THE CULTIYATOR. 
29 
amply compensated for any personal inconvenience or in¬ 
jury tkey may have caused. So with the law to encourage 
agriculture; many did not foresee its benefits, who now 
acknowledge that they are palpable and important. We 
must judge of public measures by their fruits; and before 
we are competent to do this, the seed must germinate, the 
plant grow and blossom, and the fruit mature. This is 
particularly the case in all measures to improve agriculture. 
It is the province of wisdom to look ahead—to sow the 
useful seed, and to wait the coming harvest for the recom¬ 
pense. We must sow in the spring—and cultivate well 
in the summer, if we would gather an abundant harvest, 
in autumn. 
We may almost lay it down as a maxim, that the men¬ 
tal AND MORAL CONDITION OF AN AGRICULTURAL 
DISTRICT, IS IN THE RATIO OF ITS IMPROVEMENT 
in husbandry. To borrow the spirit of a political 
saying— as goes agriculture, so goes the state. There is 
certainly much truth in the remark, that where the farm¬ 
ing is slovenly and bad, ignorance, indolence, and vice, 
most generally abound; and that where agricultural im¬ 
provement is most advanced, the population are most in¬ 
dustrious, most intelligent and most moral. Knowledge 
begets a love of knowledge; and when a man has acquired 
enough of it to convince him of its utility in his business, 
he considers it a part of his farming capital, and he is anx¬ 
ious to increase his stock of it, as the readiest means of 
improving his condition in life, independant of the mental 
pleasures which it imparts. But not having acquired the 
requisite degree to enable him to appreciate its value, or 
to show him the defects of his system of management, he 
plods on, with listless indifference, in the ways of his fa¬ 
thers; and as great success, now-a-days, seldom rewards 
such labors, he too often becomes spiritless and dissatisfied, 
and relaxes into indolence, of which vice is too frequent¬ 
ly the concomitant. 
Under the existing state of things, how does it become 
us to act? What are we to do? Shall we fold our arms, 
leave agriculture to decline further, or to shift for itself, 
and depend upon more propitious seasons, and other Pro¬ 
vidential interpositions, to supply our wants? Shall we 
depend upon the cotton, rice and tobacco of the south, which 
constitute our almost entire exports, to pay for the foreign 
commodities which we consume in the north? Or shall 
we, animated by the enterprise and love of independence 
which were wont to animate our fathers—take in hand re¬ 
solutely to provide abundantly for ourselves, by encourag¬ 
ing and enlightening agriculture, elevating its character, 
and stimulating it to new efforts, by suitable honors and 
rewards ? 
As regards the means of improvement, much has been 
done, and much is doing, by the agricultural periodicals of 
the day. The first of these was established at Baltimore, 
by John S. Skinner, in 1819; and we can now enumerate 
nearly twenty, that are diffusing light, awakening enter¬ 
prise, and inciting to industry, in every section of our coun¬ 
try —Probably one hundred thousand farmers, are now de¬ 
riving instruction, and improving their practice, by the 
perusal of these journals; and it is not extravagant to say, 
that the benefits they are dispensing to the nation are equi¬ 
valent to millions of dollars every year. But what is one 
hundred thousand compared to the gross agricultural popu¬ 
lation of the union?—and how much greater would be 
their benefits if these Journals had access to every farm 
house, or even to every school-house, in the state? Be¬ 
sides giving much that is useful in the science, or the first 
principles of husbandry, they are continually advertising 
their readers of every improvement which is being made 
in the practical operations of the farm—of new seeds, 
and plants, and the mode of cultivating them, and of every 
improvement in labor-saving machines. In twelve num¬ 
bers of the Cultivator may be noticed more than a hun¬ 
dred and twenty communications, mostly from practical 
farmers, residing in the different states, detailing their 
practice in different departments of husbandry, thus mak¬ 
ing their improvements known, in a short time, to its 
twenty thousand patrons. 
