The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1878-03-22
-fBoard OF Agriculture.
CLOSING MEETING OF THE SEASON AT
MONTPELIER.

hoard Of Agriculture.
CLOSING MEETING OF THE SEASON Al
MONTPELIER.
The grand closing meeting of the
board was opened in village hall In
Montpelier, OH Wednesday evening, the
27thilt. Therewere pr esent beside the
members. of the board many distin-
guisifed gentlemen of the state, among
whom we noticed ex-Gov. Stewart,
Hon. N. T. Sprague of Brandon, Hon.
Crosby Miller of Pomfret, Silas q. Hol-
yoke, Esq, of st. Adams and others.
The meeting was called to order by
the secretary, who announced as the
chairman of the session Hon. j. w.
Stewart, who was governor of the state
when the first board meeting was held
in Vermont, after which prayer was of
fered by the Rev. DR.. Hull, d. D.
The president said he was not here
to attempt to instruct In farming, but
chiefly for the purpose Indicated by the
secretary. 1t is characteristic of a free
government like ours, that its institu-
tons have their birth In a recognized
necessity. The causes are at first re-
mote, but when they once exist they
continue and multiply until they create
need too clamorous to escape public
attention. In the beginning all is sim
pie and rudiInentary; but as time goes
on society moves, also population in
creases, towns aud cities spring up, In
ventions thicken, business shifts chan
nels and changes markets, forms OF
industry multiply, wants multiply, new
growths spring mp from new needs,
new methods become necessary, old
ones are dropped, competition, sharp
and eager, arises, and the laggards and
Rip Van Wrinkles go to the rear.
In my judgment the establishment of
our State Board of Agriculture was the
natural outcome of great public need.
The careless and wasteful methods OF
the fathers in agriculture had become
obsolete and unremunerative. Emigra-
ton had drawn largely Oh our best
blood. In tho eyes of too many youths
the yardstick seemed nobler imple-
ment than the pillow. The great west
was our competitor, farms were being
deserted, rural populations were dimin-
ishing, and in not Il few instances farm
ers themselves were echoing the cry
that farming was becoming unprofita-
BILE.
State and county societies had been In
vogue score or more of years, and
while they were not wholly barren of
benefit to the interest they were de-
signed to foster, yet it had become
quite evident that day or two in each
year spent in gazing at the cows and
pigs and rutabagas of our neighbors, OF
ut trials of speed between horses Just
fast enough to be valueess to other peo-
pie and a detriment to their owners; or
In staring at sack race or balloon as
cension in vain struggle to discover
what possible relation they might have
to the science of agriculture; or in q
windy tumult and babel of sounds,
striving to catch the words of some pro-
fessional orator, who was frantically
yelling and gesticulating in his endeavor
to deliver what the managers, by court
esy, styled an agricultural address-that
these and other adjuncts SO familiar to
you all of the average fair, however
they might be regarded us mode OF
amusement, or as promotive of social
relations among farmers, had ceased to
be, If, indeed, they ever were of value
as means of intellectual and scientific
advancement among farmers as class
Something different and better was
imperatively needed, and l am war.
ranted by the history of the board, brief
though It is, in affirming that 1t has
measurably supplied the want, and has
justified the wisdom and expectation OF
its founders.
The intelligent assemblage of farmers
Ia witness OF the truth of my utterance
But the best proof is of record. point
m ha 90. H.
tons of the board which have been pub
lished by the state. Ifyou will examine
them you will notice that the interest o,
the various meetings has been largely
nay, almost exclusively maintained by
"home talent" SO called; by the farm
ers themselves. Here aud there yor
will find valuable paper by profcs
sional upon purely scientific topic, bu
for the most part the reported papers
are presented by farmers upon topics
largely practical, TO be sure, but in {
large majority of cases ably and admir-
ably done.
These discussions have embraced al
most every variety of question ofinter
est to the agriculturist,- tho dairy, the
stock yard, the stable, the orchard
grains, grasses, meadows, pastures
farm buildings, fertilizers, wool grow
ing, horticulture, arboriculture, entom
ology, applied chemistry, politica
economy and education as related to ag
ricultnre, have all been ably and intelli
gently considered and discussed, and BY
men who by practical training as wei
Ms by reading and reflection understand
what they are talking about.
Well, meetings have been of late yer,
fully attended. And when an intelli
gent farmer brings before an audience
of his peers his best thought relative tc
subject of common interest to all, and
as To which all know something, he sub
iects his statements and conclusions to {
jury of experts, and woe to the rash
luckless wight who brings to such {
test hasty, ill-considered or unsounC
opinions.
The benefit of such papers is iwo-fold
In the first place you get the cream Of
the thinking of a clear headed, obsery,
ing man on vital subject which he has
made specially; this is suggestive OF
comparison of views with an auditor;
this again provokes question and dis
cussion and thonght-and, AFTER all,
nothing Is more needed than thought
IL this lies the difference between tho
man and the machine or the clod. The
muscle of the man is less than that oil
the OK. II Is only the brain power OF
the farmer which makes him the better
agriculturist and, by as much as he APP.
proximates the OK in unrefecting stu.
pidity, by just so much does he abdicate
the functions of manhood and curb his
capacity of fruitful performance.
II has been too customary TO sneer al
what Is termed scientific or book farm
ing, but in very truth, every successful
practical farmer, whether he knows II
or not, pursues scientific methods, and
the degree of his success Ia precisely
measured by his practice of such meth
DDS. Science Is systeinatized trade, and
scientific farming is simply careful and
loyal observance of and obedience to
laws as clearly established and as inflex-