Dry-Farming : A System of Agriculture for Countries under a Low Rainfall Part 18

Mexico

In Mexico, likewise, dry-farming has been tried and found to be successful. The natives of Mexico have practiced farming without irrigation for centuries--and modern methods are now being applied in the zone midway between the extremely dry and the extremely humid portions. The irregular distribution of the precipitation, the late spring and early fall frosts, and the fierce winds combine to make the dry-farm problem somewhat difficult, yet the prospects are that, with government a.s.sistance, dry-farming in the near future will become an established practice in Mexico. In the opinion of the best students of Mexico it is the only method of agriculture that can be made to reclaim a very large portion of the country.

Brazil

Brazil, which is greater in area than the United States, also has a large arid and semiarid territory which can be reclaimed only by dry-farm methods. Through the activity of leading citizens experiments in behalf of the dry-farm movement have already been ordered. The dry-farm district of Brazil receives an annual precipitation of about twenty-five inches, but irregularly distributed and under a tropical sun. In the opinion of those who are familiar with the conditions the methods of dry-farming may be so adapted as to make dry-farming successful in Brazil.

Australia

Australia, larger than the continental United States, is vitally interested in dry-farming, for one third of its vast area is under a rainfall of less than ten inches, and another third is under a rainfall of between ten and twenty inches. Two thirds of the area of Australia, if reclaimed at all, must be reclaimed by dry-farming.

The realization of this condition has led several Australians to visit the United States for the purpose of learning the methods employed in dry-farming. The reports on dry-farming in America by Surveyor-General Strawbridge and Senator J. H. McColl have done much to initiate a vigorous propaganda in behalf of dry-farming in Australia. Investigation has shown that occasional farmers are found in Australia, as in America, who have discovered for themselves many of the methods of dry-farming and have succeeded in producing crops profitably. Undoubtedly, in time, Australia will be one of the great dry-farming countries of the world.

Africa

Up to the present, South Africa only has taken an active interest in the dry-farm movement, due to the enthusiastic labors of Dr. William Macdonald of the Transvaal. The Transvaal has an average annual precipitation of twenty-three inches, with a large district that receives between thirteen and twenty inches. The rain comes in the summer, making the conditions similar to those of the Great Plains.

The success of dry-farming has already been practically demonstrated. The question before the Transvaal farmers is the determination of the best application of water conserving methods under the prevailing conditions. Under proper leaders.h.i.+p the Transvaal and other portions of Africa will probably join the ranks of the larger dry-farming countries of the world.

Russia

More than one fourth of the whole of Russia is so dry as to be reclaimable only by dry-farming. The arid area of southern European Russia has a climate very much like that of the Great Plains.

Turkestan and middle Asiatic Russia have a climate more like that of the Great Basin. In a great number of localities in both European and Asiatic Russia dry-farming has been practiced for a number of years. The methods employed have not been of the most refined kind, due, possibly, to the condition of the people const.i.tuting the farming cla.s.s. The government is now becoming interested in the matter and there is no doubt that dry-farming will also be practiced on a very large scale in Russia.

Turkey

Turkey has also a large area of arid land and, due to American a.s.sistance, experiments in dry-farming are being carried on in various parts of the country. It is interesting to learn that the experiments there, up to date, have been eminently successful and that the prospects now are that modern dry-farming will soon be conducted on a large scale in the Ottoman Empire.

Palestine

The whole of Palestine is essentially arid and semi-arid and dry-farming there has been practiced for centuries. With the application of modern methods it should be more successful than ever before. Dr. Aaronsohn states that the original wild wheat from which the present varieties of wheat have descended has been discovered to be a native of Palestine.

China

China is also interested in dry-farming. The climate of the drier portions of China is much like that of the Dakotas. Dry-farming there is of high antiquity, though, of course, the methods are not those that have been developed in recent years. Under the influence of the more modern methods dry-farming should spread extensively throughout China and become a great source of profit to the empire.

The results of dry-farming in China are among the best.

These countries have been mentioned simply because they have been represented at the recent Dry-farming Congresses. Nearly all of the great countries of the world having extensive semiarid areas are directly interested in dry-farming. The map on pages 30 and 31 shows that more than 55 per cent of the world's surface receives an annual rainfall of less than twenty inches. Dry-farming is a world problem and as such is being received by the nations.