Show S i yl I DRY FARMING CROPS tteihod to Become Important Adjunct to Agriculturo Possibilities Widening With Each Sue cesalve Year Extensive Experiments Experi-ments Constantly In Progress Prog-ress Shed New Light That dry farming Is destined to bo como nn important adjunct to American Ameri-can agriculture la a conclusion no longer open to serious doubt says Or Rnge Judd Farmer Its possibilities are widening with each succeeding year and tho extensive experiments constantly con-stantly In progress are shedding now light upon the whole broad question of agriculture To tho average farmer tho proposition propo-sition that moisture can ho conserved In the soil against a day of need for weeks and months Indeed carried over from ono season into another coma tho most absurd folly yet that It can be done has been amply demon ntrnted and the plan Is In actual operation op-eration upon hundreds of farms throughout the west Dry farming Is not altogether new In the United Stat ° s Tho Indians of I tho southwest have raised meager crops of beans and mnlzo for centuries In sections whore the rainfall Is almost al-most nothing There are many things d to Indicate that the prehistoric races of tho southwest woro farmers and unless great climatic changes have tn I ken place they must have raised supplies t a sup-plies for large populations In a land where tho rainfall was very little Dry farming has been A feature of agriculture agri-culture In California since tho first oettlnrnonts Oats barley corn and many varieties of fruits nnd vegetables vege-tables nro raised with rainfalls vary ing from 3 to 20 Inqhos yearly It is a land of hot blazing sunshine yet iit nvapcjrntlon Is nrrtkted and tho soil kept moist and hospitable to the growIng tiI grow-Ing plant Perhaps no country In tho world t rave that of tho actual dosort sand Teems less calculated for agriculture theta the windswept plains of Now v Mexico and Arizona How can crops r bo raised In that land of perennial drought whore the rainfall In many places registers loss than eight Inches n year Dry farmers say that it can be conc the secret or system being merely cultivation In sections whore the rainfall Is least it Is proposed to store rrd conserve the moisture during dur-ing one year for use tho next thus only nttoinntlnr a nron every other year In thoso favored localities whore the rainfall averages 15 Inches or over yearly i crop each year may be safely attempted The plan Is to grow some quick summer growing crop such as I Itaflr corn Egyptian corn milo maize nr beans Tho planting should bo > limed EO that the crop will bo In full growth when the greatest rainfall Is expected to occur As tho rainfall Increases In-creases wheat barloy and oats may C W safely attamptcd But whore tho rainfall Is loss than 15 Inches nothing remains for tho venturesome husbandman but dry farming of tho most Intense sort Ho 1 must look 18 months ahead for his crop Industriously and constantly preparing pre-paring the while his field for the expected ex-pected planting Tho plowing should take place during tho spring or early summer allowing the ground to llo fallow throughout tho season As fall approaches cultivation must begin Usually a disk is used to break up tho crust and light sod which may have i formed Should rains fall during tho fall and winter cultivation must follow fol-low each And In any event cultivation cultiva-tion nt Intervals must take place Tho soil must ho kept loose and not allowed b al-lowed to pack as that condition Is fatal fa-tal to the storing of moisture Cultlva ij tloiimUBt continuo up to tho time of planting In April or May t1 If tho cultivation has been rigid nnd unceasing there should tie ft fcuffclent amount of moisture In tho soil to grow I and mature one of thu numerous crop r I adapted to arid conditions If summer rains come as Is expected In nearly all localities so much tho better and so much larger the crop A crop biennially will doubtless seem exasperatingly slow to tho raincoun try farmer Hut It should bo remembered remem-bered that the land Is cheap and adapted adapt-ed to rapid wholesale cultivation A curious fact too Is gradually becoming becom-ing known This constant cultivation Impregnates the soil with that wonderful I won-derful agent nitrogen thus forcing the growth of crops even though a great supply of moisture Is lacking This indeed seems to bo tho compensation of tho dry farmor Denied by nature tho abundant rains of heaven perforce he must cultivate cultivate cultivate and this constant stirring of the soil helps to Increase the nitrogen so much desired by tho farmer of every clime Wore tho rainfall creator ho would cultivate much loss and would thereby there-by bo doprlved of that unseen but lifegiving Influence |