The Press., 1885-06-25


 towering advantages in the race. Coal and iron, which are the great basic neces- sities of most metallic manufacturers, are produced close together in the region bor- bering on the west great manufacturing industries have sat down close by these sources of coal and iron and close by the great population of the Mis- sissippi basin. We are heavily handicapped in the matter of freight; we ctnnot bring coal and iron from western Pennsylvania and return the manufactured products to the west is prof. itable competition. In textile fabrics we see something which looks remarkably like the beginning of the end. Thousands up- on thousands of spindles are whirling in and around Atlanta, and the same sound comes to us from many places in the south. More than one hundred mills have begun to operate in the last four years. Again we are heavily handicapped in the matter of freights. 1t IS true we may be able to maintain ourselves in the lighter and cost Her articles of manufacture, but it is by no means sure.
 In any event it is both wise and patriotic to turn our attention seriously toward the improvement of our agriculture.
 Can we make our agriculture profitable !? Can we make it's conditions pleasant and attractive? Can we find in it problems worthy of the highest thought, the solution of which shall bring great good to human kind ? Each of these questions can be answered in the affirmative.
 We all know some men who make agr- culture profitable right here in Connecti- cut, aud under existing conditions which certainly can be greatly improved. When the fact is generally and practically recog- nized that farming requires quite as thor ough preparation and training as any pro- fession and as much system and practice as any commercial pursuit, profitable farm ing will not be confined to few but will come general .......
 With growing profit the conditions will become attractive. There is no good reason why agriculture should not become the most attractive of occupations. Its inde- pendence and healthfulness are generally conceded. The pleasure of being abroad in the country of a dewy morn, of drinking in the perfume of the new mown hay, of watching the grass driven into pillows un- der the summer wind, and the ripening grain nodding it's heads of brownish gold, have formed the theme of poets for genera tions. There Is no reason why the farm ers home shall not also be the home of books, of music, of thought, of converse tion, of social exchange, and of genuine culture. There is no reason why farmer shall not possess the finest possible man. ners. An embrowned skin is every whit as handsome as hleached one, and far more natural: unite it to cultivated mind and winning manner, and there is no let tered or social potentate who will not bid it welcome. This is neither Utopian nor fantastic. The opposite springs from a radically wrong conception of the training hot md Efon Ia agriculture imperatively demands. And when we turn to inquire whether this oc- cupation affords problems worthy of the highest thought, whose solution is fraught with good to humankind, we find its pos abilities are limitless The researches of Darwin and Pasteur have been in fields next which lies that of the farmer. Those agriculturists who will learn to love the microscope and will keep it's keen scrrlity upon the problems which lie before them on every hand, will not fail to achieve re- suits of worldwide utility, and the world will not refuse it's praise therefor.
 These results of farming with profit, of making its conditions attractive, and of solving in 1t problems of worldwide in- terest, will not be achieved except by earnest effort and patient endeavor. That is the price of all achievement in any field
 
 disciples of this new gospel of agriculture, this day with pride in being able to say that you were among the pioneer gradu- ates of what, as fervently hope, shall yet become famous school of the noble art of agriculture.
 Next, Col Joslyn was introduced as future chief magistrate of the nation. Af- ter 8 futile effort to blush, the colonel meekly bowed and murmured thanks for the prophecy, regretting that nearly four Then followed a ''talk" ill the happiest vein, finally settling down to the dissemi- nation of practical ideas that showed that the colonel's early life farm training in Holland had not been lost upon him. Farming, he said, had fewer possibilities of abnormal gain than some professions, but so it had fewer risks of failure. His calling had made him familiar with busi- ness wreckages, but he had never yet drawn insolvent papers for farmer. He told how farms might he made more at- tractive ny little inexpensive comforts, such as the ice honse, the little strawberry patcn TOT nome use, the pear trees SOHth of the stone well. These cost little, but such little things wonderfully smooth the rugged edges of farm life, and make the old homestead and farm life attractive to the growing boys and girls.
 Don't ape city ways. His sense of fit- ness had been jared by the sight of an iron fence around a country cemetery, where a stone wall would have been prettier and cheaper. Iron is cheaper for the city en- closure, but the rustic wall would there he preferred for looks.
 Farmers could best serve their own in- terests, he said, by selecting their hest men to represent them ill the legislature. Don't rotate about the school districts, but take the best man wherever found, and when the best man is found don't be in hurry to change. Experience is worth every thing to a legislator, end the best of men are at disadvantage without 1t. The of- flee was not designed as banble to be held by each ill turn, but that the best men might be given to the most important wo.k of law making.
 The best farm crop is crop of content.
 He closed by adinring the young men to go forth into the world with manly hearts, clear heads, and determination to win victory in the battle of life. Troubles shrink greatly if faced manfully. ..,...s. Judge Slade of Bridgeport was called