VERMONT DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 27 



that which is good." Hold up our heads and be proud of our calling, 

 always remembering that our business is the basic one, and all others 

 dependant upon it. 



In conclusion, I wish to thank the members of the Vermont Dairy- 

 men's Association for your kindness and courtesy during the two 

 years I have had the honor of being your President. You have kindly 

 overlooked my shortcomings and given me every possible encourage- 

 ment, and I can only hope you will give my worthy successor the same 

 generous treatment. 



EDUCATION. 



It is- an encouraging and gratifying sign of the trend of public 

 sentiment that the leading educators of the State are becoming alive 

 to the value and importance of the study of nature, and we farmers 

 ought to help along those lines as much as possible, for by giving our 

 children a chance to learn and become interested in the things sur- 

 rounding them in their every day life on the farm, will go far in 

 solving the problem of "How to keep the boys on the farm." For 

 just as soon as one becomes thoroughly interested in any particular 

 object, let it be the breeding of cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, poultry 

 or any other of our domestic animals, or the growing of the grasses, 

 grain, vegetables, or trees, how quickly the element of drudgery dis- 

 appears. It then becomes a labor of love and will result, not only in 

 the improvement of the plant or animal in question, but will be a 

 source of education and improvement to the man or woman who is 

 studying it. 



This is an advantage we farmers have over the urban population 

 which it seems to me we do not fully appreciate. There are so many 

 things on the farm that we are brought in contact with, and all of 

 them of interest, that there is no danger of monotony. 



The other day I heard one of our leading bankers make the state- 

 ment, after listening to farmers discussing the relative merits of stock, 

 grain, grass, fertilizers, the balanced ration, in its relation to the 

 production of butter, etc., etc. He said I am amazed to learn that 

 your business touches so many points of interest, it makes me think 

 that my business is a very hum-drum one indeed, and he only stated 

 what is a fact. 



We ought therefore to see to it that our next Legislature makes 

 an appropriation to encourage such competition. 



We have the example of many of the other States. One State, I 

 understand, devotes $60,000 annually for this purpose, although not 

 so much of an agricultural one as our own. 



TUBERCULOSIS. 



In line with this we ought to see that wise laws are passed for 

 the eradication or controling of all cattle diseases by giving the 

 Commission power to stamp out tuberculosis, so that the money 

 expended by the State will be of some avail and not as it is now, when 



