The Dolores star., 1919-08-29


prepared by the United States Depart
ment Of Agriculture)
A good seed bed for wheat can not
be made unless the work Is begun
early, and a good seed bed Is the most
important thing In growing wheat.
Many things are necessary in prepar-
Ing a good seed bed, but the first es-
sential Is time. 1t can not be done In
day nor yet In week. There must
be many days of settling. There must
be some good, packing rains. And
there ought to be frequent cultivation
of the soil.
Those things are necessary because
a good seed bed for wheat must be firm
and 1t must be moist The upper 3
inches Of soil must be mellow and finely
divided. and the portion beneath must
be well compacted.
Flowing May Vary.
Essentials to successful wheat grow
ing vary widely in different sections
Of the country, but the United States
department of agriculture regards
these things as basic essentials any
where that wheat Is grown in the
United States. The wheat experts Of
the department may recommend one
type of plowing for. one section and
other kinds of plowing for other
sections, and even no plowing
at all under some conditions, but
finely pulverized top soil well packed
down and forming u perfect union
with the subsoil Is urged for every
section.
Early plowing and thorough tillage of
the plowed soil results in retaining the
water that Is in the soil and catching
and storing the water that falls after
cultivation is begun. A firm seed bed
under this mulch enables the young
wheat plants to make use of the subsoil
waters. Sufficient moisture Is thus as
sured for the termination of the seed
and for the early fall growth of the
seedlings-a much more important
thing, the experts say, than many wheat
growers consider it. 1t does not apply,
as some might think. just to the semi
arid regions.
"If the Importance of this thing were
called humid areas" says one of the
wheat experts of the department of
agriculture, "there would be less fire.
quent losses from drought and better
wheat crops would result. In this area,
the mistake is often made of thinking
that there will always be enough mOis-
ture present for Il maximum crop of
wheat. The result is that poor crops
are often harvested where little more
attention to moisture preservation
would have assured good crops"
Harrow Close After Plow.
If wheat is to be grown on stubble
land, the ground should be plowed at
harvesting the crop of grain. The har-
row should closely follow the plow,
both operations being done the same
day and as close together as possible.
After that, cultivation should be given
as often as necessary-which usually
means as often as possible-until the
wheat is sown. The cultivation may be
with harrow or disk or drag or roller.
1t accomplishes several desirable
the subsOil and makes 1t firm. 1t main
tains u soil mulch above. And none of
these things can be done if the ground
is not plowed early.
Now, "early plowing" is an indefinite
term. 1t may mean one thing to one
farmer and an entirely different thing
to another farmer. But 1t Is thing
for which exact dates can hardly be
set. July plowing is certainly early
plowing for winter wheat. The first
half of August is early plOwing. Later
than that Is likely to be late plowing.
"As early as possible" is the safe rule.
AS soon as the wheat or oats or clover
Is Off, is the time to begin plowing.
Disking Help.
Some makeshifts may help good
deal. If II Is absolutely impossible to
begin plowlng as soon as the ground Is
clear of this years crop, double disking
should be restored to at once. That
chops up and at least partly pulverizes
the top sOil--makes passable mulch
and retains much Of the moisture until
the plowing can be done. Also, 1t kills
the weeds or, Mt least, cripples them
enough to minimize the damage they
can do by sucking the moisture out of
the soil.
II wheat Is to follow a cultivated
crop. such as corn or soy beans, fre-
quent cultivation given to that crop
Will maintain soil mulch and preserve
moisture. If level cultivation is prac-
tced, good seed bed usually can be
prepared by dlsking and narrowing
a4toR tho nrar, In soxno,xoa Il 80.