the soil, or bury his spirit in the furrow, but to win from the ground a higher life, a harvest that shall enrich his immortal being. Many a farm rides the farmer, takes his manhood away, "making him servant to a thing." But instead of this, let him raise character with his corn-till mind with his soil-beautify spirit as he arranges his garden-then his manhood shall be conserved instead of crushed by his occupation.

The true ideal of a farmer's life does not make farming the end but the instrument contemplated-something above and beyond its arduous labors. The farm, with its sunshine and flowers, its song of birds and miracles of life, has higher uses than to feed the body and fill the purse. A man should not turn into a bale of hay, or become all horse; he may and should make his farm school-house and temple; work out his salvation in its labors; and pursue a heavenward pilgrimage as he follows his team.

A man may work himself into the stupidity of an ox; toil so constantly that all the vital mental forces shall be imbedded in muscle. He may, thus, be beyond the reach of temptation, too stupid and sleepy for the devil; but certainly lost to all the beauties and wonders of nature. His home is forbidding as a coal mine, and his influence makes rural life detestable. Farmers must be emancipated, have culture and refinement, or the boys of spirit and enterprise will leave the homestead and seek in other pursuits more congenial employment.

It is the manifest mission of the American farmer to make labor honorable-to crown it with that dignity which its divinity and value demand. To toil is the common lot of man; not a curse, but a blessing, and, while it is the order of God, He intended that labor should harmonize with the true development of the divinity within. It is for you to honor the humble callings of life, those callings that after all are to society the real conservative forces, as gravitation, electricity, vegetation and sunshine are to the physical world. The housewife, with her needle and broom, churn and cheese-press, diligent in labor, making home bright and clean and sweet, filling it with the cheerful light of love, may be far more worthy of honor in her humble station than the jeweled Princess or the proud Queen of an hundred isles. "Feeding the body, educating the spirit, helping humankind to get the mastery over the world, she is weaving that Jacob's ladder whereby mankind and womankind are climbing up to God." We should never be ashamed of labor. There is true nobility in humble life, and honor in honest toil. The farm, the shop, the mill, present fields where virtue, manliness, may grow as well as in an empire, and many a man has held the plow or drove the plane with dignity, while many a king has grasped an empty, ignoble scepter. There is poetry and eloquence in the scintillations of the blazing forge and the ring of the polished anvil; music. in the sound of the flail as it beats the march of Ceres through the land; and all hail to the true man whose beaded brow and honest hand give grandeur to toil. "The laborer on his feet stands higher than the nobleman on his knees." One of our Presidents, who in his youth had been a "hewer of wood," when asked by a foreigner what was his coat of arms, nobly replied, "a pair of shirt sleeves, sir."

Labor should be exalted, and nowhere on earth is there before it so honorable a field as America. Let our ensigns armorial be the axe and the plow,

for by these our fathers conquered the wilderness and won this heritage of the free. In the divine work of teaching the dignity of labor, the American farmer may be an influential reformer-a benefactor to his race-and hasten the millennial day when swords shall be beaten into plowshares.

In conclusion, let me say-the proper care of our rich national farm; the increase of our wealth; the multiplication of labor-saving machines, that shall emancipate from the drudgery of toil; the discovery and application of natural forces to perform our work; the growth of manhood; the elevation of labor, the increase of happy rural homes--all demand, depend upon, the education of the farmer. Educate your sons.

There has been a wide-spread pernicious notion that education was not necessary for the farmer. If a boy from these hill-sides is to be a lawyer, a merchant, then give him a liberal education; but if he is to till the broad acres of the loved homestead, he can afford to be ignorant. Such has been the doctrine. It is true one may "get a living" on a farm without being acquainted with agricultural science-he may raise fair crops and good cattle-but this is not enough. True excellence in any calling is gained only by an acquaintance with the principles and laws that underlie and control it.

It seems to me, there are special reasons why the farmer should be educated. His laborious occupation needs the relief which the pleasures of knowledge give, while his isolation demands the cheering companionship of nature as it appears in the light of science. If educated in the various branches of his calling, he finds a perpetual fund of enjoyment and a thousand pleasing associates to beguile his lonely hours.

The studies of the farm, above all others, are useful, ennobling, attractive. Connected with his employment are the occult processes of nature, that proclaim the wisdom and presence of God; show the boundless love and care of the Almighty; while almost everything related to his labors involves principles of science. He has, above others, the means of studying the aesthetics of nature; of securing the pleasures that arise from a correct taste; for pictures of sublimity and beauty are ever above and around him. The sky, so like the human face in its smiles and tears, calms and storms, is the roof beneath which he works. "Over him gleams far off the crimson banners of morning," and as the day goes out in a flood of glory, he watches from the open door, or loaded cart as it returns homeward, "how pleasantly comes on the heavenly spring, and the celestial flowers begin to blossom," until the heavens "celebrate White Sunday," and flowers of fire fill all the blue fields above. To the educated farmer, the divine textbooks of geology, chemistry, botany, and meteorology, are ever open; while he is ever open to receive the hints and act upon the useful suggestions they give. Knowledge is power, and it is only by mind enlightened that earth and its forces are made largely available.

