The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-10-17
DRY FARMING CONGRESS.
"lmportance Of Dry Farming Move
nent and Means Of Supporting It."

terntional Dry-Farming congress, no"
in session at Colorado Springs.
DR.. j. II. Worst, president OF the
North Dakota Agricultural College
! and of the International Dry-Farming
Congress, spoke Of The Importance
/ OF the Dry-Farming Movement and
Means for Supporting It," He said, in
! part:
The system known as dry.farming'
has place in all agricultural coun-
ties and is not confined to regions OF
limited rainfall The growth of poru'
lation in all countries is bringing in
creased pressure on the land for sub
sistence. Tho humid regions are no
longer capable of supplying the needs
of the worlds increasing population
The sub-humid and semiarid countries
will be drawn upon to supply bread
and other necessities as rapidly and
as largely as science and human skill
can render them available for the pur-
pose. Not the least among the tasks
before us, therefore, is to demonstrate
by acual practice that humidity IS rot
an essential requisite for successful
agriculture.
The TACT that nearly half the
earth's surface is visited with less
than 20 inches of annual rainfall
makes dry farming n necessity. But
a fraction of this vast area is suscep-
tibe of irrigation. What cannot be
irrigated must be cultivated. if at all,
by dry farming methods, for human
genius cannot remove natural barriers.
Ii can, however, suggest methods of
farming that may be adjusted TO local
conditions, methods of tillage that
will prevent the unnecessary evapor-
the breeding of those plants which
are themselves ecoonmiC of moisture.
These factors, taken together, will
tend 10 make agriculture profitable
with less rainfall than in humid dis
tricts where the total previcitation
during the year is frequently far in
excess of the actual needs of the
growing crops,
Considering the actual expenditure
of capital and labor in either humid
Cr semi-arid countries to insure agri-
success, the rewards should
not vary greatly. The tendency to take
chances, however, is more likely to
Irevail in humid countries than IN
semi-arid countries; for in the latter
no gambling on timely showers is war
ranted and the farmer knows it. He
must conserve the moisture that
comes or his crops will prove a fail.
ure
More than billion and a half of
hungry mouths must be fed three
times n da" Moreover, the worlds
population is increasing, while the
land area, the chief source of food
supply, will remain forever stationary.
BY the same token, the bread of the
future will come largely from the
desert of the past"
President Worst emphasized the i'm
portance of the international Dry
r Farming Congress as affording at
least partial solution of the great
pl oblem OF how to obtain and apply
the knowledge which will make fruit
ul the semi-arid districts of the world
ITO accomplish work SO vast and
50 intimately related to the welfare
OF this and other countries. the funds
for prosecuting the work should be
to the task, he said. !
The vastness of this enterprise de-
mands highly organized effort. Its
Importance warrants the expenditure |
of vastly larger sums of money than
1t is possible to provide under the
present precarious system of taking |
up collections.
ne lnicl udilOHdi LILY ~ ullll = /
Congress, therefore. should be en-
dowed with a foundation at once per
manent and that will assure an in
come adequate to its needs One mil /
lion dollars. judiciously invested, |
would afford a reliable income suffi. /
cient to discover and eXemplify the
me hods that will ultimately establish !
a successful system of farming !
wherever the soil is suitable and the |
annual rainfall l2 inches or more. |
The congress would then assume the /
"a gnty of world institution with |
permanent headquarters and with de |
partments for experiment and demon
stration. with lecture bureaus, dry |
farming experts and advisors, collect F..
ors of statistics and other important
data, and an energetic publicity de
Tartment for the spread of scientific |
literature and general agricultural in /