394 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



ledged either in time of peace or time of war. I take off my hat to the 

 Missouri mule and stand at a respectful distance. 



Besides the Missouri mule, the hen alone could have paid the whole 

 price of the Louisiana Purchase last year, and then paid it over again in- 

 side of six months. Not only the Missouri mule and the hen, but the 

 Missouri hog also commands my respect, for he, too, could have paid 

 the whole price of the Louisiana Purchase in one year, and paid it again 

 (before the year was out, and it would not have to be a good year for 

 hogs, either. 



And then the Missouri cow comes in. Talk about the dairy pro- 

 ducts ! Why the Missouri cow could have paid the whole cost of the Louis- 

 iana Purchase in the butter and milk that were sold last year, to say noth- 

 ing of what we ate ourselves, and to say nothing of the beef and cheese. 

 If I knew a little more about the subject I would talk more about the 

 cow and the products of the cow. Some people can talk best about the 

 things they know least about, but I have to know a little something about 

 a thing before I can talk about it. I do know, however, that when I was 

 a boy on the farm I loved the horse and loved to take care of him, and 

 I liked to see the cow out in the pasture, but when it came milking time 

 I did not want to get close to her. I have always thought that whenever 

 some fellow has genius enough to invent a machine for milking cows, I 

 will go into the dairy business. I think I could do the churning, but the 

 milking part I have never been fond of; but, by the way, I saw an illus- 

 tration the other day of a milking process in connection with the insur- 

 ance business. It was a magnificent cow — great fine specimen of the 

 dairy herd, and she was well fed, and there was a fellow holding a large 

 bucket to catch the milk in, and the bucket was labeled "dividends to be 

 collected;" and the policy holder was sitting way back watching the 

 bucket very carefully ; but the fellow that was doing the milking seemed to 

 have a yellow tube that caught the milk before it got into the bucket and 

 passed it off into another bucket outside that was labeled "Insurance of- 

 ficials' private bucket." This is the insurance feature of the dairy busi- 

 ness. 



The Missouri cow commands my respect ; have always been fond of 

 good milk and butter, and if somebody gives me a good farm I'll go into 

 the dairy business sure. 



The Missouri horse also commands my admiration. There's only 

 one thing in the world that takes my eye off a fine horse, and that's a 

 pretty woman. Missouri has both. The records show that 26 per cent 

 of all the registered saddle horses in the United States come from Mis- 

 souri ; there is only one other state in the Union that can measure up to 

 her, and that is Kentucky. The live stock industry of Missouri in a sin- 



