314 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



APRIl, 17, 1833. 



honors, or for those of the minor judicial situa- 

 tion in the State ; but to maintain and preserve 

 inviolate that sacred trust, which has descended to 

 them by the revolutionary efforts of their fathers, 

 the full protection of life, liberty, and property. 



"When astonn arises in the horizon and danger 

 awaits us from abroad, or when enraged ambition 

 at home drives the passions of men to madness 

 and all its excesses, it is in the farming interests 

 of the country that you find the steady hanJ which 

 holds the balance of political power, and by its 

 strong arm repels the foe, or by its electoral voice 

 annihilates the unjust hopes of the aspiring ambi- 

 tion of profligate petitioners. 



"It may be said by your committee (wi'.hout the 

 imputation of State vanity), that New York holds 

 a high rank by her munificent endowmerts of col- 

 leges, academies and common scliools. We, know- 

 ing their extent, need not elaborate on them in 

 this report. Still it is but just to say that slie is 

 already cited in Europe as a signal instance of 

 what may be done for the education of every class 

 of society, under the soft and benign influence of 

 a free government, and that her motto is, " Knowl- 

 edge is wealth." 



» * » # * 



" Who are they who have contributed sc freely, 

 so generously to expenditures calculated to im- 

 mortalize the State, and to establish its jlory on 

 so pure a foundation ? Mainly the farmers of your 

 coHntry, the yeomen of the laud, the tillirs of the 

 soil. Freely have they given, and joyUlly have 

 they paid, and most rich results havJ been the 

 consequence of their enlightened liberaity. 



" Is it then unfair to ask, what hrs been done 

 by the Legislature for a class of its ctizens so nu- 

 merous, virtuous and meritorious .' The stranger, 

 wlien he sojourns in our land, and views all that 

 has been done for the cause of science, for educa- 

 tion in the higher branches of literature, for your 

 common schools, for the reformation and punish- 

 ment of crimes on a scale superior to any state in 

 Europe, naturally inquires, — Show me your agri- 

 CBltural school. You are essentially an agricul- 

 tural people ; a class of society who have aided so 

 liberally the institutions of your State, must have 

 received the constant and peculiar care of legisla- 

 tive protection and patronage, by forming their 

 minds, their habits, and their tempers to become 

 the patrons of the noble monuments already erect- 

 ed and which, while they shed lustre on your State 

 have placed her first among her sisters of the Union. 



" Shall we any longer be compelled to answer, 

 we have no such institution ; we provided an am- 

 ple revenue for all, but a complete course of prac- 

 tical instruction in agriculture. In almost every 

 State in Europe, the attention of despotic govern- 

 ments has been called — nay seriously and sedulous- 

 ly directed to the formation and endowments of 

 schools of this description. There it is admitted, 

 the motive to a certain extent may be mercenary — 

 to provide food for taxation. Here it is a debt due 

 from the State to a class which before they asked 

 for themselves, have contributed to all others. 



*' This school is intended to be purely agricul- 

 tural. But in saying this it will be necessary to 

 open a course of instruction, combined with labor, 

 which your committee will venture to say will be 

 interesting, and to the State as valuable as that 

 which may be acquired in any other seminary. 

 The different (lualities of soil as fitted to the va- 

 rious products of the earth ; the use of compost 



and manures, as applicable to soils ; the seasons 

 for planting, tlie rotation of crops, and the vast 

 mass of practical information, which enables man 

 to transform a wilderness into a paradise is worthy 

 the pursuit of the richest as well as the humblest of 

 the land. 



" The question is, shall we endow a school to 

 which many would desire to send their children 

 for the purpose of preparing them to depend ir 

 future life on one of the most certain, and tl^ere- 

 fore the most happy of hufnan pursuits ; combin- 

 ing in itself, all the elements of constant, regular 

 and sagacious employment, and freed from the 

 cares and corroding recollections, [ireseut or past, 

 of the pursuits of a political life. 



" It is evident that law, divinity, and physic are 

 overstocked. The pursuits of connnerce are labo- 

 rious, and do not very often yield a return to per 

 sons of a moderate fortune and liberal education: 

 as now educated they are not fit for farmers ; so 

 tenaciously do those early habits adhere to them 

 that the attempt at agriculture is generally a failure 

 Your Committee propose to give them a school to 

 which resort may be had for the cultivation of the 

 mind, and the improvement of the person. Lay- 

 ing the foundation for future toils and pleasures, 

 (for toils in agriculture are pleasures, when con- 

 ducted to a successful result) for future health and 

 happiness, and preparing them to rear uj) a race 

 fit to transmit to posterity the liberties we so high- 

 ly cherish. 



* * • » • 



" Is there one of your body, who has not seen 

 and remarked the difference in adjoining farms 

 where nature had made no difference in the soil .' 

