Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1883-07-26
SAVING SEED WHEAT.

wheat nclu, DuL sOinc VI oui i"bei
subscribers do not, and for their in
formation we will explain.
r. ii. Smith, farmer of Shawnee
county, this State, having observed
that wheat which grew in tracks made
bv wagon wheels that had been driven
across a wheat field Immediately after
seeding was better than that not in the
tracks, was induced 10 make expert
ments in the same direction. His ex-
pcriments were made with iron wheels
following seed drills TO press down the
earth on the seed. His first expert
ments were made five or six years ago,
and he has continued them every year
since with continuous success. His
most difficult problem was 10 get the
seed thin enough. lie has harvested
heavy crops every year, and has been
reducing the quantity of seed for each
successive seeding. Last year he sowcd
one field of about G5 acres drilling
one-half bushcl TO the acre. There is
now on file In this Office an affidavit
of Edward Mccormick, the man who
drove the drill, that the quantity of
seed sown on that field was as above
stated. When the seed had sprouted
and was up nicely, the editor of this
paper went TO look at il. That was
Smiths wheat field" We published
our observations and conclusions in
our next issue, and promised TO report
again in the spring, which we did, and
again al harvest time, which we now
do.
On July 9th the wheat was being
cut and threshcd, and we had an OPP
portuniiy 10 see The final result. The
wheat stood very evenly on the
ground The straw was not large,
nor were the heads heavy. 1t was
simply good stand of very evenly
matured May wheat. (The seed was
sown in the carly part of Octobcr)
We have often seen longer and heay-
Ter straw and larger heads; but we
never saw more regular stand or
even growth, and we have not seen n
better wheat crop anywhere in a ride
over dozen good wheat counties this
year. The straw was clean and soft,
and all stood up well. II was truly a
beautiful field of wheat.
We watched the threshing and tried
10 estimate from appearances what
would be the probable yield in bushels
per acre. Our guess was about 80 /;
but, being particularly anxious on that
point, we are gratified by the report
of an actual measurement.
Mr.. Smith reports that with the
assistance of two persons lac measured
one acre of shocks and bundles, hauled
them TO the machine, threshed the
wheat out, and measured and weighed
56 bushels aud 30 pounds. On our ex-
preston Of both surprise and doubt,
he promised 10 have the whole field
accurately measured by disinterested
persons, and the exact acr cage togeth-
er with sworn statements of the actual
yield will be furnished Cor publication.
These experiments of Mr.. Smith may
be regarded, we believe, as going far
towards solving the problem of sue
cessful wheat-growing in Kansas.
Last December, when we first looked
al that field. we saw nothing but the
clean, dark-colored ground. Wewere
looking westwardly, and the drill had
run north and south. The wheat
blades were lying in the deep burrows
left by the roller wheels, and carelessly
resting on the sides of the ridges.
The winds, the freezing and thawing,
and rains and SHOWS of winter, in
stead of lifting the wheat roots out
and blowing them away, left them
more and more protected by the drift
ing soil gathering over them and
around the stems. AT our spring visit
the ridges had all been worn down to
general level, the plants were vigor-
Gus, not n dead one visible, and not a
root blown away. Now we see yield
of 80 bushels to the acre, weighing 81
pounds to the bushel, and that, too,
from one-half bushel of seed per acre.
That field is on the Kansas river bot
tom two miles northwest of North
Topeka, and is level.
The other field of which mention
was made in our first reference 10
Smiths method of seeding is on the
high rolling prairie twelve miles south
west of Topeka. 1t contains about IS
acres. The seeding was completed on
the 22d day of October, and the guam
tity of seed sown was 2l pounds TO
the acre, just one pound more than
one-tbird of bushel. The variety
was Odessa, and was of crop raised
from spring sowing. He sowed twice
in the spring, and then changed TO fall.
Ii stands evenly on the ground about
three and half feet high, heavy
straw, some affected with rust, the
heads of fair size and fairly well filled.
This field is full average of best up
land wheat in good years-better than
an average for this year. The field
extends across quarter-section, and
there are two wide slougbs in it.
Along these the wheat is not good,
and that will decrease the average
yield per acre. Omitting these por-
tons, and counting only the high,
open ground, the average viii be
about % bushels; but counting the
entire surface, breaks, sloughs, and all
the average win probably not exceed
is. When il is threshed we win learn
more about il. If The season had been
as good for wheat this year rs il was
last, this field would have run at least
thirty bushels. There are plenty of
stalks on the ground for that quantity,
but the growth and perfect maturity
of the plants have been hindered by
the peculiarity of the season, which
the people understand. A field on an
adjoining farm, from one and a half
bushels of seed, and drilled in the usual
way, will yield no better than Smiths
field grown from one-third OF BUSH
el of seed covered with the roller at
tachmsht.
The peculiar features of the growth
in these two fields which attracted our
attention most were the regularity of
stand--no bare spots-and evenness Of
growth.-Eansas Farmer.