The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1914-08-27
STORE SOIL MOISTURE
NEBRASKA STATION STUDIES
"DRY FARMING" QUESTION.
Term Leads Many Farmers to Believe
II Means Growing Crops With
Small Amount Of Wate@cultl-
walton Prevents Evaporation.

Water rather than plant food is the
limiting factor in crop production
throughout the middle West. This
has been especially noticeable during
the past few years and the farther
west Of the Missouri one goes the
more II Is true that lack OF soil mois-
ture Is responsible for short crops
more than any other one thing. not
excepting such important matters as
seed selection and cultivation. West
Of the 99th meridian in Nebraska as
we'll as In the Dakotas there is a scar
city Of moisture almost every year.
hence methods Of moisture conserva-
ton are Of prime importance to the
farmers Of that territory at all times.
Realizing this, the Nebraska expert.
ment station established a s~ubstation
at North Platte many years ago where
for a number Of years experiments
have been conducted with a view OF
learning as much as possible about
the movement of water In the soil,
how to conserve It for the use OF
crops, and how to store II In the soil
from n year to another. In other
words, this station has been studying
what has come TO be referred to as
dry farming"
The term dry farming" is a misno-
mer TO some extent. 1t has led many
farmers to suppose hat 1t represents
growing crops without moisture, or
rather with a small amount, which 1t
does not. Crops grown Ia the semi
arid regions need just as much water
as those grown In the humid sections;
In fact, they need more because OF
the drying winds that prevail which
Increase Transportation, that is the ex-
halation Of moisture by the plants.
Summer following, that 10 cultivation
Of the soil at intervals OF one to two
weeks during the summer season, is
the principle made use OF In the drier
sections OF u territory to conserve
moisture. Some farmers have AS
sumed, 1t seems, that frequent cult
walton OF the soil daring the summer
season increases in some mysterious
way the amount of water in that soil,
but this is a mistake. There Ia only
one way OF increasing the water con
tent Of a soil and that is by rain.
What surface cultivation can do, and
does do, is to prevent the water in the
soil from escaping into the atmos-
phere. 1t is impossible to conserve all
the moisture of a season by surface
cultivation but a certain percentage
Of It can be stored In the soil through
this method.
The substation at North Platte
found that during q series Of years
they were able to store from 10 to 33
per cent Of a seasons rainfall by cul.
tivating frequently enough to keep
the surface three or four inches of
soil loose, and by preventing weed
growth. In other words, from a IT,
inch seasons rainfall they were able
to store and retain in the soil for
the 9 of crops the succeeding year
about i've inches, but sometimes not
more than 1.5 inches. or ten per cent
OF the total rainfall. The variation in
the amount of water stored In differ
emit years was found to depend upon a
number Of conditions. In order to re-
tain as much Of that water as possible
the surface must be broken up with a
disk or harrow or other suitable pull
verizing implement Immediately after
the rain.
Since the mulch has to be from
three to four inches deep It can readi-
ly be seen that the moisture in only
about two inches Of this soil can be
conserved. because that stored In the
top mulch is lost in a very few days.
Then. too. a very dry soil does not
absorb moisture so readily as a wet