Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1910-04-22
,,,onsive experiments in growing

IN covering practically the "hole
10 wheat belt of eastern Wash
chow that if seed which has
I'm acclimated to our conditions
;. used a successful crop of corn can
- crown practically anywhere that
crop of wheat can be protltably
aoltivated. In other words it seems
..ot the moisture requirements FOR
tvo crops are not greatly diff
.soront 1t must be understood, how
.,or that the same effort to con-
Va moisture must be made with
corn that is used in the growing of
tho wheat crop. 1t follows also that
..horaver alternated summer fallow
i necessary in order to secure
enough moisture for a wheat crop
ivory other year the same practice
,rould be necessary in order to Sc
cure a corn crop and that corn can
not be grown in place of summer
fo,,ov in those sections where the
uoisture supply is not sufficient for
crop every year. In eastern Wash
;noton an average annual rainfall of
* inches or / 6 inches appears to be
necessary for the growing of crop
every season, hence with less than
this amount of average rainfall 1t
would be impracticable to grow corn
alternating with wheat. The corn
crop naturally takes some moisture
from the ground and if grown on
summer fallowed land will diminish
the amount of moisture available for
the succeeding crop. The exact
minimum rainfall which will permit
the profitable growing Of a crop
every season depends upon the ma
ture of the soil and the season of
the year when the rainfall comes and
has not been determined with GER
tainty for eastern Washington. We
believe, however, that with an aver
age annual rainfall of Is inches the
supply of moisture is sufficient so
that the corn crop can be grown in
the place of summer fallow without
seriously diminishing the yield of
wheat grown on the same land the
next season. Where the average an
nual rainfall is from Is inches to
IS inches it is a question which is
yet to be determined whether the
corn crop will seriously diminish the
yield of the succeeding wheat crop
or in other words we have yet to
determine whether under such con-
ditions in given ten year period
larger profits would be obtained
from five crops Of wheat with alter
nate bare summer fallow. Obviously
the determining factor is whether
the corn produced under such con-
ditions will yield large enough pro-
tit to more than counterbalance the
diminished yield of wheat, with
rainfall as low as that mentioned
last.
with reference to the method of
growing the corn in rotation with
wheat | would say that the land
should be plowed in the fall If pos
Sible. If not, the wheat stubble
should be disced as soon as the fall
begins so that all the mois-
ture possible will soak into the
ground during the winter and then
the land plowed as early as possible |
in the spring. The spring prepare
ton should consist of thorough |
cultivation to destroy weeds and CON
serve moisture up to time of planting
the corn which should be about the
first of May. The ground should be
narrowed after the corn is planted |
ana once or twice after the corn
comes up and ,",r cultivated dur
'ff the sum.l,"t enough to keep the !
weeds down ana to conserve al Of |
lie moisture pos Ole. We do not |
fee"mmen1 huSkiny the corn from
@tading in I'll, field in the fall The
'"'p can much more profitahly be
hogged of" or otherwise pastured
or or If nCl fed In this way should
De cut and shocked so that the
stalks may be fed with the corn.
mis- Is best accomplished, of course,
Dy putting the corn into silo, but
II the silo is not available then toe
cured fodder should be run through
iced cutter to get the best results.
Al any rate it is desirable that the
corn stalks and all, should be off
me ground by October l. The corn
stupble may then be dlsced and
painted to wheat. II, for any rea-
son. some of the stalks are loft on
me ground they should be disced be-
lore seeding in order to mix them
wei with the soil. If the corn we're
y De husked from the standing