91 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ON. CO-OPERATION. 



Bt D. ^r. Dunham, Bangor. 



There is within the breast of every one a desire to be indepen- 

 dent. This desire in itself is right, and tend.s to elevate society. 

 It is only when it drives us to commit frauds against our neighbor, 

 to pull down his property or character in order to build up our 

 own, that it becomes a dangerous element. Were it not for sel- 

 fishness, or a desire to be independent, there would be no accumu- 

 lation of property. The forest which once covered our hills and 

 valleys, would never have received the sturdy blows of the set- 

 tler's axe, and given place to cultivated fields, orchards and gar- 

 dens ; the beautiful villages which everywhere dot our land, and 

 the cities which teem with manufactures and commerce, would 

 never have been known ; no vessel would ever have been placed 

 upon the ocean for the exchange of the commodities of diflerent 

 climes; no railroad would have spanned the continent or telegraph 

 encircled the globe ; — nor with all the desire for independence 

 would any of these have been accomplished, were it not for co- 

 operation. We all like to be independent, and yet how little one 

 man can do towards independence can only be realized when we 

 place ourselves in imagination outside the pale of civilization, and 

 plan with our own head, and create with our own hands the neces- 

 sities' and comforts of life. Placed in this position, we should 

 soon tire of ourselves and our independence, and say "Place me 

 back where I may co-operate with my fellow man, and receive not 

 only the benefits of the present generation, but the inventions of 

 men for thousands of years gone by." No great achievement has 

 ever been won by any man independent of others. The great in- 

 ventions and enterprises of the day, although many of them bear 

 the name of one man, have really received the co-operative study 

 and experiments of many men for many years. 



It is a law of our being, that we must bear each other's labors, 

 joys, and sorrows, if we would reap the golden harvest of peace 

 on earth and good will toward man. 



