Dry-Farming : A System of Agriculture for Countries under a Low RainfallWidtsoe, John Andreas
Science
Dry-Farming : A System of Agriculture for Countries under a Low Rainfall
Widtsoe, John Andreas
Dry farming
Mr. Campbell's doctrines of soil culture, based on his accumulated
experience, are presented in Campbell's "Soil Culture Manual," the
first edition of which appeared about 1904 and the latest edition,
considerably extended, was published in 1907. The 1907 manual is the
latest official word by Mr. Campbell on the principles and methods
of the "Campbell system." The essential features of the system may
be summarized as follows: The storage of water in the soil is
imperative for the production of crops in dry years. This may be
accomplished by proper tillage. Disk the land immediately after
harvest; follow as soon as possible with the plow; follow the plow
with the subsurface packer; and follow the packer with the smoothing
harrow. Disk the land again as early as possible in the spring and
stir the soil deeply and carefully after every rain. Sow thinly in
the fall with a drill. If the grain is too thick in the spring,
harrow it out. To make sure of a crop, the land should be "summer
tilled," which means that clean summer fallow should be practiced
every other year, or as often as may be necessary.
These methods, with the exception of the subsurface packing, are
sound and in harmony with the experience of the great dry-farm
sections and with the principles that are being developed by
scientific investigation. The "Campbell system" as it stands to-day
is not the system first advocated by him. For instance, in the
beginning of his work he advocated sowing grain in April and in rows
so far apart that spring tooth harrows could be used for cultivating
between the rows. This method, though successful in conserving
moisture, is too expensive and is therefore superseded by the
present methods. Moreover, his farm paper of 1896, containing a full
statement of the "Campbell method," makes absolutely no mention of
"summer tillage," which is now the very keystone of the system.
These and other facts make it evident that Mr. Campbell has very
properly modified his methods to harmonize with the best experience,
but also invalidate the claim that he is the author of the dry-farm
system. A weakness of the "Campbell system" is the continual
insistence upon the use of the subsurface packer. As has already
been shown, subsurface packing is of questionable value for
successful crop production, and if valuable, the results may be much
more easily and successfully obtained by the use of the disk and
harrow and other similar implements now on the market. Perhaps the
one great weakness in the work of Campbell is that he has not
explained the principles underlying his practices. His publications
only hint at the reasons. H. W. Campbell, however, has done much to
popularize the subject of dry-farming and to prepare the way for
others. His persistence in his work of gathering facts, writing, and
speaking has done much to awaken interest in dry-farming. He has
been as "a voice in the wilderness" who has done much to make
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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