214 DRY-FARMING 



fertility the spring is not so desirable as the fall for 

 germination. More important, grain sown in the 

 fall under favorable conditions will establish a good 

 root system wliich is rearh' for use and in action in 

 the early spring as soon as the temperature is right 

 and long before the farmer can go out on the ground 

 with his implements. As a result, the crop has the 

 use of the early sj.iring moisture, which under the 

 conchtions of spring sowing is evai)orated into the air. 

 Where the natural precifiitation is light and the 

 amount of water stored in the soil is not large, the 

 gain resulting from the use of the eai'ly spring mois- 

 ture often decides the question in favor of fall 

 sowing. 



The disadvantages of fall sowing are also many. 

 Tlie unc(>rtainty of the fall rains must first be con- 

 sidered. In (irdinary practice, seed sown in the fall 

 does not germinate until a rain comes, unless indeed 

 sowing is done immediately after a rain. The fall 

 rains are uncertain as to quantity. In many cases 

 they are so light that they suffice only to start ger- 

 mination and not to complete it and give the plants 

 the projjer start. Such incomplete germination fre- 

 quently causes the total loss of the crop. Even if the 

 stand of the fall crop is satisfactory, there is always 

 the danger of winter-killing to be reckoned with. 

 The real cause of winter-killing is not yet clearly 

 understood, though it seems that repeated thawing 

 and freezing, drying winter winrls, accompanied by 



