The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1907-05-17
Dry.Farmine System Renders
Large Area Productive.

Where the annual rainfall is less
than twelve inches the land is called
| arid, and where it is from twelve to
twenty inches it is semi-arid. Prob
ably ten per cent of the arid and
emi-arid land can he reclaimed by
irrigation. After deducting the irri-
gable land, the mountainous, the
timbered, the mineral lands and the
Ian Is suitable for grazing only, there
still remains Il vast area, having the
annual rainfall indicated above. pS-
timated at abouc two acres for one
OF the irrigated lands and from H. to
20 per cent of the total semi arid
area. This is the field OF the dry
farming. The Horse Heaven lands
come in this class and conditions
there are those of this area. The
following points should be Of in
terest.
What is dry farming? 1t is a sys-
TEN OF handling the soil so that the
limited natural precipitation is con-
served and retained in the ground in
sufficient quantity to produce a crop
every second season. When rain
falls or snow melts and sOaks into
the ground, the moisture soon evap-
crates from the surface without do
ing the benefit it should to vegeta-
ton. This is true when the lanG is
plOwed, althO the moisture soaks
down to the bottom of the furrOW
and the evaporation is delayed.
This is because the intense heat OF
the sun and the dryness of the air
bakes a crust on the surface. This
seems hard and one would think it
would hold the moisture underneath
but a closes examination shows that
it is "pin-holed" thru which all the
moisture passes into the air. The
crust is cellular and the moisture
works up thru it just like water
works up thru a lump of sugar or Oil
passes up thru the wick to the flame.
Capillarity is the scientific name for
it. Most of the dry farming area lies
at an elevation of $500 to 5000 feet
above sea level and this makes the
evaporation much more rapid The
secret of dry farming is the retention
of the moisture that falls and the
secret of retaining the moisture is
the dt structiOn of the little cells in
surface crust thru which the evap-
Grafton takes place and the method
of destruction OF the cells is by fire.
Quent narrowing which breaks up
tue crust. The ground should he
narrowed after every heavy rain or
thaw of snow, thus fl rming a dust
mulch or blanket. the crust cells des-
troyed and evaporation reduced to
the lowest degree. The soft dirt af-
ter narrowing permits the moisture
to sink into the ground rapidly and
at the same time holds it where it
will do the most good.
Under the Campbell system the
ground is plowed to 10 inches deep,
preferably in the fall, and as far as
possible at right angles to the pre-
vailing winds so that the trough of
the furrOw will catch and hold as
much OF the snow aspossible. When
the ground is too dry and hard for
fall blowing then it should he done
in the early spring and in either case
the narrowing should be done after
each heavy rain. The advocates OF
the system claim that II inches of
rainfall properly conserved will pro-
duce 80 to 40 bushels of wheat to the
acre every other year.
The motto of the dry farmer is
Zone deep blowing, frequent harrow.
ing. two years mOisture-one big
crop"