46 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



the time may come, when such an institution will be imperatively demanded 

 in this State. 



In these schools and colleges, the education of children and youth can best 

 be promoted, but they do not directly provide for the instruction of the masses 

 who have arrived at adult age without such early opportunities. To meet 

 their wants, town, county, state and national associations have been established 

 under the patronage of government, and deserve continued encouragement on 

 account of their acknowledged necessity and importance, and the benefits 

 already attained. 



Farmers' Town Clubs cannot be too highly recommended. They constitute 

 a school in which every member is both teacher and pupil. They naturally 

 discuss or converse upon those topics of which they have had individual expe- 

 rience. Having heard or read in agricultural journals of some experiment, 

 they proceed to test it and afterwards report the result ; thus each avails him- 

 self of the observations and knowledge of all the rest. One sows gypsum 

 (sulphate of lime) and clover grows luxuriantly where it has not flourished 

 before. The others learn the fact and are equally successful under similar 

 conditions. Even a man who is prejudiced against " book-farming," imitates 

 them and is instructed. Thus one successful trial prompts them to seek fur- 

 ther information in respect to their business from books, journals and lectures, 

 that they may make additional improvement. 



Soon there is a desire to compare their crope and stock with these of other 

 towns, and so county organizations are formed which hold annual fairs, where 

 a generous rivalry is excited ; the products of the dairy, the herd, the flock, 

 the orchard and field are exhibited and compared. Processes and methods 

 which led to favorable results are investigated, knowledge is obtained and dif- 

 fused, and henceforth progress is made. Premiums are awarded for the most 

 deserving animals, fruits and crops ; and these again are sent to the larger 

 arena of the State or national exhibition to undergo a similar ordeal. 



From these county and State associations, the Maine Board of Agriculture 

 springs into existence ; mind here comes into collision with mind, new facts 

 and truths are elicited which each member gathers up and scatters broadcast 

 when he returns to those he represents ; or our selected agent collects and 

 combines the aggregate knowledge derived from all these varied sources, adds 

 to them the fruits of ripe experience, extensive observation and comprehensive 

 research, and produces a work wliich conveys information to the whole com- 

 munity, of incalculable value suc!i as nowhere else can be attained. 



Thus the process goes on in one constant cycle. Remove a single link in 

 the chain, and you make a serious break. Destroy the efficiency of town and 

 county organizations and you weaken the whole foundation. 



In this imperfect manner, an attempt has been made to indicate some of the 

 methods by which an education can best be promoted which shall contribute 

 to the health, longevity and welfare of mankind. In old Greek mythology it 

 is represented whenever Antojus was vanquished by Hercules, and hurled 

 senseless to the ground, as often as he touched mother earth, h} revived with 

 all his pristine strength and vigor. Under the guise of fable, the important 

 truth is communicated that tilling the native soil ur contact with it invigor- 

 ates the constitution and promotes vitality. Ample statistics confirms it, for 

 they show that the average duration of life of the farmer far surpasses that of 

 all other classes. The sickly student, tiie jaded mechanic, tlie palid mer- 

 chant, lias often taken a new lease of life by hastening to the country to en- 

 gage in rural pursuits, as the infirmities of age were creeping on ; therefore, 

 if longevity and increased happiness are desirable for our children, it consti- 

 tutes an additional motive to give them such education as shall inspire them 

 with a fondness for the cultivation of the soil. A text-book suitable for them 

 at an early period, has long been a desideratum ; but recently a work entitled 

 a "Manual of Agriculture" has been published, whieh, from a hasty exami- 

 nation, seems to be better adapted for our schools than any previously issued 



