THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE 



What may be termed the dry land area of the 

 United States and Canada embraces approximately not 

 fewer than five hundred million acres, all of which may 

 be tilled, and nearly all of which is unusually rich in 

 the elements of production. Because of the limited 

 amount of rain that falls, this immense area can never 

 be tilled successfully by the methods of farming ordi- 

 narily practised in humid areas. Within a comparatively 

 recent period, however, it has been ascertained that 

 nearly all of this area may be made to produce good 

 crops, and with reasonable certainty, by what are known 

 as dry land methods of tillage. 



The existence of this immense agricultural domain, 

 as yet largely unoccupied, is now being widely pro- 

 claimed. Settjers are rushing into it, the greater por- 

 tion of whom have previously lived in humid or sub- 

 humid climates. They are much prone to begin the till- 

 age of the land by methods that are adapted to humid 

 conditions. It is a foregone conclusion that such meth- 

 ods will fail. Dry land farming can only succeed through 

 methods that are adapted to dry land conditions. 



This book has been written in the hope that it 

 will furnish information that may be safely followed by 

 the dry land farmer in the prosecution of his work. 

 When writing it, special consideration was given to the 

 crops that may be successfully grown in the various 

 sections of the dry land area, and to the best methods 

 of growing them. That the dry land farmer may find 

 the book helpful to him in the prosecution of his work 

 is the earnest desire of the author. 



THOMAS SHAW. 



St. Anthony Park, Minnesota, 1911. 



