CHAPTER II. 



THE TERM 



"dbtz fabm- 

 htq" as good 



AS ANT 



Dey Faeming. 



Pessimism about our possibilities of development is 

 sometimes fostered by selfisli interests, but men are 

 often mistaken about what is best for them. 



The term "Dry farming" is often objected to 

 because it states an untruth. No crop can be 

 produced without moisture. Dry farming 

 means farming where the annual precipitation 

 has not been considered sufficient for the produc- 

 tion of profitable crops. Indeed, dry farming is 

 usually carried on where the rainfall of one sea- 

 son is not sufficient and the moisture must be 

 saved up for a longer period. 



Perhaps dry farming is as good a combina- 

 tion as can be invented, to specify this kind of 

 agriculture. At any rate, no other term has been 

 suggested which covers the practice and is not 

 more objectionable. To designate it as Scien- 

 tific farming is not good, for farming is an art. 

 Science is as useful, if not as indispensable, to 

 other forms of agriculture. Scientific farming 

 has been used also to designate the semi-arid 

 cropping along the border of the region of suf- 

 ficient rainfall. Arid farming is a most excel- 

 lent term, but it has a broader meaning. As 

 here used arid agriculture covers the whole sub- 

 ject of production from the soil in the states 

 where aridity prevails. 



