Weeds should be
abhorred by the farmer. A weedy fallow is a sure forerunner of a
crop failure. How to maintain a good fallow is discussed in Chapter
VIII, under the head of Cultivation. Moreover, the practice of
fallowing should be varied with the climatic conditions. In
districts of low rainfall, 10-15 inches, the land should be clean
summer-fallowed every other year; under very low rainfall perhaps
even two out of three years; in districts of more abundant rainfall,
15-20 inches, perhaps one year out of every three or four is
sufficient. Where the precipitation comes during the growing season,
as in the Great Plains area, fallowing for the storage of water is
less important than where the major part of the rainfall comes
during the fall and winter. However, any system of dry-farming that
omits fallowing wholly from its practices is in danger of failure in
dry years.
Deep plowing for water storage
It has been attempted in this chapter to demonstrate that water
falling upon a soil may descend to great depths, and may be stored
in the soil from year to year, subject to the needs of the crop that
may be planted.
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