50 



THIRD ANNUAL SESSIONS 



"Portland, Oregon, February 20, 1909. 

 "John T. Burns, Secretary, Cheyenne, Wyoming. 



"My Dear Mr, Burns — Have been holding off answering yours of 

 the 4th inst. regarding my attending The Trans-Mrssouri Dry Farming 

 Congress at Cheyenne, and will say that I am very sorry to inform you 

 that it is impossible for me to attend. Have been working very hard 

 with a large committee of the solid people of this state to get a con- 



Leglisation Proposed. 



stitutional amendment to develop the class of land that must be made 

 to produce by scientific cultivation, and will say that this is the most 

 important development in the state of Oregon, as the big half of the 

 agricultural state depends on scientific farming, as there is a very small 

 part of the proportion of the whole area that can ever be reclaimed by 

 irrigation, and but few people have studied the great difference be- 



Soil Conditons. 



tween the silt deposit land in valleys, and the land that is in place on 

 the rolling hills, as the valley lands are selected and light from the roll- 

 ing hills and left the more solid and better provided to hold the mois- 

 ture in place, which will be reclaimed as easily by scientific farming as 

 the other will be by irrigation. And now that we are confronted by th.e 

 new condition that the Whole United States is short on the common 

 products of meat and bread, this great problem is a necessity, as in the 

 last ten years we have sean corn and wheat fully doubled in price, never 



Food Problem. 



to get less, if the whole arid part of the country is developed to the 

 highest state of cultivation. I want to congratulate your organization 

 and be placed on your list as an active member, and hope in the future 

 that I will be able to attend and render you what assistance may be 

 possible in this great pioneer work of education, as it has passed the 

 stage where results by practical men is no longer a question. 



"Wishing you success, and hoping that you will hold the next meet- 

 ing at some point farther West, and that your next meeting will bring 

 you a big strong delegation from the state of Oregon of good workers • 

 that will lend aid to this great cause, I am, 



"Very truly yours, 



"WM. D. HANLEY." 



TEXAS. 



Mr. G. A. Martin, editor of the Herald, El Paso, Texas, responded 

 as follows for Texas: 



"Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen — Coming as I do from the 

 largest city in the largest county in the largest Congressional district 

 in the largest state in the greatest nation of the world, I feel x hardly 

 equal to the occasion. The speakers who have preceded me have spoken 

 of the immensity of their states, but as you all know, Texas is the 



