Show ONDELL ON DRY I FARMING COl Congressman ln Suite stu Some Per Per- PC onal J-onal Experiences and anti Observations n of oC Dry Funning nt ot the Pine Fc Festival My Iy first experience as a dry farmer was obtained as ns a boy more years car ago go than 1 I care to t tell l on or a n farm tarm In northWestern northwestern north north- western Iowa We e did not have ha a pat pat- name for It at that time Wo 0 called caled It a drought and a as we had not learned how to farm for dr dry years year car wo vo were comp compelled lcd to live on 1 0 what wo we ha hail had loft left oft over oyer o er from the year before cr I and our hopes for tor tho the year ear to come conie A few I years year later wo had tho historic visitation of ot grasshoppers and that thit was the driest t farming I have havo ever known I refer reter to that for tor th tho thit experience reason that during the years ars that tho the hoppers five vo that were with th us ia u more or less I learned some things thing about crops that were quick maturIng matur matur- ing and early crl seeding and forcing of oC crops that was waa of oC to wa considerable value lue m my later experience in Wyoming Twenty one years e rs n ago o next month I took up m my permanent residence In Wyoming in five Weston eston count county about miles mies from where the town of Newcastle now stands The need of grain and vegetables which be he could not secured nearer than fifty miles and then in mils uncertain quantities suggested tho thc the advisability of oC growing them and absence of water for Cor Irrigation compelled tho the experiment of ot growing what wo o ve needed with the tho wih natural rain rain- fall fail tal and BO EO o I became a a Wyoming dr dry farmer twenty years cars ago My I dr dry fanning at aJo that time continued con con- for tor a number of years during year which time I gradually Increased durinS the tho acre acreage ge until I farmed over o cr a thousand thou thou- sand acres and raised over twenty thousand bushels of oC grain and over o t h twenty five hundred bushels of potatoe pota pota- I to toes toe sixteen years rs ago this season Ut ur course we v did not call cal It dry farming neither had we heard of oC tho the Campbell Campbel s system stem or the biennial system of oC the Columbia river uplands upland still tl w wo did very well on a thin soil and with wih about fourteen Inches soi of ot b by simply imply doing very ven good bood farming and at the tho right time We e would do even ven better now under tho the same samo saro circumstances circumstance for fOI wo we have J learned arned many things from Crom those who ho 11 have ve been tho the pioneers and pathfinders path path- finders rs In the science of dry farming Wo Vo have now up there In Crook and Weston eston counties countes an extensive territory In which farming is carried on and In which reasonably good crops have o ha been grown gown b by the thc majori majority of oC the farmers for the past ton or twelve years ears while those who have farmed the best beat have been rewarded with wih phenomenal phenomenal phenomenal phe phe- crops most of ot tho the time and good crops all al the time Tho The country up there differs considerably considerably consid consid- I I crab I from your our country countr here It I Ismore Ismore Is Ismore more hilly and broken and there Is a greater variety ot of soil sol Also In thos tho the s sections most extensively farmed a heavier snowfall Recent Recently however the tho settlement is extending Into a re region re- re gion glon Ion of open prairie more like hiko Iko yours ours All Al of o our dry farmers Caners are not good dry l' l farmers b by any means In fact some ome of ot them are vcr very poor do dry farmer farm tarm- er era yet tile they have hav In the main been quite successful tul and those who farm tarm tho the best have ha been very successful During Curing all al m my service In congress I have been heen on the Irrl Irrigation committee commit commit- aton tee and for tor or a number of ears years w wa chari man so IO I have taken a a. lively In In- terest Crest In all al that pertains to Irrigation but ut at the tho same time time- I have realized that as as not to exceed ten per cent ot ol tho the area are of oC the arid states could be bo Ir Irrigated lr- lr any considerable development IC alon along agricultural lines Jnes must depend the quite larel largely upon the possibility po of oC growing of crops with scant rain rain- tall fall fal Therefore I have o ha studied tho the possibilities of oC such development as a re religious re- re as a I have studied Irrigation in all ul parts If it I the western states I have visited The Tho result resul of ot m my investigation of ot tho the subject has been a surprise at ut the extent to which tho the growing ro of oC crops with wih scant rainfall has been carried on throughout the arid and semi arid region and the limited knowledge that one ono such region has had of what was being done In all al others In California Califor nia it Ii lies has been necessary to ego ogo rather that encourage dry dl farmIng farmIn farmIng farm- farm In Ing In some Bore regions because Irrigation Irrigation aton a- a tion ton was po possible and th therefore ought to be practiced In Eastern Oregon and Washington tho the system of cropping the ground only once in two years ears has hn boen been practiced ed on an extensive scale sele and nd with great cat success while in o er every state of tho the West cst farming is carried on more or