1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



137 



with the Directors of the Crystal Palace, at New 

 York, in relation to a public exhibition ; and that 

 the Chair appoint a committee of three persons to 

 inform the committee from that association accord- 

 ingly- 



The committee appointed under this resolution 

 are the President of the Society, Brown, of Mass., 

 and Medary, of Ohio. 



It was resolved, on motion of Mr. Poore, of 

 Massachusetts, that when this meeting adjourn it 

 adjourn to meet to-morrow morning, at 9 o'clock. 



The Chair appointed Messrs. French, of INIassa- 

 chusetts. King, of New York, and Calvert of Mary- 

 land, a committee to audit the Truasurer's ac- 

 counts. 



The following preamble and resolution were of- 

 fered by C. B. Camt:rt, Esq., of Maryland, and 

 made the order of the day for to-morrow at 10 

 o'clock, A. M., viz: 



"Whereas the cause of agriculture requires that its 

 greal interests should be represented in the councils 

 of the nation : Therefore — 



Resolved, That Congress be memorialized to estab- 

 lish a Department of the Government, to be called 

 the Department of Agriculture, the head of which 

 department, when established, shall be a Cabinet 

 oflBcer. 



And then, on motion of Mr. King, of New York, 

 the meeting adjourned. 



SECOND DAT. 



The Society met according to adjournment, yes- 

 terday morning, at 9 o'clock, in the lecture room 

 of the Smithsonian Institution. It was called to 

 order by the President at 10 o'clock, when it was 

 found that, in addition to the States and Territo- 

 ries present the previous day, Minnesota was now 

 represented. 



The order of the day being the resolution of Mr. 

 Calvert on the subject of memorializing Congress 

 to establish an Agricultural Department of the 

 Government, with its head a Cabinet Officer, was 

 then taken up. It was, however, laid on the table 

 temporarily, to receive the report from the Com- 

 mittee on Nominations. 



After some discussion, this too was laid on the 

 table, in order to consider the report of the Com- 

 mittee on Amendments to the Constitution. The 

 sections of the constitution in question were then 

 successively read, and in several cases amended. 



-.The following is the substance of the principal 

 amendments passed : 



The Executive Committee was increased from 

 five members to seven. 



The Recording and Corresponding Secretaries to 

 be considered as ex-officio members of the Execu- 

 tive Committee and the General Board of Agricul- 

 ture. 



In the absence of the President of the Society, 

 the Executive Committee shall elect its own chair- 

 man. 



Four members present shall constitute a quorum 

 of the Executive Committee. 



The future annual meetings of the Society shall 

 be held in Washington, on t\\Q fourth Wednesday 

 of February. 



Mr. Wheeler, of Massachusetts, proposed a re- 

 duction of the fee for life-membership from §25 to 

 $10, with two dollars entrance money and one dol- 

 lar annual subscription. This reduction he thought 

 would bring many members into the Society who 

 might be excluded by the present terms. This 

 opinion was favored by Mr. Brooks, of Massachu- 

 setts, and by Professor Mapes and Dr. Weston, so 

 far as regarded life membership, but was strongly 

 opposed by Messrs. A. B. Davis, Jones and Cal- 

 vert, of Maryland, Roberts, of Penn., and Reed, 

 of Mass. The Society finally determined not to 

 make any change now. 



The order of the day, on Mr. Calvert's resolution, 

 was then taken up, but temporarily laid aside to 

 consider a resolution moved by jMr. Brown, of 

 Massachusetts, which was unanimously adopted, 

 as follows : 



Resolved, That the thanks of this Society be ten- 

 dered the Hon. Samuel Appleton, Thomas H. Per- 

 kins, Josiah Quincy, Robert G. Shaw, and others, 

 who have so generously contributed to its funds, 

 and thereby increased the ability of the Society to 

 diffuse agricultural information throughout the coun- 

 try. 



The following gentlemen were then proposed as 

 honorary members of the Society, the proposition 

 being warmly received and adopted, viz. : 'Millard 

 Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, Samuel Appleton, 

 Thomas H. Perkins, Josiah Quincy, and Robert G. 

 Shaw. 



Mr. Calvert's resolution being read, he said 

 that he had waited for some one else to take the 

 initiative in this matter : but, as that had not 

 been done, he had nothing to do but to act for 

 himself. The object sought in the resolution was 

 a primary one of the Society. The only question 

 to be asked in relation to it was, will a Government 

 department of Agriculture benefit the farmers of 

 this country ; will it maintain, protect, and advance 

 their varied interests and all the other interests 

 dependant upon theirs ? If the answer was in the 

 affirmative, nothing remained to be done but to go 

 straight to the mark, and vote unanimously a pe- 

 tition to Congress for its establishment. It would 

 do no longer to connect this great matter with 

 party politics ; no longer would the agriculturists 

 of the United States be nose-led by political parti- 

 sans. Commerce has its representative and pro- 

 tector in the Cabinet in the person of the Secreta- 

 ry of the Treasury ; so had the army, so had the 

 navy; then why should agriculture, an interest 

 greater than all the rest put together, be excluded ? 

 Four-fifths of all the wealth, power, numbers, la- 

 bor, and elements of strength and greatness of this 

 country were agricultural, and it had no repre- 

 sentative in the Executive branch of our Govern- 

 ment. Measures hostile to the farming interest 

 may arise in the Cabinet and be recommended to 

 Congress, and as at present constituted they could 

 not be resisted. This question had indeed much 



