30 AGRICULTURE CONSIDERED 



affords him pleasure to benefit his neighbor by his exam- 

 ple. He learns to identify his own, with the prosperity 

 of his neighborhood and of his country. 



" Exercise is the univ'^ersal law of improvement for the 

 faculties of the mind, as well as of the powers of the 

 body."* " The profession of agriculture is more favor- 

 able to the entire developement of the human faculties ; to 

 the unfolding and perfecting of this physical, this intellec- 

 tual, this moral and immortal being, which God has given 

 us, than any other employment. It imparts vigor to the 

 body and to the mind, leaving the soul free from feverish 

 excitements, to imbitter, as it were with its growth, the 

 lessons which Nature teaches ; in fine, it is capable of 

 ministering, most successfully of all arts, and of ah occu- 

 pations, to wealth, to intelligence, and to virtue."! 



And what an expansive field is ever before the eye of 

 the agriculturist, for study, for reflection, for usefulness, 

 for the enjoyment of rational happiness ! The book of 

 Nature, replete with the teachings of Divine Wisdom, 

 always lies open before him ! 



The elements are subservient to his use ; the vegeta- 

 ble and animal kingdoms are subject to his control ! And 

 the natural laws which govern them all, and which exert 

 a controlling influence upon his prosperity and happiness, 

 are constantly developing to his mind new harmonies, new 

 beauties, perfect order, and profound v/isdom, in the works 

 of Nature which surround him. Nor need he, in these 

 studies of usefulness, be restricted to his own personal ob- 

 servation. He may call to his aid, both in the prosecution 

 of his business, and the improvement of his intellectual fac- 

 ulties, the counsels of eminent men of every age and every 

 country, who have left for our use the record of their 

 experience and their wisdom. And we say it without 

 qualification, that there are few professions in the communi- 

 ty, w^iich give more leisure for general reading, or whose 

 employments embrace a greater scope of useful reading, 

 than the business of agriculture. The artisan is generally 

 obliged to employ his winter evenings in labor ; and those 



* Wild's Report on Manual Labor in Literary Institutions. 

 t Canadian Quarterly Agricultural and Industrial Magazine. 



