THE DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



237 



sixty pounds to the acre. We put it in before our corn was cut with a 

 path seeder. It was all up by the middle of October. 



Dry Land Vegetables. 



"I expect to put in some tomatoes, perhaps three acres, and beets, 

 potatoes, cantaloupes and cucumbers. I am especially interested in 

 tomato growing, as we are in the finest garden district in the state. Al- 

 though the tomato, a native of South America, is not a desert plant, it 

 suffers more requently, particularly when young, from an over supply 

 than from want of water. Large yields have been and can be obtained 

 from soils of varying composition, but a good crop can not be produced 

 on any soil, no matter what its composition, which is not put in and kept 

 in good condition of tilth. 



Sand Loam Preferred. 



"But for a choice of land, the preferable soil, I think, is a rich, 

 sandy loam surface, overlying a clay sub-soil. By experiment, we find 

 that clay land will give a luxurient growth, but it will not ripen, so a 

 sandy loam, or even a distinctly sandy soil, is to be preferred, as it 

 will be warmer and the fruit will be matured much earlier than on a 

 heavier soil. The sand becomes warm during the day and holds the 

 heat over night. 



Deep Plowing. 



"On my dry farm I have ideal conditions. I shall plow as deep as 

 possible — eight or ten inches — follow the furrow with a sub-soil and 

 stir the soil, but not turn it out. 



Water Conservation. 



"The only .difference between the man farming under the ditch and 

 the dry farmer is that the former stores the water in reservoirs and the 

 latter in the ground. Suppose we do not subsoil plow; the moisture 

 falls in the winter and runs down to clay sub-soil and runs off as rain 

 runs off a roof, to come out miles away, perhaps, as seepage into a 

 river, to help some irrigating farmer. Keep that water at home. It is 

 yours. You might as reasonably expect to store water in a reservoir 

 without ditches as to store it in ground that has not been properly pre- 

 pared. Sand will not hold moisture as well as clay. 



Soil Treatment. 



"Stir your clay. When the rain falls you have a place to store it. 

 The sand on top keeps it from evaportaing, for ground moisture is like 

 a tea, kettle — it never steams down. After a rain, cultivate so as to 

 close the pores through which the rain passed into the ground, in order 

 that it may not escape. In this way we can, in the average season, store 

 sufficient moisture for almost any crop. 



Dry Farming Safe. 



"The dry farmer who is a farmer, will make good four years out of 



