MR. Oliver's address. 31 



da, and these came from the disintegration and comminution of 

 the primitive rocks which constitute so much of the mass 

 of the earth. The seeds that you commit to these soils, the 

 bare grain, — "it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain," — 

 feel the mysterious working of God's power upon them, wak- 

 ing them into life, and directing them in search of aliment ap- 

 propriate to their growth. But these seeds must be cast into 

 soils proper for their reception, their nutriment and their growth. 

 If you cast them carelessly by the way-side, the fowls of the 

 air devour them, — if you cast them upon stony places, where 

 there is no deepness of earth, the scorching sun dries up their 

 sudden growth, and they wither away, — if you cast them 

 among thorns, the thorns spring up and choke them. But if 

 you cast them upon good ground, they bring forth their thirty, 

 their sixty, yea, even their hundred fold. So teacheth the 

 parable of Christ. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear, and 

 let him learn. 



But what is the proper ground, and where is it on your 

 farm, Mr. Jones, — where is it on yours, Mr. Stebbins, — where 

 is it on yours, Mr. Thompson ? I dare say you can tell me. 

 But if you had bought your farms yesterday, and had never 

 heard nor known anything about their peculiarities of soil, nor 

 any thing about the position and characteristics of the various 

 lots suitable for the various agricultural products you propose 

 to cultivate ; could you tell me then, without inquiry, with- 

 out examination, without reflection ? Now these very mat- 

 ters of inquiry, examination and reflection, are elements and 

 very essential elements, of agricultural education. And he 

 who instructs you in what you must know in these premises, 

 before you can take the first safe step, is, for the time being, 

 your agricultural schoolmaster, and you are his pupil, and are in 

 the "pursuit of knowledge under difficulties," difficulties w^hich 

 you would not have to encounter, had you been previously so 

 properly educated, as that you could, by your own personal ex- 

 amination of the various localities on your newly piirchased 

 lands, judge and decide for yourself, in what part of them, 

 were the soils adapted for the largest yield from the crops you 

 propose to put in. Or, if you designed to raise large crops of 



