Still other crops, grown
under humid conditions, may easily be adapted to dry-farming
conditions, if the correct methods are employed, and in a few
seasons may be made valuable dry-farm crops. The individual
characteristics of each crop should be known as they relate
themselves to a low rainfall and arid soils.
After a crop has been chosen, skill and knowledge are needed in the
proper seeding, tillage, and harvesting of the crop. Failures
frequently result from the want of adapting the crop treatment to
arid conditions.
After the crop has been gathered and stored, its proper use is
another problem for the dry-farmer. The composition of dry-farm
crops is different from that of crops grown with an abundance of
water. Usually, dry-farm crops are much more nutritious and
therefore should command a higher price in the markets, or should be
fed to stock in corresponding proportions and combinations.
The fundamental problems of dry-farming are, then, the storage in
the soil of a small annual rainfall; the retention in the soil of
the moisture until it is needed by plants; the prevention of the
direct evaporation of soil-moisture during; the growing season; the
regulation of the amount of water drawn from the soil by plants; the
choice of crops suitable for growth under arid conditions; the
application of suitable crop treatments, and the disposal of
dry-farm products, based upon the superior composition of plants
grown with small amounts of water.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25