THE LOUISIANA TURCHASE EXPOSITION. 211 



Like all other countries engaged in dairying, Missouri required a 

 practical illustration of the benefits to be derived from an active interest 

 in this particular branch of agriculture, before the industry was nur- 

 tured and fostered to any great extent. The resources of Missouri were 

 so varied and so extensive and pronounced in all of them, the faithful 

 Missouri cow was neglected for the Missouri mule. The production of 

 milk was neglected for the raising of beef. The manufacture of butter 

 was of no consequence compared with the raising of corn. Instead of 

 cheese factories, the country abounded in tobacco barns. Finally the 

 people of this great commonwealth "were shown." Their attention was 

 called to the fact that this was the best climate in the world for obtain- 

 ing the greatest results in dairying; that Missouri possessed the most 

 luxuriant growth of grass and the best quality of any State in the 

 Union ; that our country was well watered, and that all of the conditions 

 were favorable for making this an ideal dairy country in which the 

 business might be carried on with a greater profit than in any other, 

 country. The evidence was sufficient and in three or four years Alis- 

 souri grass was being converted into milk, Missouri milk was being 

 made into butter and cheese. The cattle on a thousand hills were high 

 grade milk cows. The wonderful crops of grain and roughness (suit- 

 able for the production of milk) that never failed were sold to the high- 

 est market in all the country, and sold for cash to the Missouri mortgage 

 lifter, the faithful dairy cow. The outcome of this dairy sentiment and 

 the inauguration of this business was the establishment of modern 

 creameries in Missouri, among them the largest creamery in the w^orld, 

 the building of dairy barns, of which Missouri boasts the finest in the 

 world, the erection of silos, the changing of corn land into pastures, the 

 breeding of better stock, the making of better roads, the building of bet- 

 ter houses, the beautifying and adorning of rural homes, and the encour- 

 agement of an enormous immigration by those people engaged in dairy- 

 ing, seeking the country where the largest amount of milk could be pro- 

 duced at the least cost and with the least labor. 



The Missouri farmer had carefully considered the matter. With 

 his characteristic, conservative and careful disposition, he investigated 

 the proposition thoroughly and, when his mind was settled, when he 

 decided that dairying was the thing, he went at it right, and by his 

 actions he said, "We will set an example worthy of imitation." 



He accepted up-to-date methods. He bought the best cows. He 

 bred for butter, for milk, or for cheese, according to the demands of 

 his particular market. The men who lived close to St. Louis, Hannibal, 

 Kansas City, or St. Joseph, and other cities, and were willing to sell 



