230 DRY-FARMING 



the introduction of the header S3'steni of harvesting. 

 This system of harvesting also malces the practice of 

 fallowing much more effective, for it helps maintain 

 the organic matter which is drawn uj^on by the fallow 

 seasons. The header should be used wherever prac- 

 ticable. The fear has been expressed that the high 

 header straw i)lowed under will make the soil so 

 loose as to render proper solving difficult and also, 

 because of the eas}' circulation of air in the upper 

 soil layers, cause a large loss of soil-moisture. This 

 fear has been fi3iuid to ])e groundless, for wherever 

 the header straw has been plowed under, especially 

 in connection with fallowing, the soil has been bene- 

 fited. 



Rapidit}' and economy in harvesting are vital fac- 

 tors in dr}'-farming, and new devices are constantly 

 being offered to expedite the work. Of recent years 

 the combined harvester and thresher has come into 

 general use. It is a large header combined with an 

 ordinary threshing machine. The grain is headed 

 and threshed in one oj^cration and the sacks dropped 

 along the path of the machine. The straw is scat- 

 tered over the field where it belongs. 



All in all, the question of sowing, care of crop, and 

 harvesting may be answered by the methods that 

 have Ijeen so well developed in countries of abundant 

 rainfall, except as new methods may be required to 

 offset the deficiency in the rainfall which is the deter- 

 mining condition of drv-farming. 



