THE LATE STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER. 



ciable ■C'alue of legislative aid and encourage- 

 ment to the agricultural interest ; and raised to 

 I itself an cr.during and noble monument, by the 

 publication of three vei-y valuable volumes and 

 memoii's." 



In these volumes will be found papers which 

 pret^ent complete views of the geological and 

 agricultural features of Albany and Rensselaer 

 Counties, made by scientific gentlemen, exclu- 

 sively at the expense of the Patroon, the Presi- 

 dent of the Board. It is believed they were the 

 first attempts made in this countrj% says the me- 

 moir, "to collect and arrange geological facts 

 with a direct view to the improvement of Agri- 

 culture." Having caused these sur\-eys to be 

 published at his o-woi cost, and gratuitously dis- 

 tributed, he next turned his attention to a more 

 extended survey, which was accordingly car- 

 ried the entire length of the State, on the line of 

 the Erie Canal. 



All these munificent enterprises, so much in 

 advance of the times, appear to have been but 

 preliminary to yet more extensive contributions 

 to the science of Geology. Thus it was that, in 

 18'i3, Professor Eaton, in a manner that enrols 

 his name high in the ranks of men of science, 

 completed his grand survey, extending from 

 Lake Erie to Boston, about 550 miles, em- 

 bracing a belt of fifty miles wide. In 1824, a 

 publication was made containing llie results of 

 these surveys, with illustrative maps. "Atten- 

 tion was strongly attracted, both in this country 

 and in Europe, to the very creditable and faith- 

 ful labors of Profes.sor Eaton, prosecuted under 

 the direction of kis munificent patron ; and this 

 example it was, unque.stionably, which has led 

 at la.st to the adoption, in several of the States, 

 (and this among the number,) of plans for ex- 

 ploring their temtories at the public expense, 

 in search of scientific facts, and of the mineral 

 riches, and other substances of economical value, 

 to be found upon or beneath the surface of their 

 respective portions of the earth." 



If, in the sketch so far presented of General 

 Van Rensselaer's contributions to the general 

 stock of agricultural knowledge, it should be 

 thought that undue importance has been at- 

 tached to his forecast, and his liberal expendi- 

 tures for geological surveys, and analyses of the 

 various soils and substances they developed, it 

 must be because the importance of Geology 

 itself to practical Agriculture is underrated. — 

 Those, as we apprehend there are too many, 

 who do not see at once their intimate and essen- 

 tial connection, may be advised to remember 

 that though, of the elements existing iu animaLs 

 and plant.s, the four which are supplied by the 

 atmosphere and water constitute by far the 

 largest proportion ; yet all the remaining ele- 

 ments, in much greater number, are equally in- 

 dispensable to a healthy existence of plant.s, and 



must be derived from the soil on ichick they 

 are cultivated. 



The general interest of the subject, as well aa 

 the obligation to illu.strate the merit vs'e claim 

 for the deceased, on account of the several and 

 extensive geological surveys made at his in- 

 stance and expense, will justify us in taking 

 space for, and calling the attention of the practi- 

 cal reader to, the following extract from a wri- 

 ter already referred to, from which our own im- 

 pressions, better expressed by himself, have 

 been in part derived : — 



" The objects of the philosophical agricultur- 

 ist, as well as the most eflectual means of ad- 

 vancing husbandry, consist in — 



" 1st. Studying the composition of the smls ; 



" 2nd. Studying the action of plants upon it 



"The soil is formed by the decomposition of 

 the minerals of ^vhich the crust of the globe con- 

 sists. The water which flows over the surface 

 is absorbed into the pores and fissures of the 

 rocks; and in winter, on freezing, it expands 

 with such irresistible force as to crumble dov\Tj 

 even the materials of the densest and hardest 

 stone. The pulveralent or gravelly material so 

 aftbrded, is can-ied do\\-n by rains or floods to 

 the lower grounds, and, spreading over the 

 more level country, forms the cultivatable seil. 

 Independent of the mechanical action of water, 

 the constitution of numerous rocks is such as to 

 cause their gradual decomposition by its chem- 

 ical action, as in the case of felspai- and other 

 minerals ; and, by the direct action of the atmo- 

 sphere, all rocks which contain protoxide of iron 

 very rapidly decompose and crumble down. 



" Such being the origin of the soil, its consti- 

 tution ^vill be easily understood to depend on 

 that of the rock from which it has been formed ; 

 and as on this constitution its fertilitj', or its 

 power of supplying plants with the materials 

 they require for their growth, mainly depends, 

 it will be seen that the agricultural capabilities 

 of a country are immediately connected witb 

 and dependent on its geological character. A 

 district, of which the rock is simple iu its con- 

 stitution, cannot furnish a fertile soil. A pure 

 quartz rock, or a pure limestone, could oiJy 

 funiish, fi-om its soil, to plants, lime or silica ; 

 and they should hence languish for want of 

 other equally important elements. The edges 

 of a geological district, where various rocks are 

 in contact, will, therefore, always be more fer- 

 tile as to soil than its interior ; and the more nu- 

 merous are the rocks in its neighborhood, and 

 the greater the diversity of their mineral charac- 

 ter, the more complex will be the soil furnished 

 by their decomposition, and by its power of 

 furnishing the elements of growth to different 

 kinds of plants, the greater will be the rsinge 

 and energy of its fertility." 



With increasing years, seems to have in- 

 creased his constant v.'ish to be sowing the 

 seeds of knowledge and humanity. Thus it 

 was, that, having now^ attained his three- 

 score of years, the Patroon employed Pro- 

 fessor Eaton again to traverse the State, pre- 

 pared now, witli apparatus and specimens, to 

 deliver, in all the principal towns and villages, 

 familiar lectures on Chemi.stry, Natural Philoso- 

 phy, and various branches of Natural History. 



