574 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



No American citizen should be content in tliis country, fraugnr wltn 

 such wonderful possibilities, to run his business upon the plane of bare 

 maintenance, for, in the great, broad sense of the term, we cannot long 

 stand still but must either advance or go backward. 



Should the above proposition be admitted, and we think they must 

 be, then the question of a remedy arises. We will not undertake to say 

 that the pure bred stock business, of itself, is a "cure all" for the multi- 

 tude of ills which beset the farmer in the management and execution of 

 his business; but we do unhesitatingly assert that the farmer of average 

 intelligence who will earnestly put himself to the interesting and pleas- 

 an task of studying the pure bred stock business, and will then gradually 

 and cautiously put into actual practice the sound principles which he 

 may learn from reading, observation and experience, will have taken a 

 long stride toward correcting many of the symptoms suggesting stagna- 

 tion, unthrift and everything antagonistic to the principles of progress as 

 applied to farming and farm life as a pleasant, dignified and noble occu- 

 pation. 



Those who for one or several reasons have failed to give the matter 

 of breeding pure bred stock any serious consideration and, therefore, have 

 never taken the first step; or those who have concluded because some 

 erratic fellow who had more enthusiasm than sense, capiial or experience, 

 failed; it would, therefore, be foolish, if not dangerous, to invest in pure 

 bred stock, will doubtless, and of right should expect us to point out the 

 way in which they can safely start in this business with the reasonable 

 assurance of success to the extent that will bring about financial, educa- 

 tional and moral uplift. To do this to the entire satisfaction of myself 

 will be a task for which I confess my inability, but, nevertheless, I shall 

 always be found willing to contribute my mite toward bringing about the 

 desired results. The class of men with which we have to deal in this 

 connection may be divided into three groups; first are those who are hard- 

 headed, ignorant and will not listen to argument or be convinced even 

 after actual demonstrations have been made; the second group embraces 

 a very large class known as the thoughtless, indifferent, happy go lucky 

 sort of fellows, who rarely give any subject serious or deliberate consider- 

 ation; then there is the third class which includes the uniformed, but 

 ambitious and willing to learn and profit from the knowledge and experi- 

 ence of successful men who have gone before them. It has been said 

 that, "There are none so blind as those who will not see." It is, there- 

 fore, almost useless to spend time in the vain effort to convert the pro- 

 ververbial unbeliever, — the man who without good reason sets his head 

 against progression. In order to exert any beneficial infiuence upon the 

 class enumerated in our second group it is necessary to make forcible, 

 direct appeals, and this is scarcely ever accomplished except at public 

 sales and by the personal force and logic of the auctioneer who, for the 

 time, may, perchance, have one or several of this indifferent class of people 

 within his infiuence and, thereby, induce him or them to become purchas- 

 ers. Even when this is accomplished the chances are that in quite a per 

 cent of instances the new convert will revert to his original shiftless, indif- 

 ferent habits and, as a consequence, little ground will have been gained^ 



