314 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



APRIL, 16, 1H34. 



their application to the wants and comforts ol life, 



have for ages constituted one of tlie highest and 

 must useful employments of man ; and have eon- 

 tributed more than any other human effort, to re- 

 fine and elevate usuhove the grosser and degraded 

 condition of savage life. The concentrated bene- 

 fits of these labors arc not proffered to our hands. 

 Xhe pleasures and the benefits which they impart, 

 are held out as noble rewards to mental labor, in 

 the same spirit that the blessings of health and 

 competence are promised to dim who " earns his 

 bread by the sweat of the brow." Labor, mental 

 or bodily, is the inseparable attendant of rational 

 enjoyment. And is that knowledge to be con- 

 temned, which has dune so much good to the 

 world, and which has countless blessings yet in 

 store for the human family? "In a Theological 

 view," says a late eminent writer,* "science is 

 nothing else than a rational inquiry into the ar- 

 rangements and operations of the Almighty, in or- 

 der to trace the perfections therein displayed. 

 And what" continues our author, " are the truths 

 which science has discovered ? They may be re- 

 garded as so many rays of celestial light, descen- 

 ding from the great source of intelligence to illu- 

 minate the human mind in the knowledge of the 

 Divine character and Government, and to stimu- 

 late it to a still more vigorous exertion in similar 

 investigations, just as the truths of revelation are 

 so many emanations from the ' Father of Lights,' 

 to enlighten the darkness, and to counteract the 

 disorders of the moral world." 



Our state may be compared to a great family, 

 the members of which are employed in diversified 

 pursuits, all designed and calculated to promote 

 the common weal — having a common as well as 

 individual object, and all united by reciprocal ties. 

 fn this light it is considered as respects crime ami 

 want. One is punished, and the other relieved, 

 by common consent and at the common charge. 

 We have erected splendid and extensive es- 

 tablishments for the vicious and the poor. The 

 county of Albany has been at greater expense for 

 i;s poor than wotdd be required of the State to 

 establish and support a school of agriculture. 

 Would it not evince both prudence and economy 

 to endeavor to prevent, or to lessen these growing 

 evils in society, by devoting a portion of the com- 

 mon means to schools, which should teach tin- 

 hands useful labor and imbue the heart with the 

 love of virtue? The adage teaches, that "an 

 ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." 

 If ignorance be one of the chief causes of vice, 

 and indolence the parent of want ; and if knowl- 

 edge be one of the main springs of virtuous con- 

 duct, and competence the sure reward of industry, 

 — then the more knowledge is diffused, and the 

 more iudu-try is encouraged, the less we shall be 

 called upon to expend upon poor-houses and pen- 

 itentiaries, it no longer admits of doubt, that 

 knowledge and industry are the great conservators 

 of public morals, as well as the great instruments 

 of public wealth. 



It has been remarked, that the more we pro- 

 vide for any one class, the more it will increase. 

 This would seem to hold good in regard to the 

 vicious propensities of our nature, and why not in 

 regard to habits that are commendable and praise- 

 worthy ? 



To speak practically. Our agriculture is great- 

 ly defective. It is susceptible of much hnprove- 



* D ck on tlie Improvement of Society by die diffusion of 



Jw j pledge. 



mem. How shall we effect this improvement ? 

 The old are too old to learn, or rather to unlearn 

 what have been the habits of their lives. The 

 young cannot learn as they ought to learn, and as 

 the public interests require, because we have no 

 suitable school for their instruction. We have no 

 place where they can learn the principles upon 

 which the practice of agriculture is based — none 

 where they can be instructed in all the modern 

 improvements of the art. It is devoutly to be hop- 

 ed, that our fathers in council, justly appreciating 

 the importance of the subject, will add another to 

 the proud trophies which New York has already 

 won in the noble march of improvement, by prop- 

 erly responding to the correct views of this subject 

 expressed in the message of our chief magistrate. 

 Our periodical publications, devoted to the in- 

 terests of the agricultural and mechanical classes, 

 have proved highly beneficial, and are daily en- 

 larging the sphere of their influence. These ben- 

 efits, however, may be greatly multiplied, by a 

 cheap work, adapted to the means of persons in 

 humble circumstances, and to the economy of 

 those who are able, hut unwilling to expend two 

 or three dollars a year for an agricultural paper. 

