No. 112 ] 41 • , 



of local or national affairs. If, actuated by an honorable ambition 

 we seek a useful position in society, we will in all respects en- 

 deavor to create on all subjects, a sound public sentiment, and we 

 shall find the effort like the quality of mercy, "twice blessed." 



In this address I have given a brief sketch of the early periods 

 of farming in this country and of some of the business and social 

 peculiarities which resulted from its condition and the want of 

 extensive markets for its productions; and I have endeavored to 

 show the changes in the principles of agricultural management 

 which our present facilities for disposing of the fruits of our labor 

 have rendered necessary : that our new relationship to the com- 

 merce of the world, has made an enlarged degree of intelligence 

 on the part of our farmers, respecting commercial principles, es- 

 sential to the successful conduct of their business : that however 

 great our natural or acquired advantages may be, they alone will 

 not sustain us against foreign or domestic competition, but reli- 

 ance must be placed only upon the intelligence and industry of 

 the cultivators of the soil ; and above all, that success in this 

 pursuit, as in all others, depends in a great degree upon the estima- 

 tion in which this most noble and important occupation is held by 

 themselves and the community at large. It is this last consider- 

 ation that has induced the officers and members of this Society to 

 devote themselves to its concerns and the toil incident to such 

 exhibitions as those we see around us. They feel that it has 

 been true at all times, in all conditions of society, that those 

 pursuits are successfully prosecuted wliich are held in high e:?teem 

 by Society at large. It is to manifest this regard that the Execu- 

 tive of our State, its public officers and other distinguished men 

 from all parts of our country have attended on this occasion. It 

 is this consideration tliat has induced me to appear before you to- 

 day, conscious of my inability to instruct this auilience on the 

 processes of farming, although I am somewhat engaged in its con- 

 cerns, to make the remarks I have submitted to yon. They may 

 be unst^und and valueless but lliey are itl'tred iis a Iril ute to the 

 importance, the dignity and value uf the farmer's occupa ion. 



