138 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
foreign Intelligence. 
MEETING OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SO¬ 
CIETY AT DERBY. 
By the kindness of our London friends, we were put 
in early possession of various London and other English 
papers, containing very full accounts of the proceedings 
of the meeting, and several of them filled with picto¬ 
rial illustrations of the cattle yards, trial of implements, 
dinners, &c. Sic. It must have been a proud day for 
the English agriculturist, and a scene which no friend 
of farming could look upon without feeling his blood 
coursing more warmly through his veins. The United 
States were ably represented at the meeting by Mr. Ev¬ 
erett, minister to Great Britain, and by Mr. Colman, 
who, our readers are aware, is now on an agricultural 
tour through that country. Both gentlemen were called 
out, Mr. Colman at the Council dinner on Wednesday, 
and Mr. Everett at the great Pavilion dinner on Thurs¬ 
day, and their speeches were very effective, and received 
great applause. Of Mr. Colman’s, our readers will 
judge for themselves, as we give it below, and our li¬ 
mits alone exclude Mr. Everett's, as it was decidedly 
one of his happiest efforts. Better, far better, for two 
such great nations to meet each other at the table to 
celebrate the triumphs of agriculture, than to mingle in 
the deadly strife of the field, to offer bleeding sacrifices 
to the grim demon of war. Premiums were avvarded 
to the Short Horns, Herefords, Devons, as distinct 
breeds, and premiums w'ere also given for the animals 
that had no claim to descent from any of these. The 
large engravings of the Times give a lively representa¬ 
tion of the arrangements, buildings, &c. for the Fair, 
and of the multitudes by which it was attended. We 
may here add that the reception which has been given 
to Mr. Colman has been of the most hearty and grati¬ 
fying kind, and that he will accumulate materials for a 
most valuable publication, no one can doubt. 
MR. COLMAN’S SPEECH. 
At the Council dinner of the Royal Agricultural Soci¬ 
ety at Derby, Professor Owen gave as a toast, “ Success 
to Agriculture over the w'hole world.” 
The President, Lord Hardwicke, called upon Mr. Col¬ 
man from America, to reply. 
Mr. Colman began b}^ observing that he never rose 
with more diffidence than upon this occasion. He felt 
oppressed by the conviction of his inability to say what 
would be worthy of the attention of this distinguished 
assembly; and by his grateful sense of the treatment 
which he had received, which had been nothing but a 
succession of acts of kindness and hospitality since his 
arrival in the country. He agreed with the noble Pre¬ 
sident in his admiration of the implements and machines 
exhibited in the Show yard; but he left the yard with 
great regret, that among all the various and ingenious 
productions, there was not to be found a machine for 
making a dinner speech. He hoped that some one of the 
ingenious gentlemen at the other end of the Hall, might 
presently supply the deficiency. It might not be neces¬ 
sary for the members of the Royal Ag. Society, whose 
speeches he desired, in the language of the committee, 
“ to commend generally ;” nor to the Minister Plenipo¬ 
tentiary from the United States, who has an admirable 
machine of his own, Avhich always turns out the best 
work; but for such a poor wight as himself, from the 
Yankee land, it might be extremely convenient. 
Agricuiture was the great subject of that occasion ; and 
he meant no invidious reflections, when he pronounced 
it the art of all arts, the foundation of true wealth, a 
source of rational pleasure anti useful occupation, and 
the great conservator of morals. Its indispensableness 
must be universally acknowledged. They might do 
without physicians, if they would observe strictly the 
laws of health; and without lawyers, if they would keep 
their tempers; and possibly without preE^ching, if every 
man would take care of his own conscience; and with¬ 
out soldiers, if men would observe the great law of Chris¬ 
tian equity, and ‘‘ do to others as they would that others 
should do to them;” but how they were to do without 
the farmers he did not well see. 
