438 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Another fallacy in connection with our system of farming is the ten- 

 dency to put the pastures under the plow and to increase the acreage 

 under cultivation. I believe the time is near at hand when we are going 

 to be obliged to turn the other way and to increase the acreage in order 

 to keep more dairy cows and to make the acres we have under the plow 

 more productive. All over this state most of the land could be doubled 

 in productive capacity if we had that intensified system of cultivation 

 and conserving of fertility which they have in foreign countries where 

 they have developed the dairy industry to the highest state of perfection. 

 These magnificent breeds came from regions where land is worth from 

 $500 to $1,000 per acre. They are high priced simply because of the 

 kind of live stock used in their system of agriculture. In the develop- 

 ment of American agriculture as we increase the output of our farms 

 and as we increase the returns coming from an acre of land we are 

 going to be obliged to adopt these methods of live stock raising and a 

 more intensified system of cultivation. Sometimes we look forward to 

 the time in Iowa when we are going to have the small farms, but I 

 am free to say that I do not know whether that is going to materialize 

 or not. During the five years between 1900 and 1905 the farms of Iowa 

 decreased from 223,000 to 209,000, indicating that there was a tendency 

 to decrease the number of farms and increase the size. This has been 

 made possible by reason of improved machinery. America has led in 

 the improvement of farm machinery, and by reason of this it has been 

 possible in a good many cases for men to buy their neighbor's farms 

 when their farms were for sale and operate the increased acreage suc- 

 cessfully. There is that tendency in American agriculture and at the 

 same time there is the tendency to take from our land by a system of 

 agriculture that puts nothing. back, but no man can continue to market 

 the raw material rather than the finished product without paying the 

 penalty sooner or later. 



The importance of the work that this association is doing in Iowa can 

 not be over estimated for the reason that it is encouraging the system 

 of agriculture that will leave a heritage to future generations. If we 

 don't do this we are going to lose ground and we are going to drift back 

 just as a great many of these old regions have done. We have been so 

 busy making money that we have overlooked some of these important 

 problems that go to make country life more attractive. If we do not im- 

 prove and develop greater social and religious advantages in the country 

 we will fail in the end. I thank you. 



The Chairman : I am sure you have all enjoyed this splendid 

 address. The next is something you all want to hear and see. It 

 is something that has attracted wide attention and is well worth 

 your trip to the convention. Prof. Hugh G. Van Pelt, the Iowa 

 Dairy Expert, will now give us his famous cow demonstration. He 

 needs no introduction. 



