41 



edge of the art which he is so soou to enter upou, and whose hands, 

 have bf-en taught practically to apply that knowledge to this important 

 work of the world, returns after graduation to a home where all is con- 

 genial around him,andwherefather, brothers, and sisters delight tolisten 

 when he talks of the mathematical and mechanical structure of the plow» 

 and why it is so formed; of the curious science of the composition and 

 growth of plants, and of their marvelous germination and life and death : 

 of insects which prey upon the fruits of the earth, and remedies for their 

 depredations ; of chemical changes produced by lime and manure in their 

 aptdication to the soil. He is listened to with a degree of interest which 

 makes him feel that his study has not been in vain, but that he has grown 

 to the statnre of a man, who is about to take his place in the march of 

 agricultural progress and afford an example to those around him of the 

 value of agricultural science. 



1 would not be understood as attempting to detract in the slightest 

 degree from the high estiuuite in which purely literary institutions of 

 the country are so justly held. No one can for a moment forget or fail 

 to appreciate the mark which their graduates make upon the learned 

 professions, the distinction which they attain as scholars and statesmen, 

 and how essential their teaching is to the honor and dignity of the 

 uation ; but the impression which I endeavor to make is, that a differ- 

 ent course of study, extending over a different and wider held, and 

 better adapted to the practical operations of life, is of still more im- 

 portance and better calculated to advance that great interest of man- 

 kind in which the farmer is engaged. The agricultural college educates 

 the physical and practical as well as the moral status of the man. 



Farm fences. — Fencing has become one of the most important con- 

 siderations demanding the attention of the farmers; and it is wonderful 

 that they should so long submit to the want of proper legislation in 

 their respective States, which would relieve them from this most expen- 

 sive and unnecessary burden. 



An imjiression, almost as old as our country itself, seems to exist that 

 public roads are public property, and that grass which grows upon them 

 is the common property of all the inhabitants, upon which their cattle 

 may be turned to pasture. This is a great mistake, and one which 

 requires immediate correction, if for no other reason than that it is a 

 very expensive one to farmers. Public roads are, to be sure, public 

 property, but only for special purposes. While the public have the 

 right to pass and re pass over them, they have no other right than this^ 

 which the law gives them, and no more substantial claim to pasture 

 their cattle upon the road than upon the other side of the fence, in their 

 neighbor's field. The law allows the public to use the land occupied by 

 the road to travel over, and whenever they cease, either by operation 

 of law or otherwise, to use it for that purpose, it again becomes the 

 property of the owner of the farm through which it passes. His is the 

 fee-simple right. It is very unjust that either he who owns no land, or, 

 owning it, prefers to use that of his neighbors, should be indulged in so 

 manifest a wrong. It is the duty of the legislatures of all the thickly-set- 

 tled States to protect the agricultural interests of the country, bj^ pro- 

 viding that cattle shall not run at large, but that every man shall be 

 compelled to take care of and feed his own stock, instead of turning it 

 loose upon the highway to depredate upon the possessions of his neigh- 

 bor. 



Money expended in fencing against these depredations of strange 



ttle is sometimes disbursed so gradually that the farmer does not 



tually realize how great is the loss. 



