Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-09-19
The Past, Present and the Possibilities OF the
Future OF Agriculture In Chttenden Co.
BY HENRY CLARK, OF RUTLAND.

Mr. President:
The occasion which calls you together
furnishes the subject upon which L adj
dress Won. The farmers of Chittenden coun-
tv have come up to celebrate an annual
holiday. You have laid aside all differences,
political or religious, and unite in its OBJ
seryance with one mind and one heart. All
are here for the hour to unite in choral
tribute to agriculture, which leeds and
clothes US all.
For nearly century the husbandmen of
this country have cultivated these fields. II
could trace the progress of agriculture
amo~g YOU, through the whole lifetime
OF generation, from its commencement,
whrA the pioneers, among whom were some
of the most heroic and most intelligent OF
NcrmOnts citizens, wended their way to
the valley of Lake Champaign, with few
head of cattle, over the ancient, narrow,
rough-and-ready highways, down to this
day, when 50 many thousands TIL these
broad acres-if, Mr.. President, | could
compare all this past with the present, |
should already have presented an outline OF
the instruction to be derived from the scene
and the occasion.
There is peculiar propriety In tnese an
nual gatherings of the people. Agricul-
TURF. anu tilN AANN 49,
each under its own distinctive department,
but all in harmony, are here to-day to form
the arched union of industry. glance at
each of these departments would present a
picture of our life in its full and unshackled
proportions.
The promotion of this society sfould stand
foremost in the minds of those who desire
the progress ofagriculture and industry in
your midst this society, with stock every
year improving, mingling the foreign with
the native breed, receiving experiment with
liberality and rejecting with discrimination;
with its members well posted in all the
theory and practice Of the growing OF the
crops; with its diaries flayOTing the mar
kcts of New York and New England with
their golden butter and cheese. Your
society will assemble from year to year with
an increased interest and marked pro
gress in the agriculture Of your county
| need not allude to the Horticultural
Society, 50 nearly affiliated with yours in its
character and purpOses-of which, however.
yours is the chief corner stOne-whlch As
sembleS within garlanded halls and with a
thousand fruits upon its tables. Hortlcul-
ture. not without great pecuniary prOht, Is
the poetry OF agriculture. 1t casts grace
over social life, and swells by its bounties
the Joys and thanksgivings of a winter ire
side. By the science of the cultivation and
preservation of the fruits of the earth it
imparts the secrets by which even autumn
may be made Ito linger in the lap Of sum
mcr.
This then. is the great lesson Of tie hour
the progress of industry and the harmony
Of labor in your county. That progress Is
already proved and illustrated when You
Il sIFs~ lao
fathers saw and what they did. and on
the other cast your eye on this exhibition and
gather up the instruction Of this occasion.
The harmony in interest and growth, IN
sentiment and purpose, is substantatcd by
this present reunion Of all the sons and
daughters of labor at this annual civic
triumph. These exhibitions teach Us that
we are producers and all consumers.
These exhibitions are proving % u that
the circle of all business and all pursuits l.
a charmed circle. and that single jar any
where spreads discord and disaster through
the whole. There Is no such thing a. an $50
lated interest, nor any such man as an $50
lated laborer. In the formation and growth
Of communities, labor divides and sub-dlyidc-
itself. to the end, not that this pursuit or
that may become easier or more honorable
than the other, but that each and all may
be the more profitable and the more produc-
tive Would YOU say that the divisions and
subdivisions of human invention IN the
agricultural machinery we have wit
messed to-day, with all their new and varied
improvements from year to year. involve any
entertainments on the rights Of labor
Neither with any more truth would You
maintain that any fixed department
Of human pursuit, whether Of the hand
or the head, in the field or the shop,
in the counting-roOm or the office,
could be stricken out without Imparting
disturbance TO the whole. There is one
idea Of harmony running through the
whole scheme and the whole fabric
of society, the whole theory and prac-
tice of the world and that
is increased profit and increased pro-
duction, greater capacity for producing.
sustaining, educating and advancing the
race. The beautiful lake lying upon the
western border Of your county, Is wiser
witness and more liberal philosopher than
we Consider what growth and upbuilding
and expansion Of industry it has witnessed.
