264 ADDRESS. 



notice whatever is new and most valuable, in a business 

 which highly interests us. They perform the work of 

 years, in diffusing useful knowledge in all the departments 

 of rural labor. They awaken, in the bosoms of hundreds, 

 the dormant powers of the mind, wdiich otherw^ise might 

 have slumbered in apathy. They excite to industry, to 

 emulation, and to the study of those laws which every 

 where control the visible creation, and which enlighten 

 and reward all who humbly seek and follow their coun- 

 sels. Nor is it the cultivator of the farm and garden 

 alone that are to be benefited by these exhibitions. What- 

 ever tends to increase and improve the products of the 

 soil, serves to augment the common stock, and enables 

 the grower to supply the market with more and better 

 products, and to buy more liberally of the other classes 

 in return. The merchant, the manufacturer, the mechan- 

 ic, and the professional man, have all, therefore, as deep 

 an interest in promoting the improvement of agriculture 

 and horticulture, as the farmer and gardener have. So- 

 ciety is in some measure a joint concern, at least so far 

 as relates to what are termed the producing classes ; the 

 more these earn by their labor, the greater is the acces- 

 sion of substantial wealth to the community. The amount 

 of honey in a hive, depends not upon the number of bees 

 which it contains, but upon the labor and skill of the 

 working bees. The farmer virtually provides for the 

 other classes, and is at the same time their principal pa- 

 tron and customer ; and although his labors are too often 

 held to be low and menial, by those who cannot, or will 

 not appreciate their value, his condition affords the best 

 criterion by which to judge of the welfare of those around 

 him. No country can long flourish, or preserve its mor- 

 al and physical health, whose agriculture is neglected and 

 degraded. The amount of a farmer's sales, and of his 

 purchases, will depend upon the surplus products of his 

 farm, and upon the profits of his labor. Double these, 

 by an improved system of husbandry, which I feel assur- 

 ed can be done, and which has been far more than real- 

 ized, in many old districts of our country, and you will 

 double the substantial wealth of the neighborhood, and 