lc less hess here hero and there without irrigation tion ton and with a a scant rainfall I would not presume to give practical practical people such as you OU arc are m many of or you ou versed In the science and practice practice tice of dry dl farming much better than I a lecture or extended advice ice ad on the subject ct but there are arc some general propositions which have hao como come under m my observation that may mR possibly houseful bo hu useful to you ou The first of ot these Is that tho successful growing of or certain certain tam tain classes es of or crops on lands hands which do not contain too great reat a percentage of ot clay Is with wih a a. limited rainfall and without Irrigation has ha long since cen ceased ed to bo ho an e experiment Second Second Second Sec Sec- ond that called so-called dry s-cled s dr farming under reasonably favorable tu conditions and by the U use of proper methods Is but buta a little hess les eks certain and satisfactory in Its Is results than ordinary farming In the average country countr of heavy rainfall rain rain- fall al and much more moro satisfactory than in I man many regions of heavy rainfall with wih poor soil soi My I personal opinion Is la based on quite extensive observation that the most satisfactory results result will vill wi be lie obtained in most regions having less Jess than eighteen or twenty Inches of annual precipitation by biennial cropping and summer t tillage la go I be be- lieve that In tho the running of the years the farmer will wi get Jet moro more dollars per acre per annum from his farm b by this method than thon by rom annual cropping and with Ih less labor and expense The only e exception I should make to this rule Is In fn ca cases es where a cultivated crop like hike Iko corn or particularly potatoes or other root roots Is followed b by a grain crop No ono one who has had an any experience In dr dry farming needs to bo be advised that In er c every dry farming region adapted to tho the growth of ot winter grain such crops are the tho most certain and satisfactory neither does an any experIenced exper exper- dr dry farmer need to be told that ground round should be bo plowed In tho fall to I produce the te best results and that it I must mut be plowed deep Is so fundamental I a proposition that the tho novice understands IL it It Above all al In season en on and out 0 of season and between season eason tho the drying and baking surface must be bo broken mut Tho The success of oC dry farming under proper conditions is the thc hope of oC the tho arld semi W Yf t for It makes possible the settlement nt of oC va vant axt t areas that area otherwise oth oth- OtI- OtI would produce only tho the scant forage forge which nature provides In its development dc It will double I wi possibly pos pos- sibly Ibl treble tho the cultivated area of oC tho called so-called cled Bo-cled arid states It I Is the handmaiden handmaiden hand hand- maiden and supplement of Irrigation for tor as time passes and arid population Increases in in- in creases in density th the high priced Ir irrigated Ir- Ir lands land must bo be used exclusively h for tor tho the growth of or crops of ot lar large e value per acre acro thus the tho entire we tern country dependent for Its entre countr 18 cor- cor culs cais and certain aln cla classes cs of ot forage Corge upon the lands Dr Dry farming wll vil wl also prove 10 0 an helpful help help- ful fu al ally to aid ad tho the live hive lve stock Indus tr try and the last lat acre that can cnn b be profitably irrigated and can be sue suc I CC dry dl farmed In our western estern country has boen been brought under cultivation cul cul- the major portion of oC our Intermountain In In- terrItory will wI still t I remain as a permanent grazing rc region lon Interspersed Interspersed Interspersed Inter Inter- with wih the Irrigated valleys and aleys the tho dry do 1 form torm uplands upland affording within easy casy access the tho feed teed and forage which relieves s tho stock Industry of ot the dangerous dangerous dangerous dan dan- element of ot chance and makes makeR the Improvement of our hive stock and its It finish at home so 50 that we shall become tho the producers of ot a finished article artcle rather than of a 0 raw material thereby securing the profits which now goes to others As AI the representative of ot the people of ot Wyoming I made ever every earnest arnest effort ef of- fort last lt winter to secure what I conceived con con- COI- COI cel celd d to bo a a more nearly adequate hV farming homestead homested than the pr present pres s ent homestead of o 10 acres acre An energetic ener enor- getic do dry dr farmer farmel who has a n amount of stock can care for more than acres of oC land If I h ho crops only one half one of ot his land each year ho hc hI needs more than nCr acres In rin any event even he ought to have havo a little pasture and rind under the average conditions he ho must have havo a n greater e than ICO acres to bo ho assured of ot success While the tho legislation we Bought sought passed both hoth tho the hou house and senate It failed of ot enactment Into Jaw lass by reason of oC the tho Insistence of oC Senator Smoot upon his non resident non provision pro and the refusal of tho the house homo to agree to tho the same samo The legislation however still remains upon upon up up- on tho the speakers speaker's table and ma may be called call call- cl- cl ed crl up at any art time during the tho coming sealon lon of congress when tho the offers |