The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1880-09-24
The Egis and Intelligencer.
BEL AIR, Md, SEPTEMBER "a, 1880.
Mr.. Bonds Prizes.

Mr.. Bonds Prizes.
Mr.. Editor, in your paper, The 1Egis, the offer o
]. W. Bond, of Baltimore city, Of certain prizes Q
raise the most Indian corn on the one-oighth Q
an acre of land in the year 1880. The prizes or
fered amounted to nearly 500, and scarcely am
produce good results and be well spent.
1t is most commendablo that a gentleman from
the city should retain such lively interest IN ah'
vance the prosperity of her citizens, bv seeking
TO promote better state of agriculture amongst
or members to take an early hold upon the sub.
ject in q real, practical and Lying way. | mac
hoped that some OF yGur IN se @ snse
prise, would have melted your boys on by giving
their experience and views In your columns
With the exception of Prof. Curtiss, of your
county, have seen no published evidence of its
general acceptablity. That gentleman did Ger
tainly point out most happily. one practical thing
which the boys competing, were Obliged to do; a
step of no little Importance, too-that of measur-
ing the ground, a thing which they learn of in
arithmetical examples and work out In school,
but do not always comprehend. Here they must
bring the tape line, or measuring rod into play,
and be exact to get the right length and breadth.
1t is to be regretted that this gentleman stopped
and did not enlarge further, as he is undoubtedly
so competent to do, upon the subsequent atten-
dance in the making of the most Indian corn on
the one-eighth of an acre so chosen.
In the absence, then, of any further suggestions
from the pen of Prof Curtiss, and also in consid-
Il
gagged in the practical parts of cultivation have
not taken leisure for writing, beg leave to lay
before your readers FEW thoughts which nI have
A most gratifying thing 1t is no doubt, to every
farming community to see offered at the various
cattle shows prizes for the finest and best stock,
for the most approved machinery and for the
largest crops raised by superior culture. These
are among the announcements and legitimate re-
wards of toll and agricultural labor. But at the
close, when the fun of the thing begins, many of
the attendants at such shows, though enjoying ii
much, must have felt some slight conjunction
that gold in one form or another was going forth
in prizes for the MUSCLE wind and bottom of the
swiftest horse, the slowest mule, the grandcst
chariot, or the highest climber of the slippery
POLE And after all the acumen of Scpio Atri-
canus is not by any means to be despised, who be-
fore he attempts to climb, resolved to conquer,
mother earth and when now he climbs, well adj
vanced, he lays his hands upon his secret treas
ure, and sand and aust carry him on to victory
Pcrsevcrenta et terra omna vincent.
So much concerning public prizes.
But in the prizes offered by Mr.. Bond we have
qnite different scene Instead of prizes for the
muscle of the legs alone; we have here prizes for
the exercise of the shoulder, the breast the hand
and the head. Instead of wind, we have here
we have the sure and slow mule or horse. In
stead of the racing chariot, the pldnstrd the slow
Instead of the slippery pole, the high towering,
nourshing stalk, with Its well filled ears, its broad
blades, its strong roots its tasseling crown. In
stead of Scipio Africanus, we see the young Gin
cinnatus Americans, native to the soil, working
hard In manly toll, trusting also to his mother
earth, and, under the genial sunshine and show
ers of Heaven, relying upon sand and dust to lead
him, too, to victory The offer of these prizes Is
limited to the boys of Hartford county it is there
fore local In its operation But the first and last
acts in raising the corn being brought under the
supervision of the Agricultural Society of the
county the intermediate steps In the work and
the whole proposition partake of a wider range
than simple county and become n matter for
public appreciation.
Indeed the bearing OF this offer upon the pro-
gress of agriculture i'm State; upon the right
development of our many resources, the welfare
of our people, and upon the proper instruction of
our young men in the most important of all en-
Payments, viz, farming, involving m acquaint-
ance with mechanics, with soils, plants, vogcta-
bles and the atmosphere assumes a significance
which does not at the first glance appear. 1t may
ements of sound political economy; for while it
rewards labor, it at tho same time promotes in
dustry, intelligence and virtue. Lying beneath
this proposition offer Is the happiness of our
citizens Obtainablc by knowledge and the proper
employment of every faculty. and in very large
measure by the exercise of mind, body and soul
i'm the steady culture of the products Of the land
and in the due recognition of tho laws of the Gre
ator.
1t ought to DO matter for congratuation that
and high-toned character. 1t tends to elevate tho
profession of tho farmer, and to cast into utter
and outer darkness the business of trampng In n
circle, wrestling on the arena, and rowing in
boat with but person in II y whilst in its es
sence and effect it rivals the very laudabc con-
and the college. Let then tho example of Mr..
Bond be followed by other gentlemen of "Our
Maryland" and the result amongst our young
mon in the next decade cannot but be both great
and good. JAMES LII. CHAMBERLAINE.
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