Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1870-03-01
AGRICUL TURAL REPORT.

culture, says Ut. LOflng, us the most I'M
portant step that has yet been taken in ag
ricultural Improvement" But he might
have added that without the diligent work
err to gather up and prepare in proper shape
for circulation among the farming commu-
nifty the facts drawn out by these Boards,
their value would have been small COM
pared with what they actually are. The
Fourteenth Annual Report of the Secreta-
ry of the Maine Board of Agriculture is
work full of instruction for our farmers.
In it are stored the best thoughts of some
of the foremost minds in New England
who have given their attention to the study
and practice of agriculture. The prepara-
ton of such work is no light task. Its
careful perusal by the practical class for
which it is designed win not only benefit
them but everybody within reach of its
influence. for whatever profits the farmer,
increasing his crops or improving his stock,
operates to the advantage of all. The
more abundant the harvest the fewer the
number of hungry mouths. There is this
4 satisfaction IN the farmers occupation,
that the larger and better filed his bins,
barns and tarmyards, the more he blesses
the world. His prosperity is not the strip
ping of somebody else. His neighbors re-
joice in his abundance, for they share it
with him.
Beside reports of the discussions of the
Board of Agriculture at its sessions in JAN
uary and October last, and those of the
Farmers Convention. we find about sixty
articles and essays in this volume upon
leading agricultural topics. The employ
ment of a skillful photographic reporter
| at the session in Orono and Bangor. ena-
bled Secretary Goodale to secure for pub
LEGATION valuable extemporaneous lectures
| which would otherwise have been lost
Those lectures and discussions which seem
to be suggested by the time and occasion
and stimulated by the contact of mind
with mind have been found to contain
| some of the most valuable ideas, and the
preservation of them in permanent form
| is gain to the State. In this manner
| were ODldlutu anu clubONlCu III thC CCSlC-
tary's Report, a lecture by Professor Good
ale of Bowdoin College upon "Some of
the Conditions of Successful Experiment
ing" containing important facts and sug-
gestions for every farmer; also lecture by
Professor Bracket of the same college up
| on Progress in Agricultural Science"
| giving the farmer a broader view of his
calling and its future than he is accustom-
ed to take. In turning over the leaves of
| this volume we find lectures from DIR.
| Loring of Massachusetts, President Alb
bolt of Michigan Agricultural College,
! Professors Bracket and Goodale of Bow
doin College, Secretary Goodale, Messrs.
Lang, Brown, Boynton, with able articles
written by others. The subjects which
are treated upon all have practical inter-
est, and the manner in which they are dis
cussed evinces a great deal of research
and care in their preparation. From the
worms and weeds that infest the field and
garden, to the horses and cattle, the anal
vsis of soils, the value of different fertil
izers, the preservation of manures, how to
manage dairy, poultry and pigs, to the eff
feet of forests and climate, education and
science, the chain of information is kept
up with unvarying interest. There is not
an article without its value, none which
has not cost hard labor. How the march
of agriculture has been fastened by the
light shed upon it from agricultural litera-
ture is well known. Instead of rhapsodies
upon the delights of rural life we have
an agricultural science as thoroughly de-
veloped as any other science, containing
established facts and producing certain re-
suits when practised. Says DIR. Loring
in his lecture: eff there was ever any
doubt of the disposition and ability of the
farmers of Maine or Massachusetts to ac-
quire and impart information, that doubt
should be removed by the series of
volumes entitled the Agriculture of those
States Turn to the Abstract of the
Returns of the Agricultural Societies of
Massachusetts contained in those pages,
and you will find record of facts, fignres,
opinions, theories and laws upon almost
every matter of interest to the farmer, a
record drawn from the soil itself by the
well-educated .cultivator. or from the stalls
and folds and pens of the successful man
ayers of the domestic animals used upon
our farms Page after page presents to
your consideration the refined sentiments,
and generous speculations, and eacourag-
ing thoughts, not only of educated men
who are called to address our societies at
their annual exhibitions, but OF those also,
who, as practical farmers, ennoble their
calling and add their daily contribution to
the productions Of the State.
While this labor has been going on in
Massachusetts, the State of Maine has
been by no means idle. The industrious
;pyactrrat;ouo and oIp ,la rann,fo of