DRY TORTUGAS 



1870 



DUBLIN 



year, as in Canada, and is especially suitable 

 to regions of winter rain. In Utah and a large 

 part of the Great Basin, where rain falls in 

 both spring >and winter, wheat is sown in the 

 fall and remains in the ground through the 

 winter, sprouting early and maturing before 

 the dry winds of the summer. The resulting 

 crop is known as winter wheat. On the Great 

 Plains, on the other hand, the rain comes in 

 the summer in showers so light that the mois- 

 ture would evaporate before it could be ab- 

 sorbed by summer fallow. In this case the 

 best method seems to be to plow deep before 

 the spring sowing, and to harrow the ground 

 after the grain is high enough to shade the 

 ground and prevent evaporation. 



Further progress has been made in agricul- 

 ture in the semi-arid regions by a study of the 

 comparative resistance of different crops to 

 drought. Besides wheat, success is found with 

 rye, oats, flax, barley, corn, potatoes, sorghum, 

 alfalfa, many types of peas and beans, and, in 

 the Southwest, with dates and olives. Though 

 the methods for each crop are different from 

 that for the wheat farming described above, 

 the principles are the same. 



Dry-Farming Congresses. Since 1907 there 

 has been an annual convention of American 

 and Canadian farmers in the West, the object 

 of which is to advance the science of dry 

 farming. Prizes are given each year for the 

 best exhibits of agricultural products raised 

 by dry-farming methods. The winners for 

 wheat and oats are most often from Saskatche- 

 wan or Alberta. C.H.H. 



Consult Shaw's Dry Land Farming ; Widtsoe's 

 Dry Farming: A System of Agriculture for Coun- 

 tries Under a Low Rainfall. 



DRY TORTUGAS, tauor too' gas, a group of 

 ten low, coral islets off the coast of Florida, 



ON DRY TORTUGAS 



Old Spanish fort, the most southerly building 

 on United States territory. 



almost directly west of Key West, set aside 

 by the United States government as a perma- 

 nent reservation for wild birds. They are situ- 



ated in the Gulf of Mexico, about 120 miles 

 southwest of the southern extremity of Florida, 

 and are politically attached to Monroe County. 

 of that state. Fort Jefferson, one of the islands, 

 contains a fort which was used as a penal sta- 

 tion during the War of Secession. On Logger- 

 head Key, the largest of the group, is a light- 

 house, and in 1904 the Carnegie Institution 

 established there a laboratory for the study 

 of marine biology. See BIRD, subtitle Govern- 

 ment Protection of Birds. 



DU BARRY, diibare', MARIE JEANNE BECU, 

 Countess (1743-1793), the charming, extrava- 

 gant mistress of Louis XV who succeeded 

 Madame de Pompadour. She was the daugh- 

 ter of a poor woman, but her beauty won her 

 friends, through 

 one of whom she 

 was placed in a 

 convent, where 

 she remained 

 about eight 

 years. She then 

 held positions as 

 lady's maid and 

 milliner, finally 

 be'coming the 

 mistress of Comte 

 Jean du Barry. 

 Presiding over 

 her lover's gam- MADAME DU BARRY 

 ing rooms, she met King Louis XV, who be- 

 came infatuated with her, and about 1769 he 

 married her to the brother of Comte Jean du 

 Barry, so that she might be brought to court. 

 Until the death of Louis she was the real ruler 

 of the country, for the most important poli- 

 cies of the government were decided by her. 

 Her quick wit, gracious manners and alluring 

 beauty brought her admirers, but she had 

 many enemies as well. After the death of 

 Louis XV she was banished from court, and 

 during the Revolution, through the influence 

 of Robespierre, she was tried and executed for 

 having wasted the public wealth, for conspiracy 

 against the republic and for mourning for King 

 Louis. 



David Belasco's successful production Du 

 Barry, in which Mrs. Leslie Carter starred, was 

 featured in moving pictures. 



DUB 'LIN, the capital and ancient seat of 

 the government of Ireland, situated at the 

 mouth of the River Liffey. The river divides 

 the city into two almost equal parts and is 

 crossed by twelve bridges, the finest of which 

 is a magnificent structure named after the 





