On the average, therefore, in the last two years our yield has been doubled by spraying. The total cost for chemicals and labor is $5 to $10 per acre. The strength of the mixture we recommend for general use is five pounds blue vitriol, five pounds fresh lime, 50 gallons (one barrel) water. Slack the lime to form a thin whitewash, dissolve the vitriol in another vessel, strain both and mix thoroughly Apply in any way so as to thoroughly cover the upper surfaces of the leaves. This is best done with a barrel spraying pump. Remember that this is a preventive, not a cure, and the first application should be made before the disease appears.

Paris green should be added to the mixture as needed for the potato bugs. We had good results, also, from adding soap to the mixture when applied in July; one pound of soap for each pound of vitriol. This checked the work of the flea beetles. Further information freely given.

L. R. JONES, Botanist,
Experiment Station,

Burlington, Vt.

President Arms-It gives me great pleasure to now introduce to you Mr. C. L. Gabrilson of Iowa, the representative of that state who had charge of their dairy exhibit at the World's Fair. Mr. Gabrilson is the secretary of the Iowa Dairymen's Association. He will now address you.

Mr. Gabrilson was received with hearty applause, and delivered the following address:

IOWA'S PROGRESS IN DAIRYING.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Before speaking of Iowa's progress in dairying, allow me, in behalf of the West, to acknowledge the debt we owe to New England for the foundation of the mental and material prosperity which we claim to have. We owe this debt of gratitude to the sons and daughters of the East who, moving into the western states, bringing with them habits of thrift, study, virtue and temperance, have incorporated these elements of a higher civilization into the charters of our several commonwealths. This civilization is the heritage bequeathed to us by the enterprising people who formed the groundwork of the settlements of the upper Mississippi valley, a region of which Iowa forms an important part.

Just as you are loyal to your state and proud of its achievements, so I am proud of that section of our country where the best days of my life have been spent, and in which you also have reason to glory, since your sons and your daughters were identified with its development; and I am proud to-day to stand on ground so full of historic

sentiment, to be among people to whom we claim kinship, not only by the ties of birth, but in bonds of union under the same old flag in whose defence and vindication both East and West have marched in fraternal step.

The Exposition at Chicago was also a period of reunion and renewal of all these relations, through the intermingling of our people in friendly contest for supremacy in the mechanic arts, education and agriculture. We there learned to respect each other more than ever, and all were compelled to admit that each state and section had much of which to boast; while as a nation we have won the admiration of the entire world. With this confession I am sure you will pardon me if in speaking of Iowa I venture too far into the region of specific glorification.

Our country is such an aggregation of "magnificent distances" that without comparison we are scarcely able to realize the extent of its divisions. The Iowa school boy, acquainted with the boundaries of his own state, finds by consulting his books that New England has an area of 68,000 square miles, of which the state of Maine claims 35,000, while the Hawkeye state has within its borders 56,000 sections of land.

Although Iowa is in a prairie region, there is a general distribution of forest along the streams. This, together with artificial groves about the homesteads, gives an agreeable variety to the outlook. Indeed, one may seldom travel in any direction without natural timber ever in sight. To compensate for the lack of timber growth, which characterizes many other states, a large share of Iowa's territory is underlaid with strata of bituminous coal, from which 4,000,000 tons were taken in 1891. The value of this product at the mines was, in round numbers, $7,000,000.

Naturally, in a prairie country where tree planting is encouraged by law, trees are looked upon with more reverence (if I may use the word) than in a section where forest is in the way of progress in agriculture. Tree planting is here encouraged by law by a provision exempting from taxation the sum of $100, for 10 years, for each acre planted to forest trees; and $50, for five years, for each acre planted to orchard trees. Observation proves that planting artificial groves and the checking of prairie fires by cultivation has largely increased the wood supply of Iowa. These conditions have also done much to mitigate the severity of winter storms.

Iowa was organized as a territory in 1838, so that there has not been time to accumulate a large material wealth; but the prosperity of the state is the outgrowth of a fertile soil, a healthful climate, and a position along the great highways of commerce.

Speaking of a fertile soil reminds me of what I believe was the greatest compliment paid to Iowa at the World's Fair. It was at the Iowa State building, where you will remember there were a num

ber of tall glass tubes, each of which was filled with a vertical section of soil from a given locality in the state. Well, by some accident one of these glass tubes had a portion of it broken off so that the earth was scattered on the floor below. While trying to repair the damages, I heard some one remark to his companion: "That's Iowa dirt; don't step in it, for if you do it will make your feet grow." So it is not in material wealth that Iowa exhibits her greatest strength, but in her ability to produce wealth. We are apt to think of the gold and silver producing sections as the centres of immense and lasting riches, and yet all the gold and silver product of America, including all the states and territories and British America, for 1891 amounted to only a little more than the corn crop of Iowa for that year. Three hundred and fifty million bushels was the yield, with a value of $105,000,000, while the mines output for that year was estimated at $118,000,000.

While we boast of a fertile soil and a healthful climate, it is our men and women, our boys and girls, that we hold in highest esteem, of course! This is shown by the educational advantages which they possess. There is an active school for every four and one-seventh sections of land in the state, counting river, lake, woodland and prairie in the dividend. Wherever there are children to be taught a schoolhouse springs up; so that it is not very extravagant to say that there is a schoolhouse on every hill, and in the valley, too. To provide a portion of the educational fund the sixteenth section of land in each township of the state was set aside. More than one-third of the tax levy is for the support of schools, and no other part of the assessment is so cheerfully paid. The school system of Iowa gives employment to a host of teachers-in round numbers 27,000. And more than one-third of the population is of school age. As a result of these liberal provisions for the spread of intelligence, Iowa is credited with having a smaller percentage of illiteracy than any other state of the Union.

