6 IM II. STONES ADDRESS. 



appreciated by the Father of his Country, who amidst the fa- 

 tigues and excitements of the Camp, and the cares of State, 

 cherished an ardent interest in this branch of industry. It was 

 his desire to see estabhshed, a National Board of Agriculture, 

 " composed of proper characters, charged with collecting and 

 diffusing information, and enabled by premiums, and small pe- 

 cuniary aid, to encourage and assist a spirit of discovery and 

 improvement." Among the last acts of his public life, was the 

 recommendation of such an Institution to the notice of Con- 

 gress, as calculated "doubly to the increase of improvement, 

 by stimulating to enterprize and experiment, and by drawing 

 to a common centre the results every where of individual skill 

 and observation, and spreading them thence over the whole na- 

 tion."* The subject, though favorably regarded, was not defi- 

 nitely acted upon, owing to limited time and the pressure of 

 important business.f 



The Patent Office is, I believe, the only department of our 

 National organization that bears any direct relation to Agricul- 

 ture, and this, under the efficient management of Hon. H. L." 

 Ellsworth, (lately retired,) has rendered valuable service to the 

 farming interest. Mr. E. was indefatigable in collecting 

 information concerning the agriculture of this country, and his 

 Reports are among the most useful documents printed and dis- 

 tributed by Congress. State and County Associations are now 

 doing the work of a National Institution, and by the concen- 

 tration of local interests, are probably quite as advantageous. 

 They have stimulated mechanical ingenuity, under the influ- 

 ence of which, the cultivator, horse rake, roller, and many oth- 

 er useful implements have been invented, while important im- 

 provements have been made in those previously in use. The 

 scythe, rake, fork, spade and hoe, have all received the magic 

 touch of genius, and appear to us in more graceful forms. But 

 in nothing is change for the better more visible, than in that 

 vital agent of agriculture — the plough. History furnishes no 

 description of that used by Elisha, when, as the Messenger and 

 Prophet of God, he left the field to discharge those high and 



♦Speech on opening of Congress, Dec. 5, 1796. fLetters to Sir John Sinclair, p. 42. 



I 



