Gilpin observer., 1906-04-12
THE FARM AND RANGE
WHEAT EXPERIMENTS.
The Right Kind of Durum Wheat for
Colorado.
BY Prof. w. H. Olin of the Agricultural

oy Aol. w. II. Ollu VI Tue
College.
The tests which have been made
with the different kinds of durum
wheat for milling purposes show that
Kubanka makes better quality
flour than any other type of durum
wheat.
tions of kubanka from different locali-
ties in southern Russia, and it must fol-
low that some importations are better
adapted to the prevailing conditions on
our non-irrigated lands than others.
kubanka No. 5G39 was last year
tested by the writer in thirty-nine of
the fifty-nine counties of Colorado, and
it was found very well adapted to the
prevailing conditions of our non-irri-
gated land. This particular importa-
tion Prof. H. A. Carleton brought from
the Uralsk territory in Russia. There
it was accustomed to a hot, dry eli
nate, soil with considerable nitrogen
Gus matter and slightly alkaline: rain
fan ten to fifteen inches per annum.
These durum wheats are liable to de-
teriorate when grown in a climate or
soil to which they are not adapted.
This is wheat primarily for the
non-irrigated lands. Its ancestry would
indicate that it thrives best in regions
wnere there is sufficient rainfall to
maintain plant growth and no irriga.
ton is practiced. While this wheat will
yield much better under irrigation, it
is liable to deteriorate. Farmers are
advised to raise the standard spring
ana Iail wheat types-Defiance and
Turkey Red, ON all wheat lands under
the ditch.
The growing seasons of 1904 and
1905 had more than the usual amount
of rainfall in many sections of the
state, and while our reports on 1905
crop were quite satisfactory, further
tests are necessary to determine the
regions in our state where soil and Gil
matte conditions are favorable 10 the
culture of durum wheat.
Selection of Ground-This wheat
should be sown on ground where small
grain mas not been grown for at least
TWO years. When the seed bed is
clear of volunteer grain and wild oats,
the farmer should be able to keep this
heat pure.
Preparation of Seed Bed-It is not
advisable to seed on spring breaking,
for the sod is usually too dry to fur
nish moisture sufficient for vigorous
growth. The best returns are otained
when the ground has been plowed the
previous season and worked enough to
make a good seed bed for the wheat
plants. If spring plowed, the ground
should be narrowed the same day it is
plowed to prevent the loss of moisture
by evaporation. Close up the large
air spaces in soil as much as possible
to prevent excessive evaporation OF
moisture. A sub-surface packer follow
ing the plow firms the soil. but should
be followed by spike-toothed harrow
10 form an earth mulch and arrest too
rapid evaporation of soil moisture.
When a sub-surface packer cannot be
obtained, a corrugated roller followed
AT ONCE by harrow, prepares a
very good seed bed.
Treat Your Seed Wheat for Smut
All seed wheat should be treated for
smut. Use the formalin treatment,
since it is cheap, easily applied and,
when the treatment is THOROUGH, it
is always effective.
Method of Seeding-All wheat un-
der dry-farming conditions should be
seeded with grain drill, putting the
inches below the surface where suffi-
cient moisture will be obtained to give
quick termination Of seed. This de-
yelops the wheat beneath the earth
mulch and insures rapid growth from
the start. DO NOT SOW BROADCAST.
Press seed drills are preferable to all
other forms of drills for seeding, un-
der semi-arid conditions, but even
these are open to objections. They are
the best we have at the present time.
Drill openings eight inches apart are
preferable to those six inches part.
After the wheat is up, run over the
field with weeder to loosen the surface
soil and maintain the earth mulch
which prevents rapid evaporation of
soil moisture. Use weeder in opposite
direction to drill rows of wheat. If
YOU have no weeder, smooth harrow
the wheat ground with teeth sloping
back so as not to tear out the growing
wheat. Harrow ACROSS and not
WITH drill rows. Maintain SURFACE
cultivation as long as 1t can be done
without serious injury to wheat, break
ing up any crust that may form after
showers, until wheat is eighteen to
twenty inches high.
Amount of Seed.-Sow from forty to
sixty pounds per acre. When less
seed is used, it gives thin stand and
weeds too frequently rob the soil of
considerable amount of moisture. II
seeded too heavily, the wheat requires
more moisture than you can store in
the ground by dry-farming methods,
and it will therefore ''fire-burn."
Time of Seeding.-This wheat Is
not easily injured by frost and 1t
should be seeded as soon in the spring
as weather conditions are at all favor
able. This gives the youne wheat plant
the benefit of the early spring SHOWS
and rains. enabling 1t to make Wig
orous growth from the start. Early
eeding means early maturity. Kindly
..--......t do and rain of sAndinm to-