1837] 



FARMER S' REGISTER. 



635 



New York represented in senate and assembly, 

 that the sum oi' SB10,000 per year, lor the term of 

 two years, IVoni and alier the passintr ol' this act, 

 sliail be, and is hereby appropriated lor the promo- 

 tion of ai^ricuiture and lamily domestic mariuliic- 

 tures, witiiin this state ; that the said sum shall be 

 disiributed amon<>; the several counties ol'this stale, 

 in the manner Ibilowing, to wit: [Here ibilows the 

 apportionment to the several counties in this state.] 



2. "And be it further enacted, that whenever 

 an aijricultural society shall be Ibrmed in any one 

 county, or in two contig'uous counties, and the 

 members thereof shall annually procure, or raise 

 by voluntary subscription, any sum of money, the 

 president and treasurer shall make and subscribe 

 an affidavit of the facts of the formation of such 

 society, and of their havin^f raised a certain sum, 

 specilyinCT the amount thereof; which affidavit 

 shall be filed with the comptroller of this state, 

 who shall draw his warrant on the treasurer, for 

 the payment of a sum, equal to the amount ol" 

 such voluntary subscription ; not, however, in any 

 case exceeding the amount to which such count}' 

 or counties would be entitled, according to the ap- 

 portionment aloresaid. 



3. "And be it further enacted, that the several 

 agricultural societies which may be formed in 

 this state, shall elect such and so many officers as 

 they may deem proper, all of whom shall be prac- 

 tical liirmers; none of whom, however, shall re- 

 ceive any emolument from his office; and it shall 

 be the duty ol such officers annually, to regulate 

 and award premmms on such articles and produc- 

 tinns as they may deem best calculated to promote, 

 the agricultural and manufacturing interest of this 

 state. 



4. "And be it further enacted, that each per- 

 son to whom any premium shall be awarded tor 

 any agricultural product, shall, belbre the receipt 

 thereotj make as accurate a description of the 

 process used in cultivating the soil, and in raising 

 the crop, or of feeding the animal, as may be; 

 and shall, in all cases, describe the nature of the 

 soil, the kind and quantity of the manure, the 

 state thereolj and time of the year in which ap- 

 plied, and deliver the same to the president of said 

 society. 



5. "And be it farther enacted, that the several 

 presidents of the said societies, shall, annually, 

 within one week after the annual meeting of the 

 legislature, transmit all such reports or returns to 

 the office of the secretary of state, to be bj^ him 

 kept safely, till demanded by the Board of Agri- 

 culture, herein after named and organized. 



6. "And be it further enacted, that the several 

 presidents of the several agricultural societies, or 

 a delegate lo be chosen by each of the said socie- 

 ties, shall form a board of agriculture for this state ; 

 who, on the first Monday after the annual meetina; 

 of the legislature, may convene in the capitol, in 

 the city of Albany, any five of whom shall form 

 a quorum; may elect a president, secretary, and 

 such other officers as they may think proper ; re- 

 ceive and examine all such reports and returns as 

 aforesaid, and select for publication, such of them, 

 and such other essays as they may judge advisa- 

 ble, and shall annually publish a volume at the ex- 

 pense of the state, to be disiributed bv means of 

 the said agricultural societies, to the o-ood people 

 of the states, not exceeding fifieen hundred copies 

 of such volume J which president and secretary 



shall continue in office during the continuance of 

 this act. 



7. "AnH be it further enacted, that the trea- 

 surer of this state, shall, annually pay, on the 

 warrant of the comptroller, to the said board of 

 agriculture, iJilCOO, to enable them to purchase 

 and distribute among the several agricultural socie- 

 ties, such useful seeds as they ma} deem proper, 

 and to deli-ay such other necessary expenses to 



■ promote the object of this act, as are not other- 

 wise provided lor; and said board shall annually 

 account with the comptroller for the expenditure 

 of said money. 



8. "And be it further enacted, that it shall be 

 the duty of the secretary of this stale, as soon as 

 may be, to cause this act to be published in at 

 least one nevi'spaper printed in each of the great 

 districts of this state." 



You will notice that this act was to remain in 

 force for only two years ; belbre the termination of 

 that time, however, another act was passed, ex- 

 tending its operation for tour years, in addition to 

 the first term. This first act, required the organi- 

 zation of county agricultural societies, who were 

 authorized to draw a certain amount of money 

 from the treasurer of the state, provided they 

 raised an equal sum from among the members of 

 the society or others. The joint sum so raised, they 

 were authorized to distribute in premiums to ob- 

 jects deserving of them. The larther operation of 

 this law, was to organize an atrricultural board, 

 under *he officers of the county societies lor the 

 state. This board was required annually to re- 

 ceive and examine all essays and reports, and to 

 publish such as were advisable in a volume at the 

 expense of the state, to the number of 1500 copies, 

 which were to be distributed to the |;eople ihrouuh 

 the country societies. An appropriation was like- 

 wise made of .9il,000 anuuuliy, to enable the board 

 of agriculture to procure suitable seeds for distri- 

 bution, through diiferent parts oi' the state. 



These are the principal acts that have been 

 passed for the encouragement of" agriculture up to 

 1830, in this slate ; and as the act oi" 1819, onlv ex- 

 tended to six years, that is irom 1819 to 1825, when 

 it expired by its own limitation, ii will be with re- 

 ference to this particular act, that I will state iis 

 effects as lar as my observation extended. 



Almost all the countries in the state organized 

 their societies under it. As I have had no pecu- 

 liar ouportuniiies to become acquainted with its 

 effects in other counties than my own, which is 

 Columbia, on the North River, and as it is but fair 

 to conclude that its objects beinir li)r the benefit of 

 them all, its operation would be but little varied in 

 each, permit me to give yoii a succinct history of 

 its operation here. Its organization was hailed as 

 a happy omen to our fiu'ming population. They 

 were at that time suffering under the re-action of 

 the high prices lor land and produce of the war of 

 1812 Wheat was worth but about 75 cents per 

 bushel, other produce in an equal ratio, and our 

 best farms which had been worth ijoO to S60 per 

 acre, had fallen in price to about 9.25. All, there- 

 tore, suffering under the despondency created by 

 these causes, f"elt that something must be done to 

 revive the droopinsr spirits of the farmer, and ena- 

 ble him to pay his debts, and make provision for 

 his family. It was generally acknowledg-pd, that 

 to do this effectually, was first to improve the sys- 



