8° DRY-FARMING 
of arid lands offers another group of important 
dry-farm problems. Some plants use much less 
water than others. Some attain maturity quickly, 
and in that way become desirable for dry-farming. 
Still other crops, grown under humid conditions, 
may easily be adapted to dry-farming conditions, 
if the correct methods are employed, and in a few 
seasons may be made valuable dry-farm crops. 
The individual characteristics of each crop should be 
known as they relate themselves to a low rainfall and 
arid soils. 
After a crop has been chosen, skill and knowledge 
are needed in the proper seeding, tillage, and har- 
vesting of the crop. Failures frequently result 
from the want of adapting the crop treatment to 
arid conditions. 
After the crop has been gathered and stored, its 
proper use is another problem for the dry-farmer. 
The composition of dry-farm crops is different from 
that of crops grown with an abundance of water. 
Usually, dry-farm crops are much more nutritious 
and therefore should command a higher price in the 
markets, or should be fed to stock in corresponding 
proportions and combinations. 
The fundamental problems of dry-farming are, 
then, the storage in the soil of a small annual rain- 
fall; the retention in the soil of the moisture until 
it is needed by plants; the prevention of the di- 
rect evaporation of soil-moisture during the growing 
