The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1915-12-03

Dry farming properly conducted
has little to do with rain fall, and
has practically nothing to do with
spring and summer showers. Dry
farming is science based upon
something that is very little under
stood, but will be studied and re
garded almost in the light of an I'M
vention or Innovation" 1t is means
of farming that eliminates the ele-
ment of risk and uncertainty as to
what will be produced. It appears
to afford nature opportunity to re-
coup its forces and maintain soil
quality as no other method of farm
ing does. It is not at all understood
by the person who thinks that sum-
mer showers have anything to do
with production of the crop of that
season, and to make this thought
clearer it should be remembered that
such crops depend almost entirely
upon moisture rising from deep down
in the ground, and it might be called
the "sweat of the earth =
Every living body sweats. Polite
society says "prespiration.' There Is
the visible and invisible perspiration.
When sweat stands out in beads up
on a persons face 1t Is apparent.
When none is noticeable the process
is going on, but in such small amount
the moisture leaves the skin in the
form of vapor that is invisible. The
earth sweats all the time-it has this
invisible perspiration. When this
action is increased to a certain de-
gree it appears upon the surface in
a way to make what Is generally call
ed a bog. A more marked flow of
the earth's vital fluid is called
spring.
No man can expect to succeed as
a dry farmer until he grasps the idea
that he depends upon the sweat OF
the earth to mature his crop. I'm
til he recognizes that force and ex-
ponds his energies to the end that
plants may feed upon it, his efforts
will be mis-directed, or only partly
in accord with nature, and he will
fall short of the full degree of sue
cess to which he is entitled.
The next important fact for him
to recognize is that the sweat of
the earth must be prevented from es-
Gaping into the air. 1t must touch
the soil and absorb some of its ele-
ments and then be passed along the
root system into the plant where the
elements are assimilated and the
water is finally given off from the
plant itself into the air. Anything
that prevents the moisture from
passing into the air from the soil d.
rect, holds it for the plant to get
hold of it. The way to do this is to
pulverize the surface and fill the
cracks and holes and pores with the
dust, or work it together so 1t Is
fine and compact without being hard
and set like shalk. So long as the
soil is loose and cloddy, or so long
as it is hard and baked, the moisture
passes through it readily. Pulverize
It and firm it and it holds the mois-
ture.
The water that comes down from
the surface turns back and rises in
to the air very readily by the same
route by which it entered. The way
to hold 1t is to disturb the soil par
ticles by narrowing, dragging, roll
ing or floating, after the water sinks,
and before 1t has time to rise again
in the form of vapor. Spring and
summer showers have little or no
value at the time unless this work
is done, and they are damage If
the work is not done, because the
sweat of the earth can follow out
by the same pores through which
the rain returns to the surface.
Weeds conduct moisture out into
the air the same as other plants do.
Cultivation is necessary for two pur-
poses; to prevent evaporation and to
kill the weeds. The reason why a
few plants can mature on given
space when twice as many fail on an
adjoining space Of the same size is
that there was not enough moisture
to 20 around. 1t takes gallon of
water to mature thimble full of
wheat. The drier the locality and
soil, the fewer plants or the less seed
should be permitted. The roots OF
wheat are said to 20 down only q