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qualified from performing the. duties of a farmer and you 

 will prove to me that farming is a business which it is dis- 

 graceful to follow, and that it is grossly unjust to say aught 

 to induce any young man of common sense to become a 

 farmer. 



"It is seen that thought, intelligence, mind, brains, 

 used in other branches of business, lead to success. It is 

 found that men with clear heads, sharp wits, sound judg- 

 ment, and business habits go straight along and compel 

 success even under adverse circumstances. Now, is it any 

 advantage to have and use brains? Can a man with brains 

 get, in tilling the soil, a fair compensation for their use? 

 Can brain work be employed on the farm and return to 

 the owner as much of comfort, wealth, happiness, honor, 

 and general prosperity as in other branches of business at 

 the present time? This is a knotty question, but it is one 

 we have got to meet, and meet it now. There is no use in 

 attempting to evade or ignore this great alternative. If 

 there is anything in agriculture that necessarily dwarfs 

 the mind and makes it secondary to mere physical exer- 

 tion, then it is a disgrace to be a farmer, and common hon- 

 esty requires that we cease talking about the honorable- 

 ness of the noble yeomanry. But, on the contrary, if ag- 

 riculture will give scope to thought and research; if it will 

 cause a man to think while he works, and study while he 

 has leisure; if his business is such that talent and tact will 

 transform his soil to gold and his house into a beautiful 

 and happy home; if the same amount of bodily and men- 

 tal labor on the farm will produce as much pleasure, wealth 

 and happiness as in the shops, counting-room, and mines, 

 then we may conscientiously recommend agriculture as one 

 of the desirable employments. Can this be done? 



"Brother Patrons of Husbandry, our Order has been 

 formed to assist in answering this great question in the af- 

 firmative. How shall we proceed? 



"I do not underrate the importance of making an ef- 



