364 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



But, notwitlistandiug the advance which has already been 

 made, much — very much — yet remains to be done. The farm- 

 ers and those immediately dependent upon them, constitute a 

 very large proportion of the population of the State. When 

 they are prosperous, all other classes must share their prosperity. 

 Thus the farming interest has a right to call upon all to aid it 

 in the development of the resources of the soil, and, by the aid 

 of systematic knowledge, founded on a basis of unimpeachable 

 facts, to direct its industry into the most proper channels. I 

 know of no better means of advancing practical agriculture than 

 the formation and energetic support of agricultural societies of 

 various kinds. To them we are to look for improvement in the 

 science and practice of agriculture. They bring men together 

 engaged in the same pursuits and striving for the same object. 

 All hearts beat in unison, and men meet to learn and to com- 

 municate, to observe and to show. By far the largest part of 

 our most valuable practical knowledge is gained in our inter- 

 course with our fellow men. Knowledge acquired in this way 

 is as much more effective than knowledge drawn from books, as 

 the impressions made by the human voice, and the human soul, 

 speaking in it, are more effective than those made through the 

 eye. 



The government very wisely encourages these associations, 

 paying annually the liberal sum of more than ten thousand dol- 

 lars, to be distributed in premiums, with the simple condition 

 that every agricultural society which shall receive this bounty, 

 shall offer annually such premiums and encouragement for the 

 raising and preserving of oaks and other forest trees, as they 

 shall think proper and best adapted to perpetuate within the 

 State an adequate supply of ship timber. 



Yet, with all the great and acknowledged advantages of the 

 county societies, their meetings must necessarily be unfrequent. 

 Farmers live scattered all over the country, on every hill-side 

 and in every valley. They are isolated from each other. They 

 cannot act in concert and harmony. The merchant meets his 

 fellow merchant to discuss the state of trade, to buy and sell 

 and to keep up with his own business. He studies the fluctua- 

 tions of the market with the same care and eagerness that the 

 scholar studies his books. 



But the town meeting is too often the only place where the 



