THE WATER SUPPLY IN DRY AREAS 457 



in growing crops under a very light precipitation. 

 Illustrations will be given from results obtained in Sas- 

 katchewan, Canada, in Utah, and in Montana. 



, From 1891 to 1909 the rainfall at Indian Head, 

 Sask., Can., averaged 12.88 inches. The winter precipi- 

 tation is not included, but if this were added it would 

 bring the annual precipitation up to approximately 15 

 inches. The average yield of the spring wheat obtained 

 from summer-fallowed land was 32.4 bushels. In 1904 

 the rainfall was 3.9 inches. The snowfall reduced to 

 water would probably add about one inch in the pre- 

 cipitation. It would then be approximately 5 inches for 

 the year. The wheat crop that year was 17 bushels 

 from summer-fallowed land. The average given above 

 was, of course, much higher than the average obtained 

 by the farmers in the neighborhood. The yields cited 

 were grown at the Government Experiment farm, 

 which is under the management of Mr. Angus Mackay, 

 one of the most intelligent and careful experimenters in 

 all the west. But they show what can be done where 

 the average rainfall is very limited. 



Widtsoe states that winter wheat crops grown on 

 summer-fallow by the Hon. J. G. M. Barnes, of Kays- 

 ville, Utah, averaged 25.5 bushels per acre. The farm, 

 embracing 90 acres, is located 15 miles north of Salt 

 Lake City. The period covered is 19 years and begins 

 with 1887. The average annual precipitation was 14.82 

 inches, the larger portion coming in the winter and quite 

 early spring. 



The drought in Utah was most intense and pro- 

 longed in 1910. In many parts of the state, more espe- 

 cially to the southward, no rain fell from the close of 

 winter until the harvest had been reaped. The harvest 

 reports indicated that from 80 to 90 per cent, of a crop 

 had been reaped. 



