NATIONAL CONVENTION OF FARMERS, GARDENERS, AND SILK CULTURISTS. 
331 
NATIONAL CONVENTION OF FARMERS, 
GARDENERS, AND SILK-CULTURISTS. 
This branch of the American Institute held its 
first meeting, agreeably to the announcement in our 
last number, at Mechanics’ Hall, on Monday, the 
12th of last month, and continued in session until 
the Friday following. General H. A. S. Dear¬ 
born, of Massachusetts, was chosen President; 
John Ogden, of New Jersey, and A. P. Byram, of 
Kentucky, Vice Presidents; and D. J. Browne, of 
New York, and Thompson C. Munn, of New Jer¬ 
sey, Secretaries. 
The Convention was opened by an eloquent ad¬ 
dress by the President, setting forth the advantages 
of agriculture, and its kindred pursuits, with many 
interesting facts connected with science, and the 
benefits derived from our agricultural institutions. 
The principal topics for discussion during the ses¬ 
sion were as follows :— 
Washington's Department of Agriculture. —Mr. 
Meigs moved that a committee of thirteen be ap¬ 
pointed for the purpose of taking into considera¬ 
tion the establishment of “ Washington’s Agricul¬ 
tural Department of Government,” and the following 
gentlemen were chosen :—Henry Meigs, of New 
York ; A. P. By ram, of Brandenburgh, Ky.; Moses 
B. Coe, of Newark, N. J.; Martin Ellsworth, of 
Windsor, Ct. ; Judge Tiffany, of Montgomery Co., 
N. Y.; James Darrach, of Orange Co., N. Y.; 
William J. Gilchrist, of Saratoga Co. N. Y. ; Peter 
H. Brink, of Saugerties, N. Y.; Jacob D. Van 
Winkle, of Hudson Co., N. Y.; Jenison G. Ward, 
of Fulton Co., N. Y.; Dr. L. A. Smith, of Essex 
Co., N. J.; Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn, of Roxbury, 
Mass.; and Dr. R. T. Underhill, of New York. 
Mr. Meigs, Chairman of said Committee, subse¬ 
quently presented a Report, accompanied by a Cir¬ 
cular addressed to County Agricultural Societies, 
urging them to memorialize Congress to establish 
such a Department. The last words of W ashington 
©n this subject were as follows : — 
“ It will not be doubted that, with reference 
“ either to individual or national welfare, agricul- 
“ ture is of primary importance. In proportion as 
“ nations advance in population and other circum- 
“ stances of maturity, this truth becomes more ap- 
** parent, and renders the cultivation of the soil more 
“ and more an object of public patronage. Institu- 
“ tions for promoting it grow up, supported by the 
“ public purse; and to what object can it be dedi- 
“ cated with greater propriety ? Among the means 
“ which have been employed to this end none have 
“ been attended with greater success than the esta- 
“ blishments of boards, composed of proper charac- 
“ ters, charged with collecting and diffusing infor- 
“ mation, and enabled by premiums and small 
“ pecuniary aids to encourage and assist a spirit of 
“ discovery and improvement. This species of 
“ establishment contributes doubly to the increase 
•* of improvement, by stimulating to enterprise and 
experiment, and by drawing to a common centre 
** the results, everywhere, of individual skill and 
“ observation, and spreading them thence over the 
“ whole nation.” 
Experimental Garden in Florida. —Mr. Samuel 
B. Parsons offered a Resolution on the “ Expedi¬ 
ency of establishing an Experimental Garden in 
Florida for the Acclimatization of Foreign Trees 
and Plants,” which was referred to a committee 
consisting of the following persons:—General H. 
A. S. Dearborn, of Massachusetts; Samuel B. Par¬ 
sons, and Dr. William W. Valk, of Flushing, L. 
I. ; Rev. R. Randolph Gurley, of Washington, D 
C. ; and Robert L. Pell, of New York. 
General Dearborn, in behalf of said Committee, 
read a very able report, pointing out the immense 
advantages which may accrue to the whole 
Union, from the introduction and culture of the 
plants of the tropics and of the temperate zones, 
not indigenous to the United States, that may be 
rendered subservient to the interests of the me¬ 
chanical and manufacturing industry of the coun¬ 
try. It was contended that the establishment of 
such a garden would increase the variety and 
value of our exports, as well as afford aliment, and 
augment the number of species of fruit, forest, and 
ornamental trees or shrubs, and herbaceous plants. 
The favorable disposition of Congress to found a 
Botanic Garden in Florida, has been emphatically 
illustrated, by the liberal grant of a large tract of 
land to Doctor Perine, several years since ; but that 
intelligent, adventurous, and zealous naturalist, 
having been unfortunately slain by the savages, 
during the Seminole war, just as he had commenced 
the transplantation of numerous tropical plants, 
which he had procured in Central America and 
Mexico, the great object of the government, in 
affording assistance to that patriotic man, was, thus, 
suddenly frustrated ; but it is to be confidently pre¬ 
sumed, that an equally liberal patronage will be 
again extended, and in such an efficient manner, as 
to render the realization of the important projects, 
for the acclimatization of foreign plants, as certain 
as it is desirable. The Report ended in recom¬ 
mending the following resolutions, which were 
adopted:— 
Resolved , That the American Institute be request¬ 
ed to memorialize Congress, to adopt such mea¬ 
sures, as may be deemed most expedient, for the 
establishment of an Experimental Botanical Garden , 
in Florida , for the Acclimatization of Tropical and 
other Foreign Trees and Plants, and for the distribu¬ 
tion among the several States, in such a manner as 
will best subserve the interests of each. 
Resolved , That the American Institute be also re¬ 
quested to correspond with the Agricultural, Horti¬ 
cultural, and Botanical Societies, throughout the 
United States, on this subject, and ask their gene¬ 
rous co-operation, by transmitting memorials to 
Congress, of a like import to that, designated in the 
foregoing resolution. 
General Mercer, on invitation from the chair, 
rose, and said he cheerfully responded to the request 
made on the part of the Convention, and proceeded 
to state that he had resided and travelled six years 
in Florida, and could speak with experience on the 
soil, climate, and capabilities of that country. It 
has a soil, he said, varying from the lightest sand 
of the most sterile kind, to the richest alluvial; arid 
f-om its evergreen forests, which change but little 
in their temperature, from summer to winter, and 
the Gulf stream that runs by, hugging, as it were, 
almost its entire coast, its climate is less vari¬ 
able than that of any other portion of the United 
States. The orange and the delicate lemon are 
