130 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTUKK MANUAL 



CHAPTER XVII. 



ADVANTAGES OF SEMI-ARID REGION. 



Don't apologize for being a farmer of the semi-arid 

 region. It is not advisable to be boastful beyond that 

 which is easily demonstrated; but at least do not feel 

 that in conducting the business of agriculture in a region 

 where the rainfall is small you are defying nature. It is 

 true that you may be defying the traditions of the past 

 and doing violence to the old accepted theories on agri- 

 culture, but you need not concern yourself about these 

 things. 



Don't belittle your own state and your own farm by 

 bewailing the fact that the rain does not fall as often 

 there as it did on the farm where you spent your boyhood 

 days. There were seemingly some advantages in having 

 rainstorms so often and so great that the waste of great 

 quantities of water was not seriously felt. It may be a 

 nice thing to have more water than you know what to do 

 with. But even this has its drawbacks. Perhaps it is 

 better on the whole not to have so much water. Let us 

 see. 



The soil of the semi-arid region is generally of a loose 

 and fine texture. There is nearly always present in the 

 soil sufficient sand to prevent the soil becoming heavy. 

 In large portions of the humid regions the soil is underlaid 

 with clay in such a way that the storehouse for water 

 is limited, or there is danger of the burning out of the 

 soil. But this is seldom f ru^ in the semi-arid country. 



