North Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1867-current, 1868-10-14

State Fair.
We can have no regular report of pro-
ccedings and premiums for this issue.
Seventeen hundred entries were made the
first day. Samples of all Iowa products,
artificial, natural, biped-ical and quadru-
pedal were on hand. Horse trotting was
the chief excitement. Indeed if it were
not for the horsc-shows and the lady ri
dings, the fairs Of modern days would all
be failures. The display Of Agr. Imple-
ments and farm machinery gener'
ally was unusally large and drew
great attention from all parts of the
State. The-address of President Mellen-
dy wa, a model one. We give below a
portion Of its argumentative points its
statistics are 'too many" for our columns
Young men will read this extract with
profit. The Agr. College is spoken Of by
Mr.. NJ, but of that, hereafter:
The gratifying results of former efforts
have induced the officers Of the society to
again call you together to enter into gen.
erous competition for the improvement Of
our .hocks, herds, crops and mechanical
appliances and from what We have al
ready seen, we are confident of the excel
lence of the same increasing prosperity
and the same great progress that has been
so gratifying to behold in former years.
1t is indeed encouraS ing to every lover
Of agriculture, and to e:ery we'll wishcr of
the prosperity of the Hawkeye state, to
find this large and admirable aggregation
of tho best from our farms, tlocks and
herds-orchards, gardens, workshops and
households on exhibition.
The great interest Of this statc-and it
is beyond the power Of man to make it
otherwisc--is agriculture. The climate
and soil. tenure of land, necessities Of the
people, and the relations Of our state to
other states. Ill combine to stamp Iowa
with the indelible characteristics of an az
ricultural state.
Fortunate is it for you, my friends, that
an allwise providence has cast your lots
here, for in the pursuit of agriculture is
found the greatest share Of human happi-
ness. The health giving, ennobling, and e.
evating influence of this employment has
ever been pleasant theme with wise and
philanthropic men, who recognize its ben
efcial results in establishing the wealth,
power, and true glory of state.
The growth and progress Of the state of
Iowa, from the time of the first settlement
of its territory by civilized man to the
present time, is one of the most remarka
BILE phenomena in the history Of the hu-
man race. That a wild country, remote
from civilization, and overrun by fierce
and warlike savages, should, within peri
cd of time so brief, as to be within the
memory of our youngest men. become the
happy home Of over one million Of the
human family, enjoying the blessings of
civilization, and the surroundings of high
moral and mental culture, governing
themselves by wise and equitable laws Of
their own establishing, is truly among the
wonderful occurrences in the history of our
country. And yet agriculture has dere
all this.
A word to the oung men Of Iowa. One
Of the prevalent and alarming evils Of the
present day, one which, if not soon ar
rested, must ultimately affect. greatly and
seriously affect the highest and best in
tercsts of our country, is the strong
aversion SO very generally manifested by
the rising generation to farm labor. 1t
seems to have become an almost universal
and settled conviction with the young men
of the present age, that the portals Of
honor, usefulness and distinction, are open
to those only wlo figure largely within
the enervating walls Of countingroom,
promenade the glitterins walks of profes.
sional life, or burn the midnight oil in the
scqucstercd halls Of classic learning.
Mistaken idea! a sentiment so unbound.
ed and fatally absurd, usht to mantle
with blush the cheek Of the uneducated,
barbarous, and the enlightened and intel
lisent mind Of the nineteenth century
should repcl it with indignant scorn.
"Dishonorable to work on a farR?" "Can't
be eminent, and ut the same time far
mer?' Who taught you, my young
friends, so much philosophy? From what
librarians shelf did you read such lessons
of modern wisdom? Oh, foolish young
men; if such are the priciples with which
you set out in life, you are destined to fail !;
though your prospects may now be as
bright and clear as the silvery sky of an
autmnal evening, yet the revelations of
futnrity will becloud your hopes with
unexpected misfortune. No! young men
OF Iowa, harbor not for moment such
suicidal notions; Danish such thoughts
from your mind, as you would Danish from
your heart the ruthless assailant of ma.
tional liberty. Remember that you live in
a country in which moral worth, and
intellectual greatness, are the hig hest
standards Of individual excellence. II
matters not what your vocation may be,
or however humble, it is by these qualities
that you will be Judged by your country,
and by no others. Let not the false glare
and the not unfrequently undcserving in
sigma OF the more favored sons of fortune
betray your confidence, or court you,
affections. OF all the vocations that have
ereryet been pursued by man, tho re are none
higher, moro honor able or deserving than
the cultivation Of the soil. The labors o
the farm havs engaged the attention Of