302 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



agricultural jourual published in the United States. Others soon fol- 

 lowed, however, till we have now about a hundred periodicals devoted 

 to the various branches of farm economy, some of which are of a very 

 high order of merit. The aggregate regular circulation of these journals 

 cannot be less than three hundred thousand copies, and they indicate a 

 wide-S']:>read desire for information which must necessarily have an im- 

 portant influence on the future development of this great interest. 



The permanent agricultural literature of the country, now so exten- 

 sive and so creditable, has grown up, for the most part, within the last 

 twenty years. A few books of a high character appeared, from time 

 to time, forty or fifty years ago, among them Coxe on Fruit-Trees ; 

 Thacher's American Orchardist ; Arator, by Colonel Taylor, of Virginia ; 

 Fessenden's Complete Farmer, Buel's Farmer's Companion, &c.; but a 

 large proportion of the farmer's reading, i)revious to 185.0, consisted of 

 English works, many of which were reprinted in this country. Since 

 that date American treatises, in the highest degree instructive and use- 

 ful, have appeared, and we have works upon landscape-gardening, 

 fruits, animals, dairy-farming, drainage, and, in fact, upon subjects cov- 

 ering the whole range of farm economy, many of them of unexception- 

 able literary merit in i)oiut of style, finish, and perfection, and the re- 

 sults of accurate scientific research. 



To bring the facilities for improvement within the easy reach of the 

 largest number of people, the system of township and district libraries 

 was first initiated by the State of oSTew York, in 1837, with an appro- 

 priation of $200,000 a year for three years, and subsequent grants of 

 $50,000. This examftle was followed by Massachusetts in 1839, and more 

 recently Michigan gave each township the sum of $50 annually for this 

 purpose. Indiana adopted the same policy in 1854, Ohio in 1857, the for- 

 mer appropriating $300,000 a year for two years, the latter $80,000 an- 

 nually. Illinois and other "Western States adopted a similar course, 

 and it was properly regarded as admirably adapted to promote agricul- 

 tural improvement, as well as the general welfare of the community. 

 At the same time most of the States early adopted the plan of publish- 

 ing and distributing large numbers of documents upon agriculture, 

 gratuitously, among the people. These documents are, many of them, 

 of high merit, containing the most recent scientific investigations, re- 

 ports of experiments, and the observations of the most experienced 

 practical men. Probably about two hundred thousand volumes are 

 thus freely distributed through the farming community every year, 

 with the addition of about as many more issued by the Department of 

 Agriculture at Washington. These and various similar instrumentali- 

 ties, all now in constant activity, are exerting a vast influence in devel- 

 oping our material resources. 



The contributions of science to the progress of practical agriculture 

 are by no means small or unimpoilant. Agricultural chemistry, itself 

 in a state of transition and rapid growth, was never so helpful or so 

 available to the farmer as at the present day. Though Sir Humphry 

 Davy may be said to have opened the door to progress and improve- 

 ment in this direction, in the early part of the present century, the ac- 

 cumulation of scientific facts was so slow that it was not till 1840 that 

 Liebig announced propositions that opened a new world of thought and 

 study, and awakened the attention of intelligent farmers to the impor- 

 tance of applying the results of chemical investigations, and, in some 

 respects, essentially modified the'practice of all civilized countries. 



They were simple words to lead to such results. "To manure an acre 

 of land with forty pounds of bone-dust," said he, "is sufficient to supply 



