NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



LEGISLATIVE AGRICULTUPvAL MEET- 

 ING. 



[Reported fok the Farmss bt H. E. Rockwell.] 

 The second of the series of Legislative agricul- 

 tural meetings was held at the Hall of the House 

 of Representatives, Tuesday evening. The topic 

 for the discussion of the evening was, generally, 

 "77(6 Breeding of Horses," which was considered 

 with reference to the following questions : 



1. Is it desirable to encourage the breeding of 

 horses in this State ? 



2. If so, is it desirable they should be exhibited 

 at the county fairs and exhibitions ? 



3. And if so, under what rules and regulations 

 shall they be exhibited ? 



The meeting was called for seven o'clock, but as 

 Gov. Gardner, who was to preside, could not be 

 present till half an hour later, the meeting was 

 called to order at the hour assigned by Mr. Brooks, 

 the President, and the half hour until the arrival 

 of the Governor was occupied by Mr. LoRtN BloD' 

 GET, of Washington, D. C, in explaining the dis- 

 tribution of rain and heat in the United States both 

 in summer and in winter, which was done in a very 

 clear and interesting manner by the aid of large 

 outline maps. By this exhibition the regions adapt 

 ed to the cultivation of particular crops were point 

 ed out, as shown by the relative amount of rain 

 and degree of heat. As stated by Mr. Blodget, 

 the extremes in the amount of rain were, three 

 inches annually in some portions of. Mexico, and 

 sixty-five inches in the southern portion of Alaba- 

 ma. In the New England States, and the Middle 

 States, generally, the average amount of rain was 

 set down at from forty to forty-five inches. Through- 

 out the central portion of the United States terri- 

 tory, the annual amount is from fifteen to twenty- 

 five inches. 



The number of persons present this evening was 

 not large — nearly a hundred — but, considering the 

 state of the weather, and the attendance heretofore, 

 was very encouraging. 



His Excellency, Gov. Gardner, having come in- 

 to the hall, and being introduced to the meeting 

 as the chairman for the evening, he spoke substan- 

 tially as follows : 



Mr. President, and gentlemen of the Legislative 

 Agricultural Society, I have to regret the paucity 

 of the number of persons present this evening, 

 owing, doubtless, to the state of the elements with- 

 out. And yet, when I remember that on more 

 than one occasion, while I was a member of the 

 Legislature, even on pleasant evenings, there were 

 fewer present than have assembled to-night, and 

 when I bear in mind that this is the first of the reg- 

 ular series of meetings of the society, since the or- 

 ganization of the Legislature, I may be encour- 

 aged. 



When we reflect for a single moment on the vast 



proportion of our citizens, not only throughout this 

 State, but the whole Union, who engage in agri- 

 culture, compared with those engaged in other pur- 

 suits, when we call to mind the prodigious dispro- 

 portion of the aggregate of their labor, compared 

 with the labor of other classes in the community, 

 when we con.sider the species and kind of pro- 

 ducts eliminated by their industry from the earth, 

 the air, and the water — creations of beauty une- 

 qualled by the products of any other class of per- 

 sons — we can realize the force of that truism that 

 agricultural industry is at the foundation of the 

 strength and prosperity of our nation. 



Recognizing that broad truth, which we all must, 

 as men and as legislators, it does sometimes seem 

 strange at the first blush, that the State as such, 

 that the Legislature as such, has not done more for 

 the promotion and benefit of this branch of science. 

 And yet, when we reflect, and looking back, con- 

 sider for a moment the newness of the claims of 

 this science, it may not be surprising. When we 

 consider what was the state of agriculture less 

 than half a century ago in New England, when we 

 run our eye up the scale of time and see the pro- 

 digious, the wonderful improvements, not only in 

 the science, but in every branch of production cre- 

 ated from it, we may feel great pride at the pres- 

 ent position of agriculture in our State. No per- 

 son can pursue scarcely any other branch of indus- 

 try successfully without a long, patient, and careful 

 training for it ; and therefore, it is the more sur- 

 prising, perhaps, that that close attention to the 

 minute details, necessary for the successful prose- 

 cution of agriculiure, has not been so generally 

 given by all who ai-e engaged in its pursuits, which 

 would lead them to see the necessity of greater 

 legislative aid, and individual preparatory study. 



Our State has already extended greater aid than 

 any other, and to-day almost $12,000 is paid from 

 the treasury for the single purpose of ofiering pre- 

 miums for superior excellence in the various branch- 

 es of husbandry. It is also true that before long, 

 far greater attention will be paid to the prelimina- 

 ry education for farming. Our neighboring univer- 

 sity will soon establish an agricultural department 

 by the vast munificence of one of our merchants, 

 and the department will be free to all, and exclu- 

 sively devoted to that particular branch of science^ 

 and I look forward to the day when Massachusetts, 

 although her soil is cold, and her climate rigorous, 

 shall be as much of a garden from the fartherest 

 villages on the Cape, to the hills of Berkshire, as 

 is to-day either Belgium or Old England. We are 

 simply wanderers who are walking up and down 

 by the sands of the broad ocean. Some who have 

 gone before us have picked up, here a pebble, and 

 there a shell, and have drawn wisdom from them, 

 but the boat is not yet built nor launched by which 

 we are to pass to the exploration of the vast ocean 



