HINTS ON SOILS AND FERTILIZERS 37 
in the tilth of the soil. A soil is always much 
easier to work when it contains a good supply 
of this decaying vegetable matter. 
Soil water is appreciated in some of our dry¬ 
farming sections much more than it ordinarily 
is in the humid parts of the country. In the 
dry-farming sections, where the annual rain¬ 
fall is less than twenty inches, every effort is 
put forth to conserve this mwsoire. It often 
becomes necessary to raise a crop on a piece 
of land every other year, rather than every 
year, as there would not be sufficient moisture 
to mature a crop every year. Hence, a farmer, 
under these conditions might put various crops 
in 160 acres of his farm one year, if he owned 
a 320-acre farm, and “summer fallow” the other 
160 acres. This is under the supposition, of 
course, that every acre was under the plow. 
By “summer fallowing,” we simply mean that 
the land is worked up so that a mulch will be 
placed on the surface of the soil, especially after 
a rain, so that the moisture will not escape. 
This shows us that the moisture supply is an 
extremely important issue and that the wise 
farmer, whether he lives in a dry climate or a 
wet climate, will do everything possible to con¬ 
serve the moisture, as the success of his crops 
depends more upon this factor, year in and 
year out, than any other one thing. 
