FARMING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 89 



tie direct, practical aid could be expected from the classical col- 

 leges. The canker-worm and caterpillar may devastate the very 

 trees that shade their grounds, the curculio and mildew destroy 

 their fruit, rust, blight or rot their potatoes and other vegeta- 

 bles, yet they pause not, swerve not from their routine to dis- 

 cover, if possible, practical and effecutal remedies against these 

 and kindred pests that continually harass the farmer. Digging 

 out Greek roots, discussing knotty points in metaphysics or an- 

 cient history, or discoursing upon heathen mythology, are more 

 congenial occupations. The effect of the training of our clas- 

 sical schools seems to be adverse to fitting a young man for fol- 

 lowing the quiet, laborious life of the farmer. Were it not so, 

 why do so few graduates immediately choose this as their future 

 and only avocation ? Were an attempt to be made to teach ag- 

 riculture in our scientific schools, the otlier industrial pursuits 

 having a stronger hold upon the sympathies of our citizens, it 

 would be crowded into the background, and would not receive 

 the attention its importance demands. 



Therefore all honor to the men who decided to establish a 

 distinct, separate and independent college for farmers, and who 

 located it in a purely farming district ; there it can stand upon 

 its own merits, and work out in its own way the agricultural 

 problems of the day. It was a bold movement ; few States 

 have had tbe courage to do likewise. But the exigencies of our 

 farmers required it, and their sons can fill it to overflowing, and 

 it can be made an institution of incalculable benefit to the whole 

 State. 



In the great work before them, farmers need the aid of the 

 legislature and the hearty cooperation of the public. To this 

 some manufacturers may object^ and say we create new and bet- 

 ter markets ; if agriculture does not thrive under the stimula- 

 tion of these, let it decline. Other men may claim that any 

 special grants, privileges or aid from the public will be construed 

 as favoritism, and may form a dangerous precedent ; for agri- 

 culture is only one of our many employments — merely a 

 specialty. But have not our manufactures and commerce been 

 constantly under the patronage of government, and are they 

 either more than a specialty ? Our manufacturers saw from 

 the beginning that protection was necessary for their very exist- 

 ence ; they sought it, claimed it, and obtained it ; and even 



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