96 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



sought. State aid to agriculture should always be sought on 

 the basis of benefit to the state as a whole. When a fair asso- 

 ciation offers premiums on stock or products which are raised 

 by the few and perhaps are not adapted to the local conditions 

 of markets or to the special industry supposed to be encouraged, 

 the fair association is using state funds unjustly. A case in 

 mind is the paying of premiums on such a breed as the Hereford 

 in the dairy class of stock, a breed no better adapted for dairy 

 purposes than the Percheron is as a trotter. 



The fair, rightly managed, offers one of the best means of edu- 

 cation open to farmers. The eye and the ear are the two organs 

 for conveying impressions to the mind, and the eye is by far the 

 quicker organ to receive and convey impressions. This is why 

 the teacher or the institute speaker tries to illustrate his lectures 

 or talks with charts or models, or better, with the specimens of 

 the products under consideration. What the farmer needs is a 

 keener eye to see what there is at the fair that might be of bene- 

 fit to him. But like the boy who has always lived amid the beau- 

 ties of Maine scenery, as found in lake and valley and mountain, 

 [lis eyes have not been opened to the advantages that lie closest 

 at hand. One of the most interesting lectures on nature study to 

 which I ever listened was summed up in the few words. Open 

 Your Eyes. Right here it seems to me is where the state aid to 

 fairs can be made of highest value. It should be used to call 

 attention to and impress the educational features of the fair. If 

 the fairs would employ disinterested experts to judge their 

 various products and then assign to them the duty of explaining 

 why the premium product was better than that which failed, all 

 who would might see what constituted excellence. Not only 

 would the man who felt hurt because he failed to get a premium 

 be let to see where he might do better next time, but every one 

 who' wanted to raise a higher grade of market products would 

 also be benefitted. I believe, too, that in case of a limited num- 

 ber of entries of a single product the judge should be allowed 

 his discretion as to whether any exhibit was worthy of a prize. 



Premiums based on the work of a full year or a season would 

 encourage improvement in our crops and herds. If the best peck 

 of corn is worthy of a prize, is not the best acre of corn, with a 

 detailed record of the cost of production, accompanied by sam- 

 ples of the product, far more worthy and of far greater general 



