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Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. 
powers you have—work with the tools you possess to the best ad¬ 
vantage—this is energy,and whatever you undertake to accomplish 
stick to it. 
I care not what the capacity may be, without application it is of 
little value. Mo matter what your opportunities may be, whether 
you are swinging the ax or following the plow, or amongst the 
privileged class who scientifically exhaust their surplus vitality by 
kicking foot-balls or gymnastic exercise. Unless you exercise your 
mental faculties, unless you investigate, reason, compare, and ana¬ 
lyze, unless you check and govern your passions by your intellect, 
according to the dictates of the moral sentiments, you will make 
but sorry progress in true education. * 
On every hand we see the agricultural classes awakening to a 
just sense of their situation, for, 
“ I doubt not, through the ages one increasing purpose runs, 
And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the sunsA’ 
For the past few years we have heard and said a great deal about 
the farmers being crushed, misused, and abused by all sorts of rings 
and monopolies, and a great many rushed to the grange and the club; 
the cry was, u organize for self-protection.” We organized, and 
behold, defunct politicians and party-hacks discovered our situa¬ 
tion, and how they did picture the situation of the poor farmer, and 
what is their remedy? u Come with .us and we will guide you to 
the land that flows with milk and honey.” 
But the u thoughts of men are widened;” they are now taking 
the u sober second thought,” and they discover that to a great ex¬ 
tent u the}" give themselves the wounds they feel;” that it is simply 
a question of the “ survival of the fittest,” and if they wish to sur¬ 
vive and progress, they must fit themselves for their situation. 
The club, the grange, the agricultural press, and these conventions, 
are more and more becoming what they should be—the great self¬ 
instructors of the farming community. Here mind comes in con¬ 
tact with mind; we become acquainted with the experiments, sug¬ 
gestions, and opinions of our brother farmers and we gain a knowl¬ 
edge concerning ourselves, as farmers. All this tends to stimulate 
thought, to create a desire to know more. Mind is awakened, and 
'progress is the watchword. We begin to consider our duties and 
our privileges—our rights and our grievances—with this comes the 
necessity of a knowledge concerning those of other vocations; 
