The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1857-10-07
BY II. N. TwoMBLY, ESQ.

Agricultural Society, at its annual Fair
Sept. 9th, 1857. n a.. p
by II. N. TwoMBLY, ESQ. q
Gentlemen Of the North West Union
Agricultural 'Society:-J .sol
This is all wrong. / ought not to be
here. 1t is amistake that I, a lawyer and
not a practical farmer, am here to address
an assemblage of practical farmers upon
subjects pertaining to their peculiar voca-
ton. We ought to exchange Places
some one ii YOU should be here as speaker,
and l be in more appropriate position rs
listener. And yet, am aware, there is
a brotherhood Of the professions, and all
others have vital relation to agriculture,
the paramount one of all; and so it hap
pens that whatever be our vocation, we
have an interest in these pursuits, which,
as Cicero says, approach nearest to the
life of a wise man. But aside from this
general interest, there is, with most of us
peculiar one arising from early educa-
ton. 1t is a marked favorable feature of
our American customs that our youth
are so generally bred to life on the farm.
The interest thus acquired in agriculture
goes out with them through all the walks
of life; it mingles with their business; it
tw.ne5 around Their general and scientific
information, and leads them to look for
ward through the dust and tolls Of bust
ness to retirement on farm as the most
fitting close Of life. There is more know
edge of farming among other profess
ions than farmers are apt to think; and
there is more interest III their pursuits
than they are quick to believe. | need
only mention in proof of this that tho
first impulse to formation of this society,
rs wei as most others of the kind, origin
ated with those who are not engaged in
practical agriculture. b.
But little more than a year ago the nu-
cleus of this societv-the first | believe in
North Western Wisconsin-was formed.
And it seems remarkable that in counties,
whose settlement dates hardly moro than
four wears back, there should be gathered
so large number of persons interested in
agricultural pursuits, and such a display
of agricultural products rs are here to-day
Associations Of this kind are not the natu-
raj growth of new countries. Other and
more necessary objects claim the attention
Of tle eerlr settler. When the distinctive
features Of pioneer life have disappeared:
when tie ntat farm house haa taken the
place Of the 10y cal n, Wien the fields have
been wlltened with tie harycsts of sue.
cessive wears and llavo pat on the appear
anoe Of ase, then usually, for the first
time. do agricultural societies beg to be
thought of. And it speaks volumes for
tho enterprise of the farmers of these coun-
tries, and promises mach for your future
agricultural interests, that thus earl in
your history you have an association of
this kind. The day when their utility
could be ca led in question, is past. They
have been weighed in the scale of posi-
tive experience, and there not found want
Ing. Like rnost other new enterprises
thew hayo boea condtmlel as humbugs,
their effects, it has been said, are by no
means commensurate with the trouble and
exnense attending them. But facts thro'
long series of years, during which they
have been tried, have indicated their
utility and shown the falsity of these as
sertions They have become more popu
lar each year and to-day they stand ac
knowledged among the most salutary
aud necessary of modern enterprises.
Indeed, wore these fairs intended mere.
" as holidays and social gatherings, their
influence would still be invaluable. The
criticism is a common one and % just one
too, against us as a people, that in the ar
ranoements of our social and business life,
we afford too few opportunities for amuso-
ment and condemn ourselves to unnec-
cessar7 toll and drudgery. We have but
one national holiday, and all the year else
we 90 through the same unvarying round,
for@ct!nl Of our social wants and ignoring
those amenities of toi-recreat;ons, with
out which labor loses its charm and its
s.imulant We should have more holi-
DAYS. They tighten the heart; they break
down preiudidices; they quicken the hui
manities. Other nations have their testi
walls for every season of the year. The
Greeks were wont to devote whole weeks
to their feasts and games. There were
white DAYS in the Roman calender when
the popuiace went forth in holiday attire
to celebrate their ancient festivals. In ac-
cordance with great law of our common
nature as well rs in obedience to divine
behests. the Jews were wont to keep their
festive days in the groves, with feasting
and the dance, with the sound of music
and the swell of voices. The English la
borer forget tho sufferings of toll and pow
erty in the genial light of Christmas and
Now Years; in the May Day festivals of
spring, and in the hilarity of his autumn
iab;lees. But withus the strife of eompe-
tition, the rich rewards that wait to crown
industry, and the eager struggle for ma
terial ends, cause almost forgetfulness
that We arc social beings. The burden of
business, ike that of Bunyan's Pilgrim,
rests upon us continually, unlosened, IN
alleviated. Christmas and New Years
do not wake us from the dull monotony
of routine; the old harvest festivals of our
fathers have vanished before modern in
novation, aud scarcely does the spirit Of
patriotism in the middle month of summer
have power to break the chain of this
linked labor long drawn out. Toll, m
deed, we must, labor is necessity of our
being; but it is a lesson we must learn
that after labor md toll, we mead rest and