42 



THENEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol 1. 



AURICI LTURAL SOCIETIES. 



To the Fanners of Vie Stale of New Y'urk : 



GESTLEAtEN — You must have noticed that when two 

 men ride on one horse, one muel ride behind ! It was 

 cetabliehed by that B^'ing who made the world, that the 

 producer or agriculturist uhould of right ride before, 

 and hold the reins of the common horse. And such 

 was evidently the condition of the producer and con- 

 sumer in the early agea of the world. As these com 

 panions were compelled to travel together, they en- 

 joyed for a time the order of nature; but when both 

 stopped to ttit in the early and dark ages, tlie consu- 

 mer seized the reins and mounted before, and the pro- 

 ducer has been compelled to ride behind ever since. — 

 Now this slate of things ought not to be; and a state 

 of peace and order will never e.\ist on earth, while it 

 continues. A majority of men never can be content 

 while the principles of Eternal Justice are violated to 

 their immediate injury. 



We now call upon you to begin the remedy: to at- 

 tempt a cure for an evil which has long afflicted your 

 whole body, and to remove (Tburden which has lung 

 oppressed you. Many of your brothers and producers 

 83y to you that the remedy is easy, and will do injus- 

 tice to no one. Jl is plain and may be seen by you all. 

 It is only unitedly to say we will govern ourselves, 

 and not be governed: we will ride before on the com- 

 mon horse, or we will travel in ompany no longer ! 

 We will say to those who are neither producers nor 

 manufacturers, God made men to work six portions of 

 time out of the seven of his active existence; and that 

 when he was not in want of so many, or much of the 

 fruit of labor as at present, God placed him in the gar- 

 den of this world, not to study politics nor metaphysics, 

 but to be an agriculturist. We will sny to the rest of 

 mankind, that while we follow the order which God 

 has entablisheJ, we are not to be looked into the shade 

 or ruled over by those who have abandoned it ! We 

 are about to tell you that that class on which all other 

 clashes of citizens are dependent for clothing and bread, 

 are not any longer to be ruled by the dependent ones. 

 It is not for want of inieUigence among the farmers, 

 but for want of confidence in the knowledge which 

 they have: a confidence which can alone be obtained 

 by associating with their fellows, and participating in 

 the business of deliberate assemblies, that they find 

 themselves neglected. It is a known fact, that a man 

 lost in the wilderness and a long time addicted to soli- 

 tude, will flee from every man that approaches him ! 

 It is this principle of our nature, that makes us im- 

 agine that others are superior to ourselves, until we 

 become acquainted with their weakness: and this can 

 o;ily be done by associating with them, where we shall 

 soon find that their talents are diminished by compar- 

 ison; and your confidence will be increased by a dis- 

 covery of your strength. 



This is not all that is tn be accomplished by associa- 

 tions. Your neighbors have made your laws and gov- 

 erned you, only because you have not placed betore 

 your eyes, common objects of action; and when you 

 have had them, you have not been united in the man- 

 ner by which these objects might be obtained; and 

 therefore they have divided you and ruled you. 



In order that you may be united, you must nrect and 

 nssociale one with anDiher. You must form yourselves 

 into a 8 iciety. and enjoy a mutual interchange ot 

 t'lousrhts and opinions. You certainly can unite in 

 mutually aiding each other by a communication of the 

 results of your experience in farming; and union ot 

 Bcniiment and opinion in one thing, will naturally pave 

 the way for union in many things; and tho effect of 

 union in your agricultural pursuits will not fail to 

 mike you sensible of the importance of union in the 

 busincB3 of vindicnting your rigiits. We are well 

 aware that our bretheren of the field and mechanic's 

 shop are* extre rely averse to the business of society 

 makers in general; for they have often been to the 

 community, ami especially to the fanners, like dry 

 sponges; they have taken up and abairbe I ynur trea- 

 Bjres, and from them nothing afterward-? could be 

 8-iueezed. But still, you must know that the forma- 

 t on of societies is the only w.ny in which yon can act 

 i.\ concert, and make your influence to be felt. 