Agriculture, he had said, is the foundation of true 
weath. It is indispensable to human subsistence. Gold 
and silver are the mere exponents of wealth; and a man 
might command the mines of Golconda, and heap up his 
accumulations of money as high as the Andes, and yet 
starve in the midst of them. Agriculture is the source 
of many of the luxuries of life. Agriculture is favora¬ 
ble to morals. He would not assume for the farmers 
more virtue than prevailed in other classes; but he would 
say of the agricultural profession, that there is nothing 
in its pursuit prejudicial to good morals. Agriculture is 
a source of innocent and rational pleasure. Many of the 
brightest and best minds which ever adorned human na¬ 
ture, have so found it. He believed his excellent friend, 
(the Duke of Richmond,) for so his kindness permitted 
him to call him, highly and justly as he prized the duty 
of defending his country’s honor on the field of battle, 
would yet acknowledge that he has found some of his 
sweetest pleasures in the pursuits of agriculture; in the 
improvement of this art, and in rendering the earth pro¬ 
ductive for the sustenance and comfort of both man and 
beast. There was another great mind, to their interest 
in whose reputation he was surprised to find the English 
were not more sensible; he meant Washington: for 
Washington was born an Englishman, a British subject, 
and defended the honor of the. British flag, and though 
afterwards he became an undutiful son, yet every fair 
mind would do justice to his convictions of duty. Wash¬ 
ington found in agriculture the highest and purest grati¬ 
fication; and his agricultural journals, as they exhibit 
the most minute and exact attention to the management 
of his farm, even amidst the burdensome and anxious du¬ 
ties of public life, are among the most instructive docu¬ 
ments ever given to the world. 
England takes the lead of the world in its improved 
agriculture. It has long been distinguished for its en¬ 
lightened improvements. The names of Tull, Youhg, 
and Sinclair, form a bright constellation. There are 
other names to be added to them, of whom he would say 
in the words of the Roman poet, “ may it be late before 
they return to the stars” who are destined to share even 
a more brilliant immortality. He could not speak from 
personal observation, but from information; and it is said 
that of all nations, Belgium has most fully tested the pro¬ 
ductive capacities of a single acre. The agriculture of 
Germany must be highly improved, as he had the most 
authentic assurance from a German friend, that he had 
himself assisted in gathering 4000 bushels of potatoes 
from five acres of land, a crop which he believed had in no 
country been surpassed. The agriculture of China is re¬ 
ported to be carried to a high degree of perfection. It 
is stated that the Chinese literature has 27,000 treatises 
upon agricultural subjects. This may be Chinese exag¬ 
geration; but one or two of their treatises, which had 
been translated, he had read, and he could say they 
showed intelligence and exactness of observation. In¬ 
deed it would hardly be well to treat with disdain the 
agriculture of even a barbarous nation, who by their ag¬ 
riculture had subsisted such an immense population and 
accumulated such vast amounts of wealth and laid so 
large a portion of the world under tribute. America is 
urging on her agricultural improvements, and like young 
lulus, is following in the path of her ancestor, “with 
unequal steps.” 
The advancement of agriculture, he deemed among 
the higher pursuits of philanthropy.. Its moral and re¬ 
ligious tendencies deserved consideration. There is eve¬ 
ry thing in the cultivation of the earth to invite the mind 
to the contemplation of that invisible and beneficent a- 
gency, which from the wide-spread table of its boiinlj^, 
supplies the wants of all living things. 
He would call the attention of that assembly to one 
other subject, and that was the improvement of the con¬ 
dition of the laborer. A high authority commanded us 
“ not to muzzle the ox which treadeth out the corn.” 
Every effort should be made for the education and eleva¬ 
tion of the laboring classes. It was too late in the day 
to decry the value or disparage the influence of educa¬ 
tion, as though it would injure the laborer. He would 
ask if it injured those classes in society who are already 
blessed with it? It should be given to the laboring 
classes likewise, as a consolation under their severe toil, 
and as a means of wholesome recreation, and of with¬ 
drawing them from the beer house and other places of 
corruption, and of making their homes more happy. 
