THE CULTIVATOR. 
98 
rifleman, and other gooseberries, extra fine; four fine 
heads cauliflower, eight do. early York cabbage, New¬ 
castle, early and Egyptian kidney potatoes, fine ripe 
tomatoes, red top turnips, large early carrots, blood 
beets, and a fine bouquet of cut flowers. 
Josiah Williams , Poughkeepsie.-—Two cucumbers, 21 
inches in length. 
J. Bud Sf Co., Albany Nursery—A beautiful variety 
of fine roses, pinks, &c. tastefully interwoven in the 
form of a temple of Flora. Also, a great number of 
plants, in pots, among which the following geraniums, 
in full bloom, were conspicuous, viz: Mary Queen of 
Scots, Dennis’ Perfection, Macranthon, Droivede, Juli¬ 
et, Lafayette, Wheelerii Americanum, Adelina, Teati- 
vanium, Ferronia, Capt. Cook, &c. &c. Also, a great 
variety of cut flowers, among which were splendid spe¬ 
cimens of the different Chinese Peonias, double white, 
blush and rose scented. Fine specimens, in pots, of 
Sollya heterophylla, Lantana Selloroii, Fuchsia Thom- 
sonii, Nerium Splendens, Crassula Coccinea, Cytisus, 
Argentea variegata, Erica, many species; Bouvardia 
triphylla, Myrtus flore pleno. Also, 12 stalks giant rhu¬ 
barb, which weighed (without the leaves) 12i lbs. 
Edward P. Livingston, Clermont.—Extra fine ripe 
melons; six very beautiful lemons. Fine specimens of 
the white oxheart cherry, with a beautiful bouquet, 
composed in part, of superb carnations, scarlet zinnias, 
andAtne varieties of roses. 
Theodore Allen, Hyde Park.—Extra fine gooseberries 
and cauliflowers, stalks of rye, eight feet long, and a 
variety of fine vegetables, consisting of lettuce, rhubarb, 
potatoes, turnips, beans and fine melons. 
Messrs. Downing, Botanic Nurseries, Newburgh.— 
Specimens of the following cherries, viz: Yellow Spa¬ 
nish, China Heart, Black Tartarian, Downers late Red, 
American Heart and transparent. Also, a variety of 
fine hardy Roses, among which were Pallagi, Village 
Maid, Chatelaine, George the Fourth, La Cerisette, 
Diantheflora, Princess Louise, Felicite Perpelaette, Ma¬ 
dame Despres, Moss of Moss, Hybrid Blanc, Roi des 
Hybrides, &c. A beautiful specimen of Amaryllis, with 
eight fully expanded flowers; bouquets of Verbena 
Tweediana and T. Major, Datura Arborea; several 
sorts of Pansy, and cut specimens of the following Ge¬ 
raniums, viz : Dennis’ Perfection, Speculum Mundi, Mil¬ 
ler’s Adonis, Sir John Broughton, Queen of Pixies, &c. 
Dahlias:—Conqueror of Europe and Lilac Perfection. 
Dr. Wendell, Albany.—A fine Fig Tree, eight feet 
high; Aucuba Japonica, and several varieties of Gera¬ 
niums, in pots; four fine Cucumbers. 
J. R. Stuyvesant, Hyde Park.—Very fine Cauliflowers; 
also, excellent specimens of early Potatoes, Beans, Cab¬ 
bage and Tomatoes, with a fine bouquet of cut Flow¬ 
ers. 
Mr. Fowler, Albany.—A few select Dahlias, u r ith se¬ 
veral bouquets of cut Flowers, Verbena Tweedinana 
and Ranunclus Marigold. 
Mrs. Forsyth, Albany.—A beautiful bouquet of Ro¬ 
ses. 
Alderman Refers, Newtown, Long Island.—Fine White 
Heart Cherries. 
Mr. Duane, Schenectady Co.—Prairie Grass, from the 
Mohawk Flats, 8 feet 2 inches high. 
Francis Bloodgood, Albany.—Methven Strawberries, 
four inches in circumference ; Green Peas and Cucum¬ 
bers. 
J. P. De Wint, Fishkill Landing.—Extra fine May- 
duke Cherries and some fine early Beans. 
Thos. Turner, Albany.—A. bouquet of beautiful Dah¬ 
lias and Moss Roses. 
Chas. Gilchrist, Albany.—A specimen of Archduke 
Cherries, beautiful Dahlias, and other cut Flowers, and 
six Cucumbers. 
