Morning journal and courier., 1880-12-16
Connecticut Board of Agrleulture.
Annual Convention at New Britafu-A
 Good Beginning and Plenty of Instruc-
 fixe R eH,larIxs.

meeting of the Connecticut Board of Agricul- ture, opened at Humphreys Hall this morn ing to large attendance of agriculturalists and ladies. At 10:30 the Hon. E. H. Hyde, vice president of the society, delivered the introductory address, which, as usual, was a kind salutation and pleasant welcome. At II o'clock B. G. Northrop, secretary of the State Board of Education, lectured on tsWhat should our schools do for agriculture ?" In this Mir. Northrop claimed the importance of more attention to farms and social training at home, and more liberal inducements to young men to remain on the farm. He urged to strive hard to make the farm more profit able and socially attractive. The lecture was full of common sense, good advice and origi- nal expressions, and was very frequently ap- plauded by the auditors.
 The beginning of the afternoon session was lecture on "How to develop the rational side of farm life and practice" by Prof. ". o. Atwater, professor of chemistry of Wes- leyan University. After a very pleasant in troduction the professor asked How shall we make our farm life and practice more ra- tional ?" Of the many agencies the follow ing occurred to the lecturer as among the most promising:
 |. Such as come from the farmers own efforts in the way of choice reading, farmers clubs, farm experiments, fairs.
 2. Agricultural schools and colleges
 3. Agricultural papers and books.
 4. Investigation in agricultural science
 D. American farmers who have money and enthusiasm
 The speaker dwelt eloquehtly and forci- bly, upon the importance of cultlvatIng intel lect upon the farm, to have the boys become intelligent by intellectual home government, which must lead to wiser public government. He believed there were honest, intelligent and ambitious men at the head of our agri- cultural interests, but were they learned men in what they represented and directed Was it not of more importance to have men of ln- tellect and scientific ability in positions of that character than honest, ambitious and in- competent men, who were popular poltlclans instead of men of science
 The lecture was supplemented by great deal of reasoning and valuable hints, sugges- tions and advice to young farm men. It IS claimed and with good reason, that young men are leaving the farm and seeking other employ ments and pursuits simply because. they are not properly taught and encouraged to live on the farm, work for the farm, and study
 
 was ably treated, and contained plenty of material for thought and study. The lecturer is well informed upon farm statistics, and prepared his lecture in a most interesting and accurate manner. He has made study of agricultural products and expenses, and fur nished much practical information to the meeting.
 There are in Europe some TO agricultural experiment. stations, where chemists and physiologists are engaged in the study of the principles that underlie the right practice of farming Besides these there are not far from 50 laboratories connected with the uni versailles and agricultural schools, or support ed by societies and public spirited individ- uals, making about ITO institutions ill which some 25O chemists and physiologists are en- ployed exclusively in the interests of agri- culture.
 In speaking of the immense good that has come to agriculture by research, comparison was made between the agricultural expert mental institutions in Europe and the agrl- cultural department at Washington It is shown that a very large part of the knowl- edge of the principles that underlie the right practice of agriculture has come from inves- tigations of which very considerable DOT ton, perhaps the bulk, of the best are the work of the European experiment stations during the last three decades. The total cost of these experiment stations up to the present time is about equal to that of the U. $. Agri- cultural department, and the total expenses of 30 experiment. stations in Prussia amount to about the same as is devoted by the Euro pean government to all of the experiment stations, or about $75, 1000 per year, the same sum as is expended by the department at Washington for the purchase and distribution of seeds
 In 1876 the annual expenses of the sixty six German experiment stations averaged oho 60 cTG all fold EiftU- two per cent of this came from the government, 27 per cent. from societies and public-spirited individuals, and 21 per cent. from fees for analysis. According to the re- port of our commissioner of agriculture for 1878 the running expenses of our agricultur- al department from 1889 to 1878, forty years, (exclusive of cost of printing and of build ings) were $3, ,404, 754.13, or a little over $85, 1000 per year. The current expenses of the last three years were, in 1877, $174, ,686,- 96; in 1878, $18S, 640, and in 1879, $204,- 300. The current expenses of 1878 included: For salaries. .$65 640 Collecting statistics. -.----..-.--.... l5,0OO Purchase and distribution of seeds. T50OO
 THEFARNIERs' CLUB.
 The evening session opened at o'clock with an essay by Mir. T. s. Gold, the secre- tary of the board, entitled the Farmers Club" MT. Gold began by saying that of all hSBOCla61OnS or Iu01r DSH- eft, the farmers club is the simplest in it's methods of working, and for it's pecuniary cost and the time expended gives propor- tionately larger returns than any other form of organization The club is susceptible of variation in every direction to fit almost every condition of farm life Territorially it may embrace State, county, township, or may be confined to a neighborhood. It may be for a society or the farmers club of the American Institute in New York, or it may be of Legislature or any other organized body. The speaker extolled the general ed- lcational mission of such club it's benefits to society and to industry and it's relation ,o science and art. He claimed that as class farmers neglected their social opportunities md became averse to getting out. Families get piques and antiquities toward each other hat sometimes last for generations, and he favored social intercourse to correct them poor fence said Mir. Gold, forms divid- ng line more marked in it's effect upon the ldjoining proprietors than upon their cat le; so that often the farmer and his fam ly are obliged to seek society at distance ,r to forego it altogether. A club is demo- ,ratic. All stand on the same social code. | n the farmers club all are teachers, all are | earners. He advised all to bring something | 0 the club that would help others, whether | products for exhibition or words of | wisdom and instruction. To be Q success | u farmer man must De content | nd happy In the club farmers | earn not only from the successes and fail res of their neighbors how to guide their | fairs, but wholesome spirit of rivalry is | ngendered, which shows itself in better | crops, stock and in other ways. | The speaker cited other instances illustrative | # the importance of clubs to farmers. His | dyice as to the management of such clubs Eas excellent, and throughout his ad- ress was attentively listened to and fre- uently approved with demonstration. He escribed the courses and successes of nu- nerous clubs, and certified to the good they ad accomplished as being of great practical enefit to farmers and farmers families, and 0 the communities in which they existed, nd concluded by saying that their existence hould be as universal as the common school
 At 730 p. m. Prof. N. Greasy, the State began lecture on Facts and 'allacies in Veterinary Sciences or, What the 'armer Should Know About Diseases of Do- nestle Animals" Like all of Dr. Cressy's iscourses, this was full of the most impor- ant information and the brightest kind of ogic. The care, maintenance and use of attle was speciality, and an intelligent and zell supported treatise on beef and it's dis ases was given out to attentive listeners. low to handle diseased cattle is science hat is carefully studied and practiced by 'rof. Greasy, and the information imparted