56 
lady the extent of our obligations to him, we would refer to 
our published transactions ; at the same time acknowledg¬ 
ing yet further obligations, in some essays not yet before the 
public. In these will be seen a man constantly striving for 
the general good of mankind ; and though as might be ex¬ 
pected from one so constantly engaged in useful exertions, 
lie sometimes was mortified by abortive experiments or 
useless speculations, yet these essays contain a fund of in¬ 
formation on agricultural topics, which is not frequently ex¬ 
celled. Of them it may be said as of the Georgicks, that 
they teach 
“ What makes a plenteous harvest, when to turn 
The fruitful soil, and when to sow the corn : 
The care of sheep, of oxen and of kine. 
And how to raise on elms the teeming vine.” 
His agricultural essays are all of them useful, but thos£ 
especially which teach, what make a plenteous harvest and 
the care of sheep. 
To Chancellor Livingston is owing the introduction into 
this state, and the common use of gypsum or plaister of Paris, 
as a manure. About the year 1789, he began to make ex¬ 
periments on his own farm, and succeeding, he communi¬ 
cated his results to the farmers of the state. And in a few 
years he had the satisfaction of seeing it generally used. It 
is this chiefly which has given our state its present primary 
station among the United States. The lands upon our Hud¬ 
son river, were fast deteriorating, having been worn out by 
constant tillage. On this account, the inhabitants of this dis¬ 
trict of country were fast removing into the more unsettled 
parts of this state, or more generally into some of the new 
states. But the seasonable introduction and use of plaister 
of Paris renewed our worn out lands, and brought them back 
to more than their original fertility. The depopulation of 
our state was prevented. Emigrations from other states 
were made into it; and New-York, which in the year 1790 
was only the fourth in population, and in 1800, only the third, 
at the last census in 1810, was the largest in population of 
