publications

Dry Farming

“Dry Farming –The Hope of the West” was the title of an article which attracted considerable

attention in Nebraska in 1906. The vagaries of rainfall on the Plains had challenged farmers

since the earliest days of settlement–and still do. At the turn of the century methods for

“growing more with less” (rain) were eagerly sought.



The Nebraska State Journal reported, “If the claims which John L. Cowan, the author, makes

for the Campbell system of farming in countries with an annual rainfall of as little as ten inches

can be substantiated, the hope of the west amounts to its salvation.



“Mr. Cowan finds three hundred million acres of unirrigable lands in the United States owned

by the government, which according to commonly accepted ideas are fit only for grazing

purposes. Much more of the same sort is owned by railroads, the state governments, and

individuals. Most of this he considers susceptible of cultivation by ‘dry farming’ methods with a

crop result not less valuable than if the land were irrigated. The theory is that the ten inches or

more of annual rainfall which occurs in these lands can be so conserved as to be available for

use entirely in plant production by a system of tillage which prevents the evaporation or surface

drainage of any of the moisture that falls.



“This is not new to the west. The value of surface cultivation following all rains and the use of

the sub-surface packer are pretty well understood, though, as the author says, the farmers have

been too slow to take advantage of it. The author claims that wheat farmers using the Campbell

system have never reaped less than thirty-five bushels of wheat to the acre, and that failures in

any crop adapted to such treatment have been unknown.



“His picture is rather brighter than western people are likely to think justifiable. He does not

take into account that the years of experiment with the method have been a cycle of wet years.

Caution in expecting too much from such promises is necessary because of the tendency to look

for agricultural miracles.



“Yet it is true, as Mr. Cowan says, that scientific farming in the regions of slight rainfall will

undoubtedly add immensely to the agricultural wealth of the country. It will be done, however,

only by great labor and patience. Any feeling that here is a new Canaan, where something is to

be had for nothing, should be promptly discouraged, as sure to result in ultimate harm.”

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Other Publications

The Bachelors’ Protective Union of Kearney

When the Bachelors' Protective Union gave a gala reception for two of its newly married, former members and their brides in March of 1890, the social club for young, ...

U.S. Weather Bureau in 1890s Nebraska

The U.S. Weather Bureau was established by an act of Congress on October 1, 1890. It took over the weather service that had been established in the office of the Chief ...

Canning the Way to Victory

During American participation in World War I the U.S. Food Administration, under the direction of Herbert Hoover, launched a massive campaign to persuade Americans to ...

The Shoemaker’s Ashes

"Edward Kuehl, one of the most peculiar characters that ever lived in Omaha, or anywhere else, was found dead in his bed last night in the back room of his place of ...

Crazy Horse Surrender Ledger Foreward

Red Dog, an Oglala Lakota who lived at the Red Cloud Agency, Nebraska, 1876-77 (Nebraska State Historical Society RG2955.ph).   In the summer of 1876, following the ...

Darryl F. Zanuck

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl F. Zanuck (1902-1979), a native Nebraskan, produced some of Hollywood's most important and controversial films. He helped found 20th Century Fox ...

The Burlington’s Profitable Pork Special

Nebraska railroads were much concerned with developing an adequate economy in the areas they served. The Burlington, for example, had a long history of caring for the ...

Bungalow Filling Stations

After the giant Standard Oil Company was broken into thirty-four separate companies in 1911, the newly independent Standard Oil of Nebraska dominated the state's market ...

The Bull Fight

This is the perfect time of year for a visit to the old fishin' hole. But a group of fisherfolk from Plainview discovered that this bucolic pastime sometimes has ...

Buffalo Soldiers West

African-American soldiers on the western frontier are the focus of an exhibit at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln. Buffalo Soldiers West, on loan from the Colorado ...

Protection for Buffalo

The extermination of the buffalo on the Plains occurred largely between 1870 and 1885. The Nebraska State Journal of Lincoln on February 1, 1874, editorialized in vain ...

Buffalo Hunting

In late October 1877 young Rolf Johnson and three friends left their homes in Phelps County, Nebraska, for a buffalo hunt in northeastern Colorado. The hunt was not very ...
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