Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1877-01-12
Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, o.
whom he says -


whom he says: -
"Inventious have generally been the joint
product Of the mind familiarized by study
with the laws Of machinery, and the hand
trained to practical skill. Not unirequently
the germinal idea, or principle of an inveu-
ton, has been conceived in the brain trained
by study and reflection, and long years have
intervened before the skillful hand has been
found to give it palpablc expression aud ex-
istonce. When Watt conceived the idea of
a separate condenser for the steam engine he
was not himself capable Of the delicate work.
manship necessary to give practical realiza-
tion to his conception. Fourteen years pass
ed away with repeated failures, and the de-
spair which poverty begets when he was so
fortunate as to enter into partnership with
Boulton, a trained manufacturer 10 iron and
steel, who furnished the requisite mechanical
skill to give completeness to the invention.
The history of civilized ma
tions testifcs that in the proportion in which
the skilllul hand has been associated with the
working brain, has the condition of individ.
uaIs been improved, the wealth of commuu.
ties increased, the arts and comforts Of life
multiplied, and general prosperity attained" ;"
The deranged balance of society can be
restored only" says the professor, after ad-
verting to the overcrowding of trade and the
professions, "by rendering back its former
honor to labor. 1t must be recognized that
productive industrial pursuits possess the
same degree of respectabiity and dignity ac-
corded to the mercantile aud other profess
sions. In word, agriculture and all forms
of handicraft requiring skill and intelligence,
must be maie liberal professions This can
be done only by stocking them with men Of
liberal culture, for IL is not tie profession
that giUeS character 10 the man, but the man
tcho gireS character and standing to the pro.
feSSiOn.
"Mauy there are" continues Prof. f.,
"who seriously question whether course OF
study, literary or scientific, will not educate
young men out Of industrial pursuits, so that
never again will they return to the farm or
workshop. 1t is true that an agricultural
education cannot make man farmer. The
selection of a vocation will ultimately rest
where it should rest, upon individual choice.
But circumstances influence choice, and prep
aration for the farm will probably lead to
life on the farm -
And few will doubt this in the case where
scientific training is united and interviewer
with its practical application, as in such iu-
stitutions as the Maine agricultural college.
Following the reports of the meetings and
addresses, are the special reports of the vari-
o,a soo;at;as e tho boz ,yh;oh
are with great advantage to all, male coop
erative under the Maine laws, and united
into an organic whole, instead of being inde-
pendent and even antagonistic bodies as in
Vermont. The most perfect and elaborate
document in this volume is the report of the
state pomological society, giving in l72
pages a complete resume and compendium of
the fruit growing of the state. This is fol-
lowed by the report Of the Maine DAirymen S
association. and of the county societies
We heartily wish we could see in our state
all the similar agricultural organi cations
working so harmoniously together, each for
the benefit OF all, aud all their reports thus
embodied together in single volume. "In
union is strength" is a motto that our board
Of agriculture, state agricultural society,
dairymcn's association, oranges, clubs
and local societies ought to feel the force of
more than they do. 1t is not credtablc,
and it is certainly prejudicial to the agricul.
tural interests and prosperity of our small
state that, with some twenty distinct agri,
cultural organizations, no two of them, out.
side of the oranges, recognize, or have any
concern with each other. Petty joalousies
rivalries and personal unfrienlliness spr ng
out of this coadition of things; progress il
hindered, and even the vitality of so me Of
our best institutions endangered by it, Can
not we "reform it taltogether ?"
uarf