est which has been lately manifested in many parts of the 

 Union, and more especially in our own Commonwealth, 

 in the honored cause for which you are associated. We 

 have all witnessed with no ordinary satisfaction the eflbrts 

 which have been made, and which have been so success- 

 fully made, to awaken the public mind to a deeper sense 

 of the importance and dignity of agricultural pursuits. 

 We have all rejoiced to find some of our ablest and most 

 accomplished minds devoting themselves to subjects con- 

 nected with the cultivation of land, the improvement of 

 stock, the scientific analysis of soils and of plants, and the 

 preservation and propagation of fruit-trees and forest- 

 trees. The best wishes and the best hopes of us all have 

 attended the local and the national conventions which 

 have been held on the subject during the past year ; and 

 we have hailed with peculiar pleasure the establishment and 

 organization of a Board of Agriculture, under the auspices 

 of our own Commonwealth. 



I think we shall acknowledge, however, that it is of the 

 highest importance, at such a moment, that we should 

 have some correct and exact ideas as to what is to be 

 done, and as to what can be accomplished, in this behalf ; 

 that we should take a careful sm*vey of the actual condi- 

 tion of American agriculture and of the real wants of the 

 American farmer; so that we may propose to ourselves 

 some definite, practical, and practicable ends, and so that 

 our efforts may terminate in something better than vague 

 promises, exaggerated estimates, and false expectations. 

 We have been accustomed, of late years, to hear from 

 some quarters of the country, and from some parts of the 

 community, language of this sort : — Agriculture is a ne- 

 glected interest. Government does nothing for it. Legis- 

 lators, State and National, can find time and can find 

 inducements for promoting and for protecting every other 

 employment and occupation of the people. They can do 



