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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE • AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE • AGRICULTURE INFORMATION BULLETIN NO. 386 COVER PHOTO.—A small sheaf of wheat.

This publication presents some information formerly contained in Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 250, "Wheat in the Eastern United States," and in Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 249, "Hard Red Spring and : Culture and Varieties." The contributions of W. C. Shaw and R. G. Dahms in the discussions of weeds and insects are gratefully acknowledged. Also, helpful ideas and information were gleaned from many reports, only a few of which are specifically cited (see "List of References" at end of publication).

Washington, D.C. Issued February 1976

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402—Price $1.45 Stock Number 00I-00CM)3458-8 Class No. A 1.75:386 2r,r'^ ,l¡„,,,i„, allowed on orders of 100 or more to one address CONTENTS

Page Page Uses of wheat 1 Wild flooding 35 Kinds of wheat 1 Flooding from field laterals 36 Choosing a variety 4 The border method 36 Climate and soil for wheat 6 Sprinkler irrigation 36 Variety adaptation and commercial Tillage practices for irrigated wheat _ 37 wheat production 6 Weeds and their control 38 Region lA: Northeast 6 Perennial weeds 39 Region IS; Ohio Valley (extended) __ 6 Annual weeds 39 Region 11: Southeast 11 Cultural methods 40 Region III: Northern Plains 11 Chemical methods 41 Region IV: Central Plains (extended) 12 Precautions in the use of herbicides 41 Region V: Pacific Northwest 13 Insects 42 Region VI: California-Arizona 14 42 Growing wheat in the East: Regions I Cereal leaf beetle 42 and II 14 Grasshoppers 43 14 Wheat stem sawflies 43 Spring wheat (in the East) 20 Wireworms and false wireworms 43 Growing spring wheat: Region III 21 Armyworms 43 Wheat culture 21 Cutworms 44 Time and rate of seeding 21 Cinch bug 44 Tillage 22 Wheat jointworm 45 Fertilizer for spring wheat 24 Wheat stem maggot 45 Spring and winter wheat in Montana 25 Greenbug and other aphids 45 Growing winter wheat in the Central Diseases and their control 45 Plains: Region IV 26 Rusts 46 Wheat culture 26 Smuts 47 Rate, date, and method of sowing Scab 49 wheat 28 Take-all 50 Growing wheat in the Northwest: Powdery mildew 50 Region V 29 Septoria 50 Wheat production 29 Virus diseases 51 Tillage 30 Nematode disease 51 Fertilizer 31 Bacterial diseases 52 Date and rate of seeding 32 Ergot 53 Growing wheat in the Southwest: Black point 53 Region VI 33 Root and foot rots 53 Dryland culture 33 Interactions of plants and infectious Ratio of to grain 34 agents 54 Growing wheat with irrigation water 34 The corrugation method 35 List of references 56 LIST OF FIGURES

Page Figure 1.—Distribution of the wheat acreage seeded for crop 2

Figure 2.—Adaptation regions for wheat 3

Figure 3.—^Wheat plant heights (left to right) : Tall, medium semidwarf, and midtall. Cut about 2 inches above the surface. About one-tenth actual size. Second from the left is a beardless variety; the others have beards or awns 4

Figure 4.—Average annual precipitation and elevation zones in the Plains States (regions in and IV) 12

Figure 5.—Turkey Hard Red Winter wheat. First growth in the United States in 1874; it was widely cultivated and later used as a parent in the breeding of improved varieties 12

Figure 6.—Approximate safe dates for sowing winter wheat to avoid fall infestation from Hessian fly 19

Figure 7.—Chinch bugs: Egg (upper left), nymphs, and winged adult (lower right). All greatly enlarged.) 44

Figure 8.—Black stem rust of wheat 46

Figure 9.—Loose smut of wheat: Healthy head (left) ; others diseased 46

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