CHAPTER X

PLOWING AND FALLOWING

The soil treatment prescribed in the preceding chapters rests upon

(1) deep and thorough plowing, done preferably in the fall; (2)

thorough cultivation to form a mulch over the surface of the land,

and (3) clean summer fallowing every other year under low rainfall

or every third or fourth year under abundant rainfall.

Students of dry-farming all agree that thorough cultivation of the

topsoil prevents the evaporation of soil-moisture, but some have

questioned the value of deep and fall plowing and the occasional

clean summer fallow. It is the purpose of this chapter to state the

findings of practical men with reference to the value of plowing and

fallowing in producing large crop yields under dry-farm conditions.

It will be shown in Chapter XVIII that the first attempts to produce

crops without irrigation under a limited rainfall were made

independently in many diverse places. California, Utah, and the

Columbia Basin, as far as can now be learned, as well as the Great

Plains area, were all independent pioneers in the art of

dry-farming. It is a most significant fact that these diverse

localities, operating under different conditions as to soil and

climate, have developed practically the same system of dry-farming.

In all these places the best dry-farmers practice deep plowing

wherever the subsoil will permit it; fall plowing wherever the

climate will permit it; the sowing of fall grain wherever the

winters will permit it, and the clean summer fallow every other

year, or every third or fourth year. H. W. Campbell, who has been

the leading exponent of dry-farming in the Great Plains area, began

his work without the clean summer fallow as a part of his system,

but has long since adopted it for that section of the country. It is

scarcely to be believed that these practices, developed laboriously

through a long succession of years in widely separated localities,

do not rest upon correct scientific principles. In any case, the

accumulated experience of the dry-farmers in this country confirms

the doctrines of soil tillage for dry-farms laid down in the

preceding chapters.

At the Dry-Farming Congresses large numbers of practical farmers

assemble for the purpose of exchanging experiences and views. The

reports of the Congress show a great difference of opinion on minor

matters and a wonderful unanimity of opinion on the more fundamental

questions. For instance, deep plowing was recommended by all who

touched upon the subject in their remarks; though one farmer, who

lived in a locality the subsoil of which was very inert, recommended

that the depth of plowing should be increased gradually until the

full depth is reached, to avoid a succession of poor crop years

while the lifeless soil was being vivified. The states of Utah,

Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and the

provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan of Canada all specifically

declared through one to eight representatives from each state in

favor of deep plowing as a fundamental practice in dry-farming. Fall

plowing, wherever the climatic conditions make it possible, was

similarly advocated by all the speakers. Farmers in certain

localities had found the soil so dry in the fall that plowing was

difficult, but Campbell insisted that even in such places it would

be profitable to use power enough to break up the land before the

winter season set in. Numerous speakers from the states of Utah,

Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, and a number of the Great Plains states,

as well as from the Chinese Empire, declared themselves as favoring

fall plowing. Scareely a dissenting voice was raised.

In the discussion of the clean summer fallow as a vital principle of

dry-farming a slight difference of opinion was discovered. Farmers

from some of the localities insisted that the clean summer fallow

every other year was indispensable; others that one in three years

was sufficient; and others one in four years, and a few doubtful the

wisdom of it altogether. However, all the speakers agreed that clean

and thorough cultivation should be practiced faithfully during the

spring, and fall of the fallow year. The appreciation of the fact

that weeds consume precious moisture and fertility seemed to be

general among the dry-farmers from all sections of the country. The

following states, provinces, and countries declared themselves as

being definitely and emphatically in favor of clean summer

fallowing:

California, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, New

Mexico, North Dakota, Nebraska, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Russia,

Turkey, the Transvaal, Brazil, and Australia. Each of these many

districts was represented by one to ten or more representatives. The

only state to declare somewhat vigorously against it was from the

Great Plains area, and a warning voice was heard from the United

States Department of Agriculture. The recorded practical experience

of the farmers over the whole of the dry-farm territory of the

United States leads to the conviction that fallowing must he

accepted as a practice which resulted in successful dry-farming.

Further, the experimental leaders in the dry-farm movement, whether

working under private, state, or governmental direction, are, with

very few exceptions, strongly in favor of deep fall plowing and

clean summer fallowing as parts of the dry-farm system.

The chief reluctance to accept clean summer fallowing as a principle

of dry-farming appears chicfly among students of the Great Plains

area. Even there it is admitted by all that a wheat crop following a

fallow year is larger and better than one following wheat. There

seem, however, to be two serious reasons for objecting to it. First,

a fear that a clean summer fallow, practiced every second, third, or

fourth year, will cause a large diminution of the organic matter in

the soil, resulting finally in complete crop failure; and second, a

belief that a hoed crop, like corn or potatoes, exerts the same

beneficial effect.

It is undoubtedly true that the thorough tillage involved in

dry-farming exposes to the action of the elements the organic matter

of the soil and thereby favors rapid oxidation. For that reason the

different ways in which organic matter may be supplied regularly to

dry-farms are pointed out in Chapter XIV. It may also be observed

that the header harvesting system employed over a large part of the

dry-farm territory leaves the large header stubble to be plowed

under, and it is probable that under such methods more organic

matter is added to the soil during the year of cropping than is lost

during the year of fallowing. It may, moreover, be observed that

thorough tillage of a crop like corn or potatoes tends to cause a

loss of the organic matter of the soil to a degree nearly as large

as is the case when a fallow field is well cultivated. The thorough

stirring of the soil under an arid or semiarid climate, which is an

essential feature of dry-farming, will always result in a decrease

in organic matter. It matters little whether the soil is fallow or

in crop during the process of cultivation, so far as the result is

concerned.

A serious matter connected with fallowing in the Great Plains area

is the blowing of the loose well-tilled soil of the fallow fields,

which results from the heavy winds that blow so steadily over a

large part of the western slope of the Mississippi Valley. This is

largely avoided when crops are grown on the land, even when it is

well tilled.

The theory, recently proposed, that in the Great Plains area, where

the rains come chicfly in summer, the growing of hoed crops may take

the place of the summer fallow, is said to be based on experimental

data not yet published. Careful and conscientious experimenters, as

Chilcott and his co-laborers, indicate in their statements that in

many cases the yields of wheat, after a hoed crop, have been larger

than after a fallow year. The doctrine has, therefore, been rather

widely disseminated that fallowing has no place in the dry-farming

of the Great Plains area and should be replaced by the growing of

hoed crops. Chilcott, who is the chief exponent of this doctrine,

declares, however, that it is only with spring-grown crops and for a

succession of normal years that fallowing may be omitted, and that

fallowing must be resorted to as a safeguard or temporary expedient

to guard against total loss of crop where extreme drouth is

anticipated; that is, where the rainfall falls below the average. He

further explains that continuous grain cropping, even with careful

plowing and spring and fall tillage, is unsuccessful; but holds that

certain rotations of crops, including grain and a hoed crop every

other year, are often more profitable than grain alternating with

clean summer fallow. He further believes that the fallow year every

third or fourth year is sufficient for Great Plains conditions.

Jardine explains that whenever fall grain is grown in the Great

Plains area, the fallow is remarkably helpful, and in fact because

of the dry winters is practically indispensable.

This latter view is confirmed by the experimental results obtained

by Atkinson and others at the Montana Experiment Stations, which are

conducted under approximately Great Plains conditions.

It should be mentioned also that in Saskatchewan, in the north end

of the Great Plains area, and which is characteristic, except for a

lower annual temperature, of the whole area, and where dry-farming

has been practiced for a quarter of a century, the clean summer

fallow has come to be an established practice.

This recent discussion of the place of fallowing in the agriculture

of the Great Plains area illustrates what has been said so often in

this volume about the adapting of principles to local conditions.

Wherever the summer rainfall is sufficient to mature a crop,

fallowing for the purpose of storing moisture in the soil is

unnecessary; the only value of the fallow year under such conditions

would be to set free fertility. In the Great Plains area the

rainfall is somewhat higher than elsewhere in the dry-farm territory

and most of it comes in summer; and the summer precipitation is

probably enough in average years to mature crops, providing soil

conditions are favorable. The main considerations, then, are to keep

the soils open for the reception of water and to maintain the soils

in a sufficiently fertile condition to produce, as explained in

Chapter IX, plants with a minimum amount of water. This is

accomplished very largely by the year of hoed crop, when the soil is

as well stirred as under a clean fallow.

The dry-farmer must never forget that the critical element in

dry-farming is water and that the annual rainfall will in the very

nature of things vary from year to year, with the result that the

dry year, or the year with a precipitation below the average, is

sure to come. In somewhat wet years the moisture stored in the soil

is of comparatively little consequence, but in a year of drouth it

will be the main dependence of the farmer. Now, whether a crop be

hoed or not, it requires water for its growth, and land which is

continuously cropped even with a variety of crops is likely to be so

largely depleted of its moisture that, when the year of drouth

comes, failure will probably result.

The precariousness of dry-farming must be done away with. The year

of drouth must be expected every year. Only as certainty of crop

yield is assured will dry-farming rise to a respected place by the

side of other branches of agriculture. To attain such certainty and

respect clean summer fallowing every second, third, or fourth year,

according to the average rainfall, is probably indispensable; and

future investigations, long enough continued, will doubtless confirm

this prediction. Undoubtedly, a rotation of crops, including hoed

crops, will find an important place in dry-farming, but probably not

to the complete exclusion of the clean summer fallow.

Jethro Tull, two hundred years ago, discovered that thorough tillage

of the soil gave crops that in some cases could not be produced by

the addition of manure, and he came to the erroneous conclusion that

"tillage is manure." In recent days we have learned the value of

tillage in conserving moisture and in enabling plants to reach

maturity with the least amount of water, and we may be tempted to

believe that "tillage is moisture." This, like Tull's statement, is

a fallacy and must be avoided. Tillage can take the place of

moisture only to a limited degree. Water is the essential

consideration in dry-farming, else there would be no dry-farming.

CHAPTER XI

SOWING AND HARVESTING

The careful application of the principles of soil treatment

discussed in the preceding chapters will leave the soil in good

condition for sowing, either in the fall or spring. Nevertheless,

though proper dry-farming insures a first-class seed-bed, the

problem of sowing is one of the most difficult in the successful

production of crops without irrigation. This is chiefly due to the

difficulty of choosing, under somewhat rainless conditions, a time

for sowing that will insure rapid and complete germination and the

establishmcnt of a root system capable of producing good plants. In

some respects fewer definite, reliable principles can be laid down

concerning sowing than any other principle of important application

in the practice of dry-farming. The experience of the last fifteen

years has taught that the occasional failures to which even good

dry-farmers have been subjected have been caused almost wholly by

uncontrollable unfavorable conditions prevailing at the time of

sowing.

Conditions of germination

Three conditions determine germination: (1) heat, (2) oxygen, and

(3) water. Unless these three conditions are all favorable, seeds

cannot germinate properly. The first requisite for successful seed

germination is a proper degree of heat. For every kind of seed there

is a temperature below which germination does not occur; another,

above which it does not occur, and another, the best, at which,

providing the other factors are favorable, germination will go on

most rapidly. The following table, constructed by Goodale, shows the

latest, highest, and best germination temperatures for wheat,

barley, and corn. Other seeds germinate approximately within the

same ranges of temperature:--

Germination Temperatures (Degrees Farenheit)

Lowest Highest Best

Wheat 41 108 84

Barley 41 100 84

Corn 49 115 91

Germination occurs within the considerable range between the highest

and lowest temperatures of this table, though the rapidity of

germination decreases as the temperature recedes from the best. This

explains the early spring and late fall germination when the

temperature is comparatively low. If the temperature falls below the

lowest required for germination, dry seeds are not injured, and even

a temperature far below the freezing point of water will not affect

seeds unfavorably if they are not too moist. The warmth of the soil,

essential to germination, cannot well be controlled by the farmer;

and planting must, therefore, be done in seasons when, from past

experience, it is probable that the temperature is and will remain

in the neighborhood of the best degree for germination. More heat is

required to raise the temperature of wet soils; therefore, seeds

will generally germinate more slowly in wet than in dry soils, as is

illustrated in the rapid germination often observed in well-tilled

dry-farm soils. Consequently, it is safer at a low temperature to

sow in dry soils than in wet ones. Dark soils absorb heat more

rapidly than lighter colored ones, and under the same conditions of

temperature germination is therefore more likely to go on rapidly in

dark colored soils. Over the dry-farm territory the soils are

generally light colored, which would tend to delay germination. The

incorporation of organic matter with the soil, which tends to darken

the soil, has a slight though important bearing on germination as

well as on the general fertility of the soil, and should be made an

important dry-farm practice. Meanwhile, the temperature of the soil

depends almost wholly upon the prevailing temperature conditions in

the district and is not to any material degree under the control of

the farmer.

