SOLON ROBINSON, 1841 223 



Do not be discouraged because you see such a lethargy 

 among the cultivators of the soil. It is so much the more 

 your duty, who are awake to the true interest of our 

 country, to endeavor to rouse up others. We are all 

 creatures of excitement. We require something to stimu- 

 late us to action. Let the ambition to do good to your 

 fellow-laborers stimulate you to excite others. You have 

 already taken the first and most important step towards 

 spreading knowledge among the agricultural community 

 of Northern Illinois. You have established, and I ar- 

 dently hope you will support, a spirited agricultural 

 paper. There is nothing that can, that has, that will, still 

 continue to elevate the character and standing of the 

 cultivators of American soil, to so great a degree as a 

 general diffusion of papers among them, which are solely 

 devoted to their pursuits. 



It should then be a moving object with every member 

 of this Society, to endeavor to diffuse these papers among 

 the farming community. Every merchant and mechanic 

 in this city, if he could see his own interest, would take 

 an active part in all the objects of your Society. Improve 

 the mind of the farmer, and he will add improvement to 

 his farm. And every acre that is added to cultivation, 

 adds wealth to the merchant and mechanic. For with- 

 out the farmer, neither of them could exist. Tis true 

 they are mutually dependent on each other, but agricul- 

 ture is the base upon which all other occupations are 

 dependent. But that pursuit has been neglected and de- 

 graded, and those who are engaged in it have been looked 

 upon as an inferior portion of the community. Let it 

 be our object then, to rescue this most noble of all pro- 

 fessions from its degraded state, and give it a proper 

 elevation in society. Let us endeavor by all means in 

 our power, to convince our agricultural brethren who 

 are inclined to look upon our efforts with jealousy, that 

 our object is to benefit them. 



Let me urge you to continue the meetings of your 

 Society more frequently. Carry them into every county, 



