Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-10-18
GOVERNOR AoARp,s TALK.

TIC tVulcCt VI OAuyIux III Inc CuiIcu
States, Ex-Governor w. d. Hoard OF
Wisconsin, said in substance, 10 recent
address:
Agriculture is one Of the mighty forces
Of this great National life. lts prosperity
means community, State and National
health; its decay means community,
State and National III health and
degeneracy. Therefore the highest
patriotism IA involved In every
effort, from the farmer to the National
Congress, that shall promote and i'm
prove the condition of our agriculture
and enrich our understanding Of farm
problems and principles. Make the
farmer right, and you will make the
farm right. Make the farmer intelligent
a. farmer and you will make the farm
and the community intelligent In Its out
come. Make the farmer to see the mean
ing and action Of principles, the. science
Of the thing, and you will see An I'm
me late change from bad, wasteful
methods to wise methods, from loss to
profit. In agriculture we are dealing
not with msn-made laws, but with
primal forces, with Gods laws. Hence
the supreme necessity Of educating the
farmers to think right, to see the truth
as II really IL In Natures laws. Ii re-
Quires large intelligence to understand
and interpret Gods laws.
We dedicate this noble building to-day,
together with all these teachers, a. an
additional effort toward making the farm
er and the farmers son see the truths Of
science and their application to the farm.
Everywhere and In everything the strug-
gle Is TO zee the truth. For this schools,
courts, congresses, conventions, are or
ganized. Get the mind right and the
work OF the hands will be right. That
means civilization In its highest, most
perfect work. Let us have more civilized
farming. A few years ago stood be
fore q great stamp mill 10 Colorado.
There Was tremendous exhibition OF
noise, power and expense to grind gold
quartz All this effort and cost WAS
expended on what: On the worthless
rock that inclosed the gold-not bit Of
IL on the gold. IL Is the error and igno-
rance that surrounds the truth that
costs US 90 much TO get rid Of. For
this we study, investigate, build sgri-
cultural colleges, experiment stations,
and do everything we can TO get at the
gold Of right Judgment.
But, you say, all such talk is but deal
log in seneralities; get down to bedrock.
Do you mean To saw that the farmers
and dsirymeu Of New York, with all
their experience, are on the wrong tack
that they are not exercising good
DO you undertake TO come
here aud tell Us that we, born To the
business Of dsirying. working AZ it all
our lives, do not understand IL, and are
exercising poor judgment in hs My
friends, | undertake TO say this, that
there Is altogether too much ignorance
of dairy principles, too much hanging
on TO worn-out notions, too little ernest
TO be intelligent, on this
dairy question, among the farmers OF
every State, and New York, old ss she
IL In the work. has altogether too large
a share Of IL for her own good. There
has been u dec inc OF the true farming
spirit that used TO exist among the New
York farmers forty years ago. There
has been = tremendous decline In farm
values. The State OF New-York has
lost in this way, In twenty-five years,
| believe, more wealth than she has
gained.
can 90 iuto Madison County, my old
home and buy farms that once sold for
Sl0O an acre for from $40 10 $50. The
same decline In values can be seen In the
famous old farms OF Western New iork.
No%-l ork is not sinner, however, above
Al L. ,,, vh<. n,o
state Of affairs obtains on the fine old red
shale lands about Trenton, n. j., and Is
true all the Way westward TO u certain
extent, through Ohio and Indiana, until
you reach Illinois and Wisconsin. Some
thing wrong has been st work 70 produce
this result. left Madison County, \.
y forty-one years sgo. As msxnih-
cent n body Of farmers controlled the
destiuies Of the State then AS the world
ever saw. They gave the tone and
direction TO politics, they took pride 10
the appearance Of their fsrms, they built
iine homes and spacious barns and gave
evidence every where OF thrift, energy,
ambition, taste and intelligence. All
this Was emphasized in the average
price Of farms, which WAS fully 20 TO 90
per cent greater than now.
The situation to-day Is painfully diff
f,rent. There has been An improvident
loss Of fertility 10 the farms, and in the
pride, vigor and ambition Of the farm
ers. As see IL, the cause Of all this
decline is mainly due To two facts. First
The passing Of the old type the
American farmer and the decline OF the
spirit and ambition In his sons.
Forty years ago fully 81 per cent more OF
sons become farmers than to-
day. They psrtook Of their fathers
spirit and ambition, and thus created a
demand for farms. They were not so
smitten with the ide Of being
lawyers or doctors, Of living in the village
or city. The supply Of farmers and farm
spirit Was kept up, and thus maintained
the value Of farming lands. Second-To
4 certain extent there has been the same
exodus Of the American element from
the farm to the city In the west. But
rs the sons abandoned the
farm there came strong influx Of the
farm peasantry Of Germany, Holland,
Austria and the Scandinavian countries.
Their sons did not wish TO enter the
They wanted farm near
the old homs. and this created constant
and steady rise in values, which may be
understood when tell you that the
average price ut which farms sold In
jefferson County, Wisconsin, the last
wear was e6l an acre. But more than
this, those farm peasants OF Northern
Europe came to Us filled with the Euro
pean ideas Of good farming, thorough
Of the soil, and determine
tiou to maintain and even improve the
fertility Of their land. To them we owe
to-day the splendid advance that has
been made in the agricultural wealth
and progress OF the Middle West. Had
New-York received this influx OF foreign
farmers, rs did the West, the agricultural
situation would be vastly different with
you to-day than It Is.
There is one important lesson that
have learned from these German farmers
that is, the advantage they derived In
their early education In the elements OF
agriculture in the primary schools OF
their native land. The nations Of North
ern Europe to-day patrioticAlly conserve
the resources OF the State by teaching
the boys and girls the important elements
Of agriculture In their primary schools.
The effect Is to establish at an early age
an intellectual understanding OF the
meaning Of soil and soil culture. II we
are TO save and maintain the farm, II
rnuaf he dome nv urinary education in