A sufficient supply of oxygen in the soil is indispensable to

germination. Oxygen, as is well known, forms about one fifth of the

atmosphere and is the active principle in combustion and in tile

changes in the animal body occasioned by respiration. Oxygen should

be present in the soil air in approximately the proportion in which

it is found in the atmosphere. Germination is hindered by a larger

or smaller proportion than is found in the atmosphere. The soil must

be in such a condition that the air can easily enter or leave the

upper soil layer; that is, the soil must be somewhat loose. In order

that the seeds may have access to the necessary oxygen, then, sowing

should not be done in wet or packed soils, nor should the sowing

implements be such as to press the soil too closely around the

seeds. Well-fallowed soil is in an ideal condition for admitting

oxygen.

If the temperature is right, germination begins by the forcible

absorption of water by the seed from the surrounding soil. The force

of this absorption is very great, ranging from four hundred to five

hundred pounds per square inch, and continues until the seed is

completely saturated. The great vigor with which water is thus

absorbed from the soil explains how seeds are able to secure the

necessary water from the thin water film surrounding the soil

grains. The following table, based upon numerous investigations

conducted in Germany and in Utah, shows the maximum percentages of

water contained by seeds when the absorption is complete. These

quantities are reached only when water is easily accessible:--

Percentage of Water contained by Seeds at Saturation

German Utah

Rye 58 --

Wheat 57 52

Oats 58 43

Barley 56 44

Corn 44 57

Beans 95 88

Lucern 78 67

Germination itself does not go on freely until this maximum

saturation has been reached. Therefore, if the moisture in the soil

is low, the absorption of water is made difficult and germination is

retarded. This shows itself in a decreased percentage of

germination. The effect upon germination of the percentage of water

in the soil is well shown by some of the Utah experiments, as

follows:--

Effect of Varying Amounts of Water on Percentage of Germination

Percent water in soil 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25

Wheat in sandy loam 0.0 98 94 86 82 82 82 6

Wheat in clay 30 48 84 94 84 82 86 58

Beans in sandy loam 0 0 20 46 66 18 8 9

Beans in clay 0 0 6 20 22 32 30 36

Lucern in Sandy loam 0 18 68 54 54 8 8 9

Lucern in clay 8 8 54 48 50 32 15 14

In a sandy soil a small percentage of water will cause better

germination than in a clay soil. While different seeds vary in their

power to abstract water from soils, yet it seems that for the

majority of plants, the best percentage of soil-water for

germination purposes is that which is in the neighborhood of the

maximum field capacity of soils for water, as explained in Chapter

VII. Bogdanoff has estimated that the best amount of water in the

soil for germination purposes is about twice the maximum percentage

of hygroscopic water. This would not be far from the field-water

capacity as described in the preceding chapter.

During the absorption of water, seeds swell considerably, in many

cases from two to three times their normal size. This has the very

desirable effect of crowding the seed walls against the soil

particles and thus, by establishing more points of contact, enabling

the seed to absorb moisture with greater facility. As seeds begin to

absorb water, heat is also produced. In many cases the temperature

surrounding the seeds is increased one degree on the Centigrade

scale by the mere process of water absorption. This favors rapid

germination. Moreover, the fertility of the soil has a direct

influence upon germination. In fertile soils the germination is more

rapid and more complete than in infertile soils. Especially active

in favoring direct germination are the nitrates. When it is recalled

that the constant cultivation and well-kept summer fallow of

dry-farming develop large quantities of nitrates in the soil, it

will be understood that the methods of dry-farming as already

outlined accelerate germination very greatly.

It scareely need be said that the soil of the seed-bed should be

fine, mellow, and uniform in physical texture so that the seeds can

be planted evenly and in close contact with the soil particles. All

the requisite conditions for germination are best met by the

conditions prevailing in a well-kept summer fallowed soil.

Time to sow

In the consideration of the time to sow, the first question to be

disposed of by the dry-farmer is that of fall as against spring

sowing. The small grains occur as fall and spring varieties, and it

is vitally important to determine which season, under dry-farm

conditions, is the best for sowing.

The advantages of fall sowing are many. As stated, successful

germination is favored by the presence of an abundance of fertility,

especially of nitrates, in the soil. In summer-fallowed land

nitrates are always found in abundance in the fall, ready to

stimulate the seed into rapid germination and the young plants into

vigorous growth. During the late fall and winter months the nitrates

disappear, at least in part, anti from the point of view of

fertility the spring is not so desirable as the fall for

germination. More important, grain sown in the fall under favorable

conditions will establish a good root system which is ready for use

and in action in the early spring as soon as the temperature is

right and long before the farmer can go out on the ground with his

implements. As a result, the crop has the use of the early spring

moisture, which under the conditions of spring sowing is evaporated

into the air. Where the natural precipitation is light and the

amount of water stored in the soil is not large, the gain resulting

from the use of the early spring moisture. often decides the

question in favor of fall sowing.

The disadvantages of fall sowing are also many. The uncertainty of

the fall rains must first be considered. In ordinary practice, seed

sown in the fall does not germinate until a rain comes, unless

indeed sowing is done immediately after a rain. The fall rains are

uncertain as to quantity. In many cases they are so light that they

suffice only to start germination and not to complete it and give

the plants the proper start. Such incomplete germination frequently

causes the total loss of the crop. Even if the stand of the fall

crop is satisfactory, there is always the danger of winter-killing

to be reckoned with. The real cause of winter-killing is not yet

clearly understood, though it seems that repeated thawing and

freezing, drying winter winds, accompanied by dry cold or protracted

periods of intense cold, destroy the vitality of the seed and young

root system. Continuous but moderate cold is not ordinarily very

injurious. The liability to winter-killing is, therefore, very much

greater wherever the winters are open than in places where the snow

covers the ground the larger part of the winter. It is also to be

kept in mind that some varieties are very resistant to

winter-killing, while others require well-covered winters. Fall

sowing is preferable wherever the bulk of the precipitation comes in

winter and spring and where the winters are covered for some time

with snow and the summers are dry. Under such conditions it is very

important that the crop make use of the moisture stored in the soil

in the early spring. Wherever the precipitation comes largely in

late spring and summer, the arguments in favor of fall sowing are

not so strong, and in such localities spring sowing is often more

desirable than fall sowing. In the Great Plains district, therefore,

spring sowing is usually recommended, though fall-sown crops nearly

always, even there, yield the larger crops. In the intermountain

states, with wet winters and dry summers, fall sowing has almost

wholly replaced spring sowing. In fact, Farrell reports that upon

the Nephi (Utah) substation the average of six years shows about

twenty bushels of wheat from fall-sown seed as against about

thirteen bushels from spring-sown seed. Under the California

climate, with wet winters and a winter temperature high enough for

plant growth, fall sowing is also a general practice. Wherever the

conditions are favorable, fall sowing should be practiced, for it is

in harmony with the best principles of water conservation. Even in

districts where the precipitation comes chiefly in the summer, it

may be found that fall sowing, after all, is preferable.

The right time to sow in the fall can be fixed only with great

difficulty, for so much depends upon the climatic conditions. In

fact the practice varies in accordance with differences in fall

precipitation and early fall frosts. 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. In other cases planting is

delayed until the arrival of the first fall rain. This is an certain

and usually unsatisfactory practice, since it often happens that the

sowing is delayed until too late in the fall for the best results.

In districts of dry late summer and fall, the greatest danger in

depending upon the fall rains for germination lies in the fact that

the precipitation is often so small that it initiates germination

without being sufficient to complete it. This means that when the

seed is well started in germination, the moisture gives out. When

another slight rain comes a little later, germination is again

started and possibly again stopped. In some seasons this may occur

several times, to the permanent injury of the crop. Dry-farmers try

to provide against this danger by using an unusually large amount of

seed, assuming that a certain amount will fail to come up because of

the repeated partial germinations. A number of investigators have

demonstrated that a seed may start to germinate, then be dried, and

again be started to germinate several times in succession without

wholly destroying the vitality of the seed.

In these experiments wheat and other seeds were allowed to germinate

and dry seven times in succession. With each partial germination the

percentage of total germination decreased until at the seventh

germination only a few seeds of wheat, barley, and oats retained

their power. This, however, is practically the condition in dry-farm

districts with rainless summers and falls, where fall seeding is

practiced. In such localities little dependence should be placed on

the fall rains and greater reliance placed on a method of soil

treatment that will insure good germination. For this purpose the

summer fallow has been demonstrated to be the most desirable

practice. If the soil has been treated according to the principles

laid down in earlier chapters, the fallowed land will, in the fall,

contain a sufficient amount of moisture to produce complete

germination though no rains may fall. Under such conditions the main

consideration is to plant the seed so deep that it may draw freely

upon the stored soil-moisture. This method makes fall germination

sure in districts where the natural precipitation is not to be

depended upon.

When sowing is done in the spring, there are few factors to

consider. Whenever the temperature is right and the soil has dried

out sufficiently so that agricultural implements may be used

properly, it is usually safe to begin sowing. The customs which

prevail generally with regard to the time of spring sowing may be

adopted in dry-farm practices also.

Depth of seeding

The depth to which seed should be planted in the soil is of

importance in a system of dry-farming. The reserve materials in

seeds are used to produce the first roots and the young plants. No

new nutriment beyond that stored in the soil can be obtained by the

plant until the leaves are above the ground able to gather Carleton

from the atmosphere. The danger of deep planting lies, therefore, in

exhausting the reserve materials of the seeds before the plant has

been able to push its leaves above the ground. Should this occur,

the plant will probably die in the soil. On the other hand, if the

seed is not planted deeply enough, it may happen that the roots

cannot be sent down far enough to connect with the soil-water

reservoir below. Then, the root system will not be strong and deep,

but will have to depend for its development upon the surface water,

which is always a dangerous practice in dry-farming. The rule as to

the depth of seeding is simply: Plant as deeply as is safe. The

depth to which seeds may be safely placed depends upon the nature of

the soil, its fertility, its physical condition, and the water that

it contains. In sandy soils, planting may be deeper than in clay

soils, for it requires less energy for a plant to push roots, stems,

and leaves through the loose sandy soil than through the more

compact clay soil; in a dry soil planting may be deeper than in wet

soils; likewise, deep planting is safer in a loose soil than in one

firmly compacted; finally, where the moist soil is considerable

distance below the surface, deeper planting may be practiced than

when the moist soil is near the surface. Countless experiments have

been conducted on the subject of depth of seeding. In a few cases,

ordinary agricultural seeds planted eight inches deep have come up

and produced satisfactory plants. However, the consensus of opinion

is that from one to three inches are best in humid districts, but

that, everything considered, four inches is the best depth under

dry-farm conditions. Under a low natural precipitation, where the

methods of dry-farming are practiced, it is always safe to plant

deeply, for such a practice will develop and strengthen the root

system, which is one big step toward successful dry-farming.

