Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1908-03-31

ANNUAL FARMERS WEEK OCCASION
BRINGS TOGETHER A GooDLY NUMBER
The second annual meeting of farmer,
at the University of Maine which took
place recently proved far in advance o.
the initial gathering held year ago
Those who attended last year were back
in considerable mum bers and others who
had come to have better understanding
of the nature of this annual event came
in force to the number of 36l as shown
by the list of registry which was kept
This affords an interesting source of in
formation, since in it was recorded the
name, address, age and particular
branch or special line of farming engag.
ed in by those in attendance.
MONDAY EVENING.
The first session scheduled in the
programme was for Monday evening and
il was evident at that time the attend
ance was to far exceed that of last year
After the registration was completed
Dean Hurd assembled all in the lecture
room of the attractive and well-arranged
new library building and introduced DR..
\ George Emory Fellows, president of the
University, who spoke on 1.-THE Duty OF
the University 10 Agriculture" DR..
Fellows called attention to the change
that had come in the past twenty years
in relation to the instruction and work
that is being accomplished for the aid OF
farming interests through the medium
of colleges of agriculture. He took the
case of Wisconsin and outlined the i'm
provements that had directly resulted
from the educational influence which
has there been of exceptional value 10 the
dairy industry. Wisconsin has become
veritabie hive of dairies when cream
cries and cheese factories dot the entire
map of the state and are of the very
highest type as regards perfection of
handling of this most valuable class OF
farm product OF any in the entire coun-
try. Fully 600 farmers gather annually
for two weeks Farmers Week meet
ing each year at the Wisconsin Uni
versity. DR.. Fellows declared it to be
the duty of our university TO accomplish
the same result for Maine. His remarks
were full of practical Information and
suggestions.
Hon. A. W. Gilman, State Commis-
sioner of Agriculture, next addressed
the meeting ON the relation between the
university, the department of agricul-
ture and the people of the state. Mr..
Gilman called attention to the aid that a
| liberal education now brings to those
securing it and spoke of the criticism
that is frequently made against the i'm
practicability of the educational facili-
ties and training now available in our
public schools. Speaking of agricul-
tural and industrial education, he said
in part:
''These will not take the place of a
general education; but as supplement-
ary course, it will prove to be of great
practical value and Indispensable to
those who intend to become tillers of
the soil or to engage in any of the In
dustral pursuits. The need of special
training in agricultural and industrial
| lines is becoming more and more recog-
nized II country life is to be made as
efficient as possible, more instruction in
agriculture must be given in the country
schools.
1.-The bill, which has been presented to
congress by Representative Davis OF
Minnesota, seems TO me TO be OF vital
| importance to both the country and the
city. Aud no state will be more largely
benefited by it than the state of Maine.
This bill proposes that the general gov
ernment, in connection with the states,
shall establish agricultural and indus
trial schools. 1t recommends that agri-
culture shall be taught in the public
schools of the country. 1t proposes, In
the cities, to establish schools for the
teaching of mechanic arts and home
economics.
This system of education, when eS-
tablshed, will mean much To the farmer
boy, because in addition to his puolic
education he will have an opportunity
of becoming a specialist in his line OF
work. With this preliminary training
in agriculture and then an advanced
course in the agricultural college, he
will be well fitted for any agricultural
pursuit. And there is no class of men
that come in contact with keener ques-
tions that require more alert, active,
trained minds to solve them than the
farmer. With the introduction of agri-
cultural instruction in our rural schools,
would come the building up of our farm
homes, our farms, our rural affairs, and
our country life generally. To manage
farm successfully requires knowl-
ledge of more facts and more principles
than it would TO conduct mercantile or
banking businesses"
TUESDAY FORENOON.
The first subject discussed during the
morning session was, "How to Know
When an Animal is Sick" DR.. Russell
got into the heart of the question at
once and explained how highly organ
lied and developed the improved farm
animals have come 10 be. he gave
three causes for disease, common, pre-
disposipg and specific The first en-
braced too little feed, sudden change OF
food, too little or too much exercise and
sudden changes of temperature. The
second cause, no two animals are con-
stituted alike or can stand similar exer-
else. The weak points of animals must
be known in order to properly care and
favor them.
Specific causes of disease are generally
parasitic and are both infectious and
contagious. Having healthy herd, no
new animals should be introduced be-
fore a careful examination is made to
learn if any trouble may be expected.
Some of his most important points made
were as follows:
Animals will get sick. What shall we
do? We should not give medicine unless
We know what it is. My observation
shows this is the most serious trouble.
The animal kingdom would be better II
all drugs were buried in the sea; hard on
the fish but better for the animals. The
natural tendency is for sick animal TO
get well. We can aid by keeping them
comfortable; give warm covering II II Il
cold; give pure air. We may make a
mistake to administer drugs but never II
we make il comfortable. One should
not fuss over them and make them un'
comfortable. Nurse them well, keep
them comfortable, keep drugs away
from them and they will recover
| Maine Farmer.
| SawduSt.