; DRY-L'YXD FARMING 



to special methods of cultivation. It rather means grow- 

 ing them under varying degrees of precipitation, running 

 all the way from a little below what is normal to the 

 lowest quantity that will result in production by any 

 method of tillage that may be adopted. 



It does not mean the growing of crops in all areas 

 where precipitation falls. In some of these the precipi- 

 tation is so light that even tilled crops cannot be success- 

 fully grown. The degree of the precipitation essential 

 to the growing of paying crops in dry areas is a greatly 

 varying factor, since it is influenced by the character of 

 the soil and the nature of the evaporation! 



It does not mean the growing of tilled crops every 

 year on the same land. This, though quite feasible in 

 humid climates, is not entirely so in dry areas. In these, 

 under some conditions, it is possible to grow only one 

 crop in two years. Under other conditions the number 

 of the crops grown in succession is increased. It does 

 not occur very often, however, that crops can be obtained 

 every year. In nearly all instances it is necessary occa- 

 sionally to devote one season to the storing up of soil 

 moisture in the soil and subsoil, as a reserve for the 

 needs of the crops that follow. 



It does not mean the growing of crops to the exclu- 

 sion of live stock. It would not be quite correct to say 

 that the grazing of live stock on the open range comes 

 under the head of dry farming, for farming includes the 

 idea of cultivating the soil. On the other hand, the 

 keeping of live stock is not only not incompatible with 

 dry farming, but is in a certain sense supplementary to 

 it. The dry land farmer is not only a grower of grain 

 and other products, but he may be also a grower of live 

 stock. 



The food that he grows may be, and is in many in- 

 stances, used in feeding live stock grazed on his own ara- 

 ble farm, or on rugged lands adjacent thereto. In some 



