Since that time fair crops
have been produced annually. The dry years of 1893-1895 drove most
of the discouraged settlers back to humid sections and delayed, by
many years, the settlement and development of the western side of
the Great Plains area. That these failures and discouragements were
due almost entirely to improper methods of soil culture is very
evident to the present day student of dry-farming. In fact, from the
very heart of the section which was abandoned in 1893-1895 come
reliable records, dating back to 1886, which show successful crop
production every year. The famous Indian Head experimental farm of
Saskatchewan, at the north end of the Great Plains area, has an
unbroken record of good crop yields from 1888, and the early '90's
were quite as dry there as farther south. However, in spite of the
vicissitudes of the section, dry-farming has taken a firm hold upon
the Great Plains area and is now a well-established practice.
The curious thing about the development of dry-farming in Utah,
California, Washington, and the Great Plains is that these four
sections appear to have originated dry-farming independently of each
other.
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