WINTER-WHEAT PRODUCTION AT FORT HAYS STATION. 9 
ately after plowing. It receives no other cultivation or treatment. 
Plat B is plowed as early as practicable after harvest, disked or har- 
rowed immediately after plowing, and given such subsequent cul- 
tivation until seeding as may be necessary to prevent the growth of 
weeds and vegetation. This usually requires three or four cultiva- 
tions with harrow, disk, or shovel cultivator. Plat E is given the 
same treatment as B except that it is subsoiled at the time of plowing. 
Plat A is plowed about 5 inches deep, B from 6 to 7 inches, and E 
plowed to the same depth as B and subsoiled an additional 7 to 9 
inches. Subsoiling, however, is not done every year. It was done 
preceding the crops of 1907, 1908, 1911, 1914, 1917, 1919, and 1920. 
Plat F is furrowed with a lister at the time of plowing B and E. 
Furrows are run at distances of 34 feet, the same as if planting corn, 
and to a depth of about 6 inches. Thereafter until seeding, the plat 
is given the cultivation necessary to prevent weed growth and to 
level the surface by seeding time. This usually requires one culti- 
vation and two harrowings or two cultivations and one harrowing. 
The average date of winter-wheat harvest on these plats has been 
July 1 and the average date of seeding September 29. A period of 
90 days thus elapses between harvest and seeding. The average 
date of plowing plat A has been September 12, or 73 days after har- 
vest and 17 days before seeding. Plat B has been plowed on the 
average date of August 2, 32 days after harvest and 58 days before 
seeding. Plat A thus lies in stubble for 41 days, practically six weeks 
, longer than B; or, stated in another way, B is in a state of bare cul- 
tivation before seeding for six weeks longer than A. This period of 
six weeks in August and early September is a summer period when 
vegetative growth is very strong provided there is any moisture to 
support it. For the 14 years under consideration the August precip- 
itation has averaged 3.13 inches. Durimg the same period July has 
averaged 2.67 inches and September 1.96 inches. 
It may seem that an interval of 32 days between harvest and 
plowing is unduly long and that any advantage from early plowing 
might be further enhanced by shortening it. But this is the period 
fixed by experience as the shortest practicable when the crop is 
harvested with the binder and thrashed from the shock. The 
weather causes delays, particularly in clearing the crop from the 
ground either by stacking or thrashing. Plowing, listing, or disking 
consumes considerable time, so it is improbable that for any con- 
siderable acreage the interval could be shortened in practice. Farms 
are not likely to be so equipped as to permit the simultaneous conduct 
of plowing and harvest operations. When the crop is harvested 
with a header, as much of it is in this section, cultivation may be 
started somewhat sooner than is possible where the grain is bound. 
107903°—22——2 
