THE DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



12? 



UTAH. 



MR. McCOLL (presiding) : "Prof. L. A. Merrill, of the State Agri- 

 cultural College at Logan, is the next speaker, but as he is not present 

 his brother. Dr. Fred W. Merrill, with the permission of this Congress 

 will speak for a few minutes." 



Dr. Merrill spoke as follows: 



"Mr. Chairman, Delegates to the Convention, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

 I appreciate the honor gi'ven me of responding upon the program in place 

 of my brother, and in doing so, it is with much temerity because of the 

 prominent part he has taken in the previous proceedings of this Congress, 

 and because of his eminent success in solving this great problem. 



Dry Farming Not New. 



"This is not a new proposition to Utah people, for we have been" 

 operating without irrigation for upwards of thirty years. Honorable 

 George L. Farrell, who is to speak to you tomorrow is one of those who 

 has farmed without irrigation for that length of time. Our success is 

 due to the conservative plans upon which we have operated and to the 

 fact that we have been responsive to the investigat'ons and observa- 

 tions of our sci'entific experimenters. Also we learned in the beginning 

 that every farmer must plan and follow his own system. 



"We have no set system for any locality nor for any farm. Every 

 man has his own problems and works them out in his own way. Our 

 scheme of agricultural education has done much to advance the work of 

 this arid farming scheme. Agriculture is taught in all the higher insti- 

 tutions of learning, both public and private, and also the majority of 

 high schools teach courses in agriculture, the effort being to impart 

 agricultural information, and to instill into the minds of the young people 

 a love for agricultural work. 



"There have been no failures in Utah in arid farming, owing to the 

 conservative plan upon which we organize and operate. There are few 

 single farmers who have entered the field very extensively. Our Execu- 

 tive Committeeman, Mr. Paxman. is an exception however, having gone 

 into the system quite extensively, and has been eminently successful. 

 The more popular plan is for a number of farmers to organize into a 

 company and operate on a large scale, using steam power, thus economiz- 

 ing on time, labor and expense. 



"Gentlemen, we are not worried over conditions in Utah. We have 

 passed the experimental stage, and are now getting results from beyond 

 our fondest anticipations." 



DRY FARMING AND RAILROAD DEVELOPMENT. 



Address by Geo. E. Bidwell, former general manager of the Chicago 

 & Northwestern Railroad: 



"Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of The Dry Farming Congress: I am 

 not prepared to say anything more than to extend to you the greetings 

 of the Chicago & Northwestern Ra'lroad Company, and of its president, 