Mr. Colman asked leave, in conclusion, to otfier the 
following sentiment; England—the sun in the political 
sphere; like her own Eddystone, a blaze of light in the 
midst of the ocean. May she send forth her radiance, 
not to wither but to cherish; not to make desolate, but 
to quicken and make alive. May her infellectual and 
moral energies be concentrated upon the highest objects 
of philanthropy, the spread of knowledge, the advance¬ 
ment and diffusion of the useful arts, and the universal 
extension of civilization, liberty and peace. 
AYheax in France _We find in the Revue des Econo- 
mistes of Paris, some interesting statements respecting 
the wheat crop of that country, which exhibits the re¬ 
sources and the fertility of France in a striking light. It 
appears that a surface of two thousand eight hundi'ed 
square leagues is appropriated to the culture of wheat. 
This is more than two-fifths of the tillable land of the 
kingdom, and about one-tenth of the whole superfices of 
France. The Revue states that the quantity of wheat 
raised in France is seventy millions of heciolitres, (each 
hectolitre is 2-837, or nearly 3 bushels,) and is valued 
at $262,000,000. This is said to be a greater quantity of 
wheat than is raised in Britain, Poland, Prussia, Sweden, 
Holland, Belgium and Spain; but unless the quantify of 
wheat raised in Britain has been greatly overrated, this 
statement of the Revue cannot be correct. Between 
eleven and twelve millions of hectolitres are used for 
seed, and about 60 millions are consumed in the country, 
very little being exported. The Revue estimates the 
consumption of wheal by the inhabitants of the several 
a 
countries named to be as follows, 
litre, or rather more than a pint.) 
(The titre is half 
France, to each individual,. 
... 210 litres. 
Great Britain, 
6( 
... 163 
Si 
Spain, 
e( 
... 127 
SC 
Holland, 
a 
C( 
... 57 
cs 
Prussia, 
(( 
... 36 
ss 
Poland, 
(C 
Ctf 
... 25 
('S' 
Sweden, 
C( 
ce 
... 8 
si 
Estimating the quantity required by each person at 3 
hectolitres, or 5^ bushels, there is in France a deficiency 
of I 4 hectolitres, to each person, in the aggregate, which 
is supplied by rye, corn, buckwheat, chestnuts, &c. Po¬ 
tatoes are not extensively used in France, though they 
are beginning to be looked upon with more favor. Of 
every hundred acres of land cultivated in France, 
about forty acres are in wheat; but as about one-third of 
the whole quantity is raised in some ten or fifteen of the 
departments of the north, it is clear that a much larger 
portion of the cultivated land in these districts, must be 
in wheat, than in the others. Taking the whole culti¬ 
vated, the average product is to the seed sown, as six 
and a quarter to one. The best wheat districts produce 
more than this, but the average of many of the depart¬ 
ments is below this estimate. These estimates, founded 
on the returns furnished by the Bureau of Agriculture in 
France, furnish some valuable points of comparison with 
the wheat crop of this country, imperfect as the last cen¬ 
sus was in its details. Here we raise about 100 millions 
of bushels, with not one half the population. We consume 
also about the same quantity as in France, and we hope 
hereafter to be able to state the average quantity returned 
for the seed sown. 
Review of the British Corn Market for June.— 
This part of the London Farm. Magazine for July is unu¬ 
sually full, and the effects of the introduction of American 
corn, (or wheat,) through the Canadas into England, dis¬ 
cussed with great force and bitterness. Until quite late¬ 
ly, it has been the fashion there to decry all articles of 
American produce, but now when specimens have been 
introduced and sold all over the kingdom, they are com¬ 
pelled, reluctantly it may be, to admit their excellence. 
