No. 105.] 35 



the benefit of his creatures ; but having endowed man with the faculty 

 of reason, he has in his wisdom left many of these benefits undeve- 

 loped for the purpose of exercising their reason, and calling forth that 

 skill which would otherwise be dormant and useless/' " Education is 

 also essentially necessary to draw forth the physical powers of man, 

 and to enable him to execute with skill works in which the mind has 

 but little share." 



It must be admitted, that in the system of education which has been 

 pursued in this State, the agricultural has at least in a measure been 

 overlooked. The candidate for the pulpit, the bar, and the medical 

 profession, has been trained with special reference to his profession in 

 life — but the farmer has been instructed in the ordinary branches of 

 education, and no proper effort has been made to secure to him such 

 an education as would suitably prepare him for the profession to which 

 his life is to be devoted. It seems to hav^ been taken for granted, 

 that the farmer was in need of no peculiar attention as regarded the 

 cultivation of his mind and the improvement of his powers. 



I am aware that a prejudice has long been entertained as to learned 

 farmers, as if science and the cultivation of the noble powers with 

 which God has endowed us, if rightly directed, would unfit a man 

 for one of the first employments under heaven, the cultivation of 

 ^he soil. There is no occupation, it is believed, in which scientific 

 knowledge can more extensively be rendered useful than in agricul- 

 ture. There are those who have strong objections to what they call 

 hook farming, and will not adopt any favorable methods which have 

 proved successful until years, it may be, after their utility has been 

 established. This class, however, it is believed, is diminishing. 

 The agricultural associations which are extending to almost every 

 county in the State, are exerting a salutary influence upon those who 

 are intelligent and observing. Our young men are availing themselves 

 of the experience of others, and the comparisons instituted by them 

 between different systems of farming which prevail throughout the 

 State, lead them in many cases to adopt such as appears best adapted 

 to their location. 



To encourage and sustain these men to increase their numbers and 

 add to their influence, we desire to see our agricultural population 

 properly instructed. A writer has said, " Science, by which is to 

 be understood that knowledge which is founded upon the principles 

 of nature, illustrated by demonstration, is the pilot that must steer 



