280 TRANSACTIONS OF THE STATE SOCIETY. 



of Representatives consists of farmers. It is not sur 

 prising, therefore, that a State Agricultural. Society should 

 have been established, to which the legislature votes a 

 large annual thousand grant to be expended in the local 

 and general encouragement of agriculture, by means of 

 premiums, public competitions, shows, and other methods 

 usually adopted by such societies. Through this central 

 society grants of money for similar purposes are conveyed 

 to county and local societies ; and, while these report 

 their proceedings to the central society at Albany, the 

 latter presents to the State Legislature a yearly report of 

 all that has been done with the money of the public, and 

 of their entire transactions for the past twelve months. 

 This report to the Legislature forms a thick octavo 

 volume, which is printed at the expense of the State, and 

 distributed gratuitously. Of the volume for 1844, 

 11,000 copies were so distributed throughout the State; 

 from 1845 to 1849, 6,000 copies yearly ; and in 1850, as 

 many as 16,000 copies. The volumes are very valuable, 

 full of excellent matter, very creditable to the society and 

 to the State ; and the wide circulation given to them 

 has been the means not only of largely diffusing much 

 knowledge among this reading community, but of creat 

 ing a taste for that more systematic, extended, and scien 

 tific instruction in matters relating to agriculture, which 

 has lately begun to manifest itself. 



The existence of this desire was one of the reasons 

 which led to the course of lectures I had the pleasure of 

 delivering in Albany; but it has been chiefly manifested 

 in a proposition for the establishment of an agricultural 

 college at the expense of the State, which has for two 

 years past been under the consideration of the Legislature. 

 The scheme has met with very general support, has 

 been favourably reported on by successive committees, 

 and will probably be agreed to during the session of 

 1851. 



