INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE. 455 



Gentlemen of the Board of AgricuUure and of the Farmers' Con- 

 vention — Our labors for this session have now closed, and as the 

 mouth-piece of the Board of Agi-iculture, permit me to say, in 

 response to the vote of thanks which has been tendered us, that it 

 is something new in the history of the Board of Agriculture. 



For eleven years it has been my fortune to be a member of this 

 Board. There are but two upon it whose term of office has 

 exceeded my own. I look back and see how it was wlien our 

 labors had closed — labors of love, for they were performed, as they 

 are still, without remuneration. I feel that the vote just passed is 

 an incentive to labor such as we have not before had. I see other 

 changes. I remember when our lectures and discussions were first 

 compiled by the Secretary, and being published by the State were 

 placed in our hands for gratuitous distribution, that we almost had 

 to coax some farmers to take the volumes and read them. But 

 now, although printed in larger numbers, the demand is greatly 

 beyond the supply. This shows that there has been awakened 

 among the farmers of Maine, whether we have been instrumental 

 in it or not, a spirit of inquiry that did not before exist, and we 

 believe that spirit of inquiry to be growing, and will grow more 

 and more every year. We came together to meet the farmers of 

 the State, not to talk to them, but to talk with them ; to take up 

 questions of importance, and advise with them and they with us, 

 how best we might improve the agriculture of our State, and 

 advance the interests of our farmers. Let me, as the presiding 

 oflficer of this Board, tender to those gentlemen who have met us 

 our most hearty thanks. Their simple presence, whether they 

 have participated in the discussions or not, has been a great 

 encouragement. We believe that the more a man knows, the more 

 he can do. The more we can educate the farmer and induce him 

 to put mind into his work, the more successful will he be. This is 

 the primary work of the Board. In closing, then, I would say, in 

 behalf of the Board, to those who have met with us, we tender 

 you our hearty thanks. 



The Board then finally adjourned. 



