The Dickinson press., 1911-10-21
WORST And
L.R.WALDR0N.

Speakers at Colorado Springs.
Population Increasing and
People Must Learn to
Successfully Farm.
A summary of presidents annual
address at the sixth int ernational dry
congress at Colorado Springs,
Colo. Oct. II:
Dr.. j. H. Worst. President of the
North Dakota Agricultural College and
of the International Dry-Farmine Con-
sress, 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 q place in all agricultural. countries
and is not confined to countries of limit
ed rainfall. The growth of popula-.
tion in all countries is bringing in
creased pressure on the land for sub
sistence. The humid regions are no
longer capable Of supplying the needs
of the worlds increasing population.
{ The sub-humid and semi-arid coun-
tries 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
purpose. Not the least among the tasks
before US, therefore, ia to demonstrate
by actual practice that humidity is not
an essential requisite for successful
agriculture. s
- The fact that nearly half the eaeth's 9
surface is visited with less than 20
inches of annual rainfall makes dry
farming necessity. But q traction nf
this vast area is susceptible Of irri-
Cation. What cannot be irrigated must
be cultivated. ii at all, by dry-farming
methods; for human genius cannot re-
move natural barriers. It can. however
SUGGEST methods of farming that may
be adjusted to local conditions, methods
Of tillaee that will prevent the unneces-
sary evaporation of soil moisture, to-
Rether with the breeding of those plants
which are themselves economic Of
moisture These factors, taken to-
seether. will ted to make agriculture
slsohtabfs with siess rainfall than in
humid districts where the total precipi-
tation 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 or
semi-arid countries to insure agrlcul-
tural success, the rewards should not
vary greatly. The tendency to take
chances. however, is more likely to pre-
vail 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 bis crops will prove failure.
More than a billion and half of
hungry mouths must be fed three times
q day. Moreover. the world 8 population
is increasing, while the land area. the
chief source of food supply, will come
largely from the desert of the past. =
President Worst emphasized the i'm.
portance of the International Dry Farm
ing Congress as affording at least a
partial solution Of the great problem of
how to obtain and apply the knowledge
which will make fruitful the semi-arid
districts Of the world. TO accomplish
a work SO vast and so intimately related
to the welfare sof this and other coun-
tries, the funds for prosecuting the work
should be proportioned to the task. he
said. The vastness of this enterprise
demands highly organized effort. Its iu,-
portance warrants the expenditure Of
vastly larger sums of money than it is
possible to provide under the presentpre.
carious system OF taking up collections.
'.The International Dry Farming Con.
Rress, therefore. should be endowed
with q foundation at5once permanent
and that will insure an income adequate
|to its needs. One million dollars.
judiciously invested would efford a
reliable income sufficient to. discoves
and exemplify the methods that will ul-
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