The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1908-01-10
DRY FARMING.
Farmers Tribune Publishes Interest
ing Article on the Subject.

Farmers Tribune Publishes Interest
ing Article on the Subject.
In sections where the annual rain
fall does not exceed 10 to Is or 16
inches it is evidenb that every drop
of rain that falls becomes precious.
Farmers of the South or of the East
Who are in the habit of getting from
so 10 40, and in some localities As
inches Of rain per year would not be
apt to succeed in sections where only
one-fourth or one-third that amount
is received.
The pioneer farmer who settles
where the land is fertile Invariably
becomes, so past experience tells us,
a destructive man.. He thinks be-
cause his land is rich it cannot be
worn out, at least in his own life
time. For years the farmer on the
rich plains of North Dakota nas been
wasting his barnyard n In
stead of hauling it to the fields he
has been moving his barns from
place to place and allowing the man
ure to go to waste.
The term dry farming is usually
applied to the methods of farming in
the arid and semi-arid West, the pur-
pose of which is to conserve soil
moisture. Any system that is eco
nomical Of soil water may be termed
dry farming. There are three fun
damental conditions underlying dry
farming. First, the soil must be
kept compact, though not hard, in
order to maintain a proper capillary
condition between it and the lower
strata of soil SO as to enable it to
supply the roots Of plants, with mois-
ture from below. Second, the sur
face soil must be kept loose and dry.
A blanket of from two to four inches
in thickness Of dry soil must e
maintained as near as possible
throughout the year for the purpose
OF preventing unnecessary loss of
water through evaporation. The
drier the country. the thicker this
dust blanket should be. One four
inches in thickness is a more eff
fective blanket than one two inches
thick. lnird, crops that are especial
~ suited for droughty sections should
be grown. There is a vast differ
ence In different species Of plants in
the amount of moisture needed to
produce a pound of dry matter.
King Of Wisconsin, for instance,
tells us that a corn crop requires per
ton OF dry matter produced, 27O tons
OF water; that a ton OF dry matter
In an oat crop requires SOB tons OF
water; and that a ton Of dry matter
In a barley crop requires AGA tons OF
water for It's production. These
crops and a number Of others which
Professor King has studied are not
what might be considered crops es.
pecially adapted for the semi-arid
sections. Such crops as macaron:
wheat, Kafflr corn, sorghum, Turke.
stan alfalfa. speltz, ETC., will un'
%doubtedly produce dry matter at low
er expense Of water than the crop:
studied by Professor King. Macar
oni wheat, for instance, was intro
duced by the department of agricul
ture a decade age from Russia ant
Africa where. 1t has been successfully
grown for many years in section!
where the annual rainfall is less thar
10 inches. This wheat has proved tt
be admirably adapted for the semi
arid sections in this country. It ha!
met with such general favor that thu
1907 crop is estimated by the Secre
fary Of Agriculture to have a farm
value Of 3O.0Oo,0 900.
Dry farming may be designated
good farming, as that is really what
a. is In plain terms. 1t consists in {
more thorough preparation Of the
seed bed, and In leaving the soil ii
9 condition that will prevent loss O.
water. The man who attempts t.
raise crops in western South Dakots
without giving his soil the mos
thorough culture possible Is very apt
AZ years TO come to complain Of
lsaEQntasu lhaat