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 agriculturalists 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 
