If...

All over the world hungry men waited. And in the Southwestern wheat belt, U.S. farmers had a new Agriculture Department warning to brood over: another dust bowl was in the making. During the war, too much land had been farmed too hard. Now there was grave danger that retributive weather would blow that land away.

With the guarded peiorism that farmers live by, the Southwest was inclined to scoff. True, there was a blow last fortnight that sent yellow dust billowing from Kansas to Texas. But it was no black blizzard of '36. True, the land was parched from the worst drought in ten years. It was too loose, drifting now and ready to fly in the shrill March winds.

But the farmers had learned a few new tricks during the bumper years: they had planted shelter belts of trees, cultivated on the contour, tilled scientifically to stop wind erosion, and left soil-holding trash on their land. Drawing on ingenuity and junk piles, local blacksmiths had turned out terracing machines during the war. A reasonable rain or snow would nail down the soil for the year, and save the wheat.

If it would only rain.

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