JOHN P. NORTON'S ADDRESS. 565 



He knew just what sail his ship would bear ; he calculated and 

 foretold from long observation every change of wind and 

 weather, took advantage of every current, and finally was, 

 while at sea, a perfect model of sleepless vigilance. Thus 

 what some called luck, was the natural result of devoting his 

 whole mind and every energy to his business. His luck still 

 continues, although he tio longer sails between New York and 

 Liverpool. It was but a few days since, that I saw a notice 

 of his having made the shortest passage on record, between 

 NbW York and a well known Pacific port. 



Thus I fully believe it ever is; if a captain "always makes 

 good passages, if a farmer almost uniformly has better crops 

 than his neighbors, it is common for those who are beaten, to 

 talk about luck, but in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred, 

 luck has nothing to do with the matter ; success is the reward 

 of sagacity, sharpened by study and experience. As a nearly 

 invariable rule, we shall find on inquiry, that the successful, 

 thriving farmers, those who take the lead in their own districts, 

 are not the men who rely entirely on their own knowledge, and 

 consider themselves to have attained all that is worth knowing; 

 but those who read, who study their business in every depart- 

 ment, who seek information from every source. And what is 

 quite as invariable in my experience, is the fact, that as a man 

 reads more widely, and studies more closely the practical appli- 

 cations of knowledge, he becomes more modest and more con- 

 vinced that he has still much to learn ; more eager, too, in the 

 pursuit of every new acquirement. 



If we carry our comparisons still farther, we shall find that 

 it is much the same with communities and districts as with in- 

 dividuals. Where (he farming is best, where the crops are 

 largest, where the stock is purest, where agricultural societies 

 are best sustained, there we shall find most agricultural periodi- 

 cals and books, and the most earnest desire for instruction. 

 This is a fact which admits of no doubt, and of which any one 

 can satisfy himself by inquiry and observation. 



I think that the point which I have desired to place before 

 you, is now coming out clearly. It is this — that our farming 

 needs an application of mind. It is mind which has always 



