404 DRY-FARMING 
the summers are dry, and the evaporation is large. 
Senator Barnes purchased ninety acres of land in the 
spring of 1887 and had it farmed under his own su- 
pervision until 1906. He is engaged in commercial 
enterprises and did not, himself, do any of the work 
on the farm, but employed men to do the neces- 
sary labor. However, he kept a close supervision 
of the farm and decided upon the practices which 
should be followed. From seventy-eight to eighty- 
nine acres were harvested for each crop, with the 
exception of 1902, when all but about twenty acres 
was fired by sparks from the passing railroad train. 
The plowing, harrowing, and weeding were done very 
carefully. The complete record of the Barnes dry- 
farm from 1887 to 1905 is shown in the table on 
the following page. 
The first plowing was given the farm in May of 
1887, and, with the exception of 1902, the land was 
invariably plowed in the spring. With fall plowing 
the yields would undoubtedly have been better. 
The first sowing was made in the fall of 1887, and fall 
grain was grown during the whole period of observa- 
tion. The seed sown in the fall of 1887 came up well, 
but was winter-killed. This is ascribed by Senator 
Barnes to the very dry winter, though it is probable 
that the soil was not sufficiently well stored with 
moisture to carry the crop through. The farm was 
plowed again in the spring of 1888, and another crop 
sown in September of the same year. In the summer 
