REPORT 



ON THE 



AGRICULTURE OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK. 



CHAPTER I. 



PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 



I enter upon the work of preparing the Report on the Agriculture of the State with feel- 

 ings of deep anxiety and concern. The importance of the subject, the difficulties which 

 surround it, the extent of territory, and the very limited time granted for the accomplish- 

 ment of my labor, are considerations which, in their individuality, are of great moment, 

 but when taken collectively, become so overwhelming as almost to induce me to shrink 

 from the task. But these are not all. A large and highly intelligent community expect 

 much from this part of the survey. A branch of industry, admitted by all as the most 

 important, is expected to be highly benefited by a series of practical observations, and of 

 chemical examinations of the soil and its products. A disappointment of these expecta- 

 tions, whether owing to a disproportion between the magnitude of the undertaking and 

 the time allotted for its achievement, or to the incapacity of the Reporter, may throw 

 discredit upon the enterprise, and thereby not only exert an injurious influence upon the 

 science of agriculture, but serve also to discourage the renewal of any similar attempt, 

 which, under more favorable circumstances, and in abler hands, might accomplish all, 

 perhaps more than, the community of asrriculturalists now anticipate. Leaving, how- 

 ever, all forebodings behind, I will proceed in my mission with as much diligence and 

 despatch as possible. I shall, in the first place, give a general plan of the report. This 

 will acquaint the reader with the kind of work in which I have been employed ; a species 

 of information which I suppose him desirous of obtaining. 

 [Agricultural Report.] 1 



