FAKMERS' INSTITUTES. 201 



farmer can learn from the experience of his neighbor, and teach his neighbor 

 in return. 



The history of the world from its early ages down to the present time, 

 shows that man has been a student, slowly but steadily making advance in 

 the knowledge of the laws which govern and control matter. Every point 

 gained, every truth discovered, enables succeeding generations, by availing 

 themselves of them, to advance more rapidly than their predecessors. These 

 advances have been but mere improvements on the ideas and practices of the 

 past, and have in their time yielded to still further improvement upon them. 

 The improvement of yesterday is superseded by that of to-day, and the 

 advancement of to-day will be obsolete on the morrow. Nothing is stationary, 

 nothing fixed, nothing perfect. Improvement and development is written 

 upon everything human. This law governs in all the manifold relations of 

 life. But in the great march of time and progress we believe that the 

 husbandman has not kept abreast with men of other vocations in social and 

 intellectual improvement. He is not held in the same esteem as men of other 

 professions. In his isolated condition he has devoted the most of his time and 

 energies to increasing the fertility and productions of the soil, and given little 

 or no attention to the cultivation of his mind. His calling has not attained 

 that predominant and commanding position in the affairs of State and nation 

 which its importance rightfully deserves. It is universally conceded that 

 agriculture is as important as all other industries combined. It is the 

 foundation of every enterprise, and the leading interest of our people. It 

 is to the abundance of agricultural productions that we are mainly indebted 

 for our present prosperity as a nation. No people in history have made sub- 

 substantial and permanent progress in civilization, arts, and sciences, that 

 neglected to foster agriculture. It is the most ancient and universal of all 

 pursuits, the parent of commerce and manufactures, the great nursing mother 

 of individual and national prosperity. 



Gentlemen, what an inspiration there is in the thought that the stability, 

 permanence, and prosperity of the whole nation rests more certainly upon the 

 success of the farmer than upon that of any other class or profession. That 

 it is mainly by his industry, perseverance, and enterprise our country has been 

 transformed from a wilderness wild to a nation of unexampled prosperity and 

 power. Being numerically greater than all other classes and representing an 

 industry which is the foundation of nearly all national wealth, his mental and 

 social improvement, and the elevation of his calling to the dignity of a pro- 

 fession, are questions of earnest solicitude. 



He should have schools and colleges where his sons can be educated for the 

 business they are designed to follow, where the science peculiarly applicable to 

 agriculture shall be taught, where the head and the hand shall be trained 

 together, and men qualified for the practical business of farm life. This is 

 an age of progress, and if the farmer would be the peer of any class or pro- 

 fession in mental culture, political and social influence, he must encourage the 

 Farmers' Institute and all organizations having for their object the elevation 

 of his calling and the promotion of his general welfare. 



At the Institute men and women assemble who are engaged in kindred 

 occupations and pursuits, whose interests, associations, and aspirations are 

 identical, and who are alike interested in the advancement of everything that 

 pertains to rural life. Here, questions of vital interest to the husbandman 

 can be discussed, the different methods of farming compared, and the result 

 of practical experiments made known to all. The benefits of the Institute to 



