413 STATE BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



the head of turn piked roads, and will need no further discussion here, as under- 

 drains could possibly do no good. 



BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 



If detailed instructions in the formation of underdrains are needed, the reader 

 is referred to Draining for Profit and Health, by Geo. Waring, and to French's 

 Farm Drainage, both of which works are published by Judd & Co., New York. 

 In the Report of the Michigan State Board of Agriculture for 1873 there is au 

 article, well illustrated, by Prof. M. Miles, entitled Improvements in Tile Lay- 

 ing, which is well worth careful study. 



ADDRESS BY HON. A. B. MAYNARD AT THE ARMADA FAIR, 



OCTOBER 4, 5, 6, 1876. 



It would be the merest affectation on my part to attempt to instruct a society 

 of practical farmers in the business of agriculture, and should 1 venture to sug- 

 gest the results of my limited experience, I fear the profit and loss account 

 would not be inviting ; but a business of such vast importance to all classes, and 

 of such controlling influence on the welfare of the nation, deserves the encour- 

 agement of all. We recognize the fact that its products are the foundation of 

 all our material prosperity ; that they are the substratum of all other industries, 

 and the success of all others depend upon them. Our commercial, manufac- 

 turing, and mechanical employments all rest upon and are supported by them. 

 It is the business that stands in the front rank of all others, — is the main pillar 

 in the edifice, — absolute in necessity and highest in utility. 



Without, then, any instructive experience in the business of farming, I at 

 least may express my apjH'eciation of the value and dignity of yonr calling, its 

 compatibility with the highest moral development, its wholesome influences upon 

 those engaged in it, and the efforts that should be made to carry it to a higher 

 standard of perfection, and tlie encouragement that should be held out to onr 

 x\merican vouth to eno-ao-e in its service. 



I am aware that the thoughtless in other departments of business entertain 

 the idea that bone and muscle are all that are required to make a good farmer, 

 and that beyond a knowledge of the manual labor of the farm all improvement 

 is useless. All intelligent men, however, know that there is scarcely any other 

 employment in which the rewards of intelligent labor are so sure and immediate 

 as in this, and hence the farmer should have a practical education in all that 

 pertains to the business of husbandry. In all other departments of industry 

 success is scarcely ever reached without at least a general knowledge of the 

 principles involved. As a rule the successful merchant has served some years 

 of apprenticeship, has pursued a course of study in reference to it, has made 

 himself familiar with the products he deals in, and by carefully studying the 

 markets has learned where he can buy the best, so as to sell the cheapest, and 

 by the application of sound judgment, energy, and industry succeeds in accumu- 

 lating a fortune or competence, while a majority of his brother merchants, as 

 experience proves, fail and die bankrupts. So with the mechanic and manufac- 