Quantity to sow

Numerous dry-farm failures may be charged wholly to ignorance

concerning the quantity of seed to sow. In no other practice has the

custom of humid countries been followed more religiously by

dry-farmers, and failure has nearly always resulted. The discussions

in this volume have brought out the fact that every plant of

whatever character requires a large amount of water for its growth.

From the first day of its growth to the day of its maturity, large

amounts of water are taken from the soil through the plant and

evaporated into the air through the leaves. When the large

quantities of seed employed in humid countries have been sown on dry

lands, the result has usually been an excellent stand early in the

season, with a crop splendid in appearance up to early summer. .A

luxuriant spring crop reduces, however, the water content of the

soil so greatly that when the heat of the summer arrives, there is

not sufficient water left in the soil to support the final

development and ripening. A thick stand in early spring is no

assurance to the dry-farmer of a good harvest. On the contrary, it

is usually the field with a thin stand in spring that stands up best

through the summer and yields most at the time of harvest. The

quantity of seed sown should vary with the soil conditions: the more

fertile the soil is, the more seed may be used; the more water in

the soil, the more seed may be sown; as the fertility or the water

content diminishes, the amount of seed should likewise be

diminished. Under dry-farm conditions the fertility is good, but the

moisture is low. As a general principle, therefore, light seeding

should be practiced on dry-farms, though it should be sufficient to

yield a crop that will shade the ground well. If the sowing is done

early, in fall or spring, less seed may be used than if the sowing

is late, because the early sowing gives a better chance for root

development, which results, ordinarily, in more vigorous plants that

consume more moisture than the smaller and weaker plants of later

sowing. If the winters are mild and well covered with snow, less

seed may be used than in districts where severe or open winters

cause a certain amount of winter-killing. On a good seed-bed of

fallowed soil less seed may be used than where the soil has not been

carefully tilled and is somewhat rough and lumpy and unfavorable for

complete germination. The yield of any crop is not directly

proportional to the amount sown, unless all factors contributing to

germination are alike. In the case of wheat and other grains, thin

seeding also gives a plant a better chance for stooling, which is

Nature's method of adapting the plant to the prevailing moisture and

fertility conditions. When plants are crowded, stooling cannot occur

to any marked degree, and the crop is rendered helpless in attempts

to adapt itself to surrounding conditions.

In general the rule may be laid down that a little more than one

half as much seed should be used in dry-farm districts with an

annual rainfall of about fifteen inches than is used in humid

districts. That is, as against the customary five pecks of wheat

used per acre in humid countries about three pecks or even two pecks

should be used on dry-farms. Merrill recommends the seeding of oats

at the rate of about three pecks per acre; of barley, about three

pecks; of rye, two pecks; of alfalfa, six pounds; of corn, two

kernels to the hill, and other crops in the same proportion. No

invariable rule can be laid down for perfect germination. A small

quantity of seed is usually sufficient; but where germination

frequently fails in part, more seed must be used. If the stand is

too thick at the beginning of the growing season, it must be

harrowed out. Naturally, the quantity of seed to be used should be

based on the number of kernels as well as on the weight. For

instance, since the larger the individual wheat kernels the fewer in

a bushel, fewer plants would be produced from a bushel of large than

from a bushel of small seed wheat. The size of the seed in

determining the amount for sowing is often important and should be

determined by some simple method, such as counting the seeds

required to fill a small bottle.

Method of sowing

There should really be no need of discussing the method of sowing

were it not that even at this day there are farmers in the dry-farm

district who sow by broadcasting and insist upon the superiority of

this method. The broadcasting of seed has no place in any system of

scientific agriculture, least of all in dry-farming, where success

depends upon the degree with which all conditions are controlled. In

all good dry-farm practice seed should be placed in rows, preferably

by means of one of the numerous forms of drill seeders found upon

the market. The advantages of the drill are almost self-evident. It

permits uniform distribution of the seed, which is indispensable for

success on soils that receive limited rainfall. The seed may be

placed at an even depth, which is very necessary, especially in fall

sowing, where the seed depends for proper germination upon the

moisture already stored in the soil. The deep seeding often

necessary under dry-farm conditions makes the drill indispensable.

Moreover, Hunt has explained that the drill furrows themselves have

definite advantages. During the winter the furrows catch the snow,

and because of the protection thus rendered, the seed is less likely

to be heaved out by repeated freezing and thawing. The drill furrow

also protects to a certain extent against the drying action of winds

and in that way, though the furrows are small, they aid materially

in enabling the young plant to pass through the winter successfully.

The rains of fall and spring are accumulated in the furrows and made

easily accessible to plants. Moreover, many of the drills have

attachments whereby the soil is pressed around the seed and the

topsoil afterwards stirred to prevent evaporation. This permits of a

much more rapid and complete germination. The drill, the advantages

of which were taught two hundred years ago by Jethro Tull, is one of

the most valuable implements of modern agriculture. On dry-farms it

is indispensable. The dry-farmer should make a careful study of the

drills on the market and choose such as comply with the principles

of the successful prosecution of dry-farming. Drill culture is the

only method of sowing that can be permitted if uniform success is

desired.

The care of the crop

Excepting the special treatment for soil-moisture conservation,

dry-farm crops should receive the treatment usually given crops

growing under humid conditions. The light rains that frequently fall

in autumn sometimes form a crust on the top of the soil, which

hinders the proper germination and growth of the fall-sown crop. It

may be necessary, therefore, for the farmer to go over the land in

the fall with a disk or more preferably with a corrugated roller.

Ordinarily, however, after fall sowing there is no further need of

treatment until the following spring. The spring treatment is of

considerably more importance, for when the warmth of spring and

early summer begins to make itself felt, a crust forms over many

kinds of dry-farm soils. This is especially true where the soil is

of the distinctively arid kind and poor in organic matter. Such a

crust should be broken early in order to give the young plants a

chance to develop freely. This may be accomplished, as above stated,

by the use of a disk, corrugated roller, or ordinary smoothing

harrow.

When the young grain is well under way, it may be found to be too

thick. If so, the crop may be thinned by going over the field with a

good irontooth harrow with the teeth so set as to tear out a portion

of the plants. This treatment may enable the remaining plants to

mature with the limited amount of moisture in the soil.

Paradoxically, if the crop seems to be too thin in the spring,

harrowing may also be of service. In such a case the teeth should be

slanted backwards and the harrowing done simply for the purpose of

stirring the soil without injury to the plant, to conserve the

moisture stored in the soil and to accelerate the formation of

nitrates.--The conserved moisture and added fertility will

strengthen the growth and diminish the water requirements of the

plants, and thus yield a larger crop. The iron-tooth harrow is a

very useful implement on the dry-farm when the crops are young.

After the plants are up so high that the harrow cannot be used on

them no special care need be given them, unless indeed they are

cultivated crops like corn or potatoes which, of course, as

explained in previous chapters, should receive continual

cultivation.

Harvesting

The methods of harvesting crops on dry-farms are practically those

for farms in humid districts. The one great exception may be the use

of the header on the grain farms of the dry-farm sections. The

header has now become well-nigh general in its use. Instead of

cutting and binding the grain, as in the old method, the heads are

simply cut off and piled in large stacks which later are threshed.

The high straw which remains is plowed under in the fall and helps

to supply the soil with organic matter. The maintenance of dry-farms

for over a generation without the addition of manures has been made

possible by the organic matter added to the soil in the decay of the

high vigorous straw remaining after the header. In fact, the changes

occurring in the soil in connection with the decaying of the header

stubble appear to have actually increased the available fertility.

Hundreds of Utah dry wheat farms during the last ten or twelve years

have increased in fertility, or at least in productive power, due

undoubtedly to the introduction of the header system of harvesting.

This system of harvesting also makes the practice of fallowing much

more effective, for it helps maintain the organic matter which is

drawn upon by the fallow seasons. The header should be used wherever

practicable. The fear has been expressed that the high header straw

plowed under will make the soil so loose as to render proper sowing

difficult and also, because of the easy circulation of air in the

upper soil layers, cause a large loss of soil-moisture. This fear

has been found to be groundless, for wherever the header straw has

been plowed under; especially in connection with fallowing, the soil

has been benefited.

Rapidity and economy in harvesting are vital factors in dry-farming,

and new devices are constantly being offered to expedite the work.

Of recent years the combined harvester and thresher has come into

general use. It is a large header combined with an ordinary

threshing machine. The grain is headed and threshed in one operation

and the sacks dropped along the path of the machine. The straw is

scattered over the field where it belongs.

All in all, the question of sowing, care of crop, and harvesting may

be answered by the methods that have been so well developed in

countries of abundant rainfall, except as new methods may be

required to offset the deficiency in the rainfall which is the

determining condition of dry-farming.

CHAPTER XII

CROPS FOR DRY-FARMING

The work of the dry-farmer is only half done when the soil has been

properly prepared, by deep plowing, cultivation, fallowing, for the

planting of the crop. The choice of the crop, its proper seeding,

and its correct care and harvesting are as important as rational

soil treatment in the successful pursuit of dry-farming. It is true

that in general the kinds of crops ordinarily cultivated in humid

regions are grown also on arid lands, but varieties especially

adapted to the prevailing dry-farm conditions must be used if any

certainty of harvest is desired. Plants possess a marvelous power of

adaptation to environment, and this power becomes stronger as

successive generations of plants are grown under the given

conditions. Thus, plants which have been grown for long periods of

time in countries of abundant rainfall and characteristic humid

climate and soil yield well under such conditions, but usually

suffer and die or at best yield scantily if planted in hot rainless

countries with deep soils. Yet, such plants, if grown year after

year under arid conditions, become accustomed to warmth and dryness

and in time will yield perhaps nearly as well or it may be better in

their new surroundings. The dry-farmer who looks for large harvests

must use every care to secure varieties of crops that through

generations of breeding have become adapted to the conditions

prevailing on his farm. Home-grown seeds, if grown properly, are

therefore of the highest value. In fact, in the districts where

dry-farming has been practiced longest the best yielding varieties

are, with very few exceptions, those that have been grown for many

successive years on the same lands. The comparative newness of the

attempts to produce profitable crops in the present dry-farming

territory and the consequent absence of home-grown seed has rendered

it wise to explore other regions of the world, with similar climatic

conditions, but long inhabited, for suitable crop varieties. The

United States Department of Agriculture has accomplished much good

work in this direction. The breeding of new varieties by scientific

methods is also important, though really valuable results cannot be

expected for many years to come. When results do come from breeding

experiments, they will probably be of the greatest value to the

dry-farmer. Meanwhile, it must be acknowledged that at the present,

our knowledge of dry-farm crops is extremely limited. Every year

will probably bring new additions to the list and great improvements

of the crops and varieties now recommended. The progressive

dry-farmer should therefore keep in close touch with state and

government workers concerning the best varieties to use.

Moreover, while the various sections of the dry-farming territory

are alike in receiving a small amount of rainfall, they are widely

different in other conditions affecting plant growth, such as soils,

winds, average temperature, and character and severity of the

winters. Until trials have been made in all these varying

localities, it is not safe to make unqualified recommendations of

any crop or crop variety. At the present we can only say that for

dry-farm purposes we must have plants that will produce the maximum

quantity of dry matter with the minimum quantity of water; and that

their periods of growth must be the shortest possible. However,

enough work has been done to establish some general rules for the

guidance of the dry-farmer in the selection of crops. Undoubtedly,

we have as yet had only a glimpse of the vast crop possibilities of

the dry-farming territory in the United States, as well as in other

countries.

Wheat

Wheat is the leading dry-farm crop. Every prospect indicates that it

will retain its preƫminence. Not only is it the most generally

used cereal, but the world is rapidly learning to depend more and

more upon the dry-farming areas of the world for wheat production.

