WHEAT RAISING ON THE PLAINS. 29 
hills absorb all the water which falls upon them. They also re¬ 
ceive in addition the drainage from about as large an area as they 
cover which lies west of them. They seem to cover the lower 
courses of the streams which start on the clay lands west of the 
sandhills. This moisture influences the humidity of the area 
which the hills partially surround, and while the rainfall is prac¬ 
tically the same at Wray as at Cheyenne Wells, the air is more 
humid and so does not absorb the water from the soil and from 
vegetation so rapidly as does the air in less protected localities. 
The rule seems to hold good that the greater* the percent of 
clay a soil contains the more water it must have in order to pro¬ 
duce a crop. It is a noticable fact that during dry years the men 
living on black sandy land produce better crops of all kinds than 
those living on clay lands, but where the rainfall is abundant the 
clay lands will give larger yields, especially of wheat, than the 
sandv lands. 
One encouraging fact which should be here noted is that the 
samples of macaroni wheat grown in eastern Colorado have been 
pronounced to be the best seen which has been grown in the 
United States. The rainfall is never enough to damage the qual¬ 
ity of macaroni wheat. From present indications it is possible 
that in a few years very little wheat except macaroni wheat will 
be grown in eastern Colorado, and it is also likely that the wheat¬ 
growing districts will be greatly enlarged by the use of this 
variety. 
Use of Straw . For a long time the wheat-raisers had little 
use for their straw. Sometimes the straw would accumulate for 
several years if it was not burned, but during the past four years 
they have been wintering cattle in the wheat growing districts 
because the range has become so crowded that there was no 
winter range in many localities. This influx of cattle from the 
pastures surrounding the farming districts has furnished a profit¬ 
able market for all the straw which is produced. At the same 
time the feed raised in the farming country has saved the lives of 
thousands of cattle. 
Results. The real results of a business are not conecth 
estimated if only the volume of the business is known. While 
the yield of wheat per acre will not average more than eight 
bushels 011 the two divides during the fifteen years it has been 
grown there, that does not tell of the profits and losses sustained 
by the settlers. Of course the settlers have been forced to raise 
corn in order to raise wheat. Then they raised hogs because they 
raised corn. They gathered cattle because they had so much 
rough feed as a by-product from the wheat and corn raising. 
This has changed the period during which the farmer had em¬ 
ployment for himself and family from 90 days during the year 
