SUNSHINE FARMING 



tension and triumph which agriculture can 

 hope for in sub-humid America. Pierre 

 Leroy-Beaulieu in his very entertaining 

 work, "The United States in the Twentieth 

 Century," voices the current view. He says : 

 "Crossing the Mississippi the amount of the 

 annual rainfall rapidly diminishes. From 

 375 to 5 miles west of the river, following 

 a line almost identical with the looth paral- 

 lel of longitude, it becomes less than 20 

 inches a year. The irregularity of the rain- 

 fall and the consequent long drouth effectu- 

 ally prevent the cultivation of the soil, ex- 

 cept in some privileged sections and in 

 valleys susceptible of irrigation. This is the 

 so-called 'dry lands' region, which embraces 

 the tablelands of the Rockies and the western 

 portion of the plains, for a length of 1,250 

 miles north and south and a breadth of 750 

 to 800 miles east and west. This represents 

 about a third of the territory of the United 

 States or a surface five times that of 

 France. Almost half of the region in ques- 

 tion is quite arid, and is made up of deserts 

 that extend over the tablelands of Utah, 



63 



