GENERAL CLIMATIC FEATURES 49 



Drouth 



Drouth is said to be the arch enemy of the dry- 

 farmer, but few agree upon its meaning. For the 

 purposes of this volume, drouth may l^e defined as a 

 condition under which crops fail to mature because 

 of an insufficient supply of water. Providence has 

 generally been charged with causing drouths, but 

 under the above definition, man is usually the cause. 

 Occasionally, relatively dry years occur, but they 

 are seldom dry enough to cause crop failures if 

 proper methods of farming have been practiced. 

 There are four chief causes of drouth : (1) Improper 

 or careless preparation of the soil; (2) failure to 

 store the natural precipitaticm in the soil; (3) 

 failure to apply proper cultural methods for keep- 

 ing the moisture in the soil until needed by plants, 

 and (4) sowing too much seed for the available soil- 

 moisture. 



Crop failures due to untimely frosts, blizzards, 

 cyclones, tornadoes, or hail may perhaps l^e charged 

 to Providence, but the dry-farmer must accept the 

 responsibility for any crop injury resulting from 

 drouth. A fairly accurate knowledge of the climatic 

 conditions of the district, a good understanding of 

 the principles of agriculture without irrigation under 

 a low rainfall, and a vigorous application of these 

 principles as adapted to the local climatic conditions 

 will make dry-farm failures a rarity. 



