DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



115 



ing. and has had a consideralde experience in that line. Some good 

 friends referred to him some years ago, and that is wh}- this picture was 

 framed. As the gentleman has prospered under dr}- farming, I just 

 wanted to make mention that he is one of the many that is still growing 

 and prospering, even at old age, under dry land farming. 



^IR. PAX^vIAN: With your permission I would like to call the at- 

 tention of Prof. r^Ierrill to one thing in regard to fall plowing. I believe 

 he has impressed this congress with the idea that I am somewhat averse 

 TO fall plowing. Now. T don't desire to take issue with him in any respect, 

 and I believe he will agree with me if I shall call his attention to my 

 conversation with him. It was to this purport: That it was not fully dem- 

 onstrated, in my mind, as to the economical side of fall plowing versus that 

 of fall discing and spring plowing, and I should, in the future, demonstrate 

 that to my own satisfaction before I should to an}- great degree advocate 

 sta3-ing with the method of fall plowing. I do not want this convention 

 to conceive the idea that I was advocating a policy against fall plowing, 

 for I believe in fall plowing, and all of my operations have been done, 

 in the main, in fall plowing. I believe there is virtue, also, in another 

 method, that can be followed up: which is. discing thoroughly in the fall, 

 allowing the moisture to go into the groitnd, then giving your ground a 

 light plowing in the spring to kill the vegetation and the wheat that may 

 grow in the spring voluntarily. Likewise. I have an idea that deep 

 plowing is not essential ever}' year. I believe in disturbing the soil deeply, 

 and I believe that that will last for a series of years — a number of years 

 and do just as well in the conservation of moisture as plowing deeply 

 every year. I believe that that theory is worthy a trial and I am going 

 to try it. T believe that we should plow deeply once; afterwards plow 

 shallow and that we will have better results, because we keep the fertility 

 on the top. 



CHATR?\IAX DERX: Gentlemen of the Convention. I take very 

 great pleasure in introducing to you ~\h\ Joshua Salisbury, the pioneer of 

 dr}- farming in Utah. (Long applause.) 



MR. JOSHUA SALISBURY, of Utah: Gentlemen: Mr. Merrill was 

 the one to push me up to advertise the picture in this frame, and the one 

 to scold me because I left it so long without publishing it to the public. 

 \\ ell. I told my reason to him in this way: I am not an educated man: 

 I did not get an}' schooling to amount to anything. "Well. 'Mr. Salisbury." 

 he says, "you have got the best school of all: we get a theory from such 

 men as you old scholars: you have got the practical part of education.'' (Ap- 

 plause.) Well, anyhow, after I started — I came here in the early sixties — 

 I traveled two thousand miles from the Ohio River, to Wellsville, Cache 

 County, with one 3'oke of cattle, which ]\Ir. Listman mentioned in this pic- 

 ture here. Anyhow. I crossed this land in '61 to hunt for ni}- cattle, and 

 I looked at the land and examined it: what kind of vegetation was grown 

 upon it. I found out if this vegetation grew on land where wheat would 

 grow, and other products, and better. AA'ell. anyhow. I watched carefuUy 

 for the time to come for the wheat to come to market. I went right awa}' 



