THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF DRY FARMING 41 



the outstanding material interest of the immediate future. 

 Although the exact facts are not fully attainable at the 

 present time, it seems correct to say that more than half 

 of the tillable area in the world can be made to produce 

 crops only by resorting to dry land methods of cultiva- 

 tion. In the contemplation of this fact will be seen the 

 momentous significance of a proper understanding of the 

 principles of tillage which alone, when properly applied, 

 will enable those who apply them to obtain maximum re- 

 sults from the lands which they till. 



It is unfortunate that the principles which underlie 

 successful tillage are so little understood by so large a 

 percentage of those who live in dry areas, and that they 

 are so seldom applied in a hearty and thorough fashion^ 

 Many of the newer settlers have come from humid cli- 

 mates. It seems preposterous to them, at the outset, that 

 they should put so much labor on land in order to in- 

 sure a crop, nor do they take kindly to the idea of not 

 trying to grow a crop every season. The disposition that 

 inheres in the average man to reach out largely in the 

 line of acquisition is tempted in dry areas as in few other 

 places, by the ease with which large holdings may be ob- 

 tained. The further disposition that leads so many to 

 gamble, as it were, for large results in the imperfect 

 tillage which is given to large areas, oftentimes leads to 

 crop failure. It is seldom that the average farmer will 

 practise dry farming methods as he ought to, until he 

 has felt the stiff jolt which extensive crop failure brings 

 to him. Half-way measures in tilling the soil in dry areas 

 will never prove successful save in exceptional seasons. 



Evolution, however, in this as in other things, must 

 be gradual. It is comforting to know that it has begun. 

 There is satisfaction in the thought that the possibility 

 of farming much of the dry area in the west is no longer 

 in doubt. Only a few years since, a U. S. Senator from 

 one of the dry land states expressed doubt as to whether a 



