362 DRY-FARMING 



to northern South Dakota in 1879, where in 1882 he 

 harvested a banner crop, — twelve thousand bushels 

 of wheat from three hundred acres. In 1883, on 

 the same farm he failed comjjletely. This experience 

 led him to a study of the conditions under which 

 wheat and other crops may Ije produced in the Great 

 Plains area. A natural love for investigation and a 

 dogged ])ersistence have led him to give his life to a 

 study of the agricultural problems of the Great Plains 

 area. He admits that his direct inspiration came 

 from the work of Jethro Tull, who labored two hun- 

 dred years ago, and his disci])les. He conceived 

 early the idea that if the soil were packed near the 

 bottom of the plow furrow, the moisture would 

 be retained better and greater crop certainty would 

 result. For this purpose the first subsurface packer 

 was invented in 1885. Later, al^out 1895, when his 

 ideas had crystallized into theories, he appeared as 

 the publisher of Campbell's "Soil Culture and Farm 

 Journal." One page of each issue was devoted to a 

 succinct statement of tlie "Campl^ell Method." It 

 was in 1898 that the doctrine of summer tillage was 

 begun to be investigated by him. 



In view of the crop failures of the early '90's and 

 the gradual drv-farn:i awal-cening of the later '90's, 

 Campbell's work was received with much interest. 

 He soon became identified with the efforts of the 

 railroads to maintain demonstration farms for the 

 benefit of intending settlers. While Campbell has 



