THE DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



139 



dergoing. Men came and went away, but some stayed and won out. 

 Many will fail. You will find this true wherever you go and in all 

 classes of life and business. 



Precipitation. 



"To the inteirgent farmer with some capital, Wyoming offers op- 

 portunities unsurpassed. The government records of the weather bureau 

 of Cheyenne show that our average precipitation for 37 years is 13.55 

 inches, with the understanding that the records of the early part of 

 the period were not very accurate and the average for the last 15 years 

 is 16.02 inches. 'T!s true our moisture comes rather erratically, too 

 much at times, and not enough at others, but by persistent, intelligent 

 use of brawn and brain we can conserve sufficient moisture and so use 

 it that we will raise big paying crops." 



DRY LAND AGRICULTURAL INVESTIGATION. 



By Prof. E. C. Chilcott, in Charge of Dry Land Culture, Department of 

 Agriculture, Washington, D. C: 



(The last section of Prof. Chilcott's address was illustrated by 

 Stereoptican.) 



"I will endeavor to take up very Lttle of the time of the Congress, 

 as T merely wish to introduce some of the phases of our Dry Land Agri- 

 culture investigations that will be discussed at greater length by Dr. 

 L. J. Briggs, the Physicist of our Bureau, who is associated with me 

 in all of these investigations. 



"I will take this occasion to assure the members of this Congress 

 that all the men who are associated with me in Dry Land Agriculture 

 investigations, together with myself, are enthusiastic supporters of the 

 objects for which this organization stands. We believe that there are 

 vast agricultural resources which can and will be developed by the ap- 

 plication of scientific principles to the practice of agriculture in the semi- 

 arid regions of this counry. We want to- aid in the most effectual way 

 in this development. We believe that in the present stage of the devel- 

 opment of dry land farming we can best serve the cause hy pointing 

 out some of the difficulties to be met in the solution of these problems, 



Danger in Generalization. 



and the great danger that lies in attempting to make broad generaliza- 

 tions based upon limited exiDerience in a single locality — or at best a 

 few localities — with a certain soil type and a certain combinaton of 

 climatic factors. We are heartily in sympathy with the policy of this 

 Congress, which gives an opportuniy for any one who has worked out 

 a plan which has given good results on his own farm, to give others the 

 benefit of his experience. 



Value of Congress. 



"W^e realize that immense good must come from this free exchange 

 of ideas and experiences. We have no disposition to minimize the im- 



