At the Utah Station the possible conquest of the sagebrush deserts
of the Great Basin without irrigation was a topic of common
conversation during the years 1894 and 1895. In 1896 plans were
presented for experiments on the principles of dry-farming. Four
years later these plans were carried into effect. In the summer of
1901, the author and L. A. Merrill investigated carefully the
practices of the dry-farms of the state. On the basis of these
observations and by the use of the established principles of the
relation of water to soils and plants, a theory of dry-farming was
worked out which was published in Bulletin 75 of the Utah Station in
January, 1902. This is probably the first systematic presentation of
the principles of dry-farming. A year later the Legislature of the
state of Utah made provision for the establishment and maintenance
of six experimental dry-farms to investigate in different parts of
the state the possibility of dry-farming and the principles
underlying the art. These stations, which are still maintained, have
done much to stimulate the growth of dry-farming in Utah.
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