1837.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



689 



painful suHerino;, attributable to this cause where 

 the absence of intermiiteat or remittent diseases 

 induces a dano;erous confidence and security. Dr. 

 JM'Culloch is incHned lo ascribe to iliis cause the 

 rollowing list of disorders : Yellow, remittent, in- 

 termittent, and nervous lever ; dysentery, diar- 

 rhtea, cholera, visceral obstructions ; dropsy, oede- 

 ma, obstructions of the liver and spleen, neural- 

 ilia, and, in particular, that form ol" it, the tic dou- 

 loureux, to which we would be sltongly inclined 

 to add the den2;ue of the Havanna and Charles- 

 ton, scrofula, and goitre ; hebetude ol' intellect, 

 and creneral laslitude ; a BiBotian diathesis ; rick- 

 ets, hernia, rheimuilism, sciatica, toothache, asth- 

 ma, peripneumony, dyspepsia, pnlsy, phthisis, 

 'chlorosis, are doubttul ; not that these disorders, 

 or any of them, do not, in many cases, originate 

 in other causes ; but that they are, in many cases, 

 fairly ascribable to the eliscts of malaria or mias- 

 ma. 



EFFECTS OF LEGISI-ATIVE AID TO AGRICUL- 

 TURE IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK. , 



No. If. 



To the Editor of the Fanners' Register. 



Dear Sir, — In my former communication in an- 

 swer to yotir inquiry of " what has been done by 

 the legislature of Nevi^ York in aid of agricul- 

 ture V I brought down the subject to the year 

 1830. I will now proceed to discharge the remain- 

 ing duty imposed upon me. I must be permitted, 

 however, to go back and observe, that the several 

 county societies that organized under the law of 

 1819, not receiving any farther aid Irom the treasury 

 of the state after 1825, they, one after another, be- 

 came extinct, with the exception of the society in the 

 countv of Jefferson, where by the munificence, ex- 

 ample, and through the influence of Mr. I^e Ray 

 de Chaumont, it was not only continued, but gave, 

 in each succeeding year, new indications of great 

 usefulness. This became so evident, not only to 

 residents in that county, but likewise to gentlemen 

 who occasionally travelled through it, that the 

 friends of agriculture began once more to bestir 

 themselves, and proposed the organization of 

 another state agricultural society and the forma- 

 tion of county societies under it. For that pur- 

 pose, several gentlemen residing indifferent por- 

 tions of the state, met in Albany, in February 

 1832, to devise a plan of operations that wiuild 

 best fulfil their intentions. The meeting was as 

 large as could be expected. A society was formed, 

 and committees appointed to digest and report to 

 a subsequent meeting such plan as would ijive 

 most efficiency to our views, and likewise to obtain 

 an act of incorporation from the leirislature of" the 

 state. An act for that purpose was passed, April 

 26th, 1832. It gave us the power to organize, but 

 no special privileges. We formed our society un- 

 der the act, and have held our annual meetings 

 in Albany, each succeeding February. I have 

 punctually attended them, and been amply com- 

 pensated for it. I would not forego the pleasure 

 for a trifling consideration ; lor, even if the sphere 

 of my usetulness is no! increased, a fflow of feel- 

 ing is imparted, which cheers and animates, and 

 makes me more a friend to the pursuit. Sev^eral 

 counties once more formed societies, but they did 



Vol. IV— 87 



not generally enter the field with that spirit vi'hich 

 insures success. Their members again had re- 

 course to premiums to make the exhibitions inte- 

 resting, but as state patronage was vvithheki, the 

 funds for that purpose were raised among the 

 members. A sufficiency in this way could not be 

 obtained ; it was an up-hill business, and the last 

 autumn has witnessed the expiration of many of 

 these county societies. From former experience, 

 their long duration, under existing circunjstances, 

 was not anticipated; their decease, therelbre, hiis 

 not been a cause of much disappointment. We 

 early saw, however, after the organization of the 

 state society, that a paper was wanted, to circulate 

 not only our proceedings, but likewise to impart 

 agricultural intelligence to our liirmers. A plan 

 was at once adopted to commence such an estab- 

 lishment, and the Cultivator was issued under 

 the auspices, but not at the expense of tlie society. 

 That paper has been v/ell sust.iined by the com- 

 munity — with what benefii, it is for our tarming 

 population to determine. Another object we had 

 in view, was the organization of an agiicultural 

 school, under legislative sanction. The act (a 

 copy of which I send you,) not having been ob- 

 tained until May 1836, has not yet been carried 

 into operation. Its friends, however, will not let 

 the subject rest; but, I think, will test it fully. 

 You will observe, it is an act incorporating the 

 subscribers, but without appropriating iunds for 

 the purposes recited in it. The}', the subscribers, 

 contribute the whole of the fund, and receive the 

 emolument — but, in any event, they are not to di- 

 vide over 5 per cent, interest on their stock. Upon 

 this plan, they have the entire control of the insti- 

 tution, and they would wish to act, if possible, 

 independent of state boutit3\ In this way, the 

 enterprise is made their own — they feel more re- 

 sponsible for its acts, and, of course, will take a 

 deeper interest in its success. I cannot permit 

 myself to doubt its practicability, and if we are 

 not disappointed in its results, it will not only do 

 great arood in this state, but wherever it shall 

 send its graduates. To develope, however, more 

 fully, what we conceive will be its probable prac- 

 tical efTects upon the fiiture increase of our agri- 

 cultural products, I must acquaint you with what 

 is intended to be taught in this institution. First, 

 mathematks — the science which contemplates 

 whatever is capable of being numbered and mea- 

 sured, so far as it leads to a correct knowledge of 

 practical mechanics, the application of the princi- 

 ples of power, and land mensuration. Second, 

 chemistry — the science which enables us to dis- 

 cover the peculiar properties of all natural bodies, 

 either in their simple or compound state, so that 

 we can .analyze the different kinds of soils, ascer- 

 tain wherein they differ, and, if possible, in what 

 the principles of teriility consists, and what must 

 be added, or taken away, to make barren or unpro- 

 pitious land more productive. The doctrine of 

 manures cannot be understood without a know- 

 ledge of chemistry ; and it is a subject so exten- 

 sive in its application to farming purposes, that it 

 must become the ABC of the farmer's education. 

 Geology, and if necessary, mineralogy, so as to 

 discriminate between the different kinds of sub- 

 stances the earth is composed of", that we may 

 have a correct knowledge, not only of what the 

 surface of the soil consists, but what ip buried be- 

 neath it. Botany — the science of plants, or that 



