The climate is semiarid; the
precipitation comes mainly in the winter and early spring; the
summers are dry, and the evaporation is large. Senator Barnes
purchased ninety acres of land in the spring of 1887 and had it
farmed under his own supervision until 1906. He is engaged in
commercial enterprises and did not, himself, do any of the work on
the farm, but employed men to do the necessary labor. However, he
kept a close supervision of the farm and decided upon the practices
which should be followed. From seventy-eight to eighty-nine acres
were harvested for each crop, with the exception of 1902, when all
but about twenty acres was fired by sparks from the passing railroad
train. The plowing, harrowing, and weeding were done very carefully.
The complete record of the Barnes dry-farm from 1887 to 1905 is
shown in the table on the following page.
Record of the Barnes Dry-farm, Salt Lake Valley, Utah (90 acres)
Year Annual Yield When When
Rainfall per Acre Plowed Sown
(Inches) (Bu.)
1887 11.66 --- May Sept.
1888 13.62 Failure May Sept.
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