88 OXFORD SOCIETY. 



EXTRACTS FIIOM AN ADllllESS 



Delivered before the Oxford County AgiiciiUural Society, by N. T. Tuue, M. D. 



One tear ao;o, I attended an a^-ricii]tii»'al cou^eronoe in tliis 

 county, wliere men, wlio really had the Icavsl to do witli agricul- 

 tural operations, were inclined to say the most, respecting what 

 ought to be done. Near me sat an intelligent looking farmer, 

 who w]HS[)ered, and explained to me how he cultivated his 

 great crop of corn. I requested him to rise, and tell us all 

 about it. '•' Oh !" said he, " I am no speaker." 



Now, gentlemen, I am standing here to-day only to be the 

 organ ol" thai fai-mer, and hundreds of others, who can raise 

 better crops of corn than I can, or, at least, than I do, but who 

 have not the courage to inform others how it is done. One of 

 the most striking observations that I liave ever made, is the 

 low opinion which the really successful farmer has of what he 

 is doing, when called upon io express his opinions in public, or 

 even in private conversation. I never spend a single lialf-hour 

 with the man of oi-dinary intelligence, without hearing froiii him 

 some valuable idea, instructive to myself, and wortliy of an 

 article In Ihe farmer's paper; but, were J. to intimate such a 

 thing to him, he would be sure to stare at me with 'astonish- 

 ment, and regard the subject as unworthy of notice. So varied 

 are the different operations in agriculture, that every farmer 

 has ideas of his own wJiich are often original, and valuable. 

 What I shall say to you on the present occasion may prove to 

 be mostly made up of opinions expressed among yourselves in 

 my intercourse among you ; for you may not be aware, that, 

 ■within one year, I have listened to fifty or more agricultural 

 addresses in this county. Some of them were delivered by my 

 neighbor's fireside, others in his garden, orchard, or cornfield, 

 just where I could find speakers, there have I been to listen. 

 And be assured, gentlemen, that some of the speakers were 



