No. 12, 



Agricultural Survey. 



367 



the instructions that have been given to 

 guide him in his inquiries: — 



Agricultural Rooms, Albany, 

 May l-2th, lri47. 



Asa Fitch, M. D., — Dear Sir: You have 

 been selected to make an Agricultural Sur- 

 vey of the county of VVashuigtoii — to col- 

 lect accurate information in relation to tiie 

 state of its agriculture, and every subject 

 connected with it — to suggest me^uis of im- 

 provement — and to make report with as 

 much exactness as circumstances will admit. 



I enclose you a plan of the proposed Sur- 

 vey, adopted by the Executive Committee of 

 the N. Y. Stale Agricultural Society, which 

 will direct your attention to such inquiries 

 as are deemed most important. Your own 

 experience will guide you in the fulness of 

 examination, and report under the various 

 heads, some requiring from their importance 

 much more extended notice than others. 



Tiie reports of Natural History, which 

 have been prepared under the direction of 

 the Legislature, will aid you materially in 

 some branches of the Survey, as many of 

 the inquiries submitted can be answered 

 probably through them, and without as mi- 

 nute personal examination as would other- 

 wise have been necessary. 



As this is the first Agricultural Survey 

 which has been undertaken by the State 

 Agricultural Society, and upon its success- 

 ful result will depend whether the Survey 

 be continued in future years to other coun- 

 ties or not, it becomes of the highest import- 

 ance th^t the work should be done with such 

 particularity and care, as will secure a com- 

 plete and finished return. It is desirable 

 that the survey, when completed, should be 

 embraced in an octavo volume of some 200 

 pages — but this will depend in some mea- 

 sure upon the extent to which it may be 

 lengthened by subjects of importance which 

 may require particular notice. 



The Executive Committee rely upon your 

 ability to perform the work in a manner that 

 will be creditable to the Society, and so as 

 to be an enduring monument to yourself in 

 the future history of the Agriculture of the 

 State. 



I am very respectfully, your obedient ser- 

 vant, B. P. Johnson, 



Secretary N. Y. Stal£ Ag Society- 



Plan of the Proposed Agricultural Survey 

 of the County of Washington. 



1. Geographical and topographical descrip- 

 tion of the County. 



2. Geological features, minerals and fos- 

 sils, nature of the soil, distinguishing that 

 jCoiDDQsed of the "northern drifts," or of 



transported materials from that produced 

 from the rocks of the immediate neighbour- 

 hood. 



3. length of time the soil has been under 

 cultivation ; the original growth of timber, 

 and tlic lime it was first cut oft! 



4. I ''ale of the first settlement of the se- 

 veral prirts of the county, and the origin and 

 general character of the settlers. 



5. Condition and progress of agriculture 

 from the first settlement to the present time, 

 showing what have been the improven.ents 

 and causes which have produced them; what 

 have been the staple crops, the mode of their 

 cultivation, and as far as may be practicable, 

 the actual profits of each, at different pe- 

 riods. 



6. Present state of agriculture ; the seve- 

 ral crops cultivated, their respective yields 

 and market value. Also, all industrial pur- 

 suits connected with fanning, such as the 

 manufacture of maple sugar, how managed 

 in its preparation, &.c. 



7. Adaptation of crops, as grains, grasses, 

 and roots, to different soils; showing the ar- 

 rangement which in this respect has been 

 found by experience to be most judicious and 

 profitable. 



8. Fruits and fruit trees; having particu- 

 lar reference to the adaptation of the various 

 species to the diflferent soils — mentioned un- 

 der head No. 2. — and how far the produc- 

 tiveness, health, or longevity of the trees 

 are affected by the nature of the soil, &c. 



9. Weeds and pernicious plants, describ- 

 ing those most injurious, whether indigenous 

 or introduced, and giving the most approved 

 modes for their eradication. 



10. Insects, describing those which are 

 prejudicial to the farmer, and noticing the 

 most effectual means of preventing their 

 ravages. 



11. Implements; having regard to any 

 peculiarity of construction, and noticing any 

 improvements, which may have been adopted 

 in their form, mode of manufacture, or uses. 



12. Live stock; horses, cattle, sheep, and 

 swine; showing the numbers of each of these 

 classes kept in the county, their diseases and 

 mode of curing them ; the different breeds, 

 and as far as may be, the relative value of 

 each for ditlerent purposes; the relative 

 value of horses and oxen for labour on the 

 farm ; and any facts in regard to the profits 

 and most economical management of poultry 

 of difl^erent kinds, 



13. Feeding and fattening animals; hav- 

 ing regard to the most profitable modes, and 

 the relative value of different kinds of orain, 

 roots, apple.*, pumpkins, grasses, — both in 

 their green and dry state- — or any plants for 

 feeding labouring animals, — vvhetlier horses 



