FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 287 



legitiiuatc tendencies, and in its results, fitting men for more useful lives 

 wherever they may go and making them better men. 



All true educational work must 1)0 practical in its character, for the more 

 and the better a man is tauglit to reason and tliink tlie more and tlie better 

 mental discipline he attains; the more and the better a man is really educated 

 the more and the better is he prepared and qualified for successful practical 

 work in life. And yet is it not a fact that many of our learned men, who arc 

 regarded as well educated men, are sadly deficient in practical knowledge? 



As a rather homely but apt illustration of this, I remember one of the most 

 learned and scholarly men ever connected "with the educational institutions of 

 the lieform Church, a man who could read Latin and Greek Avith remarkable 

 ease, who had delved in the very depths of the most profound philosophies, 

 and who to-day is regarded as one of the most eminent scholars in our land ; 

 this man, of such varied learning, was so so woefully deficient in practical 

 knowledge that he traded a pig, which he had fed with the greatest of 

 care for more than a year, and which Aveighed, probably, 300 pounds, — he 

 traded his nice large pig for a smaller one, weighing 50 pounds, because his 

 own pig was too large for his pen and he did not know what to do about it, 

 and he made an even exchange so as to have a smaller pig that could move 

 about freely in his little pen. That man ought to have studied mental arith- 

 metic and the science of common sense, for, though he was learned in the 

 higher branches of science, he was sadly deficient in practical education, as 

 these farmer friends will attest. 



There is one opinion of the masses on this subject which we would controvert 

 to-day, and we believe tliat we will be heartily supported in the effort by these 

 distinguished professors with whose presence your institute is favored. A large 

 proportion of the people have the idea that a practical education embraces only 

 such studies as reading, spelling, geography, grammar, arithmetic, and writ- 

 ing, and that when we go beyond these studies we pass the bounds of a prac- 

 tical education. This is most assuredly a grievous error of the public mind. 

 Geology, chemistry, physics, and kindred sciences are as appropriate branches 

 of a practical education as the first mentioned studies, and if only they are 

 taught in such a manner that their truths, principles, and facts will be apjili- 

 cable to every-day life, as they should be, they will constitute the most useful 

 and permanently beneficial part of a practical education. There is far more 

 real educational wortli in the science of chemistry than in reading, spelling, 

 and writing combined. This is undoubtedly one of the most useful and one of 

 the principal features in the work of the agricultural colleges of the laud, that 

 they apply the higher sciences to the practical life and work of the farmer. 



An institute, such as this, is certainly one of the most efficient agencies in 

 furthering the cause of practical education among the farming people of our 

 land. It stimulates thought, encourages investigation, calls forth freedom of 

 discussion, and sets in motion educational forces that will not cease their work- 

 ing when this institute shall adjourn. These thoughts, whicli are brought 

 out in your discussions, will go to the villages and homes, the granges and 

 social gatherings all over our county, and there stimulate to further investiga- 

 tion, thought, and discussion, and thus prove a veritable county agricultural 

 college in our midst. 



