58 MAINE STATE SOCIETY. 



No pursuit demands more scientific learning, or aflfords wider 

 scope for all the powers of discriminating minds^ than that of the 

 husbandman ; and it is a great and poisonous error to class his call- 

 ing among those which need but little education on mental acumen. 

 Chemistry would teach him to analyze the soil he tills and the crop 

 it produces ; telling him how to supply what is deficient or reduce 

 what is redundant. Zoology and entomology would give him the 

 mastery over the countless tribes of insects that annually prey not 

 only upon the vegetable but upon the animal kingdom ; revealing 

 their nature and habits, and suojcrestinor antidotes for their ravag-es. 

 Animal anatomy and physiology would aid him in providing for the 

 comfort and nourishment of the animals he keeps, and in guarding 

 them against the diseases and injuries to which they are so constantly 

 exposed. These branches of science, to which many others might 

 be added, emphatically belong to the farmer. They were given him 

 in Eden by the Being who assigned him his pursuit, and he will be 

 held accountable for the improvement made of them. 



The last half century has been more prolific than any other age 

 of the world, in plans for the advancement of agriculture. Its steady 

 and healthy progress during this period, and the numerous valuable 

 inventions and discoveries secured, emphatically mark this as the 

 Golden Age of agriculture. Its impulses are all "onward and 

 upward ; " and in proportion to its progress, is its advancement in 

 the esteem and honor of the world. The great motive power to this 

 result is education. The philanthropist urges it upon all; the 

 statesman advocates it as the corner stone of political safety ; and 

 the merchant marks it as the basis of all financial prosperity. But 

 not till the farmers appreciate its importance to their own interests 

 will they become an educated class. This they will do only when 

 the kind of education proposed is adapted to their pursuits and inter- 

 ests. Then study will daily be enlivened by proofs and illustrations, 

 and courage will be drawn from increased crops and happier homes. 

 A nation is not born in a day, nor will this great object be accom- 

 plished in a year. Its progress will continue to be slow, but sure. 

 The means of education are at every door and around every fire- 

 side. Only a desire for it is wanting, and this must come through 

 the channel of interest. In this direction it comes to all other 

 classes, and why not to the farmer ? Let him find education profit- 



