1)\1KV MEETING. 123 



more evident in tlie city boards of trade than in the smaller 

 boards of trade. Speaking for our own Portland Board of 

 Trade, the spirit of co-operation with agriculture, the under- 

 standing of the agricultural needs of the State so that the city 

 and the farm can get together, is increasing. We see many 

 signs of that increasing interest between the boards of trade 

 and the voung men who arc turning their attention to the 

 farm. Right over here is Dr. Owen Smith, who is Secretary 

 of the Farmers" Club of this City. Once in a while he gives a 

 lecture on dairying himself. He can take you out to the farm 

 and tell }-ou exactly how much of the feed it takes to produce 

 a quart of milk. Only a few years ago there occurred in this 

 city a most remarkable thing. There was a young man 

 who told his father that he wanted to go on to the farm. 

 He had every opportunity to go into a commercial business 

 in this city but he wanted to go into farming. His father 

 made arrangements so that he could go on to a farm and 

 his mother told me about it. There is Howard Randall who 

 has gone up to Harrison and founded that farm known as 

 the White City, and one of the most prominent lawyers of 

 Augusta has a son who is going to be a farmer. And only the 

 other day 1 was told of a manufacturer who said that his son 

 was going into farming and he said he expected he was going 

 to make more money out of farming than he had made in his 

 factory, although he had done fairly well. 



Dr. Owen Smith. 



If we had an assembly of farmers here, I think I could talk 

 verv understandins^lv to them, but there is a well established 

 fact, following out ^^lendal's law, that there is a tremendous 

 uncertainty, especially in. the second and third generation, of 

 hybrids, and it places me at a great disadvantage in talking to 

 hybrids. The fact is that Mr. Flagg, who is a most excellent 

 toastmaster, a most excellent president of the board of trade, a 

 •most excellent business man and a most excellent philanthro- 

 pist, and who is interested in all the progressive things that go 

 to make up a good and great city, is a mighty poor farmer. I 

 would not want this to get out around, as he is trying to esl^ab- 