Alex. Walsh, Lansingburgh.—A table of Silk Worms 
feeding; Filberts, of last year’s growth; Sea Kale, 
Keen’s Seedling Strawberries, Duke Cherries, early Po¬ 
tatoes and Cucumbers, Mushrooms, Seedless Barberry, 
and a variety of cut Flowers, among which were Pai¬ 
sley Pinks, Feathered Hyacinths, Delphinium Grandi- 
florum, Campanula Persifolia pi., Spirea Filipendula pi., 
Hoya Carnosa, Aconitum Napellus, &c. Vegetables— 
Potatoes, fine Cucumbers, Early York Cabbage and 
Turnips, with a specimen of a new fodder plant, called 
‘ Esparsette.’ 
A. P. Heartt, Troy.—Plants in pots, new prolific 
Lime, Myrtle Orange and Sweet Orange, all in fruit; 
also, a splendid variety of cut Flowers, Roses, &c. &c. 
George W. Warren, Troy.—Three fine Lemons, in 
pots. 
Wm. Thorium, Albany.—Three seven years’ Pump¬ 
kins, grown in 1837, perfectly sound; also, some fine 
Paisley Pinks, in pots; seeds for sale by him. 
John B. Hudson, Albany—Six Heads very large Ear¬ 
ly York Cabbage, and some beautiful Heads of Sicily 
Lettuce. 
John Crawford, New Scotland.—Stalks of Rye, eight 
feet one inch in length. 
T. McBride, Albany.—A dish of large White Smith 
Gooseberries. 
J. Whalon, Albany.-—Fine Lettuce and Cucumbers. 
Theo. Roessle, Albany.—One bunch Celery, one do 
Onions, four Heads Lettuce, and a wreath of Double 
Curled Parsley. 
Alderman Bancroft, Albany.-—Fine specimens of Wax 
Flowers, executed by his daughters. 
Sidney Chapin, Albany.—A fine Pine Apple, growing 
upon its natural stalk. 
The Society cordially invite all persons resident in 
the Valley of the Hudson, who feel an interest in the 
improvement of our Horticulture, to contribute speci¬ 
mens of Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers, and farm products 
of every description, to the Autumnal Exhibition to be 
held on the 12th of September next, in the city of New- 
York. 
A. J. DOWNING, Corresponding Sec’y, 
Newburgh, Orange county, 
Agricultural Education. 
This subject underwent an animated discussion in an 
agricultural meeting in Kent, (England,) in April.— 
The object of the meeting was to provide means for 
establishing an agricultural college in that county. The 
plan is, to raise £15,000, or about $66,000, by shares of 
£10 each, which is to be applied to the purchase of 
eight or ten acres of land, and erecting and fitting up a 
school and other requisite buildings for 300 or 400 young 
men. A contiguous farm of 600 or 800 acres is to be 
taken upon a long lease, and stocked, for experiments 
and practical operations in husbandry. It is proposed 
to employ nine teachers and other requisite officers; to 
board and educate young men at 25 guineas a year; and 
it is estimated that, after paying rent on the farm, sala¬ 
ries and contingent expenses, there will be a surplus of 
450 or £500 per annum. 
In the discussions which the subject underwent, B. F. 
Duppa, Esq. remarked as follows— 
“ In presenting myself for the purpose of explaining a plan 
for an agricultural college, I do so with more confidence, in 
consequence of that plan not only being generally approved 
but revised and added to by many of the chief agriculturists 
in this country; and it is a singular and important fact, that 
a want of the knowledge which it is proposed should be im¬ 
parted there, is admitted in the strongest terms, chiefly by 
those whose acknowledged success in the practice of agri¬ 
culture would point them out as living evidences, that no 
such institution was required. Of all the occupations in which 
men engage for the purpose of gaining a livelihood by the ap¬ 
plication of capital, there is not one in ivhicli a large arid varied 
stock of accurate knoioledge is not only desirable, but so abso¬ 
lutely necessary, for obtaining the greatest return, as in farm¬ 
ing. The operations which a farmer has to perform, are not 
few and unvarying, as are those of the manufacturer, who, 
having once taken up his ground with prudence, proceeds, 
hot and cold, wet and dry, snow and frost, in the same 
manner; his machinery or tackling is the same throughout 
the whole year—it is confined to one spot, performs the same 
operations, and works upon the same materials, upon which 
its action always produces the same effects. The produce 
or the crop of the manufacturer is thus certain; and he only 
shares with the farmer in the variations of the market. But 
these are not the only points in which the manufacturers 
have the advantage; they live together in towns, so that 
whatever new invention is made, whatever improvement in 
process is discovered, all learn and adopt it simultaneously, 
or nearly so. This is not the case with the farmer; he ne¬ 
cessarily lives apart—his occupation prevents him seeing 
much beyond what he does himself—so that it is only through 
hearsay and reading that successful experiments become 
known to him. Other counties can be rarely visited, while 
other countries can be scarcely so at all. The Belgians 
have made great strides in the practical improvement of ag¬ 
