WHEAT PRODUCTION IN THE EASTERN
UNITED STATES
By B. B. BAYLES, principal agronomist, and J. W. TAYLOR, senior agronomist,
Division of Cereal Crops and Diseases, Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and
Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Research Administration
Contents
Page                                  Page
Wheat and farming in the East... I Diseases of wheat-Continued
Climate and soil for wheat........ 3    Flag smut ............ 38
Kinds of wheat                                                          38
K minds  of   wheat            .....................        .....     .. T k a l * 384
Choosing a variety   ..............  4         ery mildew             41
Varieties for the eastern             Septoria leaf blotch and
United States ................   . Septoria leaf blotch and
Septoria glume blotch ........ 41
Growing winter wheat ............22     Mosaic ......................... 42
Rotations  .......................  22  Nem atode  disease  ..............  42
Fertilizers, lime, and manure.... 24
Preparing  the  land..............  26  W eeds  in  wheat ...................  43
Seed  and  seeding ................  28
Pasturing .29 Insects that attack wheat.......... 44
Mulching  and  cultivating ....... 30  Hessian  fly  ..................... 44
H arvesting  .....................  30  Chinch  bug  ..................... 45
Growing spring wheat............. 32    Wheat jointworm.46
..............                          Sawflies ........................47
Diseases of wheat.................. 33  Armyworm ..................... 47
Rusts  ........................... 33  Other  insect pests  of  wheat .....  49
Smuts ..........................34
Bunt, or stinking smut ......... 34 Index of wheat varieties grown
Loose smut ..................... 36  in the eastern United States.... 50
WHEAT AND FARMING IN THE EAST
MOST OF THE WHEAT of the eastern United States is produced
in a relatively narrow irregular belt extending across
central Missouri and Illinois, including most of Indiana, Ohio,
southern Michigan, southern Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware.
Less important areas include western New York, the piedmont
(foot of the mountain) areas and the mountain valleys of
Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and eastern
Tennessee. There are scattered producing areas in Kentucky and
central Tennessee. Although the wheat crop in these last-named
areas has little national import, it plays an important part in the
local agriculture, which depends to a considerable extent on how
successfully wheat is grown (fig. 1).
The agriculture of the entire region is generally diversified.
Dairying and the raising of livestock and poultry are leading industries.
The production of corn, soybeans, hay, and pasture crops
is important. Cotton is grown extensively in the South.