IL early beckOned to its shores scattered.
humble. dependent colony of farmers and
tradeSmcn. 1t has kept up through pros
perou, and adverse fortunes. till now "a
score Of smoking shafts in yonder thriving
city penetrate the sky. and from the north
crn to the southern water front. it. banks
are vocal with the hammer and the axe,
the noisy plane. the fierce glow of the fur
mace and other heavy working of iron, and
numerous other industries, while host of
children look toward these establishments
in the morning and in the evening for their
daily bread. II lwcre to call on productive
| Winooski for its testimony what vast array
of facts would be presented-the colt u
and the wooden mills and other manuiac-
| tories. with their scores of hands at work for
everybody, and SO on to the end Of the
| CHAPTER; concluding with this essential and
! impressive fact, that as the several com
mnnities Of Chittenden county have increased
| from wear TO year new schools, new church
| es. stores for wholesale and retail, lum-
| hermon. population to maintain them
| came in until the Queen City has become
what we behold her to-day, the country
helping the city, all helping one another
! and me- farmer feeding the irL0le. Providence
and natural causes have established coin
| cidcncc Of interests in your midst, and the
| ever-spcaking WinOOski, with its industries
and the lake which ditfuses the products OF
your mills and shops over yet larger com
! munities, proves essentially that large, uni
yersal truth of American life, that harmony
| should exist between agriculture and all the
| producing classes.
Cast your eye over Chittonden county, OF
sixteen townships, with a population OF
| 30 $50 inhabitants, with its nearly three
hundred thousand (297 .670) acres Of i'm
proved lands, with a farm valuation Of
| SIi. 7S3, Oi3, and contrast it with hal
century ago. The hills and valleys then re
aected back. the smiles of the same Great Ben
elactor. But in all else how changed. How
would the statistics of that day five ha(
any. stand by the side of your industry ant
production? Pardon me for a moment
| while | bring out at a single glance tn
amazing growth and development whicl
| speak like notes of trumpets to Chittendel
county. They present picture for prid
/ and hope to the farmer. exultation to tn
artisan. and satisfaction to the people.
Your county presents this day valuation
of course far below the real value, o
eighteen millions ISIS, 3l7 ,263), in liy
stock Of over two millions (S2, lie, l9S) AM
in bat few years, You will surpass il
horses and cattle all the other counties i
the State.
In numbers of animals and product
YOU equal almost any county in the State
Horses, / ,972 mich cows, 1871; work
ing oxen, l,0l1: sheep, E,0ll swine
500 and the valuation put on each elias
in proportion to numbers is probably create
than in far richer and more productive sec
tons of the Commonwealth.
The crops of the farm also compare la
yorablv with other sections. The prodnt
tons, according to the last reliable data
were, spring wheat, "A, lG0 bushels; wiz
ter wheat, l.266 rye, II sol; Indian corr
l63, 597 bushels oats, 2s6,6l5 bushels
barley, 1881 bushels; buckwheat, 81
76s bushels; wool, S7,2j6 pounds pota
toes, 1913 ,s53 bushels; butter, l,76l, 81
pounds cheese, ,37i, 03S pounds.
: The number of farms upon which the:
products have been raised is 2,l30, varyin
in size from ten to a thousand acre
which are valued at Sli,7S3.Oi5, and Il
> estimated value of: these products Is ,09S
4Oi. So that when you set aside the stoC
which is permanent, your county furnish'
an annual production of millions from h,
| hills and valleys.
Now what has produced, what has stiI
ulated, this labor of men and these crOl
| oc ba Tho 90 mo Ofiiciol tohla chn