349 



your luiluml iacilities are such as arc beidom besto\\ed upon any peo- 

 ple, and I am pleased to know that they have already attracted your at- 

 tention. They arc to be reckoned among- that diversity of aj^ricidtural 

 em])lo3'mejit which necessarily leads to a rotation of crops. * * * 



To those who have put their hands and hearts t-o the work of in-omoL- 

 ing the great interest of agriculture there is a pleasing consolation, and 

 eucouragemeut, too, in the rctiection tbat they arc upon the tlood-tideof 

 public favor; that those they benefit now look with corifidence upon the 

 efforts they make ; that, whilethe fluctuations of business, the casualties 

 of commerce, the interruptions of tnide, the disturbances of society itself, 

 are but incidents of the moment, only occurring to be as soon forgotten; 

 that, while amid the other and conflicting elements of busy life, the pleas- 

 ing anticipations and profitable speculations of one class arc the dreaded 

 forebodings and dire calamities of another, all classes unite in the fer- 

 vent prayer, the kindly sympathy, the liveliest hope that success may 

 crown the cfibrt of the farmer. Do we apj)reciate this'? Do we now 

 feel that our art commands the study of the philosopher, the science of 

 the scholar, the eloquence of the statesman ; that the whole world, with 

 a unanimity which no other subject can command, lifts up its sympa- 

 thiidng voice to cry " God speed the plow V 



There is a reason for this, and it is found in the fact that the product 

 of this art contributes more largely than any other to human hajTpiness, 

 and that the art itself is better adapted* to human skill. These are 

 important considerations. How shall we promote this great art is a 

 <luestion which addresses itself to all of us with a force which must 

 command our attention. 



First, then, study to know the subject which thus excites our common 

 interest. Is it enough to understand that if the earth be stirred and 

 the seeds bo sovvn their product and all else is a natural result of God's 

 proWdence f Is it enough that we should bo told and believe that the 

 plow is the best implement with which to till the earth, and that seed 

 sown by the hand of man is all that is necessary to enable us to drag through 

 the natural period of our existence, thus made toilsome and miserable 1' 

 Is it enough for ourselves to know that we but live and move and have 

 our being ? Is that large portion of maiikind which is engaged in that 

 work of the world content thus to grovel and crawl, only occasionally 

 to be startled into an attitude of amazement at the prodigious products 

 of the minds of men around us, and again to relapse into the contem- 

 plation of our own inferior condition ^ We ansAver emphatically, iV^o .' 

 With regard to our occupation we should rather look upon this lovel;v' 

 earth of ours as the beautiful landscape of God's creation, imbued with 

 the powers of life, to breathe and feed, yielding its elements and pro- 

 ducts to the nursing and delicate operations of our hands. While we 

 follow the plow we ahoiild jycrceive its i(se ; we should see in it how the 

 polished mind of man has infused mechanical science into its structure ; 

 Ave should mark well the work it has to do, and its adaptation to the 

 work ; we should contemplate those seeds we commit to the earth, and 

 believe it is not the work of chance that they grow, and that they, too, 

 are imbued with the germinating powers of lilte and light, and character- 

 ized in their existence by the qualities of good and bad ; and we should 

 know that perfect analogy which characterizes life in its conception, 

 growth in its progress, the product of its results, and the final death of 

 all vegetable as well as animal creation. But above all and over all 

 we should contemplate ourselves ; that we are a i^art of the special 

 work of God's hands, placed here and employed to ^direct and govern 

 all these things. They are no artificial objects^ on which we are to ex- 



