20 DRY LAND FARMING 



for more exact work. (3) It maintains superior clean- 

 liness in the soil. (4) It is in a sense high-class farming. 

 From what has been stated, the claim that is sometimes 

 made that dry farming methods are essentially the same 

 as those followed in other states is not tenable. Dry 

 farming methods are essentially different in some 

 respects from those practised in humid areas. In the 

 latter in some instances the all-important idea is to 

 remove moisture from the soil, whereas in the former 

 it is to conserve moisture in the same. 



That dry farming is more difficult than humid farm- 

 ing will be at once apparent from the consideration that 

 the returns from dry farming rest chiefly on the extent 

 to which moisture is conserved in the soil, whereas in 

 humid areas but little attention is called for with refer- 

 ence to this phase of farming. The measures which 

 secure the conservation of moisture call for the expendi- 

 ture of added labor that in many instances is not neces- 

 sary under the humid conditions. The excess of the 

 labor thus called for increases with increase of the 

 degree of the shortage in the normal precipitation. In 

 humid areas the farmer may get a crop in a favorable 

 season from very imperfect methods of cultivation. In 

 semi-arid areas such a result very seldom follows. In 

 humid areas defective methods of farming may result 

 in more or less of a crop and is seldom followed by com- 

 plete failure. In dry areas the hazard is very frequently 

 present that such methods will be followed by entire 

 failure in the crop. Some of the phases of dry farming 

 are more difficult than others. This is especially true of 

 the pasture problem because of the difficulty in applying 

 methods that will conserve moisture in the pastures. 



Farming in dry areas calls for more exact work than 

 farming in humid areas: (1) in the preparation of the 

 soil; (2) in the time of sowing the crop; (3) in caring 

 for the same. In humid areas at least partial crops may 



