ADDRESS. 



I liave observed, and I speak of it here slmpty as a fact, not 

 especially remarkable, that men iisuall}' appear to the best advan- 

 tage when, in. talking, they confine themselves to those things 

 concerning wliich thej know something. 



I cerfcainlj dosice, here and elsewhere, to speak, if not well, 

 as well as I can, and yet I find ni3^self standing before an audi- 

 ence of larmers, in an atmo32:)here instinct with agricultura] life, 

 surrounded bj all the /issociations of the farm, all seemingly 

 uniting to forbid and interdict as out of place, any allusion but 

 to one topic, and of that, at least in its details, I am. perhaps as 

 ignorant as any one ^vell caQ be. 



In this dilemm?.i it has occurred to me, that instead of inviting 

 you CO the repast of ill selected, and worse arranged facts which 

 I might glean from the encyclopedias and agricultural reports, 

 making of myself a, sort of moral coffee mill, gathering my 

 materials, as it were, ir* the berry, and coasting aiid grindin,^;; ;hem 

 out for your .refreshmeni; and nomin?.!,! edification — it mlgin be 

 far better ti> invite your attention, in the few moments daring 

 which I may safely speak, without running the risk of seri- 

 ously wearying your patience, to that general view of .uirm- 

 ing, which a business training and experience of tvrenty-flve 

 years most naturally inchnes, as it has best fitted me to take. 



And [ am impelled in this direction, hardly more by inclinar 

 tion and n, sense of fitness, than by a profound conviction, (for 

 an expression of which I trust I shall not be deemed presump- 

 tuous,) that while in a general way, every farmer understands 

 that farming is a business, comparatively few seem to fully 

 appreciate, that equally with the merchant and the manufacturer, 

 the tarmer is dependent; fo)- success upon a strict observance of 

 certaivi general rules which also govern them — or that farming 

 is really and truly a business, resting upon the same underlying 

 principles, subject generally to the same conditions, and governed 

 by tb.e same general laws, which are operative and essential in 

 other branches of business. 



