Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-03-10

ADDISON COUNTY FARMING

Editor Of the Register Your last issue
contains IA letter from Mr.. Winslow,
secretary of the State board of agricul-
ture, which deserves the thoughtful at
tentiOn of the farmers OF Addison cOun-
ty. The letter seems to be intended as
explanatory of the recently-published
unlavorable criticism of agricultural
conditions at present prevailing in the
county, expressed by visiting member
of The State agricultural board.
The letter, however, sharply empha-
sises the criticism. The severity of the
latter is not lessened, but, rather, is en-
HANGED by the statement of the supposed
cause of the alleged evil condition.
1t is no compliment to the farmers of
Addison county to say that they prac-
tce "a wasteful and shifteSs way of
farming, and that it was only the great
natural resources of the soil that pre-
vented the utter ruin of the farmers;
nor is it fiattery to say that what Mr..
Sanford styled The garden of Vermont"
would be "capable of immense produc-
ton if farmed like some of the hill
towns OF the eastern part Of the State"
This is commentator of the soil and
condemnation of its owners. Nor is it
| pleasant To be informed that despite these
natural advantages 1--WE find our best
kept farms and most thrifty farmers in
those sections where nature has done
bur little for the farmer, and that the
hard struggle for living has developed
| in those sections an industry, thrift and
economy that were perhaps not neces-
Sary in the Cbamplain valley" which, ne
says, by contrast "loOked shiftess and
wasteful 10 him., etc.
All this, reduced to plain terms,
amounts TO this, namely: That the
methods OF farming prevalent in Addi-
son county are sloVenly. wasteful and
disCreditable; hat there is noticeable a
general lack of thrift, industry and
economy; that the superior natural adj
vantages here manifest are neutralized
because our farmers are voluntary sub
jrcts of ia general law of nature that
men III general labor only to support
life
The farmers of this county should OBJ
serve that these grave charges come
from responsible source, as the result
of personal observation during an Of
fetal visit.
The writer is not a farmer. but is II
native and resident of the county, proud
of her past record, jealous of her good
name ana sincerely DESTROYS of her pros
periIy.
The present purpose of the writer is
not to suggest remedies for the evil con
ditiOn which MIR. Sanford says he OBJ
served, but, rath'r r. to call the general
attention of his fellow-citiZens, who are
farmers, to these grave charges, and to
put the inquiries; First. are they true,
and, if so, to what extent: and, second.
If true, what curative process shall be
set OIL foot?
For vaarC all cOrtc IF n,a.hiuor,r Ioe
been enlistad in behalf of the great in.
terests of agriculture, which are chiefesl
in our State. We have with us the
Changers, Il board of agriculture, town
and county agricultural societies, and 4
sO-called agricultural college, which has
cOntrived to spend hundreds of thOus
ands of dollars. What is the present
outcome of all these instrumentaliteS
Is 1t true so far as our own county Il
cOncerned-by far, believe, the riches
> in natural agricultural resources in ou
State-that Mr.. Sanford gives the ne
result of all these mechanical cOntriv
ances and all these expenditures alluded
to above? If these have all failed eithe
to advance or to sustain this great in
, ttrest, what next? If Mr.. Sanford l.
correct in attribuilng present evils t.
lack of thrift, Industry and economy
then IL would seem that the agencies re
, ferred to have failed at vital point. Tn,
, virtues enumerated are personal. They
cannot be formed in the lecture-rOom
nor on the race-cOurse. nor at agriculture
l fairs. They are cultivated and hay,
free play in the home and on the farm
They are exemplitied by some in every
: school district in the county. What car
}, be done to make them so universal tina
such published criticism as have teC
shall be untruthful libel?
/. j. w. STEW 49,.