The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1909-04-15
WHAT is ARID FARMlNG2
Concluded from last issue.)
Transformation of Desert.

Lord knew what He was about and
left the right side of the soil up" This
remark illustrates the prejudice which
the would-be farmer in the arid West
has had to encounter and is only n
of the many difficulties which he nus
overcome.
Land which l have seen sold for
$3.50 per acre is now growing thirty
five % forty bushels of wheat to the
acre; fifty to sixty bushels of oats;
forty to sixty bushels of barley; boun-
tiful crops of field peas, used as winter
feed for sheep; one hundred and nifty
bushels of potatoes to the acre, n as
fine a stand of alfalfa as | nave ever
seen in any irrigated section at he
same period of growth.
Within the last two years, hundreds
of thousands of acres of grazing land
in Wyoming and Colorado have been
sold and are being cut up into small
tracts and disposed OF for dry lane
agriculture to farmers from every
states east of the Missouri river
Under the Campbell System"-as
it is known in the DakOtas, Nebraska,
Kansas and Colorado, and the Cooke
System''-as it is known in Wyoming,
Idaho and Eastern Oregon, the dry
farmer plows his ground from eight to
ten inches deep, preferably in the fall,
in order that it may receive the ben
eft of the winter SHOWS. AS a further
advantage the land is ploWed at right
angles to the prevailing winds that the
trough of the furrow may catch and
hold as much snow as possible. Where
and when it is too dry for fall blowing,
then early spring blowing should be
done, using always the same system
of narrowing after heavy rains. An
industrious boy, with three sections OF
a steel harrow, will cultivate thirty
acres a day.
In conclusion, however, it should be
borne in mind that experience has al
ways demonstrated hal alfalfa, the
greatest forage crop known to n
arid region, will grow on u~nirrigated
%sagebrush or prairie land, II the
Campbell or the Cooke system is
rigidly follower.
Dry Farming Sure Farming.
The important things to remember
about dry farming are the following:
That twelve inches of rainfall prop
erly conserved in the soil will produce
thirty to forty bushels of wheat to the
acre each alternate year;
That the soil of the arid region, pos
sessing all it's virgin elements ON
strength, is the most fertile in the
world and under dry farming, it is
likely to remain so, for while all of the
moisture is conserved on these lands,
in me East, where the rainfall is more
c~opious, much of the plant nourishing
elements are washed away.
That dry farming is reasonably sure
farming, if the farmer is Industrious,
diligent and intelligent, and has suf-
ficient capital to tide over the first two
years, or the preparatory stage of his
farm;
That arid lands which will produce
nourishing grass and hay sufficient to
feed and fatten 80 per cent of the
sheep and cattle of the United States,
will produce other and better crops
with other and better systems;
That in the Rocky Mountain West,
the rain falls when most needed, from
March 1 to September l..
That nothing is lost, but much is
gained by cropping a particular piece
of land only every other year, except,
of course, perennial crops like alfalfa.
That in every country where land is
so cheap a farmer may own enough
SO as to follow the alternate year
and scientific system to the letter
and yet be producing large crops of
grain on different areas each year;
That the most successful dry farm
err is he who uses his head as we'll
as his hands, and seeks out the most
successful drought-resisting plants
and grains by intelligent seed selec-
ton;