128 WISCONSIN AGEICULTURE. 



crops, and knows nothing of the times, seasons and other mys- 

 teries of agriculture, is unfit for either a laborer or an overseer 

 upon a farm — and this is the reason so many make but a sorry 

 speculation in this business, who retire from other pursuits with 

 which they are acquainted, and to which they are suited by edu- 

 cation and practice, and adopt this as a kind of peaceful seclu- 

 sion from the toils and cares of life. 



Agriculture of this day is a s.ience, as well as an art, and has 

 its library of booI:s of chemistry and philosophy, its newspa- 

 pers and periodicals, its scientific schools and societies, and all 

 are open to the intelligent farmers, which render it unnecessary 

 upon an occasion like this, to read a thesis, either scientific or 

 practical, upon any of its various branches, and therefore I have 

 sought rather to treat the subject in its more general aspects and 

 bearings in this address. Finally this vocation has its pleasures 

 and enjoyments, which are not common to others. 



The farmer's life is surrounded with substantial comforts and 

 simple luxuries, which he could not j^urchase, as their highest 

 value consists in being the product of his own labor and care. 

 His crowded barns and granaries, and well filled larder, his 

 herbs and fraits, and flocks and herds, place him above the 

 reach of want. His lands are rich and well enclosed, and 

 he proudly walks them in the daily round of duty, with 

 manly and conscious independence. He yearly pays back to 

 the exhausted soil, the chemical ingredients extracted in the 

 perfection of his crops, and has too much foresight to overtask 

 and exhaust the generous earth, so bountiful in yielding up her 

 substance, without a returning recompense. His house is con- 

 structed for comfort and convenience, rather than for show and 

 ornament, and the neat enclosures of yard and garden, bear, in 

 every shrub, tree, vine, and flower, the evidence of his refine- 

 ment and his taste. The affectionate intercourse of friends, of 

 family, and of kindred, cheer his rural home and peaceful fire- 

 side, and he is content with the world, and satisfied with his 

 portion of its enjoyments. Books and contemplation store his 

 mind with the rich treasures of knowledge, and while he enjoys 

 the full fruition of his material condition and estate, his percep- 



