THE FARMER'S POSITION. G9 



THE FARMER'S POSITION. 



From an Address before the TTorcester North Agricultural Society, Oct. 2, 1857. 



BY JUSTUS TOWER. 



You have come here to-day with your wives, your sons and 

 daughters, to celebrate this most important, interesting and 

 profitable anniversary. 



It is but a few years since agricultural fairs became promi- 

 nent in most of the counties of our State, and it is safe to say, 

 that they have contributed more to our vigorous growth as a 

 community, than all the golden treasures of California. They 

 have awakened a spirit of inquiry in the minds of thousands of 

 our farmers, and great good has been the result. 



But it is not enough to see superior crops of grain and veg- 

 etables, the noble cow, the mammoth ox, or the well-propor- 

 tioned steers. It is not enough to see the rich specimens of 

 butter and cheese, the vase of flowers, the home-made carpet, 

 or the bed spread, of variegated colors in squares and angles, 

 the handiwork of mothers and daughters. We wish to see the 

 face of the producer, and hear the story of his skill, that the 

 less fortunate among us, who are just arousing from the old 

 beaten paths of their fathers, may be encouraged, while they 

 imbibe a spirit of improvement. These are some of the fea- 

 tures of these gatherings, and there is great reason to hope 

 that they will be the means of perpetuating the progressive 

 spirit of agricultural improvement. 



This leads me to speak of the position which the farmer 

 should occupy, and how he should appreciate his own calling, 

 as compared with the other avocations of life. 



Who stands in so enviable a position as you, owners of the 

 soil, and producers of bread ? You feed the teeming thousands 

 of our poulation, you supply their most pressing wants. Agri- 



