FACTORS IN CROP PRODUCTION 



579 



weeds on the uncultivated plot failed to smother the crop so com- 

 pletely as to entirely prevent the formation of ears, which in nor- 

 mal seasons is the common result of the unrestricted growth of 

 weeds. 



It is a matter of surprise to many people that a good crop of corn 

 can be produced with no cultivation after the crop is planted; but 

 they forget that 40 bushels of wheat, 80 of oats, 3 tons of clover, 

 etc., are produced on good soil with no cultivation after planting. 

 On good land in humid sections the greatest benefit of cultivation 

 is due to the killing of weeds. For soils deficient in plant food, 

 especially in nitrogen, frequent cultivation will hasten the decay 

 of organic matter, encourage nitrification, and often markedly 

 increase the crop yield. Thus, on the worn hill lands at Ithaca, 

 New York, the Cornell Station has shown very beneficial results 

 from long-continued cultivation of potatoes; but the question 

 still remains if more clover plowed under would not have given 

 better yields at less expense and have left the land in better con- 

 dition for subsequent crops. 



In the semiarid region, fallow cultivation is practiced during one 

 season, the soil being stirred after every rain, in order to prevent 

 evaporation and thus store up sufficient moisture in the soil to 

 give the crop a good start, especially a fall-sown crop like winter 

 wheat, which with moderate rainfall the next spring will usually 

 produce a good yield. On the other hand, the much-talked-of 

 " dry farming " is a great misnomer. Above everything else, 

 every success in " dry farming " is coincident with a fair amount 

 of rainfall in a semiarid region; and the prospective investor is 

 warned not to be misled by the numerous exaggerated reports 

 of successful "dry farming"; and the author speaks, not only 

 from scientific data, but also from fourteen years' practical ex- 

 perience in a semiarid state. He has seen 20 to 30 bushels of 

 wheat and corresponding yields of other crops produced for several 

 years with a moderate rainfall well distributed, and he has also 

 seen this period followed by four years in succession with so little 

 rainfall that no sort of dry farming could produce a profitable crop. 



Certainly it is possible and practicable to conserve and accumu- 

 late moisture with very moderate rainfall, so that one crop can be 

 grown every two years, and much can be done to advantage where 