In the arid and semiarid regions it is now a commonly accepted

doctrine that upon the expensive irrigated lands should be grown

fruits, vegetables, sugar beets, and other intensive crops, while

wheat, corn, and other grains and even much of the forage should be

grown as extensive crops upon the non-irrigated or dry-farm lands.

It is to be hoped that the time is near at hand when it will be a

rarity to see grain grown upon irrigated soil, providing the

climatic conditions permit the raising of more extensive crops.

In view of the present and future greatness of the wheat crop on

semiarid lands, it is very important to secure the varieties that

will best meet the varying dry-farm conditions. Much has been done

to this end, but more needs to be done. Our knowledge of the best

wheats is still fragmentary. This is even more true of other

dry-farm crops. According to Jardine, the dry-farm wheats grown at

present in the United States may be classificd as follows:--

I. Hard spring wheats:

(a) Common

(b) Durum

II. Winter wheats:

(a) Hard wheats (Crimean)

(b) Semihard wheats (Intermountain)

(c) Soft wheats (Pactfic)

The common varieties of hard _spring wheats _are grown principally

in districts where winter wheats have not as yet been successful;

that is, in the Dakotas, northwestern Nebraska, and other localities

with long winters and periods of alternate thawing and severe

freezing. The superior value of winter wheat has been so clearly

demonstrated that attempts are being made to develop in every

locality winter wheats that can endure the prevailing climatic

conditions. Spring wheats are also grown in a scattering way and in

small quantities over the whole dry-farm territory. The two most

valuable varieties of the common hard spring wheat are Blue Stem and

Red Fife, both well-established varieties of excellent milling

qualities, grown in immense quantities in the Northeastern corner of

the dry-farm territory of the United States and commanding the best

prices on the markets of the world. It is notable that Red Fife

originated in Russia, the country which has given us so many good

dry-farm crops.

The durum wheats or macaroni wheats, as they are often called, are

also spring wheats which promise to displace all other spring

varieties because of their excellent yields under extreme dry-farm

conditions. These wheats, though known for more than a generation

through occasional shipments from Russia, Algeria, and Chile, were

introduced to the farmers of the United States only in 1900, through

the explorations and enthusiastic advocacy of Carleton of the United

States Department of Agriculture. Since that time they have been

grown in nearly all the dryfarm states and especially in the Great

Plains area. Wherever tried they have yielded well, in some cases as

much as the old established winter varieties. The extreme hardness

of these wheats made it difficult to induce the millers operating

mills fitted for grinding softer wheats to accept them for

flourmaking purposes. This prejudice has, however, gradually

vanished, and to-day the durum wheats are in great demand,

especially for blending with the softer wheats and for the making of

macaroni. Recently the popularity of the durum wheats among the

farmers has been enhanced, owing to the discovery that they are

strongly rust resistant.

The _winter wheats, _as has been repeatedly suggested in preceding

chapters, are most desirable for dry-farm purposes, wherever they

can be grown, and especially in localities where a fair

precipitation occurs in the winter and spring. The hard winter

wheats are represented mainly by the Crimean group, the chief

members of which are Turkey, Kharkow, and Crimean. These wheats also

originated in Russia and are said to have been brought to the United

States a generation ago by Mennonite colonists. At present these

wheats are grown chiefly in the central and southern parts of the

Great Plains area and in Canada, though they are rapidly spreading

over the intermountain country. These are good milling wheats of

high gluten content and yielding abundantly under dry-farm

conditions. It is quite clear that these wheats will soon displace

the older winter wheats formerly grown on dry-farms. Turkey wheat

promises to become the leading dry-farm wheat. The semisoft winter

wheats are grown chiefly in the intermountain country. They are

represented by a very large number of varieties, all tending toward

softness and starchiness. This may in part be due to climatic, soil,

and irrigation conditions, but is more likely a result of inherent

qualities in the varieties used. They are rapidly being displaced by

hard varieties.

The group of soft winter wheats includes numerous varieties grown

extensively in the famous wheat districts of California, Oregon,

Washington, and northern Idaho. The main varieties are Red Russian

and Palouse Blue Stem, in Washington and Idaho, Red Chaff and Foise

in Oregon, and Defiance, Little Club, Sonora, and White Australian

in California. These are all soft, white, and rather poor in gluten.

It is believed that under given climatic, soil, and cultural

conditions, all wheat varieties will approach one type, distinctive

of the conditions in question, and that the California wheat type is

a result of prevailing unchangeable conditions. More researeh is

needed, however, before definite principles can be laid down

concerning the formation of distinctive wheat types in the various

dry-farm sections. Under any condition, a change of seed, keeping

improvement always in view, should be baneficial.

Jardine has reminded the dry-farmers of the United States that

before the production of wheat on the dry-farms can reach its full

possibilities under any acreage, sufficient quantities must be grown

of a few varieties to affect the large markets. This is especially

important in the intermountain country where no uniformity exists,

but the warning should be heeded also by the Pacific coast and Great

Plains wheat areas. As soon as the best varieties are found they

should displace the miscellaneous collection of wheat varieties now

grown. The individual farmer can be a law unto himself no more in

wheat growing than in fruit growing, if he desires to reap the

largest reward of his efforts. Only by uniformity of kind and

quality and large production will any one locality impress itself

upon the markets and create a demand. The changes now in progress by

the dry-farmers of the United States indicate that this lesson has

been taken to heart. The principle is equally important for all

countries where dry-farming is practiced.

Other small grains

_Oats _is undoubtedly a coming dry-farm crop. Several varieties have

been found which yield well on lands that receive an average annual

rainfall of less than fifteen inches. Others will no doubt be

discovered or developed as special attention is given to dry-farm

oats. Oats occurs as spring and winter varieties, but only one

winter variety has as yet found place in the list of dry-farm crops.

The leading; spring varieties of oats are the Sixty-Day, Kherson,

Burt, and Swedish Select. The one winter variety, which is grown

chiefly in Utah, is the Boswell, a black variety originally brought

from England about 1901.

_Barley, _like the other common grains, occurs in varieties that

grow well on dry-farms. In comparison with wheat very little seareh

has been made for dry-farm barleys, and, naturally, the list of

tested varieties is very small. Like wheat and oats, barley occurs

in spring and winter varieties, but as in the case of oats only one

winter variety has as yet found its way into the approved list of

dry-farm crops. The best dry-farm spring barleys are those belonging

to the beardless and hull-less types, though the more common

varieties also yield well, especially the six-rowed beardless

barley. The winter variety is the Tennessee Winter, which is already

well distributed over the Great Plains district.

_Rye _is one of the surest dry-farm crops. It yields good crops of

straw and grain, both of which are valuable stock foods. In fact,

the great power of rye to survive and grow luxuriantly under the

most trying dry-farm conditions is the chief objection to it. Once

started, it is hard to eradicate. Properly cultivated and used

either as a stock feed or as green manure, it is very valuable. Rye

occurs as both spring and winter varieties. The winter varieties are

usually most satisfactory.

Carleton has recommended _emmer _as a crop peculiarly adapted to

semiarid conditions. Emmer is a species of wheat to the berries of

which the chaff adheres very closely. It is highly prized as a stock

feed. In Russia and Germany it is grown in very large quantities. It

is especially adapted to arid and semiarid conditions, but will

probably thrive best where the winters are dry and summers wet. It

exists as spring and winter varieties. is with the other small

grains, the success of emmer will depend largely upon the

satisfactory development of winter varieties.

Corn

Of all crops yet tried on dry-farms, corn is perhaps the most

uniformly successful under extreme dry conditions. If the soil

treatment and planting have been right, the failures that have been

reported may invariably be traced to the use of seed which had not

been acclimated. The American Indians grow corn which is excellent

for dry-farm purposes; many of the western farmers have likewise

produced strains that use the minimum of moisture, and, moreover,

corn brought from humid sections adapts itself to arid conditions in

a very few years. Escobar reports a native corn grown in Mexico with

low stalks and small ears that well endures desert conditions. In

extremely dry years corn does not always produce a profitable crop

of seed, but the crop as a whole, for forage purposes, seldom fails

to pay expenses and leave a margin for profit. In wetter years there

is a corresponding increase of the corn crop. The dryfarming

territory does not yet realize the value of corn as a dry-farm crop.

The known facts concerning corn make it safe to predict, however,

that its dry farm acreage will increase rapidly, and that in time it

will crowd the wheat crop for preƫminence.

Sorghums

Among dry-farm crops not popularly known are the sorghums, which

promise to become excellent yielders under arid conditions. The

sorghums are supposed to have come grown the tropical sections of

the globe, but they are now scattered over the earth in all climes.

The sorghums have been known in the United States for over half a

century, but it was only when dry-farming began to develop so

tremendously that the drouth-resisting power of the sorghums was

recalled. According to Ball, the sorghums fall into the following

classes:--

THE SORGHUMS

1. Broom corns

2. Sorgas or sweet sorghums

3. Kafirs

4. Durras

The broom corns are grown only for their brush, and are not

considered in dry-farming; the sorgas for forage and sirups, and are

especially adapted for irrigation or humid conditions, though they

are said to endure dry-farm conditions better than corn. The Kafirs

are dry-farm crops and are grown for grain and forage. This group

includes Red Kafir, White Kafir, Black-hulled White Kafir, and White

Milo, all of which are valuable for dry-farming. The Durras are

grown almost exclusively for seed and include Jerusalem corn, Brown

Durra, and Milo. The work of Ball has made Milo one of the most

important dry-farm crops. As improved, the crop is from four to four

and a half feet high, with mostly erect heads, carrying a large

quantity of seeds. Milo is already a staple crop in parts of Texas,

Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mexico. It has further been shown to be

adapted to conditions in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona,

Utah, and Idaho. It will probably be found, in some varietal form,

valuable over the whole dry-farm territory where the altitude is not

too high and the average temperature not too low.

It has yielded an average of forty bushels of seed to the acre.

Lucern or alfalfa

Next to human intelligence and industry, alfalfa has probably been

the chief factor in the development of the irrigated West. It has

made possible a rational system of agriculture, with the live-stock

industry and the maintenance of soil fertility as the central

considerations. Alfalfa is now being recognized as a desirable crop

in humid as well as in irrigated sections, and it is probable that

alfalfa will soon become the chief hay crop of the United States.

Originally, lucern came from the hot dry countries of Asia, where it

supplied feed to the animals of the first historical peoples.

Moreover, its long; tap roots, penetrating sometimes forty or fifty

feet into the ground, suggest that lucern may make ready use of

deeply stored soil-moisture. On these considerations, alone, lucern

should prove itself a crop well suited for dry-farming. In fact, it

has been demonstrated that where conditions are favorable, lucern

may be made to yield profitable crops under a rainfall between

twelve and fifteen inches. Alfalfa prefers calcareous loamy soils;

sandy and heavy clay soils are not so well adapted for successful

alfalfa production. Under dry-farm conditions the utmost care must

be used to prevent too thick seeding. The vast majority of alfalfa

failures on dry-farms have resulted from an insufficient supply of

moisture for the thickly planted crop. The alfalfa field does not

attain its maturity until after the second year, and a crop which

looks just right the second year will probably be much too thick the

third and fourth years. From four to six pounds of seed per acre are

usually ample. Another main cause of failure is the common idea that

the lucern field needs little or no cultivation, when, in fact, the

alfalfa field should receive as careful soil treatment as the wheat

field. Heavy, thorough disking in spring or fall, or both, is

advisable, for it leaves the topsoil in a condition to prevent

evaporation and admit air. In Asiatic and North African countries,

lucern is frequently cultivated between rows throughout the hot

season. This has been tried by Brand in this country and with very

good results. Since the crop should always be sown with a drill, it

is comparatively easy to regulate the distance between the rows so

that cultivating implements may be used. If thin seeding and

thorough soil stirring are practiced, lucern usually grows well, and

with such treatment should become one of the great dry-farm crops.

