118 DRY-FARMING 



the soil to a depth of 8 feet or more. The larger 

 the quantity of water in the soil in the fall, the more 

 readily and quickly will the water that falls on the 

 land during the resting period of fall, winter, and 

 early spring sink into the soil and move away from 

 the topsoil. The top or first foot will always con- 

 tain the largest percentage of water because it is the 

 chief receptacle of the water that falls as rain or snow, 

 but when the subsoil is properly moist, the water 

 will more completely leave the topsoil. Further, 

 crops planted on a s(nl saturated with water to a 

 depth of 8 feet are almost certain to mature and 

 yield well. 



If the field-water capacity has not been filled, 

 there is always the danger that an unusually dry 

 season or a series of hot winds or other like circum- 

 stances may either seriously injure the crop or cause 

 a complete failure. The dry- farmer should keep a 

 surplus of moisture in the soil to be carried over 

 from year to year, just as the wise business man 

 maintains a sufficient working cajjital for the needs 

 of his business. In fact, it is often safe to advise 

 the prospective dry-farmer to plow his newly cleared 

 or broken land carefully and then to grow no crop 

 on it the first year, so that, when crop production 

 begins, the soil will have stored in it an amount of 

 water sufficient to carry a crop over periods of drouth. 

 Especially in districts of very low rainfall is this 

 practice to be recommended. In the Great Plains 



