dry years it was inadequate and much of it wasted on packed
ground. To produce crops in the arid or semi-arid regions, out-of-season
moisture--heavy snows and rains--must be conserved. There must be a way
to harness it.

Next to lack of moisture was the short growing season. These were the
principal barriers to converting the new West into an agricultural
domain. The latter problem could be solved, the farmers said. Progress
already was being made in developing seed adapted to the climate. The
Indians had produced quick-maturing corn through their years of
corn-raising in a small way. There could be developed a hardier,
short-stalked grain, eating up less moisture, agricultural authorities
maintained. The farmers said that nature itself gradually would do a
great deal toward that end.

Experience. Science. Time. Of course, this was a land of the future, not
of today. The homesteaders had expected to tame it in a year or two,
when many years must be spent on even the smallest scientific
discoveries. They had demanded miracles. That was because they had no
resources with which to await results.

President Roosevelt had done much in turning public attention toward the
necessity of reclaiming these public lands, and already much was being
done. They had been too long neglected. Years ago, when the supply of
government land had seemed inexhaustible, the tide of settlers had swept
around the forgotten frontier, on beyond the arid and semi-arid land to
the fertile soil and the gold fields on the Pacific Coast. But the time
had come when this neglected prairie was the only land left for a
land-hungry people. Some way had to be found to make the great arid
plains productive.

The Department of Agriculture was turning its attention to the frontier,
establishing bureaus and experiment stations in various western states,
making scientific research.

At the request of _The Wand_, two agricultural agents from the State
Experimental Farm came to examine the soil and advise us as to its
possibilities, as to crops and cultivation. They reported it rich in
natural resources, with splendid subsoil. We would have to depend
greatly upon the subsoil and its moisture-retaining quality.

And over the frontier there was talk about a new system of conserving
moisture. Some said it was bound to sweep the West. The method was
called fallowing--the method Huey Dunn had used. It was a radical
departure from anything farmers of the rain belts