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
It is difficult to obtain a correct view of the present status of
dry-farming, first, because dry-farm surveys are only beginning to
be made and, secondly, because the area under dry-farm cultivation
is increasing daily by leaps and bounds. All arid and semiarid parts
of the world are reaching out after methods of soil culture whereby
profitable crops may be produced without irrigation, and the
practice of dry-farming, according to modern methods, is now
followed in many diverse countries. The United States undoubtedly
leads at present in the area actually under dry-farming, but, in
view of the immense dry-farm districts in other parts of the world,
it is doubtful if the United States will always maintain its
supremacy in dry-farm acreage. The leadership in the development of
a science of dry-farming will probably remain with the United States
for years, since the numerous experiment stations established for
the study of the problems of farming without irrigation have their
work well under way, while, with the exception of one or two
stations in Russia and Canada, no other countries have experiment
stations for the study of dry-farming in full operation. The reports
of the Dry-farming Congress furnish practically the only general
information as to the status of dry-farming in the states and
territories of the United States and in the countries of the world.
California
In the state of California dry-farming has been firmly established
for more than a generation. The chief crop of the California
dry-farms is wheat, though the other grains, root crops, and
vegetables are also grown without irrigation under a comparatively
small rainfall. The chief dry-farm areas are found in the Sacramento
and the San Joaquin valleys. In the Sacramento Valley the
precipitation is fairly large, but in the San Joaquin Valley it is
very small. Some of the most successful dry-farms of California have
produced well for a long succession of years under a rainfall of ten
inches and less. California offers a splendid example of the great
danger that besets all dry-farm sections. For a generation wheat has
been produced on the fertile Californian soils without manuring of
any kind. As a consequence, the fertility of the soils has been so
far depleted that at present it is difficult to obtain paying crops
without irrigation on soils that formerly yielded bountifully. The
living problem of the dry-farms in California is the restoration of
the fertility which has been removed from the soils by unwise
cropping. All other dry-farm districts should take to heart this
lesson, for, though crops may be produced on fertile soils for one,
two, or even three generations without manuring, yet the time will
come when plant-food must be added to the soil in return for that
which has been removed by the crops. Meanwhile, California offers,
also, an excellent example of the possibility of successful
dry-farming through long periods and under varying climatic
conditions.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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