By thus concentrating, as it were in a focus, the practi¬ 
cal knowledge of the country, and then scattering it, like 
the solar rays, into every corner of the land, to fructify 
the earth, and by thus rendering it subservient to the be¬ 
nefit of all, some individuals have been enabled to obtain 
a clear profit of fifty, one hundred, and even one hundred 
and fifty dollars, on an acre of corn, or an acre of Swedish 
turnips, who had never before obtained a profit of thirty 
dollars an acre from either. And the benefits of these 
splendid results are not confined to the individuals who 
effected them: they are heralded in the agricultural jour¬ 
nals; become known all over the country; and every new 
and successful effort at improvement, soon has its, fifty, its 
hundred, and its thousand imitators. Suppose, lor in¬ 
stance, what we hope will yet prove true, that an indivi¬ 
dual should discover an effectual preventive of the ravages 
of the Hessian fly, or grain worm—instead of benefiting 
him and a few neighbors, or becoming gradually know'll, 
as in olden times, the knowledge of it would now be spread 
in a few days, by the agricultural periodicals, into every 
corner of the land, and the advantages of the discovery 
would thus amount to millions in a single year. So with 
every other improvement in husbandry. It is not the pro¬ 
vince, nor is it the study of news journals and literary 
editors to deal extensively in agricultural concerns. They 
seldom publish even the incidental notices which are de¬ 
signed to subserve the interests of husbandry, without a 
special request, and a fee in the bargain, as though they 
had no personal interest in the progress of agricultural im¬ 
provement. We would infer from these premises, that 
every man will promote his interest, and benefit the pub¬ 
lic, by patronising and endeavoring to extend the circula¬ 
tion of our agricultural papers. They tend to no possible 
evil, while they are certainly calculated to do much pub¬ 
lic good. 
Another means of facilitating agricultural improvement, 
is to introduce class books, into our common schools, for 
the senior boys, which shall teach those elementary prin¬ 
ciples of science which are indispensable to the success¬ 
ful practice of agriculture. A boy may be almost as easi¬ 
ly taught to analyze soils, and to comprehend the leading 
principles of animal and vegetable physiology, as he can 
to commit to memory pages of matter, the knowdedge of 
which seldom serves him any useful purpose in manhood. 
We must begin in youth, if we would bring about any 
material improvement in the habits of society. The good 
seed that is sown in the spring time of life is never lost,— 
it will ultimately sprout, and grow, and give its increase, 
as surely as the grain which we deposite in a fertile soil. 
The tree will grow as the twig is bent. Youlh is the sea¬ 
son to get instruction in the principles of the business 
which is to constitute the employment of life; and the 
more the knowledge which boys acquire in these princi¬ 
ples, before they start in life for themselves, the more like¬ 
ly they are to prosper and become useful to society. The 
time that the senior boys in school devote to the business 
of the farm, will give to studies which are connected with 
their present and future business, an interest and an influ¬ 
ence which will be as abiding as life. 
But we would go farther in the business of agricultural 
instruction;—we would establish schools to teach si¬ 
multaneously, both the theory and practice of agriculture. 
We would carry something of the theory into the primary 
schools, and much of the practice into the schools of sci¬ 
ence. Veterinary schools, to instruct in the anatomy and 
management of domestic animals, have long been esta¬ 
blished in Europe; their usefulness has been highly ex¬ 
tolled, and their numbers are increasing. Switzerland, 
Prussia and France have also their schools, in which the 
science and practice of agriculture are taught to hundreds 
of young men, who are "thereby enabled to manage their 
estates, with greater benefit to themselves and the public, 
or to obtain honorable and lucrative situations as managers 
for others. We give bounties on our fisheries, to make 
them a nursery of seamen; but we give none upon 
agriculture, which is the best nursery of freemen.— 
We spend millions annually to protect our commerce; but 
we give nothing to improve agriculture, which is the basis 
and support of that commerce. We protect our manufac¬ 
tures by a heavy tariff; yet agriculture, which furnishes 
the raw materials, and buys the fabricks, which the manu¬ 
facturer consumes and vends, is left to protect itself. We 
have expended nearly three millions in this state, to aid 
in educating almost exclusively professional and other gen¬ 
tlemen; and yet we have given nothing exclusively to edu¬ 
cate our agriculturists, who constitute the great mass of 
our population. And yet there is probably no employment 
in life capable of being more benefitted by a professional 
education—none in which a professional education would 
conduce more to the public prosperity—than that of ma¬ 
naging our farms. A proper knowledge of soils, manures, 
vegetables and animals—of the agency of caloric, of mois¬ 
ture, of the atmosphere, and of light, in the economy of 
vegetable and animal growth—are all of great use to the 
farmer, and yet in what existing school "can he acquire 
this knowledge, during the period of life in which he 
ought to obtain his practical knowledge? 
