104 
ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 
education which he might use in his chosen occupation and 
you have increased his expenditures and diminished his 
receipts. You have made him of all beings the most mis¬ 
erable. * Hungry and thirsty, you tantalize him by showing 
him luscious fruitand sparkling wine just beyond his reach. 
Ignorance to him would, indeed, be bliss. 
What will education do for the farmer ? If it be that 
kind of education, that its results, in part, at least, may 
appear in his well-filled corn-cribs, in his heaped up potato 
bins, in better shelter for his cattle, in a more judicious 
selection of animals for breeding purposes, in the more 
perfect adaptation of food to the necessities of the animal, in 
better butter and more of it,—-such an education he may be 
induced to acquire; and, having thus built a substantial 
educational edifice—an edifice of which the foundation stone 
and the frame are the “common English branches; ” the 
sidin°\ the roof-boards and the shingles—those branches 
that are especially adapted to the necessities of a farmer, he 
will then desire to put on a cornice of poetry, with musical 
modillions; an astronomical cupola, with philosophic mina¬ 
rets* historic balconies and fanciful arcades. Let him do it. 
Induce him to do it. He is as much entitled to an educa¬ 
tional palace as the lawyer. These palaces may be equally 
attractive, equally spacious, but not alike. . The foundation 
stones and frames may be similar, but Latin roof -boards and 
Greek shingles will hardly keep out the rain over the head of 
the farmer. 
To the lawyer and minister great skill in the use of 
language is a necessity ; to the farmer it is, at most, only a 
convenience. To the farmer, a knowledge of the chemistry 
of soils and foods and manures is a necessity; to the lawyer 
it is secondary in importance. Poetry and history are suit¬ 
able ornaments for the farmer’s educational palace lor the 
minister’s they are substantial covering. In conclusion, 
permit me to say to any who may be connected with our 
educational system, either as teachers or school directors, 
if you really desire to see the industrial classes of this 
country brought to a higher intellectual plane, first, give to 
them these branches of study, a knowledge of which will 
have to them, a money value; knowledge that they can 
make the “basis for action;” knowledge that will enable 
them to succeed financially in their chosen vocation, that 
they may not be burdens upon society, but that they may 
