Important as is the rainfall in making dry-farming successful, it is not more so than the soils of the dry-farms. On a shallow soil, or on one penetrated with gravel streaks, crop failures are probable even under a large rainfall; but a deep soil of uniform texture, unbroken by gravel or hardpan, in which much water may be stored, and which furnishes also an abundance of feeding space for the roots, will yield large crops even under a very small rainfall. Likewise, an infertile soil, though it be deep, and under a large precipitation, cannot be depended on for good crops; but a fertile soil, though not quite so deep, nor under so large a rainfall, will almost invariably bring large crops to maturity.
A correct understanding of the soil, from the surface to a depth of ten feet, is almost indispensable before a safe Judgment can be pronounced upon the full dry-farm possibilities of a district. Especially is it necessary to know (a) the depth, (b) the uniformity of structure, and (c) the relative fertility of the soil, in order to plan an intelligent system of farming that will be rationally adapted to the rainfall and other climatic factors.
It is a matter of regret that so much of our information concerning the soils of the dry-farm territory of the United States and other countries has been obtained according to the methods and for the needs of humid countries, and that, therefore, the special knowledge of our arid and semiarid soils needed for the development of dry-farming is small and fragmentary. What is known to-day concerning the nature of arid soils and their relation to cultural processes under a scanty rainfall is due very largely to the extensive researches and voluminous writings of Dr. E. W. Hilgard, who for a generation was in charge of the agricultural work of the state of California. Future students of arid soils must of necessity rest their investigations upon the pioneer work done by Dr. Hilgard. The contents of this chapter are in a large part gathered from Hilgard's writings.
The formation of soils
"Soil is the more or less loose and friable material in which, by means of their roots, plants may or do find a foothold and nourishment, as well as other conditions of growth." Soil is formed by a complex process, broadly known as _weathering, _from the rocks which constitute the earth's crust. Soil is in fact only pulverized and altered rock. The forces that produce soil from rocks are of two distinct classes, _physical and chemical. _The physical agencies of soil production merely cause a pulverization of the rock; the chemical agencies, on the other hand, so thoroughly change the essential nature of the soil particles that they are no longer like the rock from which they were formed.
Of the physical agencies, _temperature changes _are first in order of time, and perhaps of first importance. As the heat of the day increases, the rock expands, and as the cold night approaches, contracts. This alternate expansion and contraction, in time, cracks the surfaces of the rocks. Into the tiny crevices thus formed water enters from the falling snow or rain. When winter comes, the water in these cracks freezes to ice, and in so doing expands and widens each of the cracks. As these processes are repeated from day to day, from year to year, and from generation to generation, the surfaces of the rocks crumble. The smaller rocks so formed are acted upon by the same agencies, in the same manner, and thus the process of pulverization goes on.
It is clear, then, that the second great agency of soil formation, which always acts in conjunction with temperature changes, is _freezing water. _The rock particles formed in this manner are often washed down into the mountain valleys, there caught by great rivers, ground into finer dust, and at length deposited in the lower valleys. _Moving water _thus becomes another physical agency of soil production. Most of the soils covering the great dry-farm territory of the United States and other countries have been formed in this way.
In places, glaciers moving slowly down the canons crush and grind into powder the rock over which they pass and deposit it lower down as soils. In other places, where strong winds blow with frequent regularity, sharp soil grains are picked up by the air and hurled against the rocks, which, under this action, are carved into fantastic forms. In still other places, the strong winds carry soil over long distances to be mixed with other soils. Finally, on the seashore the great waves dashing against the rocks of the coast line, and rolling the mass of pebbles back and forth, break and pulverize the rock until soil is formed._ Glaciers, winds, _and _waves _are also, therefore, physical agencies of soil formation.
It may be noted that the result of the action of all these agencies is to form a rock powder, each particle of which preserves the composition that it had while it was a constituent part of the rock. It may further be noted that the chief of these soil-forming agencies act more vigorously in arid than in humid sections. Under the cloudless sky and dry atmosphere of regions of limited rainfall, the daily and seasonal temperature changes are much greater than in sections of greater rainfall. Consequently the pulverization of rocks goes on most rapidly in dry-farm districts. Constant heavy winds, which as soil formers are second only to temperature changes and freezing water, are also usually more common in arid than in humid countries. This is strikingly shown, for instance, on the Colorado desert and the Great Plains.
The rock powder formed by the processes above described is continually being acted upon by agencies, the effect of which is to change its chemical composition. Chief of these agencies is _water, _which exerts a solvent action on all known substances. Pure water exerts a strong solvent action, but when it has been rendered impure by a variety of substances, naturally occurring, its solvent action is greatly increased.