The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1914-07-24
NHE PRINCIPAL reason the av-
erage wheat yield in Kansas is
! less than fourteen bushels an

~ANoO JAOAA IA Ahohooo 40
u less than fourteen bushels an
acre is that Kansas farmers
grow more wheat than they can care
for to the best advantage. The result
Is that part of the land must be
plowed too late for good results and
that some Of the wheat must be sown
too early in order to get all the wheat
sown early enough.
The average Kansas wheat grower
pays his hired man more than he him
self receives after paying the cost Of
growing the crop and the interest on
the investment, and after deducting
the value of the fertility removed
from the land. Nebraska, with no bet
ter soil and climate not so favor
able, produces more than seventeen
bushels an acre, and Washington
more than twenty.one bushels.
One Of the most important points
In growing a good crop of wheat is
the preparation Of the ground. This
Is true because the storage of water
in the soil and the amount of plant
food that Is made available depend
upon 1t to great extent Food and
water are as necessary for plants as
for animals. If plants do not have
the right amount of food or enough
OF 1t at the right time, they become
stunted and will not make so good
yield as they otherwise would.
Ground that is left in stubble after
harvest will not absorb water read.
lily Also, the stubble continues to
carry water up from the soil and al
lows 1t to exaporate into the air.
Much OF the rain, instead of soaking
into the soil, runs off into the streams.
But II the ground is plowed, run-off
Is prevented, and the water that falls
In heavy rains is more readily abb
sorbed. This water gradually soaks
down into the subsoil where It re-
mains for the use of the following
crop.
When a crop Of wheat is harvested,
1t takes from the soil most of 1.-THE
available plant food Consequently,
before another crop can be grown,
more plant food must be developed
This is done, to a large extent, by
bacteria which work on the vegeta-
BILE matter stored in the soil. AS
bacteria require both moisture and
air, very little plant food is devel.
oped in a soil that is dry and hard,
as Is unplowed ground. For this rea-
son, ground that is plowed late does
not contain so much plant food as
that which is plowed early. The i'm
portance of early and thorough prep.
aration OF the soil Is shown by exper-
iments conducted at Manhattan for
three years. In these experiments,
ground has been prepared for wheat
in eleven different ways. In 1918,
which was a very dry season, the
yields were as follows:
Plot was disked at planting time
without previous preparation. The
yield was ga bushels an acre, worth
at prevailing prices, $751;; the cost
of preparing the land was 50, leaving
1851 for paying other expense.
Plot was plowed three inches deep
September ia common practice
among Kansas farmers. The yield
was 1867 bushels an acre, worth
1911; the cost Of preparing the
ground was $2.40 per acre, leaving
1911.
Plot was plowed seven inches deep
in September, at a cost of $3.50 for
preparing the land. This plot made a
yield Of It's bushels an acre and gave
a return to $11.14 after the cost of
preparation.
Plot was double-disked July Is
and plowed three inches deep Sep
TENDER Is. The cost of preparation
for this plot was $3.50 per acre, the
yield 27.5 bushels per acre, and the
value Of the crop, less the cost Of
preparing the land, $1S.42. In other
words, early disking by killing weeds
and stopping evaporation of moisture
was worth 1919, as is seen upon COM
pairing the yield of this plot with that
of plot 2,