g gentlemen, that you are now in the
enjoyment of privileges for the acquisition of that knowledge so
essential to success in after life, which were denied to me--and the
absence of which I have felt as a great and serious loss through the
whole period of my existence. See to it that you place a just value upon
these privileges, and that you do not abuse them. Whilst most of you, I
trust, are fitting yourselves for the employment of farming as an
avocation, some, perhaps, may be looking forward to other professions
and pursuits. I, however, on this occasion, must confine my remarks to
those of the former class.

And to such I would briefly remark, that the value and importance of an
agricultural education to the youth whose lives are to be devoted to the
highly reputable occupation of farming, begin now to be admitted, and
happy will it be for our common country, when such education shall be
regarded as a necessity. Labor is no longer degrading, but is creditable
and dignified; and agricultural pursuits are no longer regarded as
disgraceful or ignoble by any except the fop and the coxcomb, but are of
all employments the most honorable in which men can be engaged. Nor is
it, as has been too often supposed, a cheerless life of toil and
fatigue, but has many substantial and endearing charms. It is also the
fountain-head for the supply of all our wants; and when contrasted with
other employments, its advantages cannot fail to be appreciated. Whilst
those who seek a profession must be content to spend many weary years of
wasting study--of constant struggle--before they can begin to live, the
farmer has at once before him, health and quiet, ease and contentment,
as well as the enjoyment of sober pleasures which do not cloy, and
whilst the chances of those who engage in commercial pursuits are, that
about _ninety-five_ out of every _one hundred_ are destined to failure,
the farmer is exempt from such a hazard, for the chances of failure with
him are found to be only about _four_ in every _one hundred_.

I do not, of course, in this comparison, include those who, having no
land of their own, are obliged to toil for others as laborers, and who
cannot therefore be ranked as farmers.

To the farmer, if each day does bring its labors, it also brings its
pleasures; and even as he toils in his dusty fields, he can derive
unalloyed pleasures, not only from the study and care of his bleating
flocks and lowing herds, but from the pros