Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1890-02-06
The Farmers Institute.
NINTH ANNUAL GATHERING.
LARGE AND ENTHUSIASTIC MEETING.
Interesting Proceedings.

The ninth annual Institute of the
Belmont County Farmers Club con
yened in the Court House Hall, on Thurs
day last at 1870 o'clock. President R
E. Giffen occupied the chair, and Secre-
tary J. B. McMechan presided at the
desk. Rev. DR.. Hollingshead invoked
the divine blessing on the deliberations
of the assembly.
| President Giffen then delivered theAd-
dresss of Welcome, which was substan-
TALLY as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
OF all the occupations in which man
engages, that of agriculture in the most
important. 1t is the basis upon which
all other occupations depend.
There can be no permanent prosperity
in the nation, unless agriculture is flour
ishing. Anything then which tends to
advance the condition of agriculture
becomes of interest to every one.
Washington wrote agriculture is the
most healthful, most useful, and most
noble employment of man," and it au-
gurs no good to us as a people, that this
sentiment of the "Father of his country"
finds no responsive echo in the breasts
of the youth of this nation. Why is it
that the young men of this nation are
fiocking to the cities, are crowding the
so-called liberal professions, are found
swelling the large army of railway en-
ployes, and all the other occupations,
while at the same time their patrimoni
al acres remain untitled? 1t is not be-
cause there is not here field COM
mensurate with their abilities, because
the great problems connected with mod
ern agriculture are sufficient to tax, to
the utmost, the abilities of the greatest
minds. 1t is not because there are no
opportunities of securing competency,
and dwelling in independence in home
of their own, for it is probable there nev-
er has been a time in the history of this
State, when it was so easy for young
man to secure a home of his own, as at
the prese .. Some of the best farms of
this county, or of the State, are within
the comparatively easy reach of the
young man of the present, who has
nothing to help him but his head and
his hands.
Formerly this was not so. Thirty
years ago the young man who could not
depend for assistance, either upon patri
mony or matrimony, must content him
self with the less desirable farms, and
he could only hope to reach the best
after long years of patient toll and econ
omy, if indeed, he ever reached it. But
now this is changed, and the prospects
for the young farmer were never bright
er.
The dissatisfaction of the young with
life on the farm is probably owing to
their dislike to life of patient tOil-to
their not being content with apparently
small gains of the farm, and to their
desire for immediate results.
1t is true that the farm offers no pros
pect of sudden, or of great wealth, that
its independence and comforts are at
tanned only by long years of patient, en-
during industry and economy. But it
is sad day when the young come to
despise the small, steady gains of toll, |
and to envy the flashy success of the ad- |
venturer and speculatOr. These may |
dazzle for awhile by their brilliance, but
it will be found in the end that it is the |
result of toll that endures.
We have said that modern agriculture
furnishes problems the solution of which
will tax the abilities of the wisest men.
The profession can never be mastered. |
However experienced the agriculturalist, |
there are constantly arising new ques-
tions which can only be answered by |
additional experience, and lifetime is
too short to properly answer them all. |
more than a quarter of
century ago some enthusiastic chemists
conceived the idea that chemistry would /
solve the problem of the farmers diff
it would only be necessary
TO analyze any soil to find what it con-
tained, and what it lacks, and chemiS-
try could tell him exactly what to apply
to make it produce abundantly. But in
practice it was found to be of no avail,
and the soil was the only chemist that |
could answer the question, or in other
words by experiment. So in feeding an
Imals, there are many questions which
can only be answered by experiment.
While chemistry can do much for the
farmer, it can at best only aid in his ex-
periments.
More than half century ago young
farmer in western New York, made
some preparation of portion of his
seed wheat, by which the yield was
greatly increased, and he thought how
if there were medium for the
exchange of experiences such as his,
and the result was the establishment of
the distinctively agricultural press. This
has now become power in agriculture,
and no farmer can afford to do without
an agricultural paper. But it was soon
found that the press was not enough,
but to successfully answer the many
problems constantly arising. it was de-
sirable that some men spend their whole
time making experiments, and give the
results to the world. This led to the
of Experiment Stations, |