46 Third Annual Report 



pages of a book. The old district school houses with windows 

 put almost ceiling high, in order that the child might not have 

 his attention drawn from his studies, testify to the old ideal in 

 education. That charm of country life which comes from a 

 knowledge of and a cooperation with the processes of nature 

 has been lost and agriculture has paid dearly for it. I believe 

 that this society should take part in that movement now on foot 

 to introduce elementary science into the courses of our rural 

 schools. 



I believe another and, perhaps, the greatest cause why young 

 men have left Vermont farms has been the prevailing discontent 

 among those engaged in agricultural pursuits. Votaries of 

 medicine, the ministry, and the law have believed in their work, 

 and the world has been ready to agree with them. The farmer 

 has been inclined to put a small estimate upon his and the world 

 has not thought more of it than he has himself. In his famous 

 address upon "The American Scholar," Emerson said, "Young 

 men of the fairest promise, who begin life upon our shores, in- 

 flated by the mountain winds, shined upon by all the stars of God, 

 find the earth below not in unison with these, but are hindered 

 from action by the disgust which the principles on which busi- 

 ness is managed inspire, and turn drudges, or die of disgust, 

 some of them suicides. What is the remedy? They did not see, 

 and thousands of young men as hopeful now crowding to the 

 barriers for the career do not yet see, that if a single man plant 

 himself indomitably upon his instincts, and there abide, the huge 

 world will come around to him." It is time for the horticultur- 

 ists to stand upon their instincts — upon their belief in their work 

 and to bring the world around to their point of view. Then can 

 we save to our state the young men and women who are alert 

 for opportunities to make the most of their lives. How can it 

 be done? First by the culture within ourselves of a more liberal 

 and progressive spirit. 



In the past fifty years the whole aspect of agriculture has 

 changed. Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch microscopist, discovered bac- 

 teria in 1695, but only within the past fifty years have they 

 been regarded as more than a cause of speculation for the 

 curious. Within that time our scientists have shown their agency 

 in the diseases of plants and animals and their importance in 

 all processes of agriculture. Today the world is hoping that the 

 problem of its supply of nitrogen may be solved in the coopera- 

 tive efforts of clover, alfalfa, and other legumes and bacteria. 

 Other fungi have been investigated and means devised to com- 

 bat those that are injurious and assist the growth of those that 

 are beneficial. Plant physiologists, chemists, physicists have all 

 brought to bear upon the problems of agriculture the best knowl- 



