The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-02-11
Farmers Institutes. III.
BY A. ". q.

stitute that was organised at Joliet last week,
not, however, as delegate from this county.
but simply as a spectator; yet through the
courtesy Of the chairman, was made to
take part that had not anticipated. !
was anxious early to know how these insti-
tutes are conducted and what their gener.
81 object Was, and whether any good csuld
come out Of them. am free to admit now
that If they do not result in any good they
can certainly do no harm; and am con-
strained to take back much that insinuated
in my communication Of last week. They
are not, exactly, such as l had supposed
them to be-sssociations of politicians, dem
agogues and pedagogues, under the osten.
sible name of agriculture, and presuming up
on the well known gullibility of the farmer.
They are not, as | suggested, like our Teach
ers Institutes, nor, on the other hand, like
our old fashioned experience meetings, but,
to use an agricultural expression, are cross
between them, and judicious crossing is
thought to be the more successful practice,
If there were only q few learned and honor.
able teachers and preachers present, there
vas also any quantity of anxious listeners
AMI exhorters, with this difference that
when man got up in meeting to give his
experience it was not altogether for the pur-
pose of confessing his own sins, but to "pitch
into the sins of others. II man read q
paper in which he advanced ideas that we're
not founded in truth. that were contrary to
the generally received opinions of farmers;
ideas that were cranky, or dd cdptandum
or even in advance of the age, he was
called upon to explain-"to give reason for
the truth that was in him." and if he did
not explain satisfactorily he WAS surely "sot
down upon" And this, it seems to me, is
the great redeeming point in Farmers
Institute. 1t gives the practical farmer a
chance to say something. II he cannot rise
up and make a speech, he can ask ques-
ton, and he can compel the speaker to an
swer it, if it is legitimate one, or back down
from his position, humiliation that very
few public men are willing to be subjected
to. The practical farmer is protected against
the gush and ptrap of the political stump
orator. At an institute, when properly con.
Quoted he cannot be bamboozled. fattened
and besplattered with cloquence that on 9th
er occasions, and at other places, would be
irresistible. The speaker or writer can be
made explain or ''cofee and pistols for two
And it stands to reason that when a man,
whether he is general, an honorable, or a
professor, reads paper before a Farmers
Institute, he must know what he is reading
about. He must understand his subject. If
he wishes to impart information on some
branch of agriculture, it must be informa-
ton. If he wishes TO advance some new
idea, it must be a new idea, not an old one.
| If he has an eye to some office, let him look
well to it. If he has any particular grade of
animals to advertise, let him do so openly
If he speaks to Buncomb, let it be to Bun
comb; or if he has an axe of his own to
grind, say, "let it grind but he must
look well to his "crank" or " his treadle"
for murder will out" He will be called
upon to explain.
| The papers that are read before Farm
ers' Institute, are, as it were, the property
of the Institute. They can be discussed
criticised, and even condemned in toto if the
sentiments advanced are opposed to the gen.
eral spirit of the Institute, or are contrary
to common sense or common morality.
No man having self-respect and proper
idea of right would dare to read paper
that he knew would not be appreciated by
,, the intelligent farmer Of the country.
have been ander the impression that
Farmers Institutes, like many other similar
and dissimilar organizations, we're more po
litical than practical that they presumed
too much on the gullibility of mankind in
general, or the farmer in particular-that
they were run for the most part by dema-
|
are sometimes called, specialists, and all
that the old farmer had to do was to listen
and learn but found at this Institute that
all the honorable and military men that read
papers and took an active part in the pro-
ceedings, we're but practical and common
sense men after all, though, perhaps pos
sessed with higher intelligence and more
cultivated minds than the rest of US; and if
they had any other object in view than the
advancement of agriculture, it was not for
me to say; and that the professors from our
State University, who spoke and read 80
huently and scholarly, were gentlemen Of
culture and refinement. Yet could not help
but think that there were other professors
in many Of our well endowed colleges
throughout the land, that would be willing
to contribute their learning, if invited, in
the cause of agriculture without any expense
whatever to the tax payers of the state.
Gov Ooleshy mado q rous;py rnaacb All