 It is this jiractical skill, this science, combineil 

 with labor that they desire (most anxiously desire) 

 to bestow on a rising generation ; and they deem 

 it their duty most earnestly to press it on the con- 

 sideration of the Legislature, as called for by every 

 consideration due to the public welfare, to the 

 true and lasting interests of the State ; and as ihc 

 last but most substantial pillar in the varied edifice 

 of [lublic institutions. 



" Impressed with this belief, and that the school 

 reconnnended will in many ways prove highly 

 beneficial to the community, and ])ersuaded that 

 the State will ultimately be fully indemnified for 

 her advances, your committee have prepared a 

 bill in conformity with the prayer of the petitioners, 

 which they have directed their chairman to ask 

 leave to present." 



(To be continued.) 



RHODE: ISLAND CLASSICAI,, .iGRICtJIiTURAIj 



and mechanical. schooc. 



Under the direction anu patronage of 

 THE Rhode Island Society for the Encodr- 



AGEME.NT OF DOMESTIC InDUSTF.Y. 



At a late meeting of the standing committee of 

 the above named Society, it was unanimously 

 voted to establish and patronize a Literary Institu- 

 tion on the Manual Labor System, giving to its 

 members an opportunity to obtain a good Liberal 

 Education, and to become Scientific and Practical 

 Farmers and Mechanics. The Institution to be 

 under the direction of the Executive Authority of 

 said Society. 



It was also voted that the midersigned should 

 be a committee to carry the above resolution into 

 effect. 



In pursuance of said appointment the under- 1 

 signed give notice to the public, that the above 1 



mentioned school will be opened at Pawtuxet in 

 the Fair House of said Society, on the first Mon- 

 day in May next. 



Asa Drury, A. M., a graduate of Yale College, 

 at present Principal of the Providence Classical 

 School, who has for several years, been an In- 

 structor, with distinguished success, has been en- 

 gaged in the department of Languages, and as 

 Principal of the School ; it is the design of ths 

 Society to sujiply other teachers in the vario\is de- 

 partments as the number of Students shall require. 

 A Ladies' department will be connected with the 

 School under the instruction of a separate teacher. 

 The use of several acres of excellent land, be- 

 longirg to said Society, adjoining the Fair House 

 will be given to the Students, and the connnittee 

 design to make such arrangements as shall afford 

 to the students the means of Mechanical Labor 

 under the superintendence and direction of a first 

 rate niechauic, by which those Students who de- 

 sire it, may not only preserve their healtli and 

 habits of industry, but be able to defray in part, 

 the expe'ise of their education. 



The bcation of this school is very beautiful 

 about five miles south of Providence, and com- 

 mands ; view of Providence, of the River and 

 Bay for nany miles south, and an extensive coun- 

 try; forbeauty and health is not exceeded by any 

 other jjUce in the State. 



Board in respectable families may be obtained 

 for 1,.^ to 1,75 ))er week. 



Tution for the Languages $7,50, for the other 

 branihes $5 per quarter. It is exceedingly desir- 

 ablethat those who intend to be connected with 

 the School should commence at the beginning of 

 th: Term or the first Monday in May next. 



Applications for admission to he made to Mr. 

 Drury now in Providence, and to the Rev. Brad- 

 ley Miner, of Pawtuxet. 



JAMES RHODES, 



JOHN PITMAN, 



CHARLES ELDRIDGE, 



JOHN B. FRANCIS, 



WM. RHODES, 



BRADLEY MINER, I 



TULLY DORRANCE, 



JAMES ANTHONY. J 



Providence, Jpril \st, 1833. 



MIDDJLESEX CATTLE SHQ-IV, &c. 



The Middlesex Cattle Show and Ploughing 

 Match under the direction of the Society of Mid- 

 dlesex Husbandmen and Manufacturers will be 

 held at Concord, October 2, 1833. The prospec- 

 tus of the proposed proceedings as set forth in a 

 large and handsome handbill, promises fair for a 

 first rate exhibition. The followkig are some of 

 the premiums : — 



Greatest quantity of hops, $10 ; next greatest, 5. 

 Best fat ox at least expense, $8, next best, 5. 

 Best bull not under one year old, S12, next 

 best, 8. Best bull calf not over 12 nor under 6 

 months old, $5, the next best, 3. The best yoke 

 of working oxen, $10, the next best, 8, the next 

 best, 6, the next best, 5, the next best, 4, the next 

 best, 3. The best 3 year old steers, $7, the next 

 best, 5, the best 2 year old do. 6, the next best, 4. 

 The best calf steers, $3, the next best, 3. The best 

 Milch cow, $12, the next best, 10, the next best, 8, 

 the next best 6. The best Milch heifer under 3 

 years old, $8, the next best, 8. The best heifer 

 not over 3 years, not having had a ealf,$6,,the 

 next best, 4. The best heifer calf, aot over 1.2 

 nor under 3 months old, $5, the nest best, 3. 



Committee. 



