Farmers' Week in Agricultural College. 105 



magazines. Tt is uot so much tlie fact that we have a l-ow claiming the 

 world's championship that has claimed the attention of millions of 

 readers, l)ut it is because we have the men who have the brains to breed, 

 feed and develop an animal machine capable of such great work. Tt 

 is the duty of the State Dairymen's Association to push the organization 

 into every county of the State and increase the butter production so 

 that not only our own markets will be entirely supplied with our 

 products, but the quality will be so good that "iMissouri Creamery" v/ill 

 be in demand in every city of the country. The same well directed in- 

 telligent effort that made ^lissouri Chief Josephine the world's champion 

 will make the State of IMissouri the greatest dairy State in the Union. 



Our greatest duty and the last one I will take time to mention, is 

 to give IMissouri a first-class system of public roads. No State can be- 

 come great, no people can reach a desirable position of material or 

 intellectual progress without a system of improved highways. The life 

 of the country church, the development of the rural school, the prosperitj' 

 of the farmer, and the betterment of country life all depend largely 

 upon tliis line of public improvement. Missouri ought to spend for 

 permanent road improvement $5,000,000 annually for the next twenty 

 years, and it can be done if we will without any great burden on the 

 taxpayers. Not a dollar of this money would necessarily leave the 

 State, and in the short time of two decades vv6 could have the best and 

 most attractive environment for country homes of any one of the 

 United States. 



The second part of my subject is to deal with ''our duty to our 

 State institutions." It is not my purpose to speak of any of the State 

 institutions except those organized in the interest of agriculture, but 

 what I say of these might be said of all institutions of the State. No 

 good citizen can fail to take a pride and give support by voice and vote 

 to every State institution, whether reformatory, charitable or educa- 

 tional. I am not an advocate of high taxes but I am in favor of neces- 

 sary taxes, and from what I have already said you will understand what 

 1 mean by necessary taxes. If the people of this State will take as keen 

 and unselfish an interest in all public questions as they should, taxes can 

 be collected and expended in such an equitable manner that we will 

 find the system profitable rather than burdensome. Our State boards 

 directing organized agriculture in this State have been compelled to get 

 along as best they could with al)Out money enough to pay office expenses. 

 The farming industry of Missouri represents hundreds of millions of 

 capital, but our Legislature has lieen so generous (?) that it has given 

 the Board of Agriculture but little more support foi- its development 



