Dry-Farming : A System of Agriculture for Countries under a Low Rainfall

by John Andreas Widtsoe

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.

Columbia River Basin

The Columbia River Basin includes the state of Washington, most of Oregon, the northern and central part of Idaho, western Montana, and extends into British Columbia. It includes the section often called the Inland Empire, which alone covers some one hundred and fifty thousand square miles. The chief dry-farm crop of this region is wheat; in fact, western Washington or the "Palouse country" is famous for its wheat-producing powers. The other grains, potatoes, roots, and vegetables are also grown without irrigation. In the parts of this dry-farm district where the rainfall is the highest, fruits of many kinds and of a high quality are grown without irrigation. It is estimated that at least two million acres are being dry-farmed in this district. Dry-farming is fully established in the Columbia River Basin. One farmer is reported to have raised in one year on his own farm two hundred and fifty thousand bushels of wheat. In one section of the district where the rainfall for the last few years has been only about ten or eleven inches, wheat has been produced successfully. This corroborates the experience of California, that wheat may really be grown in localities where the annual rainfall is not above ten inches. The most modern methods of dry-farming are followed by the farmers of the Columbia River Basin, but little attention has been given to soil-fertility, since soils that have been farmed for a generation still appear to retain their high productive powers. Undoubtedly, however, in this district, as in California, the question of soil-fertility will be an important one in the near future. This is one of the great dry-farm districts of the world.

The Great Basin

The Great Basin includes Nevada, the western half of Utah, a small part of southern Oregon and Idaho, and also a part of Southern California. It is a great interior basin with all its rivers draining into salt lakes or dry sinks. In recent geological times the Great Basin was filled with water, forming the great Lake Bonneville which drained into the Columbia River. In fact, the Great Basin is made up of a series of great valleys, with very level floors, representing the old lake bottom. On the bench lands are seen, in many places, the effects of the wave action of the ancient lake. The chief dry-farm crop of this district is wheat, but the other grains, including corn, are also produced successfully. Other crops have been tried with fair success, but not on a commercial scale. Grapevines have been made to grow quite successfully without irrigation on the bench lands. Several small orchards bearing luscious fruit are growing on the deep soils of the Great Basin without the artificial application of water. Though the first dry-farming by modern peoples was probably practiced in the Great Basin, yet the area at present under cultivation is not large, possibly a little more than four hundred thousand acres.

Dry-farming, however, is well established. There are large areas, especially in Nevada, that receive less than ten inches of rainfall annually, and one of the leading problems before the dry-farmers of this district is the determination of the possibility of producing crops upon such lands without irrigation. On the older dry-farms, which have existed in some cases from forty to fifty years, there are no signs of diminution of soil-fertility. Undoubtedly, however, even under the conditions of extremely high fertility prevailing in the Great Basin, the time will soon come when the dry-farmer must make provision for restoring to the soil some of the fertility taken away by crops. There are millions of acres in the Great Basin yet to be taken up and subjected to the will of the dry-farmer.

Colorado and Rio Grande River Basins