FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 September 1918, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

DAIRY INDUSTRY IMPORTANT IN WAR TIMES.' Tho following address was delivered by President M. D. Munn of the American Jersey Cattle Club at the recent picnic of the Ohio Jersey Cattle Club at Yellow Springs: It is two years since I was here last, and while the time doesn't seem so very long, many things have happened since then, things which can not help but impress our minds with the serious, and it is diflicult to speak on an occasion like this without referring to serious matter*. It is indeed a pleasure to see Jerseys in the possession of a, man with the enthusiasm and the breadth of vision that our host has, and to realise what an op portunity is given when a large number of them are in the possession of a man possessed with those qualities and able to give them the opportunity to demonstrate their efficiency and economy, as Mr Kelly can. I can not but feel it is my duty to express to him our appreciation of the opportunity that he give* us in coming here to enjoy this beautiful scene, his hospitality and the delight that the meeting always furnisherwhen we meet Mr Kelly, and I am glad indeed to so express, not only my feelings, but I know yours, as well. I said it was difficult not to speak of serious things on an occasion of this kind. We must not be unmindful, however, even in the midst of the serious things which are confronting us, that enjoyment like associations and gatherings of this kind is absolutely necessary We could not live and do our duty i; we did not relax occasionally. I am quite sure that those of you who have sons in the service, if you could get their wish, they would say, by all means to you, "Enjoy yourselves as fully as possible in a sane way, because your enjoyment will relieve us very largely on the side where we are trying to do our duty in defending our homes and your homes,".and I know that in exerci? ing this enjoyment to the limit, .w» arc making ourselves better able to perform our share of the duty which call--to us in this great crisis. I wish I could bring home to the min.l of every one here the importance of the industry which I assume most ol you are interested in, namely, the dain industry. There never has been a tinv in the history of the world when its importance was more fully realised than it is to-day, or perhaps I should say. when it should be more fully realised than to-day. The dairy industry has a position of importance in our food supply that few realise. It is of vital im portance in the economics of agriculture. In ordinary times, the dairy cow furnishes nearly 20 per cent of all the human food- consumed, and in these times she should be supplying nearer .30 per cent of it. When this country in the Mississippi Valley was first opened by the emigrants from over the Allegheny Mountains, what did they brins: with them? Those wagons always had following at the rear the dairy cow, the foster mother of mankind; and it is through the food she supplied that it was made possible to make these prairies and these great fields in the Mississippi Valley blossom with the homes that now adorn them. Without her. I do not hesitate to say, this country would still be a wilderness. And without her, and I say it with a full realisation of its meaning, this country would go back to a wilderness. Such is her importance in our daily life. Such is her importance in agricultural and successful national development, that without her we would recede so rapidly that we would soon cease as an efficient nation if we did not cease to exist entirely. It has been brought home to a certainty within the past eighteen months, based on experiments for fourten years, that there is an element in the milk of the dairy cow that is absolutely indispensable to human physical growth, and it is equally indispensable to mental growth. That'element is not thoroughly defined, but we know it is in the milk, and it is only found in small quantities' in the fat of the 'heart and the yolk of the egg. It is in the vegetation for the benefit of the cow. It is in the milk for the benefit of the human race; and the discovery of this fact brings home with terrific force the importance of the dairy cow in the development of the human race. I refer to this as I want to impress upon your mnds the importance of the continuation of the dairy business. There was a tendency to relax a year ago; the greatest national blunder that could ever have been made. Fortunately this condition has been checked, and to-day there' is a great influence toward i the growth ratlfer than the abandon- j ment of the dairy industry. Had we gone on for two or three years as we were a year ago, the calamity which wiouid have fallen on this country can not bo measured with words. It is only, a question of a short time when his country will bo called upon to supply the dairy animal to those stricken countries which we can not possibly supply. The last figures T received show that three of the leading countries in Europe with whom we are associated in this war, have, since this war began, depleted their herds, so now they have 30 per cent less than before the war. In that period there have 38,000,000 dairy animals gone out of these countries. When we realise we have in this vast country only about 22,300,000 cows, you can realise what tremendous destruction there has gone on. When this war is over, we have got to furnish the seed to supply the countries we are now allied with. I refer to this matter as an inducement for' you to join in tliis great effort to not only continue the dairy cow, but to speed her development as fast as possible in order that we may have the stock on hand when the ' time comes to meet the demand. There has been in this country a commission inquiring as to whether or not they could obtain these animals, and they are going to call on us to aid in this, as we are now aiding them in other great important matters. By development of this dairy industry, you are not only serving yourself, but you arc serving humanity and putting yourself in a position when the time conies vou can render aid to an' afflicted people. Can there be a greater service that can be rendered than that? Then there is still another thing which, to me. is of great, importance, We expect to have before this war is over 5,000,000 of our sons on foreign soil fighting for human liberty. We believe that a large number of those boys will come back, and what will they come hack to? It is for you and me to sayIt is our duty to see that the agriculture, the farm and the community that those younf, men have left shall in no way he impaired by any slack conduct I on our part, in order that they may bo-, i gin to build their homes when the time pomes. Ih«r«forej in addition, to ;*«¥»'

ing ourselves and helping ourselves, we have the duty of talcing care of this industry for the good of our sons when they come back. I wish I could say something that would drive tins thqught so deeply into your mind that it would never escape; that you would thmk about it and study it out for yourselves, because I know I am speaking an absolute fact in what I have said. You know; or at least you believe, and I think you know, that the cow that we stand for is the most economical : fuv,l I efficient known in the dairy breeds. I do not wish to be understood as saying that is the only breed that ought to bo used, but I do say in this great development of the dairy industry we oughjt to see to it that the breed which we believe and know to be the most economical and efficient has lier place fully protected, and her development fully looked after by those who look after and represent the breed of Jersey coifs. In closing, let me make one appeal'lb you. This is going to he quite ii'different world when this war is overawe are going to have different ideas lliiiifi ever of the relationship of one man ti> another, of men among men and women among women, and we are going to have a different ideal in this country. Our ideal is going to be thai of human justice, human right and hurnan equality. T.liere is. going to be stamped in the minds of yon and me and 'oitr ihildren and our children's children, for all time to come, the thought that individual right is superior to individual selfishness. That there shall no longer be in this' world a man or set of men who can say, gratify my greed, the human rights must make eternal sacrifice on the altar of deatli in the struggle of war" , On the contrary, there is going to be one ideal, and the man who does not look up to it, who hasn't the vision to >ee it or the feeling in his heart to respect it, is going to have no place on the surface of this earth where he can rest his head, and that is as it should be. Now, with that idea in view, let me ask you when you go back home to your herd, to sec that they receive tha attention and the protection needed in order that they may take their part in the building up and permanent establish* mont of that ideal, remembering that the product of the dairy cow is indispensable to the millions of jjeojgle, and •utteJtt in** idt* i