Thorough Tillage System eor Plains oe Colorado. 7 
on one half his land each year while he is storing up moisture in the 
soil reservoir of the other half to make the next year’s crop. Farm¬ 
ers in the southern part of Larimer County, Colorado, have been 
able to raise quite satisfactory wheat, barley and forage crops by 
following this method of cropping. 
Mr. Geo. D. Porter living at Akron, Colorado, near the center 
of the plains region has used this method of cropping, for a small 
area, for several years. He reported last fall, when he seeded his 
winter wheat, a soil reservoir in which there was five feet of moist¬ 
ure. Last season gave us an uuusual amount of rainfall but this 
summer culture has been practiced in some parts of California for 
more than forty years with satisfactory results. The writer knows 
of one section of California where it seldom rains from April to 
September, yet here some of the finest fruit and grain is grown. 
This region in California has an ample supply of moisture in the 
rainy season—the winter months. This illustration is simply given 
to show the value of the earth mulch in holding the moisture which 
is already in the soil reservoir. 
Mr. S. S. Peterman has a cherry orchard near Fort Collins 
that has never been irrigated. He depends upon rainfall for his 
moisture in a region that averages scarcely fifteen inches per an¬ 
num. As soon in the spring as possible he cultivates his orchard 
and continues to stir the ground until the fruit sets. His trees 
bear fine flavored cherries in a satisfactory quantity, while his 
orchard is the cleanest one in his neighborhood. This orchard is 
eight years old, but has not yet weathered one of our “dry” years. 
Summer culture keeps the ground in good tilth, keeps down 
weeds, renders the plant food easily available for the next year’s 
crop, while it stores up the moisture so necessary to the plant in 
assimilating its food. 
II. SELECTION OF SEED FOR SEMI-ARID CONDITIONS. 
Climatic conditions are believed to have an influence on the 
development of certain temperaments and characteristics in the 
breeding of live stock, although the hereditary power of a well-bred 
horse, cow or sheep to transmit its qualities to its descendents is the 
major influence and measures the value of a pedigree. 
While plants, like live stock, certainly have strong hereditary 
power, yet it seems true that climate, soil and cultural methods, 
have an influence on the manner of growth of very many crops 
grown in our fields. 
M. de Candolle, an eminent plant scientist, has succeeded in 
finding the wild forms of one hundred and ninety-three of the 
two hundred and seventy species of cultivated plants. Of the 
remaining seventy-seven, twenty-seven he names as possibly half 
