38 DET FARMING IN THE GREAT BASIN. 



nish, settlers must either remain in immediate contact with an existing 

 water supply or waste much money that they can ill afford to lose in 

 blind attempts to locate water for themselves. 



SUMMARY. 



Dry farming in the Great Basin is limited at present almost entirely 

 to the State of Utah, where it has been carried on to some extent since 

 1875 and its practice has been increasing rapidly since 1900. The 

 work was initiated by private experiments, but the State of Utah 

 is now supporting six experiment farms for testing varieties and 

 working out scientifically the best rotation and tillage methods. 



The precipitation comes during the autumn, winter, and spring 

 months, differing in this respect from the precipitation on the dry 

 lands east of the Rocky Mountains, where it comes during the summer 

 months. Farming is successfully carried on with an annual average 

 rainfall of 15 inches or slightlv less. The annual variation in rain- 

 fall is considerable and the year 1906 Avas unusually wet. Local 

 topography has a marked effect on the amount of rainfall. 



Clean summer fallowing and alternate-year cropping, together with 

 thorough tillage, are the basis of successful dry farming in the 

 Great Basin. 



A\^ieat and alfalfa are the most important crops now grown on the 

 dry lands of the Great Basin. Thin seeding is found essential to the 

 best results with these crops. 



Under the best methods of tillage the land appears to remain 

 highly productive even where no other crop than wheat is grown. 



Dry farming is now used only as a supplement to irrigation farm- 

 ing. There have been few attempts to make homes on the dry lands. 



The independent extension of farming on the dry lands depends 

 upon the development' of underground water for domestic use. 



103 



