FIFTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART IX. 597 



There are many reasons why 1 am proud of my state, but there are 

 some matters in which improvements can he made, by the concerted efforts 

 of a united citizenship. 



1. I find the Hawkeye state has the lowest percentage of illiteracy of 

 any state in the Union, this being 1.7 per cent. I also find that the number 

 of undergraduate students in our colleges, universities and schools of 

 technology exceeds that of any other state in the nation except five, those 

 being Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. But, 

 remarkable as it may seem, the number of undergraduates per 10,000 in- 

 habitants in Iowa is greater than in any one of those five states, or in 

 any other state save one. 



2. We do not rank high so far as corporations are concerned. The 

 net income of all the corporations, joint stock companies, or associations, 

 including commercial, public service, industrial, manufacturing, mer- 

 cantile, and miscellaneous organizations, engaged in practically all lines 

 of business, in Iowa, in 1912, amounted to $32,000,000. This was exceeded 

 by twenty states. 



The number of communicants or members of denominational bodies, 

 including both Protestant and Roman Catholics, in Iowa, in 1910, was 

 788,000. This was exceeded by seventeen other states, although only 

 fourteen states have a larger population than we do. But we have no poll 

 of the sinners inside of those churches. The real separation of the sheep 

 from the goats will not be made for some time yet. We may have a poor 

 showing so far as our church membership indicates, but Iowa has pro- 

 duced the greatest evangelist in the world, and he is now doing all in his 

 power to correct that situation. 



3. We have 9,800 miles of railroad, exceeded only by three states, in 

 the following order: Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas. 



4. One reason why I am proud of Iowa is because she is pre-eminently 

 the greatest agricultural state in this nation. Let us consider a few of 

 our different products. While we excel in some, we are strangely deficient 

 in others. This review will certainly be fitting before this body of men 

 who are the producers of Iowa's greatest crop, a body of men that is 

 representative of those who have made Iowa what she is. 



The total value of those things which man has added to the bare land, 

 including farm buildings, farm implements, and tools and machinery, 

 added to the value of our live stock, is greater in Iowa than in any 

 other state. Illinois ranks second. 



The value of the products of the land, including our domestic animals 

 sold and slaughtered, added to the value of all our crops in 1910, accord- 

 ing to the Department of Commerce and Labor, amounted to $500,000,000. 

 This was greater than in any other state. That remark covers all crops 

 in each state, north and south, east and west, and includes corn, oats, 

 wheat, hay, cotton, tobacco, vegetables of all sorts, fruits, nuts, forest 

 products, cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, horses, mules, and all other crops. 

 Illinois again comes second, then Missouri, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. 

 Poor Wisconsin; we beat her by more than $300,000,000. 



Iowa has the largest percentage of cultivated land, this being 86.9 per 

 cent. Illinois again comes second, with 86.2 per cent. 



