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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924 073 898 698 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tiiis book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924073898698 
 
aMe fields of agriculture. It calls upon American citizens to see wliat one 
 class of our farmers are doing to bring back piosperity to our country. It 
 points to the warehouse filled with its golden products; to the heavily loaded 
 ships which hear them to other continents; and to the returns which they 
 bring of wealth from other countries. 
 
 This is an International Exhibition. It is a challenge from American to 
 European farmers. I have been asked to speak to this audience, not because 
 I have any skill as a dairyman, but for the reason that I have been placed 
 where I have learned inuch about the history of that pursuit, and what I 
 may fairly call the statesmanship by which it has been lifted up from an 
 humble, to a great productive interest. And tWs has been done in ways 
 that have made a large class of citizens, in this country and Canada, intelli- 
 gent about science, commerce and political economy. I do not speak to 
 dairymen, but for them. I stand here as a middle man between them and 
 the public; as one who seeks to tell others what he has learned from men of 
 skill, who are doing much to carry our country through its troubles; to 
 bring back a healthy state of trade, and to make our workshops scenes of 
 busy cheer. I may be able to say some things of interest and us§ to those 
 who have not had my opportunities to see the workings of the dairy system 
 which has grown up on this continent^ and whiqh is peculiar to it. When I 
 made my home on a farm, I was asked to act as President of the American 
 Dairymens' Association. This was made up of members from most of the 
 Northern, some of the Southern States, and Canada. They hold an annual 
 Ijarliament, at which they discuss all riiatters pertaining to their pursuit. I 
 accepted the place with a complacent feeling that I could be of use to them, 
 as I had been in many deliberative bodies; had presided over large assem- 
 blages, and had made numerous agricultural speeches. I felt that I could 
 tell them some things of value. But when I entered upon my duties, I found 
 I was dealing with men who knew what they were talking about, and that 
 they met for business, and not for oratorical exercises. They were bent 
 upon finding out every truth in science, in commerce, and political economy 
 which afEected their industry. They paid men of skill to speak to them 
 about the laws of animal and vegetable life, the course of trade, the habits 
 and tastes of the people of other countries with whom they dealt, and the 
 history of dairying in all parts of Europe., No university in our land has 
 had the benefit of a wider range of lectures upon such topics. There was 
 another feature of these meetings. In most assemblages, to promote pro- 
 jects, glowing pictures of great gains are received with favor. The speakers 
 who are happy in their flights of fancy are in demand on such occasions. 
 But with dairymen the amount of sales are limited by the size of their farms, 
 and the questions in their conventions are not merely what they can make, 
 but mainly relate to what they can save. Their thoughts are turned from 
 the indefinite hopes of speculative conventions to the minute details of their 
 work, to small savings and close calculations. All earn by labor the dollars 
 they get, and they see where they go. He who speaks to them, to be heeded, 
 must know what he talks about. I have burned all my agi-icultural speeches 
 of which I was so proud. 
 
