222 DRY-FARMING 



Quantity to sow 



Numerous dry-farm failures may be charged 

 wholly to ignorance concerning the quantity of seed 

 to sow. In no other practice has the custom of 

 humid countries been followed more religiously by 

 dry-farmers, and failure has nearly alwa3's resulted. 

 The discussions in this volume have brought out the 

 fact that every plant of whatever character requires 

 a large ami^unt of water for its growth. From the 

 hrst elay of its growth t(_) tlie day o( its maturity, 

 large amounts of water are taken from the soil 

 through the j.ilant and evapoi'ated into the air 

 through the leaves. When the large quantities of 

 seed employed in humitl c(Jiuitries have been sown 

 on dry lands, the result has usually been an excellent 

 stand early in the season, with a crop splendid in 

 ajipearance up to early summer. A luxuriant spring 

 crop reduces, h(jwever, the water content of the soil 

 so greatl}' that when the heat of the summer arrives, 

 there is not sufficient water left in the soil to support 

 the final tlevel(Ji)meut and ripening. A thick stand 

 in earh' s]jring is no assurance to the dry-farmer of 

 a good harvest. On the contrary, it is usually the 

 field with a thin stand in s]:)ring that stands up best 

 through the summer and A'ields most at the time of 

 harvest. The quantity of seed sown should vary with 

 the soil conditions : the more fertile the soil is, the 

 more seed may l)e used; the more water in the soil, 



