--The conserved moisture and added fertility will
strengthen the growth and diminish the water requirements of the
plants, and thus yield a larger crop. The iron-tooth harrow is a
very useful implement on the dry-farm when the crops are young.
After the plants are up so high that the harrow cannot be used on
them no special care need be given them, unless indeed they are
cultivated crops like corn or potatoes which, of course, as
explained in previous chapters, should receive continual
cultivation.
Harvesting
The methods of harvesting crops on dry-farms are practically those
for farms in humid districts. The one great exception may be the use
of the header on the grain farms of the dry-farm sections. The
header has now become well-nigh general in its use. Instead of
cutting and binding the grain, as in the old method, the heads are
simply cut off and piled in large stacks which later are threshed.
The high straw which remains is plowed under in the fall and helps
to supply the soil with organic matter. The maintenance of dry-farms
for over a generation without the addition of manures has been made
possible by the organic matter added to the soil in the decay of the
high vigorous straw remaining after the header.
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