I 4 6 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



The southern states east of Texas and bordering on the Gulf of 

 Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean cover one of the richest areas of unde- 

 veloped agricultural wealth in the United States. Nature has blessed 

 this region with long growing seasons and an abundant water supply, 

 which, if evenly distributed, would make this one of the garden spots 

 of the world. The soils of the South are as a rule porous and easily 

 worked, but lack fertility. The fertilizers which are applied to make 

 up for this deficiency often either lie inert during drought or are 

 leached out by torrential rains. The annual rainfall varies with the 

 locality from 45 to 55 inches. This insures an abundant water supply 

 if properly conserved. There are also many artesian basins, where 

 good wells of large capacity can be obtained for irrigation. Florida 

 produces the most delicate fruit and vegetable crops in the dead of 

 northern winter, and the neighboring states can produce as valuable 

 crops in the early spring. Intensive farming usually has been ham- 

 pered by the uncertainty of the spring rainfall, and irrigation is needed 

 to insure a more constant supply of soil moisture. Rains come in 

 torrential storms, which dissipate their waters in surface run-off. 

 Droughts follow, with intense heat at critical periods of the plant's 

 growth. Over the greater part of this entire region the summers are 

 wet, the winters dry, and the rainfall of the spring and fall months is 

 uncertain. 



A combination of irrigation and drainage at Sanford, Florida, has 

 transformed worthless lands into those producing crops of celery 

 valued at $2,000 per acre for one crop. Irrigation of the uplands of 

 this state shows similar results in citrus culture. Irrigation at Albany, 

 Georgia, has made it possible to produce an abundant growth of 

 alfalfa on worn-out cotton lands. The waters of a flowing well near 

 Selma, Alabama, which have been wasted for forty years, have con- 

 verted portions of a worn-out plantation into a productive garden. 



40. DRY FARMING AS A MEANS OF INCREASING OUR 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT 1 



BY E. C. CHILCOTT 



Several conditions have contributed to the general interest in dry- 

 land farming. The people of the United States have become aware 

 that government lands suitable for ordinary agriculture are almost a 



1 Adapted from "Dry-Land Fanning in the Great Plains Area," Yearbook of 

 the Department of Agriculture, 1907, pp. 451-68. 



