The Institute: Its Object and Scope.

A. R. EASTMAN.

At the Pittsford Institute Mr. Eastman acted as conductor. A brief address of welcome was given by Mr. J. M. Wiltsie, after which he introduced Mr. Eastman as Director Smith's substitute. Mr. Eastman said:

Ladies and Gentlemen.-It is a little unfortunate for me that Mr. Wiltsie was compelled to introduce me as a substitute for the director, Mr. Smith, whose duties elsewhere prevent his attendance here. The older members of the audience will remember the days of sixty-two and sixty-three, when the substitute and the man who bought him were both looked upon with suspicion as lacking in genuine patriotism. For fear that his introduction may have conveyed some such impression as to our patriotism, for agriculture and its allied interests, I desire to say that Mr. Smith's heart and soul are in the work, and that notwithstanding I am here as a substitute, I bring with me a sympathy that is deep in love with the work, and which is supported by an inexhaustible supply of hope and faith that we shall be able to overcome many of the difficulties which have confronted us in the past, and in time place agriculture upon a higher plane.

The forces with which we have to contend to-day are far more numerous and more deeply intrenched than were those of thirty years ago. With the advent of each season there seems to arise new difficulties, which call for prompt action and good generalship, and they may be overcome and held in abeyance by that superior power which was given unto man in the proclamation that he "should have dominion."

It is true, as Mr. Wiltsie said in his introductory remarks, that the farmer occupies a very independent position among the other forces. He has in a great measure been sheltered during the past year from the waves of depression which have been wrecking other industries. While the whole country has been passing through the trying ordeal of a great financial depression, yea, almost a cyclone of devastation, in the shutting down of its mines, the closing of its banks and financial institutions, the

stopping of the wheels of industry, and the banking of the fires in the great manufacturing centers, agriculture has been the least disturbed. For months the manufacturing and financial interests of the nation have been so paralyzed that the wisest financiers among us have been wearing sober faces and knitted brows, and when called in consultation have been unable to devise any way or means by which this tide of depression could be checked or turned aside. The cities and manufacturing centers have been filled with starving thousands, who have been supported by public charity. The public highways and lanes have been lined with men asking for work and something to do that they might keep the wolf from the door and the family out of the poorhouse.

While the influence of this depression may have reached the farm, its effect, when brought under the light of comparison, is barely noticeable; and certainly we all realize that the active farmer can always find plenty of work for each day of the year, and when we enter the farm homes, we find the table supplied with all the necessaries and many of the luxuries of life, and the family enjoying an independence that is supreme.

But I must not weary you with moralizing, though there is much upon this line that is directly applicable to occasions like this and which could be profitably considered, but rather confine my talk to the subject assigned to me, "The Object and Scope of the Dairy Institute." Though this is the first institute held at Pittsford I am lead to believe that it is not necessary to explain its object or manner of conducting, for I recognize among those present many who have been in attendance at institutes in other places. I see that you have here, in Pittsford, a fine school building, and understand that it is equipped with all the modern appliances; that you have a good corps of teachers, competent and qualified for the various positions to which the are assigned, with a course of study so outlined that it meets the wants and demands of those who seek its advantages. You are pleased to pay whatever taxes may be levied for the support of the school, for you fully realize the great good which it is doing in your community. You are proud of the opportunity which you have made possible for giving your children such superior advantages for looking into mysteries, which you as a child or student never solved. It is your aim and desire that your children shall have superior advantages and a broader and better education than did you. The part which you have taken in the contest for a posi tion among the other forces has taught you that there is a great need for better work and a broader field for investigation. Of what benefit to your community would be the fine building with all its modern improvements if closed for the lack of patronage?

Of what use the corps of educated teachers or the well arranged curriculum in an empty building? The benefits to be derived are just in proportion to the opportunities accepted and utilized. The necessity for a more thorough and practical education or one more suited to the wants of the times is becoming so apparent and the demand in this direction so imperative that we find many of our best schools and colleges are changing their curriculum so as to meet the wants of patrons by making the course elective and giving special instruction upon special subjects.

The whole trend of educational work at the present time is in special lines. So must it be with those who are to direct the great agricultural and dairy industries of this country. If success is to follow, the directive agency must be under the generalship of men educated and trained with special reference to the field chosen for their operations.

The necessity for a change from the old regime has been apparent for a long time. Past practices in these modern days. have failed to produce satisfactory results among the great mass of dairymen, and for that reason dairy institutes or schools are being held in various sections of the State with the object of stimulating thought and ultimately bettering dairy practices.

