Show DRY op ORT UNITIES THOUSANDS OP OF ACRES OF UT UTAH AH LANDS BEING cultivated WITHOUT irrigation it ts 3 an n indisputable pact fact that dry fuming F paye pays failures being unknown as result of scientific tilling of sail the agricultural furuie of utah must depend upon arid farming it matters not how many millions ot of money wo ve may spend on building arri gallon projects and in conserving the water ater supply of the state chwe are million of acres ot of our land that can never be reached by the irrigation canal there are bast ast empires of soil that will never blossom with anything but sage saget greasewood grease Nood and cacti ex capt they be redeemed by dry farm ing methods of our acres of arable land less than acres can ever be oe irrigated the remaining 19 acres must produce if at all with only such moisture as falls directly upon them from the sky tho the mississippi valley farmer would probably wonder vonder at such a statement his ilia acres get got mere of such precipitation than thad they need not so in utah here our des ert ands I are likely to receive ten and be seldom as at ciuch much as twenty inches of precipitation in a ear in order to coax from these parched soils a dent lent quantity of farm products to 10 pay for the trouble and yield a profit scientific methods roust must be followed it Is not enough to turn the crust and plant the beed tho the soil must first bo be analyzed the seed must be tested and it must be planted and cultivated with due regard to the character of tho the soil the average precipitation in the locality being cultivated and the needs of the variety of grain being grown this prospect is by no means ds cou raging president john A widstoe of tho the agrical AgrI agricultural cul arl college of utah says in the preface to h s able treatise treatis e on dry farming in the rural science series the possibilities of dry farming are stupendous in the strength of youth we may have felt envious of the great ones of old of columbus loo ing upon the shadow of the greatest continent of balboa shouting greet inge ingo to the resting pacific of father escalante pondering ng upon the mys tery of the world alone near the shores of americas dead sea wo need harbor no envy ings for in the conquest of 0 the non irrigated and desert are offered as fine opportunities port unities as the world has known to tho the makers and shapers of empires we stand before an und sc land through the restless ascending currents of heated desert air the vision comes and goes with striving eyes the desert Is seen covered with blos with inith churchia ra and homes and schools and in tho dis tunce with the vision Is heard the laughter of happ happy children the des ert art will bo be conquered ered nearly six tenths of the earths surface receive an annual rainfall of less than twenty inches and can be reclaimed for agricultural purposes only by irrigation and dry farming A perfected world system of irrigation will aill convert about o orle tenth of this vast area into an incomparably fruitful garden leaving about one halt half of the earths land surface to be re claimed if at all by the methods of dry farming the noble system of modern agriculture has been con almost wholly in countries Loun tries of abundant rainfall and its applications are those demanded for the agricultural development of humid regions until rece recently irrigation was given scant attention and dry farming farmin g with its world orld problem of conquering one no half of the earth was not considered the necessity of her people caused utah to become the pioneer of the west in the adoption of irrigation i 1 that was in 1847 As early as 1870 were ore grown successfully without irrigation in bear luver river valley cache valley and davia davis county in salt lake valley during the SOs SOB the thoughts of 0 utah farmers turned to the possibilities bill of the dry lands for or tho the groath of the population waa was more rapid than the cono construction ruction of calalb many of the he conservative farmers began to realize too that wheat production on irrigated lands considering the fostof cost of nater ater did not return a fair interest on the capital invested As a result iome attempts at dry farming were made in the central part of the state but with rather discouraging results today many thousands thoua ands of acres are being cultivated without the addition 0 of f water by artificial means in every valley in tte state from cache valley Y on an the north to the kanab desert and iho the arizona strip on the south and from the uintah country on the east lo 10 the nevada line failures are practically unknown the proportion of yield has depended mainly on tho in aellig tellig ace aeed cd by the farmer pre P baling bis wll and arel tha eced seed and the care used by bf sim in ing ng and arg gathering a the yield tamon and weather conditions condl tlona have become of minor if not practically negligible quantities the bronts bavo VIO varied farted somewhat according to the me of grains grown many farmers ve nut heeded the gratis gratia advice given out by the experiment station experts they have either plowed the soil too deeply or not deep Y enough have haie grown varieties 3 ot of rain not suited stilted to their soil condl ions and climate and have refused to abandon old and unprofitable methods As a consequence they have barely more than paid expenses while their neighbors have made handsome profits arid cannot succeed oa 0 a auy ather than a scientific 0 plan it t does not have the great advantage that humid farming enjoys it prents obstacles cleu whit which h have been only overcome in all the cent arles of the past it Is either an intrepid or foolish farmer indeed who will undertake to wring profits from an arid soil without duo due regard to approved and test tried methods the state of utah is a doing a won darful along the line of 0 encouraging the extension of dry farming methods at each of the dry farm ex pori ment citations tests are being made in the in tho the growth 0 of wheat oats corn barley batley ryo rye alfalfa pota toes fruit and vegetables ind the results rc of these experiments are pub fished and distributed without charge to all who are interested we wish that every reader of this article could hive have for ready reference and for a study study of daj farming methods bulletin Bol letin no prepared by professor lottie L 0 als A I 1 merrill N far and by the utah agri cultural college experiment atlon it contains a report of seven severr years investigation vesti gation of dry farming methods the farmer who studies this and tho the other bulletins issued from the experiment peri ment stations and profits by the experiences perien ces of the experimenters will be able to make his arid arld acres yield an abundance scarcely believable thus assisting in the redemption of our desert empires and in enriching the commonwealth and dry farming pays that fact Is indisputably settled president widstoe sas 1000 bushels of dry farm wheat contain as much nutritive matter as 1025 bushels of 0 wheat grown and kept under humid condl dons utah dry farming wheat will gain 2 per cent in weight eight on an being shipped into eastern markets that significant s fact Is worth remembering it Is conceded by all that list year was a severe tacit te it to dry farming the oric orles 9 bee ause of tho the low 1 bow precipitation yet the utah yield was good and the profits fair this year under somewhat more favorable favor aole nale conditions a big crop was as harvested it 1 Is estimated that ten to fifteen bushels to the acre will kiy p ty the ex i peno of farming by dry farming methods where everything Is hired twenty bushels yield a fair profit and forty bushels amount to a bonanza A great boon to the comm commonwealth onwen ith i Is 1 seen oon in the enlarged homestead Homei tead or smoot act hundreds of citizens or of the state have taken up half sections and some come hundreds of settlers have bave taken UL up residence in utah but millions of acres still bristle with eigo and greasewood grease flood awaiting colonization homes for hundreds of thou sands of denizens of the crowded crowde dealt bait can be made in these now desert wastes it Is up to the state of utah and her people to lend encouragement to immigration and to dispel the pre ailing lotion that newcomers are not welcome among ua us and that hero under skies that are ever blue and ol 01 moat most perpetual sunshine sheltered irom rom t he the of the wintry blasts by mountain ranges which afford an abundance of fash and game for vaca tion limes and joy supreme for lover lovers of scenic grandeur can be found opportunities port unities galore for comfort and I 1 wealth here they may build up corn that will revel in the good things 0 of life here labor may rece ceide ve its full reward here may wl will 1 in inc hearts and sturdy hands come com dinto into their own |