THE DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



309 



The greater the evaporation in any given locality, the harder must 

 the settler work to conserve moisture sufficient to produce his crops. 

 ThiB character of rainfall, prevalence of hail, frost, hot winds, high winds, 

 the physical property of the soil of the locality — its depth, porosity, tend- 

 ency to bake and clod, and the amount of organic matter and plant food 

 it contains, are all factors which the prospective settler should consider. 



3. FORTY-FOUR YEARS' EXPERIENCE AS A DRY FARMER. 



By Honorable Geo. L. Farrell, Smithfield, Utah. 



I began farming in Cache valley in 1864, farming in the same man- 

 ner I did in the region I came from. I faUed miserably for two years. 



I always hated to be overcome and 1 determined to either win out or 

 "go broke." 



I had been plowing three to four inches but I tried plowing down to 

 eight and more inches. I also sowed less than half the grain I had been 

 sowing. The result was that I had something to harvest. 



Result of Methodical Work. 



I took encouragement, and, the following year, seeded 110 acres of 

 deep, well plowed land to wheat, using but 30 to 35 pounds of seed per 

 acre. I harvested exactly 40 bushels and eight pounds per acre. I found 

 that by seeding on a better prepared seed bed, with less seed, I had 

 larger heads and more rows of wheat kernels per head. 



Thin Seeding. 



When we sow grain too thick on dry farms and it comes so thick, 

 it draws the substance and moiiSture out of the ground, until there is not 

 enougl? moisture to support it and the grain fails to fill out — does not 

 m ature. 



One year, I hired a Dane to seed my. rye — 100 acres. I required him 

 to seed exactly one-half bushel per acre. He felt I made a very great 

 mistake for "back home," in Denmark, they seed three bushels per acre. 

 He seeded five acres on his home farm, using 15 bushels of rye to seed 

 it. I harvested 27 bushels per acre over my entire field; the Dane har- 

 vested 20 bushels from his five acres, only five bushels more than he 

 seeded, one kernel of my rye would miake 12 kernels of his rye. 



Tree Planting. 



A genleman from the United States Department of Agriculture 

 visited me in 1907 and expressed surprise at my fine box elder trees, 

 12 to 13 years old. This type of tree gives ample shade and is well 

 adapted to dry farming if only they are put down right in the first place. 

 When I planted those trees, I dug holes down until T got moisture. If 

 I got down to moisture in two feet, I stopped; if I had to go three feet, 

 I stopped there. The trees which I planted were about 10 feet long and 

 one inch thick. I trimmed all the limbs off and set them down. I pal 



