733 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. I 



When any such school or farm shall have been 

 onranized and put into practical operation, and the 

 sum of ten thousand dollars actually paid in, on a 

 leii'al notification to that effect beini; made known 

 to the state treasurer, he should be authorized to 

 jniy into the hands ot" the treasurer of such asso- 

 ciafion, a sum of money equal in anount to the 

 interest of the capital thus raised by such county 

 or district: or in the event of a larirer capital 

 beinir raised, that he slioidd pay such sum as 

 would be equivalent to ihe interest thereon, which 

 interest should be paid annuallv or semi-aunu- 

 ally. 



The sum or sums of money thus to be raised by 

 the counties or districts, to be exclusively appro- 

 priated to the subjects connected with the estab- 

 lishments respectively. 



Periodical accounts of all expenditures to be 

 made to the state treasurer, to be by him laid be- 

 fore the lei:fislature at their annual sessions. 



All profits arismsT from such establishments to 

 be biennially divided among the several stock- 

 holders, and the property of such incorporations to 

 be exempt fi-om taxation, either to the state or 

 the county in which they may be respectively lo- 

 cated. 



To your memorialists it appears most evident, 

 that such institutions are loudly called for by the 

 best interests of the state, and they feel confident 

 that your honors will concide with them in the 

 opinion, that the period has arrived when it is im- 

 periously necessary that somethinir must be done. 

 They conceive that, by the establishment of those 

 schools and pattern fiirms, invaluable benefits will 

 enure to the agricultural community, and to the 

 state at large : they believe that by a judicious ar- 

 rangement and economy in their oriranization, 

 and in the manner of carryma them on, no other 

 burthen will lidl upon the state tlian the first outlay, 

 should you adopt the first plan suixgesied — and in 

 the event of your fixing on the second, that noth- 

 ing farther than the specified interest money will 

 be annually required, as it appears plain to your 

 memorialists, that the labor of the firm could, anil 

 would be, performed, in the adoption of either 

 plan, by the students or apprentices. 



It appears also to your memorialists hichly pro- 

 per, that in these establishments there should be 

 engaged, 1st, a competent and inielliirent farmer: 

 2d, a lecturer upon chemistry, as applicable to the 

 business of husbandry : 3il, a irardener skilled in 

 the proper culture of the mulberry : 4th, a person 

 thoroughly acquainted with the management of 

 silkworms and the conversion of the cocoons into 

 sewing silk, and another acquainted with the beet 

 culture and the mode of making sugar lirom that 

 root. 



The nrganizafion of the agricultural societies, 

 which your memorialists propose, could not be 

 onerous to the state treasuries ; because the outlay 

 would be restricted by the interest of those who 

 should be members of" them. Fn Massachusetts, 

 with the view of stimulating agriculturists to form 

 such associations, the state has generously enact- 

 ed, that lor every dollar subscribed by each of its 

 members, she will give a like sum. The agu^re- 

 gate amount thus collected is, periodically, distri- 

 buted in premiums — some to the owner of the best 

 cultivated firm of civen dimensions; others for 

 the greatest quantity of corn raised upon a certain 

 number of acres. So also, the wheat and rye 



grower, the raiser of the best crop of potatoes ; 

 the breeder of the best horse, cow or hog ; the 

 owner of the cow, feed considered, which yields 

 the irreatest quantity of milk and butter in a year ; 

 the person who raises the greatest number of mul- 

 berry'trees, and the raiser of the most silk, have 

 each and all their inJucements, in the shape of 

 bounties and premiums, to animate them in the 

 noble contest of affricullural rivalry. Your me- 

 morialists would further state, that they are in- 

 formed, that while the annual burthen upon the 

 treasury of the state of Massachusetts is compar- 

 atively small compared with the magnitude of the 

 good efiecietl, the happiest results have been pro- 

 duced. Eacli individual there, enixatred in the 

 pursuits ol" husbandry, feels himself called upon 

 by that ennobling sentiment, moral obligation, to 

 excel his neighbor — and thus, by the excitement 

 of a spirit of rivalry, virtuous in its concepliony 

 and holy in its objects and prosecution, have the 

 legislature produced a feelinir and a pride, whose 

 benefits are to be seen in the fruil fulness of a com- 

 paratively barren soil, and the prosperity and hap- 

 piness of the people. 



With this exposition of their views, your memo- 

 rialists respectfully ask your honorable body, to 

 take the subjects treated of in this memoral, into 

 your serious and dispassionate consideration, and 

 to grant them such relief as to you may seem 

 meet and proper, and they, as in duty bound, will 

 ever pray. 



A FEW DKSULTORY THOUGHTS, ET.ICITEDy 

 PRINCIPALLY, BY THE EDITORIAL RE- 

 3IARKS OF NO. 8, VOL. IV, OF THE FAR- 

 MERS' REGISTER. 



To tlie Editor of llie Fanners' Register. 



January 7th, 1837. 



To show you that your moving " appeal" has 

 not been entirelv lost ufion your readers, I take up 

 my pen, if to effect nothing more, to express my 

 condolence on account of the apathy of which you 

 complain in your corresjiondents, and to assure 

 you, that o?re at least sympathizes with you un- 

 der the labors and discouragements which attend 

 your arduous, but useful enterprise. It is said by 

 an authority that is generally respected, that "the 

 husbandman waiteth lor the precious I'ruit of the 

 earih, and hath long patience f()r it, until he re- 

 ceive Ihe early and latter rain." This example 

 surely, is worthy of the imitation of one whose oc- 

 cupation, as yours is, is to enliglilen and animate 

 hiin in his toilsome pursuits. It must be expected 

 that the '-patience" of the agricultural editor will 

 be "long" and severely tried. lie speaks to peo- 

 ple that are "dull of hearing," and " slow ol' heart 

 to believe." The theme on which he dwells, to 

 many is devoid of interest, either because they im- 

 agine it is not sufficiently elevated to enlist their re- 

 gards, or because their information concerning it, 

 is already sufficiently ample and accurate. Sci- 

 ence on the subject ol agriculture ! What has sci- 

 ence to do with a business so ignoble! What? 

 Why as much as it has to do with any thing else. 

 To be fiirmers, men need not be Ibols, and ought 

 not to be ignorant. Their profession presents a 

 scope for the exercise of an intellect the most ex- 

 panded, and calls for talents as diversified and rare 



