ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 41 



upon your beautiful state, nor to toss bouquets at your dairy- 

 men upon this occasion. 



We all have our places to fill in this great field of dairy 

 industry. Some have availed themselves of the opportunities 

 at hand and have filled these places well. Others have not, and I 

 believe in this respect, the dairymen of the State of Illinois are 

 no different than the average cow keeper of other dairy sections 

 of this country. 



" From Plymouth Rock to the Setting Sun " we note evi- 

 dences of the traditional trail of the cow. New England min- 

 istered the initiative in dairy husbandry, and the westward course 

 has been steady, unswerving, unceasing, and the " path of the 

 cow " has led us over the prairies and the plains ; it has pene- 

 trated our forests all in their primitive state, and man's curiosity 

 and instinct has followed this trail in its various windings, so 

 there is in reality, not only a figurative allusion but the deepest 

 sentiment associated with the " path of the cow." 



Agricultural interests have followed civilization from the 

 " lands of our Pilgrim Fathers " to the Pacific waters which 

 served as a barrier for further extension, and animal husbandry 

 has followed agricultural expansion to its most extreme borders. 



History tells us that " Old Put " left his oxen yoked to a 

 New England plowshare to accept a commission upon the battle 

 fields of the Revolution, and the thought suggests that it was 

 in reality the sons of the cow that supplied the muscle to first 

 turn the sod of virgin soil. It was no other than these sturdy 

 sons that hauled the prairie schooner westward, far beyond the 

 fields of Putnam's agricultural operations. And, indeed, it was 

 no other than the matronly cow that kept apace with the pro- 

 cession, grazed along the trail and supplied the milk to rear the 

 babes, who were destined to awaken to a realization of the im- 

 portance and magnitude of American agricultural interests. 



In fact, the dairy cow has gone on and on, perpetuating her 

 kind, feeding the world, broadening your possibilities and mine, 

 .and acting a most important part in agricultural expansion and 



