The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1914-07-24
COLLEGE EXPERT SAYS AVERAGE FARMER
GROWS TOO MANY ACRES OF WHEAT
Prof. Salmon Believes This the Principal Reason Why the Average Yield
in the State is Less than Fourteen Bushels to the Acre
What Experiments at the State Agri- E
cultural College Showed
ny Cecil Salmon, Assistant Professor Of Crops.l

Plot was plowed seven inches
deep August 10. This cost Of prepar-
ing the land was 1855, the yield to
the acre 32.75 bushels, and the value
of the crop $26.26. leaving $22.71 to
pay other expenses.
Plot 6 was prepared In the same
manner as plot s. except that 1t was
not worked after blowing until Sep
TENDER Is. The cost Of preparing the
ground was So cents an acre less than
in plot 5. AID the yield was four
bushels less.
Plot was double-disked July Is
and plowed seven inches deep August
10. The yield was 29.75 bushels,
worth t23.S7. The cost of preparing
the ground was $4.75 an acre, leav-
ing 1912 after paying for preparing
the land.
Plot was plowed three inches deep
July Is and produced 21.5 bushels OF
wheat an acre, leaving $3.50 above
the cost of preparation Of the ground.
Plot 9 was prepared in the same
way as plot 8, except that 1t was
plowed seven inches deep instead Of
three inches. This plot produced 35
bushels an acre, or 1875 bushels more
than plot 8. The value Of the wheat,
less the cost of production, was al
most double that in plot 8.
Plot 10 was listed July 15 and
worked down level soon after to pre-
vent the loss of moisture. The yield
was 27.75 bushels an acre, worth
$22.24, leaving 1889 after paying for
the cost of listing and working the
ground.
Plot II was listed July 49, and the
ridges were split August Is. The yield
was 29.5 bushels an acre or It's BUSH
els more than In plot 10.
The principal point brought out in
these experiments is that early and
thorough preparation of the ground
pays. OF course, farmer who plows
early and deep cannot grow so many
acres as the man who prepares his
ground carelessly, but he will raise
more wheat and II he rotates his
crops, the wheat will be produced at
less expense. This is shown by an
other experiment at Manhattan In
1913.
The necessity Of having plenty Of
water stored in the soil is shown by
the fact that twenty-bushel crop of
wheat requires about GOO tons of wa
ter to the acre. If this amount is not
stored in the soil or is not supplied
by rain when the crop needs it, less
than a twenty-bushel yield will be
produced. On the other hand, a good !
crop of wheat can be grown without
any rain at all during the growing
season, If sufficient water is stored in
the soil before the wheat is sown.
Land which had just produced a
crop of oats and had grown crop OF
corn in 1911, was prepared for wheat
in five different ways. The first plot
was plowed three inches deep Sep
TENDER Is, the second seven inches
deep August Is, the third three inches
deep July Is, the fourth seven inches
deep July Is, and the fifth twelve
inches deep July Is.
The plot plowed three inches deep |
September Is, produced 25.5 bushels
an acre; the one plowed seven inches
deep August Is, produced Al bushels !
per acre. The yields of the other
three plots were practically alike, be- |
ing A, 44.67 and A bushels per acre,
respectively. This is nine bushels |
more than from ground which had |
been prepared in the same way but |
which had grown wheat continuously |
for several years.
The experiment also shows that |
where wheat is grown in rotation with |
other crops, 1t is not necessary to
pillow so deep as where the wheat is
grown continuously, since the plot |
plowed three inches deep in July pro-
duced practically as much as those
plowed seven inches and twelve |
inches deep. This is explained by the |
fact that the ground was plowed six
inches deep for oats the previous
year, and about eight inches deep for |
corn the wear before that