Farmers' Week in Agricultural College. 113 



THE DESTINY OF THE MISSOURI HEN AND WHAT HER FU- 

 TURE MEANS TO THE STATE. 



(James E. Rice, Professor of Poultry Husbandry, in New York State College of Agri- 

 culture at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Address delivered during 

 Farmers' Week, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.) 



The three great controlling factors in successful 

 poultry husbandry are the environment, the man 

 and the hen. 



The Missouri hen, so far as I know, is no better 

 and no worse than any other hen. 



The ]\Iissouri soil and climate are, without 

 doubt, favorable and better than are to be found 

 in many states, but no better than in some states. 



The Missouri people, judged ])y their history 

 and enterprise, will measure up favorably with 



prof. J. E. Rice. ^j^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ 



Therefore, what the Missouri hen of the future will be will depend 

 upon two great controlling factors — first, the environment, which in- 

 cludes the soil, food and climate, and the second, the people — their in- 

 telligence, enterprise and education. 



In the long run, the soil, food and climatic conditions determine the 

 development of plants, animals and man. Eventually man reacts upon 

 the soil and it in turn reacts upon the man. But in the last analysis 

 the soil and climate win. Favorable climatic conditions, good markets or 

 other commercial advantages, however, may join forces with the man, 

 in which event, by virtue of economical production and high prices, the 

 man may be able to overcome the natural difficulties in environmental 

 conditions. 



But what has all this to do with the Missouri hen ? Just this ! The 

 Missouri hen is what you men and women in Missouri make her. If she 

 fails to measure up in size, vigor, prolificacy and in numbers and profit 

 making power, the fault will not be the soil, the climate or markets nor 

 the native ability of the people. These are already fixed and favorable. 

 But it will be determined largely by your attitude toward the develop- 

 ment of the great poultry industry in your State. In other words, 

 the history of the IMissouri hen, like the history of the Illinois hen, the 

 California hen or the New York state hen, is yet to be made. What she 

 is today in this State and what she will be in any state, rests with the 



A-S 



