THE DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



225 



let it lay rough so as to conserve the little moisture that might come 

 down. In the spring time they surface the soil. In about the latter part 

 of April or early May you may see the Chinese farmer with a wooden 

 plow, sometimes drawn by a couple of mules, and sometimes by an old 

 woman or a donkey, and this plow is being dragged through the ground, 

 not very deep, but still sufficient to turn the moist soil to the top. Then 

 the seed is sewn and slightly covered with moist soil. After that it is 

 rolled with a small roller. And after that the whole field is broken, that 

 is the crust is broken. 



Precipitation. 



"There is one peculiar thing of which I haven't heard anyone talk, 

 namely, this: In the very dry parts of China where the rainfall is only 

 15 inches, every farmer before sewing wheat, barley, sorghum, or beans, 



Soaking the Seed. 



soaks them in water sometimes 24 and sometimes 48 hours. I have even 

 seen corn planted with a root two inches long. By soaking in water the 

 seed doesn't have to draw so much moisture out of the soil around it, 

 and by being sewed in loose soil, it rs able to root at once. It slumbers 

 there in the ground until the rain comes which is sometimes six weeks 

 after the grain has been sowed. With regard to the exploration of differ- 

 ent countries and the valuable materials we collect there, I might men- 

 tion one thing. 



Durum WFieat. 



"The Durum wheat was intruduced by Mr. Carlton from the dry 

 sections of Russia and which today is such an important crop here in 

 the arid parts of the United States, that I am tx)ld $20,000,000.00 is the 

 yearly income derived from Durum wheat. Prof. Buffum told us this 

 morning of a new onion that has been discovered that has no smell. A 

 few weeks ago I saw in a paper that a farmer in Kansas had discovered 

 an onion that when planted between potatoes, that on the very hot days 

 became so powerfully strong that they forced water into the eyes of the 

 potatoes and they began to water and an abundant crop was raised. 

 They we have one thing in China in particular. The Chinese have found 

 out by sad experience that it doesn't pay to grow all things. The Chinese 

 fctick to only a few crops and do not experiment with new things. 



Sorghum. 



"Now the great grain raised in China is sorghum and I have seen 

 fifteen different varieties. Each locality has its own variety adapted to 

 its special needs. 



Broom Corn, IVIillet, Beans. 



"Next to those come the broom corns, and there are several varieties 

 of those; then comes the so-called Italian millet and next to that, beans, 

 which is the most important crop. Every year they export $1,000,000.00 

 worth of beans from Manchuria and China. Now to show you how well 



