VOL. LXVII
INDIANAPOLIS, AF/^17, 1912
NO. 33
Indiana Stockmen Meet
Very   Successful    Meeting
Held at Orchard Lake
Farm.
ADDRESSES GIVEN BY MEN FROM
SEVERAL STATES.       .
The first summer meeting and picnic
of the two organizations, the Indiana
Live Stock Breeders' Association and
the Indiana Hereford Breeders' Association held last week on Orchard Lake
Stock Farm, near Kentland, the estate
of Warren T. McCray president of first
named association, was a great
success in every respect and
every stockman in the state who did
not attend missed a profitable and enjoyable event. The weather was
threatening but despite this the crowd
ot about TOO to 800 people who. atten-
(k,! exceded expectations. Mr. McCray
who was the host of the two associations, had, however, made provision
for both the crowd and weather. The
spacious barn lot, in which the meeting was held, had received a covering
of finely crushed stone, a large open
tent had been erected in which to hold
the meeting; in addition to this another tent had been put up; the barns
and stables were open for inspection,
and in one barn, the mows of which
were partly filled with alfalfa, a chicken dinner was served. The Kentland
band furnished music. The scene was
similar to those frequently seen in
some sections of a state or county fair.
A Large    Progressive    Type of Farm.
Upon Mr. McCray's place are a number of buildings including three silos,
two large stock barns a horse stable
and a grain elevator equipped with
grain hoisting devices, scales and en-
Sine. The buildings and fence posts
are all painted and kept up well. Cedent is used extensively in making
feedings floors, water tanks and an excellent dipping tank. Water is piped
all over the place from springs which
furnish water for a small lake near
'he barns. Hereford cattle are raised
upon this place, and the large uniform
herd in the best of condition attracted
considerable attention. Eleven head
had been fattened and gotten into condition for the fair circuit and these
were shown in a parade.
The morning was taken up by visiting the stock and buildings and immediately after dinner the program was
"egun. Mr. McCray gave an address
of Welcome in which he urged all
•stockmen of the state to become members of the association both for the
help the association would do them
and for the help they would do for the
'Association.
Encouraging   Addresses.
The heads of various state organisations were present and gave short
"alks. The state Board of Agriculture
*as well represented and its president,
* r- I- Newt. Brown, of Franklin, gave
talk.    He  congratulated    the stock
men on their firm organization and
upon the work they are doing as a
body and individually. Their successful results, he said, were due to knowledge of their work and to education.
This had brought stock breeding in
this country to a high mark and as a
result higher prices have been paid for
American tired stock by both foreign
and home buyers than has ever been
paid  for imported animals.
Dean J. H. Skinner, of Purdue gave
a brief history of the organization and
growth  of the association  and  showed
th
■ &
of Jersey as early as 1833 an
V .<? /.ation was started which pro-
i. ed the importation of any cattle
outer than Jerseys. Now that small
island has become famous for the
thousands of Jerseys they have exported. The same is true in France with
Fereheron horses. Annually buyers
from all over the world flock to the
Paris Fair to purchase these prize
horses. Denmark, by its unity of
purpose, has developed a bacon and
butter industry that practically controls  the   English   market.
The Small Farmer as a Breeder.
Mr. F. C. Giltner, of Eminence, Ky.,
President of the American Hereford
Breeders' Association, gave an address
on the subject  "Good Fellowship."  He
how, if all of the stockmen would unite
in one purpose they could get such
state legislation as was needed for the
benefit of better agriculture. He gave
examples of present laws, such as the
feeders law, stallion law and others
that could be made better.
What
Unity of Purpose .lu
Docs.
Breeding
There were several speakers of fame
from other states who spoke on various phases of the live stock industry. Prof. C. S. Plumb, now of the
Ohio State College but formerly of
Purdue, told of what unity of purpose
has accomplished in the interest of
live stock development. He said boosting, organizations and co-operations
would do great things in any county
cr state to develop the business. He
said that taking it from purely a business standpoint it would be profitable
for a county or community to raise one
breed of stock and not mix all varieties together. It would not be necessary to breed pure-bred stock if one
did not care to, but the idea should be
simply to co-operate to improve
that breed. In time buyers from every
part of the country would gather in
that county to buy.
