SOWING AND PLANTING IN DRY AREAS 189 



warmth in them is less hazardous than lack of warmth 

 in the same in humid areas; (3) the injury from frost in 

 dry areas is much less than injury from frost of the 

 same temperature would be in humid areas. It has been 

 noticed frequently that the thermometer may fall several 

 degrees below the freezing point, especially in mountain 

 areas, without injury to the vegetation. This result fol- 

 lows, probably, because of the more dry condition of the 

 atmosphere. When plants are damaged by frost, they 

 also recover more readily than plants thus injured in 

 humid areas. This furnishes an argument in favor of 

 early planting. 



The methods of planting. The methods of planting 

 will consider: (1) planting in hills; (2) planting in 

 drills, and (3) planting on the broadcast plan. From 

 what has been said, the place for broadcasting will be 

 very limited. 



Hill planting should be practised in preference to 

 drill planting where it will answer as well all the ends 

 sought. It has the following advantages over drill 

 planting: (1) The ground is stirred over a larger area 

 of the surface, which means that the conservation of 

 moisture may be more complete on the whole; (2) the 

 crowding of the plants is more easily prevented, which 

 makes easier the regulation of the distribution of mois- 

 ture, but too much must not be made of this advantage ; 

 (3) the cleaning of the soil may be more complete than 

 would be possible when the crop is planted in drills with- 

 out the aid of considerable hand labor; (4) there is also 

 some saving in the amount of seed sown. 



Drill planting is, in a sense, necessary under certain 

 conditions, even with some crops that are frequently 

 grown in hills. Take corn, for instance. When grown for 

 fodder it is rather more easily harvested with the corn 

 harvester. There is some saving also in the labor of 

 sowing and harvesting. When the crop is listed drill- 



