The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1912-09-12
WINTER WHEAT
in SOUTH OAK.
BY Marley Champlin, Asst. Ag-
ronemist, South Dakota
Experiment Station

uuCLloH VI WIDteT WHcdt pGT acre
will exceed that of spring wheat
Experiments are in progress at the
various substations to learn just
how much difference there will be
between the best varieties of spring
wheat in acre yield when compared
under similar conditions.
Another reason why the growing
of winter wheat deserves more con-
sideration is that it is the ideal dry
farm crop, the one that has made
dry farming a financial success in
nearly all sections where it is a sue
cess, including Utah and the region
known as the Inland Empire, COM
prising eastern Washington and
Oregon and southern Idaho.
A third reason is that it gives a
chance for a division of labor for all
the planting that is completed in the
fall will be out of the way during
the spring rush and the harvest will
be completed ahead of the earliest
spring grain.
1t will therefore be readily under.
stood why the South Dakota Expert.
ment station and the United States
Department of Agriculture in their
experimental work in this state re-
gard the solving of winter wheat
problems of such great Importance.
The progress already made has
indicated the best variety to grow,
the probable best time to sow. the
folly of trying to grow winter wheat
on bare fall blowing and the proba.
BILE best rate of seeding. In a con-
structiye way, considerable progress
has also been made in locating q
strain of superior hardness. If the
strain continues to prove hardy il
will be available for limited distri.
button in a few years and it's intro
duction will make it easier to sue
coed with winter wheat on fall pillow.
ing.
While there is still much to do
the following propositions are fairly
well proved:
The best variety at present for
South Dakota conditions is that
popularity known al Turkey Red.
This variety contains several differ
ent strains which are being separat-
ed out and some Of which promise
to be better than the original bulk
variety.
The best rate of seeding is believ-
ed to be three pecks per acre, in
creased to four IN the east and de-
creased to two in the drier central
portion
The best time of seeding in an av-
erage of years will probably be
from September LIST to 18th although
each individual season varies so
much that it NAV never be possible
to state deinately that this or any
other date is best.
The safest plan for seeding winter
wheat is to use a one horse drill and
sow between the corn rows without
any further preparation than the
cultivation that the corn should
have received.
While stubbling in is better than
fall blowing, it is poor farm prac-
tice and since the main object of
sowing winter wheat is to increas
the weld per acre there can be little
object in sowing the wheat in such
a way that a low yield is assured
from the start.
If wheat is sown on summer fall
low as is done in the grsat dry farm
ing areas IT. is well to leave the sur
face as rough as possible to prevent
blowing. More killing Is due to
blowing than a-y other cause
as the sitting soil particles injure
the crowns of the wheat plants. 1t
will be noted by anyone observing
fields of winter wheat in the spring
that in places where the drill acct
dentally al deep the wheat would
be alive while the greater portion of
the field had winter killed. This
gives rise to the idea that a drill
may be constructed to list in the
winter wheat in shallow trenches
and thus insure better protection
for the wheat crowns than by the
ordinary method of sowing. Good
protection would also be afforded
by g top dressing of straw or ma
nure which would at the same time
add fertility to the soil.
On the whole. more winter wheat