The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-08-24
FALL WHEAT
and FALL RYE
DEAN j. n. SHEPHERD GIVES
SOME VALUABLE ADVICE
ABOUT BOTH These CROPS
AFTER LONG experimenting
AT THE NORTH DAKOTA A. c.

J. H. Shepperd, dean Of the agri-
cultural department Of the North Da-
kota Agricultural college, has issued
the following:
Fall wheat and fall rye distributed
the work more evenly at seeding time,
at harvest time, and In threshing. The
winter wheat and winter y can be
threshed before the spring grain Is
ready to cut, Winter grain land is
then ready to plow during any time
that can be spared for it very early
in the season which helps the chance
for a crop the following yea They
will keep wild oats and kinghead
down n in this way clean up the
land considerably. Where they are
at home and do well, the Yields of
winter wheat and winter rye are
much heavier than those of spring
wheat and spring rye. Their season
for filling is earlier h the dry
weather and rusting periods common
ly occur.
The turkey red winter wheat which
has been grown in the northwest for
several years is the best seed that /.
have been able to find. 1t is a hard
winter wheat in grade, and withstands
winter conditions here better thar
any other sort that l have tested.
Winter wheat must have a snow
covering during the winter to survive.
Where the rainfall is sufficient to.
start the wheat in stubble land, that
plan of seeding has brought the larg-
est portion Of h winter wheat
through without winter killing of any
plan that / have observed. Stubble
land should be mellow, rich and rea-
sonably clean, however, to be sown
to- winter wheat.
1t may be disced very lightly with
the disc set almost straight, but even
this much Of breaking down OF the
stubble will cause the winter wheat
to kill out under sever conditions.
1t may be sown in corn helds be-
tween the rows by using a one-horse
drill. If the corn stalks are left stand
ing ii will usually live through the
winter in any part of the state. Where
corn is cut and the stubble left short.
however, 1t frequently kills out.
Even where one-fourth of the corn
stalks are left standing too little snow
is held for the wheat to be carried
through severe winters satisfactorily.
The winter Of 1911 and 1912 was
very hard IN winter grain and less
than half Of the winter wheat made
a crop when seeded In corn n all
of the stalks left standing.
One-horse drills can be had which
will seed winter wheat in cor ground
very well but Ii is a slow process
and must be done at a time when
labor is expensive. !,
Sowing barley with winter wheat
as a means Of protecting it has proven
unsuccessful The barley willis down
from freezing and affords little pro-
lection.
No. $50 winter rye pred up by this
| station is the hardest and best yield
ing rye tina I have found. Winter
rye has usually survived without any
protection from stubble or other
growth.
The latter. part of August, or. in
| the east part Of the state, Sept. /
Is generally found to be the best time
to SOW winter wheat and winter rye.
In the drier districts earlier seeding
seems to be an advantage, although
our results are NOT uniform. At the
Williston. and Edgeley sub-stations
seeding as early as the middle or Au-
gust seems to be satisfactory, while
at Dickinson earlier seeding did not
do as well as that sown the first
part of September.
In dry seasons winter grain q a
much r more difficult time to get
through the winter when rainfalls are
frequent during the fall. Winter rye
will usually go through h winter
without any protection If sown early.
1t is commonly safe from winter kill
ing If sown in cor and the stalks
left standing The labor Of seeding 1t
in standing corn is heavy n tedious.
No winter grain should be sown In
weedy stubble or where the ground
is no mellow. Sow winter rye at the
rate of six pecks per acre. Sow win
ter wheat at the rate of FIVE pecks
per acre in the east third OF h state.
Further west lighter seeding may be
advisable.
Put winter grain in at a depth OF
two and one-half' to three inches or
even somewhat deeper IL that is neces-
sary to get II into moist ground.
Winter wheat is still in the expert
ment stage. Rye can be sown with
reasonable assurance of wintering
through the average winter II given
good conditions.
I wish to call attention to the fact
that there is almost always some vol
unteer rye the year following h pro-
duction of a crop of it on a field.
which reduces the value OF a wheat
crop produced on 1t.
If sown to barley he volunteer rye
is OF little consequences and the crop
is harvested so early as to catch the
rye seed before ii a shell upon the
ground a second time.
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