158 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



The greatest improvement, however, may be made in the men- 

 tal culture and professional training of the farmers themselves ; 

 in the doing away with old-time prejudices, in accepting the 

 proffered aid of mechanics and science, with minds properly 

 prepared to put it into practical use. If we wander upon the 

 hills, back from the river towns, we find marks and tracks speak- 

 ing as plainly of bygone ages as those treasured in the Hitch- 

 cock cabinet, but of a very different sort. We cannot put new 

 wine into old bottles, neither can we expect the old men grown 

 gray in the ways of their fathers to change their system. We 

 must look to the young men. It is for them to infuse life into 

 their profession, and impart to it the inspiration of the nine- 

 teenth century. Let the farmers of this county see to it that 

 their sons are afforded every facility to enjoy the advantages of 

 the liberal scientific training afforded by their own College, — 

 that annually she may send from her halls back to the old home- 

 stead, graduates who can stand on a perfect equality with other 

 educated men, and by their intelligence, industry and success 

 command for agriculture the appreciation it deserves. 



Massachusetts Agricultural College, Sept. 1st, 1871. 



