76 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



cf years, so much the worse, for every hour chsquaHfies him for the 

 duties of Hfe, takes away his scli-rehance and makes him simply a part 

 and piece of a machine. Of course these places have to be filled, cleri- 

 cal duty has to be performed, but I would teach the young man to-day 

 ti. shun it rather than to seek it and to keep out of it if possible. Of! 

 course if a young- fellow realizes that he has not energy and self reliance 

 and vigor enough to enter the struggle alone and carve out a career for 

 h.imself like the farmer, in other words he finds himself in the situation of 

 the farmer's dog — fit for nothing else, but probably was fit for "coons" — 

 ])robably he might run for office. If he has a spark of energy, let him 

 seek the farm, get out in the open air, get hold of a piece of land forty 

 lo one hundred and sixty acres, stay by it. raise pDtatoes and c^rii and 

 cattle, and be a free and independent man. No matter if a man owns 

 but an acre and has but a log cabin' an it hz is i'liepenls it ; Vrxt acr2 

 (if land is his domain, his kingdom, and the cabin is his castle, hv is a 

 monarch and can live absolutely free and independent of the world, and 

 it is the only life that offers such advantages. 



Now I have no words of advice, gentlemen, to offer you. T wish T 

 could give you some ideas on stock feeding that would be worth while 

 to carry away and spread out over the State, but I have nothing of that 

 kind. The right way is to begin at the beginning and learn the business, 

 Karn the trade, start low and grow up. This is especially true of stock 

 laising and farming. I have observed that those who were the most 

 successful in that business generally started in a small way, studied the 

 jn-oblems as they went along step by step, so that they were able to take 

 Cc.re of them as they grew. Those who started in at the top with an 

 expensive farm and a large herd of fine stock, usually went into bank- 

 ruptcy at a very early period and had nothing to sliow for it. 



Now, gentlemen, I could say a great deal more if I had it to say, 

 but I \\ ill not afilict you any further with any remarks of mine on this 

 f.ubject, except to simply say to you as an organization and as an indi- 

 vidual, that we cordially welcome you to our city. The very best w^e 

 have is at your service, ^^'e will do all we can to make your meeting 

 here with us pleasant, an.d hope that at some time you will return. I 

 sincerely trust th^t you will have a full attendance, that the meeting will 

 be prosperous and effective, and that new ideas may originate here dur- 

 ing the sessions and be spread out over the State, and that the interest 

 may be far reaching in years to come. 



I thank you for the privilege of meeting with you this afternoon. 

 I welcome you to Springfield. 



