442 WISGOMSIJS' STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
coal and iron and wood and stone, and so much silver that our cred¬ 
itors are afraid we shall pay our debts with it. We have railroads 
running in every direction, which must depend on agriculture 
largely for their future dividends. We have a rapidly increasing 
population, with free schools and the ballot box for all. 
And the taste of our people is for other pursuits rather than ag¬ 
riculture. Those who stick to the farm, study the best methods of 
cultivation and manuring, and aim to produce the best articles at 
the least cost, would seem to be certain of their reward. 
We shall have periods of depression in the future as in the past. 
But as long as people need food, the farmer is sure of a market for 
his products. He is sure of a fair compensation for his labor, skill 
and intelligence. 
But this does not satisfy our young farmers. They see their 
brothers and friends winning wealth and distinction in other pur¬ 
suits, and they ask if there are any prizes to be won in agriculture. 
I believe there are in farming as great and as many opportunities 
for “doing good and making money ” as in any other business of 
life. We are apt to think that all the best discoveries and inven¬ 
tions have been made. We think that Bakewell, the Codings, Ell- 
man, .Jonas Webb, Hammond and others, in the past, have so im¬ 
proved on cattle and sheep that there is nothing more for us to do 
except to retain and perpetuate the improvement. There cannot 
be a greater mistake. Notwithstanding all that science and art 
have done, the production of flesh, meat and fat, is still a very cost¬ 
ly operation. To convert the carbon of grass and corn into the 
carbon of fat and butter, we have at present to submit to a great 
loss. Even with our best breeds of cattle and sheep, our most ex¬ 
perienced feeders have to submit to a loss of at least ninety per 
cent, of the albuminoids of the food. In other words, if you feed a 
steer or a sheep a quantity of grass and grain containing 100 pounds 
of nitrogen, you rarely get in the growth of the animal consuming 
the food an amount of flesh, skin, hair and wool containing ten 
pounds of nitrogen. The other ninety pounds are, to a large extent, 
used to “ run the machine.” Is there no chance for improvement 
here? We have the experience of the past and the science of the 
future to aid us. We have not to grope our way in the dark as 
Bakewell did. We know what we want, and in what direction to 
look for it. Depend upon it, we shall yet have breeds of cattle, 
