The system of dry-farming
must marshal and organize all the established facts of science for
the better utilization, in plant growth, of a limited rainfall. The
excellent teachings of humid agriculture respecting the maintenance
of soil fertility will be of high value in the development of
dry-farming, and the firm establishment of right methods of
conserving and using the natural precipitation will undoubtedly have
a beneficial effect upon the practice of humid agriculture.
The problems of dry-farming
The dry-farmer, at the outset, should know with comparative accuracy
the annual rainfall over the area that he intends to cultivate. He
must also have a good acquaintance with the nature of the soil, not
only as regards its plant-food content, but as to its power to
receive and retain the water from rain and snow. In fact, a
knowledge of the soil is indispensable in successful dry-farming.
Only by such knowledge of the rainfall and the soil is he able to
adapt the principles outlined in this volume to his special needs.
Since, under dry-farm conditions, water is the limiting factor of
production, the primary problem of dry-farming is the most effective
storage in the soil of the natural precipitation.
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