No. 4.] AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS. 253 



appear. He chose to follow the methods which had heen 

 tried not only hy himself but by those "who had gone before 

 him, — methods that had produced enough for his subsist- 

 ence, not realizing or even thinking of the demands which 

 the development of the country in the near future would 

 make upon the agricultural industries. The promoters were 

 regarded as visionary, and, had they lived to- day, would be 

 called cranks. It is a notable fact that almost every new 

 enter])rise or impnn ement, in whatever direction, has been 

 promulgated or introduced by those Avho are considered 

 cranks, — whose ideas it would not do to adopt or follow 

 until thorough investigation and demonstration had proved 

 their usefulness. 



Farmers as a class are even at the present day slow to adopt 

 new ideas, — not because they are less intelligent, but more 

 conservative. A large part of the farms are situated away 

 from the marts of business, and the necessity of giving his 

 attention closely to the business on the farm takes and 

 keeps him away to an extent from the whirlpool of business, 

 and the defiant go-a-headitiveness which characterizes the 

 congregation of people in town and city. His business and 

 his surroundings have a tendency to make him conserva- 

 tive ; and, while farmers as a class may be regarded as 

 slow, the dependence placed upon them by those engaged in 

 other industries is second to none in the community, State 

 or nation. To their conservatism as individuals may be 

 attril)uted the stability of their organizations. Societies 

 organized a century ago, still in existence and doing good 

 work, are evidences of this fact. 



The charters of most agricultural societies state that they 

 were organized to promote agriculture and the mechanic 

 arts in the communities where they are located, terms broad 

 enough to cover the several kinds or lines of agriculture 

 and allied industries, wherever formed. The object of 

 their establishment was a commendable one. Their worth 

 and influence upon communities and people, wherever lo- 

 cated, can never be counted or even estimated. While 

 those most intimately and closely connected with them have 

 received the most and greatest benefit, as the pebble thrown 

 into the pool, creating a large ripple at fiirst, continues its 



