WATER CONTENT OF DRY-FARM CROPS 263 
more valuable pound for pound than the moister hay, 
and a difference in price, based upon the difference 
in water content, is already being felt in certain sec- 
tions of the West. 
The moisture content of dry-farm wheat, the chief 
dry-farm crop, is even more important. According 
to Wiley the average water content of wheat for the 
United States is 10.62 per cent, ranging from 15 to 7 
per cent. Stewart and Greaves examined a large 
number of wheats grown on the dry-farms of Utah 
and found that the average per cent of water in the 
common bread varieties was 8.46 and in the durum 
varieties 8.89. This means that the Utah dry-farm 
wheats transported to ordinary humid conditions 
would take up enough water from the air to increase 
their weight one fortieth, or 24 per cent, before they 
reached the average water content of American wheats. 
In other words, 1,000,000 bushels of Utah dry-farm 
wheat contain as much nutritive matter as 1,025,000 
bushels of wheat grown and kept under humid con- 
ditions. This difference should be and now is recog- 
nized in the prices paid. In fact, shrewd dealers, 
acquainted with the dryness of dry-farm wheat, have 
for some years bought wheat from the dry-farms at a 
slightly increased price, and trusted to the increase 
in weight due to water absorption in more humid 
climates for their profits. The time should be near 
at hand when grains and similar products should be 
purchased upon the basis of a moisture test. 
