No. 151.] SD9 



Tention of farmers, gardeners and silk cultuiists, now in session id 

 this city, yesterday adopted resolutions, unanimously, for a calT on 

 Congress for the establishment of Washington's agricultural depart-* 

 ment; and we hope that every man who hears us, \vill lend his hand 

 to that noble work. 



No great or good man has ever doubted for an instant, that to till 

 the soil is Heaven's first law to man, nor does any man doubt that il 

 should be done well, done with all his heart and strength and under-^ 

 standing. That it is a work never to be slighted; never to be vieAved 

 except as the most noble of all his labors, and above all does it de- 

 mand the first rank in a republic. Even despots know this, and al- 

 ways did; but the nature of their governments always rests upon the 

 ignorance of the people in all things, even in the cultivation of the 

 soil. It is true, that their eyes have been opened, within the last 

 fifty years, to the absolute necessity of showing interest in the farm- 

 er, and you now see them taking measures favorable to that cause. 

 Let us keep ahead of them! We have all that God can give to in-^ 

 duce us to exertion, and the certainty of success, if we do but try it. 



In the old agricultural society of this State, in the year 1799, 

 Simeon Dewitt, a distinguished member, delivered an address in the 

 city of Albany, from which I will extract a few sentences, which ap- 

 pear to me worthy of repetition : 



" By what institutions for the furtherance of useful knowledge, or 

 by what extraordinary eflforts of our citizens to advance the aits of 

 peace, truly patriotic, have we distinguished ourselves? A. universi- 

 ty, colleges, and academies we have, it is true; they serve to save us 

 from the sheme of not following the fashion of nations. What more 

 have we to boast of ? How few of our learned characters step aside 

 for a moment from their professional employments to show themselves 

 interested in diffusing a taste for useful philosophy and works of in-» 

 genuity, 



" While millions heaped on millions are expended to protect the 

 interests of the small proportion of Americans who have chosen na'' 

 vigation as a trade, certainly a little bestowed or even thrown away 

 with a good intent for the promotion of agriculture, cannot be 

 deemed a misapplication of money! W^hat other institution can 

 there be conceived more deserving the patronage of a Leo-islature 

 than this? Has it any thing for its object that does not directly aim 

 at the happiness of mankind? The lessening of labor, that first 



