216 DRY-FARMING 



temperature higli enough for plant growth, fall sow- 

 ing is also a general practice. Wherever the condi- 

 tions are favorable, fall sowing should be practiced, 

 for it is in harmon}' with the best principles of water 

 conservation. Even in districts where the precipita- 

 tion comes chiefl}' in the summer, it may be found 

 that fall sowing, after all, is preferable. 



The right time to sow in the fall can be fixed only 

 with great difficulty, for so much depends upon the 

 climatic conditions. In fact the practice varies in 

 accordance with differences in fall precipitation 

 and early fall frosts. Wliere numerous fall rains 

 maintain the soil in a fairly moist condition and the 

 temperature is not too low, the j^roblem is compara- 

 tively simple. In such districts, for latitudes repre- 

 sented b_\' the dry-farm sections of the United 

 States, a good time for fall planting is ordinarily 

 from the first of September to the middle of October. 

 If sown much earlier in such districts, the growth is 

 likely to be too rank and subject to dangerous injury 

 by frosts, and as suggested by Farrell the very large 

 development of the root system in the fall may 

 cause, the following summer, a dangerousl)' large 

 growth of foliage; that is, the cnj]) may run to 

 straw at the exix'iise of the grain. If s(_)\vn much 

 later, the chances are that the cnip will nut possess 

 sufficient vitality to withstand the c<jld of late fall 

 and winter. In l<jcalities where the late summer and 

 the early fall are rainless, it is much more difficult to 



