Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-09-25

Ethan's " best progeny, owned by Ore"
Perry, OF Burlington, were not exhibited
" Young Ethan's appearance Indicates
that if put in condition. he could make as
good time a ever. He is the property OF
0. A. Holabird, of Shelburn.
a little before two o'clock ?. N. the car
rage with the speaker, Col. r. c. Benton,
of St. Adams. drove upon the ground. lie
was accompanied by II. G Root, Esq. e1-
President of the Vermont State Agricultn-
raj Society, now President Of the Vermont
Horse Stock Company, and E d. Mason,
ESQ. President OF the Vermont Dairymen 5
Association. The carriage was met near
the entrance by the Sherman Band, OF
Winooski, which was in attendance and
escorted to the front of the seats, between
them and the Judges stand. After music,
the speaker was introduced by Hon. A ..
Humphrey. YIee-President Of the Society,
and then proceeded to his address, which
he delivered from the carriage, extracts
from which we give below
col. BENTON ADDRESS.
Mr.. President. Ladies and GsEtiemsTl
Having been called. upon very made
onAte notice. TO address q congregation OF
farmer. and, as a lawyer, having little 10
tell of what know about farming, allow
me TO occupy a few moments OF your time
in discussing the question, whether or not
our agricultural fairs have been profitable
Institutions If | mistake not. little les
than FORTY wears have seen the commence
meut and growth Of what has now become
one Of the important enterprises conhecte1
with the farming interests OF the country
I very well remember attending, when q
small hoy. some Of the first county fairs
ever held IN the State. and, als., g. cor
lege student. taking holiday IRON the I nj
yersity 10 be present at the hrst STATE talr
the one held at Midd!ebury IN lo52-and
have noticed with no little interest the
cr With of these institutions from thelf
small beginnings, to their present conol-
ton. The earlier county tairs were very
different performances IRON what We mere
witness A. rene mber them they con-
sisted Of long strings OF oxen IN the YOKE
attached to carts, adorned with strings OF
seed corn. some unusually large pumpkins,
and perhaps q rope OF onions, and an over
grown sunhower, to give color 70 the estao-
lishment In the place Of your floral halls,
there was a show Of few rolls OF - irock-
ings. " or tow cloth. two or three pieces OF
rag carpeting. some tubs of butter. lev
cheese. some brown maple sugar, with per
haps an ancient marking sampler or Two ,
hung up tor ornament, or 10 give moral
culture from the plous precepis, stitched ID
brown home made canvas
OF farming tools, | remember some short
tined pitchiorks and ill-shaped hoes, made
bright by laburiOus polish. and horse shoes
made smooth by tiresome cold hammering
Very likely there were shows OF cows and
swine. or sheep. but they have escaped nv
boyish recollecti, and their shows ui
horses but very litile attracted nv aiten-
lion. Inc agricultural horse tr0t' OF
this DAY had not then come into existerce-
But let u not speak lightly of those lnsti-
tutiOns of our fathers and mothers II We
DOW nave better things u boast ui. II J. be
cause they. with seli-denyIng wisdom plant
ed the seed from which We reap the mar
vest Those were happy days o. ours When
We got up early IN the morning, put on our
clean cotton Jackets and gathered the alter
math Tor the team baitlngs, Oh which we
sat behind our fathers and mothers 10 the
old farm wagon, as We were going 10 the
q Cattle SHOW NJ 4Atr4 AAtao1Alf a." f-HF7t'--
lily or honors We may have reached. Will
ever have - sweet memory a. those orlgh
DAYS Of our childhood. aud. dropping tear
over their recollection, let Us, 10 passing
paw reyerenIial tribute 10 tns sterling
{ character and manlIness of the times vi
our fathers day--a character-Whlcn
mas borne fruit. and through forty States
and over a hundred battle fields has carried
the good name OF oar STATE, and makes u
proud 10 remember that We are Vermont
ers.
Our agricultural fairs seem 10 have taken
the place. a. autumnal holidays, OF the
/ old time militia mustsrs, when the
hOodwood companies were assembled Tor
review ID the august presence Oi the gene
RAJ Of the brigade, who, IN the b!azOnry OF
epaulettes and plumes and gIided eapsrlSOn
l gave more pOmp and circumstance OF glori-
Gus war than any Of Us have seen IN whole
armies ID actual warfare.
Here followed an extract from the cele-
brated speech Of Mr.. CorRin. Of Ohio. IN
/ 1910, giving an amusing description OF mus
ter day
/, needs no argument, at this day to
prove that public holidays are not only
profitable, but necessary. That Is an IN
wise economy that condemns all exert ion
a. unproductive, unless 1t brings direct re-
suits, and OverlOoks the recuperaiIve be1e-
fits coming from relaxation of the produc-
tive powers. Rest Is not al We need to
restore our wearied energies. We must
have more than this. We need amusement
And not that only, but those amusements
should be enjoyed socially, 50 that the
pleasure of one may give zest 10 that Of the
other. and all together harmonic into a
glow of happiness that quiekens the Ian
guild pulse. rouses our dormant energies,
and, while it gives Us pleasure to-day, makes
US better fitted for the tasks of tomorrow.
Recognizing, then, the wisdom and ne
cessity Of some kind of holiday gathering
among our farming people, | hazard moth
ing in saying that your fairs,-even with
the incidents that attend them, with due
allowance for the tendency Of legitimate
trials of speed TO degenerate into gambling
races. with all the objections that can be
fairly urged against them, are still better
means OF amusement and have In their ac-
compartments less of evil than the old mus
ter gatherings, whose places they have
taken. More than this, If We recognize
as We must, the necessity of holiday gath
erings, we may safely challenge the world
to show or even 10 devise a kind of gather
ing that will furnish so much Of amnse-
ment, with so little evil, Us your sgricultu-
raj fairs
The tendency Of all smusements is to de-
generate into dissipation and excess. W hen
they cease to have this tendency they cease
to be amusements. If, at your fairs, your
trials of speed did not show close matching
and doubtful results. If they did not have
in them many of the characteristics of the
races proper of other countries, they would
cease TO be amusing and interesting-they
would fail to supply real want of the COM
munity. True, they sell pools and make
wagers on the speed of your horses out 50
they do In many other things. They sell
pools on rowing matches Of college students
men coming from institutions presided
over by ID. ID. Is; and if these same doctors
could get up, among themselves, any COM
petition that gOaid be really interesting or
amusing there would be found plenty of
men to bet on their heads Your adyan-
tage is in the fact that You surround your
AN easements with the home like presence Of
the good men and women who come TO your
fairs, thus throwing around them the re-
strsining influences o. good examples and
eleyating aims.
But we need not leave the matter upon
the negative ground of being not 50 bad a.
cessary evil. Your fairs have sasI the
means of producing large benefits to the
country. as well as TO those who take part
in them. If you. farmers here to day. who
have Tor years made practice Of attending
those gatherings. would ,as YOU go home and
look over your farms and your modes of
managing them, take note of how many
valuable ideas Of farming and farm work
you get at these fairs, and how much better
your present methods are than they would
have been without these ideas. doubt not
You would be astonished at the results.
The speaker then followed with descrip-
ton Of stock as il was reared before the
time OF the first fairs, claiming Ihps IN those
days specimens OF good stock we're fortfit-
Gus, and came just as some pumpkins grew
larger than others, or at most were the re-
suits of good care and high feeding, and
contrasting these with some examples Of
present exhibitions. and then continued Il
1t was no idle boast of one of our Vermont
L.