No. 199.] 9 



past year, in the varied departments which receive our constant care 

 and attention. In manufactures and the mechanics arts, something 

 new is annually looked for. The prolific genius of our countrymen 

 rarely disappoints this expectation. Improved methods for accom- 

 plishing desired objects — perfection of finish — and improved beauty 

 in design, characterize their annual offerings. In the department of 

 agriculture, and tne production of the prime necessaries of life, much 

 that is entirely new, cannot be expected. Increased production, the 

 reclamation of sterile or exhausted soils, and the conversion of mate- 

 rials, heretofore deemed worthless, into profitable manures, have 

 evidently marked its progress. Nevertheless there is a vast amount 

 of labor required to be done, in bringing clearly to the comprehension 

 of practical operators in the soil, the truths which science has already 

 largely developed. 



It has been charged, and there may be truth in the allegation, that 

 our high seminaries of learning, fostered by the bounty of the State 

 in no stinted measure, have too long neglected the great duty of 

 bringing to the aid of practical operators in the indispensable arts 

 of life, the important discoveries of science. Be this as it may, the 

 spirit of the age is fast removing difficulties. The light of science 

 begins to illuminate the humblest cottage ; from whence it will be 

 reflected with benefits innumerable, and a brilliancy unknown in the 

 cloisters of monastic concealment. 



It is not an uncommon occurrence, for those who are engaged in 

 gratuitous labor for the public good, to be assailed and misrepresented. 

 We ask our fellow citizens to examine closely before they decide. 

 Every act of the Institute is open to examination. 



JAMES TALLMADGE,^ 



JOHN CAMPBELL, 



JOHN D. WARD, 



LIV. LIVINGSTON, I Trustees. 



GEO. BACON, ' 



H. MEIGS, ; 



E. T. BACKHOUSE, J 