The yield of hay is not large, but sufficient to leave a comfortable

margin of profit. Many farmers find it more profitable to grow

dry-farm lucern for seed. In good years from fifty to one hundred

and fifty dollars may be taken from an acre of lucern seed. However,

at the present, the principles of lucern seed production are not

well established, and the seed crop is uncertain.

Alfalfa is a leguminous crop and gathers nitrogen from the air. It

is therefore a good fertilizer. The question of soil fertility will

become more important with the passing of the years, and the value

of lucern as a land improver will then be more evident than it is

to-day.

Other leguminous crops

The group of leguminous or pod-bearing crops is of great importance;

first, because it is rich in nitrogenous substances which are

valuable animal foods, and, secondly, because it has the power of

gathering nitrogen from the air, which can be used for maintaining

the fertility of the soil. Dry-farming will not be a wholly safe

practice of agriculture until suitable leguminous crops are found

and made part of the crop system. It is notable that over the whole

of the dry-farm territory of this and other countries wild

leguminous plants flourish. That is, nitrogen-gathering plants are

at work on the deserts. The farmer upsets this natural order of

things by cropping the land with wheat and wheat only, so long as

the land will produce profitably. The leguminous plants native to

dry-farm areas have not as yet been subjected to extensive economic

study, and in truth very little is known concerning leguminous

plants adapted to dry-farming.

In California, Colorado, and other dry-farm states the field pea has

been grown with great profit. Indeed it has been found much more

profitable than wheat production. The field bean, likewise, has been

grown successfully under dry-farm conditions, under a great variety

of climates. In Mexico and other southern climates, the native

population produce large quantities of beans upon their dry lands.

Shaw suggests that sanfoin, long famous for its service to European

agriculture, may be found to be a profitable dry-farm crop, and that

sand vetch promises to become an excellent dry-farm crop. It is very

likely, however, that many of the leguminous crops which have been

developed under conditions of abundant rainfall will be valueless on

dry-farm lands. Every year will furnish new and more complete

information on this subject. Leguminous plants will surely become

important members of the association of dry-farm crops.

Trees and shrubs

So far, trees cannot be said to be dry-farm crops, though facts are

on record that indicate that by the application of correct dry-farm

principles trees may be made to grow and yield profitably on

dry-farm lands. Of course, it is a well-known fact that native trees

of various kinds are occasionally found growing on the deserts,

where the rainfall is very light and the soil has been given no

care. Examples of such vegetation are the native cedars found

throughout the Great Basin region and the mesquite tree in Arizona

and the Southwest. Few farmers in the arid region have as yet

undertaken tree culture without the aid of irrigation.

At least one peach orchard is known in Utah which grows under a

rainfall of about fifteen inches without irrigation and produces

regularly a small crop of most delicious fruit. Parsons describes

his Colorado dry-farm orchard in which, under a rainfall of almost

fourteen inches, he grows, with great profit, cherries, plums, and

apples. A number of prospering young orchards are growing without

irrigation in the Great Plains area. Mason discovered a few years

ago two olive orchards in Arizona and the Colorado desert which,

planted about fourteen years previously, were thriving under an

annual rainfall of eight and a half and four and a half inches,

respectively. These olive orchards had been set out under canals

which later failed. Such attested facts lead to the thought that

trees may yet take their place as dry-farm crops. This hope is

strengthened when it is recalled that the great nations of

antiquity, living in countries of low rainfall, grew profitably and

without irrigation many valuable trees, some of which are still

cultivated in those countries. The olive industry, for example, is

even now being successfully developed by modern methods in Asiatic

and African sections, where the average annual rainfall is under ten

inches. Since 1881, under French management, the dry-farm olive

trees around Tunis have increased from 45,000 to 400,000

individuals. Mason and also Aaronsohn suggest as trees that do well

in the arid parts of the old world the so-called "Chinese date" or

JuJube tree, the sycamore fig, and the Carob tree, which yields the

"St. John's Bread" so dear to childhood.

Of this last tree, Aaronsolm says that twenty trees to the acre,

under a rainfall of twelve inches, will produce 8000 pounds of fruit

containing 40 per cent of sugar and 7 to 8 per cent of protein. This

surpasses the best harvest of alfalfa. Kearnley, who has made a

special study of dry-land olive culture in northern Africa, states

that in his belief a large variety of fruit trees may be found which

will do well under arid and semiarid conditions, and may even yield

more profit than the grains.

It is also said that many shade and ornamental and other useful

plants can be grown on dry-farms; as, for instance, locust, elm,

black walnut, silverpoplar, catalpa, live oak, black oak, yellow

pine, red spruce, Douglas fir, and cedar.

The secret of success in tree growing on dry-farms seems to lie,

first, in planting a few trees per acre,--the distance apart should

be twice the ordinary distance,--and, secondly, in applying

vigorously and unceasingly the established principles of soil

cultivation. In a soil stored deeply with moisture and properly

cultivated, most plants will grow. If the soil has not been

carefully fallowed before planting, it may be necessary to water the

young trees slightly during the first two seasons.

Small fruits have been tried on many farms with great success.

Plums, currants, and gooseberries have all been successful. Grapes

grow and yield well in many dry-farm districts, especially along the

warm foothills of the Great Basin. Tree growing on dry-farm lands is

not yet well established and, therefore, should be undertaken with

great care. Varieties accustomed to the climatic environment should

be chosen, and the principles outlined in the preceding pages should

be carefully used.

Potatoes

In recent years, potatoes have become one of the best dry-farm

crops. Almost wherever tried on lands under a rainfall of twelve

inches or more potatoes have given comparatively large yields.

To-day, the growing of dry-farm potatoes is becoming an important

industry. The principles of light seeding and thorough cultivation

are indispensable for success. Potatoes are well adapted for use in

rotations, where summer fallowing is not thought desirable.

Macdonald enumerates the following as the best varieties at present

used on dry-farms: Ohio, Mammoth, Pearl, Rural New Yorker, and

Burbank.

Miscellaneous

A further list of dry-farm crops would include representatives of

nearly all economic plants, most of them tried in small quantity in

various localities. Sugar beets, vegetables, bulbous plants, etc.,

have all been grown without irrigation under dry-farm conditions.

Some of these will no doubt be found to be profitable and will then

be brought into the commercial scheme of dry-farming.

Meanwhile, the crop problems of dry-farming demand that much careful

work be done in the immediate future by the agencies having such

work in charge. The best varieties of crops already in profitable

use need to be determined. More new plants from all parts of the

world need to be brought to this new dry-farm territory and tried

out. Many of the native plants need examination with a view to their

economic use. For instance, the sego lily bulbs, upon which the Utah

pioneers subsisted for several seasons of famine, may possibly be

made a cultivated crop. Finally, it remains to be said that it is

doubtful wisdom to attempt to grow the more intensive crops on

dry-farms. Irrigation and dry-farming will always go together. They

are supplementary systems of agriculture in arid and semiarid

regions. On the irrigated lands should be grown the crops that

require much labor per acre and that in return yield largely per

acre. New crops and varieties should besought for the irrigated

farms. On the dry-farms should be grown the crops that can be

handled in a large way and at a small cost per acre, and that yield

only moderate acre returns. By such cooperation between irrigation

and dry-farming will the regions of the world with a scanty rainfall

become the healthiest, wealthiest, happiest, and most populous on

earth.

CHAPTER XIII

THE COMPOSITION OF DRY-FARM CROPS

The acre-yields of crops on dry-farms, even under the most favorable

methods of culture, are likely to be much smaller than in humid

sections with fertile soils. The necessity for frequent fallowing or

resting periods over a large portion of the dry-farm territory

further decreases the average annual yield. It does not follow from

this condition that dry-farming is less profitable than humid-or

irrigation-farming, for it has been fully demonstrated that the

profit on the investment is as high under proper dry-farming as

under any other similar generally adopted system of farming in any

part of the world. Yet the practice of dry-farming would appear to

be, and indeed would be, much more desirable could the crop yield be

increased. The discovery of any condition which will offset the

small annual yields is, therefore, of the highest importance to the

advancement of dry-farming. The recognition of the superior quality

of practically all crops grown without irrigation under a limited

rainfall has done much to stimulate faith in the great

profitableness of dry-farming. As the varying nature of the

materials used by man for food, clothing, and shelter has become

more clearly understood, more attention has been given to the

valuation of commercial products on the basis of quality as well as

of quantity. Sugar beets, for instance, are bought by the sugar

factories under a guarantee of a minimum sugar content; and many

factories of Europe vary the price paid according to the sugar

contained by the beets. The millers, especially in certain parts of

the country where wheat has deteriorated, distinguish carefully

between the flour-producing qualities of wheats from various

sections and fix the price accordingly. Even in the household,

information concerning the real nutritive value of various foods is

being sought eagerly, and foods let down to possess the highest

value in the maintenance of life are displacing, even at a higher

cost, the inferior products. The quality valuation is, in fact,

being extended as rapidly as the growth of knowledge will permit to

the chief food materials of commerce. As this practice becomes fixed

the dry-farmer will be able to command the best market prices for

his products, for it is undoubtedly true that from the point of view

of quality, dry-farm food products may be placed safely in

competition with any farm products on the markets of the world.

Proportion of plant parts

It need hardly be said, after the discussions in the preceding

chapters, that the nature of plant growth is deeply modified by the

arid conditions prevailing in dry-farming. This shows itself first

in the proportion of the various plant parts, such as roots, stems,

leaves, and seeds. The root systems of dry-farm crops are generally

greatly developed, and it is a common observation that in adverse

seasons the plants that possess the largest and most vigorous roots

endure best the drouth and burning heat. The first function of the

leaves is to gather materials for the building and strengthening of

the roots, and only after this has been done do the stems lengthen

and the leaves thicken. Usually, the short season is largely gone

before the stem and leaf growth begins, and, consequently, a

somewhat dwarfed appearance is characteristic of dry-farm crops. The

size of sugar beets, potato tubers, and such underground parts

depends upon the available water and food supply when the plant has

established a satisfactory root and leaf system. If the water and

food are scarce, a thin beet results; if abundant, a well-filled

beet may result.

Dry-farming is characterized by a somewhat short season. Even if

good growing weather prevails, the decrease of water in the soil has

the effect of hastening maturity. The formation of flowers and seed

begins, therefore, earlier and is completed more quickly under arid

than under humid conditions. Moreover, and resulting probably from

the greater abundance of materials stored in the root system, the

proportion of heads to leaves and stems is highest in dry-farm

crops. In fact, it is a general law that the proportion of heads to

straw in grain crops increases as the water supply decreases. This

is shown very well even under humid or irrigation conditions when

different seasons or different applications of irrigation water are

compared. For instance, Hall quotes from the Rothamsted experiments

to the effect that in 1879, which was a wet year (41 inches), the

wheat crop yielded 38 pounds of grain for every 100 pounds of straw;

whereas, in 1893, which was a dry year (23 inches), the wheat crop

yielded 95 pounds of grain to every 100 pounds of straw. The Utah

station likewise has established the same law under arid conditions.

In one series of experiments it was shown as an average of three

years' trial that a field which had received 22.5 inches of

irrigation water produced a wheat crop that gave 67 pounds of grain

to every 100 pounds of straw; while another field which received

only 7.5 inches of irrigation water produced a crop that gave 100

pounds of grain for every 100 pounds of straw. Since wheat is grown

essentially for the grain, such a variation is of tremendous

importance. The amount of available water affects every part of the

plant. Thus, as an illustration, Carleton states that the per cent

of meat in oats grown in Wisconsin under humid conditions was 67.24,

while in North Dakota, Kansas, and Montana, under arid and semiarid

conditions, it was 71.51. Similar variations of plant parts may be

observed as a direct result of varying the amount of available

water. In general then, it may be said that the roots of dry-farm

crops are well developed; the parts above ground somewhat dwarfed;

the proportion of seed to straw high, and the proportion of meat or

nutritive materials in the plant parts likewise high.

