DRY FARMING 



have water in the soil, but which works to the top so 

 slowly, newly planted seeds may get too little and so will 

 not sprout and develop. If you are so situated that such 

 is the case, you will find that packing the land will assist 

 in correcting the difficulty. Just press the soil grains to- 

 gether, and the capillary flow will be improved : it will 

 work. 



A new tool the sub-surface packer has come into use 

 to do just this thing. It is a sort of roller a bevel wheel 

 roller that cuts like a disk and compacts like a roller. 

 Its manner of construction secures packing of the soil just 

 beneath the surface and 

 not at the top. As mois- 

 ture is drawn to the sur- 

 ace, it stops where the 

 seed lay, since the surface 

 is broken by the packci 

 and is left as a mulch ->m' 

 hence the surface loss i.- 

 minimized. By packing 

 the upper layer of the soil 

 a free movement of the 

 soil moisture is allowed. 

 This moisture is concen- 

 trated at a point just be- 

 neath the surface and at 

 a point where needed by 

 seed and new spreading 

 roots. 



The firm stratum thus 

 made by the surface pack- 

 er brings up the water, but serves as a resistance in 

 its movement out of the soil. This cultural operation, 

 combined with the mulch on top, offers a fairly effective 



DRY-LAND FARMING 



A viflel of 65 bushels per acre, with a 

 rainfall of but 20 inches annually 



