Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1872-11-22


laid away to be buried in dust, ms n valuable
relic Of the past. Such Is the fate in general
of such volumes Will this prove an excep-
tionp If such be the fact, what good will be
accomplished by the State Board of Agricul-
ture to compensate for even the small outlay
of money now required for its operationsp
And why should the State make larger APP
preparations for It, when its returns are so
moagrep Furthermore, why should the State |
continue it in existence, when the strongest |
cry it can utter is that of horse leach, give |
give!n with no power to return even the usu-
nj percentage of interest or the investment |
Since writing the above, We observe that n |
bill has been introduced into the Legislature |
to repeal the act appointing the Board.
1t is not true that the meetings of the
Board d" have utterly failed to interest the
farmers of the State" On the contrary,
though new thing and entirely unheralded
to the people by the press, (which has gen.
orally given it the cold shoulder or stood
with that characteristic timidity," which the
Springfield Republican recently alluded to,
to see how il would turn out,) the meetings
have been attended by the very best farmers
in the localities where they have been held,
and these farmers have universally expressed
their high appreciation Of the work Of the
Board, and assured the members that future
meetings would draw very large audiences
No second meeting has been held in any
place, Notwithstanding these assurances, sim
ply because the Board has felt that, being
State institution, paid for by the whole peo-
pie, as many localities as possible should be
visited in order to give every section as great
an opportunity as possible to see what it
would be likely to effect for the benefit of
the community. Aud it will not be from
those who have attended these meetings that
there will come any opposition to the perpet-
uaton of the Board
We do not wish to be understood that we
think the Board of Agriculture, &C.. has yet
developed its full usefulness, or illustrated
its power when well organized, and support
ed by an appreciative community, to benefit
the people of this state. 1t is quite likely
that there are some, even among intelligent
farmers, who have doubts of it ever being Of
practical utility sufficient to justify any fur
Their or larger appropriations for its support
OF such we call the attention to the fact that
10 no state where such Board has ever been
instituted has it ever been discontinued. In
Maine aud Massachus etts, where such body
has hnd the .onacst trial, their powers have
been continually enlarged, and the appropri.
ations for their support annually increased.
How their usefulness is estimated may be
partly judged by the letter Of Governor
PerAam, Of Maine, published in a late num-
Der of the FARMER The meetings of the
Boards in that state aud Massachusetts are
largely attended, and the Annual Reports Of
the secretary, far from meeting the dreary
fate prophesied for them by the Argus, are
in active demand, and very extensively read
aud consulted as authority by the practical
farmers Of each state.
Recently Connecticut and New Hampshire
have established similar Boards, and the
testimony from the best farmers of both those
states is enthusiastic in regard to their useful
ness. And we do not hesitate to assert that
in not one of the states, east or west, which
; have established Boards, has the first two
years work been more successful or more
beneficial in proportion to the expense thai
the work of the Vermont Board.
1t is possible, and we have heard that i
is probable, that successful effort may b,
made in the present Legislature to aboisl
/ the Board, thus placing Vermont in that ret
; rogradc position in regard to its leading bus
= ine>s into which good many of her citizens
2 seem willing to see her fall.
: 1t does not become the writer, who is no
n a Vermonter by birth, (but who has adOpte,
her soil as his home by choice, and who ex
: poets to live aud die upon it,) to lectur
o those " to the manor born" upon this topic
h But he will venture to say this,-that tn
n only reason why the slurring remark SO ofte
/ heard, that vermont is good state to emf
]
II peated, lies in the Indifference of so many q
: its people to the development of its unsur
passed natural resources Let them shov
y one-haIf the energy ut home for which tn
y migrants they send abroad are distinguished
c. AID Vermont will in few years become on
't Of the best states for capital and labor
y emigrate to. But abolishing such an nsttt
lie tion as Board Of Agriculture, Manufa,
a. lures and Mining, is not step in that d
g rection. The question involved is not sin
lie ply the existence OF this or any othC
nc Board, but whether prejudice and parsim'
OF ny or enterprise and intelligence shall dire,
oil the councils of the State.
er Since writing the above the followir
d. communication, very much to the point, h;
IN been received.
rs To The Editor ofthe Vermont Farmer:
Is The Vermont legislature now in sessic
sc contains li3 farmers and 1873 Of all other o
~ equations. The State Board of Agricultu
90 Manufactures and Mining, incorporated
!. 1870, has perlormeda large amount ofhard NJ
honest labor for the money appropriated f
h its use. If it fails to receive the necessa
he funds to enable it to continue the work thu
he nobly begun It will be the fault Of the majori
he Of farmers composing the House and Scnat
n Let no TURNER who now holds seat in oith
!. body feel that he has discharged his who
~ duty rs u legislator until he has rocordC
10 his vote in favor Of an appropriation full
as adequate to the Importance of the suhjeC
al Let every .farmcr and manufacturer wi