22 
COLORADO EXPERIMENT STATION 
Full directions for the planting and after treatment of forest trees 
may be obtained by writing to the Director of the Colorado Experi¬ 
ment Station, Fort Collins. 
CROPS EOR DRY LAND EARMING. 
* 
It is imperative that the seed used on the Plains should be grown 
under arid conditions. It is best to use seed that has been grown in 
the neighboorhood where it is to be planted. If this is impossible, the 
seed should be grown under as dry conditions as will be met by the 
growing crop. 
This fact can not be emphasized too strongly. Even a small in¬ 
crease in the amount of moisture will lessen the power of plants to 
withstand severe drought. In a dry year in the “nineties” the writer 
inspected a field of corn on a farm where the line fence was on the 
State line between Colorado and Kansas. The stalks were green and 
well eared, while for over one hundred and fifty miles east, corn was 
generally a failure. The seed used was a local strain that had, by 
selection, been developed to yield well under local dry conditions. The 
grower stated that every time he had tried seed from even only one 
hundred miles farther east, the crop had been poor. 
It is the common practice for new dry land settlers to bring their 
favorite seeds with them. The Iowa man brings seed corn, the 
Indiana man oats, and the Michigan man potatoes. With seasons of 
average or lower rainfall, the planting of these eastern seeds guar¬ 
antees a failure. The root development of plants from eastern seed 
is not sufficient to enable them to spread far enough in dry land soil to 
gather enough moisture, and often the too great growth of foliage 
evaporates too much moisture. 
Only those grain crops that mature early, before drought and hot 
winds come, and before the spring moisture is exhausted, should be 
grown. Wheat, barley and speltz are such crops. The surest forage 
crops are those like sorghum, milo maize and kafir corn that live 
and stand still through a drought and then mature quickly when rain 
comes. Seed should be selected from plants whose large root systems 
give them a broad area from which to draw moisture. 
Every season it is likely that conditions on the Plains will be 
unfavorable before the season is over. This condition demands seed 
with strong vitality that will transmit vigor to the young plants as 
soon as they start. Heavy seeds, as a rule, give strongest growth and 
the thorough use of a fanning mill with plenty of air is a great aid 
in securing a crop. 
Dry land farmers are usually careless about seed and use a mix¬ 
ture of heavy, shrunken and cracked grains, weed seed, chaff, sticks 
and dirt. There is much loss from seed that has been heated. 
Thin seeding is necessary. Where there is moisture enough to 
mature one plant only, if two occupy the space, the crop is a failure. 
