118 THE FARMER OF TO-MORROW 



as to cause an excessive run-off before the 

 thirsty soil can drink it up and hold it. It 

 is not an uncommon experience for rain 

 storms to be so clear cut in their path as to 

 divide a dusty road in two parts. Differences 

 in annual rainfall, not for one year only, but 

 extending over twenty years of observation, 

 are found to exist in almost the same startling 

 measure between adjoining townships. Quot- 

 ing again from Bulletin No. 188, Bureau of 

 Plant Industry: 



"The rainfall in the district around Aber- 

 deen, South Dakota, is nearly 5 inches above 

 that of surrounding sections. This difference 

 is based on observations of twenty years or 

 more, and the effect on crops is so marked 

 that the farmers generally recognize that good 

 crops may be found in this section when the 

 surrounding regions are suffering from 

 drought. It is important then to have as many 

 rainfall stations as possible to measure ac- 

 curately the annual precipitation." 



Upward of sixty million acres are under 

 cultivation by dry-farming methods in the 

 Great Plains and Great Basin regions, and it 

 is the opinion of those who have given their 

 lives to the solution of the problem of more 



