128 Irrigation and Drainage 



of effective rain ought to give a yield of 1.01 tons of dry matter, 

 equal to 1.188 tons of hay containing 15 per cent of water, while 

 the observed mean yield is 1.158 tons. Now, this yield of 1.1 

 tons per acre is not what a farmer calls a good yield, for 1.5 

 tons to 2 tons per acre of hay are often cut ; but these larger 

 yields are invariably associated with seasons of early heavy rain- 

 fall. It must be evident, then, that in the thirteen states from 

 Maine to eastern Kansas there are large areas where, if water 

 could be applied to the first crop of hay, the yield might easily 

 be increased 40 to 90 per cent, and there can be no question 

 that the aggregate extent of such areas exceeds what could be 

 supplied by all the water of all the rivers and all the ground 

 water of those states. 



Then, again, in the case of such crops as wheat, oats, barley, 

 rye, buckwheat, and the millets, which are sown broadcast or in 

 close drills, it has not been usual to practice methods of tillage 

 aiming specifically to save moisture ; but when the acreage of 

 these crops in the United States, together with that of hay and 

 pasture, is set aside, there remains relatively but a small part 

 of the cultivated lands upon which intertillage is or can well be 

 practiced. 



These statements are made neither to depreciate the impor- 

 tance of conserving soil moisture by tillage nor to emphasize the 

 importance of irrigation, but rather that each may be seen in its 

 true perspective ; for the fact is, neither method is universally 

 adapted to meet the needs of insufficient rain at all times and in 

 all places. But there are conditions for which each is better 

 suited than the other, and for a man to know these is to make 

 him a better farmer. 



TILLAGE TO CONSERVE SOIL MOISTURE IS CHIEFLY 



EFFECTIVE IN SAVING THE WINTER AND 



EARLY SPRING RAINS 



It is not sufficiently appreciated that early and frequent till- 

 age where irrigation is not practiced is far more important and 

 effective in conserving soil moisture than later tillage can be 

 after the ground once becomes dry. From this it follows that 



