The
failure to recognize these characteristic differences between arid
and humid soils has been the chief cause for many crop failures in
the more or less rainless regions of the world.
This brief review shows that, everything considered, arid soils are
superior to humid soils. In ease of handling, productivity,
certainty of crop-lasting quality, they far surpass the soils of the
countries in which scientific agriculture was founded. As Hilgard
has suggested, the historical datum that the majority of the most
populous and powerful historical peoples of the world have been
located on soils that thirst for water, may find its explanation in
the intrinsic value of arid soils. From Babylon to the United States
is a far cry; but it is one that shouts to the world the superlative
merits of the soil that begs for water. To learn how to use the
"desert" is to make it "blossom like the rose."
Soil divisions
The dry-farm territory of the United States may be divided roughly
into five great soil districts, each of which includes a great
variety of soil types, most of which are poorly known and mapped.
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