312 
STATE AGEICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 
year before, that apple tree 'produced one solitary apple ; and when it was 
ripe all the Europeans were called together, to the number of twenty, and 
that apple was divided into twenty equal parts, that each one might say that 
he had eaten of an apple grown in Greenland. It was to them a sweet re¬ 
minder of the civilization of their own homes, which they had left for the 
sterile and ice-bound country which they now inhabit. 
And so, go wlJCrever you will, science and agriculture go hand in hand. We 
see the young men of our state and of this country turning away from their 
farms to seek for what they consider some other profesion, more honorable. 
Now, it has been repeated from year to year, at these State Fairs, that agri¬ 
culture is the noblest employment of man, yet we see it abandoned by 
our youths for other pursuits. Why is this ? I can tell you why. It is be" 
cause there has not been enough of study and thought mingled with the la¬ 
bor of the farm. It is because the richness and productiveness of our soil 
have been lessened and farming has failed to be attractive, when profit is 
wanting, because it has demanded or called into action too little brain work. 
The draft upon our soil has been too great, and it becomes more and more 
unproductive from year to year. The brain of the agriculturalist should 
guide the hand. It has been rightly remarked that there is no other employ¬ 
ment under H-eaven, so well adapted for the development of the whole man, 
as the pursuit of agriculture when rightly pursued. 
The farmer is called upon to tell the gi-owth and structure of every plant, 
and the names and habits of every bird and animal from the largest to the 
smallest; and he is called upon to investigate the structure of the soil, and 
tell its capabilities and properties. And when our farmers are trained to 
know the condition of the soil, I challenge the world to show a place where 
mental culture is capable of higher development than in the fields of the 
State of Wisconsin. And let me say it is impossible to go through with all 
this study and brain work without filling the agricultural (^ommunity with in¬ 
telligent and enlightened men. The fruits and the flowers are an open book 
before them. They should study what is adapted to the soil and how to sup¬ 
ply the elements which are taken from it. When this is done—when the 
fields are filled with fruits, and blossoming with flowers, and all that is love¬ 
ly among men, we shall see at our Agricultural Fairs representatives of intel¬ 
ligence—men acquainted with science, and of the highest culture. It must 
be so. There is no other ground upon which_,our civilization can rest. The 
Governor, in his remarks, has been kind enough to allude to the agricultural 
farm; and let me say to you that there is a vast amount of knowledge upon 
the subject of agriculture in our community that is not made use of. It is 
written.in our papers and in our books ; and I think the first great work of 
the agriculturist is to learn what has been done, and examine and enquire 
into all that is known upon the subject, and teach the people the result of 
his investigations. He should study the improvements in agriculture and 
horticulture and see that they are practically applied. When he has done 
this he will be like the sailor upon the prow of the ship, watching to make 
