but, if you have any old horse blanket or anything that will absorb hot water, wrap her up in it from her head to her tail, and my word for it she will get well, if you take it in

season.

I am sure you have all been perfectly delighted with the exceedingly interesting and admirable lecture which Governor Hoard has given us upon the dairy cow, and therefore I move a vote of thanks.

The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

Mr. WARE. I would like to ask the governor if he can explain the relation between the nervous condition of a cow in milk-fever, and another cure, which is a pint of rum. One dose is usually sufficient, but a second one is sure to cure. Now, this is a nervous condition, and rum taken by individuals puts them in a nervous condition. I would like to know whether there is any relation between the two, according to the homoeopathic theory of medicine that "like cures like." Rum will produce a nervous condition perhaps different from the nervous condition of a cow in milk-fever, and the remedy I have suggested is a sure cure. Bear it in mind, gentlemen. If you have a cow taken with milk-fever, give her a pint of rum, or whiskey will do; you may repeat the dose in four hours, and you will save your cow. Is there any relation between the nervous condition and the remedy or cure?

Governor HOARD. The only difficulty I see in that is, that up in our country the man would get it, and the cow would go without. But, speaking soberly, I do not know that I ever heard of that remedy. I never had but one case of milk-fever, which occurred in a very valuable Guernsey cow last spring. I should never have had that if I had been attending to my own business, instead of that of the people of Wisconsin. I have always been enabled to prevent it when I have had a chance to look after my own cattle. So far as the symptoms of the rum are concerned, I am reminded of a story. We had in our State a very wicked fellow by the name of Luke Taylor, and he used to get into that same milk-fever condition which you speak of. He met a fellow, a stranger to him, one day on the steamboat going up to St. Paul, and they both got in that same feverish condition.

Finally the stranger slapped him on the back, and says, "I will bet ten dollars you are a Democrat.' Luke says,

66

"

My friend, don't you bet; you will lose your money. I have got all the symptoms, but I have not got the disease." That is the only relation between the remedy and the symptoms that I have ever heard of.

Mr. STOCKWELL. .After the words of introduction by His Excellency, which have been re-enforced by the words of the lecturer of the evening, I make no apology for introducing the following resolution for the approval of the Board, if so it sees fit:

Resolved, That the Board of Agriculture in session assembled hereby petition the Legislature to enact an efficient law for the protection and advancement of the dairy interests, and to punish fraudulent sales of oleomargarine colored in imitation of genuine butter, and requests its secretary to act for the Board in promoting such legislation.

The question was put on the adoption of the resolution, and it was unanimously carried.

On motion of Dr. Loring, the Board adjourned to Wednesday morning, at ten o'clock.

SECOND DAY.

The morning session of the second day of the winter meeting of the State Board of Agriculture opened at ten o'clock on December 3, Mr. HARTSHORN in the chair.

The CHAIRMAN. .I have the pleasure of introducing to you Dr. G. M. TWITCHELL of Fairfield, Me., who will speak to you on "Some Conditions for Success in New England Agriculture."

SOME CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS IN NEW ENGLAND

AGRICULTURE.

BY DR. G. M. TWITCHELL, FAIRfield, Me.

I have selected the above as a suggestive topic, around which I may, if possible, gather a few thoughts of interest to the practical farmers present. Agriculture, in New England to-day, is in a peculiar condition It is passing through a crucial period. The past decade has witnessed wonderful progress in the arts and sciences, and these, with the inventive genius of the age, have been poured out to cheapen in every way the cost of living.

As all food and raiment come from the soil, and the products thereof, it follows naturally that, with every step tending to decrease the cost of the manufactured article, additional burdens are placed upon the producer of the raw material. This is inevitable, and hence, in considering this question, cannot be ignored.

To secure all that is possible, a great network of iron bands has been stretching out in every direction, all over this continent. The voice of man has been passing under the great waters, and heard in the remotest corners of the globe. Commerce, with its white sails and giant wheels, has been cutting broad channels in the mighty deep, and all the forces of earth, air and sea have been combining to bless

the world, add to its wealth, and bring comforts to the door of the humblest laborer. That there is a Providence in all this, no one doubts. The toilers of the old world look to America, as the child does upon the fairy lands of the imagination. Through the massing of all the agents of nature, under the guidance of the wonderful brain of man, the products of the earth are brought within the reach of the humblest. At the same time the lines, formerly so marked, which indicate the difference between profit and loss, have been drawing together. The conditions already noticed have been instrumental in this, so that to-day the cry going up from the farm-homes of New England is, "What and where are the conditions for success?"

The great West, with its vastness of land and products, is knocking at our doors, and coming in direct competition with our farms. The extremes of the earth wait only a slight fluctuation to pour in their surplus by and through the doors which commerce is opening. Thus blessings on the one hand seem to be curses on the other, and to-day we are forced to turn from our labors, and seek avenues of relief. How can these be found?

In the business world about us the same condition prevails. These railroads, telegraph lines, cables and vessels have been massing the products of the globe, and competition has been hemming men in, on every hand, until to-day, those who have failed to watch the drift of trade, to keep pace with the times, to observe the conditions and appreciate the situation, are crying, "Show us the way to success." The laws underlying business remain the same, but the conditions have changed.

Competition, which is the life of trade, has been crushing with its giant power those who failed to keep pace in the race, and wrecks are to be seen all along the highway. Wealth is being rapidly added to the country, but the bulk is being concentrated into the hands of those whose fingers are on the public pulse, and who trim their sails to catch every change in the winds of trade. To-day, in the great centres, the margins are so narrow that, had they prevailed ten years ago under conditions then controlling, no man could have withstood the storm. In the quiet of our rural homes,

watching the drift in agricultural circles, we do not realize what competition means in the great marts of trade; and, failing here, do not apply the lessons as we should. I say, again, the man who enters business to-day, observing closely the conditions and standards of ten years ago, invites ruin, and will be sure of a permanent guest. Profits have been dropping, dropping, dropping, by reason of competition, until now they are found in the mills, not cents, and in the discounts for cash.

Right here may be found one of the conditions for success. If, as I have attempted to show, the margins on farm products have been dropping because of competition, the first lesson seems naturally to be to combine in competing for what may be secured. Right or wrong, and the justice or injustice of the question, we will not pause to discuss; competition must meet competition, combinations must be made against combinations, organizations must be pitted against organizations; and here is the first condition for success to which I would urge attention. In the few minutes allotted me, I can only hint at thoughts I would be pleased to elaborate. All through the business world men are turning to organization as a means of relief. Boards of trade, trusts, brotherhoods, trade unions, all these but represent the same idea, that through co-operation a mutual coming together better results may be secured.

I am not here to-day to speak especially for organization, though it must be reckoned one of the first conditions for success; but I should be false to every consideration, false to my obligations to my brother farmers, false to my manhood, if I failed to call attention to the grand work which the order of Patrons of Husbandry is doing in my own State, and the assistance it has been to farmers in helping solve this great problem. My life for the past few years has largely been spent on the farms, and in the farm-homes of Maine; and wherever the grange has established its home, and lifted its halls, as it has all over the State, it has not only offered the opportunity, but, by the faithful labors of the patrons, it is securing substantial results. You may have your farmers' clubs or other organizations; but I tell you farmers of New England that to-day more can be