 It is believed there are more than 200,000 farmers 

 in the State who read little or nothing calculated 

 to improve their knowledge in the business by 

 which they live. With the view of bringing this 

 subject before the Society, I have made inquiries 

 as to the price at which a respectable publication 

 of this character can be printed. The estimates 

 have been predicated upon the supposition that the 

 editorial labors will he gratuitous — that the sub- 

 scriptions will uniformly be paid in advance — that 

 arrangements will he made to give it an extensive 

 circulation, and that an edition of at least ten 

 thousand copies will he disposed of. The result 

 of my inquiries is, that a monthly publication, of 

 16 quarto pages to each number, making 19"2 pa- 

 ges in a year, can he furnished in parcels of twen- 

 ty or more, at twenty-five cents per annum. Tin 1 

 postage to any place within the State will swe'l 

 the cost to the subscriber to thirty seven and i 

 half cents per annum. An amount so trivial, as to 

 win indifference, and to silence the objections o,' 

 ivarice. I submit to you gentlemen, whether n 

 more efficient mode of furthering one of the ob- 

 jects of our association, — the diffusion of useful 

 knowledge — can be devised than the one here pre- 

 sented. Through the liberality of two public spir- 

 ited and highly respected gentlemen, a specimen 

 sheet of the proposed publication has been pub- 

 lished, and has been submitted for public exami- 

 nation. Under the auspices of this Society the 

 Cultivator may be rendered a vehicle of useful 

 knowledge; and a means of effecting great public 

 good. 1 commend it to your guardian care. 



In referring to agricultural associations, as a 

 means of improvement, I think I shall be sustain- 

 ed by the opinion of those present, as well as by 

 past experience, in the little I have to say. These 

 associations tend to promote social and friendly in- 

 tercourse, and an interchange of kind offices ; to 

 make our farmers emulous of excelling in tlieir 

 cattle, in tlieir crops, tlieir buildings, and in the 

 neatness and order of their domestic arrangements ; 

 they bring them acquainted with each other's im- 

 provements and means of economizing labor ; in- 

 struct them in the comparative value of breeds of 

 animals, and the relative value of crops. They 

 promote industry, frugality, and the love of knowl- 

 edge. They tend to multiply our comforts, and 



increase our Wealth, by the laudable emulation 

 ihey call into action, ami to enlighten and einbel- 

 ish our country. 



And yet I am sensible that these associations 

 find but comparatively few ardent advocates among 

 our farmers. Many are indifferent because they 

 do not appreciate their benefits, or from an apathy 

 common to our nature, in every measure which 

 does not promise present gain. Some will not 

 support them lest they should lose a day or a dol- 

 lar. And others oppose them from an envious 

 wish to deprive their neighbors of that public com- 

 mendation which they are conscious they do not 

 themselves deserve, and are hot likelv to obtain. 

 The man who thinks ami acts only for self regard- 

 less of the welfare of those around him, and wdio 

 fancies that he rises because others sink, mistakes 

 alike his interest and his duty, and is a stranger to 

 those ennobling feelings which flow from disinter- 

 ested acts of benevolence and philanthropy. If 

 the comparison may he tolerated, I would liken 

 the selfish man to the moon, whose sombre rays 

 impart no vivifying influence upon terrestrial ob- 

 jects : and his contra to the sun, shedding abroad on 

 every side his effulgent beams, and dispensing 

 life, light and gladness to all around. 



The remaining subject which I proposed to no- 

 tice, is the awarding premiums for beneficial ex- 

 periments and improvements in husbandry. I 

 confess I am not satisfied of the utility of paying 

 for the largest products, or the fattest animals, yet 

 I believe there are many other subjects on which 

 premiuns may he awarded with public advantage. 

 If my neighbors shall he induced by the expecta- 

 tion o a premium, to make some new application 

 of science, or some new experiment in practical 

 husbandry, which shall prove successful and lead 

 to important public benefits, we become gainers, 

 however expensive the investigation or the exper- 

 iment may have been to him who obtains the pre- 

 mium. In this way great public improvements 

 have accrued ; and like means will produce like 

 results. These rewards are often the exciting 

 cause to active industry, philosophical research, 

 and to the developeinent of inventive genius ; 

 which like the seed, whose latent vitality is quick- 

 ened into action by solar influence, grows, expands 

 and matures into fruits of usefulness. Go to the 

 American Institute at New York, and see the nu- 

 merous productions which its premiums are elic- 

 iting from science and art. Look at Scotland, a 

 country which is surpassed by none in recent im- 

 provements in husbandry, and where agricultural 

 premiums have been awarded for fifty years, and 

 see its society distributing nearly ten thousand 

 dollars a year, as rewards for diligence and skill 

 displayed in rural affairs. But I need not seek 

 for illustrations abroad. They abound in every 

 county in our state where premiums have been 

 awarded- Upon this subject I quote again my 

 highly respectable correspondent, who remarks in 

 strong language — "I have no doubt that the money 

 which was appropriated by the State to encour- 

 age agriculture, has increased the wealth of the 

 county more than twenty per cent a year." 



I have thus gone through with what I proposed 

 to embrace in this address. I have pointed out 

 some of the prominent defects in our husbandry, 

 ami have suggested means of remedying them at 

 least in part. The means are partially at your 

 command, and over them all you can exercise a 

 salutary influence. I hope the present opportuni- 

 ty will not be suffered to pass without a united 



