14 



country. It has been truly said : " To destroy the productiveness 

 of the soil, to squander the elements of that productiveness, is to 

 destroy the hopes of civilized humanity, and robs posterity of its 

 birthright to a career of progress. 1 ' 



We are the agents in the employ of nature to prosecute and 

 improve her interests ; and in order to do this understanding^ 

 we must be fully acquainted with her workings. 



We must understand the action of light, heat, moisture and the 

 properties of vegetable growth; how this plant-food is formed 

 and how and in what manner the plant takes up and appropriates 

 that food to its own use ; the effect of cropping upon the soil and 

 the condition of the soil under any circumstances ; the cause of 

 fertility ; the effects of plowing, under-draining, irrigation, &c. 



There is a love of nature instinct in every living soul. This, if 

 rightly influenced, may conduce to the highest interests of agri- 

 culture and render it a welcome duty to " stick to the Homestead." 

 The mind is ever active, and possesses the quality of curiosity to 

 a large extent. It must know the why and wherefore of external 

 objects and their relations, and it receives pleasure in the eflf6rt to 

 obtain this knowledge, and the possession but creates a desire to 

 know more and more. New ideas and emotions excite and per- 

 petuate the mind's activity, which is essential to our enjoyment. 

 Nature is boundless, she is a complete laboratory ; she is full of 

 information. The sciences applicable to agriculture are the key 

 to unlock and disclose to the inquiring mind her mysteries. My 

 friends, the future prospects of Agriculture in this country cannot 

 be misunderstood. The rapid improvements that are being made 

 in the machinery of the farm, show that the mind, as well as mus- 

 cle, is actively at work ; that the days of ignorant toil are fast 

 giving way to the united efforts of the head and hand ; that the 

 prejudices which have surrounded the tillers of the soil like mists 

 around the mountain's summit, are being gradually dispelled 

 through the influence of an enlightened understanding. The farmer 

 is about to assume his rightful place at the head of our industrial 

 pursuits. The Agricultural College and the Institute of Industrial 

 Science are both established on a firm foundation. Through the 

 instrumentality of these twin institutions of our Commonwealth, 

 the farmer and mechanic will be raised to a loftier position of 

 dignity and influence, with an enlarged power of blessing, not 

 only themselves, but the world. 



The time is coming when the rudimentary principles of agricnl- 