All impressions of general reform, to be successful, 
must be first made upon the ductile minds of the younger 
population. The old are apt to be too obstinately wedded 
to their juvenile habits and prejudices. Men are apt to 
grow up in the creeds in which they are -instructed—be 
they Christian, Mahomedan or Pagan—be they of good or 
bad husbandry. And if our youth are early instructed in 
the first elements of agriculture, and taught to consider it, 
what it truly is, an employment eminently calculated, 
above all others, to promote individual and national pros¬ 
perity and happiness, they will aspire to honor and dis¬ 
tinction in its labors—and will not so generally press to 
the cities—to the bar and the counter,—for the means of 
gratifying a laudable ambition. And society will reap 
an abundant reward from the change. We will illustrate 
this by an historical fact. "Ernest, former Duke of Saxe 
Gotha, had his people instructed by compendiums of eve¬ 
ry kind of useful knowledge, including music and draw¬ 
ing, that were put into the hands of youth in all country 
schools; and which in a few years entirely changed the 
face of his principality; and “ it is amazing,” adds our 
author, w'ho wrote some years afterwards, “ to observe the 
different irradiations of genius, in this and the adjacent 
circles.” The effect was alike beneficial in the improve¬ 
ment of the soil and the mind. And the example of Saxe 
Gotha, probably led to the excellent system of school in¬ 
struction in agriculture which has since been introduced 
by Prussia, and most of the German states. 
It has been stated, as an objection to the establishment 
of agricultural schools, that they would be only accessible 
to the rich. This objection, even if well founded, would 
not go to lessen their value to the state : For if we could 
convert a few hundred drones, as the sons of rich men 
may generally be termed, into working bees, the public, 
as well as the young men themselves, would certainly be 
gainers by the transformation. The complaint is that we 
have too many consumers, and too few producers. This 
would tend to restore an equilibrium: For the examples 
of the rich, be they good or bad, have an imposing influ¬ 
ence on the middling and lower classes; and thus to im¬ 
prove the habits and morals of the rich, would be the sur¬ 
est way to improve the condition of society. Hence, 
therefore, if agricultural schools can be instrumental in 
annually converting a few' hundred of the idle and dissi¬ 
pated sons of wealth—or rather in preserving them 
from these habits—into wholesome industrious farm¬ 
ers, agricultural pursuits will be more respectable and 
more followed; and we venture to predict, that then we 
shall not long continue to do, what we have done—im¬ 
port potatoes from Ireland and Germany, hay and oats 
from Scotland, eggs from France, and bread stuff's from all 
the countries of Europe, including the dominions of the 
autocrat of Russia and of the Grand Turk. 
But it is not exactly true that the rich alone would find 
access into agricultural schools, were such established.— 
The rich rely upon their paternal wealth, and have not 
often the ambition to become useful, at least by the habits 
of manual labor, w’hich would be rigidly required in such 
schools. The schools would be filled with the youth from 
all classes of society, who aspired to fortune and indepen¬ 
dence, by a manly exercise of their mental and physical 
powers—the young men of this description, even from 
the poorer classes, do obtain admission into literary insti¬ 
tutions, and they w’ould into agricultural ones with great¬ 
er facility,—because the terms of admission here would 
be more reasonable—and with equal prospect of distinc¬ 
tion and usefulness in after life. But whether these 
schools should be filled from the rich or poorer classes, or, 
as we have supposed, from all classes indiscriminately, a 
certain and great public good would result from their es¬ 
tablishment: the pupils would go to swell the producing 
classes of society, with habits of application and useful¬ 
ness, minds imbued with scientific knowledge, bodies hale 
and robust, and hands practiced in all the manual opera¬ 
tions of the farm. 