The Review says,—“ The means for increased produc¬ 
tion are boundless, and the quality of the wheat in par¬ 
ticular, is very fine, being fully equal to the best grown 
in Essex itself. American pork too, is likewise superior 
to any which even Willshire can produce, for it is fed on 
Indian corn, wild nuts, &c. ami consequently cures better 
than any grown either in Ireland or Great Britain.” If 
these are facts, and we do not doubt them, why not let 
the starving millions of England eat our surplus wheat 
and pork, and in return take those things which we do 
not or cannot manufacture for ourselves? The same ar¬ 
ticle, in the part relating to the barley crop, says:—“At 
least one-third part of the beer now consumed, is manu¬ 
factured from coarse sugar, salt, and many deleterious 
articles; for two barrels from the licensed brewer, are 
now regularly converted into three by a mixture of in¬ 
gredients of the above description.” Poor encourage¬ 
ment this for English beer guzzlers, and if they could 
understand the w'hole mystery of beer making, they 
would deem the encouragement poorer still. Barley can 
be raised, and profitably raised too, without converting 
it into beer; this is getting to be well understood in some 
of our best barley producing counties, and will doubtless 
be found to be true every where. 
AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTE, BRIDGEPORT, CT. 
The location of the Institute, (the intention to estab¬ 
lish which, was announced in the Cultivator for July,) 
is on the east bank of ihe harbor, within a few minutes 
walk of the churches, in the midst of agreeable rural sce¬ 
nery. The object of the Institute is to furnish a system 
of education adapted to the wants of those youth who 
may be designed for the pursuits of agriculture. It is 
remarkable that agriculture, on which mankind are de¬ 
pendent for their very sustenance, which employ’s daily 
“ not less than two hundred millions of men and nine- 
fenths of the fixed capital of civilized nations,” should 
have received so little aid from legislation, and compara¬ 
tively so little'and so late attention from the learned and 
powerful; and that it has yet no schools or colleges to 
investigate and illustrate its principles, to advance its 
interests, to elevate its character, and to give it both as 
an art and a science, its just place among the several de¬ 
partments of human learning. It is intended that this In¬ 
stitute shall provide the means of a complete agricultural 
education. Those only will be received into the Insti¬ 
tute, who have made considerable advancement in the or¬ 
dinary branches of an English education. The full course 
contemplated wilt require from three to four years, and 
will embrace all the natural sciences, with their applica¬ 
tion to agriculture, particularly Chemistry, Geology and 
Botany; the evidences and general ]>rinciplcs of natural 
and revealed Theology, Mathematics, Moral Philosophy^ 
Political Economy’, Rhetoric, History, Original Compo¬ 
sition, Extemporaneous Speaking; the drawing of the 
various business papers, and the principles of civil, con¬ 
stitutional and national Law. 
It is designed that courses of lectures shall be delivered 
by distinguished Professors, on the different branches of 
natural science, and particularly upon chemistry in its 
application to agriculture. 
The ancient and modern languages will be taught if 
desired, and the pupil prepared for entering college. 
Lessons in music, penmanship and drawing, may be ob¬ 
tained at moderate charges. 
There will be a systematic course of agricultural ex¬ 
periments to test the value of different modes of culture, 
of the several kinds of manure, and of all such proilucls 
of the farm as may be suited to the climate. The pupil 
will have an opportunity of witnessing the various ope¬ 
rations of farming, horticulture, and the planting and 
growing of fruit and ornamental trees, with the forma¬ 
tion and use of the several kinds of manures. He will 
not be required to engage in field lobor, except perhaps 
to learn the use of agricultural implements; but when 
desired for the purposes of health or economy, he may be 
employed on the farm, in the garden or nursery, a given 
number of hours daily, for which a just allow’ance will 
be made on the term biUs. A skillful farmer, ganlener, 
and nurseryman will be employed, and the department 
of each will be conducted with a studious regard both to 
economy and scientific principles. 
It is impossible, I fear, without trespassing too much 
upon your columns, to enter into a more minute detail of 
