92 AGRICULTURK OF MAINE. 



THE RELATIONS OF THE GRANGE TO AN AGRI- 

 CULTURAL FAIR. 



By Hon. J. A. Roberts, Norway. 



(Stenographic Copy.) 



I think it is well, in an enterprise of this character, that the 

 Grange of the State be recognized. An agricultural fair is edu- 

 cational ; the Grange, too, is educational in its character. Going' 

 back many years we might come to that time when two neigh- 

 bors brought together their oxen to compare them. By that 

 comparison each man learned something. Later on other neigh- 

 bors were brought in and the instruction received was broad- 

 ened and given to more people. Still later, another step was 



made, — that yoke of oxen was compared with an ideal yoke of 

 oxen, that cow which was brought into the show ring was com- 

 pared with an ideal cow which was supposed to be perfect, and 

 the people of the community were brought together that they 

 might receive instruction and gain information. There is no 

 way in which we can learn more quickly and more surely than 

 through object lessons, and the instructions we receive at an 

 agricultural fair are of that character. Later on our State 

 stepped in and helped to sustain these fairs financially, for two 

 reasons. The first reason was that these institutions are 

 instructive in their purpose, and the second reason was that the 

 State believed that by encouraging an exhibition of the best prod- 

 ucts of the State her industries would be promoted. It is upon 

 these two grounds, and these two grounds alone, that the State 

 of Maine stands willing to assist these agricultural fairs finan- 

 cially. 



The original purpose of agricultural fairs was for the devel- 

 opment of the products of our soil. Social intercourse and 



amusements are mere incidents and while valuable in themselves, 

 if the amusement is clean and wholesome, they are not the main 



purpose. In the management of the fairs of our State, it has 



always seemed to me that we have not laid sufficient stress upon 



the exhibition of the products of our soil. Go with me into the 



halls of some of these fairs, and what do you see there? Go 



with me into the halls of the State Fairs, the large fairs that 



represent the entire State. My friends, do you realize that the 



