DRY FARMING 



177 



lands where all things were different, and the pioneer 

 farmer could farm only as he had been accustomed : and 

 he failed, for hot winds caught up the water and de- 

 stroyed the crop. 



In those early days water protection had not been 

 thought of. The broad principle of water-saving had not 



KAFFIR CORN 

 A wonderful crop for semi-arid regions 



been put, as yet, into practice. It was not known. So 

 lands were permitted to lose their moisture by evapora- 

 tion for the reason that the farmer knew not the way by 

 which moisture is made available for roots: of the ab- 

 sorption by the soil of winter rains and snow, of its 

 remaining in the soil, protected and cared for by tillage 



