WHAT IS MEANT BY DRY FARMING 7 



maize may succeed. Alfalfa, because of its power to 

 resist drought, will through all time be one of the 

 most important crops that will ever be grown in semi- 

 arid areas. The difference in the drought-resisting quali- 

 ties within the species is very considerable, as in the 

 far greater power that western rye grass has to resist 

 drought than timothy. But the difference in these quali- 

 ties between species is even greater, as sage brush will 

 cling to life where western rye grass could not survive. 



The difference in the ability of plants to gather food 

 in the soil is very marked. This difference may arise : (1) 

 from the character of the root development; (2) from 

 the area in which they feed, and (3) from the power which 

 inheres in them to gather food. The roots of alfalfa go 

 far down into the ground, hence it can gather food from 

 an area beyond the reach of the roots of many other 

 plants. This area is also frequently relatively well sup- 

 plied with moisture. Some plants produce the larger 

 portion of the growth not far from the surface, as tim- 

 othy for instance, hence these are ill adapted to dry con- 

 ditions. Other plants have more inherent power to gath- 

 er food from a given soil area, as rye of the winter or 

 spring varieties, hence they have relatively higher ad- 

 aptation to dry conditions. This goes far to explain why 

 rye may succeed under conditions that would not suffice 

 to produce a paying crop of wheat. 



Under nearly all conditions in the semi-arid country 

 the weather becomes very dry as the harvest season 

 approaches, and in consequence crops that mature late 

 may be seriously harmed by this condition. Because 

 of this, crops that mature early are relatively better 

 adapted to dry areas than those that mature late. This 

 fact cannot be disregarded when deciding as to the spe- 

 cies and varieties that shall be grown. The earlier that 

 the dry period usually comes the more important it is 

 that the crops grown shall mature early. This explains 



