342 Percy Wells Bidwell 



industries was, it is true, steadily increasing, but it had not become 

 strong enough to induce a systematic attempt to improve the breed. 

 It was not until the newly established woolen factories^ had grown 

 to be large consumers of wool that the New England farmers felt 

 the impetus to increased production. 



The attempts to improve the breed of sheep by the importation 

 of the Merinos is a typical illustration of a larger movement towards 

 the betterment of the agricultural industry as a whole, which began 

 to make progress in the closing years of the eighteenth century. 

 The impetus came from the patriotic impulses of men of education 

 and of public affairs, who had come to learn of the "new husbandry" 

 of Tull, Bakewell, and Young, which had created such a stir in Eng- 

 land. Some of them had by personal observation been impressed 

 with the contrast presented by the results of the improved system 

 beside the wasteful and inefficient methods with which they were 

 familiar at home.^ Others, like Washington, had learned of the 

 English improvements at second-hand but had increased their knowl- 

 edge by active correspondence with the leaders of the movement 

 on the other side.^ The Revolution itself had its part in furthering 

 this new movement. Not only did it arouse a new patriotism, but, 

 in conventions as well as on the field, it brought together and made 

 acquainted the leading men from the various states. When, after 

 these exciting days were over, they had retired to their homes, they 

 turned their energies to the improvement of agriculture. 



The Agricultural Societies— Character of their Work. 



In order to make their efforts more effective, these pioneers in 

 agricultural improvement formed associations or agricultural societies, 

 modeled in general upon those which had been organized abroad.'* 



' For a discussion of the number and size of these factories established before 

 1810, see supra pp. 273-274. 



2 Such pioneers in the movement for agricultural improvement as Samuel 

 Adams, David Humphreys, Elkanah Watson, as well as Jefferson and Livingston, 

 had all had opportunities to observe the English and European methods in the 

 years between the Revolution and 1810. 



^ Washington corresponded with Arthur Young, William Strickland, with 

 James Anderson, the Scottish economist and agriculturist, and with Sir John 

 Sinclair, the first president of the British Board of Agriculture. The latter wrote 

 numerous letters to such prominent men as James Madison, John Jay, Gouvemeur 

 Morris and James Monroe, which, it must be confessed, were on the whole neg- 

 lectfully answered. See Sinclair's Correspondence. 2 vols. London. 1831, passim. 



* The predominance of foreign influences in the establishment of these societies 

 is clearly apparent. In the preface to the Memoirs of the Philadelphia society 



