Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 187, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 August 1917 — Make a Fit Seed Bed For Wheat. [ARTICLE]

Make a Fit Seed Bed For Wheat.

Washington, D. C., Aug. 24. “Make the seed bed fit, for the seed. Do not ‘intern’ wheat worth $3 or $4 a bushel for seed purposes in a condition of soil impossible for germination.’’ That precaution is urged by the U. S. department of agriculture on all farmers who contemplate sowing the high priced seed of a high priced food this fall. To plant seed on poorly prepared land not only wastes the seed that does not germinate, but it may mean the loss of an entire investment if a paying stand is not obtained. A seed bed for wheat must be firm, moist, and well compacted beneath with a mellow, finely divided upper three inches of soil. If wheat is grown in rotation with oats or after wheat, the stubble should be plowed to a depth of at least 7 inches immediately after harvesting the preceding crop of grain. The ground should be harrowed within a few hours after plowing and cultivation with harrow, disk, drag, or roller should be given as necessary thereafter until planting time. These operations are necessary to kill weeds, to settle and make firm the subsoil, and to maintain a soil mulch on the surface. The earlier the preparation of a seed bed for wheat is started the better the condition of the soil will be at planting time. Late plowing does not allow time for thorough preparation. If a cultivated crop precedes wheat, frequent cultivation given to this crop will preserve moisture and maintain a soil mulch. If level cultivation has been practiced, a good seed bed easily can be prepared by disking and harrowing after removng the crop. However, if weeds are present, it may be advisable to plow shallow, the disk preceding and following the plow.

Early plowing followed by thorough tillage aid in catching the water which falls and in conserving this and the water already in the soil for use by the wheat plants. The firm seed bed under the mulch thus made enables the young plants to make use of the subsoil waters which rise when there is a perfect union between the plowed soil and the subsoil. Sufficient moisture is thus assured for the germination of the seed and for the early fall growth of the seedlings, a very important consideration. Plant food is also likely to be more abundant in the soil when such methods are employed. - * If the importance of thorough tillage were more generally recognized and proper methods of seed-bed preparation were more widely employed throughout the so-called humid areas, there would be less frequent losses from drought and better wheat crops would result. In this area the mistake is often made of thinking there will always be moisture enough present for a maximum crop growth, with the result that short crops often are obtained whore more attention to moisture conservation would have assured good yields,