ANNUAL REPORT. 
37 
branches of agricultural industry, and that this number is relatively 
decreasing. It is no doubt true that with our increased facilities 
for doing the work upon the farm, a less number in proportion to 
the whole population can produce the necessary food for the con¬ 
sumption of all. In the true sense, the manufacturer of farm tools 
and machinery, in so far as he has increased the facilities for pro¬ 
duction, is a farmer or producer of food; and yet he is classed as a 
manufacturer, and the same is true of other departments of labor, 
the products of which aid the farmer in more successfully conduct¬ 
ing his business. 
The thought suggests itself, whether we have too many farmers, 
or too many engaged in other legitimate branches of trade and in¬ 
dustry. Whether there is more food and articles of utility pro¬ 
duced than the public can use or consume, and whether there has 
been a margin of profit on such production. If the farmer has pro¬ 
duced wheat, corn, beef, pork and other articles of food in great 
abundance, and yet at a reasonable profit on his investment, he has 
not grown too much; the more the better under those circum¬ 
stances, both for himself and those who purchase his surplus. The 
same is true of all other articles produced. There is never too 
much produced, if a little profit can be realized above actual cost. 
One great trouble with the west is not that too much food is pro¬ 
duced, but that too little is consumed at home. Wisconsin farms 
are being shipped east by piecemeal, and given in exchange for 
articles produced there which we ought to manufacture at home. 
Articles of every kind for the farm, factory, shop or household, can 
be manufactured with a better margin of profit the nearer the pro¬ 
ducer and consumer can be brought together, and the wealth of the 
state correspondingly increased. 
I wish here to impress upon all engaged in any of the leading 
branches of industry of the state, not to be discouraged because 
your profits have been small the last year, or perchance you have run a 
little behind. Do not think there are too many engaged in your 
branch of work, and that you will try some other, and to you, un¬ 
tried field of labor. We know our own business, and hence can 
see the dark as well as the light side, while if we look upon the busi¬ 
ness of another, we can see only the bright side, or his success, 
and hence desire to change. Many a merchant or business man 
desires to be a farmer as he sees the latter drive in his Short Horn 
