SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VII 393 



come to stay, for such can not be the case. We must therefore con- 

 serve our resources and handle the situation intelligently, so that when 

 the reverse comes, as come it will, we may meet it with the least possi- 

 ble loss. 



One of the most encouraging signs for the future of the live stock 

 business in this state, which we note in traveling around, is the notice- 

 able increase in the number of cattle now being raised on our Iowa 

 farms. This is certainly as it should be, and to my mind will eventu- 

 ally solve the cattle business in this state, and place Iowa at the top of. 

 the list as the greatest cattle-producing state in the Union. This is 

 the only system by which we can conserve the fertility of our farms, 

 and be enabled to hand them down to those who will follow us, in a 

 high state of productiveness, and v.e certainly owe it to future genera- 

 tions to build veil in this regard. 



The Iowa legislature is now in session, and there will no doubt be leg- 

 islation introduced during the session in which this organization will 

 be vitally interested. One measure to which I especially wish to call 

 attention, relates to the principle underlying the Torrens system for per- 

 fecting titles in real estate. It occurs to me that need for the adoption 

 of such a system at this time is so visibly apparent that it should not 

 be difficult to pass such a bill, and yet it no doubt will meet with the 

 most vigorous opposition. So I would, recommend that a strong and force- 

 ful resolution favoring the passage of such a bill be adopted and passea 

 by this convention, and that a copy of it be placed on the desk of each 

 member of the legislature. Other bills wull no doubt be introduced in 

 which our members and the farmers generally are vitally interested; so 

 It behooves you to be on the alert always and ready to look after these 

 matters. 



During the past year, the Pale Horse with its rider has enlerea our 

 ranks and removed from our midst two who had been most beloved and 

 respected by us all. One was an honorary member, whose presence was 

 rarely missed at our annual gatherings. We all delighted to listen to 

 the words of admonition and fatherly advice by this dean of low-a agri- 

 culture, this sage and pioneer, in advocating better farming, better 

 thinking and better living, with equal rights to all and special privi- 

 leges to none, but with better opportunities and advantages for the 

 farmer and the stock man. I repeat that we loved to listen to this 

 man beloved of all, and wondered at his great knowledge and the larre 

 grasp that he had on the things so intimately and vitally connected with 

 our welfare. I refer to the lamented Uncle Henry Wallace. His voice 

 is stilled in death, and his soul has returned to its Creator, but the ex- 

 ample of his life, his teachings and precepts, have Deen indelibly 

 stamped upon the lives of thousands of Iowa farmers, ana will live 

 through generations to come. Uncle Henry Wallace, from the very in- 

 ception of this organization, took a keen interest in its work and prog- 

 ress. He was the head and spokesrcan for the committee that conferred 

 with the heads of the lowa-Cliicago railroads to secure the restoration 

 of the return pass to the shippers, and no doubt did more to bring the 

 railroads and the stock men. together than any other man. 



