The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-01-10
Agricultural Meeting at Washington.

The meetings of the board of agriculture,
held here last Thursday and Friday, were
well attended, and much interest was mani
tested. Rarely, il ever, has our town been
given the opportunity of listening to such
practical and entertaining talks on farming
as it was treated to on this occasion. Prac
tical, because the words fell from the lips of
those who were trained in the agricultur-
lists art; entertaining, for the reason that
the speakers were gifted in the use of good
Anglo-Saxon and know what they were
talking about. Hon. Chester Dickey
presided, as I" to the manner born" and
was aided in receiving and welcoming the
visitors by j. b. Seaver and others Farm
ing for Profit - was very ably discussed by
Mr.. j. o. Sanford of Stamford, who, in the
course OF his remarks, clearly set forth the
Importance of developing the dairy inter-
ests of the state, and congratulated our
town on the encouragement afforded in that
direction by the location of a separator or
creamery in our midst The advantages of
home market were pointed out, and the
profits of making the dairy a speciality in
farming were fully set forth.
Mr.. III. w. Vail of Pomfret gave prac-
tical talk on 1.-THE Dairy Cow and Her
Food" referring at length to his own ex-
perience as dairyman, and giving every
detail as to the food and treatment re-
his thorough familiarity with the subject,
and his suggestions and advice may well be
followed by dairymen in this section
Mr.. q. l.. Gabrilson, secretary of the Iowa
State Dairymen's Association, also spoke
on " Dairying in the evening of the same
day, and was listened to with interest and
profit by large and attentive audience.
Although Mailing from the "Hawkeye
state" this gentleman showed during the
sessions of the board, wit and a talent for
repartee that is generally supposed to be-
long exclusively to the Yankee.
Mr.. G. NJ. Winslow of Brandon, the pop
ular secretary of the board, addressed the
morning meeting Friday on "The Outlook
for Horse Breeding" and, owing to his
prominence and success as a breeder of
Colts his words were received as coming
from one "having authority" His talk
was exhaustive on the subject, and while
very conservative as to raising trotting
stock, his treatise bristled with information
of value to all who are interested in the
matter, The bad effects of pulling a colt by
the halter were well set forth, and the
beauties of kindness in training young ami
mails were happily depicted.
Hon. ID. +. Ashburn of Gibbon, Neb.
proved decided acquisition to the array of
talent provided for our entertainment by
the board, and, both in his address on
Swine and Their Diseases" and in the
short but pithy talks which he gave in the
course OF the meeting, he showed more than
ordinary ability as a speaker and that earn
estness and interest in his subject which are
the sure indications OF an accurate knowl-
edge OF the theme presented.
On Friday evening the spacious school
house hall was filed, and the exercises
were opened by male quartette, composed
OF Messrs. Carpenter, Warner, Eastman
and Seaver, who sang =" The Old Oaken
Bucket" and responded to an encore with
" Music in the Air" Mr.. III. NJ. Arms of
Springfield then described the victories of
" Vermont at Chicago" in his own inim-
liable way. His tuency as a talker is too
well known to need any praise from us
The limits OF time proved the only dsap-
pointing feature to the audience, who were
captivated by his ready wit and were held
captive throughout his speech. AS the
manager in charge of the Vermont exhibits
of dairy products at the Worlds Fair, Mr.
Arms had every opportunity of knowing all
the details of the bloodless battle waged
and won for Vermont butter, and also re-
ferred with justifiable pride to the show
made by the state in other departments of
industry. The one-sided " story that he
told will long be remembered by those pres
ent.
Hon Victor 1. Spear of Braintree was the
last speaker on the programme, and his re-
view of The Resources of Vermont"
was instructive and to the point. The bad
habit of Vermonters in depreciating the
value OF everything in their own com.
munlty was sharply commented upon, and
should be taken to heart by those who heard
him. His firm belief in the bright future
for Vermont was not only encouraging but
was backed up by many cogent reasons.
The question box " elected many bright
things from all the speakers, and the meet
ing adjourned, after thanks had been ten
dered and received by the visiting company
Not the least noticeable feature of the meet
ings was the large number of people who
attended from adjoining towns, Williams
town, Chelsea, Corinth, Vershire and Or
ange being represented by some of their best
farmers. The ladies OF the town were also
conspicuous by their presence and the oc-
casion cannot fail of being profitable to the
farming community. Is. &c.