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attain moderate success in any manufacturing business, but 

 if a man has no eye for the form, or insight into the char- 

 acter of an animal, he can never become a successful 

 breeder. But I have seldom seen a Yankee boy brought 

 up on a farm that lacked these qualities, and it is for him 

 that I am talking. That the same environment which 

 gives excellence to to the lower animals affects also the 

 human family, the history of the great and good men who 

 have originated in New England attests. 



A great work has been done by this society in educating 

 farmers and in inspiring them with an enthusiasm for their 

 calling, a still greater is to be accomplished. Our Agricul- 

 tural colleges have not served the purposes for which they 

 were founded. Any special education is too narrow to 

 properly equip a man as a first rate farmer. Our best 

 Universities, founded on broad and liberal principles, and 

 not limited in their scope, confer no knowledge that is 

 thrown away upon a farmer. Let a man's early education 

 however, be what it may, nothing so helps him in his ])racti- 

 cal work as a i'armer as the opportunity afforded him by our 

 Agricultural Societies for coming in contact and in compe- 

 tition with his fellow workers. The great work before us 

 is to stimulate to the utmost tliis competition.. 



The plan adopted l)y the founders of this society and 

 rigidly adhered to since, of holding our Fairs in different 

 parts of the county, is one, the wisdom of which cannot be 

 questioned, keeping alive, as it does, the interest of every 

 section. But it is an undoubted fact that many of the best ani- 

 mals in the county are seldom seen at our shows. To devise 



