Some moisture, of necessity, will
evaporate directly from the soil, and some may be lost in many other
ways. Yet, even under a rainfall of 12 inches, if only one half of
the water can be conserved, which experiments have shown to be very
feasible, there is a possibility of producing 30 bushels of wheat
per acre every other year, which insures an excellent interest on
the money and labor invested in the production of the crop.
It is on the grounds outlined in this chapter that students of the
subject believe that ultimately large areas of the "desert" may be
reclaimed by means of dry-farming. The real question before the
dry-farmer is not, "Is the rainfall sufficient?" but rather, "Is it
possible so to conserve and use the rainfall as to make it available
for the production of profitable crops?"
CHAPTER III
DRY-FARM AREAS--RAINFALL
The annual precipitation of rain and snow determines primarily the
location of dry-farm areas. As the rainfall varies, the methods of
dry-farming must be varied accordingly. Rainfall, alone, does not,
however, furnish a complete index of the crop-producing
possibilities of a country.
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