fertilizations. This 

 process increases the necessity for the important 

 work of selection since the variations secured are 

 so numerous. 



Selection must begin with the individual plants. 

 From these may be chosen the best and most per- 

 fect heads. In any number of plants which are the 

 result of a single cross the most vigorous and pro- 

 ductive can easily be noted. When a fixed type is 

 secured and decided on as worthy of propagation, 

 the next step will be to increase the amount of 

 seed as quickly as possible. Selection 

 should not cease even then, for further 

 improvement in the quality produced 

 is possible. 



Praetieal methods of improving seed 

 wheat. 



It is contended that the larger 

 grains found in any variety are cap- 

 able of increasing the yield, and many 

 experiments go to show that this is a 

 fact. It is probable that size alone 

 cannot be depended on, but rather 

 weight of the grain. For this reason 

 a machine has been devised to take 

 the place of the screening machines usually em- 

 ployed. This machine has a cylinder which throws 

 the grain by centrifugal force. The heavier grains 

 naturally travel the farthest and the grain is 

 graded by a series of receptacles into which it 

 falls. Screening either by the use of a fanning mill 

 or a perforated cylinder is also a good practice. 



Other factors enter into the improvement of 

 wheat. Among these will be its treatment for pre- 

 venting smut and the use of fertilizers. It may 



also be benefited by being changed to a more con- 

 genial climate or soil. 



Soil. 



Wheat grows in a very great variety of soils, 

 ranging from the stiff clays of the New England 

 region to the volcanic ash of the Pacific coast. 

 With such a great variation no set rule or method 

 for preparation can be advised. In general, soils 

 which are full of organic matter, loose in texture 

 and dark in color are not so well suited for wheat- 

 growing as the lighter clay and drift soils. As a 

 rule, over much of the area devoted to wheat-grow- 

 ing, crop rotation or the use of some amendment to 

 the soil is essential. In regions where this is not 

 followed it is often customary to practice what is 

 known as summer-fallowing. 



Land intended for winter wheat should be plowed 

 as early in the preceding season as possible. This 

 permits of more thorough preparation of the soil 

 and also of the absorption of moisture during the 

 summer. Surface cultivation should be followed, 

 particularly after each rain. The depth of the 

 plowing should not be less than four inches nor 

 more than eight inches. In regions where corn is 

 a leading crop it is customary to seed such fields 

 without replowing, specially designed tools for pre- 

 paring the soil and seeding between the rows of 

 corn being used. This allows of the economical 

 use of the land, and the crops secured are gener- 

 ally equal to those secured by more expensive 

 methods of preparation. Pig. 902 shows a field 

 terraced to prevent soil washing. 



When spring wheat is grown, the land should be 

 plowed in the fall preceding or as soon as possible 

 in the spring. Thorough preparation of the soil is 

 important in all cases. 



Fertilizers. (T. L. Lyon). 

 On the older soils of the eastern states, extend- 



Fig 



Teirace-f arming to prevent soil washing. 



ing as far west as Ohio and Kentucky, barnyard 

 manure or commercial fertilizer is commonly 

 applied to the land for wheat or for some crop in 

 the rotation of which wheat forms a course. The 

 same is true of eastern Canada, including the prov- 

 ince of Ontario. West of this, commercial fertili- 

 zers are used very little, although barnyard manure 

 is used on grass-land and for cultivated crops in 

 all the country lying east of the semi-arid region. 

 On the light soils of the prairie region barnyard 



