Farmers' Week in Agricultural College. Ill 



will lay the foundation of distress by destroying the life-blood of the 

 strong man who is the family protector and family defender; the 

 bone and sinew of our country; or that will snuff out the dimly burn- 

 ing light of life in those who are so near the brink of the River that 

 their only hope of resuscitation was in pure milk; or that inoculates 

 with an incurable disease the life of the household, that blasts their 

 hopes and causes a life of wretchedness and premature"' death? Are 

 your barns clean? Are your milk utensils sanitary to prevent an im- 

 usual and unnecessary growth of bacteria that is deadly in its in- 

 fluence? Are you handling this product in the way you would want 

 your food handled. 



Is your cream kept in a perfectly sanitary place and do you 

 dispose of it as often as you should; or do you keep it where you 

 wouldn't like to have your pies kept and hold it until it is rotten to 

 avoid an extra trip and then boast about being able to get as much for 

 it as somebody who takes care of theirs and delivers it sweet? 



Is your separator kept thoroughly cleaned every time it is used; 

 or do you ease your conscience on the representation made by the 

 agent that sold it to you, that once a week was often enough? Is 

 your separator sitting where you would be willing to have your break- 

 fast cooked, and is the cream kept in a vessel you would be willing 

 to have your custard kept in? Do you sell good, rich milk as it comes 

 from your herd, or does part of it come from the pump? Are you 

 churning your cream and selling the skim milk by the quart and con- 

 gratulating yourself that the inspector didn 't catch you ? Are you sell- 

 ing last summer's butter for fresh? Are you loyal to your own con- 

 victions ? Are you loyal to the sacred trust placed in your hands by an 

 overruling Providence and a confiding public? Are you true to the 

 requirements of the statutes? Are you true to the voice of conscience? 

 Are your books balanced? Is your record clear? Are your accounts 

 straight? Is your business life an open book that can be read by the 

 Dairy Inspector, the public and the supreme judge? Have you a 

 good case? Is it prepared for the court of final decision? You have 

 doubtless made mistakes; that is our common lot. In the language of 

 Homer Wilson, "Let us square our accounts with all mankind and 

 draw the mantel of charity over those who have misused us and as 

 the sands of time fall into the grave of the departed years, let mem- 

 ory plant a few flowers of perennial freshness and beauty while the 

 hand of love writes the epitaph of unforgotten virtues." 



To you who are not Dairymen, what is your life ? What have you 

 done to assist in this battle royal for Dairy Supremacy in the grand 

 old State of Missouri ? What have you done to remove the stigma that 



