16 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



Daniel Webster, had he been in his youth strong and vigorous as his 

 brothers, and able to perform' farm labor with profit to his father, would n3t 

 hold the foremost position in the history of this country's jurists and states- 

 men. Because he was d elicate, determined his father to send him to col- 

 lege. His brothers jokingly said that Daniel was sent to college to make 

 him the equal of his brothers. The education that Webster received made 

 of him a devoted follower of agricultural pursuits, and when in the very ze- 

 nith of his glory as a lawyer, jurist, and statesman, he vigorously followed 

 agricultural pursiuts and' the science of agriculture, and never was grander 

 than when speaking in public or in private on agricultural subjects. He 

 lived to commune with nature. He lived to discover by the aid of his won- 

 derful attainments God's laws as applied to the propagation of animal and 

 vegetable life. He said, "Whatever else may tend to enrich and enoble 

 .society, that which feeds and clothes comfortably the masses of mankind 

 should always be regarded as the great foundation of national prosperity." 



He verified agriculture as a profession, and regarded that a farmer 

 should be well equipped in every department of husbandry. The question 

 of the soil, the art of enriching it, the succession of crops, and their compar- 

 ative adaptation to our soil and climate, the varieties of animals, and their 

 perfection for flesh or the dairy, with all t hese subjects, in all these branch- 

 es and details, he regarded that the one pursuing agricultural calling 

 should be the most familiar. 



We live today on the brink of new improvements and discoveries equal 

 to any yet made. In t he earth we tread, in the air we breathe, the water we 

 drink, and in all substances vegetable, animal and mineral, which we daily 

 come in contact with, are the possibilities of discovery more wonderful 

 than those now developed for the use and comfort of man. Such an insti- 

 stution as yours that stimulates activity in the procurement of knowledge, 

 which is the result of all advancement in agricultural pursuits, must meet 

 with the hearty support of every class of society, especially from: the grand 

 army o f consumers o f all farm pro ducts. Your society can be, and is, of 

 inestimable service in solving, not only questions relating to the farm and 

 dairying, but also such questions of political economy as effects alike pro- 



