MR. SALTONSTALL'S ADDRESS. 



Gentlemen : 



An apology may seem to be necessary for my pre- 

 suming to address you on an anniversary, in which you 

 have been accustomed to listen to the instructive coun- 

 sels of practical agriculturalists, bringing to you the 

 results of their observation and experience. You 

 know, gentlemen, that my lot in life has been so cast, 

 that I can have no practical, and but little theoretical 

 knowledge of agriculture, and no pretensions to the 

 honor you have conferred upon me by your invitation to 

 address you, except those which arise from my connex- 

 ion with this Society from its commencement, and from 

 a deep sense of the importance of the agricultural inter- 

 est above all others, as a source of individual happiness, 

 and of national prosperity. Agriculture is indeed a 

 subject in which every man has, and should feel an in- 

 terest, for it is the basis of all other interests, and is 

 essential not only to the comfort, but to the very exis- 

 tence of society. 



On this twenty-sixth anniversary of our Society, 

 permit me to congratulate you on its success and pros- 

 perity. The display of animals, of vegetable productions, 

 and of implements of husbandry, the trial of that great 

 and earliest instrument of agriculture, and indeed of 

 civilization, the plough, and the exhibition of articles of 

 domestic manufacture, have never been excelled on any 

 former occasion, and afford the most gratifying evidence 

 of the progress of agricultural improvement. 



Our Society was one of the earliest in the Common- 

 wealth. At first it had to contend with great prejudices. 



