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‘they are, therefore, 
January 1, 1909 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
23 
The first experiments in this line date 
back more than a decade. The founder 
of the method is Prof. H. W. Campbell 
of Nebraska, under whose personal 
direction to day are some large model 
farms in the West, illustrating the mar- 
vellous 
farming’ Five years ago the Department 
accomplishments —_ of “dry 
of Agriculture began to lend its assistance 
in the matter, carrying on investigations 
as to the localities in which ‘dry farming’ 
will bring the best results, The depart- 
ment is also searching in many part: of 
the world for kinds of alfalfa and wheat 
and other plants which will yield the 
largest returns with a rainfall of less than 
20 in. 
As to land, it may be stated that high 
plateaux or rolling hills afford a better 
supply of rain to be stored by ‘dry 
farming ’ methods than do the valleys, and 
usually chosen 
first. 
Within the past year Gov. McDonald 
called together a congress of ‘dry farmers.’ 
Many ranches are beixg broken up to give 
place to the new system of farming, for it 
does not pay to raise cattle at the present 
prices at which this land is selling. In 
fact, much of the upland country is being 
turned into a veritable garden. 
The first operation in preparation of 
the soil isplonghing. This must be deep. 
A dise or a mould-board plough may he 
+e, depending on the character of the 
ground. One object of the deep ploughing 
is to provide an adequate reservoir for 
the storage of the rainfall Gang ploughs, 
with twelve to sixteen ploughshares in 
each, are acommon sight. These ploughs 
are drawn by traction engines. 
Steam ploughing helps out wonderfully 
in this work. In some of the Western 
States it would be out of the question to 
secure sufficient men and teams to accom- 
plish the ploushing of the hundr ds of 
thousands of acres annually being reclaimed 
by ‘dry farming.’ Steam ploughing costs 
less than half as much as ploughing with 
teams. It is not unusual for one plough- 
ing outfit to turn 3,000 acres of sod into 
cultivated land in one season. Two men 
are needed to operate the engine, besides 
a teamster and team for hauling fuel. 
A sub-surface packer follows” the 
plough, drawn by the same traction 
engine as the plough. This packer is 
similar in shape to a disc plough, except 
that it has tsn wheels. These wedge- 
shaped wheels or discs are 18 in. in 
diameter, and are arranged vertically on 
ashaft 6 in apart. The object of the 
sub-surface packer is to firm the soil. “A 
smovth roller, if used for this purpose, 
would have the effect of packing the sur- 
face soil rather than that of the sub- 
surface. The wheels of the packer, how- 
ever, are so arranged that they firm the 
soil in the lower portions of the furrow, 
restoring capillarity where ploughing has 
arrested it, A smoothing harrow next 
follows, leaving a pulverised layer on 
top, which prevents the moisture from 
below from reaching the surface and 
evaporating. 
The constant care and working of the 
soil on which the crops are to be raised 
are said to be equally important with the 
rainfall itself. The pulverised ground 
must not be allowed to pack or break in 
any event. To avoid this, the harrow ig 
run ove it aftereach rain. The working 
of the soil begins several months before 
seeding. and must also be continued after 
seeding, 
A great many people cultivating their 
land under the new system, aim to raise 
but one crop from the same ground in two 
years They divide this land into two 
eqaal parts, and use one part for crops 
one year, and the other the next. This 
admits of what is known as ‘summer 
OY TEA 
Richt. 
- different sections. 
culture’ on the part not in ase, and the 
storing of a season’s rains in the soil 
reservoir. Again, it may be feasible to 
allow thé land to produce crops for two 
years, and alternate one year of ‘ summer 
‘culture’ Where crops are planted every 
year, ploughing must quickly fcllow the 
operation of harvesting, the aim being to 
save all possible moisture in the ground 
and simultaneously prepare the soil for the 
next rains. 
Lt is confidently expected that the time 
willcome, when land on which but a 
10 in. rainfall is now recorded, will be 
made to blossom as the rose. This will 
be accomplished by further advances in 
scientific discovery. At present, districts 
having less than 14 in. rainfall are not 
regarded as profitable. An educational 
movement for the scientific study of ¢ dry 
farming’ has already been talked of. Not 
all attempts at ‘ dry farming’ are a success 
nor will be, until the mass of the people 
using it understand the principles on 
which it must be carried out. The rain- 
fall varies in different years, and this 
emergency must be met in. a scientific 
way. Conditions differ also in different 
localities 
The establishment of more Government 
experiment stations will greatly assist 
Several are tobe 
established. it is understood, this year. At 
Cheyenne, Wyoming, the Board of Trade 
not long ago established an experiment 
station, assisted by the Government and 
the railroads. It was here found that 
although Cheyenne 1s at an elevation of 
6,000 ft. above sea level, wheat, rye, oats, 
barley, alfalfa, field peas, and sugar beets 
can be grown profitably. Asa result of 
the experiments, the ranchmen in 
Wyoming are buying thousands of 
dollars’ worth of farming machinery, and 
aré breaking up larze acreages and sowing 
alfalfa and other grasses and grains. 
Ranches are also being sold for colonisation 
purposes. 
—‘ Scientific American,’ 
