The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1874-09-19
=: PROF. HunIsIoN'S ADDRESS.
Delivered It the Minnesota Staec
Fair, Sept. IL, 1874.

I: ! :#}EG Tts - -tts5 ~ s:8sfei $.,,s
j Mr.. President, Gentlemen: .Qf the :Boarf
end Fe1o.o Ctti<ens deeply sensible ofthe
honor and responsibility you have conferred
upon me, it is my duty and pleasure to ad-s
dress YOU on this the 10th anniversary Of,
After the lapse Of another year we are p,r-
mttted to meet again in the Interests rof aq-
rlculture, manufactures and the mechanic
arts: With joyous hearts and devout thanks
to the Bounteous Giver Of all good, We look
upon. the evidences Of enterprise and. pros
perlty with which we are here surrounded,
and behold the mass Of people assembled
from widely separated portions Of our State:
That our State Fair is organized and sus-
tanned for noble and philanthropic end,
no one can doubt. Its design il to promote
the highest degree Of excellence in all the
products Of tie farm and the workshop
throughout the State, to; the end that en-
may he given to skill and in
dustry OF every form, that the highest re-
snlts may be realized and human wants ade-
4uately supplied. But among the various
departments Of industry, agriculture, and it's
twin sister, horticulture, the first employ
ment OF the progenitOrs Of our race continue
: to occupy the leading position in the .avoca-
tons Of mankind.
The question otiood lies at the very basis
of human existence. A hungry world
stretches out its hands to the Great Father
Of us all and prays "Give US this day our
daily bread The farmers OF this world are
commissioned to answer this prayer How,
then, shall we fulfil our mission, and give
bread-food-to the world?
No question was ever propOun!led y Of
greater interest or importance to the human
family. Food for the millioni Bread for
fh0 yNrY1 ! 10
least possible cost, and what is necessary in
order to the successful prosecution and con-
summation OF the work? What obstacles
shalt we meet, and how shall they be over
GOMEZ
First Of all there should be higher ap-
probation Of the farmers vocation. Instead
OF regarding agriculture AZ q Science and an
Art, Offering the widest scope to Thought,
research and thorough investigation as
much so, at least, as the profession Of Law,
Medicine !. or Divinity, the general impress
man can become good farmer ,oithout the
special training that Is required in the learn
ed professions, if he will only work, that
the vocation is one Of much drudgery, and
thought, - that the muscle should command
higher premium than brain: -:
How many average American farmers
would be sadly at fault in ATTEMPTING to an
swer the following questions: What min
eral and what organic elements enter into
the structure of a grain Of wheat? Whence
are these elements obtained? What pro-
portion comes from the earth, and how
much from the ARR How does a grain Of
wheat differ in its constituent elements from
an eggg, from cows milk, or from the human
body? What proportion in each of the
above is solid III after, and what percentage
OF water does each contain In an exhausted
held, why DO you require predominance
OF one kind OF fertilizer for grains, another
for grasses, another for edible roots, and
another to prevent the straw Of your cereals
from falling (todging); and what are these
different fertilizers, respectively? What
substances constitute good soil for the u.s.
dal variety Of crops, and what purpose does
These questions, and hundreds of others,
are not tar-fetched, but practical and fanda.
mental. Difficult and unimportant as they
may seem to lis, the average English farmer
would answer them at once, and laugh at
their simplicity And because he can an
swer them, he can afford to pay a rental of a
Thousand pounds a year for small farm,
where his Yar:kee cousin, ignoring science,
would starve.
Because the English farmer can answer
them, his fields that have been cropped for
sAousanN years WAL pIOOuce more
wheat to-day than ever before. Because he
can answer them, his social position is &C.
knowledged to be above the artisan, the
manufacturer and the merchant, and next
to the nobility.
merit, and not blood, constitutes the true
nobility; and the avenues to this high
position are open equally and freely to all
men.
In speaking Of successful farming in the
old world would not ignore the fact that
elevate the standard of thorough, farming in
our own land. Agricultural Schools and
Colleges are beginning to be established in
all our States. That they should be well
endowed and patronized to the fullest ex-
tent Of their capacity, by all who intend to
make agriculture their vocation, there can.
not be the shadow Of a doubt. When the
farmer has learned and put into practice the
Golden Rule of Agriculture, to return to the
soil in the shape Of manure, exactly what it
| has lost in the crop, he has taken one I'M.
has taken us centuries to learn this lesson,
and at cost Of millions Of acres of our
choicest domain. Especially il this true in
what is termed the "tired lands' of the
! Southern States, where the wild beasts
have returned, aud now roam undisturbed
| in the fertile fields Of a hundred years ago,
The newer States ofthe west are now re-
peating the same ruinous process, and here
! in Minnesota the sin lies ut our own door.
In the millions of bushels Of wheat we are
sending to distant markets, we; are constant
tilizers, which flow through the sewers OF
eastern cities, and thus we are bnrying the
best portion of our farms beneath the. sea.
AS general rule no land will continue to
produce good crops, except for a limited
| period, without manure. Nine tenths of all
the land in the world will produce good, re-
numerati:e crops if properly MANFRED. The
|: farmer must furnish a portion, ut least, of
the raw material out Of which his products
! are to he manufactured, Or he will pillow and
SOW, bat never reap The law is immuta-
and how can man afford to devote his life
to raising food for the million. The answer
is found in the fact that the greater portion
Of his growing plants are derived directly or
indirectly from the air; and the driest food
contains large percentage Of water It has
been well said "that our plants and forest
trees do not dig their own graves by taking
from the earth the principal part of their
material structures" When they are buried
the ashes that remain are generally but
three OF four per cent. Of the whole plant,
earth, from which they spring. All the
rest is organic matter and water, and it is
generally conceded that if plants can be al
lowed low d sufficient time to grow, they can *
we can hasten their development by supply
ingthem with animal or vegetable manlres
containing ammonia and carbonic acid,
which are absorbed by the roots and become
additional food to the growing plant. The
water and food derived from the air cost US
nothing: The mineral and the organic fer
tilizers are procured at d small expense COM
pared with the value of the crop:
Herein hes the profit Of farming. -"
Small, however, as the expense Of these
fertilizers may he; they are indispensable to