TILE AUl!l('ri/ni{AL FUTURE Ol' I' 



i; EG J ON, 



27 



if tlio suinmor tilhige is conductecl through a season of eonsicloiiiblc 

 rainfall followed by a dry season, it may bo altog(>tIier possible to 

 produce a profitable crop. When a dry season is followed by a <lry 

 season, the ])rospects for success seem small indeed. 



In all the region under discussion, even in the eastern part, seasons 

 of much less than 16 inches of rainfall are likely to occur. Where 

 the average is onh" 15 or 16 inches, fully half the seasons will have 

 less tluin this amount, ami presumably, even A\itli tlie best known 

 methods for the conservation of moisture, many liglit crops and a 

 considerable number of failures must be expected. 



Statements have frequently been published by uninformed or un- 

 scrupulous ])ersons which leave the impression, if tliey do not actu- 



FlG. 2.-A ficUl of wheal ou baiiuuer-lillea laud, riiillips County, Colo., 1909. 



ally say, that 40 to 60 bushels of wheat ])er acre can be produced 

 every other year ])y summer tillage wherever the average precipita- 

 tion is 10 inches. Sucli statements must be considered as purely 

 visionary and without any foundation in fact.^ So far as the writer 

 is aware, the best yields of wlieat obtained on summer-tilled land 

 anywhere in the Great Plains region for a ])eriod of years have been 

 secured by one farmer in Logan County, Colo., and one in Philli])s 

 County , Colo. (See fig. 2 . ) The first reports an average of 2S bushels 

 to the acre for five years and the second 35^ bushels to tlie acre for 



> In the State of Washington, where the conditions are especially favorable for wheat growing, and where 

 summer tillage has reached a high development, the yield of wheat in.those regions whore there is an annual 

 precipitation of 10 to 12 inches seldom exceeds 20 bushels to the acre. The yields usually obtained with 

 that amount of rainfall will run from 7 to 15 bushels, depending on conditions. 



I.* 15 



