The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1910-11-03
Drought Resistant Plants May
Be Divided Into Three
Groups.
They Are Able TO Stop Growing Dur
Ing Unfavorable Weather and
With Bad Soil Conditions
Renew Growth When
Rain Falls.

| Hays, Kan, Prof. A. M. Ten kRck, or
the Fort Hays branch experiment sta
ton, spoke on the subject OF Drought
Resistant Crops" In the course of his
remarks he said:
Drought-resistant crops, or crops
which are adapted to "dry-land farm
ing" may be divided into three quite
distinct groups, as follows:
l. Early-maturing crops, which grow
rapidly and ripen before the available
soil moisture Is used up, or before the
hot, dry weather begins; such as win
ter wheat and early spring grains.
2. Crops which root deeply and gath
er their moisture supply from a large
volume of SOIL such as alfalfa and GER
tain grasses.
| 3. Hardy, vigorous-growin crops,
| which are able to cease growth when
/ the soil becomes too dry or conditions
! become too unfavorable. and remain
! in a dormant state until the rain
comes, when they make quick use OF
/ the favorable conditions, growing rap
( idly, simply reaching maturity little
/ later than would have been the case
/ II they had been subject to no un-
favorable conditions during the period
| of growth. These last are true drought
! resistant crops, such as kafir corn,
/ sorghum, buffalo grass and other ma
! tive grasses of the western plains.
! The crops which belong to the class
last named, as a rule, do not root
/ deeply but the plants develop an
I abundant and extensive growth of
roots in the surface soil, which en-
ables them to take advantage of light
rains and to quickly absorb a large
/ part of the water which enters the
( soil, thus securing a. greater supply of
1 water under certain conditions and al
/ lowing less waste by surface evapora-
/ tion than occurs with a deeper-rooting
, crop or with crops which make a less
growth of fbrous roots in the surface
( soil, 1t appears also that certain of
/ these crops actually require less wa
ter to produce growth than some other
I crops which are not considered espe-
cially drought-resistant
Aside from the character which
such crops possess of taking advan-
tage of the conditions under which
they grow, these drought.resistant
crops are different in some ways
| from ordinary crops in the quality
named above. in that they are able to
stop growing during unfavorable
weather and with unfavorable soil
Z conditions, renewing their growth
again when conditions become better
This character In a plant Is not well
understood II seems to be a charac-
teristic which has been bred into the
plant by continual exposure to the
conditions under which II is able to
grow. We find that most of the crops
adapted for growing on the western
( plains have been imported from for
eign countries which have a semi-arid
/ climate similar to the climate Of the
western plains. Those crops have been
bred and grown for centuries. per
haps, in the countries from which they
/ have been brought, and the character
( OF being drought-resistant has be-
come quality of the plant, the same
as the character of being hardy in
| cold climate has become the nature
OF certain varieties of fruit and OF
many crops.
Without doubt, therefore, certain
crops are more drought-resistant than
others, but successful "dry-land farm
ing" depends largely upon the charac.
ter of the soil. the preparation of the
seedbed and the culture which the
crop receives. The only soils which
t.A IL a. IL.
out irrigation In the semi-arid regions
are soils which have great moisture
holding capacity. 1t takes water to
produce drought-resistant crops as well
as TO produce crops grown under ordi-
nary circumstances, and a thin soil
underlaid by a gravelly or coarse,
sandy subsoil will produce. IL at all,
only when water is supplied In sufi-
cient quantity during the period of
crop growth, while soil which retains
moisture we'll may produce crops even
without much rainfall during the
growing season. Prof. H. b. Linfeld
of the Montana experiment station
says on this subject; 81 have seen
paying crop grown without irrigation
VA h@iiN hhiiriht iiphi "a Nid1Gg iOdll w
almost sandy, when the subsoil was
not porous"
In the growth of plants water is
needed In the soil for the following
reasons:
1. To dissolve the plant food.
2. To carry the food to the plants
and through the plants.
3. 1t is food in itself to the plants.
a. A certain amount OF water In the
soil Is necessary to give the proper
texture favorable for the growth of
the plant roots.
s. Water also acts as regulator OF
the temperature OF the soil, tending
to raise the temperature of cold soil
by reason OF warm rains and, by evap-
oration, to keep down the temperature
of the soil during the hot summer