DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



11 



Note: Chairman Drummond resumed the chair. 



CHAIRMAN DRUMMOND: 



We will now hear from a member of the Old Guard of the Interna- 

 tional Dry-Farming Congress, a man who was on the firing line in the 

 early stages of the game, and who was personally responsible, in a large 

 measure, for the starting of this organization on the road to success. Doc- 

 tor John H. Worst, president of the Agricultural College of North Dakota, 

 will deliver you greetings for the United States. 



DOCTOR WORST: 



To respond on behalf of the United States to the expressions of wel- 

 come so felicitously uttered by the preceding speakers is a big task to be 

 assigned to me, so young and so unsophisticated! However, we have all 

 heard of Kansas. Like my own state — the greatest of agricultural states, 

 North Dakota — the citizenship of Kansas comprises the best blood in fact 

 of the civilized world. And as for Wichita, we have already experienced 

 her hospitality. 



From a population drawn thus from so many sections of the country 

 and welded together by thought and purpose into a homogeneous democ- 

 racy — except perhaps when it comes to politics,- — we naturally anticipate a 

 most friendly reception. The words of welcome so eloquently spoken, 

 therefore, fully corroborate our estimate of the people with whom it shall 

 be our pleasure to sojourn for several days. Moreover, the purpose of this 

 great gathering is sufficient guaranty that not only your hospitality, but 

 your counsel and experience will be appreciated, for every hour will be 

 devoted to the consideration of problems affecting the general welfare. 



The International Dry-Farming Congress stands for the reclamation 

 of millions of acres of land in this and in other countries by the applica- 

 tion of science to husbandry. It means more food for more people. And 

 since food in abundance and obtained at minimum cost is the surest guar- 

 anty of domestic contentment and national prosperity, due consideration 

 should be given to its production whenever the soil and climatic conditions, 

 aided by scientific research, will make food more abundant. With ap- 

 proximately half of the land surface of our g^be semiarid in character, 

 socalled Dry-Farming becomes one of the biggest problems that confronts 

 the human family. 



The rapid increase of population in the United States is already mak- 

 ing increased demands upon the soil. The humid areas are barely sufficient 

 to feed and clothe the present population, under existing conditions of farm 

 management. Within half a century at least two and a half times as much 

 food and raw material for the factories will have to be produced in order 

 to feed and clothe our people as comfortably as they are now clothed and 

 fed. 



Basing the natural increase of population of the future upon that of 

 the past and discounting most liberally, by the year 2000, the population 

 of the United States should exceed 400 millions — in fact it should be nearer 

 600 millions. 