riculture, but how many persons are there in this room who 
have been to see what they have done 1 Belgium is but a 
few hours’ voyage from Dover, and a rail-road transports the 
traveller from one part of the kingdom to another. Such 
are some of the difficulties of the farmer’s position; what ar¬ 
rangements have been made to enable him to overcome 
them ? Agricultural socities have been formed, at which 
there are exhibitions of produce, prizes are distributed, and 
ploughing matches take place. But much good as they have 
done, and are calculated to do, they go not to the root of the 
evil. No reward—no prize can bring more out of a man 
than he has in him. We want something which will sink 
deeper than this, something which will place into the minds 
and habits of people that which we desire to come out. The 
only thing I know of capable of effecting this, is an educa¬ 
tion well adapted to the circumstances and future prospects 
of the individual. And this, from all I can learn, and the 
farmers themselves have been my informants, it is impossi¬ 
ble now to obtain. But are the manufacturers, who I have 
shown from their position to stand less in need of science 
than the agriculturists—are they idle on this head ? have 
they been doing nothing? In most"of the large manufac¬ 
turing towns throughout the kingdom, great efforts are mak¬ 
ing to give knowledge a bearing upon the principles of the 
occupation of the place, not only to the manufacturer, but 
to the mechanic. At Manchester, at Liverpool, at Glasgow, 
at Edinburgh, in the potteries, in' the mines of Cornwall, 
there are classes for mathematics, chemistry, mechanical 
drawing and mechanics. They teach the strength and strain 
of materials, pressure on embankments, floating, engineering, 
and all matters which the wants and occupations of the lo¬ 
cality make desirable; and of the school of arts in Edinburgh, 
a certificate is given to all pupils who have passed through 
the mathematical, mechanical and chemical classes, and at 
an examination shown that they have duly profited. Thus 
these portions of the population are pushing forward, and 
while they are doing so, are we men of Kent to remain be¬ 
hind ? God forbid ! I rejoice from my heart at the exer¬ 
tions making elsewhere. It is only another reason to exert 
ourselves, if our own improvement, and the increased pro¬ 
duce of the soil, are not of themselves of sufficient reward to 
hold forth. With a view then of enabling the yeomen and 
others connected with agriculture in this country, to give a 
superior and suitable education to their children, it is pro¬ 
posed to found a college of agriculture, by the united strength 
of the county, which shall be so constituted as to afford all 
the facilities for the religious, moral and intellectual train¬ 
ing of a well conducted school, combined with the practical 
knowledge, practical skill, and the habit of close industry 
and attention, which can only be obtained upon a farm and 
in suitable work-shops.” 
“ When the pupils have perfected themselves in the ele¬ 
mentary branches of an English education, they will pro¬ 
ceed directly,” continues Mr. D. “to those departments 
which bear immediately upon their future professions; and 
these must be principally chemistry, mechanics, the philo- 
sophy of animals and plants, 1 —all as applied to agriculture. 
In chemistry lies the secret of the manner in which manures 
act upon different soils, and soils upon each other. In me¬ 
chanics lies the secret of economizing power of every de¬ 
scription. In the physiology of animals and physiology of 
plants, lie the secrets of choosing and treating animals.— 
While in the physiology of plants lie the secrets of generat¬ 
ing and rearing plants in the greatest perfection, and placing 
them in soils suitable to their respective natures. Besides 
inteilectual instruction, it is proposed to endeavor to effect 
two other things, to give our young pupils skill and the habits 
of industry. It is proposed that they shall be practised in 
such of the arts as are subservient to agriculture; as carpen¬ 
try, smith’s work, building, surveying, draining and irrigat¬ 
ing; that from an early period of life the boys shall be train¬ 
ed to the practical application of what they learn; and that 
while a portion of the day is devoted to the school room, 
another will be given to the work-shop, the garden and the 
field. It is scarcely possible to calculate the effect which 
such skill possessed by the farmer would have upon the 
whole race of artizans throughout the country districts. No 
farmer who could himself use the tools of the carpenter—no 
farmer who could himself shoe a horse in a proper manner, 
•—would tolerate what was clumsy and unworkmanlike in 
the carpenter and the smith. The farmers would know 
what was right, and would have it done. * * * As for 
difficulties, there are difficulties in the way of everything 
that is worth attaining. Let us not shrink from them, but 
meet them fairly, and depend upon it they will yield to us.” 
