The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-10-01


the members of this Dry Farming Con-
gress. AS many of you know, my
feeble efforts in the past in seeking
to promote the interests of this West
ern country which we all love so well
has been spent under the canal in con-
nection with water supplies and irri-
cation. | am only web-footed lrr1-
gator The purpose of this Congress
is to devise ways and means of de-
veloping the agricultural resources OF
those large areas of fertile lands which
lie above and beyond the irrigation
canal. But although irrigation and dry
farming differ in many essential fea-
lures, yet there are many reasons why
Western farmers who follow these two
methods of farming should be on
friendly terms. In the first place, they
are neighbors. There is, as a rule,
only silver thread of water between
the irrigated alfalfa and the dry land
wheat. l regret to say that some OF
the actions and utterances of these
two classes have not always been
neighborly There has been more or
less mud-slinging and dry-clod-throW-
ing across the canal. Those who prac-
tice and believe in irrigation have at
times attempted to belittle the posi-
bilities of the dry upland and to con-
slider it region suitable only for graz
ing stock. On the other hand, the dry
farmer frequently declares that irrlga-
ton water is a nuisance and that he
would not use drop if ditch crossed
the upper boundary of his farm. These
are extreme views and the sooner we
recognize the advantages of both kinds
of agriculture the more rapid will be
our progress.
In that extensive territory which
people designate the Mountain States
the soil of the upper benches is fire.
quently better and deeper than that
of the valleys. In my own experience
in locating canals I have found to my
deep regret that the best land is fire.
quently above the proposed canal.
Then, too, under favorable conditions,
this deep, fertile soil which cannot be
artifcially watered produces better
quality of grain. It's extent is also
much greater. No one knows how
much land can be irrigated in the arid
and semi-arid regions of the United
States. 1t has been variously estimat-
ed all the way from sixty to one hun
dred million acres. This much we do
know, that for every acre that is irri-
gated by the generations that will fol-
low us there are likely to be several
acres of equally fertile soil that must
be cultivated without irrigation, if Gull
tivated at all. Our children and chill
drens children may in time reclaim by
irrigation 100000 acres, but these
descendants of ours will still gaze just
as We do now on from one to two hun
dred million acres of arabic and irri-
gable lands for which no water can
be obtained. Nothing that I may say
can show more clearly the magnitude
of the problem you may have under
taken. In your praiseworthy efforts to
establish happy and prosperous homes
on what is now the uncultivated and
uninhabited uplands of this Western
country, bring you the greetings and
best wishes of your neighbors and
friends who toll amidst the irrigated
burrows.
In this age of diversified farming in
the West and of the winter feeding of
stock, it is no longer possible to draw
sharp line between the farmer and
the stockman. The small farmer keeps
stock and the large stockman grows
alfalfa. For the same reason, no sharp
line of demarkation exists between the
irrigator and the dry farmer. The irri-
gator has frequently more or less eX-
tensive tract above the canal which he
cultivates without water, and the dry
farmer derives great deal of profit
and satisfaction from the small tract
which he irrigates. This is surely an
other reason why the dry farmers and
irrigators should be on friendly terms.
This brings me to the subject that
/ would like to present in the briefest
possible time, viz, "The Use of Limit