1883.] ADDRESS OF MR. Z. A. GILBERT. 301 



ADDRESS OF MR. Z. A. GILBERT. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: — I feel that it would 

 be an act of impoliteness on my part to refuse to speak on this 

 occasion, or to fail to respond to the compliment of an invitation, 

 in consideration of the courtesies and attention I have received 

 during my brief visit among you. 



I come here from the eastern border of the galaxy of States 

 called New England, to meet with the farmers of this other extreme 

 in your deliberations on this occasion. I come to shake hands 

 over the distance lying between those extremes with these co-labor- 

 ers of the farm, and also with this Board of Agriculture, these 

 distinguished gentlemen who are engaged in the work of the dif- 

 fusion of a higher knowledge and a greater interest in this occupa- 

 tion in which we are engaged. And in coming here, and in 

 meeting with you, 1 wish to compliment the character of the meet- 

 ing which I have found here. Having bfeen connected in some 

 capacity or other for many years with work of this kind, I think I 

 speak with something of knowledge of what is being done in this 

 direction in New England, not, however, having had an oppor- 

 tunity of meeting with you here before. I am happy to see that 

 you draw together representative farmers from almost every 

 quarter of your State; that here you have been enabled to congre- 

 gate so many as you have of the thinking, intelligent, wide-awake, 

 determined farmers of the State of Connecticut, realizing as I fully 

 believe they do, and which is shown by their presence here, that 

 the prosperity of the State depends upon this industry, believ- 

 ing, as the speaker has said, that whenever the farming industry 

 of the State prospers, then the State prospers; and it is not con- 

 fined to the State, but the prosperity of the country at large is 

 dependent on its agriculture. I have felt pleased to meet here so 

 many young men as I have found among this assembly. Although 

 the numbers have not been so large as I could wish, or, doubtless, 

 as you wish, still 1 have seen a goodly sprinkling of the young 

 men of this State in attendance on these meetings. This is an 

 encouraging feature. It is another compliment to the character 

 and to the influence of these meetings ; it is a suggestive fact, that 

 from this brief contact with the farm pulse of your people here, I 

 find that you have conditions not greatly unlike those which we 



