18 THE FUTURE OF ARID LANDS 
cases of emergency. Those who die of thirst in the desert are 
usually lacking in resourcefulness. 
Ancient Man 
It is difficult to determine how far ancient man pushed his agri- 
culture into the arid land. Here is not included the oasis type of 
development, in which great advances were made. Originally 
the Nile Valley was watered naturally by flood waters. The oasis 
type was either supplied with water by small streams or water was 
raised from wells by a dillus operated by a camel or a donkey or 
by a hand-operated chaduf. These methods are ancient as is also 
the use of the old aqueducts or foggaras. Ancient man also used 
flood plains and constructed large rock terraces to hold back flood 
waters. All desert forage within travel distance of drinking water 
was used by domestic animals. I find little to indicate the use of 
any land but that well-watered by either precipitation or irriga- 
tion from springs and running water in the ancient accounts avail- 
able in the Bible, Koran, Book of Mormon, Talmud, Cato, Virgil, 
Theophrastus, Pliny, or many others. The many references to 
and the discussions of agriculture deal with lands well watered. 
The development of olive culture by wide spacing and clean 
cultivation is a fine example of ancient man’s use of dry land. 
Grain and legumes were also grown extensively. It is probable 
that a more thorough search of ancient literature, possibly in the 
writings of Mago, the Carthaginian, which are not available to 
me, will throw light on the use of semi-arid lands by the 
Carthaginians. There is evidence that grain culture was an im- 
portant industry on their arid lands. 
Modern Man: Our Attempts at Dry Land Agriculture 
The use of the so-called dry land could be traced in many parts 
of the world on the better or semi-arid lands. I am most familiar 
with the development in what was generally known as the Great 
American Desert. J. W. Powell’s Report of the Lands of the Arid 
Regions in 1878 (12) was exceptionally comprehensive and sound. 
He recommended not less than 4 square miles as the size of a home- 
stead and stated that ‘‘In those localities, and, so far as I am 
