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THIRD ANNUAL SESSIONS 



five, but he must work, and not loaf. He cannot sit down and dfag out 

 an existance and expect the seed to grow, mature and harvest itself. 

 He must get up in the morning and work systematically all day and 

 every day. 



Causes of Failure. 



"By observation, I find that nine out of every ten failures are due to 

 the dry farmers, and not to the farms. Let me cite you a few instances 

 that have come under my personal observation. Among my neighbors 

 is an old man who, when he gets angry, or, as w© say, gets 'saged,' 

 takes a shot at his dog. As a result the dog is blind in one eye, minus 

 one leg and lame in the others. I have seen the dog myself, and the 



old man admits the facts. 



"I offered fodder for sale at $6 per ton. An old farmer came over 

 and asked if this meant the corn on the stalk. When my father told 

 him, 'no,' he replied: 'Well, I'll be darned if I will buy it, then.' The 

 humane officers are after him now for not giving his cattle proper 

 treatment. He has only eight or ten head and owns a full section of 

 land, half of which borders on our south line. A year ago he offered 

 thrs land for five dollars an acre, and has now refused fifteen for it, and 

 our crops have been the cause af the raise. My father is negotiating 

 for a half section to dry farm on next year. This I consider my greatest 

 victory, as he was decidedly against it last year. Another neighbor 

 rented twenty acres to a dry farmer, which was put into com. The 

 renter did not do anything with the crop after it came up. My father 

 asked the owner why he did not see to it. He replied, 'Why, I have 

 rented it out on shares; I'm not going to do the work, too.' His only 

 occupation at the time of speaking was sitting in a rocking chair. His 

 wife was over in Boulder working while he held down the claim and 

 took care of the chickens. There are no screens or floor in his cabin. 

 We asked him once last summer if the flies did not bother him. He 

 replied, 'Wal, not very much. I don't cook much, and then I open the 

 doors and windows and the wind blows the flies away.' The last I saw 

 him last fall, he had sold his chickens so the coyotes would not get them 

 and had gone to visit his wife. I do not predict a very brilliant future 

 for him as a dry farmer. He might succeed as a politician, as he showed 

 good executive ability in arranging matters so that his wife should sup- 

 port him. 



"Of course, you are further advanced along dry farming lines than 

 we are in our section, and, assuredly, no one present is lazy. 



"There seems to be something about the dry farm that takes us back 

 to primeval days. We want to take our gun and go hunting or ride 

 out over the plains. 



Experimenting Brings Results. 



"Do not be afraid to experiment. The savage, by experiment, found 

 how to strike fire. Experimenting and its results made the names of 