It verily seems to us certain, that if the importance of 
the subjects which w r e have discussed, could be justly 
appreciated by the community at large, every class of our 
citizens would concur in the propriety of a united effort 
to improve the condition of our husbandry, and of speed¬ 
ily adopting the measures we have suggested, or others 
equally availing, to produce the desired result. 
On motion of Mr. Beekman, 
Resolved, That the thanks of this convention be pre¬ 
sented to Judge Buel, for his communication on the subject 
of the improvement of agriculture, and that a copy be asked 
for publication. 
On motion of L. F. Allen, it was 
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed for 
the purpose of considering the propriety of introducing into 
our common schools, books which treat on agriculture. 
The resolution w'as advocated by Messrs. Allen, Mann, 
Viele, Cheever, Bradish, Owen, Patterson, and Sibley, 
and opposed by Messrs. Culver and Crary. Before the 
question was taken, Mr. Buel offered the following sub¬ 
stitute. 
Resolved, That the introduction of elementary books 
upon agriculture and rural economy, into our common 
school libraries, as occasional class-books for boys, is con¬ 
sidered by this convention as eminently calculated to ad¬ 
vance agricultural improvement, to encourage industry, 
and to promote the moral health of society. 
The substitute was supported by the mover, Mr. Crary 
and Mr. Patterson, and opposed by Messrs. Richards, Allen 
and Baldwin. 
Mr. Culver offered an amendment to the substitute, 
which was lost; and the question being then taken on the 
substitute, it was lost also. The original resolution was 
then adopted. 
The chair named the following committee: Judge E. 
Cowen, of Saratoga, Messrs. Allen, of Erie, Wardwell, of 
Jefferson, Mann, of Herkimer, and Baldwin, of Onondaga. 
The following resolution was submitted by Mr Ward- 
well, of Jefferson, and laid on the table. 
Resolved, That a committee on the culture of the su¬ 
gar beet, and the manufacture of sugar therefrom, be ap¬ 
pointed, whose duty it shall be to examine into the subject 
generally, and give the result of such examination at'the 
next annual meeting of this convention. 
The following resolution was submitted by Mr. Richards, 
of Washington, and laid on the table. 
Resolved, That a committee be appointed to report to 
the next convention, any further information which may 
be collected on the subject of the grain worm. 
Mr. Baldwin, of Onondaga, submitted the following, 
which was laid on the table. 
Resolved, That in the opinion of this convention, the 
existing laws relating to highways in this state, are defec¬ 
tive, and require revision by the legislature. 
The convention then adjourned to meet at 4 o’clock to¬ 
morrow . 
Friday, Feb. 2. 4 P. M. 
On motion of Mr. Beardsley, of Otsego, it was 
Resolved, That a committee of three"practical and sci¬ 
entific agriculturists be appointed, whose duty it shall be 
to report to the next convention, upon the possibility and 
best practical method of extirpating the Canada Thistle, 
one of the most formidable enemies to successful agricul¬ 
ture. 
Messrs. Beardsley, of Otsego, Duane, of Schenectady, 
and Fry, of Montgomery, were appointed said committee. 
The consideration of the resolution submitted by Mr. 
Wardwell, on the subject of the culture of the 'Su«ar 
Beet, &c. being called up, it was discussed, and adopted, 
and the followdng gentlemen appointed to report thereon* 
viz. Messrs. Wardwell, of Jefferson, Jonah T. Marshall* 
of St. Lawrence, and S. Cheever, of Albany, 
On motion of Mr. Buel, it was 
Resolved, That inasmuch as most of our wealth is deri¬ 
ved from the cultivation of the soil, it is politic and just 
that a portion of our revenue should be applied to the im¬ 
provement of the soil, and that, therefore, in the opinion 
of this convention, a part of the interest accruing from the 
investment of the surplus revenue, ought to be' specially 
appropriated, by the legislature; to the impiovement of the 
agriculture of the state. 
