9 6 
ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 
f 
of the man, who, after viewing for a moment the great 
Niagara casting its tvyo millions of tons of water per min-, 
ute ^into the chasm below, while beholding this most 
wonderful, this most stupendous work of nature, could 
exclaim “ What a fine chance to wash sheep, boys ! 
People are numerous who can see no value in a mag¬ 
nificent cataract, with all its sublimity and grandeur, unless 
it can be made to assist in the accumulation of material 
wealth—unless it can be made to turn the grindstone, 
water the garden, grind grain, saw wood, pump, or churn ! 
To such persons a picture of Niagara or oi Yosemite, even 
though executed by a Bierstadt, would be utteily useless. 
Their farms, their homes, their houses, their cattle, and I 
had almost said their wives and their children, are valued 
only in so far as they will aid them in making money. 
I value the dollar. It is mighty, but not almighty. 
Under certain circumstances it is the desirable thing for a 
man to possess. But when a man has more dollars than 
• he needs to satisfy his physical and intellectual wants 
more money than he needs to buy iood, clothes, a home 
and such mental privileges as lie is able to appieciate, it 
were far wiser for him to spend his time in increasing his 
capacity for intellectual enjoyments, rather than in the 
accumulation of property which he can nevci use. 
There is a man in Kane county who has a mania for 
collecting whips. Every scrap of leather is by him trans- ^ 
formed into a whip-lash; every suitable piece of wood into 
a whip-stock. When I last saw him he had one thousand 
whip-stocks and fourteen bushels oi lashes! and he was 
very anxious to complete another whip that day. Such a 
man is scarcely more foolish than he who has a. mania to 
accumulate money beyond the amount which he has the 
ability to use for his own enjoyment and for the comfort 
and welfare of his friends and of humanity. 
Intellectual development—knowledge—increases our 
desires, and our capacity, for enjoyment. The fool is 
easily satisfied. Beyond the food and clothes which are an 
absolute necessity, his wants can be as easily supplied with 
a few dollars as with millions. The more one knows the 
more will it take to gratify his reasonable desires. 
What will education do for the farmer? It will 
increase his capacity for enjoyment. I speak now more 
especially to our wealthy farmers—men who are worth 
