It is, however, true, and the statement of the truth ought not
to be omitted, that the prevalent ideas among us are much in advance of
what they were ten years ago. In what has been accomplished we have
ground for hope, and even security for further advancement.
I look, then, first and chiefly to an improved home culture, as the
necessary basis of a system of agricultural education. Christian
education, culture, and life, depend essentially upon the influences of
home; and we feel continually the importance of kindred influences upon
our common school system.
It will not, of course, be wise to wait, in the establishment of a
system of agricultural education, until we are satisfied that every
farmer is prepared for it; in the beginning sufficient support may be
derived from a small number of persons, but in the end it must be
sustained by the mass of those interested. Other pursuits and
professions must meet the special claims made upon them, and in the
matter of agricultural education they cannot be expected to do more than
assent to what the farmers themselves may require.
An important part of a system of agricultural education has been, as it
seems to me, already established. I speak of our national, state,
county, and town associations for the promotion of agriculture. The
first three may educate the people through their annual fairs, by their
publications, and by the collection and distribution of rare seeds,
plants, and animals, that are not usually within reach of individual
farmers.
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