Dry Farming In Colorado 
7 
DRY FARMING SOILS 
The first essential of success in dry farming is a soil adapted 
for the production of crops in regions of deficient rainfall. The 
first essential is that the soil shall be of proper and uniform tex¬ 
ture to a considerable depth. The soils best adapted to Colorado 
dry-farming conditions run from sandy loams to silt loams in 
texture. No matter what the texture of the soil, however, it must 
be uniform to a considerable depth. A shallow soil will not hold 
water enough to carry crops thru periods of prolonged drouth. A 
layered or stratified soil gives rise to a different series of water 
relations, which prevent the crops from getting and taking out 
the watter supply in the soil, except during wet years. Gravels, 
heavy clays and adobes are very poorly adapted for dry farming. 
A shallow soil overlying gravel, rock, shale, or clay, will only 
produce crops in wet years. 
For the most part, the soils of Colorado dry-farming regions 
are deep and rich. They are rich because they have been formed 
in an arid or semi-arid climate, consequently the mineral elements 
of fertility have not been leached out. Most of these soils are 
deficient in organic matter (vegetable matter). For the most part, 
they are rather light in nature, sandy loams and silt loams being- 
much more numerous than adobes and clays. In some localities 
there are areas of gravel; in a few, there are areas of almost pure 
sand. Such areas are often wind blown into sand dunes or sand 
hills. A few regions have soils of almost pure silt. These re¬ 
gions are characterized by soils of great depth, very desirable wa¬ 
ter relations and great certainty of productivity, rainfall consid¬ 
ered. Only a few soils surveys have been made. These have been 
made by the United States Bureau of Soils in Larimer and Weld 
Counties, in the Arkansas Valley, in the San Luis Valley and in 
the Grand Valley. 
Owing' to the prevalence and tendency of high winds, meth¬ 
ods to prevent soils blowing must often be devised and practiced. 
Control methods consist largely in keeping the immediate soil 
surface rough on all cultivated land which is in crop. Anything 
which will break the force of the wind at the soil’s surface is ef¬ 
fective. Over much of the plains area fall plowing is inadvis¬ 
able because of the tendency and danger of soil blowing. In such 
sections, fall listing may be successfully practiced, making fur¬ 
rows crosswise of the direction of prevailing winds. Soil listing 
not only conserves moisture, but it prevents blowing, keeps down 
weed growth and leaves the soil in good shape for catching any 
winter precipitation. 
