VI.] DRY FARMING 113 



this " dry farming " in arid areas are the insistence on 

 the establishment of a soil mulch — the loose dry layer 

 of soil which will prevent evaporation — and on "' subsoil 

 packing," as it is called, i.e., the consolidation of the soil 

 immediately below the mulch, so that it will continuously 

 and steadily lift whatever water may have been accumu- 

 lated in the subsoil as far as the roots of the plant. To 

 generate the soil mulch, shallow, broad-tined cultivators 

 and harrows are used, while ring rollers are used to 

 effect the subsoil packing. These principles of "dry 

 farming " have been before the mind of the British farmer 

 from time immemorial, especially when farming upon 

 some of the light sandy and chalky soils in the east and 

 south-east of England, where the rainfall is light and the 

 evaporation active. To grow satisfactory root crops 

 under these conditions demands great skill in the 

 preparation of the soil, and the whole art of the farmer 

 is therefore concentrated on getting a good seed bed. 

 First of all, if the soil is heavy he has to work it 

 with judgment to get it to fall down into a crumb at all ; 

 then he strives to render this crumb deep and uniform, 

 thoroughly consolidated, and in intimate contact with 

 the undisturbed subsoil below, but at the same time 

 possessing a loose, friable surface which will admit air 

 yet protect the layer in which the roots are growing 

 from the evaporation that follows exposure to sun and 

 wind. It is possible to understand the principles under- 

 lying the farmer's operations and aims, but only 

 experience can teach the moment at which a difficult 

 soil may be moved with success so as to bring it into the 

 desired condition. Such knowledge, however, of what to 

 aim at in the cultivation of the soil, of the best tool to 

 take and the right opportunity to seize for each operation, 

 lies at the basis of all husbandry. The art of the arable 

 farmer may be summed up as the proper preparation of 



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