No. 151.] 225 



portance to the agriculture of their country, to carry into execution 

 the views of Washington, as expressed in one of his last messages to 

 Conoress, relative to the establishment by government of a Depart- 

 ment yor Agriculture. And we here beg leave to repeat his words: 



" It will not be doubted that with reference either to individual or 

 national welfare, agriculture is of primary importance. In propor- 

 tion as nations advance in population, and other circumstances of 

 maturity, this truth becomes more apparent, and renders the cultiva- 

 tion of the soil more and more an object of public patronage. Insti- 

 tutions for promoting it grow up, supported by the public purse, and 

 to what object can it be dedicated with greater propriety ? Among 

 the means which have been employed to this end, none have been 

 attended with greater success than the establishment of boards, com- 

 posed of proper characters, charged with collecting and diffusing in- 

 formation, and enabled by premiums and small pecuniaiy aid, to en- 

 x^.ourage and assist a spirit of discovery and improvement, by stimu- 

 lating to enterprise and experiment, and by drawing to a common 

 centre the results every where, of individual skill and observation, 

 and by spreading them thence over the whole nation. Experience has 

 accordingly shown that they are very cheap instruments of immense 

 national benefits." 



Such was the language of Washington, when at the summit of his 

 wisdom. Yet, strange to say, fifty years have passed away since 

 these words were uttered, and nothing has yet been done. 



Is it because farming is a low occupation, unworthy the notice of 

 government? Is it because they aremere op'eratives, whose interests 

 are below the notice of the government? Such were not the views 

 of the greatest men of ancient Rome. Cincinnatus, like our Wash- 

 ington, was a farmer, and held up to glory the cultivation of the soil! 

 Cincinnatus, by his own example, ennobled the farmer, and Washing- 

 ton precisely imitated him. 



We most earnestly ask Congress to look at the practical effect of 

 the establishment of Washington' s Department for Agriculture. 



The public purse w^ould then be employed in obtaining all the 

 seeds, all the plants, all the animals, for use and for pleasure, from 

 every part of the globe. The department would have the means, al- 

 ready in existence, of doing all this, through the multitude of agents 

 employed by government, consisting of officers of our army and 

 navy — of consuls, charges, ministers — and would also obtain the aid 



[Assembly, No. 151.] 15 



