106 



out for, viz., make up your mind first why you arc planting the 

 trees, and then see that you plant the variety most suited to yield 

 what vou want. There are many kinds, each has its likes and dis- 

 likes as to soil altitude, etc., and you must study these; also 

 some will give iust what you want, whilst others seem to give 

 nothing at all. — Tropical Life 



DRY-FARMING. 



B\ Dr. Jrilliaiii MacDouald, of the Unioiv Department of 

 Agricultitre. 



The last romance of agriculture, the most daring of its many 

 triumphs, is the Conquest of the Desert. Pictured in the winsome 

 song of the Psalmist, the sonorous prose of the Hebrew prophet, 

 and visioned in the pages of a modern seer, it has remained for 

 the latest science, the deep-set share, and the diligent harrow 

 to complete the ancient prophecy and to produce a harvest of corn 

 from a rainless land. 



To understand what has been accomplished, it will be necessary 

 to sketch the rise and progress of this new branch of agricultural 

 science known as dry-farming. In the study of dry-farming we 

 are led at the outset to ask what is the real meaning of the term 

 "Desert." The dictionary defines it as a ''barren tract incapable 

 of supporting population as the vast sand plains of Asia and 

 Africa which are destitute of moisture and vegetation." Such a 

 definition is apt to mislead us, for what is now a desert region 

 may be transformed in a few years into a country of fertile fields 

 capable of sustaining a large population. The most striking illus- 

 tration of this fact is to be found in America. Spread out an old 

 map of the United States of less than fifty years ago, and you 

 will see that vast region marked "The Great American Desert" 

 stretching from the Missouri to the Rockies. What has hap- 

 pened? In the space of a single generation, an army of settlers 

 has invaded this country, and six trans-continental railroads bring 

 the comforts of civilization to the farmer's door. Next, turning 

 to the P>ritish Empire, we note that desert region of Australia so 

 (|uaintly called the "Nevcr-Never-Country," on the fringe of 

 which farmers even now are settling. And, coming to South 

 Africa, we mark out the Kalahari Desert or as it is termed in the 

 native tongue the "Great Thir.st Land." Even there the white Hag 

 of the surveyor can be seen staking out a fifty-thousand-acrc farm 

 from the silt-laden waters of the Orange River to the restless 

 crest of a barren, l)loo(l-red sand dune. The lesson of all this is 

 ])lain. In ovn* dry and desert lands wc i)Ossess a i)riceless heritage : 

 and if there are any who still think that there are no more good 

 farms to be had in r>ur oversea Dominions you may remind tlicm 

 of that saying of Emerson: "The last lands are tin- best lands. 



