THE DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



135 



standing of the words so that everyone concerned will know that the 

 term, dry farming, means raising crops with the natural precipitation 

 and that no artifi'cial application of water to the soil is meant. 



Growth of Movement. 



"If anyone had mentioned the possibilities of such a gathering as 

 this, a few years ago, in any part of the United States, let alone 

 Wyoming, there would have been no question of doubt in the minds 

 of those who heard the assertion, that the speaker was either an en- 

 thusiast who did not know what he was talking about, or was at least 

 over-balanced. 'Tis so always, and no doubt always will be, for all 

 t'^e, that the more important and valuable the work, the more skeptical 

 and unbelieving we are. Take any of the most important improvements 

 and inventions in the world and the inventor, as a rule, has had the fight 

 of his life to make anyone take the same view of his proposition as 

 he had. 



Prejudice Exists. 



"So it is with dry farming in Wyoming because; first, many people 

 having had things their ' own way and being accustomed to the same, 

 don't want a change; second, a great many people express the opinion 

 that this talk of raising crops in Wyoming is all nonsense. Having 

 been raised in the state and seldom having seen the outside of it dur- 

 ing their lives, what they don't know of Wyoming is not worth talking 

 about. The fact is the best classically educated man is practically an 

 ignoramus unless he has traveled. And it is easy to understand that 

 some of us who have not had the opportunity to travel and perhaps 

 have not read any too much good literature are very much incFned not 

 to take stock in any apparently radical change from present conditions. 



Wyoming Results. 



"But let us look into this matter a little more. In 1905 when I first 

 visited Cheyenne and looked into the possibilities of so-called dry farm- 

 ing, — studied the problem before me, — and after seriously considering 

 the matter I believed crops could be raised in the vicinity of Cheyenne 



Bi-enniel Cropping. 



by proper methods, of cultivation and conservation of moisture, — two 

 years' moisture for one big crop. Nearly everyone laughed at me, per- 

 haps not in my face, — Wyoming people are too courteous for that, — but 

 certainly behind my back. This opportunity of getting the best of this 

 dry farm crank was too good a one to be lost. 



First Experiment. 



"Arrangements were made so that I had the opportunity of proving, 

 if possible, my assertions. I was not given the privilege of choosing 

 a piece of ground that was ideal for receiving and holding moisture or 

 even to make the demonstration where if the crop failed, no one would 

 see it, but my first crop was raised on what was then in the enclosure 

 of the park, where the frontier show was held, almost within the city 