Proceedings thus marked by a wise liberality, by a search for knowledge 
 and a sharp scrutiny of cost, bring out valuable truths. They are attended 
 not only by Americans, but by men from Europe; some to give addresses, 
 some as buyers, some to learn our systems. The reports of their lectures 
 and debates are sought for at home and abroad. After a time, county and 
 town associations were formed. There are no other branches of business in 
 our country that are promoted by as many such organizations as that of 
 the daii-ymen's. At their meetings all the facts touching their pursuits are 
 discussed. It must be borne in mind that addresses on chemistry, the laws 
 of animal and vegetable life, of commerce and political economy are not 
 listened to by them as they are by scholars, as mere matters of general 
 information ; but they are put to practical use on the farm, and in making 
 and selling their products. They are studied out and tried. They not only 
 give skill in their pursuits, but they train men's minds to think and make 
 a system of education. In many respects they are thus made more intelli- 
 gent than other classes of our citizens. This is shown in their method of 
 selling their products. Boards of Trade are organized at numerous points 
 in the dairy regions, where buyers and sellers meet on a day in each week. 
 There may be ten thousand boxes of cheese for sale, but there will be none 
 at the place of meeting. They are examined at the factories by the buyers 
 the preceding week, without naming a price. At the trade rooms there is a 
 blackboard, on which is written the price of cheese in London on that day, 
 as given by the cable, and the rates of freights and of gold at New York. 
 With these facts, in a little time and in a quiet way, the piice is agreed 
 upon, and many thousand boxes sold. In this State they are delivered at 
 the railroad station on a day when trains are made up for the special purpose 
 of carrying them to New York. In some cases cheese is sent direct from 
 country towns to be sold in London on commission; thus making this city a 
 way-place on its route to the markets of England. I think there is no other 
 instance in the history of agriculture of sales thus made upon the price of 
 produce at the far-ofi markets of the world, and so free from the cost of 
 agencies and middle men. Even with our cotton, which goes in such great 
 quantities to Europe, the planters do not deal in this direct way with the 
 consumers, and their profits are cut dqwn by the many charges of numerous 
 agencies and buyers, through whose hands the cotton passes. The mode of 
 selling at the Dairymen's Board of Trade teaches them many truths which 
 all do not see. They learn much about commerce and the wants and habits 
 of those with whom they deal. They meet many English and other trades- 
 men who visit them here, and much ig gained by all parties from this inter- 
 course. The minds of our people have been bewildered about the value of 
 our currency, and but few could keep track of its changes. But the dairy- 
 men have known at all times. Once.jn each week, before they could make 
 their sales, it has been their duty to stpdy its rise and fall, marked out upon 
 the blackboard. They have bought ^nd sold by the standards of the com- 
 mercial world. When a pound of chepse has been bought at fifteen cents of 
 our money, and has been sold for less than twelve in the money of the world, 
 and the buyer has made a profit, all the parties to the sale have learned just 
 what our money wa,s worth. Save a few bankers and merchants wlto desi 
 
in exchange, they have known more than other business men about our 
 shifting standards of value. If .our legislators knew as much it would be 
 better for the interests of our country. Eminent men of our own and other 
 lands, who have visited these boards of trade, have been surprised and inter- 
 ested in their ways of buying and selling. 
 
 But it is not alone in the use of science in making, and in a knowledge of 
 political economy in selling their products, that they take the lead. Back of 
 their conventions and boards of trade are facts which ai-e of more interest 
 and vahie than those which have been stated. If an Englishman had been 
 told a few years since that we should send large amounts of cheese to 
 London he would have felt it as a slur upon English civilization. To-day, 
 we load down British steamers (I wish they were ours ') with our dairy 
 products. It is true that we do not make all of the finest varieties, for they 
 are too costly to be profitable in general trade. But this Exhibition is a 
 challenge from Canada and our country to England, and all the world 
 beside, to equal them in the varieties here displayed. 
 
 We have gained our foothold in British and other markets, by better 
 methods of making, and by availing ourselves of the natural advantages 
 of cheap and fertile lands. "When we look over the list of our exports, 
 we see that we have turned the balance of trade in our favor, by the 
 use of what we have beyond other people, — rich soils and varied climates 
 and productions. Stern facts have driven us from artificial and speculative 
 ways of getting wealth. We now turn our thoughts to honest industry, and 
 we begin to respect the kind law that we must earn our bread by the sweat 
 of our brow. Ail labor is piety. But we seem to work most closely by 
 God's side when we plow and sow with the faith that He will give the in- 
 crease ; and when from the grain we reap from His fields, and from the 
 green pastures which clothe the hills and the valleys, we gain the food which 
 feeds our people, or which we send to meet the wants of our fellow -men in 
 other lands. Our statistics show how much of our vast exports come from 
 the soil, and how from their nature they meet the first great wants of 
 humanity. When we scan the facts that give us advantages in raising such 
 products, we find they are varied by some laws which we must bear in 
 mind. We have cheap lands. Europe has cheap labor. There the garden 
 can be cultivated with less cost than with us, although the price of the 
 ground maybe many times more than it is here; for the great expense of 
 gardening is labor. The number of men who will till a garden of ten acres 
 will take care of and cultivate a dairy farm of a hundred and sixty acres. 
 Here, success grows out of low cost of land, for that is the main expense of 
 the pursuit. For this reason we have a stronger liold upon the European 
 market for cheese than for grain; for the number of men who can do the 
 work on a dairy farm of a hundred and sixty acres can only till about one- 
 half that amount for grain. In the last case the cost of labor becomes a 
 larger element. In raising cattle for market a much larger amount of land 
 can be utilized with the same labor than in any other farming pursuit. But 
 there .are great drawbacks in the cost of transportation. For these reasons 
 our dairy farmers have advantages over others who produce from the soil, 
 except cotton planters. 
 
