Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1876-03-10
The Coming Farmer.
ny j. o. FoLLETT, OF TowNsuEND.

1t is we'll understood what The average
farmer of the past has been. 1t may well
be questioned whether he has mastered the
different branches taught in our common
schools. The high estimate placed upon
his labor has kept him from availing him
self Of all the advantages of these schools,
poor In many respects as they have been.
Merging from these schools with the think
ing powers but poorly disciplined, the
young farmer enters upon his occupation
with the idea that he is sort of machine,
existing for its own support lie is prone
to look upon his chosen occupation as
kind of necessary evil, instead of a source
orhapplness and delight. To say the least,
there has been little inclination TO look
about himself TO see where or how he can
better his condition. Thus unaccuIomed
TO think, the intellect becomes more or less
siultifed, and the soil he tlls, from want
of proper cultivation, gradually loses its
productive powers. His boy, reared under
such circumstances, early imbibes q dis
relish for his fathers farm, and tries some
other business, or seeks home on the So
called inexhaustable soil Of the West.
You may say that this picture is little
overdrawn, but it will be remembered that
am speaking of the average farmer, and
not of the more enterprising and progress
sivo class and glance at the recent past,
or even at the present, will suffice TO show
that it is but too true.
What, then, shall the coming farmer be?
1 answer that he will be, TO great extent,
xrl at yvn ,ol- N hin, T,iu SO nm no n
gress, and in spite of the assertions of some
grumblers TO the contrary, there is progress
in agriculture. There is always progress
in the mind of the thoughtful. We should
make the coming farmer, then, so FAR as
lies in our power, Il thinking man. Pre-
paratory 10 this, our public schools should
receive careful attention, to make them al
that existing circumstances will allow.
And what is more, parents should see that
their children attend with great constancy
and punctuality, availing themselves of all
the advantages accruing therefrom. But,
says some one, the more we have educated
our children, the less inclination they have
had to become farmers. This may have
been the case in the past, but II need not be
in the future, L apprehend. When our
forelathers left the mother country, with
its priestly rule and educated aristocracy,
it was with feeling that the masses should
be educated and freed from the oppression
of the educated few. That feeling has pre-
dominated in the American heart down
through these two hundred and fifty years
and more, and our experience with the
workings Of this principle, as well as its
failure 10 work at any time in any locality,
like that of the Southern States, or New
York City,-prove TO us clearly the wisdom
OF that principle. As result, We have had
from among the masses able men in our
legislative halls, able judges at the bench
of our civil courts. able practitioners at the
bar; in short, able men in all the profess
sions, able business men, men who have
risen 10 great wealth in our manufacturing
establishments, trades, and commercial
stations.
In view ofthese facts, the educated young
man has very naturally turned his back
upon the farm, with its monotonous rou-
tine and small profits, 10 crafty his ambi-
ton for wealth or honor in some other di-
rection. But the time has come for think
ing men TO make their mark in agriculture.
No occupation affords greater opportunity
for the cultivation of mans nobler facul-
ties. Hitherto the farmer has failed 10
grasp or comprehend the mighty elements
with which he is brought in contact almost
daily. In fact, be has been totally incapac-
itated from want OF practical knowledge OF
the composition of soils and of the princi-
pies and laws underlying plant and animal
growth.
And now, while dwelling upon this
point, allow mo to suggest to the farmers of
the State of Vermont, that something be
done to set our agricultural college upon a
better footing. Practically it Is now almost
a dead letter, and is likely 10 remain so,
unless the farmers of the State take the
matter in hand. 1t is hardly expected that
the coming farmer can be elevated much
above the present, without some knowledge
of scientific principles applied to agricu-
ture. Let our agricultural college, then, be
placed upon a sound basis, where it will
become power for acquiring and dispens-
ing sound knowledge and practical infor-
nation respecting the combination of ele-
ments underlying both animal and vegeta-
BILE development. But you say that, at
best, it will be long time before the agrl-
cultural college can be placed in position
to give us the information we want, and
would you discourage any efforts on the
part of the present or coming farmer out
side of the college 10 elevate himself2 No;
by no means. On the contrary, I shall urge
lii at no stone should be left unturned
whic h may tend to make the coming far
mer more intelligent, and in consequence
more successful. If agricultural stations
could be established for the purpose of
trying experiments, like those in some
parts of Europe, great advantages, it would
seem, might accrue to the farmer, provid-
ing they were properly and carefully man
aged. But if this is too remote, or the OBJ
stacles so great that it cannot be brought
about on large scale, yet every farmer,
however small his acreage, can start an
agricultural station of his own on a small
scale.
To the thoughtful farmer there has been
no more vexed question, for the past few
years, than the question so oiten asked,
does farming pay7 Many have underlak.
en- to answer this question; some conclude
that it pays everybody but the farmer 9TH
ers have shown, in a general sense, that it
has paid them; that is, comparing their
former circumstances with those of the
present, 1t is clear that there has been
steady advance. But in a more specific
sense, no ono has, to my knowledge, an
swered, or even attempted TO answer, this
important question. I now suggest TO the
farmers of Windham County that We take
up this problem and settle it, beyond the
possibility of any doubt in relation 10 1t,