304 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



was Mr. Wright or Mr. Shilling. He might have been a little over- 

 enthused when he said: "Last year one of our dairymen made a 

 million pounds of butter and a million pounds of cheese." Then notic- 

 ing a skeptical look on the faces of his hearers he said to Mr. Smith, 

 another lowan, "Isn't that so? I refer to Farmer Brown." Mr. Smith 

 replied: "I do not know precisely just how much butter and cheese 

 Deacon Brown made, but I do know that he run twelve sawmills with 

 the buttermilk from his plants." 



Speaking from a serious standpoint, I believe that while the dairy 

 business is increasing in this great State, we are not making the advance- 

 ment that we should. It was my privilege, during the past summer, to 

 spend some time in the coast states lecturing on dairying. I was sur- 

 prised and astonished to find the progress that these people were making. 

 In the State of Oregon dairying had increased five hundred per cent dur- 

 ing the last five years, while the output of butter had almost doubled In 

 the same time in California. 



Possibly the principal reason that dairying is making such progress in 

 the coast states is that these people have been growing what for years, 

 thus robbing their soil of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and lime until the 

 land became so impoverished that it would not produce wheat. I saw 

 land out there that they told me would not produce over eight or nine 

 bushels of wheat per acre a few years ago, and it is now producing from 

 twenty to forty bushels per acre. This change has been brought about 

 by farmers adopting dairying. A ton of wheat will remove $7.50 worth 

 of fertilizing material from the soil, while a ton of butter will remove less 

 than fifty cents worth. Today a ton of wheat has a market value of 

 $22, while a ton of butter sells for $500, therefore, it is only reasonable 

 that the intelligent farmer should dairj'. 



J. J. Hill, the sage of the Great Northern Railroad, and possibly one 

 of the brainiest men on the continent, made a special plea, in a recent 

 speech, on the necessity of conserving the fertility of the soil. He pre- 

 dicted that by the middle of the present century our population would 

 reach 200,000,000. The salvation of this country depends on its agri- 

 cultural resources. The future prosperity and happiness of the people 

 depends upon the intelligent cultivation of the soil. We have seen land 

 in this great State almost double itself in value, in the last ten years, 

 and indications are that' the next ten years may see land worth $150 per 

 acre in this great corn belt of ours. 



This means that dairying must increase. The cow is a more econo- 

 mical producer than the ox, and as the land advances in value, the 

 question of economy must be the dominating factor governing our likes 

 and dislikes. 



As Professor Robertson has said: "Wealth may be defined as anything 

 that administers to the wants or happiness of man, and the ownership 

 and possession of which may be transferred from one person to another. 

 Its original sources are the sun, soil, air, water, plants, animals and labor. 

 It is the task of the agriculturist to so manage these agents and agen- 

 cies as to obtain the largest and best service for himself and fellows 

 from them. The outcome of true culture is the exercise of intelligent 

 purpose in the activities of life; and that, in his occupation stamps the 



