CHAPTER X 



PLOWING AND FALLOWING 



The soil treatment prescribed in the preceding 

 chapters rests upon (1) deep and thorough plowing, 

 done preferably in the fall ; (2) thorough cultivation 

 to form a mulch over the surface of the land, and (3) 

 clean summer fallowing every other year under low 

 rainfall or every third or fourth year under abundant 

 rainfall. 



Students of dry-farming all agree that thorough 

 cultivation of the topsoil prevents the evaporation of 

 soil-moisture, but some have questioned the value of 

 deep and fall plowing and the occasional clean sum- 

 mer fallow. It is the purpose of this chapter to state 

 the findings of practical men with reference to the 

 value of plowing and fallowing in producing large 

 crop yields under dry-farm conditions. 



It will be shown in Chapter XVIII that the first 

 attempts to produce crops without irrigation under a 

 limited rainfall were made independently in many 

 diverse places. California, Utah, and the Columbia 

 Basin, as far as can now be learned, as well as the 

 Great Plains area, were all independent pioneers in 

 the art of dry-farming. It is a most significant fact 

 that these diverse localities, operating under differ- 



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