1S37] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



637 



Tnike corn, and allow 40 bushels to the acre— this 

 will be e(]i!nl to 840, and irive the same result as 

 wheat. Rye will nive about the same, or rather less 

 proh't than oats, or the interest upon §200 per acre. 

 Barley will ijive as mnch as oats — potatoes and 

 turnips at least doid^le that of wheat or corn. 

 Meadow land at 2 tons of hay to the acre, and 

 worth $12 per ton, would leave a nett profit of 

 $16, which would pay tiie interest Upon nearly 

 S250. Pasturage would fake in the reniairnnii 

 poiti.in of the liu'm, except the woodland. This 

 would leave a profit not as larjie as either of the 

 others, but still enough to make the investment a 

 good one. ' ou will observe that in all cases, I 

 make a deduction of one-third of the nett proceeds 

 for the expe.nses of cultivation. A lon<r experi- 

 ence has taufjht me that where a fiirm is worked 

 for a part of its produce, or by men hired (or that 

 purpose, this portion will pay all necessary ex- 

 penses. It is as near to a rule as any that 1 can 

 adopt ; and whichever way I manage, I have al- 

 ways iound the allowance ample. Although we 

 feel that farming is much more profitable now than 

 formerly, and that the increased product gives 

 more value to our real estate, yet we frank'y ac- 

 knowledge that we are only tyros in our pro'es- 

 sion, and confess our ignorance and inefficiency in 

 many thinfjs. From what has been done by a lit- 

 tle effort, we have only a foretaste of what may 

 be done, and we are desirous for further advance- 

 ment, as there can be no doubt that the products 

 of our soil mnv, WMth more effort, in time be 

 doubled. I will not say that our former county 

 agricultural society has produced these results, 

 but it has contributed to them, I have no doubt. 

 Still it did not meet the expectations of its t>iends ; 

 for when the state bounty was withdrawn, it lan- 

 guished and died. Had it been all that was de- 

 sired, it would have sustained iiself, overcome the 

 opposition ol" its enemies, and diffused an exten- 

 sive and prevailing opinion, that it could not be 

 dispensed with. 



You will notice that under the law of this state, 

 of 1819, a board of agriculture was formed, whose 

 business it was " to collect essays and facts, and 

 lo publish them annually in a volume for distribu- 

 tion." The board attended to the performance o 

 this duty, and issued in all, I think, three or four 

 volumes of about 500 pages each. I had the 

 good f()rtune to obtain three of them, and to say 

 that I was gratified by their perusal would be on- 

 ly giving them a kind of negative praise. I have 

 read them again and again with both renewed 

 pleasure and instruction. Several of the articles 

 emanating from practical men, and evidently un- 

 used to writing, still contained many clear ideas 

 that bear strongly upon the subject on which they 

 treat, and are extremely valuable to the farmer, 

 because whilst they excite a spirit of emulation, 

 they show him how he may improve in following 

 out many of the details of a laborious prol'ession. 

 There are others agam drawn up by more scien- 

 tific and practised pens, that would do credit to the 

 first men of the age. It was the reading of these 

 volumes tliat first gave me a taste for farmins: and 

 if the state had issued and distributed 15,000, in- 

 stead of 1500 copies of each volume, it would 

 have added millions to the wealth of her people. 



I trust. Sir, I have followed out the law of 1819, 

 and its subsequent extension to its practical effects. 

 That it was not all that was desirable, will be 



readily acquiesced in : but that it has been very 

 beneficial to our farming interest, 1 think, will nei- 

 ther admit of equivocation or denial. What has 

 been done by legislative sanction since its expira- 

 tion will be the subject of another communica- 

 lion. 



Before I close, however, I must be permitted to 

 say that the peo|ile of this state are greatly in- 

 debted to some ol' our private citizens lor the zeal 

 they have shown to aid the cause ol" agriculture, 

 and the ready disposition of their purses to carry 

 their designs into ellect. Ainong these I must 

 notice the late Chancellor Robert R. Livin<rslon, 

 who was the first [)resident of our State Agricul- 

 tural Siciety, and who by the introduction of me- 

 rino sheep alone, and his essay upon the manage- 

 ment of them, has addeii immeasurably to the 

 value of our farms, the profits of our. agriculture, 

 and the establishment of our woollen manufac- 

 tures. These are benefits so great and decided, 

 that they cannot leave but one opinion of the pre- 

 science of the man whose efibrts lor the goud of 

 his countrymen have been so signally successful. 

 'Long may his memory be cherished, for he richly 

 deserves it fi'om us. We ackiiowledire a li-iend 

 and patron likewise in lite Hon. Stephen V-'an 

 Renssalaer, who, being a large landholder himsel/J 

 has always shown an interest, not only in the 

 prosperity of his tenants, but of the whole com- 

 munity.- The establishment of a school at his 

 sole expense, for the study, in part, of chemistry, 

 botany, and geology, as intimately connected with 

 agriculture — the geological survey, made by his 

 direction, of two counties in this state, with a view 

 to the developement of their resources — his contri- 

 butions to aid the dissemination of information in 

 all the various ways in which it may be required — 

 and his importation of the best breed of cattle, 

 which have lor many years been kept. up, always 

 affordinii ^^ supply to our f:n-niers who are solici- 

 tous to im^prove this vfiluabie kind of stock— are so 

 many proofs of his excellence as a man, and his 

 philanthropy as -a patriot. This list might be ex- 

 tended ; but we must not omit the name of Le Ray 

 de Chaumont, as one ol our most public spirited 

 citizens. I will only further add, that our succes- 

 sive governors have uniformly shown an interest 

 in the advancement of agriculture ; and have re- 

 commended the subject to our legislators, who, 

 with {'tw exceptions, seem not to comprehend it, 

 and, of course, have generally been slow to respond 

 to executive suggestions, and who seem to think 

 that they are chosen to do tlie whole business of the 

 community, except that which is to be beneficial 

 to the farmer, who feeds, supports, and clothes 

 them. 



I remain your friend, &c. 



J. p. BEKKMAN. 



Kinderhook, December 28, 1836. 



Extract from tlie Cultivator. 



PRICE AiVD VALUE OF MARL AXD GREEN SAND 

 IN NEW JERSEY. 



This region of country is well calculated to be 

 one of the most productive in the state ; it abounds 

 in marl, both tlieixreen sand, and calcareous or shell 

 marl ; the former is dug in many places within 

 two feet of the surliice, and the latter generally 

 about six feet ; the first is sold at the pit for 31| 



