104 Missouri Agricultiiral lieport. 



this State may be subdued and Missouri may become better known to 

 the civilized world because of the quality and quantity of her fruit. 



1 have never had the opportunity to travel in Europe, but I have 

 been told by many good men who liave been there that IMissouri's blue- 

 grass grows as luxuriant as does that of Great Britain, and that our 

 alfalfa, where it has proper attention, excels that of France, but these 

 and other European countries are known the world over for the magnif- 

 icent breeds of live stock they have produced. Our climate is just as 

 favorable for the highest development of great races of horses, of cattle, 

 of sheep^ and of hogs as it is in any of these countries ; our advantages 

 for producing the grain to feed them is superior, far superior to any 

 of them, l)ut we must acknowledge that we have l)ut one breed of animals 

 and that is a hybrid — tlie Slissouri mule — that carries our name into all 

 parts of the world. IMust we admit that our breeders of live stock are 

 not equal to the task of developing as fine animals here as the farmers 

 of Great Britian, France and Germany are producing? You, gentlemen 

 of the Improved Live Stock Association of jMissouri, can put the j\Iis- 

 souri stamp on animals bred in this State, and which shall be good 

 enough to win honors in any country in the world, and you owe it to 

 the State to do it. I repeat we can do these things, and we must do them 

 or acknowledge that we are out-classed by the farmers of other countries. 



More than ten years ago tlie State Veterinarian sounded a warning 

 to our cattle breeders that their business was in great danger of serious 

 loss from the importation of cattle affected with tuberculosis. The 

 State Board of Agriculture, the guardian of the farmers' interests, 

 promptly put an emljargo on the bringing into this State of tuberculous 

 cattle, but immediately a strong protest went up from the very men 

 who would have been benefited most, and the Board was compelled to 

 rescind their order. It took the breeders eight years to find out their 

 mistake, and the result is that tuberculosis has now such a hold on the 

 live stock business of this State that it will take liundreds of thousands 

 of dollars to eradicate it. It is our duty to take a broader view of these 

 questions and look farther into the future, and when necessary sacrifice 

 our own selfish interests for the public good. We can set the pace for the 

 live stock breeders of otlier states to follow or we can trail along behind. 

 It is by our own efforts we select our places in the procession. 



It is the duty of the members of our State Dairy Association and 

 every dairyman in the State to emulate the example set ])y tlie Dairy 

 Department of our State University. From New York to San Francisco 

 the wonderful performances of a ^lissouri cow have l)een proclaimed 

 with large headlines in oui- l)iggest dnilies and some of our greatest 



