Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-02-27
he had fallen into Jericho. Laughter
TUESDAY EVENING.
The session was opened by the
Hon, n. ID. Douglas,

uuu pioObiVO hOOSsS"iD W nuNOOno !" i"'"'
ing" This was in the main the same paper
read at the Vcrgennes meeting.
DIR. II. A. Cutting,
of Lunenburgh, then read paper on the
" Atmosphere. He treated somewhat at
length the composition Of the air and its
constituents, and spoke Of the effects Of the
air, both at rest and in motion. Some Of the
phenomena which he related as in his own
observation of the effect Of whirlwinds were
received with a shade of doubt by his hear.
ers; but there can be no manner Of doubt
that the DR.. is fully convinced of the truth
Of even his frog story.
WEDNESDAY MORNING.
The meeting was called to order quite
promptly, and opened by short paper by
N. G. Pierce, Egg.
of Westminster Mr.. Pierce deplored the
bad condition of the highways, considering
the amount expended upon them. He had
only one new suggestion to make, and that
was whether three commissioners for town
were not better than many surveyors2
The discussion on this paper was forward
cd by A. b. Halbert, Of Essex. He thought
that commissioners were far preferable to the
old system ol highway surveyors. This sub
stitution was almost entirely new one, but
if proper and judcous selection could be
made he had no doubt that the experiment
would be a success. The main difference in
the two systems depended upon the fact that
il commissioners were substituted for survey
ors the tax would have to be paid in money.
This would be very distasteful to many farm
ers, but the speaker thought that very much
more good would result to the highways.
The greatest advantage would come from the
Uniformity Of the work which would be
done.
Hon. y. ID. Douglas,
Of Whiting thought that the whole matter
Of the state Of the roads depended upon pub
lie opinion. He thought We never should
have a proper state of roads until we went
to the root of the matter and reformed public
opinion. He preferred the commissioner sys-
TEN.
Mr.. Y. f. jameson, Of Irasburgh, spoke oi
the necessity for guide boards, and the fact
that there was only one town in the state, a
far as he knew, where these were maintained
as they should be. His remarks were peril
nent and we'll received. He also made some
suggestions as to the general subject Of th'
proper preparation Of highways.
The Hon. Charles ii. Heath, Of Montpe
ier, spoke of the want of knowledge evi
denced in taking care Of our roads. HI
thought them worse now than twenty years
ago. Just 50 long, he thought, as the citi
zens were only anxious to get their taxes
crossed off the book, just so long will tn
roads be in bad condition and the towns con
tinually involved in law suits for damages
In answer to Mr.. Douglas inquiry, Mr.
Heath said that by the law every tOwnwhict
neglected its guideboards was indictablc.
Mr.. II. A. Willard thought that it was tn
duty of the papers to frequently give in
structions aud ideas on the subject of high
way improvement.
Prof. Collier thought that much iDjur
was brought by the idea Of rotation in oi
fee. He would find good man and let hin
stay in Office a long term Of years to carr
out series Of permanent improvements. II
briefly referred to the experience Of the cit
of Burlington.
Mr.. w. b. Gage thought that one reasol
for the deterioration of some parts Of tn
roads was the moving away of the hill poi
ulation and the desertion of the farms. Put
lie sentiment among the brute population @
: the hill pastures was not specially encoural
ing to good roads.
The next paper was given by
Hon. Charles II. Heath,
of Montpelier. His subject was "Or
Manufacturing Industries. 1t was vi
doubtedly the. intention Of the Legislature
, in forming this board, to do what it could it
encouraging and holding the population
the state. 1t was within the memory {
man when almost every house was a mani
factory, and hardly community but SUI
piled itself with its own clothing, hat
boots, wagons, furniture, pottery aud the lik
, This state Of things became obsolete throug
the invention of power machinery for weav
) ing and like productions. The increase
cheapness resulting from this state Of thin
l threw half Of our population out of emplo
!, ment and drew away from us our best bui
r ness. BY the establishment of these faoto
Q les and the drawing Of supplies from tn
' state, Boston had contrved to make us he
I to build her up fully as much as Massach
sets had done. The speaker alluded to II
q condition of education in the state, and cha
y acterized as a burning shame the fact thI
!. Vermont, with two firSt-class colleges, pr
pared in every way to take charge Of h
!. sons and daughters, should send more youI
n men out Of the state for their education thi
}. she educated here at home. He complime
ted Middlebury College and the Universe
d at Burlington, and thought them amply C
o pable of imparting all needed drill in Al
r. branch. We had the materials for remed
z ing this state Of thlngs-and more than hi
70 of these materials were not developed. !
% referred to the copper which is found in
0 large portion Of our mountains. The mari
f. interests Of Rutland and Addison coun
Q. were alluded to as models for imitation.
D. He would know why we could not use o
4 | nmn hnrL and lun,hnr ~ .unn "A A .nnd