34 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



JSifoi*'^ I^!)le. 



The Gk_\esek Farjcsr, — Tke Decemhor number of this periodical 

 is on our table. It closes the 14th. volume of tho second series of 

 one of the oldest and most widely known of Rochester periodicals. 

 The Farmer must be (irmly fixed amnns the indispensables of the 

 farmer's fire-side, to stand so long and so strong, while so man_v 

 new agricultural, journals are springing up in all parts of the coua- 

 tcy. When the Parmtr first appeared in the viHage of RochcMter, 

 what is now the \-ery garden of the great west, was comparatively 

 a wilderness ; and while tho transition was taking place, for years 

 th? western husbandman and forester know no other agricultural 

 comi)anioQ. The we.st has became, as it were. !in Empire, and has 

 its farming journals ; but we fancy that our Farmer is still remcm- 

 Iwrsd there, and still finds thousands of patrons among the old set- 

 tlors .lud their descendants. In this section and to the westwani, 

 thf» Genesee Farmer is the pioneer agricultural enterprise. As such, 

 it should be remembered and sustained. — Daily Rochester VniuH. 



We tliank our contemporary for its friendly notice and 

 interesting reminiscences. The present proprietor of this 

 journal was a citizen of "Western New York before the 

 Erie canal was excavated, and well remembers the opposi- 

 tion made to that great public improvement by represen- 

 tatives from the city of New York, Long Island, and the 

 river counties on the Hudson and Mohawk. At that time 

 the western part of the State contained very few inhabi- 

 tants ; but few as they were, by union, high moral cour- 

 age, matchless perseverance, and incredible labor, they 

 conquered every obstacle, and drove the grand enterprise 

 through to comi)letion in eight years, from 1817 to 1S23. 

 The industry and economy of tliose days contrasted with 

 the idleness and luxury of the present, often make us fear 

 that society is realiy degenerating, and believe that a rapid 

 increase of wealth tends to foster dishonesty and general 

 immorality. There are, however, so many elements to be 

 c^iisidered in this problem that we are not prepared to ex- 

 press a matured opinion as to the demoralizing influence 

 of money made with little labor, or by the unexpected and 

 enormous rise of real or personal estate. Whatever may 

 be the moral iffect of the sudden and almost fabulous ad- 

 vance in the aggregate wealth of Western New York, we 

 feel confident that its agricultural resources are not fully 

 appreciated. 



To return to the Genesee Farmer, the child of Western 

 New York. The patronage which it received, encouraged 

 Judge BuEL to start some years after the Albany Cultiva- 

 tor, at twenty-five cents a year ; it was soon, however, 

 raised to a dollar a year. The Genesee Farmer enabled 

 Mr. TucKDK to go to Albany with sufficient reputation 

 and funds to run an honorable and successful career as the 

 conductor of the journal above named. The Farmer created 

 such a taste for rural literature in Ohio, as enabled Mr. 

 B.KTEHAM to leave this paper and establish the Ohio Cul- 

 tivator, at Columbus, on a permanent basis — an enterprise 

 which we recommended. The Farmer gave Mr. Moore 

 the cash and the confidence to start his Rural New Yorker. 

 It gave Mr. Vick the means to purchase the Horticulturist, 

 and the experience necessary to conduct it successfully. 

 The Fanner has given to Mr. Barry a position of such pre- 

 eminence among contemporary nurserTOien, as to secure to 

 him and his partner peculiar advantages, and the promise 

 of a princely fortune. An editorial apprenticeship in the 

 Farmer office of a year, has given to Mr. Harris (a young 

 man recently from England) a reputation as an agricultu- 

 ral writer that has secured to him a handsome salary, witli 



more in expectancy. The premiums in cash and agricultu- 

 ral books given away by the Farmer this year will not fall 

 below one thousand dollars. While it rejoices at the sig- 

 nal prosperity of so many gentlemen identified with its his- 

 tory, it desires to impress the fact on every mind that Vol- 

 0ME Fifteen, second series, of this stereotyped and stand- 

 ard work, is to contain fifty per cent, more reading matter 

 than any previous volume published in the twenty-five years 

 of its existence. Preserve every number of this volume in 

 a good condition for binding, for before the lapse of ten 

 years, every copy of the work, complete and bound, will 

 sell for a doUar. We will gladly pay two doUars a volume 

 for several of the earlier volumes of the Genesee Farmer, 

 for there is not a whole set in the office. Intelligent farmers 

 and librarians frequently write for the whole work. Our 

 thirty years' study of rural arts and sciences with untiring 

 devotion, is not to be thrown away on any ephemeral pro- 

 duction. Time is always the friend of patient research, and 

 of honest industry. 



The United States Agricultural Society. — We are 

 indebted to the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder for a copy of 

 what purjjorts to be the first number of the Journal of the 

 United States Agricultural Society ; Published quarterly by 

 Lippincott, GRAiiBO & Co., Boston. It bears date July, 

 1853, and is altogether a queer affair. On the title page 

 printed on the cover is " No. 1," and at the close of the 

 printed matter are these words, "End of No. 1." The 

 pages begin with 1 and end at 160. These facts prove that 

 the Secretaries of the Society, one of whom we believe re- 

 sides in Boston, have undertaken to repudiate and ignore 

 the history and transactions of the Society during the year 

 1852, as published in its journal of that year, and to excom- 

 municate its members. As the Society was founded in 1852, 

 the year of its birth and infant struggles witnessed events 

 of some moment to the institution before the present Secre- 

 taries came into office. The record of these events can not 

 be destroyed ; and the deliberate attempt to expunge them 

 from the official journal of the Society, proves beyond con- 

 troversy, the incompetency of one Secretary or both, to fill 

 the places which they occupy. 



In the May number of the Boston Journal of Agricul- 

 ture, one of the Secretaries says, on page 325 : " The late 

 movement originated with the IMassachusetts Board of Ag- 

 riculture, and the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, who 

 almost simultaneously, and eiitirely without concert, passed 

 resolutions recommending the convention, which was after- 

 wards called, and which resulted in the formation of the 

 Society." Perhaps some active friend of agriculture prompt- 

 ed both the Massachusetts Board and the Pennsylvania State 

 Society to act simultaneously in this matter, without letting 

 the public know how tliis happy concert was put in motion. 

 Since one or more of the officers of the National Society 

 falsify history for no honorable purpose, we publish the fol- 

 lowing letter from the President of the Society, which will 

 throw some light on this subject, and vindicate the Troth, 



which is all we contend for : 



Bosto:t, January 26, 1852. 

 Mt Pear Sir : — I am mnch obliged for your prompt reply, and 

 also for the interesting article enclosed. Your closing remarki 

 carry with them conclusive reasons in favor of some institution, 

 cither founded by the government or individuals, to take charge of 

 the great Interest of agriculture. I am prepared to aid with sodl 



