THE PRESENT STATUS OF 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.  In the Golden State dry-farming is a fully established practice; it has long since passed the experimental stage.