We invite you to unite in agricultural societies tor 

 o'.her purpoi-cs more immediately connected with your 

 e nployment inlife. Nature is not yet half explored; 

 nit one hilf her capabilities brought to contribute to_ 

 your comfort or happiness. Yes, farmers, it is true 

 that more than one half of the power of the state ot 

 New York is yet unused, and a large proportion of it 

 remains so only for want of practical and scientific 

 knowledge how to ui?e it to advantage. The forma- 

 ti m o f a society i« the only way in which the whole 

 c immunity of the state may be benefitted by the snpo- 

 r jr knowledge of the (ew. It is by coming together 



and seeing the great improvements in husbandry, and 

 the adaptation to use ol^ the ditferent improvements, 

 that all can be eflectually I enefitted by them; and it is 

 by coming together and conversing on the best methods 

 of cultivating the earth, and adapting particular grains 

 to particular sods, and ascertaining the most valuable 

 seeds, that the knowledge of the few may become uni- 

 versal among you. Publications may do much, but 

 they cannot do all that is desirable to be done in this 

 respect. Many si^jccts of valuable information can- 

 not be 80 placed on paper as to be profitable to you all; 

 and what is wanted cannot be known to thote who 

 might be disposed to unite, without, such personal in- 

 terviews as may be had in societies such as those which 

 have been formed in your counties, and in which we 

 invite you to take a part. 



We are sure also that by the existence of societies 

 such as have been formed in this state where due no- 

 tice will be taken of cveiy vualuable diseovery made 

 by its members, and due publicity will be given to all 

 the improvements that may be made, great encourage- 

 ment will be given to the enterprise of farmers and 

 mechanics to develoj) the powers of nature, and to 

 bring to light and useful application her hidden resour- 

 ces of wealth and means of happy living. 



And what must greatly add to this spirit of enter 

 prise, will be the substantial reward that may be be- 

 stowed by the societies on those who make discoveries 

 in the arts, by which the toil of the farmer is diminii-h- 

 ed, and the amount of the productions of the earth is 

 iucreaoed. How much may yet be done by the discov- 

 ery of the application of steam power to the purpose of 

 threshing, ploughing,and performing other labors which 

 now occupy much time and strength, no man can tell I 

 Yet such things are on the eve of development, with 

 many others that will soon iiicilitate the progress of the 

 agriculturist in the acquisition of wealth and happiness. 

 Arid no one can tell what new seeds may be introdu- 

 ced fro'm some part of the world, which will double 

 the population of the state, when proper encourage- 

 ment shall be given to the discoveries of such things. 

 — N. V. Far. S^ Am. Card's. Mag. 



From the Farmers^ Register. 



Cliangc in Soil Effecting a Change in Plants. 



A change of soil may he cfT'Cted either by removing 

 a plant from one sjiot of earth to another differing 

 from it in fertility, or by the addition of manure pro- 

 ducing a change in the character of the soil in whieh 

 a plant grows, without changing the location of the 

 plant. The effect of removing a plant from a compar- 

 atively barren to more fertilesoil, is to increase the size 

 of all its parts, and often to convert its organs of one 

 kind into those of another. Experience has taught 

 us that it is advantageous to supply food to jilants arti- 

 ficially. Where increase in the size of vegetables, 

 without reference to their magnitude is desired, it can 

 almost always be accomplished, by affording an increa- 

 sed supply of all the ingredients of the food of plants, 

 distributed in well pulverised soil, in such a manner 

 that the roots of the plants can easily reach it. The 

 effect thus produced, can be greatly increased by ad- 

 ditional heat and moisture; and by a partial exclusion 

 of the direct rays of the sun, ai as to moderate the 

 evaporation of fluids from the plant. Experience 

 alone can determine to what extent this may profitably 

 be carried in the case of each species of vegetable. — 

 The results which have been produced in some instan- 

 ces arc truly remarkable. Loudon stales that cabbages 

 have been produced weighing half an hundred weight, 

 apples a pound and a half, and cabbage roses of four 

 inches in diameter, or more than a foot in crcumfer- 

 enco. By cultivation and a change of soil, the ap- 

 pearance of many trees has been entirely altered. The 

 wild crab-apple, the original stock from which our vast 

 variety of apples have sprung, has its stem and bran- 

 ches thickset with thorns. On removing it to a more 

 fertile soil and more favorable circumstances, all these 

 thorns have disappenred, and their place has been 

 supplied by fruit-bearing branches. Yet all the dis- 

 tinctive characteristics of the tree, the structure of its 

 wood and bark, the shape and arrangements of its 

 Jenves, the form and aggregation of its flowers, indeed 

 Fill that a botan-st would consider characteristic of the 

 plant, have remained unchanged. 



Perhaps the most remarkable changes which rcuult 

 tViim a change of sod, arc those of organs of one kind 

 into those uf another. It is by such channels that all 

 ■our douWe. flowers have been obtained. The organs 

 which are most commonly converted into others, are 

 the etainens, and next to them the pistil. In the hun- 

 dred-leaved rose, and some other dnible roses, almost 

 all the stamens have been converted into petals; in the 

 flowering cherry the pistils have been converted into 

 green leaves; in the double collumbine a part of the 



stamens have been converted into petals, another part 

 into nectarines, whilst a third part have retained their 

 original form. The perfect regularity with which the 

 changes have taken place in the last menlioncd flower 

 is worthy of notice. Whereevcr one stamen has been 

 converted into a petal, a corresponding one has always 

 been converted into a nectary; and so regularly have 

 these changes proceeded, that by careful dissection, 

 you may separate one oi these double flowers into sev- 

 eral single ones, each perfect in itself, and dcst tute ot 

 none of its appropriate parts. Where flowers have 

 been doubled by art, the only sure way of propogoting 

 them, is by some means by which the new plant 

 should be nothing more than a continuation of the old 

 one ns by slips or cuttings. Whenever the seed is re- 

 sorted to there is danger that the plant will revert to 

 its original type, and the flowers appear single again. 

