Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1875-10-16
Of Hon. Henry C.ark,


| Wv RUTLAND,
Before the Orange County agricultural
association, Oct. Q, 1875.
The occasion which brings you togeth-
or furnishes the subject for remarks to-
day: "The Past, Present and Possibili-
ties of Agriculture in Orange County"
The farmers Of the rich and fertile
County of Orange have come hither to
celebrate our annual holiday You have
laid aside differences, political and re-
ligious, and unite in its observance, with
one mind and one heart. All are here
for the hour, to unite in choral tribute
to agriculture, which feeds and clothes
us all. 4H. ....
For nearly u century the husbandmen
of this section Of the County, have culti-
waited these fields. If l could trace the
progress of agriculture among you.
through the whole lifetime of Il genera
ton, from its commencement, when the
pioncers-among whom We're some Of
the most heroic and most intelligent Of
Nermonts early settlers--wended their
way alone the shores Of the Connecticut
and up this valley, with few herd of
cattle, over the ancient, narrow. rough
and ready highways, down to this day,
when so many thousands till these broad
acres-if, Mr.. President, l could COM
pare all this past with the present, l
should already have presented an out
line of the instruction to be derived from
the scene and the occasion. -....
There is peculiar propriety in these
annual gatherings of the people. Ag-
riculture, horticulture and the Mechanic
Arts, each under its own distinctive de-
partment, but all in harmony, are here
to-day to form the arched union of in
dustry. A glance at each Of these de-
partments would present a picture OF
your life in it's full and unshakled pro-
portions. .....
The promotion of the purposes of this
Society should stand foremost in the
hearts and minds of those who desire the
progress of agriculture and industry in
your midst. This Society, with the stock
of its members every year improving,
mingling the foreign with the native
breed, receiving everyday, as we'll as SCI
entifc, experiments with liberality and
rejecting with discrimination with its
supporters we'll posted in all the theory
and practice of the growing of the crops !;
with it's dairies favoring the markets OF
Boston and New York. your Society will
assemble from year to year with an in
creased interest and marked progress
in the agriculture of the county at large.
You need also to nourish the depart
ment of horticulture, so nearly affiliated
to the farmers life and your purposes
of which however the farm is the chief
corner stone-which assemblies within
garlanded halls, and with thousand
fruits upon its tables. horticulture, not
without great pecuniary profit. is the po-
etry of agriculture. 1t casts a grace
over social life and swells by its boun-
ties, the joys and thanksgiving ofa win
ter's fire-side. BY the science of the cul-
tivation and preservation of the fruits OF
the earth, it imparts the secrets by which
even Autumn may be made to linger in
the lap of Spring. ..
This, then, is the lesson of the hour:
The progress of industry and the harlno-
ny of labor in your county. That pro-
gress is already proved and illustrated
when you remember on the one hand
what the fathers saw and what they per-
formed. an on the other, cast your eye
over this ex. hibition and gather up the in
struction of I his occasion. The harmo-
ny in interest ind growth, in sentiment
and purpose, is .substantiated by this re-
union of all the s. ms and daughters OF
labor at this annual civic triumph. The
exhibitions teach us that we are pro-
ducers and all are COZ 'sumers. Ihese
farmers festivals are pro wing 70 US 'ha'
the circle of all business ana all Pur'
suits is a charmed circle, ant that a SIN.
gle jar anywhere spreads di. Scora anu
disaster throughout the whole. Ahere
is no such thing as an isolated IN. 'eres''
nor such man as an isolated labo. 'el'
In the formation and growth Of comm u
mites labor divides and sub-divides it.
self to the end, not that this pursuit or
that may become easier or more honor
able than the other, but that each and
all may be the more profitable and the
more productive. Would you say that
the divisions and subdivisions of hu-
man invention in the Agricultural Ma
chinery we have witnessed to-day, with
all their new and varied improvements
from year to year, involve any encroach-
ments upon the rights of laborp Neith-
er with any more truth would you main
tain that any fixed department of hu-
man pursuit, whether of the hand or
head, in the field or the shop, in the
counting room or the Office, could be
stricken out without imparting disturb
ance to the whole. There is one idea of
running through the whole
scheme, and the whole fabric of society,
he theory and practice Of the world, and
hat is increased profit and increased
production. greater capacity for produc.
NO snsf.aininD edncafin0 and adYanQ,