Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-04-18
Experiment Stations.

One has said that If in the whole range
of the arts practiced among men YOU select
the one which Is nearest perfection, You
will choose that one which has fellowship
ped most closely with science
Can it be possible that at this day any
one can be found who believes that that art
which is the noblest occupation of man
and which is the foundation of national
prosperity can ever approach perfection,
or, indeed, make any material advance ex-
cept through the Investigations of scencef
Is there of all the products Of the farm
one of which a small percentage of the
farmers do not regularly produce double
the averge product, and is there any rea
son why the success of the few may not be
come the experience Of all And this
small percentage of successful farmers is il
not mainly, if not entirely made up of
those who seek to conform their practice to
the teachings and conclusions of science
Of those who read the agricultural papers
the reports and bulletins from our expert
meut stations who assemble themselves
together in farmers clubs in the grange
and at the farmers institutes, seeking by
discussion to determine those methods of
agricultural practice which give promise of
greatest success
Ii Is 70 the experiment stations of the
past half century, whether called by that
name or not, that the world is indebted for
all that we know which distinguishes the
agricultural practice of today from that of
those who cultivated the valley of the Nile
in the days of the Pharaohs
That any farmer or body of farmers may
be found who count the experiment sta
tons OF the country Of no practical val
ne 10 him or to them signifies nothing ex-
cept as evidence of their own ignorance
The rain falls upon the just and unjust
alike One may bask in the light of the
sun without knowing its distance, diameter
or constitution.
An ancient philosopher declared that he
knew that there are gods although we have
not seen them, for do we not enjoy the
countless blessings which they bestow up
on Us and are not thousands of farmers
receiving blessings daily which enable
them to secure success rather than that
failure shall reward their effort, who are
yet in ignorance Of the source whence
these blessings flow
Let me sleep, grunts Fafner as Wotan
seeks 10 rouse him 10 a sense of impending
destruction, but this sleep though pleasant
Is az present more than ever fatal. and
there is no instrumentality now in opera
tlOn which is So potent 10 arouse our farm
ers from this fata sumber as the work of
the experiment station which through the
channels Of the press, the Institutes the
oranges and the agricultural societies and
farmers clubs Is being continually dissem
mated among the people
The intellectual activity which has been
aroused among our agricultural classes dur
ing the past ten wears has been astounding.
and IA every direction the people are reach
ing out for help % enable them more intel
hgently u conduct their affairs Now a.
days thousands Of farmers are discussing
the problems connected with the feeding Of
their crops and their stock in terms which
were b. them without meaning as an uu-
known tongue less than ten years ago
That in their eAgerness for knowledge
they should criticise aud complain that the
needed supplies Of information are so limit
Ell and meagre is hardly so much a cause
for surprise as Of cOngratulation as evi-
dence of this thorough awakening -Fsfer
Collier iu HushdHdmdH.