Cereal Farming
13
In the region of winter wheat, — Kansas and Nebraska, — although
the winters are cold, they do not kill the wheat, and it can grow
in the late fall and early spring. Hence wheat is sown in the
autumn, gets a good start before the winter sets in, is ready to grow
vigorously in the early spring, and can be harvested in the late spring.
In South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Canada, the
cold winters would kill the wheat if it were planted in the fall. There
the seed is sown in early spring and the crop is harvested at the end
of summer. Accordingly these regions raise spring wheat.
Conditions in other regions. In the plains of south-central Canada,
Argentina, southern Russia, Hungary, and northern and western
France, relief, rainfall, and temperature are especially favorable for
wheat (Figs. 28, 38). Regions other than those mentioned above
may grow wheat, but at a disadvantage. This, however, may be
balanced by the advantage of a position near a great market. In
New York and Pennsylvania, for example, the land is hilly, and as a
rule the farmers cannot use the best labor-saving machines in plant-
ing and harvesting wheat. Nearness to the great eastern markets,
however, makes freight charges low so that these farmers get more
UNITED STATES
AND CANADA
SRODUCTION OF
WHEAT
wo
Fie. 28. Wheat requires an average temperature of at least 55° for three or four months in the
vear. This requirement of a growing season lasting at least 90 days fixes the northern limit of
wheat production. Wheat could be grown in the South Atlantic states, but cotton, being more
orofitable there, takes up the good land. Furthermore, fungi and insect enemies of the wheat
Are more active in a warm, moist climate than in the cooler, drier climate of the Great Plains.
Compare this map with Figure 134 (page 186) to see the relation between wheat growing and relief,
Compare it also with Figure 137 (page 192) to see how the wheat crop finds its wav to market.