DAIRY MEETING. 1 47 



ADDRESS. 



By Dr. Geo. E. Fellows, Orono. 



I will try to suggest a few thoughts that we should gather 

 from such a meeting as this. We were told this morning by an 

 expert about the nature of the disease which is now present in 

 the neighboring states, and which we wish to keep out of our 

 State. He told its history, its nature, its method of treatment. 

 Now why did he do that ? What was the use of it ? A hundred 

 years ago everybody would have laughed him to scorn for doing 

 anything of that kind. They would have said that the disease 

 was a visitation of Providence, and there was no more use in 

 telling about that than in telling how to turn the wind in a differ- 

 ent direction. People used to believe that all such things as cattle 

 diseases or epidemics were visitations of Providence, but now 

 we send for a scientific man who has investigated carefullv all 

 of the conditions under which this disease occurs, and we are 

 inclined to believe the results at which he arrives. Most cer- 

 tainly we believe him if other men in other places, through a 

 different series of experiments, arrive at the same results. The 

 effect of that talk this morning will probably be either to keep 

 that disease entirely out of Maine, or to so arouse everyone who 

 is interested in it that almost superhuman efforts will be made 

 to keep it out. If it does get in it will be in spite of our 

 endeavors, and not because we are idle and allow it to come. 

 That is one of the results of a meeting like this. You may say 

 that this talk would have been put in the public prints, but we 

 would not read it. We all have read headings about this disease, 

 but we have not read all of the articles, and if we did we would 

 not get the same idea as from word of mouth, and we would not 

 have the opportunity to ask questions and have them answered 

 directly. So one thing which comes out of our gathering for 

 such a purpose is that we realize definitely for ourselves that 

 science and its conclusions have taken the place of the blind 

 reference of evervthino- that was unknown to Providence or 



