farmers' week in agricultural college. 41 



all the vigor and all the enterprise of youth; to the University with 

 a splendid academic department, the famous schools of law and med- 

 icine ; to an excellent and marvelously growing engineering school ; to 

 a young and yet vigorous teachers' college, and to something that v;ill 

 be of most interest to you — to an Agricultural College that in use- 

 fulness to the State is unsurpassed by any agricultural college in all this 

 land. 



We shall be very glad, indeed, to have you visit all the departments 

 of the University during this convention; every day from 10 to 10:30 

 we have what we call an assembly of the students in the auditorium. 

 If you are interested in attending this assembly and seeing the students 

 assembled in a body, we shall be very glad to have you present at the 

 time of this assembly. I hope you will not go away from Columbia 

 without inspecting the work of the University. No one ever comes here 

 and goes away, after looking carefully into what the University is do- 

 ing for the citizens of this State, that he is not pleased with it and 

 proud to know we have such a University in this imperial commonwealth 

 of Missouri. I think it was Bill Nye who said (at least we can put 

 the remark ofif on him as he is not present) that farming is a very suc- 

 cessful and profitable occupation if you can afford it. Now, evidently, 

 when he made that remark he was not thinking about the Missouri 

 farmer and the Missouri stock grower. He must have been thinking 

 about the New England farmer ; not the Missouri farmer who can 

 grow everthing on his soil under the influence of the gentle rains and 

 soft sunshine alone. He evidently did not have in mind the Missouri 

 farmer with his broad fields of grain, with his fertile meadows, with 

 his bountiful harvests. 



The Missouri farmer of this day is certainly a happy man ; and in 

 that connection I am reminded of a story that was told in Columbia re- 

 cently — so recently, in fact, as perhaps to be remembered by some of 

 you — of a king who was afflicted with nervous prostration — a disease 

 that seems to lie in wait for kings and those who have nothing to do ; 

 and his physician told him if he wished to get relief from this dreadful 

 disease he "must wear the shirt of a happy man ;" so he sent out into all 

 parts of his kingdom to search for a happy man in order that he might 

 procure his shirt and be relieved from this terrible disease. His mes- 

 sengers searched throughout '!ie kingdom, and at last they found the 

 man who claimed h." was ' appy — perfectly happy. He was a beggar 

 at the city gate; but w'-'C" rl .y found him it was still impossible for the 

 king to secure the c r . .\ 1 Ji he so much desired, for lo, this beggar 

 didn't have any sliirl. ^ nat a pity the Missouri farmer did not live in 

 that man's kingdom, f jr tlien he would have h?x4 iM> diffiulty m ^nx^ng 



