EXPERIMENTAL WORK IN DRY-FARMING 



In response to a need for data on dry-farming in Arizona, 

 Experiment Station farms were established in 1908 at IMcNeal, in 

 Sulphur Spring Valley ; in 1909 at Snowflake, in the Little Colorado 

 Basin; and in 1911 near Prescott, in Yavapai County. The land 

 on the McNeal and Snowflake farms was leased, but title was se- 

 cured to the Prescott Dry-farm. In 1913 the Sulphur Spring Valley 

 Dry-farm, a mile south of Cochise, was purchased and, since condi- 

 tions were similar, the Experiment Station Farm at McNeal was 

 discontinued. The lease on the Snowflake Dry-farm was given up 

 July, 1916, and to date no other Experiment Station farm has been 

 established in the vicinity. Detailed data obtained on the Snow- 

 flake Dry-farm, the Prescott Dry-farm, and the Sulphur Spring Val- 

 ley Dry-farm are given below, while Bulletin 70 of the Arizona 

 Agricultural Experiment Station records the results obtained from 

 operations on the McNeal Farm. 



SNOWFLAKE DRY-FARM 



Early in the fall of 1909, arrangements were made with Mr. 

 W. J. Flake, Sr., of Snowflake, to use forty acres of his land, lying 

 across Cottonwood Wash about one mile northwest of Snowflake, 

 for experimental purposes. Part of this farm had been plowed 

 several years before, but the sandy surface had been blown away 

 and a fairly stiff clay subsoil exposed. The remainder of the farm 

 was in sage brush. A layer of sand with a maximum depth of 

 about seven inches covers much of the west thirty acres, and rocky 

 spots occur frequently. 



The shallow soil of the Flake farm rendered moisture conserva- 

 tion difficult, and in 1912 experimental work was discontinued and 

 moved three miles up Cottonwood Wash to the farms of Mr. Don 

 C. Smith and Mr. David Hancock where the soil was much deeper. 

 The soil of the latter location is representative of a large area lying 

 north of northeast of Holbrook and southeast of Woodruff. It is 

 also typical of the valleys of 4500 to 5500 feet elevation lying be- 

 tween St. Johns and Snowflake. 



Thirteen acres on the east end of the Flake farm were plowed 

 and harrowed during September, 1909, following heavy rains. An 

 additional seventeen acres were broken in January and February, 



