12 
BULLETIN 398. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
broken-in 1907. In 1910 it was necessary to grow the barley varie- 
ties on land that had been cropped to barley the previous year. In 
1911 and 1912 the flax varieties were sown on ground that had pro- 
duced a crop the year previous. In all other cases the varietal ex- 
periments were conducted on fallow ground. A good job of breaking 
is shown in figure 5. 
Where the land was continuously cropped, the plowing was done 
in the spring and a good seed bed prepared before sowing. The 
fallow ground was usually plowed hi June or July, after weeds and 
Fig. 5. — Sod land in the Judith Basin broken with a moldboard plow. The plow should have been 
followed by a heavy roller to flatten the furrow slice and bring it in contact with the moist subsoil. 
volunteer grain were well started. Plowing was done with a disk 
plow to a depth of 7 to S inches. It was found that if the land was 
worked down smooth after plowing there was likely to be considerable 
blowing of the soil during the winter : consequently, it has been the 
custom to leave the land rough until spring, when it is worked down 
with the disk and spike-tooth harrows to form a good seed bed. 
In the preparation of the land an effort has been made to follow 
actual farm practices as closely as possible. In some cases it has 
been necessary to do some cultivating and hand weeding in order to 
keep the land uniform, but on the whole the plats have not received 
any more cultivation than would be given under good farming 
conditions. 
