Show A FINE COUNTRY prof J A widtsoe talks of the wondrous possibilities of sunny dixie country down in our dixie country in tho the neighborhood of st george the annual precipitation is bets between icen 5 and 10 inches usually nearer 5 than 10 A hot blistering sun holds the stage for a full half of the ear the ft enters inters arc are mild and hecei receive o practically all of the rainfall considering ing tho the low loss rainfall tho the high average temperature and the hot winds our utah dixie is about the lat place where one would expect to find successful dry fanning farming yet on tho santa clara clam bench three venturesome tur esome farmers this year raised good crops of splendid is wheat heat the soil of the santa clara bench is a coalso red sand deep and uniform in structure but with nith no outward evidence of high intrinsic fertility tho the native plants growing upon it are the mesquite quite tree cacti and other plants characteristic of semitropical climates no irrigation stater is available for the acres of the bench some five years ago attempts were made to produce corn without irrigation on this and with nith fair results last year in the early spring john S ernest relar and frederick reber plowed up a few acres of land of tho the santa clara bench and planted to wheat the Loft lofthouse boue red chuff and turkey red the three varieties varieties sprouted and took root soon after planting and appeared to grow throughout hout the mild dixie winter on may the grain then fully riD ened was then har yield of approximately 15 bushels to the acre was obtained the most remarkable thing about this experience is that not a drop of ram rain fell upon tho the ground from the end of last december until harvest time the water used to mature the crop must have been drawn entirely from the store of soil moisture and from that which fell between the time of seeding and the end of december it is clear that the mild winters which permits slow growth is 13 in a largo large measure responsible for this success the experience of these dixie dry farmers represents up to the present utah dry farming under the sinal smallest lest annual precipitation if dixie dune can do this what cannot the in ore rainy miny districts accomplish this experience on the santa sann clara clam bench points out to the farmers of dixie who depend upon irrigation gation water that the grains of dixie should hereafter bo be planted in therall the fall so that use may bo be made of the entire winter season and the winter precipitation for the development of the root system another man who has laughed at the drouth is mr william A bond of modena modena also lica lies in a district where the precipitation is very low considerably under 10 indies inches the scrubby sagebrush indicates the albence u of a heavy precipitation at all adv timo time of the year five years ago igo mr bond plowed up a small farm jut a few rods from the railroad station and sowed bowed it to rye since that time ho be has disked tho the ground each year and scattered rye upon it As a lie has supplied himself with a great deal of good hav lial fur for his lie stock and has bcd his farm as a pasture for his block stock lie ile cl inns eliat ho he lias has made each year at it least 85 5 00 per acre and in view of the high price and hie the Bear scarcity city of hay ill in the neighborhood of modena has probably made considerably more when sir mr bond was asked what he thought about the possibility of dry farming in the neighborhood of modena he be answered there is no question about it I 1 have demonstrated that it can be made successful no dry farmer is really entitled to success who plows only once in 5 years and sows bows the seed broadcast over the land mother nature is frequently too good to her children not only lias has mr bond raised rye but ho he has tried wheat potatoes and N anous arious garden vegetables and all with nith considerable success the yields of necessity hae haxe been smaller than those obtained on arri irrigated lands but he declares that the superior quality lias has compensated for the smaller yield no lover of the state of utah would advocate at the present that dixie or tho the country around modena should be made a dry farm center for there are so many localities in the state with three or four times the precipitation of dixie which should bo be reclaimed before these smaller rainless districts are arc brought brou glit under cultivation irrigation must be 1 the main factor in reclaiming dixie and other portions of the state where the precipitation is less than 10 inches a year yet such results as those thoe obtained by and tho the of santa clara bench and by bond of modena serve to show the possibilities of the soil climate and precipitation of our nond wonderful erful state dr john A widtsoe in deseret farmer |