34 [Senate, 



sion to enable us to carry out our desires, in such a manner as will be 

 worthy of the society and the State. 



There is, if I do not entirely mistake the feeling which is abroad 

 among the farmers, an increasing importance attached to the advance- 

 ment of agriculture in this State. The application of science to the 

 pursuits of the farmer is not only practicable, but it is being applied in 

 such a manner as to satisfy the most incredulous of its important bear- 

 ing upon this great interest. Farmers are beginning to feel that their 

 sons should be furnished with all that information which is so abso- 

 lutely necessary to enable them to avail themselves of all the improve- 

 ments of the age. It cannot be denied, that very many of the im- 

 provements in agriculture have been made by men of science. There 

 are fields before us, however, yet to be explored, and much to be 

 learned, and we must mainly rely upon the researches of science to 

 unfold to us advantages which have been hidden from us. 



Education is to form a prominent part in preparing the way for 

 future improvements ; and it must be an education eminently practical 

 to secure the desired results. The necessity of educating rightly our 

 young men, who are to become not merely tillers of the soil, but many 

 of them representatives in your congressional and legislative halls, 

 must be obvious to every reflecting mind. In securing such an educa- 

 tion, different opinions will be entertained as to the best means to be 

 adopted. This furnishes no sufficient reason why we should not make 

 an early effort on the subject, to accomplish an object of such unspeak- 

 able importance to our best interests, and to the welfare and prosperity 

 of our country. 



The general diff"usion of education throughout our State has greatly 

 improved our moral and social condition, and the farmers with others 

 have enjoyed and been benefitted by these opportunities. The farmer, 

 however, is occupying a position in society the most important to the 

 well being of our country. His influence therefore for good or evil 

 is to have a most lasting as well as important bearing on its condition 

 for all time to come. The farmer should have placed within his reach 

 such advantages for the cultivation of his mind and of obtaining know- 

 ledge useful to him in his profession, so as to furnish him with that 

 practical information which will enable him rightly to dischar re his 

 high and responsible duties. It has been well said that the Almighty 

 has graciously provided every thing in the world that can conduce to 



