LESSONS FROM EXPERIENCE 313 



crop failure is apt to be very serious; but where both 

 grain and live stock are raised, there is the chance, if the 

 necessity arises, of selling off some of the live stock in 

 order to get through the period of stress. Animals are 

 also important in that they furnish a profitable market 

 for the roughage produced on the farm. Without stock, 

 this roughage would have little value and probably would 

 be wasted. 



259. The Possibilities for Dry Farming. Even under 

 the climatic limitations, the possibilities for dry farming 

 are good for the man who will work in accord w r ith 

 nature. He needs a reasonable amount of capital and a 

 clear understanding of conditions. He should not allow 

 himself to be hampered by false hopes and theories, nor 

 try to farm by hard and fast rules. Under the erratic 

 climatic conditions of that section, any system of farm- 

 ing to be successful mlust be sufficiently elastic to meet 

 conditions as they arise. By studying the conditions as 

 they exist on his own farm and carefully considering the 

 various factors that influence crop production, he can 

 determine the kind and amount of labor that should be 

 expended. By doing each operation in the most advan- 

 tageous way and as nearly as possible at the right time, 

 the labor required can be materially decreased, more land 

 gotten over with a given amount of equipment, and the 

 cost of production lowered. 



DRY FARMING PRACTICES IN SOUTH DAKOTA 



BY MANI.EY CHAMPLIX, FORMERLY ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR 

 OF AGRONOMY, BROOKINGS, S. D. 



The average rainfall in South Dakota varies from 2f) 

 inches in the southeast to about 14 or 15 inches in the 



