Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1865-10-06
OPENING ADDRESS IL
.. OF
- Z r L r M Ell Z N ID E.
President Iowa State Agricultural
Society.

! society,
at Burlington, September 26th, 1865.
FELLOW CITIZENS. AT the eleventh
annual meeting of the Iowa Agricultur-
al Society its members did me the hon
or of electing me President, and a dis
tinguished honor l consider it.
The Constitution of the Society makes
it the duty of the presiding officer to
deliver, or cause to be delivered, an
address at each annual fair. In the
discharge of this branch of my duty /
consider myself far less at home than
in the barn-yard, the well-stocked
pasture, or the cultivated field; and it
may be presumptious in me to attemt
| to deliver to so intelligent a society of
agriculturists an address worthy of
their consideration. / shall merely en-
deavor to offer you few hints, and n
few plain, unvarnished facts, detailed
to you in q no less plain and simple
manner. .r s..-' ..
Gentleman, the cause in which we
arc engaged is one of deep and abiding
interest to the prosperity and happi-
ness OF man. Stop the onward march
ofagriculture, and you sap the very foun-
dation of all the other branches of in
dustry and enterprise upon which man
is dependent for employment, both of
body and mind.
The history of agriculture is strange
history. 1t is the historoy f a common,
yet mysterious art. 1t is the history
of that which every body talks about,
and writes about, and few understand.
ltis subject of long standing, for it
commenced in the Garden of Eden, and
will last as long as time shall last, for it
receives the attention of the greater por-
/ nt hn l,r,r
solid wealth of the country is sn the
land, and, by the better improvement
of the soil, it is difficult to say to how
great an extent the general wealth
might be augmented. AT the present
day it consumes more muscle and nerve,
and monopolizes more capital, than ali
other pursuits combined.
But how few agriculturists are prac-
tically acquainted with what is already
known of the principles of the import
ant profession by which they live
They ploW, they plant, and the seed
bears fruit; but how and why they
cannot tell. They have been slow to
believe in any method of culture which
differed from their fathers practice
But the awakening spirit of the time
is making itself felt in the agricultural
districts; old prejudiccs are dying out,
and the followers of this most ancient
and noblest of all the arts, are becoming
generally anxious for information, and
eager for improvement.
The proper education Of the yeoman-
ry has been neglected. The encourage
ment of experimental agriculture has
been, in general, discouraged, No ma
| tional efforts have been made for the
general Improvement of the method of
culture, until of late, while for the 9TH
i'm, nptp all
special associations have been created.
The right arm of the country has hith-
erto scarcely had any public benefits
conferred upon it--with the practice of
the art the theory has been neglected.
Scientific men have had no inducement
to devote their time and talents to a
subject which held out no promise of
reward, either in the shape of actual
emoluments, or ofhonorary distinction.
But we are glad TO announce to-day
! that our General Government, and the
public mind, have been awakened,
and the establishment of Agricultural
! Colleges, in many of the States, is q
manifestation of the interest now felt
upon the subject, the influence of which
will produce incalcuIablc good. 1t
requires only the general exhibition
| OF such an interest, and the adoption
OF some genuine means Of encourage
ment, to stimulate both practical In
genuity and scientific zeal to exert
themselves in this most valuable branch
of National and State industry.
And how numerous are the branches
Of science connected with the art
Need speak of Botany, which is, as it |
We're, the foundation upon which the |
first elements of agriculture rests? Or
OF vegetable Physiology, to the indica-
nT WI ipI r l,ny Ia IL.
exclusively looked for improvement
and increased success? Or to Etymolo- |
gy, which alone can throw light on the |
numerous insects which prey upon
your crops, and so often ruin your
hopes, and which can alone be reasopa-
bly, expected to arm you against their |
ravages, and instruct you how to extir-
pate them?
1T may be said with truth, that no
department of natural science is inca
pable of yielding instruction-that
there is scarcely any knowledge which |
would be superfiuous TO the tiller of the |.
soil. 1t is thus that all branches of hu- 7
man knowledge are bound together, |
and all the arts of life, and all the cul,
tivators of them, are mutually depend
ent. 1t is by lending each q helping
hand to the other, that the success Of |
all is to be secured and accelerated ;
while, with the general progress of the |
whole, the advance Of each individual
is made secure.
The time, therefore, is peculiarly IA
vorable for the increase and diffusion of |
agricultural knowledge. The growth |
OF our population requires it. Practical |
men are anxious to receive instruction |
scientific men are eager to impart .
what they already know, and to make |
ct rf I,ar rf. ,..I, fN
of clearing up what is yet but imper-
fectly understood. Are we not otjustified,
therefore, in anticipating hereafter a,
constant and gen eral diffusion of light |
q steady progress in agricu ltural i'm
provemcnt?
To what are we to attribute our un-
rivalled prosperity and happiness as q
people, but to this noble cause? Look,
but for moment at this beautiful city,
and the many other fiourishing cities
in our young State. See the rapid
strides they have made, and are still
making, toward distinction. View
with pride and admiration, as YOU
doutless do, the various avenues leading
our noble Iowa on to great wealth and
power. See her railroads that arc enter
ing at all points, and in front of us be-
hold the most magnificent river ia the
"OfAuS iOo oAotSu bocOLu CONcIcu WIFI
thousands of splendid steamers, that
have more the appearance of floating
palaces than freighting crafts, and
which are continually leaving their
wharves, waiting off to distant markets
millions of dollars worth of produce
From whence comes all this?
Cast your eyes on the valley before you,
and the hills which surround you; look
ut the beautiful prairies that reach far
to the west; let Imagination lead you
up the rich and lovely vallies of the
Cedar, the Iowa, and the Des Moines,
and thence to the finely cultivated and
fertile regions that are north
west and south of you, and the story is
told. IT is the advantage resulting from
the successful cultivation of the soil, in
these rich and productive counties, in
the midst of which our lot is cast, that
Is building up our growing cities and
beautiful country.
Twenty years ago the country around
US was wilderness, untrod by the foot
stepa of civilized man. Ifs forests were