 A change of^ color also frequently results from 8 

 change of soil. ReSpeeting the nature of this change, 

 no fixed laws have been as yet discovered. As a gen- 

 eral thing, however, the brightness of the colors of n 

 flower is injured by enriching the soil in whieh ii 

 grows; and hence liorists, when they wish to ^ocurc 

 tulips of very bright colors, prefer plnhting^he bulbs 

 in a light sandy soil, which Is rather poor than other, 

 wise. 



; 'I 

 'I 



Choice of a Profession. 



It has frequently occurred to us that onr younj 

 men, on completing their studies in our colleges, mis 

 take the road to usefulness and comfort in pret'errinj 

 the study of some fashionable profession to the pur H' 

 suits and occupations of rural life. As soon as a youitf ei 

 gentleman is admitted to the degree of Bachelor c 

 Arts, his thoughts are turned on the future, and pel 

 haps the first xedling place they find is upon the ac 

 quirement of profeseioual knowledge of some kind 

 which to him seems the only road to wealth or distim 

 tion. Thus we see the science of agriculture neglec 

 ed by those who are capable of investigaling it as 

 should be; and every possible inducement to engaf 

 in the improvement of the soil, and to assist nature i 

 what she is wont to do for man is but a feather in tl 

 scale of reasoning. And through fear of edoptir 

 some pursuit that is attended with a little labor, an' 

 as some call it, di-udgery — but which is the greate 

 conducive to good health — resort is had to the study 

 some profession — which has done, and we fear is d- 1 

 ing great injury to our country. We wage no w 

 against professions of any kind; on the contrary, thi 

 are indispensable, but it is a fact that it is considcTr 

 an unpopuUir step now-a-days, for a young man < 

 completing his academic studies, to devote his tic I 

 and talents, if he possesses any, to the advanceme 

 cf the cause of agriculture. 



We have before us an address, delivered before f 

 young gentlemen admitted to the degree of Bache! 

 of Arts, at the first commencement of the Universi 

 of Nashville, by its venerable President, Dr. Phi! 

 Lindsey — which deserves to be more extensively c |( 'i»[ 

 culated than we fear it hns beefi — and nRn which i ) 

 make the following extract. — Southern (j^iralor. H 



"I know not what are to be your future professio h 

 or occupotions. Every honest calling ought to h 

 esteemed honorable. I addrefcs you as moral and : ft 

 tcllectual beings — as the patriot citizens of a great i « '• 

 public. You may be merchants, mechanics, farme K 

 manufacturers — and yet be eminently distinguish i' ^;i 

 and eminently useful, if you will persevere in sec'' 

 ing after knowledge and making a proper use of it. ( 

 The Medici — Necker — Ricardo — were merchants |i <" 

 bankers: lOrnnklm was a mechanic: Washington v'-i 

 a farmer. By fur llxe greater part of our conntrymi 

 are and must be fnrrn'ers. They must be educated; 1 1 

 wiiat is the same thing, educated men mu8tbeco:'i< 

 farmers, if they would maintain their just influer'ii^ 

 and ascendancy in the Stole. I cannot wish for IjJ-il 

 alumni of Cumberland College, a more healthful, |>j * 

 dependent, useful, virtuous, honorable, patriotic e'W '*s 

 ploymcnt, than that of agriculture. Nor is there t" 

 condition in life more favorable to the calm pursuit!'! 

 science, philosophy and religion; and to all that pp 

 vious training which ultimately constitutes wisdil 

 and inflexible integrity. Should our college even[> 

 ally become the grand nursery of intelligent, virtui;» - 

 farmers, I shall esteem it the most highly favored 'f 

 stitution in onr country. I have often thought t!l 

 our college graduates often mistake the true path I 

 honor and usefulness, in making choice of a lean I 

 profession, instead of converting agriculture inti > 

 learned profession, as it ought to be, and thereby • 

 taining an honest livelihood in the tranquil shadeif 

 the country." 



:;« 



It is stated by tho Mayor of Boston that one-fit! 'f 

 the taxation of the c.ty goes to the public schools. 



