DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



21 



William Morfitt, Oregon; R. E. Twitchell, New Mexico; Douglas White, 

 California; Gordon H. True, Nevada; Dr. E. R. Nichols, Kansas; D. Clem 

 Deaver, Nebraska; Samuel H. Lea, South Dakota; Alfred Atkinson, Mon- 

 tana; O. W. Roberts, North Dakota; John Field, Oklahoma; E. E. Elliott, 

 Washington; Rev. G. H. Adams, Arizona; Sen. Geo. A. Day, Idaho; Dr. 

 John A. Widtsoe, Utah. 



The regular order of business for this afternoon is the report of mem- 

 bers of the executive committee on the progress of dry farming develop- 

 ment during 1907 in the following states and territories: Arizona is the 

 first on the list. Is there any report from Arizona? 



(No response.) 



CHAIRMAN DERN: There seems to be none. I will call the next. 

 California. Is there a member from California who has a report to make. 

 (No response.) Colorado? (No response.) Idaho? (No response.) 



I don't believe you did very much farming last year, from the wa}^ 

 you are responding. (Laughter.) Kansas? (No response.) Montana? 



MR. F. B. LINFIELD (Montana) : I am not a member of the Exe- 

 cutive Committee. The member of the Executive Committee from j\Ion- 

 tana is not here. As a delegate from that state I thought it might not be 

 out of place to say something about what we are doing in dry farming in 

 that state. 



CHAIRMAN DERN: I think you are perfectly right, and I would 

 ask the gentleman to come on the platform so that all can hear him better 

 than we could from the audience. (Applause.) 



MR. LINFIELD: It would look like the state were going by default, 

 and while it was not suggested that I should say anything at this meeting 

 until after I came to this hall this afternoon, I thought I would tell you 

 a little about what we are trying to do in that state. 



I felt somewhat at home (pardon me for digressing) to begin with, in 

 coming to Salt Lake City. I lived for nine years in Utah. I was connected 

 with the experiment station at Logan. I know something of what you are 

 doing; of what you have been doing down in this part of the country in 

 regard to the matter of dry farming. I remember, after taking a trip 

 around through the state in the year 1896, traveling over a considerable of 

 the area of Utah, going down through the Grass Valley and down to Pan- 

 guitch and so on, down to Kanab, and around through Arizona and coming 

 back by way of St. George, Cedar City, Beaver City, etc., and in traveling 

 over a good deal of the dry country, I re'member in some places of seeing 

 large numbers of sun flowers growing nearly as high as a man on a countr}^ 

 that looked dry and barren, a country that never had been cultivated. And 

 I said, if that land is properly taken care of, if it is cultivated and attempts 

 are made to conserve the moisture, if it will grow sunflowers standing thick 

 for four or five feet high, it will grow wheat as high as that. And after 

 coming back — I remember well of the Legislature being in session — I stated 

 to Governor Wells the possibility of doing something to encourage such 

 an experiment as would help to show how some of the drier portions of the 

 state might be made profitable for agricultural purposes. I had faith in 



