560 [Assembly 



But so long as it is conducted without order, system, or regard to 

 neatnesSj without the application of chemistry to the tillage of 

 the soil, or of mechanics to the perfecting of the implements of 

 husbandry, in order to lighten the labor of the producer ; so long 

 we must expect that our aspiring young men will forsake this 

 handmaid of national prosperity and virtue, and wed themselves 

 to satins and broadcloth, to the musty folios of a law office, or 

 even to the offensive nostruras'of a drug shop, rather than inherit 

 the free breezes, the fresh flowers, the limpid springs of their pa- 

 ternal estates. There is nothing to interest one in the life of a 

 mere drudge. If it is a fact, as some will still insist, that it re-- 

 quires no intelligence to till the soil and develop its resources, 

 then its interests must be and ought to be committed to the igno- 

 rant and uninformed. How can we expect that earnest, thinking 

 men, will be satisfied with an employment that affords no play to 

 their energy and intelligence '? 



It is but a few years since this fallacious impression has begun 

 to disappear. It is now being understood, that in order to the 

 highest, or even to moderate success in farming, a high order of 

 intelligence is requisite. It is no longer a question, whether ag- 

 riculture is worthy of the attention of the most gifted minds, or 

 whether an education adapted to its successful prosecution is de- 

 sirable. These are settled points, at least w^i h the observing and 

 thoughtful. And they have been settled, mainly by the influence 

 of those who have been earliest connected with, and most earnest- 

 ly engaged in promoting agricultural associations. Their connec- 

 tion with and interest in those societies, have stimulated them to 

 devote their best energies to increase the productions of the soi!, 

 to secure the best and most profitable stock, to encourage the in- 

 vention of the most perfect, convenient, labor-saving implements. 



They have sought information, they have put their lands in the 

 best possible condition ; they have made accurate experiments as 

 to the best modes of cultivation ; they have estimated the art of 

 securing the largest crops, compared with the expense of the 

 meager gleanings of an unenlightened husbandry ; and have pre- 

 - sented the final results of their labors and experiments before ag- 

 ricultural gatherings at the annual fairs. Their results, it is well 



