760 MASS. BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



written wisdom of their predecessors and cotemporaries, I am 

 by no means disposed to deny. But in this reluctance I dis- 

 cover the force of habit, and a corroboration of the dictum, that 

 unless the farmer is educated to his profession, he will rarely 

 be disposed to inquire or improve. The old mill-horse path, 

 pursued under widely different circumstances, by his fore- 

 fathers, satisfies his ambition and bounds his perceptions of 

 the useful, so far as farming is concerned. He has no taste 

 for reading, simply because he never learned to read with 

 intelligence, and the natural consequence of this apathy is a 

 morbid prejudice against all books and periodicals, in which 

 the principles or practices of agriculture are discussed. 



The Moslem dashed to pieces the microscope which showed 

 him there were animalculse in the food he ate ; and one of the 

 opponents of Galileo, when requested by that immortal, 

 but long persecuted man, to look at the moons of Jupiter 

 through the telescope which was proffered him, refused, for 

 fear of being convinced of his error, and thus reluctantly forced 

 from the position he had assumed. 



Such is prejudice ; and such at this day is its force over the 

 minds of many of our agricultural friends, that they refuse to 

 adopt any system, or to favor any innovation that has received 

 the sanction of either pen or type. Science, in its application 

 to the details of agriculture, should be taught thoroughly to all 

 those who expect to obtain a livelihood by the cultivation of 

 the soil. 



The young should be educated for the business they are to 

 pursue. A good knowledge of language is the basis of all 

 education. When this has been secured, let the young man 

 attend to those branches of knowledge that will fit him for his 

 special calling. If a boy is to be a sailor, teach him naviga- 

 tion, astronomy, meteorology, geography, the principles of ship 

 building, and a general knowledge of the commercial relations 

 existing among nations. 



If he is to be a lawyer, thoroughly imbue his mind with a 

 knowledge of and taste for the classics. Teach him the history 

 of nations, especially of their governments and laws; then let 

 him plunge into the nature of general and special laws, and 

 the formulas connected with their execution. 



All that you have taught the sailor would be of little use to 



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