106 



DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



promises much as a dr}^ farm crop. It will produce both pasture and 

 grain, and is an important fattening feed. Among the grasses I think 

 the two Brome grasses, viz.: smooth Brome Grass (Bromus Inermis) 

 and Western Brome (Bromus Marginatus) and the slender wheat grass 

 will prove of greatest value for pasture and hay over the larger part of 

 the mountain region. We should not pass without mentioning root crops 

 for stock feed. I have raised good quantities of sugar beets with very 

 little moisture, and believe mangels, turnips and carrots will be profitable. 



There are many secondary crops which should be produced for the 

 home comfort. Everyone wants trees and fruits, garden vegetables and 

 flowers, and with intelligent management and care no one need do without 

 them. On my farm in the west in the early days the idea was scouted 

 when one talked of raising trees, or any kind of fruit; yet, today eastern 

 Oregon and eastern Washington are raising all kinds of fruit without 

 irrigation, and this is done by frequent cultivation. I raised Black Ham- 

 burg, Flaming Tokays, Muscats and other grapes; also a large variety 

 of apples, pears, plums, peaches, apricots and small fruits. No doubt the 

 influence of the winds from the Pacific ocean tempered by the Japan 

 currents, enabled me to raise many varieties which are too tender to 

 be raised farther east. 



Treatment. 



The general principles of the preparation of the soil and its after 

 management, along with summer fallowing and cultivation for conserva- 

 tion of moisture, need not be discussed in a paper of this scope. I should 

 like, however, to explain briefly what I believe to be the best treatment 

 to give the different kinds of dry farm crops which are mentioned. We 

 must start out with the supposition that the land has been properly 

 ploughed, kept free from weeds, and all the moisture saved in it that is 

 possible. Our handling the crops in question begins with planting the 

 seed — unquestionably, however, the old statement made that in order to 

 make a "good man out of the boy you must begin with his grandfather" 

 is true, and the analogy holds good for crops. In other words, good 

 seed is absolutely essential, and the success of the crop is profoundly in- 

 fluenced by the hereditary tendencies, wrapped up in the seed as well 

 as by its physical condition as indicated by its purity, maturity and 

 availability. Begin then by selecting the cleanest, plumpest and heaviest 

 seed and one that has been tested to prove its germinating qualities have 

 not been impaired. A difference of cost within reasonable limits should 

 never deter the farmer from buying the best at a higher price. For 

 instance, if a farmer buys untested alfalfa seed at 15 cents per pound, 

 and plants 20 pounds per acre, his expenditure for seed amounts to $3.00. 

 Should the seed fail to grow, he not only loses the amount of money 

 expended, but his labor, and what is of far more importance, he loses, a 

 season of time, and the results of not being able to take advantage of his 

 properly prepared seed bed and carefully conserved moisture, brings irre- 

 parable damage when we consider life is short and time is fleeting. In 



