DRY-LAND CROPS 



as follows: "It is probable that the ob- 

 served bad effect on land is due more to 

 the physical condition in which the soil 

 is left than to an actual reduction of 

 fertility. The large quantity of coarse 

 stubble left in the soil, especially where 

 the crop is grown rather thinly in drills, 

 hinders perfect preparation for the next 

 crop. If the land is dry when plowed 

 clumps of stubble are likely to become 

 centres of great clods, which are broken 

 up only with great difficulty. Sorghums 

 also continue their growth later in the 

 autumn than most other crops, and thus 

 continue to remove moisture from the 

 soil until a late date. If the land is then 

 sown to a winter crop there is not suffi- 

 cient moisture remaining to give it a 

 successful start, and the failure is then 

 laid to the impoverishment of the soil by 

 the preceding sorghum crop. This com- 

 plaint has been more frequently made 

 233 



