THE FALLOW YEAR 203 
fallowing for the purpose of storing moisture in the 
soil is unnecessary; the only value of the fallow 
year under such conditions would be to set. free fer- 
tility. In the Great Plains area the rainfall is some- 
what higher than elsewhere in the dry-farm territory 
and most of it comes in summer; and the summer 
precipitation is probably enough in average years to 
mature crops, providing soil conditions are favorable. 
The main considerations, then, are to keep the soils 
open for the reception of water and to maintain the 
soils in a sufficiently fertile condition to produce, as 
explained in Chapter IX, plants with a minimum 
amount of water. This is accomplished very largely 
by the year of hoed crop, when the soil is as well 
stirred as under a clean fallow. 
The dry-farmer must never forget that the critical 
element in dry-farming is water and that the annual 
rainfall will in the very nature of things vary from 
year to year, with the result that the dry year, or the 
year with a precipitation below the average, is sure to 
come. In somewhat wet years the moisture stored 
in the soil is of comparatively little consequence, but 
in a year of drouth it will be the main dependence of 
the farmer. Now, whether a crop be hoed or not, it 
requires water for its growth, and land which is con- 
tinuously cropped even with a variety of crops is 
likely to be so largely depleted of its moisture that, 
when the year of drouth comes, failure will probably 
result. . 
