Show DRY FARM CONGRESS Recent Meeting at Billings of Great Help to Farmer Strenuous Work of Those In Charge Cannot Help But Be Gratifying to Those In ChargeMany Important Discussions Few meetings have ever been hold that will help the farmer to tho same extent as the great convention held nt Billings known as the Fourth Dry Farming congress It takes limo to organize and put In shape such meetings meet-ings as this and so get tho greatest good out of them We cannot but recognize that this meeting was eminently emi-nently successful and that tho errors If any of the preceding three congresses con-gresses were not made at tho fourth The results which will come from the strenuous work of the gentlemen In charge and those of the different states who worked so hard and faithfully faith-fully to make this congress tho success suc-cess It was cannot but be most gratifying grati-fying to those men Every Important work we undertake upon such lines to prove and show tho world new Ideas and thoughts must necessarily bring forth some opposition op-position This Is as It should be because be-cause It gives those who believe In their work tho opportunity of proving as far as possible that their Ideas are correct It wnkes us all and shows a great many that we have been running run-ning In too small a circle Tho general development of ngrlcul turo has boon very slow In proportion to our opportunities and we have not made the progress wo should The agricultural conditions of the great west have not been and are not yet understood by many men of the east It takes a westerner to understand the west limo early settlers of tho west have fought out their own salvation depending entirely upon their own energy and brains and very little help has been given them train tho outside They have been told how they are ruining their land and themselves by their methods and some remedies have been offered them In a kind of lordly and perfunctory way which does not and will not appeal to tho average western farmer Such meetings as those of the Dry Farming congress must be of tho greatest help not only to the farmers of tho United States but to the whole agricultural world When such met as were at Billings give their experl slices in plain everyday language It 1 appeals to tho right men and many will go back to their farms with new Ideas and thoughts which they will put in practice Tho whole world will have tho opportunity of reading tho proceedings It Is easy to understand how such meetings will make Intelll gent men think Farmers will take < more notice of tho suggestions made because this congress Is made up prln clpally of farmers A great many of tho talks and papers were given by practical men and this appeals to the farming community There Is no other organization like this In the world nnd I do not know of any that possibly can wield so great nnd good an Influence This congress has made the skeptic and the knocker realize that many things they thought they knew nil about were otherwise Many new Ideas about farming have been brought out by these meetings and many so called Impossibilities In farming have been and are being accomplished The experience ex-perience of the past shows that state after state In the early days was not considered good for farming but the energy and grit of the pioneer proved that the land was not made for ornament orna-ment or for a few stockmen It has been asserted that one cannot raise crops without copious rainfall or Irrigation yet the farmer In spite af these assertions goes serenely on I and raises good crops with less precipitation pre-cipitation than was considered possible pos-sible One of tho most Important results Df the congress will bo that the farmer will assert himself as one who must be taken Into consideration as one who knows something about his own necessities Science as we understand under-stand ft today was unknown a few years ago yet there were men of Intelligence In-telligence who raised flue stock In those days which proves that some things have been done and are done without the aid of the scientist and his theorIes This Is not written to give the impression that we Ignore the great work done by our scientific men They are necessary to the progress prog-ress of the world but they should realize that the farmer is not lacking In Intelligence and Initiative These great educational meetings bring together all kinds of men and out of tho Interchange of Ideas great results must come Such meetings I Impress most forcibly our unfortunate I slipshod methods of farming and make I I us realize the Importance of Improving Improv-ing the manner and style of our work We will better understand that In enslve work pays far better than ex enslve work |