Show CARM IN SEMIARID SEMI ARID STATES tacit lac of means and machinery to do ork properly often results result in dismal failure bev T COOKE director ot of dry farm experiments cheyenne wyo dry farming Is a name given to designate the difference between f farming a rm in the arid and semiarid semi arid states by natural precipitation and the artificial application of water known as irrigation it la is a scientific system providing methods of conserving moisture mols turo to be ba used when hen plants require the tha same the system la Is not complex Is in fact simple to those who are willing to learn but the he rules rulea laid down tor for the gul dince ot of those undertaking to raise crops ciopa when the precipitation la Is not too plenty must bo be followed the tha work done properly and intelligence used because no hard and fast rule can be made to apply to all conditions dry farming has been carried on in california for over forty years and other western states for a great many years it Is a long way from being a new proposition in the states west of the tha one of the most important things in connection with it Is to understand why we do certain kinds or of work why we e are taking big chances of getting a crop when we scratch our foil three or four inches deep call it plowing and then in a halt hearted way ay run our harrows over our plowed ground possibly half as much as we ought to have done A great many people have never considered how will get packed through wild animals also domestic stock roaming over it for ages tho the natural result cannot rail fall to mako make such land all but impervious to moisture we wa know that if we open up soil fairly deep such gol foil will absorb rain and snow when it melts we know that by cultivation after heavy rains when our land Is sufficiently dry for us to take a team and harrow on it we will make a surface ini mulch ilch which should not be too fine which will help hell us conserve or hold that moisture in the soil when a man places 1000 in a bank and draws out lie he knows that he has left so it Is with the dry farmer it lie he prepares hla his land as he should ho he can store up moisture and if he crops it t and his crop takes only part of tho the moisture conserved he still has some for or the next crop provided ho he takes the he proper methods of holding such much moisture in the soli soil too many new settlers do not have enough means to 0 work with lack of te teams 1 ains and the ec essary machinery handicap them that it la Is all but s for them to do their work as aa it fh uld id be done result la is too often me er cr crops or ps it if not fal failure lure farming is s n ikee and requires for success the b nt 1 has in him hit or miss must aiom roni now flow on give way to improved methods the dry farmer must study his him soils and condl lions lie he must learn to plow deeply thereby hereby malting making his soil capable of receiving and holding moisture and must cultivate at tho the right time learn that weeds rob him by taking mols ture ure and fertility out of his land which elong belong to his crop learn that the best est seed he be can possibly get or raise Is s the cheapest and safest to sow that small quantities of seed to sow BOW rather than excessive amounts Is a aso necessary to hla his success that a press wheel drill should be used to sow BOW with saving seed and putting it where it belongs int into 0 the soil at the proper depth one other matter I 1 would suggest to those who are starting to farm new land in the arid and semiarid semi arid states Is as soon as they can afford it that most of these soils are deficient in vegetable matter or what la is called humus and that I 1 believe it will pay big to put some in our solla soils now I 1 thoroughly recommend rotation ol of crops find and we ought to in conr air rota rotation tinn work sow a crop of either fall rye or some leguminous crop and plow them under recollecting that after plowing we must thoroughly pack the soil ic aid in III the decomposition of what we have plowed under |