Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1869-02-26
Aqrltultural,
DR.. Loriag on agricultural Edo
rdfiOa.


the Harmony of action between the
Board of Agriculture. the Agricultural
Societies and the Industrial College" was
given one evening. 1t was strong ar
gument for the consolidation of all the
agencies in the State Tor the improvement
ofasicahure and the diffusion of intelli-
gence among our farmers and mechanics.
He commenced with the statement that
agricultural education is Vet in its infancy
Agriculture is as old as man, and rs uni
yerSal yet We search in vain for any syS-
TEN of agricultural education among an
cient records, and equally for an entirely
Successful system in modern times. In
the time ofLord Bacon. that distinguished
philosopher had all the books Of agTicul
ture he could gather, burnt before him,
saying, These books are only records Of
facts. they lay down no principles, and
are of no service 10 any man" No libra
~ would be more interesting than one
containing all the volumes written to en-
tighten the huSbandman, from tie days of
HeSiod and Aristotle % our own time. In
addition to books, msny forms ofassociated
instruction have been established from
time TO time As early as 1920 there were
thirty agricultural societies in France
Not long after this, the Swedish, -DaniSh
aud German Universities publicly taught
the science of agriculture, and private
fortunes were devoted 20 the endowment,
of special schools Of agriculture. The
patronage of government IN many instsn
ccS has no, been wanting. In Italy,
Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, France
and England. every branch ofagrjculture
has been encouraged by the government.
aRd even Spain invited the great LinnTuS
to ,uperiutcnd q college founded in order
10 make new inquiries into the nature and
ART Of a@ricultme. Bouaparte was liberal
in his policy towards agricultural societies.
The only obstacle in the way Il a rapid
Advancement in agricultural information
in Europe during the las; century, WAS
the general Indifference Of the popular
mind The establishment OF Boards OF
Agriculture was the most important step |
ever taken in the work of agricultural !
improvement. and Co Sir John Sinclair /
belongs the honor of having instituted
these organizations The first Board va,
formed 10y thai gentleman 1893 True. |
Hartl.lb and Lord Names, century and /
a half before the time Of Sinclair. had /
pointed out the utility Of such a Board, |
but Il WAS left 20 the zeal of Sir John Sin /
clair Ga call II into life and tangi5ility. To I
the establishments of this Board i Eng /
land indebted, more than - any other /
movement of that day, for the present
high and prosperous State Of her agricul- |
ture. Through the influence OF this or
ganization Sir Humphrey Davy began
his Investigations in Agricultural Chemi>-
try. and his lectures 20 the Board we're |
given nom 1902 to 1912, These were
published in 1913, translated ;uto German |
in l>l4, and iuto French In l>-9 THIS |
work ct pavy'S gave thevcry information 4
which Arthur Young, in his day declared |.
e. Le one great want II introduced >,icn-
tiGo agriculture 10 the people. and the
Board extended know ledge of the same
arts, the nature Of the soil, the qualities
of plants. structure OF animals, the dc
tails Of chemistry, botany ply >iology, and
all ,he "details %, rural life. When pu-
pil OF the Srca, Lithis +, successful in ap-
plying his theory in the culture Of rood
OF land, Liebig's triumph j. there; and
when the laws of reproduction which A.
ASST, ~ loug study has lain down Is
true. are practically applied 10y the IN
farmer in the Improvement OF
his locks ana herds, the philosophy Of
AgaSsiz plants it. foot upon the farm and
benefit, mankind Tie best agricultural
college i that which scnd> forth the great
est number of the bes; practical cultiya-
torS-a college in which the experiments
Of the laboratory can be put 70 final
test upon the .arm-giyc u, this in each
State, and New England viii have cul-
tured population, one devoted to the farm.
and il viii have accomplished IN cduca-
tional work which Vii give her an IN
fuence, wherever land Is divided among
frecnien and cultivated Jy an intelligent
yeomanry Nearly tifty years ago, Judge
Buel. Of Albany. n. Y. recognized the
necessity Of such an institution. and la-
bored for is establishment. An extract
from his correspondence was read in
which. alludingtothc plan OF such an insti,
tuition suggested y TIE Albcmarle (Va.)
Society, that gentleman re-
marked that ne hoped agriculture would
be the principal study Taught, and polite
literature auxiliary, and that botany, chem
istry, and the natural sciences should be
made subservieut TO the great study Of
The Board of Agriculture established
by Sir John Sinclair, was not less perfect
IN its organization, plan and aims. than
the one established in Massachusetts il
1851, and in Maine in 1886. DIR. Loring
here gave a somewhat extended history
of the Board of Agriculture in MaSSachu-
sets anl incidentally of that in our own