Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/354

 346 GEORGE H. HIMES. . <fc The annual address was given by J. Quinn Thornton, a lawyer by profession, and a pioneer of 1846, who was an im- portant character in Oregon for more than thirty years. His address was well received and generally characterized as an exceedingly good one, but was criticised at the time as being more the result of theory than of practice. Notwithstanding this criticism, the few brief quotations here given will indicate that the speaker had many thoroughly practical ideas which lie at the foundation of successful farming: "Agriculture is now everywhere recognized as the com- manding interest of enlightened States. " land as Oregon never before suffered so much in consequence of the numbers of persons in it who are unwilling to work." ' ' In order to success in agriculture as a pursuit there must be a concurrence of three things, the will, the power, and the skill." "To be a successful farmer one must understand the phi- losophy of the rotation of crops, which is built upon a knowl- edge of the laws of vegetable nutrition. ' ' "A man who expects to conduct a farm profitably must attend to several particulars. He must have good implements of husbandry and plenty of them. They must be of the improved kind. They must be kept in order and in their place of course under shelter." "Although the manure pile and the muck heap are a mine of wealth, it is to be regretted that few farmers in Oregon realize their value ; and it is shameful that most of it is suf- fered to be lost by evaporation and by being exposed to rains." "Hiring under any circumstances will require the personal superintendence of the proprietor of the premises as essential to productive farming, the presence of the head of the farm and the use of his eyes being necessary to quicken diligence, and is of much more value than the services of the very best manager. ' ' ' ' It cannot be too deeply impressed upon the mind that what is worth cultivation at all is worth a thorough cultivation. More bushels of wheat can be obtained from ten acres deeply plowed, seasonably planted, and kept clean and loose, than from forty acres, put in and tended as is customary with so many men who have no proper appreciation of the true posi- tion of the American farmer."
 * * * it is my opinion that so fair and beautiful a