118 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



if the farmers won't work together, and it seems to me to be the duty of 

 every farmer in the State to join some one or more of the existing org^ani- 

 zations in the State. Second, concentrate. It is not possible to get 

 everything at once; but if the farmers will organize thoroughlj^ and go 

 before the legislature every winter, with one or two broad, strong, just 

 measures, I fully believe they can get what is just and fair. It has 

 been done, and I believe it can be done again, and I am hopeful that senti- 

 ment has awakened in this line. 



William Ball: If the action of the last legislature was a reflex of 

 the opinions of the citizens that sent the members there, I am sorry for 

 the opinions at home. I do not believe that the legislature last winter 

 reflected the sentiment at home. 



I listened with a good deal of interest to the remarks of the gentleman 

 on the floor when he told us of the crops raised in foreign countries, the 

 large number of sheep raised on the sheep grazing grounds — all very 

 true. That there is a change going on in agricultural operations is also 

 true; but he fails to tell us how we are going to remedy these difficulties. 

 It is true that the farmers of the country are today under a stress of cir- 

 cumstances; we are not receiving for the products of the farm what we 

 have been in the habit of receiving, we are not as prosperous as we 

 would like to be. I believe, however, that agricultural operations 

 in the United States today are on a par with any other business. That 

 there is less difficulty in meeting our engagements, less failures, as com- 

 pared with the numbers, than in any other business. 



Now it seems to me that the conditions which were spoken of by this 

 gentleman should be met; they must be met by the farmers of this 

 country; we know our farms; we know fairly well how to manage them; 

 we cannot change our vocation if we wish to, because every other is 

 better filled than the agricultural department is, and hence the question 

 arises, what are we going to do? Are we expecting particular benefits 

 by way of legislation? I don't believe it. I believe the farmer who 

 succeeds is the man who attends to his business. How many of the 

 farmers in this audience work six or sev6n months of the year, and idle 

 away a large portion of the remainder of the time, when they might be 

 stopping the leaks on the farm. The lawyer, the merchant, and any busi- 

 ness man expects to work all the year. It occurs to me that farmers can 

 be prosperous if they will give their business the same attention that any 

 other successful business man does. 



It is said that sheep growing does not pay in this country. I believe 

 a man who has a ewe which is worth $2.00 and can raise a lamb that 

 will sell at eight or nine months old for |4.00 or $5.00 is making a pretty 

 fair profit on his investment. A man who is raising a two year old steer 

 and can sell it for four cents a pound is not losing anything. What one 

 farmer can do, every farmer can do, but it must have attention. I have 

 this idea, and it is confirmed by going over the State more or less, that 

 farmers do not attend to their business as they should, and as I have 

 said before, there is too much time wasted; the more a man is away 

 from his business, the less he thinks of it. 



If one man in a neighborhood can go along and tend strictly to busi- 

 ness, and raise cattle and sheep and wheat, and make a small profit on 

 ea(;h, and another man, with an equally good farm and ability, fails in 

 doing this, the difficulty is not in legislation, but in not utilizing the 



