LOCAL CONDITIONS WHICH AFFECT DRY FARMING. 



19 



Logan, Utah, is situated near the northern boundary of the State, 

 near the eastern side of the Cache valley, in which dry farminsf has 

 been carried on for nearly a third of a century, and it is now prob- 

 ably the most important dry-farming section in the State. Except 

 on the eastern side the valley is surrounded only by low hills, so 

 that the rainfall is probably very evenly distributed over it. The 

 record shown in the diagi'am (fig. 4) covers a period of fourteen 

 years, from 1893 to 1906, inclusive, the annual average being 15 

 inches. It will be noted that for the period of record previous to 

 1900 the variation from the mean was slight, but in 1900 the amount 

 of rain was nearh' double what it was in 1905. 



Tooele, Utah, is situated near the eastern edge of a broad valley 

 directly south of Great Salt Lake. This valley, which lies at an 

 altitude of about 4,500 feet, is one of the largest in the State in 

 which dry farming is pos- 

 sible. The region around 

 Tooele has not been used 

 for dry farming until 

 within the last three or 

 four 3'ears. Records are 

 available for the last ten 

 years onl3^ The annual 

 average for that time is 

 15 inches, while the ex- 

 tremes range from about 

 10 inches to slighth^ over 

 20 inches. (See fig, 5.) 

 It will be noted in this 

 case, also, that the rain- 

 fall during 1900 was the 

 greatest recorded, al- 

 though the difference is not so marked as in the record for Logan. 



Levan, Utah, is situated in a comparatively narrow valley in the 

 central part of the State, a short distance south of Nephi. This 

 valley is in one of the older settled sections of the State, and since 

 1900 it has been the scene of very rapid development of dry farming. 

 This record also shows an unusually large rainfall during 1906, 

 which was exceeded only in 1895. (See fig. 0.) It is clear from 

 such a record as this that frequent crop failures can be avoided only 

 by tillage methods by which a reserve of moisture is stored in the 

 soil for the use of crops during the drier years. 



Parowan, Utah, is situated near the southern part of the State in 

 one of the smaller valleys east of the Escalante Desert. The annual 

 average for the fourteen years recorded is 12.5 inches, while the ex- 

 tremes range from 21 inches as the highest to 7 inches as the lowest. 



JOS 



Fig. 4.— Diagram showing the total annual precipitation 

 at Logan, Utah, 1893-1906. 



