374 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



the results, be reported in writing, as simply and 

 concisely as may be, but minutely and fully, at the 

 next annual meeting, and whether the results be 

 deemed successful and profitable or discouraging, 

 or the whole experiment be deemed a failue; and 

 in default of such reports, either of progress or 

 completion of the experiments by each member at 

 each annual meeting, the defaulter shall pay to the 

 Treasurer $ for each experiment wanting. 



" Of the annual income of the Society, not less 

 than one-half of the whole amount shall be appro- 

 propriated as premiums offered for well conducted 

 experiments on subjects of practical agriculture." 



Resolved, That every auxiliary County Society or 

 Club, is requested to transmit to the Socretary of 

 the Executive Committee of the State Agricultural 

 Society, all their completed and approved written 

 communications conveying useful, practical instruc- 

 tion in agriculture, and which has not been pre- 

 viously published; which communications shall be 

 received and disposed of in the same manner, as if 

 made directly to the State Society; and if any such 

 report of experiments of other communications 

 shall have previously obtained a premium from the 

 Society for which it was prepared, it will not be 

 the less entitled to compete for and receive a pre- 

 mium offered by the State Society, if otherwise 

 properly claiming and deserving such honor and 

 distinction. 



^ Resolved, That every such auxiliary County So- 

 ciety or Farmers' Club may, and is requested to 

 send one delegate to the general annual meetting 

 of the State Agricultural Society; and each dele- 

 gate of auxiliary Societies shall have all the rights 

 and privileges in such general meeting of other 

 and regular members of the State Society. 



By this bond of union, simple, but strong, a net 

 work of Agricultural Societies in harmonious ope- 

 ration may overspread the State, and an incalcula- 

 ble amount of practical, experimental knowledge 

 become diffused at an expense too small to be com- 

 pared with the value of the investment. 



^ In their exhibitions the Executive committee have 

 aimed to impart truths of great moment by means 

 of an imposing spectacle. But they endeavor, at 

 the same time, to set an example of the precepts 

 they would promulge. An analysis of their pre- 

 mium list Avill show that of the $8638 which they 

 offer in prizes. $3480, or 40 per cent, of the whole, 

 are offered for experiments and essays and merito- 

 rious written communications ; $630 for crops; 

 $2320 for animals ; $950 for implements ; $188 for 

 fruits, flowers and vegetables; $665 for useful sub- 

 jects, and a few others which pertain to the useful 

 and substantial arts and pursuits of agriculture. 



The proportion of premiums for useful subjects, 

 as here shown, will, it is believed, be found to bear 

 a larger ratio to those intended for display than in 

 any other premium list whatever. 



All the rail roads and public improvements of the 

 State which are tributary to Richmond have come 

 forward in the most liberal spirit, and, granting 

 precisely such deductions on their charges as were 

 asked at their hands by the Executive Committee, 

 have contributed nearly, if not quite as much to 

 the success of this year's Fair, as they did to the 

 last, when their liberality contributed so essentially 

 to our success. 



The Executive Committee cannot, in justice to 

 the city of Richmond, omit to state that by her 

 Council and her citizens individually, she has con- 

 tributed to the Society in land and money the sum 



of $54,000, or even more than that by several thou- 



sand, if we take into view the enhanced value of 

 the beautiful lot which she has placed at our dis- 

 posal as long as we choose to enjoy it, and farther, 

 to say that the skill and taste of one of her most 

 useful citizens, (Mr. T. T. Giles,) have adorned the 

 grounds and fitted them for our use and reception 

 as no other grounds in the Union are fitted up. It 

 is to be hoped that this liberalit} r to an institution 

 whose benefits are but secondary to her, will not be 

 without its influence on those whose direct interest 

 it is to foster and promote it. 



Before closing their report, the Executive Com- 

 mittee cannot, in justice to their own feelings, and 

 to those of many in the body of the Society, omit 

 a tribute to one of their late associates. The hand 

 of death has snatched from amongst us the very 

 stoutest of our little band, and it could not have 

 taken from the State a man more esteemed by his 

 friends, or who had been more useful to the public, 

 than Gen. Bernard Peyton. During a long period 

 of his life a merchant, a part of his life a soldier, 

 he at all times aspired to the dignity of rural life, 

 and exulted in the calling and the name of farmer ; 

 and meeting death in the very field of his labors, 

 he left few stronger heads and no purer hearts, be- 

 hind him. 



The Executive Committee are fully conscious 

 that for the want of adequate means they have 

 been unable to carry out many important measures 

 which, in the ardor of their zeal, they had fondly 

 hoped to accomplish. Yet, so far from being dis- 

 couraged, they cannot, on reviewing the brief his- 

 tory of this Society, repress a feeling of gratifica- 

 tion at the eminent success of their labors. 



It is believed that the records of no similar in- 

 stitution in the world, exhibit an instance of suc- 

 cess at once so speedy, complete and brilliant. 

 Less than three years ago, when all former efforts 

 to establish a State Agricultural Society had sig- 

 nally failed, on a dark and gloomy winter's evening, 

 a small band of determined patriots, numbering 

 little more than one hundred, still hopeful and un- 

 dismayed, assembled at the capital of their State, 

 to make a last effort to rouse the dormant energies 

 of Virginia, and to establish a Society that should 

 be worthy of the intelligence of her farmers and 

 the ancient renown of this noble Commonwealth. 

 The meeting was continued from day to day, a Con- 

 stitution adopted, officers elected, and the Society 

 put in successful operation. Its members and re- 

 sources rapidly increased. New zeal was infused 

 into the agricultural community, and aided by the 

 magnificent liberality of the city of Richmond, we 

 were enabled before the close of the second year 

 of its existence, to hold the first annual exhibition 

 of the Society — an exhibition which, in taste and 

 magnificence, has scarcely been equalled in any 

 part of the world, and which not only gratified our 

 State pride and interested our own people, but at- 

 tracted the attention of the whole Union to the vast 

 undeveloped resources of the Commonwealth, and 

 called forth the admiration of enlightened stran- 

 gers from all quarters, at the moral, physical, and 

 intellectual sublimity of the spectacle. The far- 

 mers of the State and the citizens of Richmond 

 seemed to catch inspiration from the scene, and 

 promptly contributed from their own means, a 

 sum sufficient to place the Society on a permanent 

 footing. 



Since that memorable meeting, the effects of 

 which on the fortunes of the State none can esti- 

 mate, much practical information has been diffused 

 through the instrumentality of the Society; new 



