El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-10-19
Leading Men Of the Country
Speak at International
Dry Farm Congress.

Colorado Springs. Colo, Oct. 10
TOO little attention has been given
to the broad problem Of conserving the
field" declared w. NJ. Hays, assistant
secretary of agriculture. addressing
the International Dry Farming con-
gress.
DR.. v. T. Cooke. dry farming expert
for Brazil, declared Many things
have been accomplished within the
last decade or two which our fore
fathers thought TO be impossible. And
there are many who viii laugh now. at
the idea Of dry farming ultimately
winning under circumstances which do
not seem TO point toward success. but
JnOse who are studying ways and
means Tor the prosperity of the dry
farmers know, in their heart of hearts,
lnat the outcome viii be victory"
To Reclaim 1000 Acres.
CnarLes 3 Knight OF the agricul-
tura1 experiment station at ElkO,
n eT., advocated summer Iilline- ana al
tcrnate cropping for Nevada condi-
uons and said that about 1000 acres
VIII be handled under these methods
in 1912.
India Adopts Dry Farming.
Y Narayan, delegate TO the con
gress from India, spoke of the influ-
ence OF dry farming on the life of his
nome country. He said that SO per
cent or nearly 200,0OO,O00 acres, Of
the actual cultivated area of India is
land which must be handled under
dry farming methods to get the best
results and that these 100000 600
acres of dry land must, and do. feed
pfacllcally the same number of peO-
PIE. india has rainfall maximum Of
70 inches, the amount frequently
reaching 80 or 40 inches per annum
Us ulsTlDuuon is often so erratic,
however, that the growing crops de-
rive but little benefit from it, and the
general conditions are such as to
evenly compare with those regions OF
the united States which get is inchesl
OF ralnIau year Scientific methods
are being gradually introduced.
Thanks to this congress- said the
speaker, the principles of dry farm
ing are becoming more and more wide
~ recognized, and it Will not be long
before India, too, takes full advantage
oE their work"
County Demonstration Farms.
T. L. zimmerman, Mandan, n. D.. re-
ported the Organization of a branch
dry farming congress for North Da-
koJa5 with officers from each county
west Of the Missouri river. He adj
VOcated the establishment of demon
stra1on farms in all the counties and
said that his state has already begun
Its work along that line. There is
no reason in the world" said the
speaker, why North Dakota land
should not be worth S100 an acre, ex-
cept for the Indifference of farmers
Se-- maze t,5 II So, The present value is
from $40 to $50 per acre
agriculture In Schools.
j.. ID. Wheeler of WaKeenev Kan
Sas, reported that agriculture is heinz
taught 70 a limited extent in the com
mon schools of Kansas, and in about
loo high schools.
Traction Engine on Farm.
L. w, EHls. tracuon expert of La
Forte, ND, discussed the question of
Power and Flowing" He said:
six hundred million tons of soil IN
the half section lie in the surface foot
of earth, which is the workshop Of
the intelligent farmer. At least once
In two years this enormous WEIGHT
must be turned bottomside up.
Powers on oar farms is tending
more and more to become mechanical
in its nature. The stationary engine
aids or replaces the drv farmers own
The tractor comes to assist
the animal as wei as man. With the
traction engine to take care of the
heavy rush work and look after itself
the rest of the time. and with fha
number of horses determined bv the
odd jobs that need attention the wear
around, the power problem is perma-
nenuy solved and the type of farming
may be chosen properly with reference (
lions.
1T takes four or five years to make
a good work horse. A modern factory
can turn out a 30-horsepower tractor
i'm from three to five hours Tt takes /
many generations to change the tvpe
OF an animal, but only a few weeks Z
to adapt machine to a new condition.
II took the first successful builder of a ;
gas tractor five years to convince 400 I
farmers of its value; but 1000 farmers /
are convinced this year that some /
make of gas tractor fs practicable"
Direct Help for Farmers.
Howard H. Gross president of the I
National Soil Fertility league. Chi
sago, discussed methods Of getting the /