No. 112.] ^ 481 



farmers only one hundred and forty of them became members of 

 the society the first year, being an average of only seven to a 

 town. The residue of memberships were made up of mechanics, 

 merchants and others not directly interested in agriculture. 

 This is a burning shame to the society or to the farmers of our 

 county, and one that requires immediate reformation. We hear 

 a great deal said by politicians about the honest, intelligent, in- 

 corruptible yeomanry, and other high-sounding phrases, especi- 

 ally as the day of election draws near. As I am no politician, 

 or at least office-seeker, I can aiford and am willing to tell you 

 the truth, which is, that in my opinion too large a number of our 

 farmers are utterly unqualified by their prejudices, their educa- 

 tion, their habits of thought, their excessive narrow-mindedness 

 to appreciate the advantages of being liberal in all things. They 

 are illiberal to their stock in stinting their amount of food, 

 illiberal to their broad acres in denying them abundance ot fer- 

 tilizing manure, illiberal to their families in not b.ying before 

 them the fullness of the fountains of agricultural and general 

 knowledge, illiberal to themselves by shutting themselves out of 

 agricultural societies and other institutions adapted for their own 

 advancement, illiberal to their own souls in not expanding them 

 into some geniality of goodness and greatness. I speak plainly, 

 but facts and observation warrant it, and I often rejoice that 

 some of these men do not cause the sun to shine or rain to fall, 

 for if they did, none but their own limited possessions would 

 receive the warmth of the one and the fructifying power of the 

 other. There is no esj)rit da corps among farmers. Merchants 

 band together for their common good, mechanics do the same. 

 Professional men have their associations ; in fact, every class 

 thinks of helping themselves by helj)ing each other, but the 

 farmers. But to all tliis there are highly honorable exceptions. 

 Scattered over our county are intelligent, upright farmers, who 

 have succeeded in their own case in making their calling honor- 

 able, and devote freely of their own time in the laudable desire 

 of assisting their fellows. Some of them attend punctually the 

 meetings of this society, others contribute to its annual exhi- 

 bitions, not caring whetlier a premium will fall to their lot ;, 

 [Ag. Tr. '53 ] F F 



