16 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



peace — cold externally as chastity, but pure as virtue. But the 

 coldness outside, I trust, will be more than compensated by the 

 warmth of the hospitality which you will receive from the resi- 

 dents of this place. We welcome you, not only as ordinary 

 guests, but because we want to see such men as you are, en- 

 gaged in the vivifying industry which underlies all those on 

 which the prosperity of our county depends. It is too old and 

 too trite a saying to be reiterated, that upon agriculture depends 

 the prosperity, and I might say, the virtues of the community. 



We may inquire here, why is it that men like those who are 

 our guests to-day should assemble in Berkshire, and at other 

 times in Amherst and in other places in Massachusetts, for the 

 purposes of disseminating agricultural knowledge ? Why is it 

 that similar conventions do not take place in relation to the 

 other industries of life ? It is because it is apparent to all, that 

 without the fostering of a business so important as this, there 

 might be danger of the whole fabric of the country being shaken. 

 But, gentlemen, we welcome you to-day among our moun- 

 tains ; and although we are far removed from " the Hub," al- 

 though we are not gathered often in the meshes and nets that 

 surround that centre of our eastern universe ; yet you are come 

 now to a people who are not at all barbaric. We have outlived 

 all the greenness of our youth. We have got used to the im- 

 proved machines of farming. We would welcome you at another 

 season to land really flowing with milk and honey ; to land 

 where as good cattle are produced, where as good grain is 

 raised, where as fine crops of corn, oats, and other cereals are 

 produced as in any other part of the State. We are not in the 

 condition of General Washington, who, having taken an inven- 

 tory of his stock, exclaimed, " Here I am keeping 101 cows, and 

 I have to buy my own butter." We have passed beyond the 

 condition of the tenantry of Lord Derby, who, having been 

 presented with steel ploughs, returned them at the end of the 

 season, saying that they wanted to return to the old wooden 

 ones, because they were satisfied that steel ploughs increased 

 the crop of weeds ! We have tried all the improved implements, 

 and all the new processes of culture; and although, gentlemen, 

 like all others engaged in this pursuit, our principal aim is to 

 make our labor profitable, yet beyond that, we want to raise our 

 agriculture, its products and its processes, to a level in many 



