Show PRINCIPLE OF DRY FARMING That of Conserving Every Particle of Moisture That Falls During the Entire Season The principle of dry forming Is that of conserving every particle of moisture moist-ure that falls during the year not In largo reservoirs or behind expensive expen-sive concrete dams but In the soil itself It-self A year before a crop Is to be planted the land Is plowed deeply with special machinery Strong disk plows not only pulverize the subsoil but pack It Into a firm bed through which the water may not sink and through which the excessive alkali that usually usu-ally lies four or five feet below the surface sur-face may not rise by evaporation to burn and blight vegetation On top of this subsoil the surface soil Is pulverized by specially constructed structed machinery to such a degree of fineness that It appears to have been powdered between the fingers This overcoat of dust makes a mulch through which rain and molted snow may percolate to rest on the packed subsoil beneath but through which little moisture can rise This mulch defeats the natural process ul capillary capil-lary evaporation and prevents the great waste of water occasioned In ordinary or-dinary agriculture After tho soil Is prepared then special spe-cial care must be given to the varieties vari-eties of grains to be planted The early pioneers who attempted agricultural agri-cultural operations In the semiarid portions of time great plains failed completely com-pletely In places which are now considered con-sidered to be excellent agricultural lands One of tho reasons was that they sowed wheat which had been grown In the humid regions of the Mississippi Mis-sissippi valley and which was of a variety requiring a great deal of moisture moist-ure Within the last few years the research of agricultural experts Into all parts of the world resulted In experiments ex-periments being made with grains pro dlfced In comparatively dry regions The grains brought from Siberia have been found to be especially adapted to dry farming operations |