But it was not until another fact developed this truth, that we were able 
 to push our dairy products into foreign markets. Formerly cheese was 
 made hy farmers at their homes, in small quantities, and of varying quality. 
 It could only be sold to near-by traders; it had to pass through many hands, 
 and be loaded down by many charges before it reached New York. It 
 could not be sent abroad. Some years since, Mr. Williams, of Oneida 
 County, in this State, a skilful farmer, who got high prices for what he 
 made, found that he could buy the milk of his neighbors and make it into 
 cheese, and sell it for more than they could get. In this way he built up a 
 large factory and showed economies of his methods. His example was fol- 
 lowed and it has led to the establishment of thousands of such factories in 
 the United States and Canada. While there may have been cases in- a small 
 way of cheese making by co-operative labor in other countries, there is noth- 
 ing approaching it in principle, or magnitude, as it exists on this continent. 
 It has not only given rise to a large export trade, but has developed indus- 
 tries, social customs, general intelligence, and_business methods of a novel 
 kind. 
 
 Under this plan the farmers take their milk to the factories, and the 
 ■amount is credited to each. When it is made up and sold the proceeds are 
 divided ratably among them, less the cost for making. Each has an interest 
 in the concern, and knows the market price of his cheese, and as that varies 
 he learns the causes. If the prices got by his factory are less than those paid 
 to others the maker loses credit for skill. This excites the factory man to 
 excel if he can. As the farmers meet each day at the f actoiy, they learn 
 about their comparative success in the management of their farms, and this 
 incites all to efforts of industry and intelligence. Beyond this there are 
 influences that touch their home habits. Nothing is more liable to be 
 tainted than milk. The least impurity about their cans will evolve the 
 gei-ms which will destroy not only its, value, but all with which it is mixed 
 at the factory. The farmer who is careless, not only subjects himself and 
 others to loss, but his family to a disgrace which is keenly felt. This system 
 also throws light on what makes the strength of laws. If any one puts 
 water in his milk all his neighbors wUl be losers; for he will get an undue 
 share of credit upon the books of his f actoiy. Water will not make cheese. 
 We know that when milk is sold out of the country into cities, water is apt 
 to get into it, and suspicion of this does not seem to harm the seller very 
 much in the eyes of his neighbors. Even the deacon can use the pump 
 somewhat for various specious reasons, for his neighbors are not interested 
 in the matter. Bilt it is very different when water is put into that which 
 goes to the cheese factory. If this is done, all are up in arms; and he who 
 is convicted of the offence is lowered in the eye of his neighbor to the level 
 of those who steal. He is thrown out of the Association; and it is hard for 
 him to outlive the disgrace. Legislators can learn from this that the force 
 of laws depends upon active interest for their enforcement. It will be seen 
 that every feature of this system, from the care of the herd to the sale of the 
 butter or cheese in our own or foreign markets, tends to diffuse order, morals 
 and intelligence throughout the communities in which it is practiced. 
 
