162 



DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



Precipitation in Inches 



Date Black Rock Modena Pinto Enterprise 



1901 7.61 9.24 15.10 



1902 6.38 5.09 11.30 



1903 13.36 6.93 10.40 



1904 6.39 9.83 



1906 19.06 25.60 



1905 14.28 12.39 18.95 



1907 12.80 



1908 16.62 18.5 19.85 



1909 11.49 12.48 16.17 



1910 8 89 9.50 14.95 23.52 



1911 6.85 10.46 14.28 



1912 8.34 10.07 



1913 6.17 8.51 11.34 



In this section the precipitation during July, August and September 

 is greater than for any other season of the year, the monthly precipita- 

 tion at this season being from 2 to 4 inches. The climate is equable and 

 the record for sunshiny days shows that there are very few cloudy days. 

 Owing to the elevation (about 5,000 feet), the heat of summer is not 

 oppressive and we do not have here long dreary rainy seasons. The 

 mountains surround the valley on all sides and protect the section from 

 severe storms. The thermometer very seldom goes to zero in the winter 

 and the maximum temperature is about 90 degrees; the evenings are 

 always cool. Plowing is often begun in February, and it is possible in 

 this section to have crops well advanced when the summer rains come on. 



Because of the low altitude of the surrounding mountains few streams 

 reach the Escalante Valley. Aside f rom Iron Springs Creek the only per- 

 manent streams rise in the relatively high mountains to the south; the 

 most westerly of these streams is Shoal Creek which enters at Enter- 

 prise in Iron County and furnishes water for irrigation in that vicinity. 

 Twelve miles up this stream a storage reservoir contains the flood water 

 furnishing water for the section around Enterprise. Meadow Creek for- 

 merly furnished irrigation water for a small settlement at Hamblin, but 

 at present the water of this Creek is mostly used at Holt's ranch at the 

 mouth of the Canon. Another reservoir has been constructed holding the 

 water of Pinto Creek and this will irrigate a considerable section in the 

 vicinity of New Castle. There is no doubt, however, but that even when 

 all of the available water is stored there will still be hundreds of thous- 

 ands of acres of land that will have to be reclaimed either by dry-farming 

 or by water secured from subterranean sources. 



Possibilities o f Dry-Farming 



In some sections of the valley, the production of crops without irriga- 

 tion, but by the utilization of what is known as dry-farming methods has 

 been carried on for several years now. Some years ago an experimental 



