418 STATE BOAED OF AGEICULTUKE. 



the forest, that planted the orchard, — the fruit of which he now enjo3'S, — and 

 dream over again his boyish hopes and fancies, and weigh tliem in the scales of 

 the past? 



If, then, the pursuit of agriculture naturally develops the better qualities of 

 our nature, and is a wholesome, health-producing employment, and gives suffi- 

 cient returns to enable ns to enjoy the rational comforts of life, why is it that 

 so many of our young men and women have such an aversion to it? Its 

 drudgery has passed away by the inventive genius of the country ; tiie scythe, 

 the sickle and cradle have given place to the reaper and mower. The old flail 

 is forgotten, and your threshing machines perform in a day the work of a 

 winter. Your planters and cultivators almost dispense with the hoe, and in 

 fact, horse-power and machinery do the work, and the farmer is the intelligent 

 agent that controls results. 



Again, did it ever occur to you that as a rule all the ablest and most dis- 

 tinguished statesmen, and generals, and leading men in all the learned profes- 

 sions were the product of farm life, and not of cities and villages, that they 

 were sons of farmers, born and reared upon the farm and accustomed to its 

 labors. Lincoln, Webster, "Wright, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Sherman, and a 

 host of others, were sons of farmers, raised upon the farm. Tlien what higher 

 inducement can be held out to our American youth to select this employment 

 for a business for life? Well selected lands can be obtained without capital, and 

 all you need for success is health and industry. It is an employmejit that stands 

 well in the public judgment, and the prevailing sentiment of all classes is that 

 Avhatever contributes to the improvement of the condition of the farmer tends 

 directly to fortify and sustain the social fabric and gives new life and strength 

 to our national character. All other classes are dependent upon and contribute 

 to your demands, the commercial and manufacturing classes make large outlays 

 for canals and railroads to cheapen the marketing of your products. You 

 know that while the sun holds on in its course, giving light and heat, and 

 rain and dews descend, the ungrudging soil will, if projierly fed, yield a harvest 

 and your labors will be paid. It is certain to produce for you a comfortable 

 living and a competence for old age. Is it not better, then, than the chances of 

 hastily made wealth in other employments? The book of books says that ''he 

 that hasteneth to become rich shall surely come to want," and further, that 

 ''he that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread, and that he that trusteth 

 in the Lord shall be made fat." They were not farmers whom our Saviour 

 drove from the temple, but a lot of money changers who lived upon the labors 

 of others. 



Then with the farmer there is no reason for failure if he is temperate, frugal, 

 and industrious, but if he has spent his time in some groggery, smoking poor 

 tobacco and drinking worse whisky, and calls that farming, he may fail. He 

 is surprised that his farm is so good for weeds and so poor for crops, don't be- 

 lieve much in fences, but keeps dogs to fence his horses and cattle in. Such a 

 man would have failed in paradise, and never have consented to the sin of eat- 

 ing of the forbidden fruit if he had had to cultivate it for himself. 



Again, the farmer is entirely independent. He does not have to seek the 

 patronage of anybody ; he is not obliged to yield his convictions on any subject 

 lest his church, patients, or clients will be offended. He trusts in his own right 

 arm and the blessings of Providence for his success, and neither the shipper nor 

 the consumer cares to canvass his opinions. Not so with those dependent upon 

 public favor. If residing in a community of drunkards they must not denounce 

 drunkenness, and so of other offenses. 