Farming is not dull or lonely to the educated. It opens the most wondrous volumes, and supplies the most charming companionship. What a sublime mystery underlies the green carpet of the fields, and is swelling the germ of the plant. There is before us the wonderful chemistry of nature, while the rocks have written on them a history more wonderful than

any romance, and old as creation. Examine the growth of the flower, the functions of the leaf, and you find power, wisdom, love, that inspire the most devout reverence.

Boys that hunger after knowledge would not become restless and detest the farm if properly educated for the pursuits of agriculture, but would love to till the soil. Yes, educate your sons for the farm as you would educate them far the bar or the pulpit, then agriculture will be more honorable and profitable, and dusty toil will be silvered over with the halo of intelligent joy; strength will be given to the arm, fertility to the soil, peace and quiet to the home, the amenities of life may be enjoyed in rural retreats, while there will be the satisfaction in cultivating the ground of having added to the wealth and welfare of the world.

"Honor waits o'er all the earth,

Through endless generations,
The art that calls her harvests forth,

And feeds the expectant nations."

DAIRY FARM-HON. ZADOCK PRATT, PRATTSVILLE, GREENE COUNTY.

PRATTSVILLE, March 8, 1866.

Col. B. P. JOHNSON, Sec'y N. Y. State Ag. Society:

Dear Sir-Enclosed please find statement of statistics of my farm for years 1863, 1864, 1865, which, by an unaccountable delay, I have neglected to send you before. I would add, that to the former reports I have given you, that I do not know that I can give you anything new.

I am warranted in saying that this is the best or unsurpassed butter country in the world, and that our native breed of cows cannot be excelled for quality, quantity and keep of butter. The season of 1864 was characterized by a severe drought, and the quantity of butter made was very much less than in former years. The high prices, however, made our dairies profitable. I still continue the practice of seeding my pastures. Last season I added to my poultry yard some genuine wild turkeys from the far west, which I think will improve the breed of domestic ones. The whole secret of farming well is in doing everything in season, and with system and intelligence. Yours truly,

Z. PRATT, pr. F.

Statistics of the Hon Z. Pratt's dairy farm for the usual season of about eight months, for the years 1863, 1864, 1865.

My Dear Sir-We have again passed through another successful year. As it regards the varied agricultural interests of our county and the Her kimer County Agricultural Society, rever held a more successful fair than the last.

Our fair was held on the Society's ample and convenient grounds, September 19, 20 and 21.

The exhibition being held the week after the State Fair at Utica, so near us, and our people mostly having attended, doubts were entertained as to whether ours would be successful. But when the time came, our energetic farmers and mechanics came from hill and valley, bringing with them specimens of their labor, intelligently applied.

The show of horses was considered the best that had been in the county, from pleasure to draft horses. The display of stock was also very good, especially in blood Ayrshires, Short Horns, Devons, and some grade stock. The exhibition in live stock was very superior. Much taste and marked improvement was distinctly noticeable in the manufactured articles.

The ladies' department was filled to repletion with beautiful and excel

lent specimens of their handiwork. In the fine arts department there was a good display of oil paintings, but in water colors and pencil the show was admirable, probably the best ever exhibited in the county.

All our people seemed determined to make up and see a beautiful fair, to show what united effort in a good work can do.

In conclusion, our congratulations are justly due to our country: that the conflict of arms is over, and that peace and plenty covers our land; as it is now more happily visible that our land may continue to give her increase, and that our gratitude may ever go up from grateful hearts and happy homes in our much loved nation.

The annual meeting took place at the village of Mohawk, January 13th, 1866, at which the following officers were elected :

President, Ezekiel Spencer; Dr. Eli Fox, secretary, and J. Quackenbush, of Herkimer, treasurer, together with an executive committee.

OFFICERS 1865-Tylly R. Pratt, president, J. Stears jr., secretary, F. G. Ely, treasurer, three vice-presidents and six directors.

RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR EXHIBITORS.

Rules-Members of the society, or those who wish to become such, and compete for any of the premiums, must make application to some member of the viewing committee or to the treasurer, on or before the 25th day of August, and furnish "statement" as required below. Viewing committee will make no examination for the society unless its rules are observed.

Competitors for premiums for dairies of cheese and butter, will be required to deliver to some members of the viewing committee or to the treasurer, on or before the 25th day of August, a written statement containing answers to the following interrogatories, duly signed, to entitle their dairies to an examination. Copy of the "circular" will be furnished each applicant, upon the entry of his dairy for competition, which must be a guide in making out "statement."

1. How many cows in your dairy? 2. Do you feed grain or roots to your cows? If so, what kind, and when? What is your usual average yield per cow?

If cheese-3. Into what do you set your night's milk? 4. Do you take off cream in the morning? 5. Do you return cream? If so, when and how? 6 In what manner do you warm milk, for the reception of rennet? 7. Do you use thermometer? 8. To what temperature do you heat milk, for application to rennet? 9. How do you preserve your rennets and fit them for use? 10. In what do you set your milk? 11. How do you separate whey from curd? 12. What time consumed in scalding process? 13. By what process do you scald curd? 14. What quantity of salt, do you use to ten pounds of curd? 15. Do you color your curd? If so, with what, and at what stage of manufacture? 16. Do you put curd to press