The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-01-22
DRY FARMING.
Wonderful Results Obtained in
Western Kansas.
From What Is Termed the
Campbell System.
WHAT 1T is AND DOES
WHAT 1T is AND DOES
Benefits of Rainfall That is
Not Excessive.
Careful Cultivation Brings In
creased Prosperity to State.

Syracuse, Kan, Jan. 22.-Few peo-
pie realize the rapid development go
ing on in the western part of the state
Those familiar with the plains assert
that in a few more years the richest
and most productive farms will be in
western Kansas.
The cause of the rapid development
is the introduction into this section OF
soil culture or dry farming, as it is
commonly known. This consists in
farming under improved and scienti-
fic methods which conserve the mois-
ture and thus insure crops almost as
certainly as does irrigation.
Car Be Too Much Rainfall.
1t is an acknowledged fact among
agricultural experts that seven inches
of rainfall, if all conserved, will pro-
duce any kind of crop. The aver
age rainfall from the Kansas-Colorado
line to the Tooth meridian is 10 inches,
so this allows a margin of twelve
inches for loss through evaporation
with an ample remainder to produce
a good crop of any kind of grain or
alfalfa.
Too much rainfall as is usually the
case east of the central portion of this
state is a detriment to the farmer. 1t
prevents him from cultivating his soil
when it most needs it and getting it
in that ideal condition necessary to
produce a bountiful crop and again
the excess rainfall will necessarily run
through and drain off the land, and
in so doing diSsolveS and washes away
many of the mineral properties in the
soil which are so vital to the growing
crop. This fact explains why the lands
in the semi-arid belt are far richer
and more fertile than lands in the 10
calities where the precipitation is
heavy.
The Principles of Dry Farming.
fTIn Of
dry farming are:
First-To place your soil in the prop
er condition by the right kind of culti-'
walton to absorb all of the moisture
that falls upon 1t.
Secondly cultivating at the prop
err time and producing a soil mulch
that will soon dry out as deep as Gull
tivated, protecting the moisture stored
in the firm packed seed bed and sub
soil below.
Thirdly handling the soil in this
manner, during the average season
one can drive moisture down as much
as five or six feet which if the mulch
is properly taken care of is sufficient
to produce a good crop whether any
more rain falls upon the land or not.
For the benefit of those who are la
boring under the delusion that it en-
tails a vast amount of labor it should
be noted that any man with the aver
age amount of gray matter can master
it and with about $500 invested in the
proper kind of machinery and four
good horses he can handle 100 acres
for wheat.
By sowing part of his quarter to
alfalfa he can take care of $50 acres
very nicely with this outlay and some
additional machinery and his net pro-
fit will be larger than his brother in
the middle west on a similar acreage
where the rainfall is greater.
Big Returns From Campbell System.
Farming under the Campbell sys-
tenn is but very little more expensive
than the methods now used by the
better class of farmers in the middle
states. The returns are greater. This
has been thoroughly demonstrated
within the past decade by producing
wheat throughout the semiarid belt
that has yielded all the way from 35
to 81 bushels per acre.
The Oldest settlers have been in Ham