THE AGRICULTURAL FUTURE OF THE REGION. 



31 



of the better capillary condition of the soil, is able to draw water 

 from a greater depth. ^ Summer tillage is not practicable on all soils 

 nor for all crops. Soils which are likely to blow, especially very 

 sandy soils, can not be bare tilled because they will blow away. 



Summer tillage has proved a success for winter wheat and by this 

 method of cultivation winter wheat becomes the surest crop in the 

 region; but without summer tillage winter wheat is as uncertain in 

 much of the region as spring grain. Summer tillage considerably 

 increases the yield of spring grains also. It is still uncertain whether 

 it is profitable to summer-till for spring grain or whether all the 

 summer-tilled land should be utilized for winter wheat and potatoes. 



There are now sufficient experimental data at hand to show con- 

 clusively that summer tillage is not profitable for corn, all results 

 indicating that corn on spring-plowed land will outyield that on 

 summer-tilled land. With all cultivated crops frequent, thorough, 

 and shallow cultivation is of the utmost importance. Unless the 

 season is unusually favorable the harrow should be used frequently 

 on corn, potatoes, and small grain until the plants are so large as to 

 be damaged by this implement. 



Up to the present time the methods employed in the semiarid 

 plains have, for the most part, been merely a makeshift. That 

 these methods must and will be changed for the better is certain. 

 General agriculture can never have a substantial foundation in this 

 region until tillage for the conservation of moisture is generally 

 practiced. In the face of the fact that so much has been done in 

 the way of tillage for the conservation of moisture in parts of Utah, 

 Oregon, Washington, and Canada, it is a w^onder that so little has 

 been done on our semiarid plains. The work of the agricultural 

 experiment stations and of the progressive farmers in the region has 

 now gone far enough to prove that by the use of methods for mois- 

 ture conservation which have accomplished so much in the far 

 northwest a considerable amount of moisture can be conserved and 

 used for crop production in aU portions of the semiarid region. 



INTRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF DROUGHT-RESISTANT CROPS. 



As regards the introduction and development of drought-resistant 

 crops, much is to be expected. The Department of Agriculture has 

 experts scouring all parts of the world in search of plants which 

 may prove valuable in the various sections of the United States. 

 There are many regions in the Old World where the climatic condi- 

 tions are very similar to those of our semiarid Plains and upon which 

 civilized men have maintained themselves for thousands of years. 

 Many varieties of drought-resistant plants adapted to our semiarid 



1 See ''Some Soil Studies in Dry-Land Regions," by Dr. F. J. Alway, in Bulletin 130. Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, 1908, p. 38. 



215 



