U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
the work of the Office of Dry-Land Agriculture Investigations oc- 
cupied 18 acres in the experimental field. Necessary additions to 
the experiments in 1923 increased the area to about 25 acres. 
The land was broken in 1912, and the first crop was grown in 1913. 
The preparation of the land was uniform for the crop of that year, 
so that the results of rotation and tillage methods begin with 1914. 
The process of obtaining the data has proceeded in a normal manner 
from year to year except in 1920, when the spring work on the rotation 
and tillage plats was not begun until June 4. The results of this 
delay were decreases in yields and in the demarcation of the various 
methods of tillage and cropping. The yield of spring wheat on 
disked corn stubble in the rotation plats was 4 bushels, whereas the 
yield of the same variety of wheat on disked corn stubble in the va- 
rietal trials was 11.9 bushels per acre. The yields of oats, barley, 
and flax were affected similarly. The planting of corn was not so 
much delayed, and the effects were not so marked. 
The data relating to dates and rates of seeding were procured from 
experiments conducted by the Office of Cereal Investigations and the 
Wyoming State Farm Board. 
The natural agricultural resources of the region consist of the na- 
tive grasses, which are well adapted to the production of cattle, sheep, 
and horses. The dry farmers who have succeeded in making com- 
fortable homes and who continue to receive substantial incomes have 
made use of the native grasses and increased the carrying capacity of 
the range by the production of forage crops. Those who have at- 
tempted to produce small grains only have in most cases failed. A 
combination of these two systems will probably result in increased 
incomes of the dry farmers and greater stability of both ranching and 
dry farming. 
SOIL 
The soil at the Archer Field Station is a chocolate-brown sandy 
loam with an interspersion of a small percentage of fine gravel. The 
soil is 3 to 4 feet deep and is underlain by either a hardpan or gravel. 
The hardpan consists of the gravel cemented together and is rather 
impervious. The soil at the station is fairly representative of the 
upland in the region, but the soil along the creeks and valleys is alluvial 
and varies considerably from that of the upland. The soil in its na- 
tive state is covered with a sod of grasses and other plants, including 
many legumes. 
CLIMATE 
The summers are rather short, cool, and pleasant, while there is 
little snow in the winters and heavy winds during January, February, 
and March. The heaviest snows generally occur during the late 
fall and middle spring months. The greatest precipitation is during 
April, May, June, and July. Fair average precipitation is received 
through August and September. The monthly, seasonal, and annual 
precipitation at the Archer Field Station from 1913 to 1923, inclusive, 
is given in Table 1. The monthly averages of the precipitation at 
Cheyenne, as recorded by the Weather Bureau for the same period 
of years and for the 53 years from 1871 to 1923, inclusive, are also 
shown in this table. The normal annual precipitation at Cheyenne 
for the entire period of record was 14.17 inches, and the average 
from 1913 to 1923, inclusive, was 15.51 inches. The average annual 
precipitation at the Archer Field Station for the same years was 
15.01 inches. 
