Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1858-05-20
Che farmer.
Agricultural Colleges.
SPEECH OF HON. j. S. MORRILL,.

OF VERMONT,
In the House of Representatives., Apr, 20, 1858.
[CoNcLUDED,1
Adam Smith after having noticed g the pre-
carious and uncertain possession, of capital
engaged in commerce and manufactures, saws !:
: That which arises from the more solid i'm
proyements of agriculture is much more dura-
bic, and cannot be destroyed but by those more
violent commissions oecasioned by the depreda-
'tions OF hostile and barharous nations continu-
ed for century OF two together"
MIR. Speaker, when money pressure over
takes the country, like that through which we
are just passing in searching for its cause no
one thinks of charging it upon agricultursts
They are not only Industrious but frugal.
Thrift is their cardinal virtue. They do not
produce, vend, ner consume Injuries They
hasten slowly, and go untouched of all epidem-
lcal speculations. But when the crisis comes
when commerce, manufactures, banks, and even
government itself quail beneath the storm
all eyes turn to the hardy tillers of the soil for
relief. They stand, as they always stand, with
enough for themselves and something to spare,
They furnish raw material, freight, means of
liquidation or of supply; and yet, when they
would be even more useful, shall we pronounce
them unworthy, and deny them opportunity?
1t is one of the political axioms of the writer
already quoted, everywhere accredited, that
national wealth is greatly increased or dimn-
'ished by the more or less skill, dexterity, and
Judgment, with which labor is generally applied
AS legislators, we can have no subject before us
OF higher intrinsic Importance.
Manufacturers, when their books dsclosd a
losing business, change to a different class of
goods; merchants iii like circumstances to q
different trade and other markets; but all his
tory shows the tenacity with which habits ac-
quired in the cultivation of land cling to peo-
pie from generation to generation. In all ages
farmers have been staple, conservative, and rev.
erent to antiquity. The same pillow as described
three thousand years ago, at
"sAthens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts
And eloquence"
is still in use among the modern Greeks. The
habatont of Gambia us much believes to-day in
the propriety of placing the yoke on the horns
OF the OK, in order to secure the entire strength
of the animal, as he did in the days when he
owed allegiance to the Grand Monarch. The
old Roman pillow, sometimes drawn, in the days
of Nero, "by wretched ass on the one side,
and an old woman on the other" still retains
its place in Italy, and in parts of Spain and the
south OF France. If we turn to the descen-
dants Of the Puritans, we shall find some of
these yet kill their pork and plant their corn in
g the old of the moon" In all ages, and in
all countries, the habits, as well as the virtues
OF agrlculturists, remain fixed
Agricultural men dwell apart. Their bust
ness keeps them at home, and they cannot COM
bine to secure general improvements, or to make
their complaints heard. They suffer in silence
the rolling years only noted by "seed time
and harvest
All over the highest civilized parts of Eu-
rope we find the different Governments alive to
the wants of agriculture. They have established
ministers of instruction, model farms, expert
mtntal farms, botanical gardens, colleges, and
large number of secondary schools, with no
other purpose-and they need no higher or no.
bler-than the improvement of the industrial
res0urces-the farms and the farmers-ofs the
respective countries. All these are chiefly sup
ported by largo expenditures of the different
Governments, except 50 far as any may be self
supporting institutions. The effect is in the
largest degree favorable to the people and to in
creased production. But the teachings of Euro
pean professors are of little consequence to Amer
leans, even if they could be comprehended and
instantaneously adopted, as they are rarely
suited to our circumstances. Can we not have
something that we may claim US our own
Young Americas should have some chance to
study agriculture as q profession, and be attrac-
ted to it as to learned, LIBERAL and intellectu-
al pursuit. Is it true, as our detractors assert
that science can flourish only under the patron
age of royalty?
This system of education is known to be more
common in Prussia than in any other nation OF
Europe. 1t may be said that all the children
attend school until they are thirteen years old
and agricultural colleges, and schools for the
mechanic arts and higher trades, are literally
sustained, and with much larger staff of pro-
fessors than is common in the United States.
This nation is making rapid progress in wealth
and intelligence.
In Saxony they have number Of experiment
tai farms, with laboratories attached, and five
or more schools exclusively for agriculture
There is no country in the world where agri-
culture and all branches of industry are pursu
ed with more enterprise and success than in
the little monarchy of Saxony; and there, Of
2l5, 1875 children between the ages of six and
fourteen years, 81 Ash were, in 1851, in actu.
al attendance at school.
Belgium has its agricultural schools also, and
great opportunities for general education are
given, especially in the larger towns. Here
farming is conducted most on a scientific basis
and Belgium, supporting population of three
hundred and thirty-six to the square mile in a
climate inferior to that of Kentucky or Virgin
ia, averaging only twenty-six and twenty-three
to the square mile, is the first in rank as an ag-
ricultural State in Europe. Its once noted bat
tle-felds are now equally noted as model farms.
This prominence is chiefly the result of scicnti-
tic attention to manuros
France, from the time of Napoleon, has done
much for agriculture. Beet sugar, the Null
berry, the grape, as well as Merino sheep and
the Thibet goat, have received imperial atten-
ton. No expense in France is shirked in the
cause of agricultural science. Her botanical
gardens, chemical laboratories, physiological
museums, and schools for instructions in the
veterinary ait, surpass all others in existence
and with her five agricultural colleges, and al
most one hundred inferior agricultural schools
are performing herculean labOrs for the eleva-
ton of the farming population of the empire
The Revolution and the successive wars loaded
France with an immense debt but this was rap
idly extingushed from the never failing resour
ces of her soil. The abrogation of the game
laws and many other feudal enactments has aid
ed her progress, but the breaking up and divi
sion of every estate at the death of the owner
doubtless retards much Of permanent improve
ment. But for this abuse of true principle
and the illiterate condition Of her people, France
would have been the pioneer of rural economy
As it is, we look more to England and Scot
land, and to Ireland, to some extent, for prin
ciples and facts for our instruction. Here W
find agriculture developed in all its noblest at
titudes. Science, wealth. taste, mind and ranl
combine to increase its profit, beauty and honor
The large fortunes of individuals enable Sci
ence to delve constantly in its behalf; but tn
government, far from thinking that enough, an
nually contributes literally to the same object
especially in Ireland Colleges and schools O
agriculture are numerous in Great Britain, Blu
Gil tl,r