St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1882-09-22

opened the exercises by Il selection,
when Gen. Grout was introduced by |
the president. After some pleasantly |
about those who make addresses at
agricultural fairs, who almost invaria- |
bly, speak upon their favorite topics
almost to the exclusion of matters per-
tanning to agriculture. he said that he
should tell them what he knew about
farming. He claimed that i'll order to
be the most successful farmer knOwl-
edge of many of the sciences is very
necessary. The farmer need not know
astronomy, but he should know about
geology and the strata of the surface
of the earth represented by his farm,
that he may determine just what ferti-
lizers to use to supply that which is
lacking in the soil and to know what
crops can be most easily produced by
reason of the composition of the soil.
A knowledge of botany will assist him
with respect to the domestic and the
wild vegetable productions, how best
to promote the one and how best to
destroy the other, and to develop new
farm products, which is ever and high
ly desirable. A knowledge of meteor
ology will enable him to be his own
probabilities, and chemistry and
natural philosophy constantly aid him
in his farm work. The farmer of to-
day cannot afford to do his work as his
father did it before him, although he
was rewarded with fair degree of
success. The times have changed.
Then the rich vegetable mould on the
ground was sufficient to insure good
crops; but the soil has been starved
and made more sterile each year, until
the farmer now needs to call to his as
sistance the most approved methods
of modern science to keep abreast OF
the times. Some crops tax the soil
more heavily than do others, and some
\ crops furnish more sustenance to man
and beast than do others. The com
parative amount of the muscle, bone
= and fat-prOducing qualities of each
crop should be considered, and what
? fodder is the most profitable in the
: dairy business, defending the "silo'
:, and and saying that green fodder i:
= more nutritious than dry fodder. He
advocated the uplifting of the agricul-
:, tural classes by the establishment o.
- agricultural experiment stations at the
, expense of the general government in
stead of by the state, because the gen
, eral government shares the prosperity
of the farmer in exports. The expert
~ ments of these stations should be pub
lished and thus placed within the reacl
, of the tOiling masses. The Importance
of the system of agriculture to tn,
country is unreasonable, when it
vast interests and relations to all pur
suits are taken into consideration. |
, is proper that the cabinet should com
; prise commissioner of agriculture, q
:, such vital interest is the farm to ma
tiOnal prosperity. The generals ad
6, dress was warmly commended, and i,
h respect to the Importance to the farme
of the phases of the questions he con
y sidered and of their applicability t
, farm work, many were of the Opinio
, that it was the best address that ha
- been delivered here for many years.
Floral Hall.
This department is one of the mos
G.. interesting, especially to the ladies
w and those who are interested i'll tn
is beautiful and curious. This depart
"a ment is in charge of n. NJ. johnson
re who is the right man in the right place
p aided by a good corps of assistants
n Tuesday night the number of exhibit
was Glib, about one hundred less tina
in previous years. But the charactt
V, of the exhibits compensate for the IL
V feriOrity in point of numeri cal numbe
Dis There are, as in past years, many art
Dy cles that have done duty for years ;
II. these fairs but more new articles al
@ seen than in the past; cut flowers, bee
,r, quilts and hand-knit and hand-maC
ok articles generally are well represented
d. The improvement in the articles
( mainly noticeable in the KensingtC
l.. stitch and silk embroidery. One
H. the most interesting features is Il mt
A. exhibited by George Stevens of Coz
ia cord, which is two hundred years oil
IS with antique pictorial representation
A. VEGETABLES.
HI. Among the exhibitors are c. (. Gu
lite tbs, S. T. Brooks, James Flynn, w.
johnson, A. J. Gale, Hiram Eastma
w. B. Remick, A. B. Norris. The pri
ep. cipal exhibitor was c. F. Gibbs, who
ed exhibits were extensive and varied
ig- character. While the specimens we
eek not numerous, they were very fiji
& H. n. Roberts and c. J. BOwker, col
bs, FRUIT.
le- Geo. Galbraith exhibited five cole
it tons of winter apples; j. p. Fost'
IS winter apples; Helen Brooks, grape
we Loren NJ. Stone, summer apples Spe
g. Ger, Pearl & Merriam, watermelons.
It's, BREAD, BUTTER, CHEESE, ETC.
tue There was good display of butt
al made in June and September;
al cheese Mrs. Z. |. Hallett, Mrs. w.
IGN Reed, and Mrs. 6. w. Felch were {
ing hibitOrs maple sugar was exhibit
'Ss' by j. H. Nichols, c. E. Curtis, Char