Dairymen have brought here proofs of the value of what they make, as 
 they think their use may increase, when their merits are made known. 
 They know that they are cheap and valuable articles ol food. In view of 
 the nutritive qualities of cheese and its low price, those who labor would 
 gain much if it took the place of other things more costly. There were 
 reasons in the past that do not exist now, for its falling into disuse. It 
 would cost less to the consumer if it was in more general demand by our 
 people. Its wholesale price is now about nine cents per pound. It is sold 
 at retail for nearly twice that amount. This .great profit, so much beyond 
 that usually made upon articles of food, is due to the fact that dealers in 
 this country sell so little that they need great profits upon the amount. If 
 its use could be increased tenfold, competition in sales would cut down the 
 price to the consumer. "With a view to make its value known to the public, 
 as well as to benefit the army. General Sherman has ordered a trial to be 
 made by Generals Macfeely and Haines, of the Subsistence Department. 
 Our farmers areunder great obligations to these gentlemen for the interest 
 they have shown in a matter which not only concerns the army, but the 
 general welfare. It is believed that their reports will prove that great saving 
 can be had in the cost of living by the general use of an article at once cheap 
 and nutritious. 
 
 Dairying has become the leading agricultural industry in the middle and 
 eastern States, and is rapidly extending over the Northwest and Canada. 
 The extent of country over which it has spread, brings to our notice other 
 features of our agriculture. Those who study its progTcss see that it is ar- 
 ranging itself into grand divisions. The South raises cotton. On the gi-eat 
 plains lying at the eastern foot of the Eocky Mountains, and stretching from 
 Texas far north, vast herds of cattle are reared. In those States whose fer- 
 tile soil gives unlimited quantities of Indian corn, pork, lard and smoked 
 meats are the leading products. Other regions at the West and Northwest 
 yield those abundant stores of grain, which not only give food to our own 
 people, but are also sent to Europe. The Pacific coast, with its mines of 
 gold and silvei-, and productions peculiar to itself, makes another grand 
 division.. While it is true that all foims of agriculture are somewhat inter- 
 mingled, yet the great fact remains, that our agiiculture has not only grown 
 to vast dimensions, but that it is also dividing itself into these grand depart- 
 ments. This is a matter of deep concern to our continent in. many ways. 
 Where States have a leading industry, it is followed with more skill and 
 success than marks it on a smaller scale. The intercourse which grows up 
 between sections gives activity to that commerce, which enlightens commu- 
 nities, and saves them from the provincial apathy and prejudice which mark 
 the people of the countries of smaller areas. Differences of language and of 
 laws in Europe, have hindered the people of that continent from reaching 
 a heiglit of civilization far beyond that which they now enjoy. He who will 
 visit the markets of this city, will find articles of common use which have 
 been brought from distances so great that a mere statement of the places 
 where they were raised, and of the routes by which they reached this point, 
 will of itself teach him xnuch of the character of Qijr country, thq habits and. 
 
ptirsuitB of tlie people of each section, and their methods of business and 
 transportation. 
 
 Statesmen look to this intercourse as the sure bond of union. No division 
 can be cut off without harming all, as you harm the living man when you 
 sever one of his limbs. Agriculture on this scale cannot exist in Europe. 
 No nation tliere has our wide scope of territory, or varied climate and pro- 
 ductions. The same difficulties would be met, should they attempt to follow 
 in our footsteps, that were encountered by the distinguished head of our 
 system of weather reports, when he visited Europe to extend the points of 
 observation. There was no country there large enough to hold a storm. 
 Its front would get out of the borders before its end could get in. The only 
 exception was Russia, and that does not have our varieties of climate. To 
 learn as we do each day what great atmospheric waves are rolling towards 
 us from the Pacific; what storms rage along the Eocky Mountains; what 
 calms rest upon the plains of the Mississippi, and how some tempest which 
 shook our homes the day before is now dying out on the northeastern coast, 
 is a kind of intelligence that cannot be; had elsewhere. There is something 
 in the varied products of our continent, and their movements across its vast 
 spaces which is akin to this, and which in ways somewhat alike, give us 
 interest and intelligence by their constant instruction in great facts. 
 
