342 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



DRY FARMING IN WYOMING. 



PAPER BY STATE ENGINEER CLARENCE T. JOHNSTON. 



While several million acres may be ultimately irri- 

 gated in Wyoming, there must always remain a large 

 area of tillable land which can not be supplied with 

 water. This area will probably amount to as much as 

 25,000,000 acres. We have a problem before us as to 

 the ultimate use to which these lands should be put. 

 As experiments are continued with grains and plants 

 that resist drought it seems that a large area might 

 be utilized by the farmers of the near future. It has 

 been found that cultivation is an important factor 

 in the growing of crops without irrigation. The Camp- 



results obtained therefrom what would be the returns 

 had the crop been planted on one hundred and sixty 

 acres. If it is impossible for our experiment station 

 to take up this work it would seem that some bureau 

 of the department of agriculture should be induced 

 to undertake it. The bureau of plant industry would 

 have a larger field here than the reclamation service, 

 because the water supply will ultimately limit the use- 

 fulness of that work and then leave unreclaimed four 

 or five times as much tillable land as can be irrigated. 

 Utah has done sts much as any other western State 

 toward the development of species of wheat and other 

 grains which grow without irrigation. In beginning 

 this important work in Wyoming we could profit by the 

 experience gained there, and secure seed which has been 



t'tt'- 



DETAILS or RAISING AfVMfTA 



DETAILS Of 



i'"' 



Fig. 18. Current Wheel Operating Pump in Payette Valley, Idaho. 



bell system which has worked so well in eastern Colo- 

 rado and western Kansas should lead to the utilization 

 of large areas in Wyoming if the farmers are instructed 

 in this method. 



Congressman Mondell has done much in the north- 

 eastern part of the State along this line. He has found 

 by observation that there are some tracts which can 

 xnore easily be converted into paying farms than others. 

 Lands lying at the base of a chain of mountains or hills 

 have been found to be best adapted for dry farming 

 and a number of settlements have already been made 

 on such areas in Weston County. 



This work is of too great a magnitude and impor- 

 tance to be conducted by one man or by an association. 

 Either the State or the Government should lead in the 

 investigation and the experiments should be carried 

 out on a large scale. It is not sufficient to plant a 

 fiftieth or a: tenth of an acre and assume from the 



developed by forty years' experience and selection. 

 Thousands of acres of wheat are planted each fall in 

 Uta-h and crops are gathered each year from ground 

 that has never received an artificial supply of water. 

 The same can be done in Wyoming. Probably the 

 most profitable farming will be done on lands which 

 can not be irrigated, because the expense of raising 

 crops will be less. 



That wheat can be grown here without irrigation 

 has been demonstrated. The question now is, who will 

 undertake this kind of farming on a large scale and 

 show whether or not it will pay ? We have in Laramie 

 County a considerable settlement where dry farming 

 has been carried on for many years, but even there 

 this industry would receive a stimulus if the experi- 

 ence of other arid countries could be shown. What 

 we need is a: thoroughly and intelligently planned ex- 

 periment on a large scale, and all interested in the 



