A Rainless Wheat 



to six inches, depending on the state of the 

 weather, the soil, and the crop. In orchard 

 cultivation, during a severe drought, the soil- 

 blanket is often made six inches deep, or even 

 more. But for cereals the soil-blanket should 

 seldom be thicker than two to three inches, 

 as they are surface -feeders. When sowing, the 

 seed must be drilled into the moist seed-bed 

 below the dry-blanket ; otherwise it may fail 

 to germinate. 



Summary of Results 



It is doubtful if, since the time of Tull, any 

 soil has had a severer test of his profound but 

 forgotten principles than the dry lands of 

 Lichtenburg in the Western Transvaal. Let us 

 summarise what has been accomplished there. 

 We have shown : 



(1) That by our system of tillage we are able 

 to keep the soil seed-bed moist for a whole year. 

 This means that, so far as moisture is concerned, 

 we can plant a crop at any season — a most 

 important matter in South Africa. This result 

 has been attained by the use of moisture-saving 

 fallows, deeply ploughed, constantly harrowed, 



101 



