your minds with his warm and genial culture ; and the venera- 

 ble Josiali Quincy taught you the soiling of cattle ; and Josiah 

 Quincy, Jr., told you how much better off you are than the 

 farmers of Europe ; and Sanford Howard discussed elaborately 

 the principles of plowing ; and James Freeman Clarke en- 

 couraged you to renewed toil ; and Rev. J. W. Thompson pre- 

 sented his new-made observations of agricultural enterprise ; 

 and George S. Boutwell presented the power and duty of the 

 nation ; and N. P. Banks enlarged upon the glory of the State. 

 Do you wonder, then, that a committee, appointed to explore and 

 report upon the agriculture of Norfolk County, should have said, 

 after all the efforts which have been made here : — " This Com- 

 mittee learned much more than they imparted from their inter- 

 course with the cultivators of the soil, who showed unques- 

 tionable proofs of increased reading, reflection and careful 

 experimenting ; who could explain the facts and the philosophy 

 of growing crops, raising cattle, and the application of manures " ? 



You may learn from this hasty review what this Society has 

 done towards rousing the agricultural intellect of Norfolk 

 County to a full understanding of the obstacles which the 

 farmer is obliged to meet, and of the best means by which he 

 is to overcome them. In the practical affairs of the farm your 

 record is a highly honorable one ; and in specific crops, in the 

 cultivation of fruit, small and large, in the feeding of choicer 

 animals, and in the introduction of the best breeds of cattle, 

 horses and swine, I doubt if your county is excelled by any 

 other in the Commonwealth. The performance of this work 

 has not been at all times easy, and while I congratulate you 

 upon the weapons which have been furnished the farmer for 

 his conflict here, by this Society, in its teaching and example, I 

 would call your attention to some of the difficulties which lie 

 in your path, and which render the business of farming one of 

 the most intricate. 



The day of instinctive, traditional agriculture and spontane- 

 ous crops has gone by, with us at least. We look back with 

 astonishment upon the time, when, unaided by science, the 

 practical mind of man seized hold of the most successful 

 methods and accomplished the highest results. What do we 

 not owe to the past generations of the working farmers ? It is 

 they who have discovered that remarkable system of drainage 

 2 



