The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1913-09-18
MILE Laos COUNTY FAIR THE BEST EVER

stop. Preceded by the band, the
party proceeded to the fair grounds
In introducing Mr.. Hill, Mr.. Dunn
said:
Son former occasions governors
and would-be governors, congress-
men and would-be congressman have
spoken at our county fair, but today
we have with us bigger man than
any governor or any congressman
this state has ever had; man who
has contributed more toward the
upbuilding of Minnesota and the en-
tire Northwest than all the time
serving politicians and political DEM
agogues that could be stacked up on
these fair grounds; the empire
builder-James J. Hill.n
Mr.. Hill said in part:
Il am glad to have an opportunity
of addressing the farmers of Mile
Laos and adjoining counties. In
this vicinity potatoes is one of your
staple crops and I understand you
are getting good prices. But you
cannot expect big prices every year.
Potatoes are a perishable crop and
must be marketed within limited
time. Do not put all your depen-
dence in one crop. Do not put all
your eggs in one basket. Raise
good potatoes and endeavor to in
crease the yield by caring for and
carefully preparing the soil and
selecting good seed. Above all
things sort your potatoes carefully
before bringing them to market.
If you mix in lot of inferior pota-
toes in load you may rest assured
the buyer will not be fooled and you
will be the loser.
81 am glad to know that you now
have ten or a dozen creameries in
this county. You ought to have at
least one in every township. You
cannot have creameries without
COWS, and COWS mean barnyard
manure which in turn means in
creased productiyeness Of your land.
Creameries and hogs go we'll to-
gether. Haul back the skim milk,
put it in kettle, throw in your
small potatoes, boil and feed it to
your hogs. There is good money in
hogs. In seven months you can
raise a 2OO-pound hog that will sell
for $500 or $500. There is money
in beef cattle, too. But it requires
three years to turn out a beef steer.
There are several million less beef
cattle in the United States today
than there was ten years ago and the
population has increased many mil
lions
''We cannot feed our present popu-
lation with our present methods.
We must improves; and it is up to
everybody to make the best use of
the opportunity we have. I am not
afraid as to the result. l know that
necessity will compel you. You
have got to do it, whether you will
or not. You have got to get right
up and learn to cultivate your land.
'Thirty years ago I scattered sew
eral hundred blooded cattle and hogs
through Great Northern territory
in this state, endeavoring to get the
people TO do something that would
preserve the fertility of the soil.
And what happened? They said
that I was trying to cast a cloud,
or dark blot upon the fair name Of
the state of Minnesota; that it was
the home of number one hard wheat ::
that it was wheat state and I had
no business to advocate the raising
of stock.
"Why did I do this? Sel6shness,
if you please, was the motive. Your
prosperity spells prosperity for the
Great Northern railway. If you
are prosperous we are prosperous.
II you are not prosperous we cannot
prosper.
ut is an old story. AS far back
as we know anything about civiliza-
tion, the cultivation of the soil has
been the first and most important
industry, and it always will be.
Herodotus, who lived so far back that
many of us do not even know his
name, tells us the story of the
human race in the valley of the
Euphrates. He tells us that with
poor cultivation the tillers of the
soil there got yield of fifty fold;
with fair cultivation, one hundred
fold; and with good cultivation, two
hundred fold. That was the garden
of the world in it's day. Its great
cities, Babylon and Nineveh, where
are they? Piles of desert sand mark
where they stood. In the place of
the millions that overran the world
there are few. wandering Arabs
feeding a few starved goats. The
Promised Land-the land of, Canaan