192 



DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



to the letter, and if you women here practice that, you will find your hus- 

 bands will be as meek as lambs. 



MR. MANTLE: 



We have heard from a good many quarters that there was a human ele- 

 ment in dry-farming. It is very evident that this audience is interested in 

 other subjects beside scientific agriculture. We will now call upon the 

 representative of a neighboring state of Greece, Turkey. Greece and Tur- 

 key have not been the best of friends of late, that is speaking nationally, 

 but we are here tonight as friends, and I introduce to you, Izzet B. Suryieh. 



Turkey 



MR. SURYIEH: 



It is indeed a great pleasure as well as honor for me to address such 

 a congregation on behalf of the leaders of agriculture of the Imperial Otto- 

 man Empire. 



Your heroic efforts at the redemption of the arid waste from its na- 

 tive sterility, and by better and more scientific husbandry, making it yield 

 plenty where very little formerly grew, thus making homes and a civiliza- 

 tion possible on what was formerly a desolate, inhospitable desert, has at- 

 tracted to you the attention and admiration of people all over the world con- 

 fronted by similar problems. 



Even farmers located in the more favored humid sections shall come to 

 look upon you not as the supporters of a mere fad or theory, but as the 

 great teachers of the principles of conservation and of better and more 

 scientific husbandry. 



I am to talk to you this evening about the Turkish Empire. I regret to 

 say that my experience among many of my American acquaintances has 

 shown me that they are not too well acquainted with the geography of my 

 country. There is, however, every reason why an intelligent audience like 

 this should be very familiar with the Turkish Empire, which occupies coun- 

 tries that have been the seat of most wonderful civilizations, whether it be 

 the Babylonian, Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Jew, Christian, or Mohammedan 

 — every one of them has played either all or a part of its great role in 

 the world's history on one part or other of the territory making up the Ot- 

 toman Empire. 



The Ottoman Empire extends from Adrianople in Europe to the South- 

 ern coast- of Arabia in Asia. It includes Asia Minor, Syria, Mesopotamia 

 and Arabia. This territory represents a vast area of land extending from 

 a northern latitude that passes by Constantinople in Turkey, Madrid in 

 Spain and Springfield, Illinois, to a Southern latitude that runs through the 

 Panama. Such a stretch of latitude gives the country a variety of cli- 

 mate that naturally correspondingly governs the kind of agriculture as well 

 as produce of the different sections. 



Asia Minor — This great peninsula is made up of a central plateu of an 

 elevation varying from 3,000 to 5,000 feet above sea level. The central 

 plateu is surrounded by ranges of mountains that exert marked influences in 

 modifying its climate. The northern portion around Trebizond enjoys plentiful 



