6D2 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 11 



in and possessed ; and if at any time after the 

 paj'nient of such dividend, there shall remain any 

 surplus of such profits, it shall be expended in ad- 

 ditions or improvements to tlie farm, buildiniis, 

 library, apparatus, or other necessary establish- 

 ments connected with the said institution, or in re- 

 ducinp: tlie [)rice of tuition at the same. 



18. The fTovernor shall apr;oint annually a com- 

 mittee of three persons, whose duty it shall be to 

 visit the said ii;stitution, and to report the condi- 

 tion thereof to the legislature at the commence- 

 ment of iis next session. The members of the 

 Baid conn-nittee shall receive no compensation lor 

 their services under this act, but their reasonable 

 expenses shall be paid by the said corporation. 



19. Tlie corporation hereby created, shall be 

 Bubject to the provisions of the eighteenth chapter 

 of the first part of the Revised (Statutes, so far as 

 the same are applicable, and have not been modi- 

 fied or repealed. 



20. This act shall take effect immediately after 

 the passage thereof 



New York State j^gricultural School. 



Books of subscription to the stock of the New 

 York State Agricultural School, will be opened at 

 Albany, New York, Poughkeepsie, Hudson and 

 Butlalo, on the first day oi' June next, at such 

 places as the commissioners may designate. 

 Shares ig25— five per cent to be paid on subscrib- 

 ing. 



Jesse Buel, Albany. 



L. F. Alt^en, Buffalo. 



Henry Yates, New York. 



John P. Beekman, Kinderhook. 



JoAB Center, Hudson. 



Walter Cunningham, Poiighkeepsie. 



John Delafield, New York. 



RI^MARKS ON DR. BEEKMAN S LETTERS; ON 

 THE LEGISr>ATrVE AID GIVEN TO AGRIOUL- 

 TURE I A NEW YORK. 



No parson who has r.^ad with attention the letters of 

 Dr. Beekman, in this and the preceding No. of the 

 Rei^ister, can fail to estimate very hif2,hly the benefits 

 conferred on a;',ricultnre by the aid of government in 

 New York; and there is no Virgmian, who now de- 

 plores the waning agricultural prosperity of his own 

 state, and has studied the causes of this decline, who 

 would not earnestly wish to see this example of the 

 State of New York followed, and improved, upon in 

 the Old Dominion. In the noble career of devising 

 and eli'ecting public works, and economical improve- 

 ments — in constructing canals, and other works of 

 great expi^nse and great value — in aiding private 

 efforts for ediiCTction by the judicious and discriminat- 

 ing application of public money — and in diffusing the 

 knowledge of agricultural Science and practical im- 

 provements — New York has truly done much for her 

 own profit and prosperity, and much to induce other 

 states to pursue a like course. Would that our imita- 

 tion of the policy and action of New York, would 

 both begin and end with these objects ! 



We mean not to express at length the grounds for 

 either approbation or censure of any of the several 



parts of the New York system for promoting agricul- 

 tural improvement, as described by Dr. Eeekman. 

 Were we to do so, much space would necessarily be 

 occupied by our remarks — and we should merely be 

 presenting, in another form, opinions which we have 

 urged in various parts of the volumes of the Farmers' 

 Register. 



While readily and fully according to the county agri- 

 cultural societies the merit of having had the most im- 

 portant agency in rousing and stimulating zeal for 

 improvement, yet their organization, and the general 

 plan of premiums adopted, were very defective — and 

 but for these defects, it would not' have been so easy 

 for low demagogues to produce the dissolution of the 

 system, by exciting popular envy and discontent. 



Another important measure, the collection and diffu- 

 sion, by publication, of the existing agricultural know- 

 ledge of the practical farmers of the state, commands 

 our most decided applause, unmixed with objections of 

 any kind. It was the cheapest as well as the most 

 effectual mode of diffusing agricultural knowledge, 

 and of the most valuable kind — and it is only to be 

 regretted; that the plan of publication was not far more 

 extensive, and far more enduring. The more recent 

 establishment of the low priced and excellent little 

 periodical, the Cultivator, is a similar work, though 

 effected in a different mode. Some objections to the 

 plan of this publication we freely stated, when it first 

 appeared — and the changes afterwards made in its plan, 

 showed that our views were not altogether unfounded. 

 The state, indeed, did not directly aid the establish- 

 ment, and support, and pay for the (at fiist) almost gra- 

 tuitous circulation of this pa'per: but it amounted 

 nearly to the same thing, when the State Agricultural 

 Society lent all its influence to extend the circulation, 

 and when such men as Judge Euel and Dr. Beekman 

 were induced by public spirit alone, to furnish the 

 editorial talents and labors required for the successful 

 establishment of such a work, without remuneration. 

 To procure a very extensive and permanent circula- 

 tion for an agricultural periodical, is almost all that is 

 required to insure its cheapness as well as its useful- 

 ness — supposing always, that it is conducted with pro- 

 per industry and ability. It has been recently stated 

 that the issue of the Cultivator amounts to 22,000 co- 

 pies a year. If the Farmers' Register was taken by 

 as many subscribers, it might be furnished at less than 

 half its present price, and (notwithstanding the high 

 prices of printing in Virginia, compared to the northern 

 cities,) would then give far more profit to the publish- 

 er, as well as very fur more value to the agncultural 

 public. 



The agricultural school established by law in New 

 York, is likewise a work admirable for its design and 

 its tendencies. But we fear that the plan carries within 

 it the seeds of its speedy death, in the withholding of 

 the fostering bounty of the state, and the still more 

 niggardly limit of the possible profits to the adventurers 

 or stockholdvis, io five per cent, per annum! It can 

 scarcely be expected, that those who have thus vested 

 Iheir money, wdll derive any gain, except the applause 

 of their countrymen, and their own gratification for 



