THE DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



Hi 



of water need not be so great, for even a little water at a critical time, 

 may save the crop. 



Alfalfa. 



"Alfalfa seeded on such land, is much more likely to become firmly 

 and deeply rooted than if seeded on land in which the sub-soil is dry. 



Dry Farm Corn. 



"The moisture samples show why com rather thctn oats or spring 

 wheat should be planted on the field deficient in moisture. In every field 

 compared, the content of moisture in the soil in the corn field increased 

 until about the first of July. There was an accumulation of moisture in 

 the com field, just as in the summer tilled field until about the date 

 given. From that time on the amount of moisture in the corn field de- 

 creased rapidly, while in the summer tilled field it remained about con- 

 stant. In the small grain fields, the accumulation of moisture was not 

 so great and the decrease in percentage of moisture began much earlier 

 in the season. 



Water Conservation. 



"A difference of four or five inches in the amoimt of water stored 

 in the soil, may mean a very great difference in the yield. There has 

 to be put into the soil, we will say nine inches of water before the soil 

 gets all it takes for its own use. If twelve inches are put- in then there 

 are three inches for the use of the crop. If sixteen inches are stored, 

 there is more than twice the moisture available, than there is in the 

 case where twelve inches are stored. This should mean a larger yield. 

 In the spring of 1908, plat 'A' contained 12 per cent, of moisture in the 

 upper six feet of soil. In the fall, it contained 9 per cent. It also received, 

 during the growing season, about sixteen inches of rainfall. No doubt 

 some of this ran off. The plat yielded at the rate of 22.7 bushels of 

 wheat per acre. Plat 'D' in the spring of 1908, contained 16.5 per cent, 

 of moisture, or four and one-half inches more water in the first six feet 

 of soil than plat 'A.' This plat lying beside plat 'A,' received the same 

 rainfall. It contains 10 per cent of moisture in the fall. This plat had 

 been summer tilled the previous year.* The yield on it was at the rate 

 of 40.3 bushels of wheat per acre. Three and a half inches of water would 

 not account for the difference in the yields of wheat, were it not for the 

 fact that this water was available at the critical periods, and tided the 

 crop over from one rain until another, without any check in the growth. 



Drouth Resistant Crops. 



"The cry in the vest is for drouth-resisting crops, and by this, many 

 of us mean crops that will grow and make grain for forage during sea- 

 sons of drouth. Some plants will build up more food material from a 

 given amjount of water than others, and some will lie as if dormant, 

 while others would die under the same conditions, but we should not 

 lose sight of the fact that although every plant is very drouth resistant, it 

 is not likely to get more water on the dry farms than it can use to 



