Sugar beets, vegetables, bulbous plants, etc.,
have all been grown without irrigation under dry-farm conditions.
Some of these will no doubt be found to be profitable and will then
be brought into the commercial scheme of dry-farming.
Meanwhile, the crop problems of dry-farming demand that much careful
work be done in the immediate future by the agencies having such
work in charge. The best varieties of crops already in profitable
use need to be determined. More new plants from all parts of the
world need to be brought to this new dry-farm territory and tried
out. Many of the native plants need examination with a view to their
economic use. For instance, the sego lily bulbs, upon which the Utah
pioneers subsisted for several seasons of famine, may possibly be
made a cultivated crop. Finally, it remains to be said that it is
doubtful wisdom to attempt to grow the more intensive crops on
dry-farms. Irrigation and dry-farming will always go together. They
are supplementary systems of agriculture in arid and semiarid
regions. On the irrigated lands should be grown the crops that
require much labor per acre and that in return yield largely per
acre.
Pages:
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249