DRY-FARMING 



dying. But the extraordinary thing is 

 that intelligent men will buy farms with- 

 out the faintest conception of the nature 

 and quality of the sub-soil a matter 

 which can be readily ascertained, in a few 

 hours, or a day or two at most, by exam- 

 ining cuttings, wells, railroad embank- 

 ments, digging pits here and there, or by 

 boring with a simple post-hole auger, as 

 well as by taking stock of the growth and 

 depth of the root-system of native trees 

 and shrubs, grasses, legumes, etc. 



And it cannot be too strongly em- 

 phasized that all farmers should make 

 themselves thoroughly acquainted with 

 the character of their soil down to the 

 depth of at least four, but preferably six 

 to eight feet. The wisest agricultural 

 chemist in the United States to-day, Pro- 

 fessor Hilgard, remarks, "It is hardly 

 excusable that a business man calling 

 himself a farmer should omit the most 

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