VOL. LXVII
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPT. 14, 1912
NO. 37
Winter Wheat Crop
Good   Preparation in  the
Beginning Pays.
THE STEPS REQUIRED  FOR  GOOD
CROP    OUTLINED.
By Roy  C.   Bishop,   Asst.   Agronomist,
Middle     West       Soil      Improvement
Committee.
Seed   selection,    drainage,     breaking
and ordering the land,
seeding     and       plant    '
food    are     important
concerns to    the suc-
.Hssful   wheat   grow-
ir.      The   importance
of these  features    of
wheat     raising       are
clearly     outlined      in
his    mind,     and     he
realizes that the neglect    of any    one    of
these might  result in
seriously   diminishing
his yield.
Select  and  Fan
Seed Carefully.
Every wheat grower should sow each
year a small patch of
wheat for seed. "While
s.id from the general field may be
apparently good
and may be graded
by means of the fan,
weed        seed and
weathered grains
cannot be guarded
against so well and
seed selection cannot
lie made so carefully. Many of the successful wheat growls even hand-pick
their seed wheat for
'he seed patch. Often this is necessary
*'hen much of the
seed Is shrivelled and
of low vitality and
"»1 x e d with weed
seeds. All seed wheat
should be fanned.
* ery little inferior wheat may be elimi-
I articularly weak in resisting drowning and all low spots should be tiled if
one is to guard against loss in this
way.
Breaking and  Ordering  the  Land.
Since moisture is quite often a matter of great importance in the fall,
operations preparatory to sowing
should be so conducted as to conserve
and make use of the greatest amount
of   moisture   possible.
vent ease ln perfect seeding. Frequent
diskings before seed-bed preparing
time comes will pay, then a good cross
harrowing followed by a roller will usually put the ground ln a good
mulched and firm condition for seeding.
Seeding.
Seeding should always be done with
a drill. The time to sow will depend
upon local conditions. If Hessian fly
is common to your territory, sow late.
Find out from your state experiment
station when these flies usually finish
laying their eggs and then sow after
this period. Do not commit the error
of sowing too deep.     Wheat roots will
A View in the Big Coliseum During the Recent State Fair.
nated
apparently,     but If    one  "runs
'"rough" all his seed, he will usually
'e surprised at getting out two or
"ree bushels of worthless seed and
rash. Trash, shrivelled and broken
a'ns In the seed wastes land and lowers the yield.
Importance   of Drainage.
The fact that many failures of
*heat this time is due to poor drain-
. e. Is the best argument for proper
^•alnage. There are few fields in
•'issouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio
**°  not    have     great    spots  of
"eat "drowned  out" this time.
Air is jugt as  esaentlai  to  plants as
rcals,  and   when   water  stands  over
the
&H th
surface  of  the  ground   practically
he  air  is  excluded   from   the  soil
°»t  the  plant  roots.       As  a   result,
pants  drown   or  smother.      Wheat  is
Early plowing helps in conserving
moisture, also In insuring an adaptable
seed bed. Most fields to be sown to
wheat become very weedy before
breaking begins and if these weeds are
not turned under early, they do not
rot before seeding time and as a result
the capillary moisture cannot rise from
below, and In addition to this the hot
dry summer air has a free passage
through these undecayed weeds and
the soil above It. It is seen at once
that by seeding time the seed bed,
unless there is much rain, may thus
become "as dry as powder" and that
If the wheat berry sprouts at all, the
tiny plant may perish from lack of
moisiure or be very much weakened.
Therefore, plow early, and disk or
harrow frequently to conserve moisture. If weeds and grass should appear, give them a heavy disking before they become so bulky as to pre-
grow only at a certain depth and the
depth of your sowing will not effect
this but may determine the stand you
£••1. If the ground is in good order
and moist, one should try to sow no
deeper than two Inches, but in case of
rough or dry land, it is necessary to
sow deeper in order to cover well and
give the tiny plant a zone of greater
moisture. It is a serious mistake to
"drag" over the field and leave a large
percentage of the wheat berries uncovered. Unless one has very new, rich,
well prepared land, the yield will be
greatly diminished in this way.
Plant Food.
With good seed, and soil in good,
physical condition the matter of greatest importance in wheat growing is
plant food. It is well known that it
takes rich land to produce wheat most
successfully, and that most soils demand assistance in meeting the needs
of the wheat plant. The farmer usually chooses to apply his barn manure to the corn field where It is of the
greatest value. The best and most
economical source of plant food for
wheat is fertilizer. Such plant food
properly employed adds greatly not
only to quantity but to the quality of
tho  wheat   produced.
Nitrogen is most needed to help the
young plant in the fall and in the
spring, and here such soluble plant
food shows up remarkably in the
spring by giving the plant an early
and   thrifty     start. The     maturing
wheat  berry requires  a  large quantity
of  phosphoric  acid  in  their  short season of    head filling    time.      A liberal
supply   of   phosphoric
   acid   will   hasten   the
maturity of plump,
sound berries. Potash aids materially
in giving strength to
straw.
Very profitable returns have been gotten from applying
from 200 to 300
pounds per acre of
a fertilizer supplying
a small amount of
nitrogen, a large
amount of phosphoric acid, and a medium to small amount
of potash. These fertilizers should be
drilled in when the
wheat is planted.
Most wheat drills
have an attachment
for applying fertilizer.
A farmer will find
lt of great value,
indeed, for him to
give careful attention
to the drainage of
his soil, thorough
preparation of the
seed bed, supplementing the plant
food of the seed bed,
and fanning and
grading his wheat
seed.
■ m ■	
THE PURE FOOD
AND DRUG LAW.
Who wrote the
flrst article in your
paper on the pure
food and drug law,
and how long ago has that been? The
first article I ever read on the subject
was written by Willis Sullivan, a local
minister In Liberty, Union Co., and I
read It I think in your paper, and also
several other articles from time to time
by him on that subject and as I recollect it he gave it the pure food and
drug name. I think that has been 20
years or more ago. The man that wrote
the flrst article on that subject is the
one that ought to have credit for the
bill or law now in force.
Martinsville. J.   L.  W.
—You may be correct as to Mr. Sullivan being the originator of the idea
of a pure food and drug law, but we do
not recollect the fact you mention.
However we would not say that he
should have the credit for the law.
Hundreds of men no doubt had seen
the need of such a law as early as ha
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