368 DRY-FARMING 



Great Plains area. It does not propose or outline 

 any system of reclamation. Several later publica- 

 tions of the Colorado Station deal with the problems 

 peculiar to the Great Plains. 



At the Utah Station the possible conquest of the 

 sagebrush deserts of the Great Basin without irriga- 

 tion Avas a to\nc of common conversation during the 

 years 1894 and 189.5. In 1896 plans were presented 

 for experiments on the principles of dry- farming. 

 Four years later these plans were carried into effect. 

 In the summer of 1901, the author and L. A. ^lerrill 

 investigated carefully the jiractices of the dry-farms 

 of the state. On the basis of these observations and 

 by the use of the established principles (.)f the relation 

 of water to soils and plants, a theory of dry-farming 

 was worked out which was published in Bulletin 75 

 of the Utah Station in January, 1902. This is prob- 

 ably the first systematic presentation of the prin- 

 ciples of dry-farming. A year later the Legislature 

 of the state of Utah made jsrovision for the establish- 

 ment and maintenance of six experimental dry-farms 

 to investigate in different parts of the state the pos- 

 sibility of dry-farming and the principles under- 

 lying the art. These stations, which are still main- 

 tained, have done much to stimulate the growth of 

 dry-farming in Utah. The credit of first under- 

 taking and maintaining systematic experimental 

 work in behalf of dry-farming should be assigned to 

 the state of Utah. Since dry-farm experiments 



