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THIRD ANNUAL SESSIONS 



we were also conning a map of the United States with great uninviting 

 blots on its face that covered a great deal of the territory in the central 

 west, without a line to designate the highways of commerce, without a 

 dot to mark the place of future cities and — little did we realize, — and 

 it is hard for us to realize today, that a convention of agriculturists, 

 intelligent men, well-to-do men, meet today almost in the geographical 

 center of the American Desert, the Sahara of America; and recognize 

 the fact too that not only the localities of the eastern states that used 

 to furnish the food of men and beasts, but the eyes of the nations of the 

 world are upon us and looking to us for future sustenance both for man 

 and beast. Hence, it is very important that we study more and better 

 methods and devise means whereby we can better cultivate the soil. 



"Now, this is my first meeting with you in The Dry Farming Congress 

 and I may ask a few questions before I get through and some of you may 

 have an opportunity of answering them later on. But it i's not the last 

 time I expect to be permitted to be with you. And I believe today we 

 would have had a great deal larger an assembly here if it had not been 

 for this snow blockade. But there is one consolation, you can know that 

 the Lord is on our side and that the old adage, that the Lord helps those 

 who help themselves is being fully substantiated, and now if we will only 

 take pains to acquire the knowledge and experience that will enable us 

 to conserve this moisture that a kind Creator has placed here for our 

 use, then we have accomplished our end to a great extent at least. Mr. 

 Chairman, I am a representative from the state of South Dakota, and we 

 are represented here, I think, with six delegates. I don't know whether 

 we ever had more than one representative before and I felt at this time 

 we ought to have twenty and made an effort to have a larger delegation. 

 I represent the western end of South Dakota and I have one fellow dele- 

 gate with me — I think I see him in the audience in the balcony — and I 

 insist that he should make a speech, because he is a man who has had 

 much more experience than I have in dry farming, and he is making a 

 greater success, and he is buying the machinery, but I am going to tell 

 you that I am going to be a dry farmer, if I can borrow his machinery. 



Average Results. 



"My friend, Mr. Holcomb, should have gotten up here and told yo'i 

 how he had raised 40 bushels of winter wheat to the acre in South Dakota 

 in a range country where 20 years ago we were told through the eastern 

 newspapers tha.t it was only fit for jack rabbits, coyotes, range cattle, 

 cowboys and sheepmen. Now, with us in South Dakota we have condi- 

 tions that probably you do not have in some other states, especially as 

 near to the mountains as some of j^ou are situated here. 



Gumbo Soil. 



"Our soil is a deep, heavy gumbo soil, largely mixed with gravel. 

 That makes it very difficult soil to work, and we find a great Meal of 

 motive power is required to break the soil and turn it over, We have 

 an elevation of only 3,229 feet in the western portion of the state. At 



