New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1910-08-13
DRY FARMING OF DESERT
LANDS.

-
has been utilized with phenomena
success in making productive th'
erstwhile desert places Of th'
! United States. Irrigation ha'
been "A most important factor; bn
close beside it. walking hand IL
| hand with it. is the remarkable
dry farming. system OF agrlcul
ture that had made productive
| land which had for centuries beer
considered unfit for farming.
Mach misapprchcnslon has been
rife regarding dry farming and
perhaps at the outset. the use o
the term, dry land farming, vii
clear up much of the mlsunder
standing of this method Of cult
waiting semi-arid tracts. lrriga
ton is system of watering lane
with bitches by artificial means
while dry farming is a process o
retaining the moisture IN a natura
soil reservoir from waste IN exapo
ration and percolation, and secur
mo it in the sub-soil for the nutrl
ment Of crops.
Although not generally known
and bat little understood, dry
farming is not an innovation. Il
has been carried on successfully
for over forty years in America
and productive experiments have
been made in most Of the desert
countries of the world. In South
ern California, dry farm ing has
been successfully operated since
1850. while in Washington. Ore
gon. Idaho, Wyoming, Montana
Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas anc
the Datkotaes it has gone beyond
the experimental stage.
DR.. William Mcdonald, one OF
the greatest living authorities OF
agriculture, explains this system
lucidly. "Dry farming may be
defined as the conservation OF the
soil moisture during long periods
Of hot weather by means OF I'll,
lage," he says, "together with the
growth Of drought resistant plants
1t is not. of course, farming with
ont moisture, for that would be
clearly impossible. The term is
now widely and loosely applied tc
a particular form Of farming in all
places where the normal rainfall
ranges from zero to thirty inches
per annum. That is to say thai
q farmer in certain district OF
Utah might speak Of dry farming
with nine INCHES of rain; while
his neishbor in Eastern Nebraska
with a rainfall Of twenty-nine
inches, might equally well propose
to conserve his surplus moisture
by proper tillage along dry farrl,
ing lines.
:".But although the fundamental
principles would be the same the
details of the two operations would
be vastly different. For the Utah
farmer would require to aecum-
mulate two years rainfall to
produce a satisfactory crop
whereas his fortunate brother in
Nebraska would doubtless demand
an annual crop from an abundant
supply of moisture
On the map Of the United States
Of thirty,fiye years ago wild be
observed that a huge tract, col
.ored yellow, covering q large por.
ton Of the great West was marked
"The Great American Desert. y
Modern maps reveal but small
space like those yellow blOtches
marked as desert wastes. Much
Of the land. that in the years gone
by, was considered useless for
farming and was given over to i'm
mense cattle ranges on which the
fearless spectacular cowboy flour.
ished, is now in many places brok-
en- up in small farms, supporting
many thousands,
The transformation has been
due to the application of scientific
principles. strengthened by exper.
mental knowledge Of soil, climate
conditions. and plant life peculiar
to particular environments. Vast
tracts Of land are open to the far
mer Of America, but he only will
succeeds who studies the condi-
tions that produce success.
Is it not 4 well known fact, that
the man who gets results in any
lipe,o' work 10 the one who has Il
correct knowledge Of his particu-
lar Industry The success of dry
farming rests in knowing how
to do it. II has been pertinently
remarked that the idea that any
one can farm explains in a large
measure the decadance of the farm
lands in the older agricultural dis
tncts. The modern successful far
mer knows his land. his climate,
his adaptable plants. He has a
knowledge of how to plow and to
cultivate
It is granted that conservation
of moisture. is the first cardinal
principle Of the dry farming 1t
is absolutely essential that the far
mer realize how to conserve the
limited water supply that. his soil
receives in form Of snow and rain ;
hnw it is distributed throughout
the year and how much is lost by
evaporation and by percolation.
Opening the soil by deep plowing
10 the greatest possible depth at
the right time permits the mois-
ture that falls in the form of rain
or snow to penetrate to a depth,
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
furrow.