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GENESEE FARMER. 



Jan. 



Monroe County A?;rieuUural Society. 



Art'ne Annual Meeting of the Monioe Coun- 

 ty Agricultural Society, held at the Rochester 

 Seed Store, Dec. 8th, the following named gen- 

 tlemen were elected officers for 1847, viz : 



Pr,sUh7U—S\yiV.E\. MILl>ER, of I'eniH-ld. 

 Vice rre.-iid>'iils—Gr.ofi(iE C. I.aita, of Greece, Rom- 

 ANTv IIakt, of Urigliton, Jolis Kowk, of Riga. 

 7Vwsv,')Yr— .Fames 1'. Foi.?u, of Roc-hesler. 

 Jiecordino .SV/-,.'?!/-'/— Jamks If. VVatts, of Rochester. 

 Coirespimuiug .<emtani—i»si\H W. BtssKr.L, Rocheslcr. 



TOWN COMMITTKF.S. 



Cf.lfs—\\m. P.ucll, M. Garrett, Win. Otis. 

 \Vneatl(2j:d—\\'m. Garbiiit, J. HIackrncr, i:iislia Harmon. 

 Chili— W'm. I'ixley, Jacob Stravvn, J. K. Balentine. 

 j2,V„_Alfred Fitcii, Dennis Church, Charles Tenny. 

 OaJiu—ics^t' Harroui), Marcus Adams, Ohver Harroun. 

 &Wm— Robert Staples, Asa Rowe, F. P. Rof)t. 

 6V«r/lw«— Adin Manley, F. iMcHeaii, Lemuel Clark. 

 Parma— C A. Knux, K. Atciiiiison, .(. M. Webster. 

 (ireece—l.. B. lAngworthy, K. 11. Brown, J. S. Ston?. 

 Brio-hlon—^. P. Gould, N. llayvvard, C. F. Crosman. 

 NMneita—VAihu Kirhy, Wells Springer, S. I.epgett. 



Jliisit IL B. Hart, N. C. Dayton, Thomas Wright. 



Mtndon—'S. X. Treat. T. Wilcox, .lolin Sargeant. 

 'Pit:sford—L. V. Whitbeck, L. Bushnell, M. Hopkins. 

 Pei'/Jield— Sy\\ ester Tracy, L. Ross, H. Fellows. 



Pcrriniou Gideon Ramsdell, John .A,yrault, Z. Burr. 



Welister—J. W. Kennedy, O. Reynolds. B. WoodhiilL. 

 Irondiquoil—\l. .\. Langworlhy, C. Iv. Hohl.ic, J. Mc- 



Roche'sl"! — V;m. Pitkin, Ep. Moore. P. Barry, A. Saw- 

 yer, James M. Whitney, James P. Fogg. Lemuel Thomp- 

 son! John Rapalje, D. D. T. Moore. 



'I'he Treasurer made the following report , 

 184tj December 4. — Amount of cash on hand. November 



[{, 1845, - iJ'jS 31 



AinouHt received from members, \'^C^ 00 



u ^< " the State, i;)4 00 



.$4.53 31 

 Dce^'mber 4— Paid receipts, .\umber lo7 te ~^~- 



Paid for Books for Premiums, and expenses of the 



Society, - ^''^. ^^ 



Paid for Dr. Lee's Lectures, 20 00 



Cash on hand, ^-"^ ^'^ 



$4.58 31 

 JAMES P. FOGG, Treasurer. 



On motion of J. W. Bisskli., 



Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be tendered to 

 Mr. J. P. Fogg, for the efficient manner in which he has dis- 

 charged the duties of Treasm-er the past year. 



On motion of James P. Fogg, it was voted that the 

 thanks of the Society be tendered to those members who 

 had contributed to the funds of the Society the amounts ol 

 their several premiums at the last Fair, viz; to Wm. Gar- 

 butt, of Whcallund, $7; Wm. Buell, Gates, $7; Romanta 

 Hart, Brighton, .$0; James Hart, IrondeiiU(>it, $'): Joseph 

 Fairlcy, rroiideeinoit, ^2; John Ayrault, I'errinton, $1G ; 

 Geo. C.' Latta, (;recce.'$2; .\llen Frost, Brighton, ,S 1 : R. 

 Harmon, Jr., Wlicatland, $-5; Pardon D. Wright, Itoches- 

 ter $4. H. Hooker, P.righton, $2; C. F. Crosman, Bright- 

 ton, $3; N. Hayward, Brighton, f 2. 



FiKLn Ckors.— The Society cannot but regret that in 

 the county that produees one tenth part of all the w heat 

 erown in the State of New York, there should be no appli- 

 caut for any of tlie premiums olVered on Field Crops, when 

 il is within the knowledge of many members of the Socie- 

 ty that several crops were made in tliis county, by mem- 

 bers of this Society, particularly of wheat and corn, proba- 

 bly second to none in the State, but from neglect of lue.as- 

 uring and certifying, they were excluded from entering for 

 premiums. It is to be hoped that the farmers in this coun- 

 ty will not in future be deterred from entering their Field 

 Crops, on account of the trouble to which the necessary 

 regulations of the State Society, to prevent imposition, may 

 subject them. 



