No. 7. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 377 



But, competition siiould be limited to county products; at least, not 

 open to competition for premiums beyond the borders of the State. 

 I am a strong advocate of county fairs, and they should be shown 

 every possible encouragement by the State, but* the county fair, no 

 matter how well managed or equipped, can never take the place of 

 a modern State Fair. As to a great State Fair being detrimental to 

 the county fairs, I answer by saying that it would have the opposite 

 effect; it would be a great object lesson and school for the county 

 fairs, and would be the means of promoting better management, 

 higher standards, and more uniform and perfect judging of the var- 

 ious products, which would conduce to more perfect and rapid ad- 

 vancement. I have learned, too, that it is a fact that in the states 

 which have good State Fairs, the county fairs are better managed, 

 the judging is more proficient, and they are far in advance of the 

 county fairs in the states where large State Fairs are unknown. 



And nov\', gentlemen, in conclusion, (he day is here when it be- 

 comes the duty of every citizen to encourage, in the highest possible 

 degree, the development of agriculture in all its branches. Agri- 

 culture is the nucleus of our future prosperity. It is the first, the 

 one God-given avocation, upon which depends the prosperity of our 

 State and nation, and all the other industries. Only recently have 

 we begun to encourage agriculture through public or State aid. 

 This State I>oard of Agriculture, which was the first active State in- 

 stitution in the interest of farming, was not created until 1876; our 

 Department of Agriculture was not instituted until 1895 — only about 

 thirteen years ago; our State College and Experiment Station have 

 only recently become an active institution; and we do not yet have 

 a State Fair. And the results which have followed this delinquency 

 are visible in the lack of interest in farming, and the dilapidated 

 condition of large numbers of farms throughout the State, and still 

 more clearly depicted in that picture of "the old folks alone at home 

 on the farm." And where have the strong and proud young far- 

 mers gone? They have gone and built your cities, your great rail- 

 road systems; the farms have furnished the men who have built up 

 our great manufacturing and commercial interests, to which we 

 point with pride, but the day has dawned in the history of our State, 

 when we, as its citizens, should "raise high the banner of agricul- 

 ture" by supporting in every possible way these institutions already 

 begun, and by establishing near by our beautiful Capitol a State 

 Fair — an agricultural exposition which will be in harmony with our 

 rank as a State, and to which all industries can point with pride, and 

 which will poise an incentive to greater endeavor; and ere long the 

 brightest of our people from both city and country will return to 

 the farms, and will make agriculture the richest and choicest pearl 

 of our inheritance. 



THE AGRICULTURAL VALUE OF LBIE NITROGEN. 



By DR. Wis.. FREAR, Chemist. 



In his paper presented to you last year upon the subject of nitric 

 acid manufactured from atmospheric nitrogen, Mr. J. A. Fries men- 

 tioned briefly the fact that calcium carbide was able to take up at 

 high temperatures nitrogen gas so as to form a nitrogenous oom- 

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