SPRING CEREALS AT MORO, OREG. 
13 
fallow. This alternation has been followed almost without excep- 
tion in the varietal experiments at the substation. The station 
crops have been produced by the methods in general use by the farm- 
ers in this section, and the yields reported are about those which 
ordinarily may be expected. The land is plowed -7 to 8 inches deep 
in April, an early spring disking usually being given prior to plowing. 
Immediately after plowing, the ground is harrowed once with a 
spike-tooth harrow, and another harrowing is given when weed 
growth starts. Later in the season, in order to eradicate weeds, the 
plats are cultivated with a weeder, locally known as a bar weeder. 
If necessary, this implement is used again later, the aim being to 
keep the fallow ground free from weeds. In order to accomplish 
Fig. 7.— Plats of the rotation experiments at the Moro substation, showing summer-fallow land in almost 
ideal condition in the foreground and small grains and corn in the background. Photographed in July, 
1914. 
this it sometimes has been necessary to cultivate so frequently that 
the soil has been too finely pulverized. The soil at the substation, 
if cultivated too much, may become so compacted after the winter 
snows and rains that much of the precipitation of winter and early 
spring is lost as run-off instead of being absorbed. Figure 6 shows 
the bar weeder in operation, and figure 7 shows the condition in 
which the fallow is usually kept during the summer months. 
Just prior to seeding spring grains, the ground is double disked 
and then harrowed once. Seeding is done with a disk drill, and no 
cultivation is given after seeding. 
The land in the vicinity of the substation is infested with several 
weeds that have been found difficult to control in the experimental 
plats. The two most troublesome in spring grains are the Russian 
thistle (Salsola pestifer) and tumbleweed (Amaranihus graecizans). 
Where good stands of grain are obtained the latter weed is rarely 
found, but the Russian thistle sometimes has been troublesome, 
especially in early-sown spring grain and in grain with thin stands. 
