WHAT IS MEANT BY DRY FARMING 17 



relatively less, and the drafts on soil moisture are rela- 

 tively decreased. 



The physical texture of the soil and subsoil exerts a 

 marked effect on the filtration and leaching of water in 

 the soil. Coarse sandy and gravelly soils lose water 

 much more readily than soils that have a considerable 

 clay element in them. Since more of the precipitation 

 that falls on the former is lost through the downward 

 movement of the waters, it follows that these are consid- 

 erably less favorable to crop production in semi-arid re- 

 gions than the latter. This also goes far to explain why 

 it is possible to grow good crops on the bench lands more 

 easily and surely than in the river basins of the west 

 in the absence of irrigation. The soils in the latter are 

 usually much more porous in texture. The larger the 

 amount of humus in the soil the less will be the losses 

 from filtration and leaching. 



The dominant idea in dry farming. The dominant 

 idea in dry farming is in a sense two-fold. It seeks to 

 secure to the greatest extent practicable the con- 

 servation and also the accumulation of moisture in the 

 soil. To accomplish this end the soil is stirred deeply, 

 whether by the aid of the plow alone or by following 

 the plow with the subsoiler, or by using some other 

 implement, as the deep tilling machine. The ground is 

 compressed subsequent to plowing, and a dust mulch 

 is maintained upon the surface. The increase of organic 

 matter in the soil is also sought. 



To say that dry farming seeks the conservation of 

 moisture states only half the truth. Moisture cannot be 

 conserved in the soil until it enters the same. 



It is of prime importance, therefore, that the pre- 

 cipitation shall be made to enter the soil to the greatest 

 extent possible under the existing conditions. It will 

 be able to enter the soil when it falls upon it in propor- 

 tion : (1) to the loose condition in which the soil is kept 



