ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



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when He had completed it and pronounced it perfect, when He 

 had finished this universe with its majestic mountains, its ex- 

 tensive plains, its towering trees, its rippling brooks, its noisy 

 rivers, its placid lakes, its rough oceans, its dense forests, its 

 innocent flowers — this beautiful piece of architecture and work- 

 manship over which the inhabitants of the globe have gone into 

 ecstasy for over six thousand years and have continually found 

 something new to admire, when after these thousands of living 

 creatures were created, when finally the climax was reached in 

 the creation of man "In God's own image," a perfect creature — 

 that he w^as a farmer and was placed on a farm? This is not 

 all. Do you remember years after this, when God desired to^ 

 recognize his children in a substantial manner for their obedience, 

 or when He made them a promise of a rich reward for fidelity 

 and compliance with His requests, in His desire to make this 

 gift valuable, did He offer corner lots in some city, bank stock, 

 mines or rich mineral, blocks of fine houses, droves of horses 

 or beef cattle? No! He offered them farms. That was the 

 most valuable heritage He could give them, and I want to call 

 your attention further to the fact that He made this proposition 

 just as attractive as possible by not only promising farms, but 

 promising dairy farms. That is the kind of farms God gave his 

 chosen people, ''A land of milk and honey." 



I am glad the time is past when the idea prevailed that a 

 man who is unfit for anything else, can farm successfully, and 

 I hope to see the day when the man's tongue is forever paralized 

 who takes delight in standing before an audience of students and 

 holding out to them as the strongest inducement to be good and 

 study hard, and possibly they may be governor or congressman 

 or president. These are all good places and generally filled by 

 good men, but I would have every boy's, every young man's and 



^every old man's highest ambition to be a good man, an obedient 

 son, an affectionate brother, a true, loving husband, a just, patient, 

 indulgent father, the very highest type of loyal, Christian Amer- 

 ican citizenship. Everybody can attain this, and who better 



j than the boy on the farm, where the air is pure, where the moral 



