Dry Farming In Colorado 
9 
keep the soil always moist. This may be illustrated by experi¬ 
ments made during the summer of 1907. The summer was wet 
early, but dry from July on until September 28th. In the experi¬ 
ment the stubble of grain fields was given this treatment. One 
field was disked behind the binder. As soon as the grain could 
be taken off, the field was plowed. Each half day of plowing was 
disked and harrowed. The plowing was done in July. A second 
field was not touched after harvest until the first of September. 
No treatment was given after plowing. The soil of the first field 
was in fair tilth. The soil of the second field was in poor tilth, 
being very dry, lumpy and cloddy. Rains came September 28th 
and 29th and October 3d and 4th. In all, a fraction over 4 inches 
of water fell in the period. Field No. 1 was in fairly good condi¬ 
tion before the rains. The 4 inches of rain wet the soil in this 
field so the surface moisture went down slightly over 2 feet. In 
field No. 2 the same rain only went down about 8 inches. Thus, 
field No. 1 was in very excellent condition for fall seeding, while 
field No. 2 was too dry to justify fall seeding in spite of 4 inches 
of rain. In other words, in field No. 2, 4 inches of rain had only 
been sufficient to put the soil in shape to catch future rains. 
The time of breaking is very important. Plowing should be 
done in the spring or early summer for fall crops, and in the sum¬ 
mer and fall for spring crops. Where there is danger of soil 
blowing, listing or middle breaking may be used in place of 
plowing. 
Water moves very much faster in a moist soil than in a dry 
one. Very dry soils actually repel water at first. It might be 
asked, how is it possible to keep a soil moist? Never let it get 
dry. Keeping soil from becoming dry requires careful methods 
of cultivation and cropping. 
Surface Treatment to Catch Rainfall .—What kind of treat¬ 
ment the surface soils shall be given to assist in catching rainfall 
or snowfall depends upon the kind of soil—whether sandy, silt 
or clay—upon the kind and time of plowing, whether the plowing 
is on breaking or old land, and upon the kind of crop grown. 
Sandy lands are open and porous. They take rainfall readily. 
Such lands may be plowed relatively shallow, because they will 
take rain practically as fast as it falls. Silty and clayey soils are 
less open. Under natural conditions such soils will not take rain 
as fast as it falls, unless the rain is a drizzle. To make such 
heavy, close-textured soils take water as fast as it falls in normal 
rains, it is necessary to plow very deeply. Deep plowing makes 
a rough layer which takes in rainfall rapidly. This loose layer 
