ib(') Bureau of Fakmeks' Institutes. 



the past, that the national life has been kept vigorous and pure. 

 Shall it continue to be so in the new and perilous future which is 

 dawning? With you farmers, more than with any other class, 

 rests the answer to that question, and the farmers of this great 

 Empire State have a potential influence in shaping the destiny 

 of America more decisive than those of any other State in the 

 Union. The mortgage on the farm, and the incoming foreign ten- 

 ant, mark the decadence of the class of citizens who have been 

 the great balance wheel in our social and political life, the inde- 

 pendent owners of the soil they till. 



" There is a tide in the affairs of men which taken at its flood, 

 leads on to fortune and to fame." The incoming tide of material 

 prosperity is rolling in on us as a people. Let the farmers seize 

 the opportunity it offers. Let the lessons of experience keep them 

 from being swept away in the popular current of extravagance 

 and speculation. Let higher intelligence and enterprise lift the 

 noble calling of husbandry to a level with the learned professions 

 in popular estimation. Let the farm life be made attractive to 

 young men by substituting the lyceum and the literary club, for 

 the nail keg and the three-legged stool in the grocery store. Let 

 the farmer look beyond the boundaries of his own paternal 

 estate and understand that his interests are involved in the 

 general intelligence and enterprise of the community in which 

 he lives. Let him understand that good roads are equally a fac- 

 tor in his success with well-kept stock, or well-ploughed fields. 

 Intelligence, enterprise, public spirit — let these be the watch 

 words of the grange and the characteristics of the church. Then 

 hand in hand and heart to heart they will move forward to shape 

 a destiny for our country which shall make her the renowned 

 of earth and the greatest factor in peopling Heaven. 