The water in dry-farm crops

One of the constant constituents of all plants and plant parts is

water. Hay, flour, and starch contain comparatively large quantities

of water, which can be removed only by heat. The water in green

plants is often very large. In young lucern, for instance, it

reaches 85 per cent, and in young peas nearly 90 per cent, or more

than is found in good cow's milk. The water so held by plants has no

nutritive value above ordinary water. It is, therefore, profitable

for the consumer to buy dry foods. In this particular, again,

dry-farm crops have a distinct advantage: During growth there is not

perhaps a great difference in the water content of plants, due to

climatic differences, but after harvest the drying-out process goes

on much more completely in dry-farm than in humid districts. Hay,

cured in humid regions, often contains from 12 to 20 per cent of

water; in arid climates it contains as little as 5 per cent and

seldom more than 12 per cent. The drier hay is naturally more

valuable pound for pound than the moister hay, and a difference in

price, based upon the difference in water content, is already being

felt in certain sections of the West.

The moisture content of dry-farm wheat, the chief dry-farm crop, is

even more important. According to Wiley the average water content of

wheat for the United States is 10.62 per cent, ranging from 15 to 7

per cent. Stewart and Greaves examined a large number of wheats

grown on the dry-farms of Utah and found that the average per cent

of water in the common bread varieties was 8.46 and in the durum

varieties 8.89. This means that the Utah dry-farm wheats transported

to ordinary humid conditions would take up enough water from the air

to increase their weight one fortieth, or 2.2 per cent, before they

reached the average water content of American wheats. In other

words, 1,000,000 bushels of Utah dry-farm wheat contain as much

nutritive matter as 1,025,000 bushels of wheat grown and kept under

humid conditions. This difference should be and now is recognized in

the prices paid. In fact, shrewd dealers, acquainted with the

dryness of dry-farm wheat, have for some years bought wheat from the

dry-farms at a slightly increased price, and trusted to the increase

in weight due to water absorption in more humid climates for their

profits. The time should be near at hand when grains and similar

products should be purchased upon the basis of a moisture test.

While it is undoubtedly true that dry-farm crops are naturally drier

than those of humid countries, yet it must also be kept in mind that

the driest dry-farm crops are always obtained where the summers are

hot and rainless. In sections where the precipitation comes chiefly

in the spring and summer the difference would not be so great.

Therefore, the crops raised on the Great Plains would not be so dry

as those raised in California or in the Great Basin. Yet, wherever

the annual rainfall is so small as to establish dry-farm conditions,

whether it comes in the winter or summer, the cured crops are drier

than those produced under conditions of a much higher rainfall, and

dry farmers should insist that, so far as possible in the future,

sales be based on dry matter.

The nutritive substances in crops

The dry matter of all plants and plant parts consists of three very

distinct classes of substances: First, ash or the mineral

constituents. Ash is used by the body in building bones and in

supplying the blood with compounds essential to the various life

processes. Second, protein or the substances containing the element

nitrogen. Protein is used by the body in making blood, muscle,

tendons, hair, and nails, and under certain conditions it is burned

within the body for the production of heat. Protein is perhaps the

most important food constituent. Third, non-nitrogenous substances,

including fats, woody fiber, and nitrogen-free extract, a name given

to the group of sugars, starehes, and related substances. These

substances are used by the body in the production of fat, and are

also burned for the production of heat. Of these valuable food

constituents protein is probably the most important, first, because

it forms the most important tissues of the body and, secondly,

because it is less abundant than the fats, starches, and sugars.

Indeed, plants rich in protein nearly always command the highest

prices.

The composition of any class of plants varies considerably in

different localities and in different seasons. This may be due to

the nature of the soil, or to the fertilizer applied, though

variations in plant composition resulting from soil conditions are

comparatively small. The greater variations are almost wholly the

result of varying climate and water supply. As far as it is now

known the strongest single factor in changing the composition of

plants is the amount of water available to the growing plant.

Variations due to varying water supply

The Utah station has conducted numerous experiments upon the effect

of water upon plant composition. The method in every case has been

to apply different amounts of water throughout the growing season on

contiguous plats of uniform land. [Lengthy table deleated from this

edition.] Even a casual study of . . . [the results show] that the

quantity of water used influenced the composition of the plant

parts. The ash and the fiber do not appear to be greatly influenced,

but the other constituents vary with considerable regularity with

the variations in the amount of irrigation water. The protein shows

the greatest variation. As the irrigation water is increased, the

percentage of protein decreases. In the case of wheat the variation

was over 9 per cent. The percentage of fat and nitrogen-free

extract, on the other hand, becomes larger as the water increases.

That is, crops grown with little water, as in dry-farming, are rich

in the important flesh-and blood-forming substance protein, and

comparatively poor in fat, sugar, stareh, and other of the more

abundant heat and fat-producing substances. This difference is of

tremendous importance in placing dry-farming products on the food

markets of the world. Not only seeds, tubers, and roots show this

variation, but the stems and leaves of plants grown with little

water are found to contain a higher percentage of protein than those

grown in more humid climates.

The direct effect of water upon the composition of plants has been

observed by many students. For instance, Mayer, working in Holland,

found that, in a soil containing throughout the season 10 per cent

of water, oats was produced containing 10.6 per cent of protein; in

soil containing 30 per cent of water, the protein percentage was

only 5.6 per cent, and in soil containing 70 per cent of water, it

was only 5.2 per cent. Carleton, in a study of analyses of the same

varieties of wheat grown in humid and semi-arid districts of the

United States, found that the percentage of protein in wheat from

the semiarid area was 14.4 per cent as against 11.94 per cent in the

wheat from the humid area. The average protein content of the wheat

of the United States is a little more than 12 per cent; Stewart and

Greaves found an average of 16.76 per cent of protein in Utah

dry-farm wheats of the common bread varieties and 17.14 per cent in

the durum varieties. The experiments conducted at Rothamsted,

England, as given by Hall, confirm these results. For example,

during 1893, a very dry year, barley kernels contained 12.99 per

cent of protein, while in 1894, a wet, though free-growing year, the

barley contained only 9.81 per cent of protein. Quotations might be

multiplied confirming the principle that crops grown with little

water contain much protein and little heat-and fat-producing

substances.

Climate and composition

The general climate, especially as regards the length of the growing

season and naturally including the water supply, has a strong effect

upon the composition of plants. Carleton observed that the same

varieties of wheat grown at Nephi, Utah, contained 16.61 per cent

protein; at Amarillo, Texas, 15.25 per cent; and at McPherson,

Kansas, a humid station, 13.04 per cent. This variation is

undoubtedly due in part to the varying annual precipitation but,

also, and in large part, to the varying general climatic conditions

at the three stations.

An extremely interesting and important experiment, showing the

effect of locality upon the composition of wheat kernels, is

reported by LeClerc and Leavitt. Wheat grown in 1905 in Kansas was

planted in 1906 in Kansas, California, and Texas In 1907 samples of

the seeds grown at these three points were planted side by side at

each of the three states All the crops from the three localities

were analyzed separately each year.

The results are striking and convincing. The original seed grown in

Kansas in 1905 contained 16.22 per cent of protein. The 1906 crop

grown from this seed in Kansas contained 19.13 per cent protein; in

California, 10.38 percent; and in Texas, 12.18 percent. In 1907 the

crop harvested in Kansas from the 1906 seed from these widely

separated places and of very different composition contained

uniformly somewhat more than 22 per cent of protein; harvested in

California, somewhat more than 11 per cent; and harvested in Texas,

about 18 per cent. In short, the composition of wheat kernels is

independent of the composition of the seed or the nature of the

soil, but depends primarily upon the prevailing climatic conditions,

including the water supply. The weight of the wheat per bushel, that

is, the average size and weight of the wheat kernel, and also the

hardness or flinty character of the kernels, were strongly affected

by the varying climatic conditions. It is generally true that

dry-farm grain weighs more per bushel than grain grown under humid

conditions; hardness usually accompanies a high protein content and

is therefore characteristic of dry-farm wheat. These notable lessons

teach the futility of bringing in new seed from far distant places

in the hope that better and larger crops may be secured. The

conditions under which growth occurs determine chiefly the nature of

the crop. It is a common experience in the West that farmers who do

not understand this principle send to the Middle West for seed corn,

with the result that great crops of stalks and leaves with no ears

are obtained. The only safe rule for the dry-farmer to follow is to

use seed which has been grown for many years under dry-farm

conditions.

A reason for variation in composition

It is possible to suggest a reason for the high protein content of

dry-farm crops. It is well known that all plants secure most of

their nitrogen early in the growing period. From the nitrogen,

protein is formed, and all young plants are, therefore, very rich in

protein. As the plant becomes older, little more protein is added,

but more and more carbon is taken from the air to form the fats,

starches, sugars, and other non-nitrogenous substances.

Consequently, the proportion or percentage of protein becomes

smaller as the plant becomes older. The impelling purpose of the

plant is to produce seed. Whenever the water supply begins to give

out, or the season shortens in any other way, the plant immediately

begins to ripen. Now, the essential effect of dry-farm conditions is

to shorten the season; the comparatively young plants, yet rich in

protein, begin to produce seed; and at harvest, seed, and leaves,

and stalks are rich in the flesh-and blood-forming element of

plants. In more humid countries plants delay the time of seed

production and thus enable the plants to store up more carbon and

thus reduce the percent of protein. The short growing season,

induced by the shortness of water, is undoubtedly the main reason

for the higher protein content and consequently higher nutritive

value of all dry-farm crops.

Nutritive value of dry-farm hay, straw, and flour

All the parts of dry-farm crops are highly nutritious. This needs to

be more clearly understood by the dry-farmers. Dry-farm hay, for

instance, because of its high protein content, may be fed with crops

not so rich in this element, thereby making a larger profit for the

farmer. Dry-farm straw often has the feeding value of good hay, as

has been demonstrated by analyses and by feeding tests conducted in

times of hay scarcity. Especially is the header straw of high

feeding value, for it represents the upper and more nutritious ends

of the stalks. Dry-farm straw, therefore, should be carefully kept

and fed to animals instead of being scattered over the ground or

even burned as is too often the case. Only few feeding experiments

having in view the relative feeding value of dry-farm crops have as

yet been made, but the few on record agree in showing the superior

value of dry-farm crops, whether fed singly or in combination.

The differences in the chemical composition of plants and plant

products induced by differences in the water-supply and climatic

environment appear in the manufactured products, such as flour,

bran, and shorts. Flour made from Fife wheat grown on the dry-farms

of Utah contained practically 16 per cent of protein, while flour

made from Fife wheat grown in Lorraine and the Middle West is

reported by the Maine Station as containing from 13.03 to 13.75 per

cent of protein. Flour made from Blue Stem wheat grown on the Utah

dry-farms contained 15.52 per cent of protein; from the same variety

grown in Maine and in the Middle West 11.69 and 11.51 per cent of

protein respectively. The moist and dry gluten, the gliadin and the

glutenin, all of which make possible the best and most nourishing

kinds of bread, are present in largest quantity and best proportion

in flours made from wheats grown under typical dry-farm conditions.

The by-products of the milling process, likewise, are rich in

nutritive elements.

