El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-07-02

Conservation of the moisture of the
soil in the semi-arid belt of the west
ern United States by modern methods
of tillage Will avert the disastrous
spring floods in the Mississippi valley
This theory is advanced by Professor
A. E. Chamberlain, superintendent OF
Farmers Institutes in South Dakota,
who makes the following statement in
the current issue of the Dry Farming
Congress- Bulletin. published in Spo-
kane:
IF every acre of land west of the
Missouri river were in a good state or
cultivation and plowed to a depth OF
not less than 10 inches at least every
alternate year, the torrents in the
rivers leading from the mountains TO
the Mississippi river would be unheard
Of"
The statement that most of these
floods are caused by the melting SHOWS
on the mountains is generally accepted,
yet it is a fact that snow is only one
of the contributary factors The aver
age rainfall in the Socalled dry belt
ranges from six to more than 20 inches
a year. the precipitation varying ac-
cording 10 locality Therefore, 10 inches
may be considered a low estimate for
the entire region embraced in the terri
tory between the 9Sth meridian and the
continental divide in the Rocky noun
tains. an area of about 100000 900
acres This would give an annual pre-
cipitation of 137,775. SIS, 100000 gallons
! of water, the significance of which can
hardly be grasped by the mind
Over the largest portion of this area,
the principal precipitations come dur
ing the winter and spring months Auch
of it falls in the form Of snow md
lodges on the mountains, or covers the
plains during the winter. but most OF
4,,zi4 he ~
rains during April, May. June and July
or August. Thus the precipitation be-
gins just before the snow begins to
melt, increases in volume as the vanish
mig drifts and banks pour their millions
of gallons into the mountain streams
and creek beds on the plains. and at
tains its maximum in May and June at
a time TO force the already swollen
streams over their banks and cause the
! annual deluge.
The question that naturally arises is:
How can dry or any other kind Of
farming affect the results OF these
meteorological phenomena?
Saving the FlOodwater.
Dry farming is based upon the prin-
ciple of conservation of moisture in the
soil. According to the methods used
by dry land farmers in the seni-arid
west the conservation of moisture in the
soil is accomplished by systematic
tillage. Deep blowing so that the fall
ing moisture may penetrate the earth
to the greatest depth, is one of the
fundamental principles of all successful
dry farming systems. Systematic Gull
tivation of the surface to maintain a
mulch, or dust blanket, is the supple
mental principle applied TO retain the
moisture in the soil.
That deep blowing and systematic
hcultivation will create a soil reservoir
for storing indefinitely the bulk of the
moisture that falls upon the ground in
the form of rain or snow and that the
conservation of moisture in the soil by
these methods makes agriculture in the
semi-arid sections of the west where
the rainfall is extremely limited, not
only possible, but profitable is at
! tested by DR.. V. T. Cooke, state direc-
tor of dry farming experiments of WyO-
ming; congressman Frank w. Monden
of Wyoming, president of the Dry
Farming Congress, and thousands OF
practical farmers who have been sue
cessfully producing crops by dry farm
| ing methods in districts with limited
| rainfall during periods ranging from
three to 40 years.
Dry Farmers Experience.
The effect of deep blowing and sys-
| by the experience of E. r. Parsons, who
has been conducting horticultural and
general farm work on a large ranch at
Parker, 80 miles southeast of Denver,
| for more than quarter of century
He applied scientific tests to all his
farm operations and kept records of
| the results.
| Tests made on virgin soil by Mr.
| Parsons, DR.. Cooke and others show
that the normal moisture was percep-
tible to no appreciable depth. 1t is a
| common experience of hOmesteaders
breaking sod or blowing these virgin
prairies for the first time, to find it
impossible to make plow cut more
| than three or four inches deep, even
| when drawn by four work horses.
Mr. Parsons plows 10 to u inches.
He began in 1886 and has plowed deep
and cultivated necessarily ever since.
| He declares that moisture is perceptible
TO a depth of from Is to 20 feet in his
orchard, while on the virgin sod ad-
| joining the cultivated land, it is notice
able only TO a depth of one to three
| inches after heavy storms, and to no
depth the greater part of the year.
] Where deep blowing and systematic