DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



185 



both countries; and to make purchases of farm implements in this country 

 for export to Russia. These purchases are made either for the Russian 

 Department of Agriculture, government or county stores of farm imple- 

 ments, or for individuals in Russia. As we are a part of the Russian Min- 

 istry of Lands and Agriculture, our services are gratis. I speak these last 

 words because the named function of purchasing farm implements was 

 sometimes misunderstood by American manufacturers, who thought that we 

 were desirous of commissions, agencies in Russia, and the like. In reality, 

 we desire to place American manufacturers in direct touch with Russian 

 purchasers, and to put in Russia the best machinery. 



At the present time after a year of work in this country, and having 

 visited numerous Experiment Stations, Agricultural Colleges, and many 

 farmers, I am under the strong impression of the enormous work done and 

 being done in all the lines of agriculture in this country. I consider that the 

 International Dry-Farming Congress, as one of the greatest agricultural 

 organizations of the present time, is one of the robust levers that moves 

 the agricultural work of this, and also of foreign countries, forward to the 

 progress in scientific and practical agronomy, thus laying the foundation of 

 the country's prosperity. It cannot be otherwise, since vast areas of lands 

 in arid and semiarid regions lie vainly idle because the amount of land 

 which may be irrigated is limited, or by the water supply, or by the cost 

 of reclamation; but those lands are more and more needed for the produc- 

 tion of crops. The population is rapidly increasing; our Mother Earth wel- 

 comes the dry-farming. The soils of those lands are usually rich in min- 

 eral elements of plant-food, and these salts are also near the surface. 

 Those lands can, and the largest part of them must be, made fruitful for 

 homes by the practical application of the science of dry-farming. 



Dry-farming includes within its borders the areas of those lands with 

 a large diversity of economic, climatic, and soil conditions. Dry-farming 

 has to deal with those conditions with all the combinations between the 

 different characters of soils, from heaviest clays to lightest sands; with 

 severe drought and limited rainfall in annual precipitation; so the dry- 

 farming has to solve not only the principal problems of the accumulation, 

 conservation and careful distribution of soil moisture, but has to confront 

 the complexity of the problems created by all the named important factors. 



The work of the Dry-Farming Congress is a big one, and one of the 

 most important peaceful works, and one of the far-reaching works of the 

 greatest interest to my own country. 



The time is not far away when the demand of food will be much 

 greater than the production of all the irrigated lands, and all the watered 

 lands of rainfall regions, and then the production to supply will come from 

 the dry-farmed lands. That is the reason why dry-farming is so vital in 

 itself, and will be vital eternally. 



I am deeply sensible of the privilege to bring greetings to the Ninth 

 International Dry-Farming Congress and best wishes for the future de- 

 velopment of dry-farming. 



I thank you. 



