The copper era and Morenci leader., 1912-01-05
SOIL IS A BIG FACTOR
Two Ess tiaIs That Are Es-
 sence of Dry Farming. .
Land Must Be. Flowed So as to Get Water to Sink Into Ground, and Cultivate to Prevent Any
 Evaporation.

These twO practices are the essence of dry farming: We must blow so as to get the water to sink into the ground and cultivate so as to prevent evaporation of any kind until we are ready for the crop.
 The soil is a very big factor. We want a deep, friable soil into which the water will sink readily. A heavy soil does not take up water readily and does not give back water readily writes Frederick Linf1eld, in the Agr1- cultural Epitomist. A very light soil is too readily aerated; the water hows through too easily. It does not con tain enough.
 At one place in the state where the rainfall is less than 13 inches we nave been carrying on work five years. In one season of the five the rain exceed ed 15 inches and in one season 1t was less than Il inches. Not one season during the five years have we found the water to penetrate prairie soo more than two feet, where the grass was eaten close by the cattle.
 That, bare, hard ground, clean or vegetation, had not taken up enough water to wet 1t more than two rect down. Where the grass was growing and the pasture taken care or, we found that the water had gone down deeper The evaporation from the grass-covered soil in the early spring is not as great as from the bare soll. In the case of cultivated ground, plowed in the fall or early in the spring, we have found the soil to be wet, down about six feet, and the sixth foot of soil was wet enough to make mud balls.
 The next season the land was sum- mer fallowed Ca crop on it the first year and summer fallowed the next year) and we found the soil wet down seven feet, with the seventh foot wet enough to make mud balls.
 The next year it was wet down still further. Cropping every alternate year and summer following between, we found that it was wet down nine. ten and eleven feet, and this on soil that had never been wet down two feet five years before.
 The point I wish to make is this: that we can control the moisture. We can get the water that falls to soak into the ground and can keep it there until the next spring comes and the crop is ready to use it. We have stored full half if not more of the rainfall of one season and tided 1t over to use it the next season for the ! growing crop.
 We blow six or seven inches. It Is best to go down deep. If there comes a heavy shower we want it to sink down into the ground and stay there We haven't found it necessary to sub soil.
 The usual practice in cultivation is to follow the disk after turning over
 with the blow, the double disk, and then we drag-harrow with a spike tooth harrow If we are able in the spring, we use a packer to pack the
 soil down, then disk and drag-harrow
 We don't want to disk too much be
 cause it digs too deep and stirs the
 ground and lets out the moisture. A drag harrow used often enough
 keeps the weeds down. On the col lege farm we have used another too
 which is little heavier than tht harrow.
 In the spring we sometimes use tht
 drag harrow on the wheat There Ii little difference of opinion on tha point. If we have a soil which is ligh and is not clay we use the harrow
 We disk on stubble land to keep tn moisture in the ground.
 Fall rye is quite a successful crop
 so are macaroni wheat and fall wheat
 especially the turkey red variety hull-less barley, which does very vel with. us and is a very rapid grower
 with a good yield in dry farming; als an early variety of oats.
 Then, again, because we have tha ] type of soil and store the water ava
 down in the ground six seven, eigh1 , nine or ten feet. and not very muc comes to the surface, we want dee
 rooted plants. Such crops as fa wheat and corn are an advantage t
 us If we have to grow late seaso :, crop we want crop that will save tn moisture In our lower valleys we ca s grow corn and sugar beets fairly vel ,, and also potatoes.
 . Now. what results has this kind C . farming given in a country where tn I rainfall averages twelve inches?
 want to take up first what we hay
 done experimentally, where we hay
 tried to do this in the best way pO' :. sible. on a small farm.
 S On fall wheat our average. for abor r four years, where the average rainfa e was less than 13 inches for the las d five years, cropping every alternat
 year and summer following, has bee
 35 bushels per acre on field of abor
 six and a half acres.
 O Our average until 1910 was owe e forty. That year was one of the dries if we have had since l have been her if with hot winds, and our average wa