178 . ^ DRY FARMING 



early plowing is not essential. Under other conditions 

 where the moisture supply limits the yield of crops it 

 has yet to be demonstrated that early fallowing, even 

 at a greater cost, does not pay. 



There is but little doubt that under humid conditions 

 soil mulches lessen evaporation. Whether it pays under 

 dry conditions to harrow or cultivate in the absence of 

 weeds is another question. Many farmers as well as in- 

 vestigators believe in intensive methods for the conserva- 

 tion of soil moisture, but some recent investigations go 

 to show that if sufficient cultivation is given to prevent 

 weed growth and to prevent the soil from baking or 

 cracking, additional tillage to save moisture by mulching 

 is not likely to conserve enough to pay for the extra 

 work. 



142. G-eneral Conclusions. — In conclusion, then, the dry 

 lands of earlier days are producing crops because men 

 have found out how to get moisture into the land and 

 keep it there at not too great a cost. They "store" it 

 (1) by letting the soil lie idle one year in two or three, 

 or four or five, as necessary, and (2) by putting it, early 

 in the rainy season, in such a condition that it will 

 absorb the rains that fall and not let them "run off" the 

 surface. This is done by plowing, usually in June or 

 early July. The moisture is conserved after it has been 

 "stored" by controlling weed growth, and by lessening 

 "evaporation", the two things which dissipate moisture 

 from the soil. Weed growth is controlled by timely 

 and suitable tillage with harrows, discs and cultivators. 

 If this tillage for weed control does not also control 

 evaporation sufficiently it is questionable whether extra 

 work with this object in view will pay except on soils 

 that bake, or where land has been freshly plowed. 



