CHAPTER V 

 SOIL MOISTURE AND DRY FARMING 



In the farming of dry areas the question of soil 

 moisture is all-important. To farm such areas intelli- 

 gently and successfully the farmer should have informa- 

 tion regarding: (1) the amount and character of the 

 precipitation; (2) the rate of the evaporation; (3) the 

 methods by which water may be retained in the soil 

 until it is needed, and (4) the plants that may be grown 

 with the most complete success under the conditions 

 that prevail. 



When judging of rainfall and the use' that is to be 

 made of the same, the farmer should have information 

 not only in regard to the amount of the annual precipi- 

 tation, but also with reference: (1) to the period cov- 

 ered by the records; (2) the season or seasons when it 

 falls, and (3) the manner in which it falls. The longer 

 the period during which the records have been kept, the 

 more reliable are they. It is never safe to base the nature 

 of the farming to be followed on the record of precipi- 

 tation for one or two seasons, the records vary so much 

 in different years. In dry areas the rainfall of one year 

 is sometimes less than one-half of normal, and in other 

 years it is greatly in excess of the same. The season 

 at which the rain falls has a greatly "important influence, 

 not only in determining the crops that shall be grown, 

 but also the precise character of the tillage that should 

 be adopted. These differ very materially when the bulk 

 of the precipitation falls in the winter in the one case 

 and in the summer in the other. The manner of the pre- 

 cipitation has also an important influence on the methods 

 that should be adopted in order to utilize it to the best 

 advantage. 



