state Dairy Association. 275 



ment of dairying to the highest degree should be punished by 

 eternal ostracism from the arena of politics; for my opinion to- 

 night is exactly opposite to that of the boy who was one of a family 

 of ten children, and who was called into his mother's room one 

 morning to welcome the advent of the eleventh. He looked at 

 the little fellow intently and with a serious expression for awhile, 

 when his father said, "What do you think of it?" He answered: 

 "Well, I can think of a good many things we need worse." I am 

 honest when I tell you I can think of nothing Missouri needs 

 worse than the dairy cow. 



I am not here tonight to introduce the dairy cow to Missouri 

 and Missouri people, for she is no stranger to this great State, 

 but I come to you with a message of interest in her behalf because 

 of what she has done and because of the rich promises she makes. 

 I come to protest against unfair discrimination in favor of her 

 brother and to demand recognition that will enable her to fulfill 

 her promises and her keeper to reap his reward. I look forward 

 to the time when her advocates, who have for years defended her 

 and sung her praises, will be made to feel like the boy who in 

 saying his prayers always prayed to God to bless Aunt Harriet 

 and make her happy. One night his father was listening to him 

 and he heard him pray for everybody but her. He said to him: 

 "You forgot to pray for Aunt Harriet." The boy said : "She don't 

 need praying for any more; she is engaged now." When Mis- 

 souri, as a unit, has become engaged in dairying, then will th'3 

 dairy cow's entry into good society be made easy and her in- 

 fluence courted by the office seeker and her rights protected by the 

 office holder. 



I am impressed that some of the characteristics of the dairy 

 cow are modesty, fidelity, patience, constancy and industry, and 

 for these qualities she commands our admiration and is entitled 

 to our most generous consideration. It is interesting to note her 

 prominence in making history and the absence of any mention of 

 her in recording that history. It is seldom she gets her picture 

 on the front page of a newspaper. Mark Twain once said about 

 the Platte river, that it was a mile wide and an inch deep — a 

 stream of wide circulation and but little influence. While the dairy 

 cow has been regarded as indispensable on every farm and her 

 product a necessity in every family, my observation has been that 

 as a rule she has had seemingly but little influence in the social, 

 commercial and political field. The agricultural press devotes 

 about half its space to corn and wheat, half of the remainder to 



