162 DRY-FARMING 
often a disadvantage on dry-farms, which by cul- 
tural treatment have been made to contain a large 
store of moisture. It has .been shown repeatedly 
that light rains draw moisture very quickly from 
soil layers many feet below the surface. The rain- 
less summer is not feared by the dry-farmer whose 
soils are fertile and rich in moisture. It is impera- 
tive that at the very earliest moment after a. spring 
or summer rain the topsoil be well stirred to prevent 
evaporation. It thus happens that in sections of 
frequent summer rains, as in the Great Plains area, 
the farmer has to harrow his land many times in 
succession, but the increased crop: yields invariably 
justify the added expenditure of effort. 
Thirdly, on the summer-fallowed ground weeds 
start vigorously in the spring and draw upon the soil- 
moisture, if allowed to grow, fully as heavily as a crop 
of wheat or corn. The dry-farmer must not allow 
a weed upon his land. Cultivation must be so con- 
tinuous as to make weeds an impossibility. The 
belief that the elements added to the soil by weeds 
offset the loss of soil-moisture is wholly erroneous. 
The growth of weeds on a fallow dry-farm is more 
dangerous than the packed uncared-for topsoil. 
Many implements have been devised for the easy 
killing of weeds, but none appear to be better than 
the plow and the disk which are found on every farm. 
(See Chapter XV.) 
When crops are growing on the land, thorough 
