2 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



manufacturing interests up to this time. Even the very coal that is dug out 

 from under the fertile farms of this State is used to generate power to drive 

 the locomotives to haul the farmers' grain to market; is used to run the 

 manufacturers, to manufacture his tools and farm implements, and to help 

 warm his home. And so it is safe to say, that the over-shadowing, far 

 above any interest, is farming and agriculture. 



We meet this morning under especially favorable circumstances. The 

 State has been unusually blessed the past year. The early and later rains 

 which have fallen, and the genial sunshine, has resulted in bringing us 

 abundant crops. True, for a time we were anxious; we feared, and the 

 very question as to whether the corn crop would have time to mature, com- 

 pletely obscured all interests in the great question of American politics. If 

 you would meet two men upon the street and learned what they were talking 

 about, it would not be politics; it would be corn. That was true all over 

 the State this year, and it is the cause for a good deal of gratitude to the 

 Giver of All Good, that sufficient and abundant harvests have rewarded 

 our efforts. We read of other countries where things are not so well; where 

 people are sufiEering for food to eat, and when we sit down and count our 

 blessings, I can not see how any man can fail to feel proud as a citizen of the 

 State of Iowa, when he sees- piled up there in the rotunda of the Capitol 

 building the garnered wealth of the farm, the fruit from the orchard and the 

 corn from the farm — a most interesting object lesson of what we are capable 

 of doing. 



We come here from the homes of Iowa because we want to. You men 

 are not drafted to come here. Your motive to come today, I know, is a 

 just one, and that is, having learned something of the splendid possibilities 

 connected with science as applied to agriculture, you today are anxious for 

 more. You would invoke this mystic agency and thereby display the pro- 

 ductive capacity of the soil and your income at the same time. This is a 

 splendid mission. I am sure that your gathering together here today can 

 not fail but bring the very best results, not simply to yourselves, but as you 

 depart from this place, you carry with you the inspiration that shall lift and 

 prompt others to do better. Just think of it for one moment! The average 

 crop of corn in this State this year is probably about thirty-three bushels per 

 acre. I know of corn, and you do, that will go eighty bushels. Just think 

 of the numerous possibilities for improvement! It is your opportunity, your 

 privilege today, to so discuss these questions as shall carry this gospel of 

 good agriculture, science and agriculture blended, back to the farm and 

 there start a new interest, a new agricultural civilization. 



The State Board of Agriculture and the city of Des Moines extend to you 

 a cordial welcome. We are glad to see you here. Our city is large and good 

 and great. The best citzenship of Iowa is not found in the large and ex- 

 tensive homes of the cities, but scattered all over the broad prairies there is 

 being nurtured and developed the best citzenship of the State. 



I trust that your meeting may be eminently pleasant and profitable, and 

 that you will find your stay in Des Moines one of the happy occasions that 

 fall to your lot. The city of Des Moines extends to you, gentlemen, a most 

 cordial and hearty welcome. 



