146 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



animals? The farmer who does not get next to nature and em- 

 brace these subtle influences is losing much in life that is sweet 

 and worth while living for; and if he overlooks making the sur- 

 roundings of his home more congenial and interesting and worth 

 living for, how can he expect his wife and children to be con- 

 tented ? 



To the hustling business man, that fellow who is in the 

 wild, mad rush of business, trying to make money by fair and 

 sometimes foul means, even by taking advantage of his com- 

 petitor, this thought of nature must come like a cooling breeze 

 on the hot air of our every day working life, and thus must ca,st 

 a good ray of sunshine which most of us have not learned ta 

 understand. 



The farmqr naturally believes that his vocation is the hard- 

 est in life. While it is true he must fight the elements, yet the 

 Bible has given us an undeniable history of over six thousand 

 years, and has proven that this old mother earth has for all these 

 years been a bountiful provider and has taken care of her chil- 

 dren who live upon this earth; but has helped those most who' 

 are willing to embrace and work out the opportunities offered 

 by her. It has always been so, and always will remain so.) 



We must, therefore, arise and wake up and must embrace 

 those opportunities as they are presented to us. Never in the 

 liistory of the world have so many earnest thinking men tackled 

 so many problems which go to add to the comforts of life and 

 make it worth living for. Our National and State governments 

 are especially spending much money to help solve many of the 

 problems of the farmer. 



Only of late years we have learned that the dairy has beai 

 so utterly neglected, particularly in Southern Illinois, — in fact 

 the entire State of Illinois has been a laggard in this respect. 

 We have only to look at what has been done in the State of Wjis- 

 consin. New York and see how some of our other States arc* 

 forging ahead. We used to have our County Fairs and nice cattkf 

 were displayed, but we never thought then of showing a cow 

 that could almost produce her weight yearly in butter fat and 

 could give enough milk to drown her in ; and yet that very thing 



