420 DRY LAND FARMING 



produced is buried in the soil, as in the form of green 

 crops, this substance in its decay readily furnishes food 

 for the crops that follow, providing the decay of the 

 green crops thus grown is sufficiently rapid. Thus it is 

 that crops that are less valuable are made to gather food 

 for crops that are of greater value relatively. 



The burial of organic matter in 'the soil materially 

 lessens the tendency to the shifting of soils through the 

 action of the wind. In sandy loam soils, and to a greater 

 extent in sandy soils, the shifting of soils through the 

 action of strong winds that are much liable to prevail 

 at certain seasons of the year, is becoming a serious 

 handicap to the farmer in the prosecution of his work. 

 Where this occurs, the more labor that is put upon the 

 seed bed by discing and harrowing, the more will be the 

 loss through the drifting of the soil. In some instances 

 the seed is laid bare, and the soil that covers it is car- 

 ried to other areas. A plentiful supply of organic mat- 

 ter in the soil, whether in the form of plant roots in the 

 soil or of stubbles incorporated in the surface soil in 

 the process of discing the same, will tend very much to 

 lessen the shifting of soil through the action of the wind. 



How to increase humus. Since the presence of hu- 

 mus in soils in dry areas produces results so beneficial, it 

 is greatly important that the supply of the same shall 

 be abundantly present. How to maintain such a supply 

 is certainly a question of much moment. The following 

 are some of the ways in which it may be applied: (1) 

 by growing and burying non-leguminous plants; (2) by 

 growing alfalfa; (3) by growing and burying the Cana- 

 dian field pea ; (4) by growing and burying the cow pea ; 

 (5) by growing and burying the sand vetch, and (6) by 

 growing and burying sweet clover. 



Any of the non-leguminous plants may be grown 

 for such burial. Some of these, however, are so valuable 

 for other uses, as wheat, for instance, that it would not 