Reports of the Committees on Farms.— I he Com- 

 mittee for the East side of Genesee River, award as follows: 



To Rufus Beckwith, of Henri.?tta, the first premium of $4 

 and Colman's Reports. To Zera Burr, of Perrinton, the 

 second premium, $3 and 1 Vol. of Transactions. To John 

 .Mc(jonegal, of Irondequoit, the third premium. ,$2 and 

 Washington's Letters. To George L. Beckwith, of Henri- 

 etta, the fourth premium, .$1 and 2 Vols. Genesee Farmer. 



The following communication was read from Wm. Gar- 

 liUTT, Esq., of Wiieatland, Chairman of the Committee on 

 Farms for the west side of Genesee River. 



The Committee on Farms, for the W'est Side of the 

 River, would respectfully 



REror.T, 



That they commenced their pleasing task on the last of 

 June, and in three days took a hasty view of tlie various 

 towns, but the linusual forwardness of the season render- 

 ed the farmers all so busy that they liad not leisure to at- 

 tend on the committee, so that they concluded to postpone 

 further operations until the last of September. I'ut una- 

 voidable circumstances prevented their meeting; yet from 

 what they saw, they would respectfully state that, the gen- 

 eral aspect of the County was delightful. Crops in gener- 

 al, (with the exception of corn, which in many instances 

 was much injured Iiy the worms.) bid fair to yield a bounti- 

 ful return to the husl andman for his toil. And we cannot 

 refrain from congratulaling our Farmers on their happy lot, 

 blessed with a healthful climate, and a productive soil, con- 

 venient to market, and accessible to all the rational enjoy- 

 ments of social life; and when blessed with health, if not 

 iiidepeiideJit and hapjm, ihefanlt is their cun. 



The extensive fields of wheat were splendid, and in most 

 sections a spirit of i.mprovement was evinced; and the ma- 

 ny well cultivated farms wkich we visited convinced us 

 tliatthe fiirmers of Monroe were not last in agricultural im- 

 provements. 



But when we look at the statistics of the County, and see 

 that the average wheat crop is only 19^ bushels per acre, 

 corn 30, barley 19, oats 32, rye 10, potatoes 110, and other 

 roots only 180 bushels peracr<^, and then examine the re- 

 ports of the ComiTiittees on Field Crops, we cannot avoid 

 being forcibly impressed with the great difference in amount 

 per acre, on the average crop, and the select pieces. And it 

 speaks in language not to be contradicted, that farmers are 

 deficient in their general culture, and that it is susceptible 

 of great improvement. 



To point onttlie numerous means within the reach of the 

 farmer to enrich the soil, and enhance the value of their la- 

 bor, or to state all the defects in the general cultivation, 

 would much exceed the bounds of this report. Yet they 

 will state what appears to them to be the most prominent 

 ones, and let the farmers test them for themselves. 



We would earnestly recommend to every farmer to keep 

 an agricultural jouriiai, and enter down all the princip.al op- 

 erations on the farm and keep an exact account of deiit 

 and credit, so that they can know each year the exact 

 amount of their profit and loss. 



And we feel con;ident that we cannot too strongly solicit 

 their earnest attention to agricultural reading, and annual 

 erliihif^- — knowing that they are powerful prompters to ac- 

 tive industry, and the most el^icient means of acquiring ag- 

 ricultural knowledge. 



Plaster and barn-yard manure are within the means of eve- 

 ry farmer, but not suHiciently valued as fertilizers of the soil. 

 " With but few exceptions, there is too much ground culti- 

 vated for the labor to perform it. //■ one fourth, (and in 

 many instances one third,) less ground was cultivated by 

 the same amount of labor tliat is now done on the whole, 

 there would be equally as much produce raised, and more 

 profit realized. 



Plowing is generally done in too much of a hurry, too 

 shrillow, and too wide a furrow slice, for a thorough culti- 

 vation; and the value of the harrow is not sufiiciently real- 

 ized. The more frequently that the surface of cultivated 

 ground can be pulverised the better, and especially in dry 

 weather. -And the use of the roller in pulverizing is too 

 much neglected. 



Pastures are generally cut too close. A bare pasture im- 

 proves not the soil, nor fattens the animals, nor makes the 

 owner rich. 



On the most difl^.cult part of their duty, viz; that of 

 awardins: the premiums, they would respectfully state that, 

 from the limited means they had of judging, it was impos- 

 sible for thi'iu to select three from amongst the many well 

 cultivated farms vsliich they examined, that they could say 

 had the decided preference over the others, without the fear 

 of doing great injustice to many. 