Prof. Piumb had been in Europe
and there had studied agricultural
conditions and he illustrated by what
was being done there what could be
done in this country by unity of purpose. In Herefordshire, England, the
people have found that the Hereford
breed of stock do better than any
other ln their locality and so all raise
this breed. They know it is best so
are satisfied to breed them alone.    On
spoke encouragingly of the life in the
country, of the surroundings such a
life affords, and of how ones nature is
broadened by rural life. He said in
regard  to  the  live  stock industry:
"The pure bred sire is Just at the
dawn of his era of usefulness. .As long
as Western land was cheap, so long
could the American nation be indifferent to the quantity and cost of their
meat supply; but with lands all over
the states rapidly increasing in value,
the producer of beef must solve the
problem of how to produce more
pounds of beef from the smaller acreage of higher priced land, and this can
be accomplished only by using the best
pure-bred sire and employing intensive and scientific farming. The manufactory with its multiplication of details presents no greater problem than
the American farmer of today is called
upon to face. The farmer too is a
manufacturer with mother earth as his
raw material, which industry and skill
must convert into a finished product
ready for the worlds' market. He is,
or should be a constructive genius,
well read and well educated, and be
an up-to-date business man.
"The American farmer is the wealth
producer of the nation and what we
need is a closer comraderie and fellowship with each other. Not a trust such
as certain great corporations, but one
having as. its object the dissemination
of useful knowledge and the up-building of our farms and farming interests. Not a combination to hoard up
wealth from the soil but rather a trust
which will enable us to make our lands
richer and crops larger, our neighbors
wealthier  and   our  homes  happier.    A
trust which will not accomplish its
ends through the power of the dollar
wrung from the public, but one which
shall disseminate universal knowledge
Of seeds, of labor saving tools and
machinery, of pure bred live stock, of
economical feeds and the art of feeding our farm lands and at the same
time feeding the population of the
world."
Improving Live Stock Improves Agriculture.
"Agricultural Stability and Progress" was the subject of an address
of Prof. C. F. Curtiss of the Iowa.State
College. Quality and permanency in
live stock breeding, he said, was what
counted for most. The Improvement
of agriculture and live stock was not
wortli while if in working for these
ends men and women and their surroundings were not also made better.
There was nothing, he said, that would
do this better than education. If we
would spend the money in the country
that is made in the country it would
be a paradise. People will not live in
the country unless it is prosperous and
prosperous people will not live there
unless  rural   conditions   are   improved.
In viewing the live stock situation
Prof. Curtiss said that he thought the
change in agriculture due to lack of
western feeding cattle was for the
best. Such a condition would make it
necessary for farmers to produce their
own feeders. This would improve the
soil as is shown in the case of nearly
every farm where the raising of stock
is practiced and tho manure is returned to the land. This condition
would also mean a. better quality of
live stock.
Beef Cattle Shortage Not Yet Felt.
Mr. R. J. Kinzer, the secretary of
the American Hereford Breeders' Association, Kansas City, Mo., talked
upon the beef cattle outlook. In his
opinion the real shortage of beef cattle has not yet been felt. The work
of breeders in the central and central
western states had kept it in check.
The constructive breeder was doing a
great work and even more will be done
as is shown by the increased demand
for pure-bred sires in various parts of
the central states.
Association work in Wisconsin has
reached a high state and some of the
things that were being done by their
united effort was told by a representative from the Wisconsin College who
took the place of Mr. A. W. Hopkins,
secretary of the Wisconsin Live Stock
Breeders' Association, who could not
be present. In that state all the live
stock associations have organized into
one body. This organization gets an
appropriation from the State legislature. With this they run every year
a live stock special train and provide
for exhibits at various county and state
fairs. Their work in eliminating the
scrub sire from the state has been
very successful.
After the program some amusements
were held including a base ball game.
A large number of automobiles, which
were owned by residents of the community and which had been secured to
convey the guests to and from the stations, were then kept busy in making
return trips. The meeting was so successful that plans were made to hold
a summer picnic at some representative farm each year.