Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/546

* WHEAT. 460 WHEAT. durum, but much less frequently cultivated. Tri- ticum Spelta, or spelt, although very different from the preceding groups, is considered a sub- species. Its striking characteristic is that the chaff adheres to the grain and is not removed in threshing. Spelt is grown in Central and Southern Europe, and to a very small extent in America. Emmer i,TriUcuin dicoccum) resembles the preceding group and is often erroneously called spelt, from which it differs mainly in the vei-y compact heads and harder grain of a deeper red color. Its distribution is about the same as that of spelt. Triticiim inonococcum, or Ein- korn, is a very distinct species. The spikelets of this species usually have but one grain. It is grown to a limited extent in Central and Southern Europe. Wheat requires a fertile and well-prepared soil. The fact that it makes a ])oor growth on light, humid, and acid soils shows the necessity of fertility and proper drainage. The most fa- vorable soils are those which are permeable and deep, a little clayey and of medium fertility. CJravelly and sandy soils are not suited to its culture. It grows well on alluvial soils, and. in fact, on most soils which may be classed as heavy but which do not possess a very great tenacity. Since "oung wheat plants are readily injured by the heaving of the soil, due to the action of frost, perfect drainage is essential. Kolling the land before sowing winter wheat leaves the soil in a drier condition and thus minimizes the action of frost. Although the character of the soil mainly affects the yield, and the character of the climate the quality, friable, fertile, cal- careous soils produce a softer, plumper, and starchier grain than a less fertile, light, clayey soil. This latter class of soils has a tendency to produce elongated, hard, glutinous grains, or a wheat having the qualities of a good bread wheat. The preparation of the land for winter wheat consists in plowing the soil about four or five inches deep as eaily in the season as possible, to allow it to become somewhat com- pact before the seed is sown. The seed is sown broadcast or in drills. When broadcasted, usuallj' by a machine made for the purpose, it is har- rowed in. Drilling, however, is the most popu- lar method and has the advantage of evenly dis- tributing the seed and covering it at a uniform depth. The drill leaves the soil in small ridges, which tend to tiold the snow and protect the soil to a certain extent against the alternate thaw- ing and freezing so injurious to the crop. Spring wheat is usually grown on fall-plowed land, and in the United States also frequently follows a corn crop without plowing the soil. It is gen- erally sown as soon as the soil is capable of be- ing worked in the spring. Since wheat grows best and makes most of its growth during the cool part of the year, it should be sown as soon as conditions will permit. A moist soil at sow- ing time, provided it is not so moist that it caiuiot be properly worked, is the desirable con- dition. Where wheat follows a corn crop (maize) without an intervening plowing of the soil, it is sown broadcast among the corn stalks and the field then cultivated with a corn cultivator and the surface smoothed down by repeated harrnw- ings. Sometimes the corn stalks are cut into short pieces with a stalk-cutter before the seed is sown, which makes the cultivating and har- rowing easier and more effective, but frequently the stalks are simply broken down by means of the harrow. If the stalks are not broken down fiat to the ground they cause trouble in cutting the grain by machine. Wheat is generally harvested before it has become dead rij)e in order to prevent the grain from sliattttring during the different manipula- tions from the time it is cut until it is stacked or threshed. In California, however, where this precaution is not so necessary, the harvest lasts for several weeks, and wheat is often left stand- ing for a week or more after it is ripe enough for cutting. The time of harvesting wheat, like the time of sowing, varies with the latitude. In the United States the harvest begins in Texas early in May and ends in some of the Northern States in August. Harvesting is usually done with the self-binder, although in regions where labor is cheap the reaper is .still largely used. After the grain has been bovmd into sheaves it is set up into shocks and left to dry and cure. Round shocks are made if the main object is to protect the sheaves against the rain, but long shocks are required if the sheaves are wet or the grain is cut quite green. This expedites dry- ing and curing. When the work of cutting and shocking is done the sheaves are hauled and stacked, remaining so until threshing time. The principal point to be observed in buihling a stack is that the sheaves, and especially the outer tier, must have an outward slant in order to shed the rain. In some countries, especially those of Europe, the stacks are built with great care and the grain is frequently not threshed until the following spring. In the United States threshing is usually completed in the fall. In sections of the United States where wheat is grown on an extensive scale, and the straw con- sequently has little value, the grain is often harvested with headers, or machines which cut the grain just below the head. Some of these machines, propelled by either horse or steam power, cut the heads and thresh out the grain at the same time. At the present day wheat is threshed with improved and perfected machines operated by horse, steam, or electric power. The old method of flail threshing is now even less couunon than hand sowing. In Europe, where the straw represents a greater value than in the United States, machines are used which thresh the heads, but allow the straw to Jiass through straight and be rebomid into sheaves for more convenient storage. In the T'nited States the place of wheat in the rotation is generally after corn, since corn leaves the soil in clean conilition. Where wheat is sown without previously plowing the groimd it necessarily follows corn. The method of sow- ing wheat among the ciu'n stalks and working it in with cultivator and harrow is practicable only on comparatively new soils or lauds in a very good condition. It is largely practiced in regions newly opened up to cultivation. In I'hirope wheat is preferably grown after clover. In the Eastern T'nited States the use of com- mercial fertilizers in wheat-growing is quite com- mon. b>U in the western part of the country no fertilizers arc applied. Barnyard manure is rarely applied directly to wheat, but usually to a preceding corn crop. The wheat crop of the world in 100(1 amoimted