The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1884-12-11
Agricultural.


state. vs kpov Of nsthiag fer which VI
vosld cry ont more strongly than q first
cisas experiment station. covering al goes
ticas viii IL work. and laying plans 10
vsl,ing heavy expenditure, and man,
ysan ef study that could yield iis full
rssslb sst. perhaps. until hall = oenisr,
had passed Such work as this has been
going % for yssr ia Europe, and i, il
really, 10 The end. the most valuable. sub
ssastial and conclusive 81 any.
Bat il nust ts plsis 10 every thinking
aisd in the state thst il would 10 useless
70 ak the support Of our state treasury to
any such enterprise. The difficulty 81
getting the right men to take care Of it
the difficulty Of keeping them, at any sal
airy they would seoepl, the difficulty o.
retaining The confidence Of thu people
while They must wait for the outcome Of
long years Of costly scientific work all
these forbid the hope, and throw doubt
on the wisdom OF Any plan involving SO
much.
But il this form OF the enterprise is for
hidden to W. by lack OF funds. heaven
defend u from cheap travesty Of it.
with cheap chemist, cheap naturalist.
cheap Psychologist, and cheap botan-
lot. endowed with few thousand a year,
70 b. hddlsd and muddled away. with
ssthipg 10 show in the end but = puerile
report 81 unconseq ueniisl work and futile
cancellations. II Vermont cannot afford
. high clsss scientific station, still less
cas she afford TO support few scientific
insompstsnts IN make believe investiga.
ticss. What We want we want good OF its
kind or none at all.
II seems to us that the only possible
and practicable experiment station, like.
~ 10 be Of any good to the state. to be
long supported BY the state, or to be kept
within any obtsinable resources from the
state, must be one Of q plainly practical
character. put in charge Of plain practical
men, who have shown themselves capable
Of producing results of acknowledged val
no and immediate usefulness to every far
mer in the state. 1t should be a station
such as Vermont men could run, and
make peculiarly and specially valuable to
Vermont. II should have small but
good farm. cheap but useful buildings,
moderate but net niggardly income,
and say two to four men, steadily engaged
in working out the practical problems of
the farm, in keeping themselves in-
formed Of what is being learned elsewhere;
in testing novelties Of coed promise; in
trying fertilizers thoroughly, fairly, sys-
tsmsticslly, OF the land, in the prcduc'
ten Of oil our common crops Of the farm.
orchard aud garden; in testing the seeds
Of the dealers who seek our patronage;
10 forming distinct Vermont breeds OF
domestic animals by wise crossing and
selection; in developing Vermont fruits;
in speaking all this useful knowlege
through the press; IL answering questions
by mail and receiving aud instructing Wis
itors who come to see aud learn. Such q
work could be begun with moderate en-
dowmsnt, and maintained at . small ex-
psass compared with the results which 1T
would give US.
Oar own farm has, in fact been an ex-
p erimsnt station from the first, and al
though experiment has necessarily been
subordinate to pecuniary success, as i
must always be on common farms, yet
nevertheless our pecuniary success has re-
suited manly from the heed we have Civ
On to the result Of our xpefimenting.
Take our main crop, apples, for instance.
When we began, in 1866, and for ten
years after. wo we're continually told
That nobody ever had succeeded in or
in Orleans county, aud, there
fore, it was useless for us to try. Some
,svcn took the tonof rebukiDg us for pre-
in thinking we might succeed,
wen against their prediction to the con
ray. But We began in the way suggested
y plain common sense. We collected
rem the nearest sections OF Vermont,
New Hampshire, Main. Canada and the
northwest, trees or scions Of apple trees
uccessfully grown there. We kept our
eli posted 10 what was being done in all |
hsse sectisus by fruit men The first
ear We planted out one hundred aud
ighty trees. six cash OF thirty different
inds. Only three Of these kinds have
'rovsd Of any value whatever, But each
sason We added new kinds everything
q could hear OF that promised success,
xtending our area Of selection to north
RI and northeastern Europe. until after
ightseen years work, we have secured
omplete success in apples, and have the
lirest prospect Of equal success in pears,
luns and cherries. among the tree fruits,
I'D OF small fruits very extensive yarie-
!, which is continually being added to.
There are dairynen in this state who |
lvs done the same kind Of work for their
ranch Of farming. They have tested the
lrious breeds Of cattle, the various meth
is q feeding and keeping. the various
sthods Of handling milk manufacture,
atil, IL their practice could be made gen.
ii o. err dairy farms, the product Of
II dsriss would Be coupled in quantity,
ID again doubled in selling value.