EXHIBITION—ANNUAL ADDRESSES. 
141 
returning to their farms the elements necessary to the growth 
of the future crops. They burn their straw, waste their manure 
by building their stables and barns in ravines, where the most 
valuable portion of the compost is wasted away ; or when one 
place becomes untenable for a barn by reason of accumulations 
of manure, they move away the buildings and neglect to haul 
out the manure to enrich the impoverished fields. The waste 
of valuable manures is one of the most egregious mistakes 
which the farmer can commit. The chemical elements neces¬ 
sary for growth are removed from the fields in the straw and 
grain, and very seldom returned. Many of the elements in 
the kernel are sold when the grain is marketed, and cannot be 
returned. But care should be taken to replenish the soil as 
far as possible, to insure the greatest success in farming. 
Again, farmers too often fail to keep the right kind of stock 
on their farms. Sheep are the best kind of stock in the world 
for enriching and reclaiming poor soils. Farmers should keep 
more and better stock on their farms. As far as mutton is 
•concerned the people in this country keep the poorest sheep in 
the world. The Englishman who visits this country and dines 
at the hotels does not call for a plate of mutton any quicker 
than he would for a piece of roast dog. In England a good 
sheep is worth as much in the market as a yearling steer. Fine¬ 
ness of wool should not be the great quality sought for. The 
weight of the sheep, its'quality and value for mutton should 
be taken into account. In England almost every farmer 
considers a small flock of sheep almost indispensable. We 
are told that bread alone is not all that is requisite in life. 
Hence to depend upon raising wheat alone very often brings 
distress to the homes and firesides of honest, hard working 
farmers. Last year in Minnesota the people raised abundant 
crops and were very much elated with the prospect of realiz¬ 
ing handsome incomes as the result of their labors. But just 
about the time that crop was harvested large crops were 
heard from all over the country. In England, along the Baltic 
and Black seas, wheat was abundant and the price fell at once 
