190 N. II. STATE AGRICm.TUIlAL SOCIETY. 



peace ; nor of the -svise Cato, whose successful cultiration 

 of the earth gave him the honor of being the best farmer 

 of his age ; nor of Fabius, and LentuUis and the eloquent 

 Cicero, whose family names are said to have been derived 

 from agricultural plants, which they or their ancestors 

 were successful in producing. But I must not omit to 

 mention the great poet whose name is immortalized in the 

 production of the Georgics. Virgil's meadows, on the 

 banks of the Mincio, in whose culture his hands o-rew hard 

 and his mind became strong, furnished him the material for 

 his practical poem on the cultivation of the soil. 



In modern times, agriculture has been practiced and 

 patronized by the best and wisest men in all nations. In 

 the reign of Henry the Eighth, Sir Anthony Fitz Herbert, 

 a man in high official position, appealed as the author of 

 the first practical treatise on husbandry, ever published in 

 England ; and from that day to the present have England's 

 most distinguished men engaged in rural labors. King 

 George, the Third, delighted in no title more than that of 

 Farmer George, and at the present day, Prince Albert is 

 doing more for agriculture in the kingdom, than for any 

 other industrial calling. He not only manifests his respect 

 for the farmer's occupation by appearing at farmer's festi- 

 vals, but is noted as a breeder of stock and often becomes 

 a competitor for prizes, with the humblest laborer in the 

 realm. " Britons of every class, venerate the plow. A 

 taste for agriculture, and the love of country life, are the 

 prominent attributes of the national character. AVhether 

 a banker amasses a collossal fortune, or a modest trades- 

 man gets a little beforehand in the world, the ambition of 

 each is to be a landed proprietor; and Lord Overstone 

 and ^Ir. Meclii become equally the patrons and promoters 

 of agricultural improvements." 



At home, our most distinguished men have sprung from 

 the farm, and in tlieir early days were inured to labor. 

 None of our presidents, none of our eminent statesmen, it 