Future Needs

It has already been pointed out that there is a growing tendency to

purchase food materials on the basis of composition. New discoveries

in the domains of plant composition and animal nutrition and the

improved methods of rapid and accurate valuation will accelerate

this tendency. Even now, manufacturers of food products print on

cartons and in advertising matter quality reasons for the superior

food values of certain articles. At least one firm produces two

parallel sets of its manufactured foods, one for the man who does

hard physical labor, and the other for the brain worker. Quality, as

related to the needs of the body, whether of beast or man, is

rapidly becoming the first question in judging any food material.

The present era of high prices makes this matter even more

important.

In view of this condition and tendency, the fact that dry-farm

products are unusually rich in the most valuable nutritive materials

is of tremendous importance to the development of dry-farming. The

small average yields of dry-farm crops do not look so small when it

is known that they command higher prices per pound in competition

with the larger crops of more humid climates. More elaborate

investigations should be undertaken to determine the quality of

crops grown in different dry-farm districts. As far as possible each

section, great or small, should confine itself to the growing of a

variety of each crop yielding well and possessing the highest

nutritive value. In that manner each section of the great dry-farm

territory would soon come to stand for some dependable special

quality that would compel a first-class market. Further, the

superior feeding value of dry-farm products should be thoroughly

advertised among the consumers in order to create a demand on the

markets for a quality valuation. A few years of such systematic

honest work would do much to improve the financial basis of

dry-farming.

CHAPER XIV

MAINTAINING THE SOIL FERTILITY

All plants when carefully burned leave a portion of ash, ranging

widely in quantity, averaging about 5 per cent, and often exceeding

10 per cent of the dry weight of the plant. This plant ash

represents inorganic substances taken from the soil by the roots. In

addition, the nitrogen of plants, averaging about 2 per cent and

often amounting to 4 per cent, which, in burning, passes off in

gaseous form, is also usually taken from the soil by the plant

roots. A comparatively large quantity of the plant is, therefore,

drawn directly from the soil. Among the ash ingredients are many

which are taken up by the plant simply because they are present in

the soil; others, on the other hand, as has been shown by numerous

classical investigations, are indispensable to plant growth. If any

one of these indispensable ash ingredients be absent, it is

impossible for a plant to mature on such a soil. In fact, it is

pretty well established that, providing the physical conditions and

the water supply are satisfactory, the fertility of a soil depends

largely upon the amount of available ash ingredients, or plant-food.

A clear distinction must be made between the_ total _and _available

_plant-food. The essential plant-foods often occur in insoluble

combinations, valueless to plants; only the plant-foods that are

soluble in the soil-water or in the juices of plant roots are of

value to plants. It is true that practically all soils contain all

the indispensable plant-foods; it is also true, however, that in

most soils they are present, as available plant-foods, in

comparatively small quantities. When crops are removed from the land

year after year, without any return being made, it naturally follows

that under ordinary conditions the amount of available plant-food is

diminished, with a strong probability of a corresponding diminution

in crop-producing power. In fact, the soils of many of the older

countries have been permanently injured by continuous cropping, with

nothing returned, practiced through centuries. Even in many of the

younger states, continuous cropping to wheat or other crops for a

generation or less has resulted in a large decrease in the crop

yield.

Practice and experiment have shown that such diminishing fertility

may be retarded or wholly avoided, first, by so working or

cultivating the soil as to set free much of the insoluble plant-food

and, secondly, by returning to the soil all or part of the

plant-food taken away. The recent development of the commercial

fertilizer industry is a response to this truth. It may be said

that, so far as the agricultural soils of the world are now known,

only three of the essential plant-foods are likely to be absent,

namely, potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen; of these, by far the

most important is nitrogen. The whole question of maintaining the

supply of plant-foods in the soil concerns itself in the main with

the supply of these three substances.

The persistent fertility of dry-farms

In recent years, numerous farmers and some investigators have stated

that under dry-farm conditions the fertility of soils is not

impaired by cropping without manuring. This view has been taken

because of the well-known fact that in localities where dry-farming

has been practiced on the same soils from twenty-five to forty-five

years, without the addition of manures, the average crop yield has

not only failed to diminish, but in most cases has increased. In

fact, it is the almost unanimous testimony of the oldest dry-farmers

of the United States, operating under a rainfall from twelve to

twenty inches, that the crop yields have increased as the cultural

methods have been perfected. If any adverse effect of the steady

removal of plant-foods has occurred, it has been wholly overshadowed

by other factors. The older dry-farms in Utah, for instance, which

are among the oldest of the country, have never been manured, yet

are yielding better to-day than they did a generation ago. Strangely

enough, this is not true of the irrigated farms, operating under

like soil and climatic conditions. This behavior of crop production

under dry-farm conditions has led to the belief that the question of

soil fertility is not an important one to dry-farmers. Nevertheless,

if our present theories of plant nutrition are correct, it is also

true that, if continuous cropping is practiced on our dry-farm soils

without some form of manuring, the time must come when the

productive power of the soils will be injured and the only recourse

of the farmer will be to return to the soils some of the plant-food

taken from it.

The view that soil fertility is not diminished by dry-farming

appears at first sight to be strengthened by the results obtained by

investigators who have made determinations of the actual plant-food

in soils that have long been dry-farmed. The sparsely settled

condition of the dry-farm territory furnishes as yet an excellent

opportunity to compare virgin and dry-farmed lands and which

frequently may be found side by side in even the older dry-farm

sections. Stewart found that Utah dry-farm soils, cultivated for

fifteen to forty years and never manured, were in many cases richer

in nitrogen than neighboring virgin lands. Bradley found that the

soils of the great dry-farm wheat belt of Eastern Oregon contained,

after having been farmed for a quarter of a century, practically as

much nitrogen as the adjoining virgin lands. These determinations

were made to a depth of eighteen inches. Alway and Trumbull, on the

other hand, found in a soil from Indian Head, Saskatchewan, that in

twenty-five years of cultivation the total amount of nitrogen had

been reduced about one third, though the alternation of fallow and

crop, commonly practiced in dry-farming, did not show a greater loss

of soil nitrogen than other methods of cultivation. It must be kept

in mind that the soil of Indian Head contains from two to three

times as much nitrogen as is ordinarily found in the soils of the

Great Plains and from three to four times as much as is found in the

soils of the Great Basin and the High Plateaus. It may be assumed,

therefore, that the Indian Head soil was peculiarly liable to

nitrogen losses. Headden, in an investigation of the nitrogen

content of Colorado soils, has come to the conclusion that arid

conditions, like those of Colorado, favor the direct accumulation of

nitrogen in soils. All in all, the undiminished crop yield and the

composition of the cultivated fields lead to the belief that

soil-fertility problems under dry-farm conditions are widely

different from the old well-known problems under humid conditions.

Reasons for dry-farming fertility

It is not really difficult to understand why the yields and,

apparently, the fertility of dry-farms have continued to increase

during the period of recorded dry-farm history--nearly half a

century.

First, the intrinsic fertility of arid as compared with humid soils

is very high. (See Chapter V.) The production and removal of many

successive bountiful crops would not have as marked an effect on

arid as on humid soils, for both yield and composition change more

slowly on fertile soils. The natural extraordinarily high fertility

of dry-farm soils explains, therefore, primarily and chiefly, the

increasing yields on dry-farm soils that receive proper cultivation.

The intrinsic fertility of arid soils is not alone sufficient to

explain the increase in plant-food which undoubtedly occurs in the

upper foot or two of cultivated dry-farm lands. In seeking a

suitable explanation of this phenomenon it must be recalled that the

proportion of available plant-food in arid soils is very uniform to

great depths, and that plants grown under proper dry-farm conditions

are deep rooted and gather much nourishment from the lower soil

layers. As a consequence, the drain of a heavy crop does not fall

upon the upper few feet as is usually the case in humid soils. The

dry-farmer has several farms, one upon the other, which permit even

improper methods of farming to go on longer than would be the case

on shallower soils.

The great depth of arid soils further permits the storage of rain

and snow water, as has been explained in previous chapters, to

depths of from ten to fifteen feet. As the growing season proceeds,

this water is gradually drawn towards the surface, and with it much

of the plant-food dissolved by the water in the lower soil layers.

This process repeated year after year results in a concentration in

the upper soil layers of fertility normally distributed in the soil

to the full depth reach by the soil-moisture. At certain seasons,

especially in the fall, this concentration may be detected with

greatest certainty. In general, the same action occurs in virgin

lands, but the methods of dry-farm cultivation and cropping which

permit a deeper penetration of the natural precipitation and a freer

movement of the soil-water result in a larger quantity of plant-food

reaching the upper two or three feet from the lower soil depths.

Such concentration near the surface, when it is not excessive,

favors the production of increased yields of crops.

The characteristic high fertility and great depth of arid soils are

probably the two main factors explaining the apparent increase of

the fertility of dry-farms under a system of agriculture which does

not include the practice of manuring. Yet, there are other

conditions that contribute largely to the result. For instance,

every cultural method accepted in dry-farming, such as deep plowing,

fallowing, and frequent cultivation, enables the weathering forces

to act upon the soil particles. Especially is it made easy for the

air to enter the soil. Under such conditions, the plant-food

unavailable to plants because of its insoluble condition is

liberated and made available. The practice of dry-farming is of

itself more conducive to such accumulation of available plant food

than are the methods of humid agriculture.

Further, the annual yield of any crop under conditions of

dry-farming is smaller than under conditions of high rainfall. Less

fertility is, therefore, removed by each crop and a given amount of

available fertility is sufficient to produce a large number of crops

without showing signs of deficiency. The comparatively small annual

yield of dry-farm crops is emphasized in view of the common practice

of summer fallowing, which means that the land is cropped only every

other year or possibly two years out of three. Under such conditions

the yield in any one year is cut in two to give an annual yield.

The use of the header wherever possible in harvesting dry-farm grain

also aids materially in maintaining soil fertility. By means of the

header only the heads of the grain are clipped off: the stalks are

left standing. In the fall, usually, this stubble is plowed under

and gradually decays. In the earlier dry-farm days farmers feared

that under conditions of low rainfall, the stubble or straw plowed

under would not decay, but would leave the soil in a loose dry

condition unfavorable for the growth of plants. During the last

fifteen years it has been abundantly demonstrated that if the

correct methods of dry farming are followed, so that a fair balance

of water is always found in the soil, even in the fall, the heavy,

thick header stubble may be plowed into the soil with the certainty

that it will decay and thus enrich the soil. The header stubble

contains a very large proportion of the nitrogen that the crop has

taken from the soil and more than half of the potash and phosphoric

acid. Plowing under the header stubble returns all this material to

the soil. Moreover, the bulk of the stubble is carbon taken from the

air. This decays, forming various acid substances which act on the

soil grains to set free the fertility which they contain. At the end

of the process of decay humus is formed, which is not only a

storehouse of plant-food, but effective in maintaining a good

physical condition of the soil. The introduction of the header in

dry-farming was one of the big steps in making the practice certain

and profitable.

Finally, it must be admitted that there are a great many more or

less poorly understood or unknown forces at work in all soils which

aid in the maintenance of soil-fertility. Chief among these are the

low forms of life known as bacteria. Many of these, under favorable

conditions, appear to have the power of liberating food from the

insoluble soil grains. Others have the power when settled on the

roots of leguminous or pod-bearing plants to fix nitrogen from the

air and convert it into a form suitable for the need of plants. In

recent years it has been found that other forms of bacteria, the

best known of which is azotobacter, have the power of gathering

nitrogen from the air and combining it for the plant needs without

the presence of leguminous plants. These nitrogen-gathering bacteria

utilize for their life processes the organic matter in the soil,

such as the decaying header stubble, and at the same time enrich the

soil by the addition of combined nitrogen. Now, it so happens that

these important bacteria require a soil somewhat rich in lime, well

aerated and fairly dry and warm. These conditions are all met on the

vast majority of our dry-farm soils, under the system of culture

outlined in this volume. Hall maintains that to the activity of

these bacteria must be ascribed the large quantities of nitrogen

found in many virgin soils and probably the final explanation of the

steady nitrogen supply for dry farms is to be found in the work of

the azatobacter and related forms of low life. The potash and

phosphoric acid supply can probably be maintained for ages by proper

methods of cultivation, though the phosphoric acid will become

exhausted long before the potash. The nitrogen supply, however, must

come from without. The nitrogen question will undoubtedly soon be

the one before the students of dry-farm fertility. A liberal supply

of organic matter In the soil with cultural methods favoring the

growth of the nitrogen-gathering bacteria appears at present to be

the first solution of the nitrogen question. Meanwhile, the activity

of the nitrogen-gathering bacteria, like azotobacter, is one of our

best explanations of the large presence of nitrogen in cultivated

dry-farm soils.

