CHAPTER XIV 



CEREAL CULTIVATION GREAT PLAINS 



IN the region known as the Great Plains, the soil is a 

 prairie formation, as opposed to forest soils. It has great 

 water-holding capacity, but the rainfall is very light and 

 most of it falls in the early summer (Fig. 104). The 

 great problem, therefore, is the conservation of moisture. 

 Plant-food is usually abundant, but the utmost ingenuity 

 in cultivation methods is required to utilize the precipi- 

 tation. 



SOIL TREATMENT 



365. Soils. The surface soil in this area is usually a 

 dark loam of varying texture, but with clay or silt pre- 

 dominating, rich in humus, and 6 inches to several feet in 

 depth. Westward toward the mountains the humus de- 

 creases, and in large portions in the western part of the 

 area, west of the Missouri River, in the Dakotas, and in 

 the extreme southwestern plains, the soil is light sandy or 

 gravelly, and considerably lacking in humus. Also in the 

 " Bad Lands " of North and South Dakota is a large dis- 

 trict with practically no agricultural soil. In much the 

 larger portion of the area, however, the soil is just the 

 kind adapted for small cereals, as previously explained 

 (Chapter X), and only requires water to be extremely 

 fertile. 



366. Topography and drainage. The land through- 

 out this area is either quite level or gently rolling. The 



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