286 



NiJW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jun:e 



Smith, Dodge, French, Brown, Sprague and Law- 

 ton were appointed a committee to confer with the 

 Governor of the Commonwealth and consider and 

 report whether any, and if so what aid may conve- 



the mysteries of seed time and harvest, and un- 

 folding all the beautiful knowledge drawn from 

 natural laws connected tlierewith. Yet most of 

 these "usual means of improvement" would of ne- 

 cessity have to venture upon "new and untried 



niently be afforded by the State to this Board to ijc/jgr/jcs.' 



facilitate experiments in scientific cultivation of the We have often thought that science as con 



soil by the use of the lands connected with the 



State Reform School at Westboro'. 



Messrs. French, Sprague and Wilder were ap- 

 pointed a committee to audit the accounts of the 

 late acting Secretary. 



Messrs. Wilder and Brown were added to the 

 Executive Committee. 



At 2 o'clock the Board adjourned. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 NEW AND UNTRIED SCHEMES. 



"So far as possible, the eslalilislieti and cniiowed institu- 

 tions for education, and all the iisual means of improvement 

 at commRiid, should he made available to the advancement of 

 the agricultural interest, instead of looliing for new ar.d un 

 tried schemes." — Reviewer in N. E. Farmer of April 30, 1853. 



The above cautious remarks are made in the re- 

 view of«the monthly number of the Fanner for 

 April, in the paragraph captioned "Farmers' Li- 

 braries. 



In order to assume a position in this matter, 

 and have a fair starting point from which to reck- 

 on our latitude and longitude, we should like to 

 know what our incog friend means by "new and 

 untried schemes." He seems to admit as a fact, 

 that "our established and endowed institutions 

 for education, and all the usual means at com- 

 mand, should be made available for the advance- 

 ment of the agricultural interest," To this we 

 respond a hearty amen ! But when or where has 

 this been done'? It is now but a few years since 

 the application of science to agriculture has re- 

 ceived the least attention in our country. It is 

 yet the opinion of too many, that ignorance in 

 these matters is a befitting quality in the cultiva- 

 tor of the soil, although the mass, we hope, have 

 risen far above so grovelling a view of things, and 

 many are anxious to see a better order of things 

 introduced ; and to effect it, are willing, with the 

 same nobleness of purpose as led Columbus to 

 venture on unknown seas in search of a n?w world 

 — to venture "on new and untried schemes.'^ Ag- 

 ricultural schools have been the subject of much 

 consideration, and their effect on those who could 

 be benefited by them would probal)ly be of a salu- 

 tary character. But the public mind does not j'et 

 (it will be, however, some time,) seem prepared for 

 their endowment. Agricultural professorships, as 

 a remedy, are being introduced into some of our 

 colleges.* The effect will, no doubt, be a good 

 one. But at present it is a "new and untried 

 scheme,'''' even in our "established and endowed 

 institutions for education." We hope the scheme 

 will prove so successful and its benefits so fully 

 appreciated, that every college in the land will 

 find such a professorship a necessary appendage, 

 and that the cultivation of the soil will be taught 

 practically as well as theoretically at all such in- 

 stitutions. And our academies, too, and "all our 

 higher seminaries of learning," whatever name 

 they bear, v.'hat a beautiful idea it would be if 

 they would arise and elevate themselves into a new 

 atmosphere and shine forth by richly developing 



nected with agriculture might be successfully 

 taught, to a limited extent, in our common schools, 

 which are accessible to every child in the country. 

 We are now of the same opinion. If nothing more 

 was done in these humble seminaries than by oc- 

 casional talkings of the teacher to interest the 

 mind of the scholar in natural objects by pointing 

 out their uses and defining their beauties and call- 

 ing them by their right names, the curiosity would 

 be awakened so that a research into these things, 

 to continue through life — widening and deepening 

 and presenting new attractions all the way through 

 life — would by the result, and from so humble a 

 beginning invaluable consequences would necessa- 

 rily arise. But the thing has never, to our know- 

 ledge, been done so as to give a fair result of the 

 experiment; consequently, it would be venturing 

 upon a "nrw and untried scheme,^'' which many in 

 the outset would pronounce visionary and false to 

 attempt the innovation. 



Almost half a century ago, a few individuals 

 away back on the Berkshire hills, established a 

 society for the promotion of agriculture and do- 

 mestic manufactures. The first beginning in this 

 affiir was very small. Farmers shook their heads 

 and thought no good would come out of tlie mat- 

 ter. Others thought the project visionary, and 

 that if it did not end in smoke, its greatest result 

 would be wind. It was a scheme luhol/y new and 

 untried, and in order to get up the first exhibition, 

 if we have been rightly informed, the few who 

 managed the affair borrowed of their neighbors in 

 order to increase the number of articles compris- 

 ing a small exhibition. Still they persevered, and 

 saw the dark clouds of discouragement pass away, 

 and now the numbar of such institutions in the 

 land are almost innumerable, while the beufits re- 

 sulting from them defy calculation. Berkshire 

 numbers two within her borders, each of them in 

 flourishing condition, calling each year thousands 

 from the hills and valleys to their annual fairs, 

 and each one come in the strength of zeal^nd ful- 

 ness of admiration which attends the progress of 

 a desirable and fixvorite object. 



When the experiment of sustaining agricultural 

 societies was fully tested and their utility had be- 

 come a fixed fact, another new and untried scheme 

 presented itself to the consideration of the cultiva- 

 tors of the earth. Horticulture had thus far been 

 under the fostering care of a few individuals. — 

 Choice fruits, healthful vegetables in abundant 

 supply, and rare and beautiful flowers, were re- 

 stricted in their growth to the gardens of wealth 

 and taste, while the thought that they were in- 

 tended for the multitude had never entered into 

 the heart of man. But the union of effort which 

 had given agricultural associations success, and 

 had given new impulse to agricultural progress, 

 was seen to be good and lovely in its operations, 

 and its aid was invoked in behalf of horticulture. 

 The Massachusetts Horticultural Society is an im- 

 perishable monument of the success whi(Ji such 

 effort In-ings ; and numerous similar, though hum- 

 ble institutions, spread all around us, are now 



