34 



THIRD ANNUAL SESSIONS 



Crop Failures. 



"The number of failures made in the early days in Kansas tendr-^d 

 in a large degree to discourage settlement in the semi-arid regions of 

 the West. However, through investigation of the subject and iron 

 pluck and persistence, Kansas has recovered from that blow and is again 

 coming to the front. We have learned in particular to take advantage 

 of these torrential downpours which were mentioned here today, by 

 loosening up the soil to induce percolation. 



Precipitation Reports. 



"The rainfall is not the same in all sections of our country. While 

 we had six inches of rain one fall, one of my neighbors six miles north 

 had six inches of rain in one afternoon. That is one of the trials we 

 have to contend with. While the rainfall in one part of the country will 

 be 25 inches in a year, in another part it will be as low as 15 or 16 

 inches. 



"We come here wanting information along other lines than those 

 mentioned here today. We have heard of the conservation of moisture 

 in the soil, and the principles applied to that in dry farming, but there 

 is a complication to the conservation of moisture, which we have found 

 a great problem. Nearly all the speakers who have preceded me men- 

 tion the conservation of moisture. One or two mentioned the improve- 

 ment of seed and seed that would do well in the semi-arid region. But 

 the complication we want information on Is how to conserve the mois- 

 ture and at the same time maintain the fertility of our soil 



"Cultivation of the soil exhausts the humus of the soil, and the soil 

 in our country hasn't got any too much humus anyway. One gentleman 

 mentioned the rotation of crops, but most all the others mentioned 

 simply the conservation of moisture. We want to conserve the 

 ]noisture and at the same time maintain the fertility. We want to 

 know how to increase the humus in our soil. Now another complication 

 in our dry farming is this, that the more you work land the tendency 

 is to make the soil finer; then there comes along one of those famous 

 Kansas zephyrs at about 70 miles an hour, and it is goodbye oats, barley, 

 wheat, soil and everything else. 



Soil Fertility. 



"So the problem isn't simply the conservation of moisture, it is the 

 conservation of the moisture, the maintenance of the fertility and the 

 prevention of blowing, as well as the selection of seeds and the crops 

 that will do the best on the dry farming areas. We want information 

 along those lines, and we hope the gentlemen in this Congress in their 

 talks will give us some information that will help us keep the fertility 

 in our soil and also keep them from blowing. I thank you." 



