244 DRY-FARMING 



been right, the failures that have been reported may 

 invariably be traced to the use of seed which had not 

 been acclimated. The American Indians grow corn 

 which is excellent for dry-farm purposes; many of 

 the western farmers have likewise produced strains 

 that use the minimum of moisture, and, moreover, 

 corn brought from humid sections adapts itself to 

 arid conditions in a very few years. Escobar reports 

 a native corn grown in Mexico with low stalks and 

 small ears that well endures desert conditions. In 

 extremely dry years corn does not always produce a 

 profitable crop of seed, but the crop as a whole, for 

 forage purposes, seldom fails t(j pay expenses and 

 leave a margin for profit. In wetter years there is a 

 corresponding increase of the corn croj). The dry- 

 farming territory does not yet realize the value of 

 corn as a dry-farm crop. The known facts concern- 

 ing corn make it safe to predict, however, that its dry 

 farm acreage will increase rapidly, and that in time 

 it will crowd the wheat crop for preeminence. 



Sorghums 



Among dry-farm crops not popularly known are 

 the sorghums, which promise to become excellent 

 yielders under arid conditions. The sorghums are 

 supposed to have come from the tropical sections 

 of the globe, but they are now scattered over the 

 earth in all climes. The sorghums have been known 



