PLANT GROWTH IN DRY AREAS 115 



when young, and in plants that mature relatively quickly, 

 which they usually do idry areas. 



The higher proportion of the grain to the straw in 

 dry farm crops than in crops grown in humid areas is 

 probably owing to the abundance of the food materials 

 stored in the root system. This also would seem to ac- 

 count for the larger relative proportion of leaf growth, 

 found in the former. In normally healthy and suffi- 

 ciently large straw, the yields of grain will usually 

 decrease with increase in straw development above the 

 requirements named. 



Crops grown in dry areas are usually more palatable 

 than those grown in humid areas. This applies more 

 especially to fodders. It arises in part from the smaller 

 stem growth in plants and the larger relative leaf pro- 

 duction, and in part from the brighter curing, of the 

 same in the almost total absence of dew and rain in the 

 harvest season. It is legitimate, therefore, to claim that 

 the average feeding value of crops grown in dry areas 

 is considerably above that of the same grown in humid 

 areas. 



Weeds grown in dry areas. Weed growth should 

 be far less prevalent in dry than in humid areas, since 

 the absence of abundant rainfall is so far unfavorable 

 to the growth of weeds. This fact in itself places the 

 farmer on a vantage ground that should enable him to 

 maintain cleanness in his farm and crops far more easily 

 than the same can be done by the farmer in humid 

 areas. But what are the facts? With but few exceptions 

 the farms become polluted with weed fife in its various 

 forms before they have been tilled many years. This fact 

 proclaims to the world the lack of effort on the part of 

 pioneer farmers to maintain cleanliness in their lands. 



In newly settled countries weeds are usually intro- 

 duced in the seeds brought in for sowing, howsoever they 

 may be propagated subsequently. They may come in 



