The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-02-25
MONTANA GETS
NEXT CONGRESS
Dry Farmers Choose Governor
of the Treasure State
for President.
TWO UTAH MEN HON0RED
DISCUSSION AS TO THE PROPER
METHOD OF TREATING SOILS.

Cheyenne. Wyo., Feb. 24.-Discussion
of the proper methods of treating arid
soils occupied the attention of the
Trans Missouri Dry Farming congress
today. The debate followed the read
ing of reports from the experimental
farms and agricultural stations of
twenty-One states. Government experts,
who have gathered their knowledge
from long Investigation, and practical
farmers, whose knowledge comes from
the Wrestling of a livelihood from the
soil participated.
When James McCoIl, representative
from Australia. took the chair there
was fully double the attendance of the
opening session, delegates who had
been delayed having arrived in large
numbers.
Edwin F. Norris, governor of Monta-
ma, was unanimously chosen president
Of the congress for the ensuing year,
and his selection makes it evident that
Billings, Mont. will be selected as the
next place Of meeting. All other can
didates have apparently withdrawn.
treatment of Soils.
The question that produced the most
lively debate of the session was the
method of conserving the moisture of
soils in regions where rainfall is light
by treatment Immediately after plant
ing.
The resolution proposing that the
name of the organization be changed
10 the International Arid Farming con-
gress met with unexpected opposition.
y large number of the delegates insist
on retaining the name DRY Farming"
This resolution, with a number of
others urging government assistance
in building good roads. providing for a
permanent field commissioner and COM
plimentlnS Congressman Mondell of
wyoming on securing the passage of
the S2O-acre homestead law were re-
TERED TO the committee on resolutions.
The following officers were also
named by the committee and ratified
by the congress:
fce PRESIDENT. A. Widtsoe, Utah;
Il. A Hoskins, New Mexico, and w. II.
DIN, Colorado.
Executive committee - Lyman J.
Briggs, Washington, D. G; J. z. Shep-
ard, North Dakota: A p Moore Ne
braska; 5. H. Neele. South Dakota: G.
i. HickOlN, Kansas; Z. L. MOrdt, Okla
homa; George A. Martin. Texas; c. Z.
Root, Colorado: NJ. r. Hartung. Wv
Oming; A. Atkinson. Montana; F. G
Bowman, Idaho; J. W. Paxman, Utah;
George J. McCabe, Arizona; DR.
Hatcher. Washington; W. J. Kerr. Ore
~, Arthur Briggs, California, and H.
" Riepe, Nevada.
MIR. ChiIeott's Address.
z. c. Chilcott, agriculturist in charge
T IL.
United States department of agricul-
ture, addressed the congress on ANAL
ysis on Some of the Results Obtained
on Dry-l2nd Agriculture Investigation
in the Great Plains Area"
Mr.. ChilcOtt assured the congress that
all of the men associated with him in
dry-iand agriculture investigation arc
enthusiastic supporters of the objects
Of the congress. and he reviewed the re-
suits of their Investigations and ex-
periments.
Briefly" he said. "our conclusions
are; That vastly more data than we
yet possess must be gathered before
any one viii be warranted in making
any broad and sweeping generalization
concerning methods and systems of
dry-land agriculture. We have demon
strated beyond a question that very
few of the hard and fast rules so conf
popular writer's are of such universal
application as they claim. The methods
which give most satisfactory results
one year will sometimes fail completely
20 give the same results another year
on iGentically the same soil. And that
what will bring good results at one sta
ton will fail utterly to give like results
at another station, even when climatic
conditions are similar.
Some Advice Given.
Let US, then, keep on experimenting
and observing with open minds, ex-
changing ideas and experiences, frank
" admitting our failures, and not
boasting overmuch of our successes,
but carefully Analysing both our fail
urss and our successes, in order that
we may, if possible, get at the under
lying principles that govern both. And.
above all. let us strive TO keep out of
the patent medicine class of takers,
who deal out their prescriptions war
ranted to cure all ailments at so much
per. If we are to benefit the farmers,
it must be fby stimulating in them a
teu1ency to investigate and to reason
foA themselves, rather than to depend
upon following any set of iron-clad
rules laid down by them