Year: 1878

The annual exhibition of the Maine Agri.
cultural Society which opens in this city to-
day is an event in which the people of Maine
should feel and manifest a lively interest.
The prosperity of our State depends largely
upon the prosperity of its farmers. A large
proportion of the population are engaged
directly in agricultural pursuits, while all de-
partments of labor and business are indirect
" dependent upon them. Commerce is
largely indebted to agriculture for the mer-
chandise it sends abroad, manufactures de-
pend upon it for the raw material aud the
thousands of workingmen draw their susie
nance therefrom. The farmer is par excel-
tence the producer. 1t is to him the nation
looks for relief from the present hard times.
1t is his products which are to bring to the
land the gold on which to found and main
tain stable currency. 1t is in him the nation
trusts for good government and the preserva-
tion of its liberties.


Whatever tends to increase the prosperity
Of our agricultural population enures newt
ably to the benefit of all other departments Of
labor. Our State has suffered much from
encouragement of its farmers. The idea that
farming in Maine cannot be made to paw has
been cultivated too assiduously for the good
of the State. Young men have been taught
that life on the farm was inevitably associated
with poverty and hardship. Such lessons
have borne their legitimate fruits. The ten
dency ofpopulation has been to herd togeth-
er in cities, to crowd departments of industry
which were already full, to cause dispropor-
ton OF production and eventually to produce
misery and want.


One of the most favorable signs of the
times is that people are beginning to see their
mistake in this direction. During the last
year the farming lands of the West have
been rapidly taken up by settlers. Popua-
tion is beginning to flow out from the cities
to the farming districts, production is gradu-
ally becoming equalized and under the be-
ngn influence of natural laws an era of gem
eral thrift and prosperity IS rapidly approach
ing.


An exhibition of the kind which opens
here to-day can in many ways be made to
conduce to the welfare of the State. It is
an advertisement of the capabilities of the
soil and will confute better than words can
the notion that Names productions are very
limited, which finds expression in the hyper
bole that it is the state of pine trees and
rocks. Maine potatoes, and Maine apples
already take the highest rank in the markets
of the world and there is no reason why
many other of her productions should not be
equally appreciated. The exhibition is de-
signed especially for farmers, and it is they
who should reap the principal benefits from
it. 1t is here that they have an opportunity
to compare and contrast their products with
those of their neighbors. 1t is here they
have the chance to see what science and me-
chanical ingenuity have been doing for them
the past year, and it is here they can learn
improved methods which will lead to better
results and make their business more pros
porous and productive of better returns.
Surely upon them above all others devolves
the duty of sustaining by their patronage
such an exhibition as this. But the mer-
chant, the mechanic and the professional
man should each and every one lend their
aid also. They should show by their patron
age that they recognize and appreciate the
dignity and value of the profession of the
farmer, and should assist him in his striving
after greater excellence. The State Fair has
far too often in the past been financial
failure. Let this one be financial success.