EDITORIAL 



501 



Three dry-farming congresses have 

 already been held., and the fourth will 

 be held at Billings, Mont., October 

 26-28 next. Much interest is manifested 

 in the meeting. The Chicago and 

 Northwestern Railroad will gather sam- 

 ples of farm products in western Ne- 

 braska and Wyoming, and, with several 

 dry-farming experts, will run a special 

 train, advertised in advance to make a 

 trip, and give instruction at points 

 along the line. Chambers of commerce 

 are actively encouraging preparations 

 for the congress, and interest is being 

 developed by means of street meetings. 

 Hundreds of Montana settlers, as well 

 as established farmers, are joining the 

 congress in order to avail themselves of 

 the practical instruction in dry-lanil 

 agricultural methods. The congress has 

 a membership of more than 4,000, and 

 expects its membership to exceed 10,000 

 before the Billings meeting. 



Mr. L. Baeta-Neves, an eminent civil 

 -and mining engineer, and chief engineer 

 of the technical department of public 

 works and industries in Brazil, has been 

 appointed foreign vice-president and 

 conesponding secretary of the con- 

 gresc. His letter in response indicatc^ 

 the deep interest of Brazil in dry farm- 

 ing, which country is taking steps to 

 reclaim its own and lands. 



One of the triumphs of dry farming 

 is durum wheat. This wheat has been 

 tested by the United States Department 

 of Agncu'ture, and found superior even 

 to the celebrated Minnesota spring 

 wheat. The wheat growers of the dry- 

 farming regions have announced a 

 "durum bread day," on which the whole 

 country is asked to join in eating durum 

 bread. 



Dry-farming experts now believe th.al 

 the results of their experiments prove 

 that farming in its broadest sense 

 is decidedly in its infancy, and that dry- 

 farming methods are among the most 

 important factors in its development. 



i^ ^ ^ 

 The Riot of the Rivers 



AGAIN appear the familiar reports of 

 floods, with their terrible damage. 

 Once they were regarded as the inevitable 



visitations of an inscrutable Providence. 

 To-day the world knows better. The 

 plague is not inevitable. Modern med- 

 ical science, hygiene, the destruction of 

 insects disseminating germs, and the 

 like, are banishing plagues and render- 

 ing pestilences wholly needless. Men 

 shivered with cold until fire was discov- 

 ered. They blistered with heat till they 

 learned how to avail themselves of ice 

 in summer. They trudged on foot till 

 they devised means of transportation 

 now culminating in the airship. They 

 went naked until they invented cloth- 

 ing. They cowered before the lightning 

 until they conquered it and made of it 

 a willing servant. 



There must be refuge ! Men 

 Perished in winter winds till one smote fire 

 From flint-stones coldly hiding what they 



held, 

 The red spark treasured from the kindling 



sun ; 

 They gorged on flesh like wolves, till one 



sowed corn. 

 Which grew a weed, yet makes the life of 



man ; 

 They mowed and babbled till some tongue 



struck speech, 

 And patient fingers framed the lettered 



sound. 

 What good gift have my brothers, but it came 

 From search and strife and loving sacrifice? 



— Edivin Arnold 



Man no more needs to surrender 

 to the flood than to the other forces and 

 agencies named. Like them, he may 

 transform it from a bane into a bless- 

 ing ; from a merciless master into a sup- 

 ple slave. What he needs to do is to 

 hold back the surplus water and release 

 it in his time of need. By means of two 

 agencies he may hold back this surplus 

 — the one is the forest, the other is the 

 reservoir. 



Does he want facts regarding the for- 

 est? Then let him apply to the United 

 States Forest Service. Would he know 

 of the reservoir? Let him ask the 

 United States Geological Survey. 



The world is not in ignorance on 

 these matters. It simply remains for the 

 statesman to apply the knowledge al- 

 ready possessed by men of science and 

 engineers. When will he do it? 