“ The Rev. W. L. Rham observed, that he had been re¬ 
quested to state to the meeting, what he had observed in si¬ 
milar institutions on the continent, and their effects upon the 
improvement of agriculture wherever they had been esta¬ 
blished. In England we had had for a long time little or no 
communication with the continent, and our farmers were en¬ 
tirely unacquainted with the improvements which had been 
made in other countries. But this was not the case on the 
continent. By means of institutions, chiefly supported by 
the government, where agriculture was taught in theory as 
well as practice, every work which appeared in England, of 
any value was examined, and if it contained any practical 
improvement in the mode of tilling the land, was immedi¬ 
ately translated and distributed in a cheap form. In Aus¬ 
tria, a book containing the elementary principles of agricul¬ 
ture, is, by command of the emperor, taught in every pa¬ 
rochial school—as a subject useful and interesting to every 
class of men, whether practically engaged in the cultivation 
of the soil or not. In Prussia the establishment of an agri¬ 
cultural college at Moegelin, on the Oder, had been the 
means of training a great number of men in the best prac¬ 
tices of agriculture; and while they learned to hold the 
plough, and to observe minutely its action, they had suffi¬ 
cient opportunity to discover defects, and suggest improve¬ 
ments where they were practicable. M. Von Thaer, who 
was long at the head of this institution, wrote a most valua¬ 
ble work on husbandry, which has been read and translated 
into almost every language; but for want of institutions in 
this country which directed men to every source of agricul¬ 
tural knowledge, it has never been translated into English, 
and till lately, was scarcely known. It is called ‘ Princi¬ 
ples of Rational Husbandry.’ The pupils of the school of 
Moegelin have been dispersed through the country, and have 
greatly improved the agriculture of Prussia. In Switzer¬ 
land a school for training young men in a knowledge of 
practical and improved husbandry, has been established at 
Hoffwyl, near Bern, by a well known arid justly celebrated 
individual, M. de Fellenburgh. Here general education is com¬ 
bined with agricultural instruction; and this institution is re¬ 
markable by having been established and maintained by an in¬ 
dividual, without any assistance, excepting some trifling ad¬ 
vances by the government of Berne, which have probably been 
replaced in a very short time. The labor of the pupils amply 
repays the expense of their maintenance and instruction. * 
There is a celebrated school of agriculture at Roville, not 
far from Nancy, in France, where M. de Bombastles trains 
young men in the theory and practice of agriculture; and 
these, afterwards dispersed through the country, introduce 
improved practices, and will soon raise the agriculture of 
France to a level with that of the most improved countries; 
for it must be acknowledged, that, in consequence of the 
wars and revolutions which have for so many years distract¬ 
ed that fine country, agriculture has been wofully neglected, 
and was not to be compared with that of the surrounding 
countries.” 
“ Sir W. B. Riddell eloquently supported the project, and 
stated that Lord Mensham, himself, Mr. Brett and Mr. Tuff- 
nel, having joined Mr. Duppa, with a view to assist his 
arduous exertions, communications had been held with some 
of the first persons in the county, who had unanimously ap¬ 
proved of such an institution, together with all persons inte¬ 
rested in agriculture who had been consulted. The lion, 
baronet then read and referred to letters from the archbishop 
of Canterbury, the bishop of Rochester, Lord Bexley, Vis¬ 
count Sidney, and Lord Sondes, who all concurred in their 
approval of such an institution. Earl Spencer, who is pre¬ 
sident of the British Agricultural Association, Lord Weston, 
Earl Brecknock, Lord Radnor, Duke of Richmond, Lord 
Chichester, Earl Winchelsea, and the Marquis of Lansdown, 
had also expressed their conviction of the utility of some 
such institution as was then proposed, as also had Mr. Lake, 
Mr. Bapchild, and several other eminent agriculturists.— 
Looking as he did to the immense number of persons who 
were interested in supporting it, in order to procure a suita¬ 
ble education for their children, not only in this but other 
counties, and even other countries; considering the num¬ 
ber of persons, of all conditions of life, who are now sending 
their sons out to the colonies, he could not entertain a doubt 
of the success of the Kent Agricultural college.” 
“ Mr. Brett called the attention of the meeting to the fact 
on which they were all agreed, viz: that there could be no 
doubt of the lamentable deficiency that existed of facilities 
for procuring scientific agricultural information. A perfect 
remedy for that deficiency was offered by this institution. 
A very large number of gentlemen had consented to take 
shares in the undertaking; indeed, raising the money was 
the smallest difficulty they had to contend with. It had 
been determined that this institution should not be depend¬ 
ent on persons of high station, property and influence; but 
