| Show CROPS IN DRY AREAS much depends upon amount of rainfall and the season if attempt Is made to crow grain every year plan will undoubted ly fall where fifteen inches of water Is maximum dy PROP THOMAS SHAW the answer to the question as att how frequently crops may oe grown in dry areas depends upon two things the first la the amount of alon that falls and the second la tha season at which it falls both have an important bearing on the answer to this question where the precipitation la pot more than say 15 inches in a year as for instance in montana the frequency with which crops may will depend upon the character of the farming it the attempt Is made to grow crops every year it will undoubtedly fall because 15 inches of rainfall in a year will not grow good crops of grain every year in an unbroken succession in cropping with grain it will be found necessary at least occasionally to devote one season to the conserving of moisture to make it possible to grow good crops in the year or years that fol bowl this assumption implies that the rainfall Is 15 inches and probably less than thai good crops of grain cannot be looked tor every year with that amount of rainfall and for tha reason that good crops of grain cannot be grown every year on the sam land unless the rain should tall at just the right time to meet the needs ot the crops this does follow in some instances but to some instances it does not hence the growing of grain crops every year becomes in a sense a sort of gamble it there Is enough of rain it will be a success it there Is not enough it will be a failure how shall this contingency be met the answer to that question Is the central thought in this article it Is met in two ways the first Is to summer tallow the land one year and to grow on it a crop of grain the next year this method has some advantages and some disadvantages among the former are the certainty of a good crop on the land even though the year should be dry and the proper cleaning of the land because of the frequency of the summer fallow among the latter are getting but one crop in two years the depiction of the soli fertility and the absence of a rotation that will keep the land in a mechanical balance dut this method may answer fairly well for many years it will not however answer tor all time for the almo will eventually come when the soil will be depleted of its fertility there Is however a better method than the above it Is tc adopt the following rotations summer fallow followed by a crop of grain the grain Is followed by fodder corn or by some crop that involves cultivation while it Is being grown this Is followed by a grain crop and the grain crop in turn by summer fallow this means that three crops may be grown in tour years one of which will bai fodder corn the great advantage from growing fodder corn four years over summer twice in four years Is that the fodder corn furnishes food tor live stock it may be asked why not make the fodder corn take the place of the summer fallow and cut out the summer fallow the answer Is first that an occasional summer fallow Is necessary where the conservation of moisture Is to be sufficiently maintained where the rainfall Is less than 15 inches in a year it the rainfall Is nore than if inches t would p be possible to eliminate the summer tallow altogether in humid areas it Is not necessary to have the summer fallow to retain moisture if it Is maln caned at all it Is as a means to aid in the effectual destruction of weeds but the four year rotation Is not in itself sufficient to meet every exigency it ts i barked improvement over the two year rotation but it docs not provide for the maintenance of ler in the land nor docs it provider for supplying the land with humus which it BO much needs in a dry country how can this be accomplished shed it can only be accomplished by laying the land down to grass occasionally casio nally or its equivalent that equivalent in dry areas can be best accomplished by laying the land down to alfalfa for a limited term of years abla will mean that the rotation allf be as follows summer fallow grain cultivated crop iraln alfalfa for few years and grain again followed by the rotation mentioned above this probably will be the rotation most commonly followed in dry arease in the years that are at hand |
