No. 6. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 233 



have crushed the stripling, but David used his brains not only to 

 select his sling and his pebble, but to find the soft spot in the enemy's 

 anatomy. If (ioliath had been hit on his muscles the stone probably 

 would have deflected like a projectile hitting the armor plate on one of 

 our modern battle ships for he had exercised his muscles only and they 

 were like steel. His soft spot was his head. He had neglected to 

 exercise it and it could not withstand the attack of even a smooth 

 pebble into hands of a mere youth. There are too many men in all 

 vocations that are just like this big ugly giant, they go about boasting 

 of the mighty things they can perform, the amount of work they can 

 do in one day, the men they can whip, the tricks they can play on 

 their neighbors in a horse trade, or their ability to get the other fellow 

 to carry the heavy end of the log, while their brain, their intellect, 

 their ability to think better thoughts and do better things has been 

 dwarfed for lack of use because they have been too lazy mentally and 

 morally to develop into that broad manhood, those higher ideals that 

 the allwise Creator made possible for them to enjoy and which will be 

 the answer to the prayer which we have all been taught at our 

 mother's knee, "Thy Kingdom Come." 



Pennsylvania was tbe pioneer agricultural district of the American 

 Continent. Her soil, her climate, her industries, thrifty citizens and 

 her geographical position made her the leader, giving to the new 

 world and the new nation the best that the land would produce in 

 grains, fruits and livestock. This preeminence was maintained with- 

 out question until the sturdy sons and daughters of her prosperous 

 people were allured toward the land of the setting sun, where homes 

 could be secured for less money and prospects for prosperity seemed 

 greater. This exodus of the children of Pennsylvania certainly did 

 not rob her of her brains and honesty and integrity, but it must be 

 admitted that with it went a liberal percentage of her enterprising 

 and enthusiastic citizenship. The motive which lead men to venture 

 into new territory imbued them with the idea of other new ventures 

 and as a result we find the livestock interests of the Western states 

 are far in advance of those in our own state, and I confidently believe 

 that one of the greatest things that ''is the matter with the Pennsy- 

 vania farmer" to-day is his neglect, rather his lack of interest in 

 keeping up his herds and flocks. It is said that livestock and agri- 

 culture go hand in hand in making a country prosperous. In some 

 sections of this State but little livestock is found that was reared on 

 the local farm, hogs, sheep and poultry excepted. This is wrong. 

 It is expensive. It is a bad system and should be corrected. Not 

 long since I saw upon the farm of one man in a central county of this 

 State as fine a farm team as could be found any where on earth. 

 Upon inquiry T learned that the team had been purchased from a 

 western shipper, who had distributed hundreds of good horses 

 through that section. The team referred to, I learned cost the owner 

 a sum of money that would require a thousand bushels of wheat or 

 nearly two thousand bushels of corn to equal. This was robbing 

 Peter to pay Paul. The cost of that team represented the crops for 

 two years of the farm on which it was working. This farm was 

 saving at the spigot and wasting at the bunghole. Besides all this 

 he was hauling away the fertility of his soil which could and would 

 have been maintained by raising these horses instead of buying them. 



