Vo. 2. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



27 



i\is all unusual but a succ<?sslul experiment. It much 

 xcecilcd tlic oxpcctations of its friemls, in the animals 



hich (illod its pens, in the improvctl implcnients of 

 usbandry cxhihitcJ for the inspection of farmers, and 

 especially in the large collection of intelligent men, 

 practical tillers of the soil, enlightened friends of ag- 

 ricultural improvement, collected there from all parts of 

 llic State, and in the preseice of distinguished friends 

 of agriculture from other parts of llic country. Much 

 credit is due to the moral courage of the gentlemen 

 ■who undertook and so nobly effected this pioneer . 

 movement; much to the Government, who patronised 

 the enterprise^ and much to those high-minded indi- 

 viduals, who, in determining the place of meeting, 

 yielded all personal and local claims; and to those 

 friends of the cause in the vicinity, who contributed 

 efficient aid to the successful accomplishment of the 

 project. Every event which serves to elevate the con- 

 dition of the Industrial classes; every -circumstance 

 which strengthens our attachment to the soil ; what- 

 ever contributes to increase and unfold the means of 

 liuman subsistence and comfort, are of great moment. 

 Shall a career commenced under such favorable aus- 

 pices procaed 1 or shall it come to aa Bniavorable ter- 

 ininaiion 'I 



The first Agricultural Society in the State was ' 

 formed by the patriots of the Revolution. They were 

 wise men. Where have been found men more wise 1 

 We may be unconscious of our obligations, but wc 

 owe them a heavy debt of gratitude. The history of 

 their elTorts to promote the improvement of the agri- 

 culture of the State, forms a brilliant chapter in its 

 history. The second Agricultural Society, formed in 

 1818, was not much better known, but its labors were 

 highly valuable and important. They have passed 

 away. Shall the Society of 184 1 follow in their train 7 

 Our aim should be to render our labors not only bril- 

 liant but abiding. It remains to be seen how far tlic 

 standing of its members will give it a moral influence. 

 Our associates are in general from private life. As 

 yet none of the Government have lent their aid to us; 

 few of our legislators ; and comparatively none from 

 the learned professions. 



Must agricultural societies fail'- Is tliere within 

 them an inherent pri.iciple of dissolution "! Other so- 

 cieties flourish from age to age. AVhy should agri- 

 cultural societies be debarred from a like immortality 1 

 Are we earth-born in our character 1 Something must 

 depend upon the character of the people among whom 

 these societies are estabfehed. If the people cannot 

 be made to take an interest in them, and to perceive 

 their utility and the advantages to accrue from them, 

 they must decUne. In some places they have been 

 sustained. The seed has not always perished in the 

 ground. The Highland Society of Scotland has con- 

 tinued to flourish for a long period. The Berkshire 

 Society in Massachusetts wears a green old age. The 

 people of the districts in wliich these societies exist, 

 are remarkable for their agricultural thrill and skill. 

 Is the duration 6f these societies attributable to some 

 peculiar excellence in their management 1 



Our societies here have never reached the multi- 

 tude. The present English Agricultural Society is a 

 brilliant institution, formed on the model of the High- 

 land Society of Scotland. Shall we concede to Bcrk- 

 sliire superiority of intellect ? We have not failed 

 through deficiency of knowledge. The eminent suc- 

 cess of these pattern societies is worthy of obser%-ation. 

 Agricultural fairs have become interwoven with the 

 habits and customs of the people. Men of business 

 have looked forward to them to' favor their operations. 

 Men of leisure have expected their coming as a charm- 

 ing hoUday and a delightful recreation. Age seeks 

 them to renew the recollection of youthful labors and 

 sports. Youth welcomes them with all its natural en- 

 thusiaiim. The ploughman, alone in his work, pleases 



liis Imagination with the hope of a premium. The 

 hinil anticipates with an honest pride, the apjilauded 

 exhibition of his cattle. Our path is indicated by ex- 

 perience. Men, from whom better things were to 

 have been cxpcvted, have liilherto withheld llieir aid. 

 The success of the Cattle Show at Syracuse has com- 

 pelled an acknowledgement of their error. Wc must 

 hold an annual Cattle Show. Wo must augment the 

 amount and the number of our premiums. We must 

 open the competition to all classes ; the poor as well as 

 the rich ; the Immble woman, who may choose to con- 

 tend for your prizes by any exhibition of her house- 

 hold or rural skill and industry, as well as the rich 

 capitalist; the humble laborer, as well as the great 

 proprietor. We must encouroge and stimulate every 

 branch of domestic and rural labor. 



Our treasury is not einply,but our purposes require at 

 least a thousand subscribers. Our list docs not con- 

 tain half that number, and of this half, not more than 

 two thirds pay their annual assessment. It issupposed 

 that if the conditions of membership w-ere enhanced, 

 the funds of the society would be increased ; but the 

 terms should never be beyond the ability of the hum- 

 blest laborer. 



One officer of the Society should be a salaried ofli- 

 cer, on whom many active duties would necessarily 

 devolve. It deserves inquiry, what would be the ef- 

 fect of the establishment of a Board of Agriculture, 

 the members of which should be expected to pay fiber- 

 ally to the funds of the society. There arc men among 

 us willing t» serve every public cause. The temper- 

 ance cause does not stand in need of bold advocates 

 and indefatigable leaders. The Young Men's Asso- 

 ciation, whose objects are mutual improvement and 

 the diffusion of knowledge, find those who are prompt 

 to lend their aid. Such men should bo made acquaint- 

 ed with the generous and public-spiiited objects of our 

 Society. 



