846 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULI UKE. 



condition. It is possible to do this in one way by having a general meet- 

 ing place through the summer months beautiiied by every means which 

 nature and art could afford. 



Why not ask your legislature to provide for a small township park 

 tax, to be expended by men of your own township without compensation 

 for the purchase of a park cite and for its planting and maintenance, 

 to be improved and niade beautiful as means will allow. Would not 

 this be a center of interest for the whole township, for their pleasure 

 their profit and their instruction? It is possible to do this of your- 

 selves, and without it being a financial burden. To have a place under 

 your own control to be conducted tor your own pleasure and not for the 

 profit of those interested only in the expenditure of your money. This 

 plan is possible and the time will soon come when the farmer and his 

 familj' will have pleasure resorts as they do now in all the great center 

 of population. 



I believe it is possible to make farm life easier; to lighten the burdens, 

 to get a greater return for capital invested and labor expended. We are 

 farming too much land; supporting too many unprofitable acres; paying 

 too much interest on borrowed capital and paying too many taxes on 

 land which gives no rsturn. It is possible to improve our condition by 

 farming less land and by draining that and putting it in the best condi- 

 tion; by doing our work in a better manner; by parting with acres which 

 are not profitable and thereby paying less interest, less taxes, and less for 

 labor which does not make a profitable return. A small farm highly 

 cultivated and well managed will often bring prosperity when a large 

 farm will barely pay expenses or be run at a loss. 



As we advance in civilization we learn this truth. The Indian 

 required a township or more to support him; the early settler believed 

 that he must have an almost unlimited amount of land surrounding him 

 for grass and pasture for the sustenance of himself and family. We have 

 progressed so far that most of us think we can make a living on from 

 a quarter to a section of land. This is far too much and when we have 

 learned the possibilities which are before us in less land and smaller 

 farms our prosperity and happiness as a people will be greatly increased. 



Our secretary of agriculture understands that there are possibilities 

 in new fruits, plants and grains and is searching in every quarter of the 

 globe for them. Many he has found that are adapted to our locality 

 thereby enlarging our opportunities and increasing our wealth. 



There are great agricultural possibilities before us. When the 

 American farmer fully turns his attention to their development we will 

 see results which will startle the world. Animal life will work in the 

 earth at his bidding to hasten the decomposition of matter and to 

 collect the elements of plant life from her store. He will better under- 

 stand those plants which collect from sunlight and the atmosphere 

 which they require for their growth. Blight, rust, and decay of his crops 

 will cease at his bidding by discoveries which he has made. The rays of 

 the summer sun will be collected and utilized for the warming of his 

 dwelling and the tempering of the winter storms. The winds and breezes 



