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American Agriculturist. 
Volume XLIIL—No. 10. SUPPLEMEOT TO OCTOBER 1884. 
Neay Series— No. 453. 
^ 1 WONDEjRMIi 1 pi^JPei^Y. > 
Very few Americans who have passed the age of 
forty years can truthfully say with Canning’s Knife- 
Grinder “Story, 
bless you, I’ve 
none to tell sir!” 
Still less can a 
journal, nearing 
its semi-centen¬ 
nial year, be with¬ 
out a history. 
Like a young for¬ 
est tree, the jour¬ 
nal has in early 
life its “struggle 
for existence,” 
and its passing 
two-score years 
may be ascribed 
to “the survival 
of the fittest.” 
Like that of a 
tree, the history 
of a live journal 
is one of growth 
and develop¬ 
ment, each year 
accumula ting 
strength, which 
enables it to bear 
increased annual 
crops of useful 
fruitage, w' i t h 
which to refresh 
and encourage 
its vast multi¬ 
tudes of readers. 
The first num¬ 
ber of the Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist 
was issued in 
April, 1842, close 
to where theNew 
York Post Office 
now stands, with 
A. B. Allen and 
R. L. Allen, Edi¬ 
tors, and George 
A. Peters, Pub¬ 
lisher. A copy of 
this first number, 
now before us, 
presents a' mark- 
e d contrast t o 
the issue for Oc¬ 
tober, 1884. The 
paper then com¬ 
prised thirty-two 
pages, which 
were seven and 
seven-eighth in¬ 
ches long, by five 
and one - eighth 
inches wide, and 
of two -columns 
each. A page of 
the first number 
contained nine 
hundredand thir¬ 
ty words ; the 
pages now aver¬ 
age two thousand 
three hundred 
and seventy-six 
words. The first 
item in the first number, states that it had been in¬ 
tended to issue it at the beginning of the year, but 
“ unavoidable circumstances have prevented either 
of the editors from coming to the city.” An address 
“ To Our Readers,” indicates the proposed course 
of the paper. To this “ address ” is appended a 
resolution passed by the “Board of Agriculture of 
the American Institute,” commending Mr. A. B. 
Allen and his proposed journal in fitting terms. 
Solon Robinson wrote for the first number from 
lowm, on Western Prairies, Ezra Carpenter of Ohio, 
on Raspberries ; Lewis F. Allen, a brotlier of the 
editors, had an article on Grass Lands ; G. N. Be- 
ment describes the Shorthorn bull “ Washington ” 
(also known as 
“ Cjuimpion ”), 
one of the first 
of the breed im¬ 
ported. T. C. Pe¬ 
ters (of Georgia) 
wrote from non- 
don, Eng., on 
“English Farm¬ 
ing Stock.” At 
that time the 
now important 
State of Wiscon¬ 
sin was a Terri¬ 
tory. Geo. Reed, 
.Cor. Secretary of 
the “ Territorial 
Agricultural So¬ 
ciety,” writes 
about the organ¬ 
ization, and asks 
questions about 
swine. A venera¬ 
ble lady of eighty 
discusses “' The 
True Interests of 
our Country,” 
there are several 
shorter articles, 
and Mr. A. B. Al¬ 
len commences 
his “Agricultur¬ 
al Tour in Eng¬ 
land,” which 
was continued 
throughout the 
first volume. In 
the first number 
there are two il¬ 
lustrations ; the 
Shorthorn bull, 
which is men¬ 
tioned above and 
a Sub-soil plow. 
AYhcn we turn 
to the advertise¬ 
ments, now so 
important a fea¬ 
ture for both 
publishers and 
readers, we find 
there are but 
four, two of 
whicli only were 
from parties not 
connected with 
the paper. Of 
those who wrote 
for the first num¬ 
ber, the Messrs. 
A. B. Allen, L. 
F. Allen, and T. 
C. Peters, re¬ 
main occasion¬ 
al contributors 
to these pages. 
The paper con¬ 
tinued to be 
published in the 
form of the first 
number for the 
first ten volumes, 
under different publishers. The Messrs. Allen 
afterwards established their own printing office, and 
the American Agriculturist was published from their 
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