Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-09-17

grafton Hoc "iiiNh tLUH CoUlu u
published by t.he press. 1t stimu
lates hope and resolution, inspire
pluck. 1t calls cltquently to til
intelligent and hasdy thousands o
our brethrcr across: the mountains
or further off across she sea, in Eu
rope, to come to this land OF tetmins
plenty, where God has done every
thing that patient, honest, intelli
gent labor cannot easily do, to pro-
vide homes Of comfort independence
and peace. 1t is II great thing for the
people of this county to see such
grand results Of their labors as are
here to-day. But it is practically a
more important thing that men are
brought together and enabled to see
and compare each others methods
of work. 1t is the friction of mind
on mind that keeps the worlds mind
bright.
! AS rule the farmer. | think, is
too backward i'll these things. His
life is necessarily isolated to a con-
siderable extent, especially in this
new country. He is apt to live too
much within himself--the tendency
is to keep within himself, pulbue
his own, or perhaps his fathers me-
thods, without botherine himself
about the methods of other people.
Anything that reprcsses this tenden-
cy is abessing of the first importance
to the farmer. The farmer does not
differ from other men save in his
surroudingsF Now unless we have
interchange Of thought, comparison
of ideas and methods, canvassinG of
theories and results, we can hope for
but little progress i'll any branch of
industry.
My observation has been. and 1
have after heard it remarked by
men of great experience in such
things, that farmers, as Il rule, do
not properly estimate their work or
themselves. They look to other
professions rs " learned;" to other
arts as involving more knowledge of
science and us being more skilled
than their own. In point of fact,
farming is one Of the broadest arts
known to men. 1t is both science
and art. It's details draw more
largely on the natural sciences and
its pelsuit brings man closer to the
great s7:.,ce r,f-.sa~s 1t lSruA aud
true in art than does any other
branch of art that now recall. Your
true M,'0i farmer is IL chemist, bot
an;st, ininelalo list. Il scholar of ma
tural history, anatomy and natural
philosophy and physiology, both ami
mai and vegctable--all Of these
sciences are undra iuavy !. .hG.o to
the fnrmer.
And if Nature has endowed him
with the poets soul-tho mind to
see and the hca"t to feel the beauti-
FIJI! things of her creation, his daily
life is cast among them, he is daily
witness OF the magnificent miracles,
n student in her laboratory. A man
can not properly plant Il garden with
vegetables, or SOW II field to wheat or
oata, without inyoking'the aid of II
score ol chemical principles. Men
NAV end do pursue farming who
know very little Of scientific ;,liu-
ciplcs, as such, lat the results aye
attained solely by virtue OF snch
principles. The farmers profession
.hcn Is y learned one in the largest
sense of that tenn. But while this
is true phllosophically, it is not true
practically; it is not true III "ocial
and political life. The farmer has
not yct claimed for himself the por-
ton which rightly belongs to him,
and which he will yet attain in this
country. I find the chief reason for
TINS III that tendency to secius,on from
each other, the separateness OF life
and work already mentioned. While
the trader daily meets hundred of
customers and other traders and
practically learns the true methods
and principles of trade, having them
rHbb"J into him as it were; while
the physician is daily noting and COM
; pairing the results of medical prac-
tlce and research and applying them
to his own practice; while tbs mind
of the lawyer is kept burnishef by
constant friction of the court room
while the artisan is daily presented
with new methods and applications
in his trade, and sees other artisans
more skilled than himself; while
everywhere there is investigation
comparison, experiment, competition;
the keen spur of necessity goadinS
the mind to ceaseless effort, .he
tendency of many farmers is to fol-
low old methods, to shun all displays
and to content themselves with the
routine of farm life. This is especi-
ally true in this new country, where
population is sparse and great schools
are not open to Us.
If this society shall extend, as it
surely will, an influence to check
this tendency, and tC give larger and