1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Ill 



free and independent. Already our American farm 

 extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and it is 

 only a question of time when it shall be bounded 

 on the North by the Arctic, and shall terminate on 

 the South at Cape Horn. 



Gentlemen, I have cordially co-operated with 

 you in the inception, organization and progress of 

 the society to the present time, and, in future, I 

 shall be ever ready and willing to contribute to its 

 advancement according to my ability. But I have 

 not the presumption to believe that I possess such 

 qualifications for its presiding officer as to entitle 

 me any longer to the honors of that office. So far 

 as its responsibilities are concerned, I claim to have 

 borne my full share of them, and it is my desire to 

 resign the presidency, and to aid in installing some 

 one of the many gentlemen whom I see around me, 

 better qualified to sustain these res])onsibiHties and 

 more worthy of this high trust. To you, my fel- 

 low-associates, who have borne with me the heat 

 and burden of the day, I tender my heartfelt ac- 

 knowledgments for your cordial support and con- 

 fidence ; and I beg to assure you all of my contin- 

 ued interest in our association, and of my affection- 

 ate and high regard for you personally. 



Gentlemen, while we review with unfeigned 

 pleasure the extension of our agricultural domain — 

 the advances of improvement in the arts of hus- 

 bandry — the increase of the jjroducts of our soil — 

 the interest manifested everywhere in the objects 

 ■which we seek to promote — the contributions which 

 wealth and science are continually making for the 

 advancement of this cause, and the numl)erless oth- 

 er proofs of progress which encourage and cheer us 

 in our noble work, yet let us remember that the 

 prosperity of our association must ever dejjend up- 

 on the untiring energy and perseverance of its mem- 

 bers. We rejoice that it is so, for activity is the 

 life, health and triumph of enterprise. To no peo- 

 ple on the fiice of the earth is this more a])plicable 

 than to the farmers of the United States of Ameri- 

 ca, where every man is the arbiter of his own for- 

 tune. 



What a cheering prospect is before the Ameri- 

 can yeomanry ! What a destiny awaits them ! — 

 one in all the rights and privileges of a common 

 citizenship — the conservators of a common country 

 — the almoners of Heaven's bounty to the redupli- 

 cating millions of our population. Bound together liy 

 a chord of living sympathy, they are and ever must 

 be, the guardians of the jjublic weal ; and the 

 power that would paralyze their arm destroys the 

 last refuge of our nation's hope. 



"Princes and lords may flourish or may fade ; 

 A breath can make them, as a breath has made, 

 But a bold yeomanry, our country's pride, 

 When once destroyed, can never be supplied." 



Success, therefore, my brethren, to the Ameri- 

 can farmer ! 



Hon. B. B. French, treasurer of the society, 

 then presented his annual report, showing the bal- 

 ance in the treasury to be $4,019 15. 



On motion. Major B. P. Poore, of Massachusetts ; 

 D. Jay Browne, of Washington, and C. H. McCor- 

 mick, of Illinois, were appointed to audit the trea- 

 surer's accounts. 



The President read a letter from Mayor Conrad, 

 of Philadelphia, inviting the society to hold its next 

 annual exhibition in that city. 



On motion of J. I). Weston, Esq., of Massachu- 

 setts, seconded by Col. Anthony ICimmel, the pro- 



position was accejDted, and referred to the Executive 

 Committee. 



A. H. Byington, Esq., of Connecticut, and other 

 gentlemen, discussed the feasibility of holding exhi- 

 bitions in the city which would guarantee the lar- 

 gest fund. 



The President read a series of resolutions passed 

 by the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, 

 asldng Congress to donate to each State an amount 

 of land, not less in value than $500,000, for the es- 

 tablishment of Industrial Universities. 



After discussion, the subject was referred to a 

 committee, consisting of Professor Henry, of Wash- 

 ington, Hon. J. D. B. DeBow, Esq., of Louisiana, 

 and A. H. Byington, Esq., of Connecticut, with au- 

 thority to present the same to the attention of Con- 

 gress. 



D. Jay Browne, Esq., of the Patent Office, made 

 some interesting remarks on the various races of 

 "the horse" to be found in France, with the differ- 

 ent government estal)lishmcnts there for improving 

 the breeds of this useful animal. His remarks, with 

 a paper upon the same subject, suggests a similar 

 system for this country. The importation of ani- 

 mals of different breeds, for purposes of propaga- 

 tion, could not fail to be of immense advantage. 



Captain Van Vliet, U. S. A., read a valuable pa- 

 per on the domestication of the wild animals of our 

 western prairies. It was replete with interesting in- 

 formation, especially on the "Rocky Mountain 

 sheep." 



Professor Baird exhibited specimens of the horns 

 and skins of these sheep, and urged experiments to 

 ascertain if they could be domesticated. 



On motion of Mr. Browne, the Executive Com- 

 mittee were authorized to take such stejxs for the 

 domestication of the Rocky Mountain sheep as 

 they might deem expedient. 



A resolution jjrovldlng for the importation of 

 seed wheat was discussed and adopted. 



Several other pajjers w^ere read, and the society- 

 then adjourned until to-morrow, at ten o'clock. 



SECOND DAY. 



The society was called to order at half-past 10 

 o'clock, and quite a large number of gentlemen re- 

 ported themselves, who had been detained by the 

 storm. Others are yet on the " 'tother side of the 

 Susquehanna," and one delegation often members 

 of the Massachusetts societies is among the weath- 

 er-bound. President Wilder read several letters 

 relating to annual exhibitions. Mr. Secretary 

 Guthrie, delegate from the Southwestern Agricul- 

 tural society, invited the National Society to hold its 

 next annual exhibition at Louisville, Ky. Resolu- 

 tions from the Maryland Mechanics' Institute were 

 read, inviting the National Society, In eloquent and 

 earnest terms, to hold its next exhibition in Balti- 

 more. 



On motion of Col. Anthony KImmel, the invita- 

 tions were referred to the next annual meeting, it 

 having been decided to hold the next exhibition 

 at Philadelphia. 



Major Poor, from the committee appointed to au- 

 dit the Treasurer's accounts, reported that they had 

 attended to their duty, and had found everything 

 correct. 



Dr. Beechman, of New York, presented the fol- 

 lowing resolution : 



Resolved, That agriculture and other great inter- 

 ests of the State would, in the opinion of this socle- 