 The intercourse growing out of the grand divisions of our agriculture add 
 strength to our hopes of a high civilization, which spring from the fact that 
 a common language will be used on this broad continent. This intercourse 
 and common speech will give to literature and the arts a wide field, and to 
 those who serve the Republic ample rewards. It will also aid in assimilating 
 the different lineages of our population. The basis of American civilization 
 will be English in its nature; but it will be reinforced and liberalized by the 
 influence of various nationalities. Its sterling qualities will be made more 
 robust by German sturdiness; be warmed by Celtic blood, and refined by 
 citizens from Southern Europe. At the outset some confusion grows out of 
 these varied, and at times, conflicting elements; but the product will be a 
 more vigorous race, more generous and enlarged views of civil and social 
 organizations. . Our political institutions will be made more strong and last- 
 ing than they can be by the developments of any single phase of civilization. 
 We see these truths in States whose populations are drawn from different 
 parts of our own country and from Europe. 
 
 Now that speculative schemes have died out, and the public restored to its 
 right mind, agriculture again is duly valued. It is not only acknowledged 
 in a formal way, as it has been in the past, but it is felt to be the basis of all 
 other industries. CommCTce, arts and mamifactures are the incidents of its 
 growth. These will be supported by its ample wealth, and they will be 
 lifted out of that unhealthy state, which ever exists where they depend only 
 upon artificial stimulants. 
 
 At this time there is much feeling about the currency. It, is well that Ihe 
 public mind is turned to it; for in the end it will get at the truth. This is 
 not the place to discuss it; but there are great facts of which we must never 
 
8 
 
 lose sight. While a good currency should /lot be undervalued, it is still true 
 that the best will not make us rich if we spend more than we earn, and the 
 worst will not make us poor if we sell more than we buy. Men and nations 
 have got rich- by barter, and much commerce is carried on in that way in 
 parts of the world. Standards of weight, measure or value, do not make 
 products, quantities nor wealth. The world would find it troublesome to 
 get on without them; but it would get on, and the industrious would grow 
 rich, and the idle would be poor. We must not let our heads be so crazed 
 by theories that we starve as those did who spent their lives in looking 
 for the philosopher's stone which would turn base metals into gold. 
 
 This Exhibition is not only of interest In itself, and for the object it has 
 more directly in view, but it is an omen of better days for aU classes of our 
 citizens. Many plans, new and old, have been brought out to lift us above 
 our troubles; to give life to business and work to labor. While a fierce war 
 has raged about these schemes, those who till the soil have been at work. 
 They have fed our people and have sent a great surplus abroad. Our 
 exports, during the two fiscal years ending July last, were more than 
 $1,200,000,000. Nearly all of this came from the earth — raised by those 
 who till its soil, or delve in its mines. Their toil has brought our govern- 
 ment and our banks up to the point- of paying debts and redeeming currency 
 in the money of the world. If our government is wise and economical; if 
 our bankers are honest and conservative, the labor of the country will hold 
 them up to the point reached. The statesmanship and financiering which 
 has wrought out this great result, is the statesmanship and financiering of 
 the farm and the workshop. 
 
 There are two striking facts, unparalleled in the history of our exports, 
 which should give us unusual courage. Heretofore we have only looked 
 for markets in Europe when war or famine afflicted its people, and when 
 these made demands for our produce, the carriers, upon railroads or water 
 routes, have put up their charges so that they have taken the largest share of 
 the gain. During the past season, although prices for food have fallen, we 
 have sent abroad more than ever before in the history of our country 
 While all our inland routes of commerce have been overloaded with grain 
 and provisions, they have never been carried at so low a price. Thi§ proves 
 that we have reached a point in production and transportation which gives 
 us a place in the markets of the world, which we can hold without the sad 
 thought that it is due to the miseries of our f ellowmen. These facts should 
 give confidence to men of business and of labor. This exhibition is of itself 
 an omen of better days. We have struggled long with evil times. In vain 
 have we tried all the schemes and devices engendered by discontent and 
 distress; but at length we have planted ourselves upon the soil, and like 
 Ant83us of old, we begin to feel the new life coursing along the veins of 
 commerce, and the strength inthe muscles of labor which mother earth ever 
 gives to her children when they seek from her, abundance and prosperity.. 
 
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