DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



183 



Regina, Sask., October 9, 1914. 



R. H. Faxon, Esq., 



Executive Secretary-Treasurer, 



International Dry-Farming Congress, 

 Wichita, Kansas. 

 Dear Mr. Faxon: 



I regret very much to have to advise you that owing to another attack 

 of sciatica, Mr. Motherwell will not be able to go to Wichita. I am sending 

 you a lettergram tonight stating that Mr. Mantle will be with you in place 

 of the Minister. Saskatchewan will also be represented by Professor 

 Bracken of the College of Agriculture. Immediately the session of our 

 Legislature closed, Mr. Motherwell had to leave for Winnnipeg in connection 

 with public business, and ever since his return from that city, he has 

 been confined to his home at Abernathy by a fresh attack of sciatica. I 

 deferred writing to you in the hope that he would feel able to go but he 

 would simply have had to go on crutches if he attempted it. 



Mr. Motherwell has directed me to convey to you and through you to 

 the Congress his profound regret that he has at the last moment been 

 obliged to relinquish all hope of standing shoulder to shoulder with the Old 

 Guard at this time. The Minister feels that Saskatchewan will be well rep- 

 resented by Professor Bracken and Deputy Minister Mantle. 



In conclusion permit me to express to you Mr. Motherwell's best 

 wishes for a thoroughly successful Congress in every way. 



Yours very truly, 



I. J. CUMMINGS, Secretary. 



Reference has been made on more than one occasion during the past 

 few days to the hope that possibly the greater part of the arid acreage 

 of the known world would be treated to what we know as dry-farming 

 methods, if that acreage is to be productive, is to grow crops for the use 

 of man. 



Dry-land area is not confined by any means to the western or moun- 

 tainous parts of the United States, or to the western provinces of Canada. 

 These are all dry-farming regions on this continent; but there are corres- 

 ponding regions of dry lands in almost any other continent, and of course, 

 on some of the other continents practically all of the land is what we know 

 as dry land, that is, it receives less than 20 inches of rainfall annually. 



As this is an international Congress, it would be international in name 

 only if the representatives from other countries in which there is an ex- 

 cessive area of dry land, were not given their pioper place on the program, 

 and I am satisfied that those who are gathered in this hall tonight will be 

 well pleased to have this opportunity of hearing at first hand of the condi- 

 tions under which dry-farming is practiced in the countries that will be 

 represented by the speakers this evening. 



It has happily not been the custom of the various members of the Con- 

 gress called upon to preside to make speeches, I think, and as we have a 



