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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 RENSSALAHR COUNTY AGRICULTU- 

 RAL SOCIETY. 



We loft Berkshire in the morning train of the 

 Western railroad, Sept. 21, for the express purpose 

 of attending the annual exhibition and fair of this 

 Society, held at Lansingburg Sept. 21, 22 and 

 23, and after a speedy passage of an hour and 

 forty minutes, through a section of country as beau- 

 tiful and fertile as man need desire, yet suffering 

 in common with other sections from the protract- 

 ed and severe drought of the present season, we 

 reached East Albany, which, from the' great cen- 

 tralization of railways is destined to become a 

 place of great importance in the future business 

 operations of the surrounding country. At the 

 present time, there is a continuous concert of 

 whizzing steam and screaming whistles almost con- 

 stantly arriving and departing. From this point, 

 there are six passenger trains daily for New York, 

 over the Hudson river railroad, and as many re- 

 turning, each of which has a liberal compliment 

 of passengers. Then, there are four arrivals of 

 passenger trains daily from Boston and as many 

 departures, — an hourly train between Albany and 

 Troy, which almost connects the two growing 

 cities in fact, as it is fast closing in business trans- 

 actions. 



We were met at East Albany by the Troy train 

 with the steam up, ready to take us to our desti- 

 nation. An agreeable ride of some ten minutes' 

 brought us up before the Troy House, whose world- 

 wide reputation for affording its guests with all 

 of food, comfort and quiet that reasonable beings 

 have any right to require, stands too fair to need 

 a notice from us, brief sojourners, fresh from scenes 

 of rural life, and soon to hasten to them again. — 

 If any lack information on this point, however, let 

 them, the first time they pass that way, call on 

 friend Colman, and they will realize so much from 

 his kind and gentlemanly attentions, that they 

 w r ill see at once that our power of description is 

 incompetent to shadow forth the praises of his 

 establishment. 



Troy is a beautiful city, quietly nestled in the 

 hills by the upper waters of the Hudson, being 

 136 miles north of New York. River (the prin- 

 cipal business) Street extends along the banks of 

 the Hudson for a mile and a half, and is walled in 

 by substantial and extensive ware-houses. Pass- 

 ing back from this street, its collaterals number 

 1, 2 — up to we don't know what number. In as- 

 cending Mount Ida, on the east, we saw 8 Street, 

 and looking eastward from it, saw that "the end" 

 of the city "was not yet." Congress Street is the 

 main inlet from the east, and like its parallels, 

 crosses those running north and south at right an- 

 gles, — thus giving the city a regular and beauti- 

 ful appearance, which is enriched by the long rows 

 of shade trees, with which they are liberally sup- 

 plied. 



The city has numerous intellectual facilities. — 

 The Troy Female Seminary, founded by Mrs. Em- 

 ma Willard, has long been in successful opera- 

 tion. The spacious buildings with the park oc- 

 cupy a square between Congress and Ferry Streets 

 — also extending from First to Second Streets. Al- 

 though other seminaries of similar character have 

 sprung up by hosts all over the land, — yet this pi- 

 oneer still meets with increasing prosperity, and 



at present, we believe, has more students than at 

 any previous term, while the further demands for 

 admittance are so pressing, that it is in contem- 

 plation further to enlarge the buildings the com- 

 ing year. The elder Mrs. Willard resigned the 

 charge of the institution to her son, John II. Wil- 

 lard, under whose care, together with that of his 

 accomplished lady, it merits and receives so liber- 

 ally of public patronage. Troy Academy and the 

 Renssalaer Institute are located in the east part 

 of the city, and are both in successful operation. 



But it is to her free schools that Troy justly 

 turns her eyes with pride, as to the seminaries 

 from which both her sons and daughters are to 

 come forth shining jewels in bright and long ar- 

 ray — to swell the tide of the moral and intellectu- 

 al prosperity, and give her the eminence to which 

 she may nobly aspire. Here, the children of the 

 rich and the poor congregate and drink in knowl- 

 edge from the same pure and unsealed fountains — 

 and here all the sciences are taught, which are 

 necessary to prepare the recipient for the practical 

 duties of life. 



We have understood, that to become a teacher 

 in Troy, the applicant has a.very safe and salutary 

 ordeal to pass. The Board of Education has a 

 committee. It is a custom with them, to notify 

 teachers of the time and place of examining these 

 candidates, and the work is put into their hands. 

 After the examination by the teachers, if the com- 

 mittee consider these candidates fitted for teach- 

 ing, they certificate them ; if not, they pass on of 

 course and lay their fortunes somewhere else. 



This way of proceeding we consider good, on 

 several accounts. First, a committee may be in 

 every other way qualified for their position and un- 

 fit, either from never having known or having for- 

 gotten, much in the branches for examination. A 

 person should be every day familiar with these 

 branches in order to draw from others their knowl- 

 edge of them. It must also keep pace with the 

 improvements in the sciences taught, else he will 

 hardly know wdiere to find them. Few men en- 

 gaged in other professions can be expected to do 

 this, while it is the teacher's peculiar province. Of 

 course, he should know best of any one what a 

 teacher should know, and how great a faculty he 

 has to communicate it. 



Again, an ambitious teacher is and will be anx- 

 ious for the honor and advancement of his profes- 

 sion. It is of no repute to his, more than any 

 other profession, to have an ignorant, lazy, ungra- 

 cious scamp in his fraternity. But he will have a 

 high standard, and take abroad and comprehensive 

 view of things, and wish to have his co-workers 

 men of strength, to labor at the oar with him. Of 

 course, if incompetency exists, it will be shown to 

 the honor of the craft and benefit of the rising 

 generation ; how far the plan pursued in Troy has 

 been adopted in other places we know not, yet we 

 think it a good one, and worthy of trial every- 

 where. 



From almost every point in Troy, if you look 

 towards Mount Ida, you will notice "the beautiful 

 cottage on the hill" — "'Warren's Cottage.''' 1 _ The 

 grounds around this establishment made pictur- 

 esque by nature are laid out in a romantic style of 

 beauty. As you walk over them you have the 

 whole city like a map under your eye — the Hudson 

 cheering you with its silvery countenance, Lansing- 

 burgh, with its glittering spires and pleasant homes 



