10 



up to the true dignity of his calling find cause it io 

 take a high stand point among the avocations of life. 



Who stands in so envi iblo a position as you do, — - 

 owners of the soil, and producers of the bread that 

 sustains life ? It is you th it feed the teeming thousands 

 of our Commonwe.iUh, and their dependence is on you ; 

 you supply their most pressing wants. Agriculture is 

 the largest and the most important of all our material 

 relations. The largest proportion of our countrymen 

 are engaged in tilling the soil, being three-fifths of the 

 whole ; and over three-fifths of the permanent wealth is 

 in your hands. The prosperity of our county is based 

 upon the prosperity of the owners and tillers of the soiL 

 By the last census returns, two million four hundred 

 thousand of our free male population are employed in 

 agriculture ; carpenters one hundred and eighty-four 

 thousand; shoemakers one hundred and thirty thousa.nd; 

 merchants one hundred thousand. The agricultural 

 products of a single year are estimated at over one thou- 

 sand millions of dollars. When we consider the vast 

 amount of products of the soil it takes to sustain our 

 nation, we may well say how great is your responsibility^ 

 and how important that you should be equal to the task. 

 The destiny of our nation is in your hands. It is you 

 that give it permanent support. Our civil and religious 

 institutions are nurtured by you* The march of pro- 

 gress in the arts and sciences depends upon the success 

 of the tillers of the soil. 



It is the wants of the agriculturist that calls for in- 

 ternal improvements. The sons of the New England 

 farmers emigrate West, clear up wood- lands, break up 

 extensive prairies, making them to yield the goldeo 



