336 DRY FARMING 



DRY FARMING IN WESTERN MANITOBA 



BY W. C. MCKILLICAN, SUPERINTENDENT EXPERIMENTAL 

 FARM, BRANDON, MAN. 



The average precipitation for the ten years, 1911-1919, 

 at Brandon, Manitoba, was 16.33 inches. The area which 

 this represents is therefore of a semi-arid character and 

 farm practices which conserve soil moisture and utilize 

 it to the greatest degree are necessary for success in 

 agriculture. 



SUMMERFALLOW. 



285. Importance of the Tallow. The corner stone of 

 dry farming in Western Manitoba is the summerfallow 

 and so is it likely to continue for many years. Grain 

 crops have enjoyed almost a monopoly of crop raising, 

 and the summerfallow has served to clean the land, to 

 conserve the moisture from one year to another and in- 

 deed has made grain growing possible in the pioneer and 

 exploration stages of the country's development. 



286. Methods of Fallowing. The main features of a 

 good summerfallow as practised in this region are early 

 plowing and thoroughness of after-cultivation. Both 

 of these derive their importance from their efficacy in 

 preventing the loss of moisture through weed growth. 

 By early plowing we mean the first half of the month 

 of June. May plowing has given no advantage over 

 June but June has a very decided advantage over July. 

 Depth of plowing is also generally believed to be an 

 important feature of good summerfallowing. I believe 

 this is usually correct, though our experimental results at 



