378 DRY-FARMING 



published reports are the most valuable publications 

 dealing with dry-land agriculture. Only simple 

 justice is done when it is stated that the success of 

 the Dry-farming Congress is due in a large measure 

 to the untiring and intelligent efforts of John T. 

 Burns, who is the permanent secretary of the Con- 

 gress, and who was a member of the first executive 

 committee. 



Nearl)" all the arid and semiarid states have 

 organized state dr}'-farming congresses. The first 

 of these was the Utah Dr3'-farming Congress, organ- 

 ized about two months after the first Congress held 

 in Denver. The president is L. A. Merrill, one of 

 the pioneer dry-farm investigators of the Rockies. 



Jethro Tull (see frontispiece) 



A sketch of the history of dry-farming would be 

 incomplete without a mention of the life and work 

 of Jethro Tull. The agricultural doctrines of this 

 man, interpreted in the light of modern science, are 

 those which underlie modern dry-farming. Jethro 

 Tull was born in Berkshire, England, 1674, and 

 died in 1741. He was a la-nyer by profession, but 

 his health was so poor that he could not practice his 

 profession and therefore spent most of his life in the 

 seclusion of a quiet farm. His life work was done in 

 the face of great physical sufferings. In spite of 

 physical infirmities, he produced a sj'stem of agricul- 



