BAXOUF.T. 



A very pleasing banquet was held at the Falmouth Hotel, 

 Portland, on Thursday evening, December 28, under the aus- 

 pices of the Portland Board of Trade. ]\Ir. Chas. F. Flagg, 

 President of the Board of Trade, acted as toastmaster. Re- 

 marks were made by the following named gentlemen : 



C. F. Flagg. 

 Cliairninn Board of Trade. 



Last night I heard one of the men who had come liere talking 

 to another, and he said, "J am going to stay through the meeting. 

 I want to hear these lectures; I came to learn, and I want to 

 improve my dairy methods."' I believe thoroughly in this 

 matter of attending lectures and learning how to bring our 

 farms up to date. This morning I talked with another man 

 who said that in many things here in ]\[aine we are behind the 

 times but we are studying, we are trying to improve. To me 

 that was much more refreshing than the statement of the man 

 who some years ago came into my office and said, "\\'e, in the 

 State of Maine, are the smartest people on the face of the 

 earth, anrl the most honest." That man confessed to mc that 

 he had never been out of tlie State. The attitude of these men 

 who have come up here to learn, the attitude of that man this 

 morning who felt that there were many things to learn anrl 

 that we were improving, was one of the most refreshing things 

 to me, because we are getting ready to learn. 



And then there is another thing that occurs to me. You may 

 know that Commissioner Buckley is a member of our Board of 

 Trade, and perhaps for that reason especially, he is in a posi- 

 tion to notice the increasing interest which is being taken by 

 boards of trade in matters connected with agriculture. A 

 spirit of co-operation is springing up. I think perhaps this is 



