70 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



been experienced from Montana and North Dakota to Texas. At 

 Williston and at P^lgeley, N. Dak., the conditions were so severe tliat 

 all crops were i)ractical failures, althou<;h the most approved methods 

 of moisture conservation were used on some of the i)hits; but even 

 here many valuable lessons were learned, and if the drought had 

 been less prolonged very remarkable ditferences would have been 

 observed in the yields due to different methods of cultivation and 

 crop rotation. This brings out very strongly these two important 

 facts: (1) No system has yet been devised that will insure crops 

 during periods of as severe drought as sometimes occur in this region, 

 and (2) properly planned and executed rotations and tillage methods 

 will greatly reduce the loss by droughts of only moderate severity, 

 such as frequently occur here. These same methods will also increase 

 the yields and net profits during favorable j'ears. In Texas, Kansas, 

 Colorado, Nebraska, and Montana the drought was less severe. At 

 the stations in those States the results obtained from the various 

 methods employed were unusually uniform and consistent, not only 

 when station is compared wnth station during the past season, but 

 also when comparisons are made between different grains. These 

 results are also in a general way remarkably consistent Avith those of 

 previous years. 



The experimental farms established and managed by the Office of 

 Dry-Land Agriculture are proving of great value for carrying on 

 cooperative work with other offices of the Bureau of Plant Industr}', 

 with other Bureaus of the Department, and with the state experiment 

 stations. This cooperative work should be still further extended, 

 developed, and systematized, particularly along the lines of plant 

 nutrition and soil bacteriology. The establishment of a permanent 

 and profitable agriculture in the immense area known as the Great 

 Plains is an undertaking of such magnitude and economic importance 

 as to demand the very best cooperative efforts of both state and 

 Federal agencies, and this cooperation is being effected in a most 

 efficient manner by this Dei:)artment. 



The main points established by the investigations up to the present 

 time are as follows: (1) Crop rotations calculated to conserve the 

 organic matter as well as the moisture in the soil are the main 

 dependence to guard against loss from deficient rainfall. (2) The 

 effects of rotations are cumulative, and these investigations must be 

 conducted sj^stematically through a long term of years and at man}^ 

 stations in order to establish a safe basis for a permanent agriculture. 



PHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS. 



Physical measurements are being made at all of the dry-land 

 experimental farms to determine the methods of cultivation which 

 are most effective in conserving soil moisture and the amount of 