The growing interest which is manifested in all these dairy meetings is a surprise even to those who have been identified with them for a series of years. Those sections which in the past have been largely devoted to the growing of grains and the cultivation of fruits are turning their attention to the dairy as a means of getting a larger and better production of grains and fruits, while the older dairy sections seem to be infused with a new life that gives great promise of ample reward for having entered a new field. I do not believe there was ever a time in the history of the dairy industry when there was so great a desire for dairy knowledge or when the dairymen's mind was so receptive, as the present. The multiplication of the dairy press and the thousands of volumes of dairy literature are the direct outcome of the dairy institutes. I venture to say to you that most of those whose heads are no grayer than mine can remember the days when all the butter was made on the farm and disposed of at the stores as the only channel through which it could reach the consuming public; all bringing the same price, and all dumped into the same barrel or box in the cellar to be sorted, reworked and repacked before being shipped to market. Creameries had not even germinated; pound prints in parchment paper, fancy pats and packages, were unknown in those days. Private customers and special markets had not been thought of. Fancy prices for special dairies had hardly been conceived by the most progressive imagination, and quality was only a minor feature.

From those early days up to the present, there has been a growing demand by the great consuming public (whose critical tastes and peculiarities we must acquiese in) for something better, superior in quality and possessing a high, quick flavor, firm in texture, and that it should be delivered fresh from the churn each day in the year. The dairyman who fails to meet any one of these requirements will come just so much short of reaching the dock upon which stands the consumer, with money in hand ready to pay for the cargo.

One of the objects of the dairy institute is to assist the dairymen in remodeling their dairy husbandry so as to meet the wants and demands of the consuming public who pay for the product, and consequently have a right to dictate as to quality and the style in which it shall be put upon the market. If we will only show a little good judgment and exercise that tact and business sense that we see so often displayed in so many ways by men in other callings, we shall get our forces so deployed that we can meet the demand for butter fresh from the churn in winter as well as in summer, with or without salt, in pound prints inclosed in parchment paper, or paper with a gilt edge in fancy packages; in fact in any way the consumer may desire, so long as he is willing to pay a remunerative or fancy price.

To meet these demands and reach a financial success, we shall be obliged to exercise greater skill in the mechanical, and display broader intelligence in the executive departments of our dairy husbandry. I do not believe that these requisites will come to us either by intuition or legislation, but rather through study and the close application of business sense. A broader intelligence will give us a better knowledge of the various breeds of our dairy stock. Where, how and for what purpose and under what conditions they have been bred and developed, and what the records they have made. The progressive dairymen, those who have become expert and are conducting a successful business, acknowledge the importance of all these features, and say to us they must be recognized by all who enter into competition.

Much dissatisfaction has been expressed in the past at the small returns received for the products of the dairy, as they have not been commensurate with the capital invested and labor required. Instead of looking for the cause of the trouble, which was deep rooted in the management, they have unjustly sought to lodge the greater portion of these complaints against the cows. Vast sums of money have been expended within the past twenty years for new breeds, believing that the desideratum could be found in that direction. From the Northland came wonderous stories of a breed of cows whose milk-giving powers were unlimited; from the islands of the sea, a romance about

cows so constituted that their entire product was solid butter fats, and from the Alps came whispers of a breed that combined both these essentials. From almost the first importation up to the present time there has been a general rush among the dairymen of the country to obtain these breeds, honestly believ ing that in them they would find their mascot.

For the masses this vast expenditure of money has proven unprofitable, and the results obtained disappointing, while to the few it has proven a grand investment, and the results far more satisfactory than the imagination, had pictured. In ninety per cent. of those cases which have resulted in failure and disappointment, the cause can be traced to a lack of appreciation (on the part of the purchaser) of the skill and care which had been bestowed upon these various breeds for hundreds of years, and on the other hand the measure of success has been commensurate with this knowledge and appreciation, that the greatest intelligence in breeding and feeding is back of these breeds, and that they are the handiwork of men skilled in the art. If we are to get the maximum yields in either milk or butter production, we must make the conditions such as to meet the natural requirements of these breeds. The power of heredity is far reaching, and should be more fully understood than it is.

The scope of the institute is to agitate and discuss all these questions and through this medium to awaken a greater interest, infuse new thoughts and ideas into the minds of the dairymen as well as new and better blood into the veins of the dairy cow. Instead of depending so much upon imported stock to replenish our dairies, I think it would be wiser, and within a short time prove more profitable, if we would breed them by making selections of dams from our best native stock. We would certainly have stronger and more robust constitutions, and we would also have the additional advantage of having cows that are inured to our changing climate and varied conditions.

It is said that one of the masterpieces of the sculptor's art is the statue of David, and that it was carved by Michael Angelo from marble that had been rejected as unfit for use by his brother artists. As Angelo saw in that rejected marble the masterpiece, so do I see in the rejected and neglected native cow, the master dairy cow of the world, fashioned by the hands of our progressive dairymen.

The officer who stands with perfect confidence upon the bridge of the great transatlantic steamer, and shapes her course while ploughing through the open sea and battling against storm and tempest, is only too glad when entering port to give way to the pilot whose superior knowledge of the channel and the location. of the dangerous rocks and reefs, will enable him to bring her