DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



197 



nent, and it was interesting also to know that the quickest and shortest 

 way to disarm a foe is by generous treatment. 



We have all heard that half the people live in China, another great 

 dry-farming country, in which dry-farming has been practiced longer than 

 in any other part of the world. 



I will now ask the representative of China to tell us about that. China 

 has been represented at practically every Congress, and intends to be repre- 

 sented in the future, and is very well represented at this Congress in the 

 person of Dr. Koliang Yih, Secretary of the Chinese Legation at Washing- 

 ton, and a graduate of Cornell University. 



China 



DOCTOR KOLIANG YIH: 



"East is east and west is west, and never will the two meet," said the 

 great writer, Kipling. 



But the east and the west will meet, and do meet, and do meet here 

 today in a "dry" Congress, in the hospitable city of Wichita, in the dry 

 state of Kansas, under the direction of Dr. Waters, an aquatic name! The 

 time, the place, the man are in every respect ideal ! 



Dr. Hume said the other day that he represented three-fourths of the 

 people in his state, because three-fourths of the people are engaged in ag- 

 riculture. 



I may say that I come here to represent nine-tenths of my people, be- 

 cause nine-tenths of my people are tillers of the soil. 



I bring here the greetings of our Minister of Agriculture and Com- 

 merce to the world's delegates in general and to the people of the United 

 States in particular. 



Like many countries China is unable to bring her farm products from 

 the dry region to be exhibited here on account of the transportation diffi- 

 culties. But in spite of this our ministry has delegated me to be present. 



We are an agricultural people, and we owe a great deal to agriculture. 

 The popular government will respond to the call of the agricultural con- 

 gresses in any form. 



The agricultural problem in any country becomes more complicated 

 when the country is thickly populated. In China we have a population three 

 times that of Russia, four times that of the United States and almost 

 ninety times those of Australia and Greece. The staple crops of our country 

 are wheat and millet in the north, wheat and kafir in the northwest, an/I 

 rice in the south. We will grow rice wherever water is procurable, and we 

 can grow it farther north, for we believe it to be the best and the cheapest 

 food. 



Near the city of Peking in the same latitude as New York or Chi- 

 cago, I have grown 1,200 pounds of milled rice from an acre of la'id in my 

 experiment station. 



Dry-farming comes only when irrigation fails. This especially is true 

 in the north and the northwest. On account of the lack of proper care of 

 the forests in the past, the agricultural condition of our northwest is de- 

 plorable. Heavy rains nd great floods may happen, but as the lands are 