In all our villages, literary and scientific associations 

 have been established. They have enlisted the best 

 talents to be found, in the advancement of their ob- 

 jects. Men of all descriptions, pHlosophers and poets 

 have brought their contributions to these coEimon 

 fountains of instruction. Tliis constit-utes a popidar 

 university and renders knowledge every where acces- 

 sible. It is to be feared that the farmer is bcliind 

 hand ; he does not do justice to lumself, and other 

 classes distance him in the race of improvement. We 

 should seek especially to secure to the farmejs opportu- 

 nities and means for becoming acquainted with the 

 principles of their own art 



If a board of agriculture should be established, its 

 beneficial influences would be felt in the remotest val- 

 ley of the state. Educated young men on leaving 

 college find the learaed prsfessioas crowded. They 

 obtain only a very limited success ; and mast struggle 

 with many diflio-isliies in order to make their way. We 

 find young men of all political creeds, ready to aban- 

 don their pursuits and seek political preferment. This 

 is a thorny path. To those who make political suc- 

 cess a matter of profit or loss, we can point out a field 

 where gain is far more certain. We should reject the 

 notion that knowledge and education are thrown away 

 in farming. If the farmer is desirous of taking rank 

 with the highest in the comnmnity, it will not be difii- 

 cult to accomplish this honorable ambition ; and educa- 

 tion will give dignity to liis calling. 



It is not inconsistent with the character of a farmer 

 to be a man of taste. "Man made the town, God 

 made the country." There is no reason why orna- 

 mental farming should not be cultivated; and it is 

 not inconsistent with the highest regard to jrofit, to 

 embellish our grounds and our habitations, and to 

 render our homes as beautiful as a simple and most re- 

 fined taste can make them. If these high accomplish- 

 ments of taste and mental cultivation can render no 



ice and are unfitting to an improved agriculture, 

 then, as Clieever remarks, God cannot apjiear as an 

 aa-liitcct of practical wisdom, since his sky and earlh 

 are everywhere robed in beauty. Eveiy object around 

 discloses in its exquisite fomiatioii, the goodness and 

 glory of God ; and the meanest flower gives lliought» 

 too deep for utterance. 



The agricultural life may be incompatible with the 

 highest pursuits of science; these require the exclusive 

 devotion of the life; for in this, as in all other cases, 

 he who would woo the muses must bid farewell to pro- 

 fessional eminence. But there are many pracJical far- 

 mers as there are practical men in all other depart- 

 ments of life, who have distinguished themselves in 

 knowledge and literature. Thompson and Cowjicr 

 have sung the charms of rural life. How- powerfully 

 are rural pursuits adapted to awaken a strong inter- 

 est. The pastoral Ufe has been always deemed favor- 

 able to high and religious conceptions. One shep- 

 herd has poured forth his soul in the holiest and lofti- 

 est strains, " AVhen I consider the heavens the work 

 of thy fingers, the sun and moon, which thou hast or- 

 dained, what is man that thou art mindful of huii, and 

 the son of man that thou visitcst him." 



Agriculture presents no impediment to the cultiva- 

 tion of science and literature. The pursuit of agri- 

 culture has been too often deemed degrading. John- 

 son, in atoiio of disdain, says of one "tliat hU talk 

 was of beeves." This was unworthy of him, and in- 

 consistent with liis notions of utility. Tlie scale of 

 rank, by which the pursuits of life have been gradua- 

 ted, was foiined in times of war and in ages of ignor j 

 anee. The pursuits of men no longer lead to war; 

 but to fields covered with tlie gifts of CrnE.g and 

 Pomona. 



We should seek to disabuse the public mind of these 

 unworthy prejudices. AVc should raise our profession 

 to its proper dignity ; nor allow a lawyer or merchant 

 to think that he loses caste by becoming a fanner. 

 There are impediments to so desirable a result. In 

 other pursuits men are stimulated by the rewards of 

 applause or fame- The successful farmer is beyond 

 the reatfh of the&s motives. He gains no fame ; there 

 are no offices of honor exclusively for him. A Board 

 of Agriculture should occupy the same position to the 

 agricultural societies as the Board of Regents to the 

 schools and places of education. These suggestions 

 should have weight with those who discuss this ques- 

 tion. The Society, as already obser^'ed, should have a 

 paid agent. It should have agricultural rooms — it 

 should lay the foundation of an agricultural muscuia 

 and hbrary. The foreign press is teeming with agTi- 

 cultural pubUcations of an expensive character, which 

 might prove of essential service to American Agricul- 

 ture, but which are leyond the reach of most individ- 

 ual farmers. The American mechanic has done much 

 by inventions for facilitating or improving labor, simple 

 in their construction and excellent hi their workman- 

 ship. iModels of ingenious or improved agricultural 

 implcments,would furnish a storehouse of invaluable 

 instruction and benefit. Agricultural science and ag- 

 ricultural literature are sneered at by men, who sup- 

 pose that a volume of veterinary medicine constitutes 

 the whole of an agricultural library. The Edinburgh 

 Cluarteriy Agriculural Review, one of the most abla 

 publications of the age, few men arc competent to read 

 understandingly ; and few are capable of contributing 

 an article worthy of its pages. It is singular that 

 science should be deemed useless in agriculture, when 

 it has availed so much in all other arts. 



The union of science with art has given to it a gi- 

 gantic pow-er and consummate skill. It has been die- 

 played in preparing dyes and in weaving a web of ex- 

 quisite tissue. Art under the guidance of science 

 presses forward into the ocean of discovery. If we 

 would gnage the iinprovements of the arts in Europe, 



