44 



DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



five years, and they have kept their word. But we have known, oh, ever 

 since the first Indian warriors came onto these bleak hills, that farming 

 was a success. It had to be, or we would have starved to death. But since 

 that day to this the great farming area has been increasing, and since the 

 establishment of our experiment station it has developed wonderfully. 

 Even in the science of farming, as old as it is, we are only in the beginning. 

 There are more things to come than have come. So in the science of arid 

 farming, although we say on the placard that it is a science, it is a very, 

 very young one; it needs all kinds of encouragement; it needs all kinds of 

 investigation in order 'to make it a true science. 



Some of the lines now that we may take up and go on with — I don't 

 know as I could mention a line we cannot take up and go on with. We 

 are just in the beginning. We have demonstrated — and I believe that is 

 correct — that arid farming is a success. We have demonstrated in a few 

 cases that it is a failure. But almost every line of arid farming development 

 needs still more experimentation. We have not demonstrated which is the 

 best wheat, and we may hear from someone before this convention is 

 through, which is the best wheat. Now suppose they tell you which is the 

 best wheat for arid farming, that is only the beginning; and I doubt very 

 seriously whether we have got to the stage that we know which is the best 

 wheat we know of now for arid farming. When we do find out which is 

 the best wheat, then the proposition is to take that wheat and make of it 

 what we want. We have seen in almost every channel men who under- 

 stand their business taking some particular breed of live stock and making 

 that come up to their idea or ideas of what that animal should be, creating 

 if you please, a breed of livestock, creating a flower or a fruit; and I tell 

 you that we are, before we finish, going to create an arid farm wheat that 

 will be adapted to the conditions that it meets on the arid farms. We have 

 that to do. We are going to do that and a great deal more than that. 



We want "wheat" on the arid farm. Wheat is only the beginning, W^e 

 talk, wheat because we can raise wheat on the arid farm. I am not a pro- 

 phet, but I venture to say that the day will come when wheat will be a sub- 

 ordinate crop on the arid farm. 



I wish Professor True had preceded me. I was hoping he would talk 

 about the livestock industry in connection with the dry farm. There is a 

 paper coming on the program, "Dairying Under Dry Farm Conditions." 

 When that day comes wheat will be a minor factor. We must have other 

 crops. We must develop an oat which will be a successful arid farm oat. 

 We have one started, but it will take years of work, of development and 

 experimentation to overcome difficulties and make that a universally suc- 

 cessful arid farm crop. When we have got wheat, oats, barley and rye Ave 

 have only made a beginning. We must have other crops; we must have 

 diversified farming on the arid farms the same as on other farms. 



If Dr. Widtsoe were making this talk, as he should be, in place of 

 myself, he would begin with the question of handling the soil. I know the 

 question of handling the soil on an arid farm has not been scratched over 

 the surface yet. We have made a little bit of a beginning; but we can't 



