204 DRY-FARMING 



The precariousness of dry-farming must be done 

 away with. The year of drouth must be expected 

 every year. Only as certainty of crop yield is as- 

 sured will dry-farming rise to a respected place by the 

 side of other branches of agriculture. To attain such 

 certainty and respect clean summer fallowing every 

 second, third, or fourth year, according to the average 

 rainfall, is probably indispensable ; and future in- 

 vestigations, long enough continued, will doubtless 

 confirm this j^rediction. Undoubtedly, a rotation of 

 crops, including h(jed crops, will find an important 

 place in dr}--farming, but probabl}' n(.)t to the com- 

 plete exclusion of the clean summer fallow. 



Jethro Tull, two hundred years ago, discovered 

 that thorough tillage of the soil gave crops that in 

 some cases could not be j^roduced by the addition of 

 manure, and he came to the erroneous conclusion that 

 "tillage is manure." In recent days we have learned 

 the value of tillage in conserving moisture and in 

 enabling plants to reach maturity with the least 

 amount of water, and we may be tempted to believe 

 that "tillage is moisture." This, like Tull's state- 

 ment, is a fallacy and must be avoided. Tillage can 

 take the place of moisture only to a limited degree. 

 Water is the essential consideration in dry-farming, 

 else there would be no drv-farming. 



