Remarks by David A. Smith

"No one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope and charity, being temperate in all things." ¶

I am sure, my brethren and sisters, that those of us who have been fortunate enough to attend this conference and to hear the testimonies of the men who are on the firing line of this work, have rejoiced in the words spoken, for their words have been filled with love and the spirit of truth and humility. They have manifested a desire to labor willingly and unselfishly for the advancement of truth and righteousness. I sincerely pray that for the few moments I stand before you, I may be blessed of God, that the words I utter may be guided by his Holy Spirit. ¶

It is a great responsibility to stand before the Latter-day Saints in conference assembled, and attempt to instruct them concerning their duties, or to expound principles of the gospel. I have been very much concerned for some time past and have tried to fix my mind upon some particular subject upon which I might be especially prepared, should I have the privilege of addressing the conference. Each speaker has given to me some thought, but not until today was I fully impressed ¶

that, as your servant, one upon whom rests the responsibility of helping to look after the temporal affairs of the Church, I should speak concerning these matters. ¶

Fortunately for me, I am a son of the soil, put to work in my youth tilling the ground to help provide food for a large family ; one of the greatest experiences that can come to one. President Hinckley's remarks concerning the many opportunities to be found on the farm, recalled to my mind a picture of the conditions in the stakes of Zion as I have seen them, having had the privilege of visiting all but a very few. I think I can see an opportunity for greater development, for great cooperation and for the manifestation of the spirit of love in a greater degree. ¶

I am happy to find myself in harmony with the remarks of President Grant. I am reminded that those who have made a life study of agriculture tell us that in our country, especially in the valleys where sugar beets can be raised, we have an ideal condition for farming. We have not as yet taken advantage of it. We are farming too much land, taking from the soil our inheritance and sending it away for a mere pittance, and like a shiftless man who has had left to him a fortune, we forget that some day it may be used up, and go on day after day eating into the principal. Think of sending hay and other bulky products away from our farms, thus reducing the strength of the soil. We are told that the condition ideal is one wherein we may raise alfalfa, grain, corn for insilage and beets. These cultivated and cover crops fed to the dairy cow, the beet pulp being returned, preferably in the dry state after the sugar has been extracted, provide fertilizers that increase these crops year by year. Milk anil eggs sold each day provide monthly cash income to maintain the family, and sugar beets provide means for taxes and general expenses. ¶

Many times have I gone onto the farms and found the poor old cow picking up that which had been left from the horses, and 1 remember one time going into one yard where I found four big cows, all four not giving more milk than one should give. I asked the owner why he did not get one good cow to provide milk for his family. "Well, it is too much bother to look after them. When these go dry I can turn them out on the range and go out and get a fresh one," was his reply. That man has never learned what it means to one to really love a cow. They will respond and will pay handsomely for kind treatment, but if left to stand in the wet and muck to their knees in the winter-time without shelter, we can not expect them to make a profit, for their feed must go to keep them warm and sometimes to keep life in them. ¶

Last spring, while on the way to attend a stake conference, I met a man on the train who said he had decided that no farm could be a success without dairy cows, and he was on his way to my des^'vation for the purpose of buying dairy cows. I was surprised, knowing that the farmers of that district were depending largely upon range cattle, very few of them milking cows. After the conference I had a half day ¶

to wait for my train. I visited the implement dealer, the banker, the storekeeper, and found that the men who had the best credit were those who were milking cows. These were few, but they had learned the lesson and had no milch cows for sale. ¶

I am wondering if farming has not been too easy for us. To milk cows is confining. To look after poultry, for many of us is beneath our dignity, and we dislike to berried down in this way. The sale of milk, eggs, poultry, hogs, when properly marketed, brings cash returns. Nearly all of these are by-products of the cow. Hay, grain, ensilage, beet pulp, fed to cows, carefully bedded with the straw produced, provides a fertilizer wh'ch, when put back into the soil enriches it and provides strength for increased crops. It seems to me only a matter of a short time until these conditions will be forced upon us as they have been in other paris of the country. ¶

Let us stop sending our hay and other crops containing the life of the soil away from the farm. Many times over the ra'lroad, paying a high freight, when that same produce could be sent out in butter, cheese, milk, eggs and sugar, bringing a greater return and increasing the invested capital of all concerned. ¶

Complete success cannot come through individual efforts. We must have cooperation. We must work unitedly for the welfare of all and not selfishly for our indivdual interests. I would like to see the time come when we can be filled with the spirit of love, every man feeling in his soul that success for him should mean success for his neighbor. President Ivins said this morning, we cannot look after the spiritual, leaving the temporal body to die, nor can we look only after the temporal, leaving the spiritual body to die; they must go hand in hand. The average production for this intermountain country, of sugar beets is eleven tons to the acre. I saw a farm a year ago where they raised twenty-three tons of sugar beets to the acre and across the road from this place was another where only ten tons were produced to the acre. These are conditions which must have attention if we hope to succeed. If every farmer who planted sugar beets last year had increased his crop one ton per acre, (as he could have done by fertilizing his soil and properly preparing his ground) it would mean nearly one million dollars for th's people. ¶

Now I see that my time is up. I pray, my brethren and sisters, that when we go to our homes we will not be content to labor selfishly in our own way, but that we will look about us and ascertain the wishes and desires of our neighbors, that we meet with them and plan with them and work wi h them to do that which will be for the greatest good of all, remembering that to be successful temporally and spiritually we must have in our souls the spirit of love, filled with faith, hope and charity ; faith in Gcd ; fai h in h s promises and his works ; faith in tascl 'and faith in ourselves; hope for the future; charity, not a mere giving of means but that everlasting, enduring charity, that "charity that suf fereth long and is kind, that envieth not, vaunteth not itself, and ¶

is not puffed up — that charity that does not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, and thmketh no evil, rejoice'h not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth." ¶

Under these conditions it will not be difficult for us to know and be influenced by the Spirit of the Lord. Under this condition, working hand in hand with one another, we will be in a position to receive the blessings of God, promised to his children. And I fully believe that many blessings have been withheld from us as a people because of ou,r unwillingness to labor unitedly, both for our temporal and spiritual welfare. God give us strength, wisdom, and love that we may go on and on in the great work in that fellowship that should be found in this Church, T pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