Buchanan County bulletin and guardian. (Independence, Iowa) 1866-1869, 1867-10-11

Opening address Of Hon. Pete Melendy, 0,
Tuesday afternoon, October ls


FELLow CITIZENS I'm behalf Of the Iowa
State Agricultural Society, under whose au-
spices We are met in behalf of the citizens
Of Clinton and Lyons, by whose invitation
We are here assembled !: and in my own be
halt, ! tender you cordial welcome to this.
our fourteenth annual Fair. Whether YOU
have come from the East, with iis manutac.
turing thrift and skill-from the South, with
its verdure and warmth and boom-from
the fertile valleys and prairies OF the great
Northwest: whether from the walks of pro-
fessional life-from the marts of commercial
from the peaceful sriumphs Of the piow.
the loom or anvil'-from whatever section
Of our fair land, and Whatever station in life.
l bid you welcome, q right hearty welcome.
to the pleasures and blessings of this annual
festival.
Ny friends, We have laid aside our ordna
ry business conflicts and cares, and have as.
sembled here to impari aud receive insirnc>
tion in the noble and glorious calling Of
agriculture. We have come TO honor thar
cause upon which depends the advancemen,
OF all arts, professions and occupations. Up
on the art and science nf agriculture deIend
individual happiness and national wealth
and power. 1t is the parent OF every indns>
trial pursuit, and that TO which the especial
blessing Of q great Power is vouchsaf,-a.
A dependent world looks up to The gre.,
God and prays, Give US this da. our daifs
bread This prayer is the expression II a
universal want, and the recognition OF The
source from whence tha, wan, must be sup
piled. /, is the mission Of the farmer to
provide the means of supplying the daily
bread which is the symbol of every ele.
meni that nourishes the body, and preserves
the race from speedy extinction.
No calling that engages tie mind. or
hands of men can be more benevolent in
aim. or beneficial in results, than agricul>
ture. Since the days OF Cain, who wss .
" tiller OF the soil'-and Noah began to be
a husbandman and planted = vine yard. there
have not been found wanting men OF emf,
hent attaiDments who hare not devoted their
energies 10 progress in agriculture. While
il has in all ages, occupied the largest por.
tion Of mankind who have from the unwill.
ing soil eked out a precarious existence, or
from an exuberant field have reared rich
harve>ts, there have arisen, at times, giants
who have done much TO advance the cause
aud give creci, to the art. 1t surpasses all
other occupations, giving prosperity to the
Individual, ealth to the State, health to
body, soundness to mind and purity to NOR.
ais. An old poet quantity expresses this
idea in the lines:
How blest the farmer. simple lot
How pure the joy it yields,
Far from the world ,empestuous strife,
Free, mid the scented felds,'
In tracing the history .. Eastern countries
10 the time O. Moses, q period of abou, J..
5U0 y, xrs. and consulting the various VIII
ters upon husbandry, il will be found, sa, 5
Loudon, that the state of agriculture and
other arts, aud even Of machinery. does not
appear 10 have been materially different
from what they are in the same countries al
the present day. Property i'll land Mas rec>
ognized, the same grains cultivated and the
same domestic anil. ais reared and employ>
ed some led wandering life and dwelt IN
towns and cities, and parsued agriculture
and commerce, like the fixed nations. Ii is
reasonable, indeed, and consistent With re-
eeiyed opinions, that this should be the case :
for, admitting the b man race To be nearly
extermiualfd ut the delu. e, these Who survi>
we'd that catastrophe would possess the more
useful arts, and general habits ot life OF the
antediluvian world.
Noah, accordingly, is styled husband
man, and is said to have cultivated the vine
aud made wine. In little more than three
centuries afterward. Abraham is stated to
have bad extensive hocks and herds. Isaac.
his son, during his residence III Palestine.
is said to have sown and reaped an hundred
told. Corn seems to have been grown in
abundance in Egypt, for Abraham, and af>
,erwar,ls Jacob, had recourse TO that oun>
try ia times OF famine. Such Is the amount
of agricultural information contained in the
writings Of Moses, from which the general
conclusion Is that agriculture. in the past,
has been praeiieed in all or most OF It's
branches from time immemoriai.
In these latter days very many men, dis.
tinguished for their attain ments as statesmen
and scholars. have engaged in the cultivation
vi the soil. not only because they found in it
satisfaction to the mind aud health to the
body, bat because they we're impressed with
its Importance, financial and commercial,
and bent their energies to the creation Of
proper public sense Of It's value ard dignity.
Without undertaking other employ ments,
they felt that the prosperity Of all classes
was based upon it that in periods of COM
when financial revolution overwhelmed the
merchant, or overpowering competition bore
down the mechanic aud the laborer that,
like fabled An,rns, we had only To touch the
earth again and new vigor would be impArt
ed to ali branches OF industry.
Oh, what an a-t-what mys,ery--is that
OF the farmer What boundess field for
the development Of his own aculties-for the
elevation OF the human family.
The scene heffre us is not only full Of ami
nation, but OF interest, to every one who has
the happiness and progress Of his race at
heart. This is not merely an annual festi>
val i, is great school, where the results
accomplished by the ablest and most practi-
cal minds in these departments are exhibits
ed for instruction.
You have assembled here from the farm,
the shop, the counting room and the Office
-ftcm tho great valle- Of shc Mississippi =