WHAT IS MEANT BY DRY FARMING 3 



areas the keeping of live stock may with propriety be- 

 come a feature of dry land farming from the very outset. 



Nor does dry farming mean the growing of all crops 

 proper to the latitude. Some of these may succeed ad- 

 mirably in a certain latitude when the rainfall is normal, 

 and yet they may partially or entirely fail when it is 

 less than normal. Other crops, even of the same spe- 

 cies, may succeed because of greater inherent ability to 

 withstand drought and hard conditions generally. Such 

 crops only should be grown in dry areas as may show 

 reasonable adaptation for the same. 



What dry farming does mean. Dry farming means : 

 (1) growing crops under semi-arid conditions; (2) grow- 

 ing crops where the moisture is normally deficient; (3) 

 growing them where moisture is temporarily deficient, 

 and (4) growing special crops by special methods. 

 Shortage in the moisture supply is the dominant thought 

 that underlies any definition that may be framed regard- 

 ing dry farming. 



Where arid conditions prevail, crops cannot be 

 grown successfully without the aid of irrigation. In 

 such areas there may be rain, but it is not enough to 

 produce vegetation that is of any special value without 

 the aid of man, and even with his aid it cannot be made 

 profitable in the absence of irrigation. Where semi-arid 

 conditions prevail, nature unaided produces. growth, but 

 it is sparse and deficient rather than generous and ample. 

 Under these conditions, however, growth may be made 

 so to aid nature in her effort, that production sparse and 

 niggardly may be supplemented by production generous 

 and even bountiful 'within certain limitations. In some 

 of these .areas the farmer has been able to grow more 

 than 70 bushels of No. 1 hard wheat per acre on land 

 that called for 10 to 20 acres of pasture to carry a cattle 

 beast weighing 1,000 pounds through the year. The 

 border line between arid and semi-arid production runs 



