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WHEAT
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in a short season, in order to extend the Canadian wheat belt as
far north as possible. The Department of Agriculture at Wash-
ington sends “agricultural explorers” to all lands to seek new
and useful plants. They send home wheats that thrive and yield
well in lands of small rainfall in the Cordilleran region.
3. Climates and soils suited to wheat. This grain does not
thrive in very hot or very cold regions. It needs a cool and
moist period for germination and early growth, but it matures
best in bright and comparatively dry weather. We can thus
Fic. 2. Areas of wheat production in the United States. Each
dot represents 100.000 bushels
understand why Egyptian and American wheats are bright,
plump, and valuable. A cover of snow is favorable to a good
crop of winter wheat, while an open winter, with exposure of
he roots to severe changes, is harmful. The soil should be
neither too light (sandy) nor too heavy (clayey), but loamy and
well drained, with a surface suited to modern plowing and reap-
ing machines. Such conditions are best met on the great plains
of temperate latitudes, as on the prairies of the United States,
the plains of Canada, the pampas of Argentina, and the plains
of southern Russia. Wheat requires warmer summers than Tye,