The dairy industry of Iowa is not the direct result of premeditated investment in this branch of economy because of its superior advantages over other lines, but the outcome of conditions which compelled a change of front. The pioneer and early settler of Iowa, like his brethren in all states eastward, began to invert the prairie sod, over which the buffalo, the Indian, and his ally, the prairie fire, had held sway for centuries. On this accumulation of fertility he planted corn to supply the means of subsistence for his family, and his animals as well. The next year finds the corn patch of last season a wheat field, while corn is planted on a part of the present year's "breaking." This goes on year after year, the wheat area increasing much faster than that devoted to other crops. In all new countries wheat raising has been a sort of wholesale business which fascinates all who engage in it.

The last big crop of this cereal was grown in 1877. Thirty-five

bushels per acre was no unusual yield, and an even dollar the price. The wonderful yield of that season created an excitement which culminated in disaster the following year. Encouraged by the success of 1877, next spring every available acre was sown to wheat, so that northern Iowa was practically one vast wheat field. The crop had been put in early, and conditions were everywhere favorable. Sunshine and showers came in desired proportions. The promise was equal to that of the previous year. But early in July a “black rust," as it was called, attacked the crop everywhere, which changed the high prospects into desolation and gloom. Whole fields were burned over, because it would not pay to harvest the crop. Those who did harvest and thresh any portion of it realized a miserable three bushels per acre. Since then wheat raising has been practiHere and there a little is grown, but it is

cally abandoned in Iowa. a precarious crop.

Previous to this a few counties situated in the central eastern portion of the state had already passed through the wheat craze, or crisis, and were making rapid strides in developing the dairy industry, so that when the opportunity of the Centennial Exposition came along Iowa butter makers presented themselves and asked for space to exhibit their product in competition with the world. The managers of that Exposition made no reservation of space in the agricultural department for the dairy interest, and the dairymen of the country found their industry without place for display. The Ameri

can Dairymen's Association arranged with the managers of the Exposition for the erection of a building at the expense of the dairymen of the country, to provide a place for the exhibition of dairy products. The dairymen of Iowa were assessed by the American Dairymen's Association $1,000 for this purpose.

On the 14th day of April, 1876, John Stewart, of the firm of John Stewart & Co., manufacturers of "fine creamery butter," Manchester, Iowa, addressed a letter to Governor Kirkwood in which he stated the facts outlined above, and urged him to favor the dairy interests, and said: "If we can exhibit our butter side by side with the eastern dairymen, we can succeed in breaking down the prejudice that has been so prevalent in the minds of eastern people; and if so, we will get $1,000,000 more, annually, for our dairy products than we do now. If it is not asking too much of you in your official position, we would ask you to urge the executive committee to appropriate this amount, or so much of it as is possible, out of the $20,000. We do not ask the state to transport our goods, but simply to give us a place to exhibit them."

But the state authorities did not appropriate $1,000, or any other sum, out of the $20,000, or any other fund, for a dairy exhibit, but John Stewart & Co. and other creamery men exhibited 29 packages of their butter, and won for Iowa butter the following award, gaining a first prize: "Creamery 859, Stewart & Mellen, Manchester,

Iowa, creamery butter. Commended for its clear, sweet flavor, firm texture and superior excellence."

That award gave Iowa butter an entrance into eastern markets, in which it soon won a reputation that has been worth scores of millions of dollars to the state. The dairy business has become of vast importance in Iowa agriculture. In value it amounts to $34,000,000, and is the largest single industry, aside from the production of corn, in the state.

The colossal failure of the wheat crop in 1877 was followed by others, so that the farmers of northern Iowa, especially, were generally left stranded on the shores of bankruptcy, and ready to adopt any means which promised escape from debt. Reports of the success gained by their brethren of Delaware and surrounding counties in dairying encouraged them to look to the cow for relief. The cows already on hand were looked upon with new interest, and their offspring treated with kindness and consideration. Creameries were encouraged, and now an abiding prosperity reigns on farms wherever the cow holds a prominent place.

It is generally conceded that the creamery idea originated in Iowa, or at least this system won its way into public favor through the success which followed its development there. At first milk was brought to a centrally located place, or creamery, and there treated after the deep setting system. The milk was skimmed and cream ripened and churned under such uniform conditions that the success scored at the Centennial Exposition was the inevitable result. The profit secured by those who were thus associated led to the plan of setting milk at the farm under as nearly similar conditions as possible, and the cream only taken to the creamery, as it is still called. This plan, or gathered cream system, was the method which offered to the farmers who were victims of the wheat failure a source of revenue heretofore unknown. The butter they had previously produced was of such a character that, as a whole, like man, it was fearfully and wonderfully made; and when offered in the markets the prices it brought were fearfully and wonderfully low.

Who first evolved the theory of stopping the churn when butter had reached the granular stage, I cannot tell; but that this process marks the new era in butter making, I am sure all will admit.

The succeeding step in Iowa's progress in dairying was the introduction of the centrifugal separator. This was the result of the faulty creaming of the milk at farmhouses; due to the inattention of those who were dairymen only in part. Under the most perfect system of cream raising by natural gravity there is an appreciable loss of butter fat, which is recovered by the separator. But there are serious objections to the milk hauling system which time will correct and overcome. The first is that carrying milk away from its source of production to be skimmed is a waste of energy and ex