110 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



covered by the receipts, ]ea\'ing a balance to be 

 added to the funds of the Society, This balance 

 would have ])rohabIy exceeded ten thousand dol- 

 lars, but for the severity of a storm which entirely 

 suspended the exercises of the occasion, during the 

 24th inst. 



Tlie experience of the last year confirms the 

 opinion before expressed in favor of holding annual 

 exhibitions in different sections of the country, as a 

 means of establishing the reputation of the Society, 

 and of promoting personal acquaintance and prac- 

 tical knowledge, among the most intelligent farm- 

 ers of our land. 



The utihty is becoming more and more manifest 

 every year, combining the most healthful recrea- 

 tion of the people, and verifying the remark of 

 Daniel Webster, at the first exhibition of the Nor- 

 follt Society in Massachusetts : "The great practi- 

 cal truth and characteristic of the present genera- 

 tion is, that public imjjrovements are brought 

 about by voluntary association and combination. 

 The jjrinciple of association — the jn-actice of bring- 

 ing men together for the same general object, pur- 

 suing the same general end, and uniting their in- 

 tellectual and physical efforts to that purpose, is a 

 great improvement in our age. And the reason is 

 obvious. Here men meet together that they may 

 converse with one another — that they may com- 

 pare with each other their experience, and thus 

 kee]) up a constant communication. In this prac- 

 tical point of view, these Fairs are of great im- 

 portance. Conversation, intercourse with other 

 minds, is the general source of knowledge. Books 

 do something. But it is conversation — it is the 

 meeting of men face to face, and talking over what 

 they have in common interest — it is this intercourse 

 that makes men sharp, intelligent, ready to com- 

 municate to others, and ready to receive instruction 

 from them." 



I, therefore, recommend to your particular at- 

 tention any application which may be made in ref- 

 erence to future exhibitions of the society. As the 

 fact is now well estabhshed that the exhibitions of 

 the national society in every State advance rather 

 than retard the progress of the local associations 

 within its bounds, such applications may be expect- 

 ed to multiply, and it is worthy of your inquiry 

 ■whether any additional action of our body is neces- 

 sary on this subject. 



****** 



I have the pleasure to inform you, that in-sita- 

 tions have been extended to several gentlemen of 

 distinction to deliver lectures before this associa- 

 tion during our session. I would, also, recom- 

 mend that as much time as possible be allotted to 

 the free discussion of agricultural subjects, with a 

 view to elicit the results of experience in different 

 parts of our Union. 



It will be remembered that such a course, at our 

 last annual meeting, led to an interesting debate on 

 the relation of political economy to American ag- 

 riculture. One of the gentlemen who took a 

 prominent part in that discussion, and whose pow- 

 erful argument is published in the transactions of 

 this Society, has finished his labors on earth, and 

 entered into his rest. Chauncy P. Holcomb, Esq., 

 one of the founders, and a Vice-President of the 

 Association, died at his residence, soon after oui 

 last meeting. He was one of the most distinguish- 

 ed farmers of Delaware, and of this Republic ; of 

 clear and discriminating mind, thoroughly convers- 



ant with the science and practice of Agriculture, 

 and one of its ablest defenders and warmest friends. 

 His ])rivnte virtues and f)ublic services will per- 

 petuate his name and his memory in the heaits of 

 his countrymen. Of other members, who have 

 deceased during the year, we cannot s])eak particu- 

 larly, with the exception of Thomas Hancock, Esq., 

 of New Jersey, who was present at our last meet- 

 ing, and took part in its exercises, and who, like 

 Mr. Holcomb, entered the spirit Avorld soon after 

 his return from this city. With both of these gen- 

 tlemen it has been my privilege to be long asso- 

 ciated, for the promotion of the rural arts ; and I 

 am happy to bear testimony to their integrity of 

 character, and to their zeal and fidelity in the cause 

 of terraculture. Here, beneath this roof, where 

 they mingled their thoughts, and joined their ef- 

 forts with ours, it is pleasant to speak of their mer- 

 it, and to record tlieir worthy deeds. 



But, gentlemen, while individuals die, associa- 

 tions and institutions survive. It is not, ordinarily, 

 the i)rivilege of those who start any great enter- 

 prise, to witness its consummation. One genera- 

 tion jjrepares work for the next. We are carrying 

 out the designs of our fathers, and realizing the re- 

 sults for which they labored. Our national institu- 

 tion is but the partial development of ideas cher- 

 ished by the immortal Washington. In his letter 

 of July 20, 1794, to Sir John Sinclair, he says : "It 

 will be some time, I fear, before an agricultural so- 

 ciety, with Congressional aids, will be established 

 in this country. We must walk, as other countries 

 have done, before we can run. Smaller societies 

 must pre})are the way for greater ; but, with the 

 lights before us, I hope we shall not be so sIoav in 

 maturation as other nations have been." 



What the farmer of Mount Vernon, more than 

 half a century ago, desired, we have undertaken ; 

 but others must carry on and perfect them. Local 

 associations have been formed in towns and coun- 

 ties, in States and territories of the Union ; and 

 these, as he anticijiated, have opened the way for 

 our national organization. 



The United States Agricultural Society is now 

 an established institution. It is in successful oper- 

 ation, receiving the confidence, patronage and fa- 

 vor of the public ; and, in return, it is co-operating 

 with local associations, and dis])cnsing its bounties 

 for the encouragement of individual enterjirise and 

 merit. The encouragement thus afforded to Amer- 

 ican agriculture, and the im])rovement therein, have 

 helped to till and put under profital)le cultivation 

 the immense prairies of the West and the alhnial 

 soils on the banks of our vast rivers — to reclaim 

 thousands of acres of waste land in populous dis- 

 tricts, and to restore the exhausted soils of the old- 

 er States. They have thus increased, many fold, 

 the value of our land, the amount of our agricultu- 

 ral products, and have preserved us from the bank-, 

 ruptcy and ruin, too often consequent upon an ex- 

 ess of trade, or an influx of the precious metals. 

 They have created and sustained trade, spread the 

 sails of a prosperous commerce, and saved us from 

 commercial embarrassment which would otherwise 

 have been as prolonged as those of former years, 

 rhey have also maintained an equilii)rium among 

 ill branches of American industry. They have de- 

 veloped, in a remarkable degree, the conservative 

 ind jji-ogressive elements of the American system, 

 md have taught us that we can safely de])end upon 

 our own resources, and become, in the noblest sense, 



