Where numerous fall rains
maintain the soil in a fairly moist condition and the temperature is
not too low, the problem is comparatively simple. In such districts,
for latitudes represented by the dry-farm sections of the United
States, a good time for fall planting is ordinarily from the first
of September to the middle of October. If sown much earlier in such
districts, the growth is likely to be too rank and subject to
dangerous injury by frosts, and as suggested by Farrell the very
large development of the root system in the fall may cause, the
following summer, a dangerously large growth of foliage; that is,
the crop may run to straw at the expense of the grain. If sown much
later, the chances are that the crop will not possess sufficient
vitality to withstand the cold of late fall and winter. In
localities where the late summer and the early fall are rainless, it
is much more difficult to lay down a definite rule covering the time
of fall sowing. The dry-farmers in such places usually sow at any
convenient time in the hope that an early rain will start the
process of germination and growth.
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