312 DRY FARMING 



wheat, 4 pecks ; oats, 6 peeks ; barley, 6 pecks ; com, one 

 stalk to 18 to 24 inches in the row. 



Harrowing small grain is not extensively practised. On 

 the average it has not proved beneficial. Under certain 

 conditions, where ground cracks or where there are many 

 young weeds that may be killed, harrowing might be ad- 

 visable. The harrow is often used to break down stand- 

 ing cornstalks where grain has been sown in the corn. 



Deep plowing, or in fact stirring the soil in any man- 

 ner to a greater depth than ordinary 6- to 8-inch plowing, 

 nas not given average increased yields nor shown any 

 particular advantage in overcoming drought. It has 

 greatly increased the labor cost and lessened the acreage 

 that a man with a given equipment can handle. After 

 plowing, the furrow slice is usually worked down with a 

 disc or harrow. The subsurface packer is not in general 

 use but may have an important place, especially where 

 small seeded crops such as grass or alfalfa are to be 

 sown. Getting the soil firm is an important factor, since 

 the loose soil will dry out much more quickly than the 

 more firmly packed soil. 



257. The Farming Unit. — In the dty farming section 

 the farming unit is comparatively large. Intensive cul- 

 tivation is not generally practised. Broadly speaking, 

 elilnatic conditions are more important than tillage meth- 

 ods in determining yields. Naturally when the differ- 

 ences of yield that come from climatic causes are greater 

 than differences due to other factors, cost of production 

 becomes the most important factor and the system of 

 farming tends to become increasingly extensive. 



258. Live Stock. — In order to equalize income, live 

 stock is alm/ost essential to farming under our dry land 

 conditions. Where strict grain farming is followed, a 



