240 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



elevate all classes and conditions of society. Other nations 

 may have excelled us in matters of taste and luxury ; but it 

 is only in countries like our own, with its vast territory and 

 unbounded resources, where minds, always busy and uninflu- 

 enced by the vagaries of olden time, are so eager in the search 

 after wealth and progress, that invention assumes its true char- 

 acter of administering to the wants of all. As a natural re- 

 sult of our wants as a nation, our efforts have been eminentl 

 successful. American genius has controlled that mighty power, 

 steam, and demonstrated its great superiority as a propelling 

 power, thus rendering it subservient to the wants of man. It 

 has tamed the fury of the lightning's power, and bidden it go on 

 messages of mercy rather than of vengeance. It has tunnelled 

 mountains, levelled hills, filled up valleys, explored the bottom 

 of the sea, dug deep into the bowels of the earth for hidden 

 treasures, and visited the starry spheres above. 



It has become a matter of history, a " living epistle, known 

 and read of all men." In the brief interval from one agricul- 

 tural fair to another we may *not perceive any remarkable 

 change ; but when we look back for but one-half century, who 

 can fail to observe the " signs of the times," and to look for- 

 ward with renewed hope and confidence into the future ? 



In improved implements of husbandry, there has been a 

 marked advance within a few years. Science has thrown her 

 light upon the farmer's pathway, rendering his occupation both 

 pleasant and profitable. The drudgery and monotony of the 

 farmer's life are fast wearing away under the potent influence of 

 mowing, winnowing, and threshing machines, seed-sowers and 

 planters, corn-shellers, patent churns, and patent cow-tail hold- 

 ers. Necessity, "the mother of invention," has caused great 

 improvements to be made in all the implements of husbandry; 

 and the farmer can give no satisfactory reason why his work 

 should not be done in its season, and well done. Yet we fear 

 there are many, who, from mistaken notions of economy, or 

 fear of spending the "almighty dollar," follow in the beaten 

 track of their fathers and grandfathers. Such would prefer 

 the Syrian plough of old — which was made of the branch of a 

 tree, cut off below some crook and tipped with iron, and drawn 

 by a small cow or ass, merely scratching the surface of the 



