CHAPTER X 



A RAINLESS WHEAT 1 



" Men, my brothers, men the workers, 

 Ever reaping something new, 

 That which they have done but earnest, 

 Of the things that they shall do." 



In our study of the development of a rainless 

 wheat, it will be necessary at the outset to 

 sketch the rise and progress of that new branch 

 of agricultural science now widely known as 

 Dry-Farming. Dry-farming may be defined as 

 the conservation of soil-moisture during long 

 periods of dry weather by means of tillage, 

 together with the growth of drought-resistant 

 plants. It differs from ordinary farming in that 

 the chief object of the dry farmer is to prepare 

 his lands to receive and retain as much rain as 

 possible. This is accomplished by the use of 

 moisture-saving fallows. 



44 Dry-farming " is a new term which was first 

 used a few years ago in Western America. In 

 Utah and some other parts of the United States 



1 Reprinted by kind permission from The Nineteenth 

 Century and After, No. 436, June 191 3. 



95 



