396 SELECTIONS FROM ADDRESSES. 



most imaginative, with a prospect, at the same time, of a fair 

 remuneration for their labor. 



Massachusetts can, to say the least, as much as any other 

 state, produce examples of those who unite learning, and that 

 of various kinds, with practical skill, and practical success, too. 

 Her farmers have daily before their eyes, evidences that knowl- 

 edge, richly worth the having, may be found in books. 



Some farmers of the old school, think it very strange, that 

 men who quote books, and use hard words,— nitrogen, hydro- 

 gen, ammonia, alumina, and silica,— should, after all, obtain 

 good crops ; but their astonishment will increase, as by and by 

 they will find, that unless they follow these men in their im- 

 provements, they are falling behind them in every respect. 



Those who think that they put down all modern improvers, 

 and new-fangled devices, by quoting the old saying, 



"He that by the plough would thrive, 

 Himself must either hold or drive," 



have to learn, that this is to be taken with a qualification. He 

 that is always holding, or driving, and never trying to do more, 

 will doubtless earn the competence that patient industry seldom 

 fails to attain; but he who not only holds and drives, but 

 tJmiks,— who keeps his eyes, ears, and mind busy, as well as 

 his feet and hands,— other things being equal, will assuredly be 

 the more prosperous and happy man. 



Fkuit Culture. 



[Extracts from an Address hy George S. Willis, Esq., at the last Fair of the 



Berkshire AgncuUural Society.] 



There has probably been less pains taken for the introduc- 

 tion and propagation of good fruit within this county, than in 

 any other part of the Commonwealth. In the breeds of ani- 

 mals for the stall, the dairy, and the draft ; in the reclamation 

 of wastes ; in augmenting the productive powers of the re- 

 claimed soils, and in other departments of rural industry, we 

 have moved along abreast, at least, with our sister counties in 



