90 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



is of poor quality for farming purposes because of the excess 

 of sand in the soil. By careful selection very important quanti- 

 ties of good land can be added to our farm area at an expense 

 which will prove a profitable investment. 



Drainage is another important means of expanding the area 

 of improved farm land. Along the rivers and coasts and in 

 much of the glaciated area of the United States marshes and 

 swamps are found which when drained will add greatly to the 

 supply of farm land. It has been estimated that 70,000,000 

 acres of land await improvement by drainage. 



The introduction of new varieties of grains and forage crops 

 which are suited to semiarid regions makes possible the exten- 

 sion of agriculture where the rainfall is too light for the crops 

 which are commonly grown in the humid regions. For example, 

 the drought-resisting macaroni wheats have recently been in- 

 troduced with great profit. " In many places west of the looth 

 meridian, where wheat growing with other varieties is prac- 

 tically impossible on account of drought, the eastern Russian 

 varieties by virtue of their extreme drought-resisting qualities 

 will produce, ordinarily, a crop of from twelve to twenty bushels 

 per acre. By the use of these wheats, therefore, these locali- 

 ties may become important additions to the wheat area." 1 



The introduction of several varieties of sorghum as forage 

 crops in the southwest is resulting in the expansion of farm land 

 in western Kansas and parts of Texas and New Mexico. 



Along with the introduction of new crops which can be grown 

 on semiarid lands, much is being done to expand the area of 

 plow land by new methods of culture commonly known as 

 " dry-farming" which consists in cultivating the land to con- 

 serve the moisture. It is common to cultivate the land for one 

 season with nothing growing on it in order to conserve the 

 moisture and then seed to wheat. By this means the wheat 

 crop may have the benefit of more moisture than would 

 be available if attempts were made to secure a crop each 

 year. 



1 United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bulletin 

 No. 3, p. 28. 