To summarize, the apparent increase in productivity and plant-food

content of dry-farm soils can best be explained by a consideration

of these factors: (1) the intrinsically high fertility of the arid

soils; (2) the deep feeding ground for the deep root systems of

dry-farm crops; (3) the concentration of the plant food distributed

throughout the soil by the upward movement of the natural

precipitation stored in the soil; (4) the cultural methods of

dry-farming which enable the weathering agencies to liberate freely

and vigorously the plant-food of the soil grains; (5) the small

annual crops; (6) the plowing under of the header straw, and (7) the

activity of bacteria that gather nitrogen directly from the air.

Methods of conserving soil-fertility

In view of the comparatively small annual crops that characterize

dry-farming it is not wholly impossible that the factors above

discussed, if properly applied, could liberate the latent plant-food

of the soil and gather all necessary nitrogen for the plants. Such

an equilibrium, could it once be established, would possibly

continue for long periods of time, but in the end would no doubt

lead to disaster; for, unless the very cornerstone of modern

agricultural science is unsound, there will be ultimately a

diminution of crop producing power if continuous cropping is

practiced without returning to the soil a goodly portion of the

elements of soil fertility taken from it. The real purpose of modern

agricultural researeh is to maintain or increase the productivity of

our lands; if this cannot be done, modern agriculture is essentially

a failure. Dry-farming, as the newest and probably in the future one

of the greatest divisions of modern agriculture, must from the

beginning seek and apply processes that will insure steadiness in

the productive power of its lands. Therefore, from the very

beginning dry-farmers must look towards the conservation of the

fertility of their soils.

The first and most rational method of maintaining the fertility of

the soil indefinitely is to return to the soil everything that is

taken from it. In practice this can be done only by feeding the

products of the farm to live stock and returning to the soil the

manure, both solid and liquid, produced by the animals. This brings

up at once the much discussed question of the relation between the

live stock industry and dry-farming. While it is undoubtedly true

that no system of agriculture will be wholly satisfactory to the

farmer and truly beneficial to the state, unless it is connected

definitely with the production of live stock, yet it must be

admitted that the present prevailing dry-farm conditions do not

always favor comfortable animal life. For instance, over a large

portion of the central area of the dry-farm territory the dry-farms

are at considerable distances from running or well water. In many

cases, water is hauled eight or ten miles for the supply of the men

and horses engaged in farming. Moreover, in these drier districts,

only certain crops, carefully cultivated, will yield profitably, and

the pasture and the kitchen garden are practical impossibilities

from an economic point of view. Such conditions, though profitable

dry-farming is feasible, preclude the existence of the home and the

barn on or even near the farm. When feed must be hauled many miles,

the profits of the live stock industry are materially reduced and

the dry-farmer usually prefers to grow a crop of wheat, the straw of

which may be plowed under the soil to the great advantage of the

following crop. In dry-farm districts where the rainfall is higher

or better distributed, or where the ground water is near the

surface, there should be no reason why dry-farming and live stock

should not go hand in hand. Wherever water is within reach, the

homestead is also possible. The recent development of the gasoline

motor for pumping purposes makes possible a small home garden

wherever a little water is available. The lack of water for culinary

purposes is really the problem that has stood between the joint

development of dry-farming and the live stock industry. The whole

matter, however, looks much more favorable to-day, for the efforts

of the Federal and state governments have succeeded in discovering

numerous subterranean sources of water in dry-farm districts. In

addition, the development of small irrigation systems in the

neighborhood of dry-farm districts is helping the cause of the live

stock industry. At the present time, dry-farming and the live stock

industry are rather far apart, though undoubtedly as the desert is

conquered they will become more closely associated. The question

concerning the best maintenance of soil-fertility remains the same;

and the ideal way of maintaining fertility is to return to the soil

as much as is possible of the plant-food taken from it by the crops,

which can best be accomplished by the development of the business of

keeping live stock in connection with dry-farming.

If live stock cannot be kept on a dry-farm, the most direct method

of maintaining soil-fertility is by the application of commercial

fertilizers. This practice is followed extensively in the Eastern

states and in Europe. The large areas of dry-farms and the high

prices of commercial fertilizers will make this method of manuring

impracticable on dry-farms, and it may be dismissed from thought

until such a day as conditions, especially with respect to price of

nitrates and potash, are materially changed.

Nitrogen, which is the most important plant-food that may be absent

from dry-farm soils, may be secured by the proper use of leguminous

crops. All the pod-bearing plants commonly cultivated, such as peas,

beans, vetch, clover, and lucern, are able to secure large

quantities of nitrogen from the air through the activity of bacteria

that live and grow on the roots of such plants. The leguminous crop

should be sown in the usual way, and when it is well past the

flowering stage should be plowed into the ground. Naturally, annual

legumes, such as peas and beans, should be used for this purpose.

The crop thus plowed under contains much nitrogen, which is

gradually changed into a form suitable for plant assimilation. In

addition, the acid substances produced in the decay of the plants

tend to liberate the insoluble plant-foods and the organic matter is

finally changed into humus. In order to maintain a proper supply of

nitrogen in the soil the dry-farmer will probably soon find himself

obliged to grow, every five years or oftener, a crop of legumes to

be plowed under.

Non-leguminous crops may also be plowed under for the purpose of

adding organic matter and humus to the soil, though this has little

advantage over the present method of heading the grain and plowing

under the high stubble. The header system should be generally

adopted on wheat dry-farms. On farms where corn is the chief crop,

perhaps more importance needs to be given to the supply of organic

matter and humus than on wheat farms. The occasional plowing under

of leguminous crops would he the most satisfactory method. The

persistent application of the proper cultural methods of dry-farming

will set free the most important plant-foods, and on well-cultivated

farms nitrogen is the only element likely to be absent in serious

amounts.

The rotation of crops on dry-farms is usually advocated in districts

like the Great Plains area, where the annual rainfall is over

fifteen inches and the major part of the precipitation comes in

spring and summer. The various rotations ordinarily include one or

more crops of small grains, a hoed crop like corn or potatoes, a

leguminous crop, and sometimes a fallow year. The leguminous crop is

grown to secure a fresh supply of nitrogen; the hoed crop, to enable

the air and sunshine to act thoroughly on the soil grains and to

liberate plant-food, such as potash and phosphoric acid; and the

grain crops to take up plant-food not reached by the root systems of

the other plants. The subject of proper rotation of crops has always

been a difficult one, and very little information exists on it as

practiced on dry-farms. Chilcott has done considerable work on

rotations in the Great Plains district, hut he frankly admits that

many years of trial will he necessary for the elucidation of

trustworthy principles. Some of the best rotations found by Chilcott

up to the present are:--

Corn--Wheat--Oats

Barley--Oats--Corn

Fallow--Wheat--Oats

Rosen states that rotation is very commonly practiced in the dry

sections of southern Russia, usually including an occasional Summer

fallow. As a type of an eight-year rotation practiced at the Poltava

Station, the following is given: (1) Summer tilled and manured; (2)

winter wheat; (3) hoed crop; (4) spring wheat; (5) summer fallow;

(6) winter rye; (7) buckwheat or an annual legume; (8) oats. This

rotation, it may be observed, includes the grain crop, hoed crop,

legume, and fallow every four years.

As has been stated elsewhere, any rotation in dry-farming which does

not include the summer fallow at least every third or fourth year is

likely to be dangerous In years of deficient rainfall.

This review of the question of dry-farm fertility is intended merely

as a forecast of coming developments. At the present time

soil-fertility is not giving the dry-farmers great concern, but as

in the countries of abundant rainfall the time will come when it

will be equal to that of water conservation, unless indeed the

dry-farmers heed the lessons of the past and adopt from the start

proper practices for the maintenance of the plant-food stored in the

soil. The principle explained in Chapter IX, that the amount of

water required for the production of one pound of water diminishes

as the fertility increases, shows the intimate relationship that

exists between the soil-fertility and the soil-water and the

importance of maintaining dry-farm soils at a high state of

fertility.

CHAPTER XV

IMPLEMENTS FOR DRY-FARMING

Cheap land and relatively small acre yields characterize

dry-farming. Consequently Iarger areas must be farmed for a given

return than in humid farming, and the successful pursuit of

dry-farming compels the adoption of methods that enable a man to do

the largest amount of effective work with the smallest expenditure

of energy. The careful observations made by Grace, in Utah, lead to

the belief that, under the conditions prevailing in the

intermountain country, one man with four horses and a sufficient

supply of machinery can farm 160 acres, half of which is

summer-fallowed every year; and one man may, in favorable seasons

under a carefully planned system, farm as much as 200 acres. If one

man attempts to handle a larger farm, the work is likely to be done

in so slipshod a manner that the crop yield decreases and the total

returns are no larger than if 200 acres had been well tilled.

One man with four horses would be unable to handle even 160 acres

were it not for the possession of modern machinery; and dry-farming,

more than any other system of agriculture, is dependent for its

success upon the use of proper implements of tillage. In fact, it is

very doubtful if the reclamation of the great arid and semiarid

regions of the world would have been possible a few decades ago,

before the invention and introduction of labor-saving farm

machinery. It is undoubtedly further a fact that the future of

dry-farming is closely bound up with the improvements that may be

made in farm machinery. Few of the agricultural implements on the

market to-day have been made primarily for dry-farm conditions. The

best that the dry-farmer can do is to adapt the implements on the

market to his special needs. Possibly the best field of

investigation for the experiment stations and inventive minds in the

arid region is farm mechanics as applied to the special needs of

dry-farming.

Clearing and breaking

A large portion of the dry-farm territory of the United States is

covered with sagebrush and related plants. It is always a difficult

and usually an expensive problem to clear sagebrush land, for the

shrubs are frequently from two to six feet high, correspondingly

deep-rooted, with very tough wood. When the soil is dry, it is

extremely difficult to pull out sagebrush, and of necessity much of

the clearing must be done during the dry season. Numerous devices

have been suggested and tried for the purpose of clearing sagebrush

land. One of the oldest and also one of the most effective devices

is two parallel railroad rails connected with heavy iron chains and

used as a drag over the sagebrush land. The sage is caught by the

two rails and torn out of the ground. The clearing is fairly

complete, though it is generally necessary to go over the ground two

or three times before the work is completed. Even after such

treatment a large number of sagebrush clumps, found standing over

the field, must be grubbed up with the hoe. Another and effective

device is the so-called "mankiller." This implement pulls up the

sage very successfully and drops it at certain definite intervals.

It is, however, a very dangerous implement and frequently results in

injury to the men who work it. Of recent years another device has

been tried with a great deal of success. It is made like a snow plow

of heavy railroad irons to which a number of large steel knives have

been bolted. Neither of these implements is wholly satisfactory, and

an acceptable machine for grubbing sagebrush is yet to be devised.

In view of the large expense attached to the clearing of sagebrush

land such a machine would be of great help in the advancement of

dry-farming.