194 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the stock raiser, and there is no pursuit that counts more in streng:thening 

 the very foundation of national greatness than the one in which you are 

 engaged. You and I belong to different countries, and we see many things 

 from different points of view, but today we meet upon a common ground ; 

 we meet, not as American and Canadian, but as lovers of good stock. 

 "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin," and a genuine love of 

 live stock comes very near to being that magic touch. I trust that I have 

 struck the keynote of the purpose of this gathering, and that the single aim 

 may be to upbuild one of the greatest industries of this country. 



The business of the stock breeder is a peculiar one. The breeder has to 

 deal with life, and all those mysterious possibilities that exist in the living 

 creature have to be reckoned with in his operations. Stock breeding is not 

 a mere question of cunning hands which model inert material to the whim 

 of their owner ; the really great breeder must possess an intuitive genius 

 that can pierce the curtain of mystery surrounding living creatures, lay hold 

 of those hidden forces, and so direct them that the result is a creature ap- 

 proaching very closely to the ideal he himself has set up. In short, the 

 breeder is not a mere imitator, he is a creator. 



I have stated that the breeder sets up his own ideal, and I should like to 

 emphasize this point. There can be no progress unless the breeder has a 

 very clear ideal before him toward which he is working. He may never 

 reach his ideal, but he must never lose sight of it. No matter how much 

 money may be invested in the enterprise it will come to naught if the breeder 

 has not a clearly defined object in view. He will meet with many things to 

 try his faith, but he must not waver ; he will be frequently cast down, but 

 he must not be discouraged. Difficulties, disappointments, and hope de- 

 ferred are part of the heritage of the breeder, and he requires the highest 

 class of courage to be able to stick to his guns and eventually bring victory 

 out of what appeared to be certain defeat. 



If it is essential, therefore, to have an ideal, wecaa easily appreciate the 

 importance of having a correct one, and the question arises, where shall we 

 look for guidance in our search for an ideal ? History furnishes us many 

 instances of breeders who made a mistake in this vital point, and, without 

 exception, their work ended in a failure. Here is a man who stakes his all 

 upon pedigree. It matters not how miserable the specimen, if its pedigree 

 suits him, he will use it in his herd in preference to any other. Now, I do 

 not wish to be understood as saying that pedigree is of no importance, far 

 from it, but the man who considers pedigree alone is following a paper ideal, 

 which will not stand the fires of public criticism. Here is another man who 

 is afflicted with a color craze, and while color is certainly deserving of atten- 

 tion, it is possible to fix such arbitrary standards that incalculable harm may 

 result. Another man makes the head the basis of selection. If the head 

 does not exactly suit him the animal has no charms for him. To hear him 

 talk one might think that the head was the only part of an animal that had 

 any value. Now, the head is not without importance ; it indicates char- 

 acter, trueness to type, quality, and, to a certain extent, constitution and 

 feeding qualities. At the same time, it is a mistake to allow the head to ob- 

 scure every other part of the animal ; to condemn an animal because of a 

 slight fault in its head, and give preference to one that is defective in a more 

 vital point. 



