Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1871-06-21

Neeang at Raadolph Jlae I5h and l6th.
THuRsDAY, June 10
AFTERNOON.
Governor Stewart, President, in the chair
Governor Stewart opened the meeting by
"A general statement ct tie objects Of the
Board Is scope embraces not only ayr
culture, but manufactures ani mining. The
fret Is the leading interest OF the State but
tie others are OF great Importance There
may be an impression that the Board under
takes 10 direct and supervise agriculture in
the state, but this Is an error. IL under
takes not to direct, but u cooperate with
the efforts OF farmers Tor scl!-adyancemcnt
No pursuit can 80 truly lie called scientific,
ia the sense that it's true foundation must be
knowledge systematiZei, j. c, S-leRcc, Is ag-
ricu.turc. The facts THAI we discover IN tue
growth Of vegetation, when arranged lead 10
the disc very o. laws, and these Jaws. when
once known, give Il basis for daily work thar
shall be successful and profitable In this
work, all the natural sciences may ana ough
to be enlisted Manual laEor otherw sc IN
attractive II illustrated and cnlivencd. a.
well as alleyated, and the young men who
bring science 70 uld agricultural work. will
not he so easily discouraged or dlsgustei
They find IN Connection with their daily Ia
hur matters OF interest that elevate the act
ual work above the drudgery which it Is
when unintclllgently pursued La the meet
ings Of this Board. the principal object Is to
awaken interest and provoke discussion
among the farmers themselves. THIS leads
to Improvement. The discussion of agricul
tural lacts brings them home 10 the mind
far more freely than mere reading. When
the farmers are awakened to the importance
and usefulness Of meetings for mental i'm.
Fl. J
part OF the work for which it was organized
Boards of agriculture are already IN exist
cnce IN other states, and unless Vermont
means to fall behind. she must take hold of
the work. Previous meetings of this Board
have been successful in exciting interest
where they were held. The people arc be-
ginning t. see that we are falling behind in
some branches Of agriculture, notably in
horses, aud they are ready 10 take hold aud
endcavOr TO remedy the evil, and ,ut Yer
mont where she should be as Il New Eng
land State in the rank OF progress Once
started among cur farmers, this spirit of
progress val not be arrested. When we
realize our deficiencies, and with concert of
action begin the attempt to remedy them, it
will be done. Organization Is necessary i'm
order TO proceed in the work effectively. A
nucleus for this organized work is found in
the b ard OF Agricu ture, whose Secretary
IN concert with the members and others
lays out plans and submits them to the peo-
pie at these meetings for their discussion.
The Governor spoke OF the uses OF the
Board IN promoting manufactures and min
ing, advocating a photographic survey of the
state, also a report on our mineral resour-
ces, with efforts to draw public attention to
them and attract capital for their develop
ment. He also alluded to the benefits to az
riculture arising from the development of
Manufactures and Mining IN giving near and
profitable markets for farm produce
Prof. Collier called attention to the fact
that these early meetings were to great
degree tentative and experimental, and one
OF their chief objects is to elicit opinion and
advice from the farmers themselves as TO
the best way in which it should work.
Among other important things now pre-
scented to the Board for its disposal is that of
commercial fertilizers, which are greatly
idulterated. Already the Board has saved
the State, in this particular, more than it's
sntire cost for the year. Another point to
De considered is the decline oc production
either actual or comparative of our lands. |