The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1909-11-12
DRY-LAND FARMING
important Problem is to Con-
serve Moisture in the Soil.
To Properly summer.TiIl Land Re.
quires as Much or More Labor
and Attention Than Raising
crop-Other Essentials.

IuiiSS dS MuCV OF MUTE IdboI
and Attention Than Raising
crop-Other Essentials.
The most important problem in dry.
land farming is to conserve the mois
ture in the soil-distributing it
throughout the season of growth. The
total annual precipitation is usually
sufficient to grow a large crop, but
some of it comes when not needed and
in larger quantities than can be used
and often fails to come when most
needed by the crop. The soil may be
used as a vast reservoir for storing
the water until it is used by the plant.
BY keeping the soil loose on top we
stop evaporation from the soil so that
all the water may be used by the
plant. In this way we save the water
IN the soil until it is needed by the
crop.
Surface tillage Is means of tap.
ping the rainfall. The surface soil is
made loose and the capillary connec-
ton between the loose surface and
the moister soil below is broken,
making it more difficult for the water
in the soil to reach the surface where
1t is lost by evaporation The depth of
cultivation desirable in the formation
OF the soil mulch will depend on the
frequency of cultivation and the
amount of rainfall. During a long dry
period mulch three or four inches
thick is not too much. II a crust
forms on the surface water is lost rap
idly by evaporation. If a crust forms
under the mulch it prevents the cir
culation OF air in the soil and also ia
vors the escape of the water. This
crust must be broken by deeper cul-
tivation.
Land is summer-tilled to store the
moisture of one season in order that
a crop may be grown the next The more
thorough the tillage the better this
moisture is conserved. When a small
grain crop is being harvested the disk
should follow the binder. The ground
may be plowed later in the fall and
packed with harrow and soil pack
err AS soon as the frost is gone in
the spring the ground should be made
loose on top. 1t should be kept in this
condition all summer or until the next
crop is seeded. The disk and harrow
should be used as often as necessary
to keep the surface loose. When the
ground is not plowed in the fall it
will be necessary to disk early in the
spring and pillow before July Is. Deep
blowing increases the capacity of the
soil to hold water. If weeds are al
lowed to grow the effects of summer
tilling are lost The surface should
never be allowed to become hard for
this gives the same conditions as
leaving hole in the bottom of a wa
ter tank-it permits the escape of the
water. To properly summer-till land
requires as much or more labor and
attention than raising crop.
Sub-surface packing is the firming
OF the soil beneath the mulch. This
is not done to hold the moisture, but
to allow the moisture to come up with
in reach of the plant roots-to make
road for the water to climb up. for
water cannot go upward without a
connected line along which to travel.
When the soil is very loose and full
of air spaces the line is unjointed, but
when the soil has been packed the air
spaces are squeezed out, the soil
grains brought together and a fine
roadbed is made for the upward move
.mGnt of the water 2
However, the. tilling of the soil is
not the sum total of dry-land farming.
Drouth-resisting varieties, rotations
and fertility are also very important
factors. The durum varieties of wheat
are out-yielding the common spring
wheat by many bushels per acre and
the best varieties of winter wheat are
in turn out-yielding the durum. Kher-
son and other early varieties of oats
are fast replacing the common varie-
ties. Alfalfa is destined to produce
a wonderful change in the west, both
in its effect upon the soil and as a
forage crop. Rotations often give as
great increase in yield as tillage or
varieties. All these factors should
be given equal attention in a com.
prehensive system of crop production.
d