Agriculture for beginners . for wheat-production by covering the surface with manure,by good tillage, and by a thorough system of crop-rotation,Cowpeas and other leginnes make a most valuable cropto precede wheat, for ingrowing they add atmos-pheric nitrogen to thesoil, and their roots loosenthe root-bed, thereby ad-mitting a free circulationof air and adding humusto the soil. Moreover,the legumes leave thesoil with its grains fairlyclose packed, and this is ahelp in wheat growing. One may secure a goodseed-bed after cotton andcorn as well as after cow-peas and other are summer-cu
Agriculture for beginners . for wheat-production by covering the surface with manure,by good tillage, and by a thorough system of crop-rotation,Cowpeas and other leginnes make a most valuable cropto precede wheat, for ingrowing they add atmos-pheric nitrogen to thesoil, and their roots loosenthe root-bed, thereby ad-mitting a free circulationof air and adding humusto the soil. Moreover,the legumes leave thesoil with its grains fairlyclose packed, and this is ahelp in wheat growing. One may secure a goodseed-bed after cotton andcorn as well as after cow-peas and other are summer-culti-vated crops, and the clean culture that has been given themrenders the surface soil mellow and the undersoil firm andcompact. They are not so good, however, as cowpeas, sincethey add no atmospheric nitrogen to the soil, as all legu-minous crops do. From one to two inches is the most satisfactory depth forplanting wheat. The largest number of seeds comes up whenplanted at this depth. A mellow soil is very helpful to good. Fig. 194. Roots ok a SingleWheat Plant 194 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS coming up and provides a most comfortable home for theroots of the plant. A compact soil below makes a moistundersoil; and this is desirable, for the soil water is neededto dissolve plant food and to carr}^ it up through the plant,wliere it is used in building tissue. There are a great many varieties of wheat: some arebearded, others are smooth ; some are winter and others are spring varie-ties. The smooth-headed varietiesare most agree-able to handleduring har\-estand at threshing-time. Some ofthe bearded varie-ties, however, doso well in somesoils and climatesthat it is desirableto continue grow-ing them, thoughthey are less agreeable to handle. No matter what varietyyou are accustomed to raise, it may be improved bv carefulseed-selection. The seed-drill is the best implement for planting distributes the grains evenly over the whole field and leavesthe mellow soil in a condition
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear
