LHTTHR OF TRAXSMITFAL. 



U. S, Depart>[ext or A(;i;i( ilture, 



Bureau of Plant Industry, 



Office of the Chief, 

 Was/iiiifjtoi,, D. 6'., Mavch 0, 1907. 



Sir: I have the honor to transmit hei'e\tith and to recommend for 

 publication as Bulletin Xo. 103 of the series of this Bureau, the ac- 

 companying manuscript, entitled " Dry Farming in the Great Basin," 

 by C. S. Scofield. Agriculturist in Charge of "Western Agricultural 

 Extension Investigations. 



Nearly one-third of the arable land of the United States is either 

 arid or semiarid. and consequently can be used for agriculture only 

 when irrigated or when devoted to such crops as are able to thrive 

 with a limited supply of moisture or such as pei-mit special tillage by 

 which the scanty rainfall may be secured and held in the soil. 



Notwithstanding the natural drawbacks of this great semiarid 

 region, which occupies the larger part of the western United States, 

 hardy pioneers have found Avithin it many places where profitable 

 farming is possible, and they have worked out tillage methods and 

 found suitable crops for some sections that were believed a quarter 

 of a century ago to be unfit for anything but stock ranges. 



In the present paper Mr. Scofield describes the natural conditions 

 and discusses the farming methods and the crops for one of the sec- 

 tions of this arid region where '* dry farming "' is now successfully 

 carried on. Some of the more important factors that have made this 

 development possible are shown to be a distribution of the rainfall 

 which is favorable as to season, a clean summer fallow between 

 crops to conserve the rainfall of two seasons where necessary to pro- 

 duce a crop, and the maintenance of soil fertility by good tillage, 

 together with the continued addition of organic matter to the soil. 

 It is shown, also, that while something has been done in the way of 

 using drought-resisting crops, secured either through introduc- 

 tions from other countries or by plant breeding, much still remains 

 to be done in this direction, and that further work along this line, 

 together with still more knowledge as to the efficiency and cost of 

 various tillage methods, promises to greatly extend the boundaries of 

 profitable agriculture in the arid West. 



Respectfully, B. T. Gallow^ay, 



Hon. Ja:\ies AYilson, 



^^ecreirary of Agricultwre. 



Chief of Bureau. 



103 



