Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1864-09-27


Cleveland or SIlliman or Agassiz. But when
YOU have declined the scepler OF knowledge you
have not made the Merrmac or the Connecticut
naygabe, ike the Ohio, the Missouri, the Mls-
sssipp VI the Cumberland You will win no
! glory BY any narrow competition, nor by return
ing one railing word for another. Your great
mesa must be found hereafter where 1t has been
found hitherto, in the highest development and
cultivation OF the faculties OF men. Let thought
less politicians propose to leave out New Eng
land IN the cold, # they choose think the
world will keep warm place for her while YER
mont leads the Iemspheres in the intelligence
and success OF her sheep-breed while Avian
Clark makes a telescope object glass which 10
tile wonder Of astronomers, while the new Mu-
scum Of Zoology at Cambridge exceeds in the
variety and extent OF many important classes OF
specimens the more renowned museums OF Lon
don and Paris.
Ol what account will be the sneers az Massa-
chusetts of those " who hold it heresy to think, "
80 long ar one man s labor in Massachusetts is
found by the census to be az productive OF real
wealth as the labor Of five men in South Caro-
lima? while the annual earnings of her industry
exceed the annual earnings per capita OF any
other community in the world ? Schools, col
leges books, the free press the culture OF the in-
dyldual everywhere, the policy of attracting,
encouraging and developing all the great quail
ties OF head and hcart-in word, the produc-
ion and diffusion Of deas-in these shall rest for
ever the secret Of your strength to maintain
your true position.
| implore you to unto and not divide in your
policy. Whenever you can create great school,
Or find q professor, unite to strengthen the
school and to make sure Of the man Our sys-
TEN OF dihusing knowledge through the local
schools, our plan Of distributing elementary in
sructon, are things Of which We are sure. But
your district schools will themselves 90 to seed,
your knowledge will become bigoted and mean,
unless you remember that the encouragement Of
those higher institutions from which they are
fed, and where their teachers are themselves
taught, il ~ needfui az the creation of the head
Of water above the dam, Is to the spinde's point.
| beg to c1hort you then, to put faith in IDEAS
in the orderly arrangement Of knowledge, in
the power to search out the hidden things of
nature, in the practical application OF the high.
est and largest truth to the wants and affairs,
Of man daily life.
Lead of-representatye farmers Of New Eng
land-and lot this dear, old, rocky homestead
Of thought and of liberty, remain Tor countless
ages the fountain and light Of generous culture,
otsclence, (arning and art Your influence will
tell thea with benehcent and forever expanding
power, on the destiny Of the nation. You will
live, the true conservatives Of the civil state and
Of social life. Exempted from the wrongs of
time and capable Of perpetual renovation"
TnE ADVANTAGES OF SCIENCE IN lTs APPLICATION
TO AGRICULTURE.
We know that since tho Board of Agriculture
was established in England under the auspices
Of William Pitt, in 1893, since the scientific
labors OF SIR Humphrey Davy in tho direction
OF agricultural chemistry which that board pro-
NOTED, the face OF England has changed a. if
by charm. improvements in husbandry have
multiplied the quantity and value of her sgrl-
cultural products many fold. A hundred acres
which used 10 produce an annual average of
forty tons will now produce more than fourteen
tlmes forty tons Of food for cattle and material
ior fertilization. The progress made in the
thrift OF farming, the development of the capacity
OF soils, IN the produotlveness of labor and
capital devoted to agriculture at home is mani
Test, even to observation DIS superficial ~ my
own, and to the comparison OF points OF time
not more than thirty years apart Bat If you
compare the facts as they were seen in England,
for exa uple, where science and skill have been
most assduousy invoked by the owners and
cuitlyatOrs Of the land with the corresponding
lacts OF to-day. taking the last century or
century and u hall as a field Tor comparison, and
with what " miraculous organ does tina voice
Of science speak her yindication.
The cultivation Of the best eTasses, the in.
PRODUCTION OF their choice varieties, The culture
and peTieoting OF roots and vegetables adapted
to the use OF domestic animals may bo said to-
have rocrcatod the island The OK, the horse,
the sheep, are scarcely the same amin ,ls they
were in the time OF Wiliam and Mary, when
the average weight in gross of the neat cattle
sold in Smithfeld market did not exceed $40
pounds each, against On average weight Of
similar animals now produced in England and
sold in the came markets, equal to 800 pounds
for neat cattle and 30 pounds for sheep.
| The value OF improvements In the mere i'm
plements used as the machinery and tools Of
agriculture. which improvements are them elves
illustrations Of the application OF science to
practical farming Is beyond human oaleulatios
The single operation OF blowing, as it is affected
by modern improvements In the plough, Is one
OF those which will occur to all farmers as
having received within the memory Of the middle
aged agriculturlst, conspicuous ameli)ration
The savings in the expense of teams In this
country, occasloned by those improvements
within the last twenty-five years, have been
estimated at not less than $40 900 900 annually,
with an additional annual saving equal TO
81 100000 in tie cost Of plows, while Tue
better quality OF the work done tells directly On
the produetiveness of the crops to the amount
Of many millions OF dollars more.
An APrEAL TO THE FARMERS.
Gentlemen of the New England agric ultura
society, 1t is due 10 you that | should not close