4 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



encoiira2:ino: the establishment of farmers' clubs, as^ricultural 

 libraries, and rcadino-rooms, and disseminatino: useful infor- 

 matiou in agriculture by means of lectures and institutes ; 

 stimulating agricultural societies to greater activity and use- 

 fulness ; promoting the general education of farmers in the 

 art of agriculture, in every possible way, that they may 

 realize the dignity and importance which belongs to their 

 calling: — " the mother of all arts and sciences" — the most 

 ancient, honorable, and useful of all vocations. It has been 

 said that " the perfection of agriculture as an art implies the 

 obtaining of the greatest amount of product from the earth 

 with the least injury to the land, and at the least cost." To 

 obtain this perfection the learning and Avisdom of the chemist 

 is required, to analyze the soil and its products, and give in- 

 structii:)n as to the requirements of various soils for the pro- 

 duction of particular crops. The cunning mind and hand of 

 the mechanic must be there to invent and construct the labor- 

 saving implements of husbandry ; the good sense, good 

 judgment, and practical experience of the farmer, must be 

 exercised in a thousand wa3's besides turning the furrow and 

 planting the seed. 



Before tlie organization of your Board, in 1852, and long 

 afterwards, you well remember the great prejudice that ex- 

 isted, both in this country and all over the world even, against 

 scientilic farming ; and the chief obstacle Avhich you have 

 met in your efforts at improvement has undoubtedly been, to 

 use a mild term, conservatism. We naturally cling with 

 great tenacity to old ways — old maxims and old traditions. 



Science has had to work its way slowly in all ages and in 

 all countries to overcome prejudices and opposition, espe- 

 cially in its application to agriculture. So simple and so use- 

 ful an invention as a winnowing-mill was most obstinately 

 opposed by the ftirmers of Scotland, where it first appeared, 

 and was denounced from the pulpit as a devilish and presump- 

 tuous invention of the arch enemy of souls. They preferred 

 the old Avay that was practised b}^ the Roman laborers long 

 before the Christian era, of pouring their grain from one ves- 

 sel into another and letting the wind blow the chaff away. 



AA^e welcome you to-day, gentlemen of the State Board, 

 and extend our hearty greeting, not only because wo are glad 



