346 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
MR. BANCROFT’S ADDRESS, 
At the New-York State Fair, Poughkeepsie, Oct. 19, 1844. 
Mr. President and Gentlemen 
of the Agricultural Society: 
Farmers of New-York—The hour of separation for 
this dazzling- array of beauty, this vast multitude of men, 
is at hand. Fruits richer than ever graced the gardens 
of Pomona—a paradise of flowers—needle-work the most 
exact, delicate and even—ingenious farming implements 
and manufactures of all sorts, cloths of the flnest quality, 
from your own looms, and from looms in Massachusetts 
.—horses, fit to win prizes at Olympia—cattle such as never 
fell in a hecatomb to Jove, and never were dreamed of 
by the highest genius of the Dutch painters—all these 
and more have arrested our gaze and filled us with won¬ 
der and delight. And now 1 am commissioned to sum¬ 
mon you, and through you the population of this mighty 
commonwealth, to come up and join us, as, under the 
auspices of the State, honor and distinction are awarded 
to agricultural industry and genius. 
A spectacle like this around me, of culture, order, and 
the peaceful virtues, cannot be surpassed in the world. 
In this hour, hushed be the spirit of party; be it utterly 
exorcised and banished from this enclosure, which is 
consecrated to the peaceful triumphs of the agriculture 
and the industry of New-York. [Applause.] We yield 
on this occasion to no narrower sentiments than the love 
of country, and of collective man, and we invoke the 
blessed influence of that universal Providence, which 
watches over thi seed-time, and matures the harvest. 
.[Applause.] 
The theme forftbh occasion is the Agriculture of New- 
York. But what Dt't'd of words to speak its praise? Look 
around you. The «uX v .ivated earth is its own eulogist. 
The teeming wealth t\at gushes from its bosom—the re¬ 
turns of its industry in every form, that present themselves 
in their abundance antf v oerfection to our never wearied 
eyes—are the evidences of its magnificence. The trees 
in your market-place, aiul on your hill-tops, are older 
than the settlement of civilized man in our America; they 
are older than the presence of the plow on the soil of 
New-York: they are witnesses of the quite recent day, 
when your forests steppe ] down to your river s bank, and 
the glades and prairies of your west were covered with 
useless luxuriance. And behold the change which little 
more than two centuries have wrought; the earth sub¬ 
dued; the forest glades adorned with the white spires of 
churches, and gleaming with the light of villages; towns 
nestling in every valley; crowded cities, competing with 
the largest of the earth—profusely supplied with every 
article of food. And by whom has this miracle been 
wrought? By the farmers of New-York. [Applause.] 
As I turn my eye northward, along the banks of the 
Hudson, my mind reverts to the memory of one of your 
ancient landholders, who died before our independence. 
Join with me, Farmers of New-York, in recalling the 
gentle and humane Robert R. Livingston, the elder, the 
father of the Chancellor. His home was in your vicini¬ 
ty; his mind was greatly and firmly, though not passion¬ 
ately, devoted to your service. An only son, husband of 
an only daughter, father of those whom the world will 
not soon forget; he was of so lovely a nature, that it 
seemed as if the fragrant atmosphere of spring, and the 
melody of its sweetest birds, and the softened reflection 
in your tranquil river of its grandest scenes, had blended 
together and melted themselves into his soul. Peace to 
his memory; let it not perish among you. Let the lines 
on his monument be refreshed and deepened. 
Nor let me limit the achievements of the farmers of 
New-York to the subjection and beautiful adornment of 
its soil. The great works of internal communication, 
making this State a wonder to the world, were commen¬ 
ced by the enterprise of yourselves, were undertaken 
when farmers held power. Call to mind the immense 
structures which make this State the astonishment of the 
world; its channels for inward communication carried 
upwards to the waters of the St. Lawrence, stepping aside 
to the Ontario, and united at the northwest with the illi¬ 
mitable wildernesses of our inland seas; and then join me 
m paying tribute to those who were the servants of the 
public mind in commencing this gigantic system. To 
De Witt Clinton, whose capacious mind grasped in ad¬ 
vance the sum of its infinite benefits—whose energetic, 
vehement and commanding will, was to the enterprise 
like a powerful mill-stream as it dashes on an overshot 
wheel of vast dimensions. (Applause.) ToVanBuren, 
who, when the bill for the construction of the canaL.had 
almost been abandoned by its earliest friends, put forth 
those noble-spirited, well-remembered exertions, which 
resuscitated it when all seemed lost, and restored it to the 
approbation of your Legislature. (Applause.) Well 
might those chiefs in the world of opinions, embrace 
each other in the hours of their success. If in action 
they were often divided, in this great service, they share 
a common glory. (Applause.) 
But the farmers of New-York are not content with im¬ 
provements in the material world alone. From their 
generous impulses spring your system of free schools. 
They have proved themselves the liberal benefactors of 
academies and colleges. They too, have been careful 
for the means of their own special culture, and have 
founded and nurtured societies for promoting agriculture. 
For an example of the virtues of private life, I name to 
you the farmer of Westchester county, the pure and spot¬ 
less Jay, who assisted to frame our first treaty of peace, 
which added Ohio and the lovely West to our agricul¬ 
ture. Side by side with him, I name the friend of his 
youth, Robert R. Livingston, the younger, the enlight¬ 
ened statesman of our Revolution, whose expansive 
mind succeeded in negociating for our country a world 
beyond the Mississippi, and gained access for our flag to 
the gulf of Mexico. Here, on the banks of the Hudson, 
he is celebrated as it were by every steamboat, and re¬ 
membered on your farms through his experimental zeal. 
On this day be remembered the virtues of Stephen Van 
Rensselaer, who firstbrought Durham cattle into this State, 
and liberally diffused the breed. 
Join with me also in a tribute to Mitchell, the faithful 
advocate, and perhaps institutor, of one of the earliest 
agricultural societies; to Jesse Buel, who connected sci¬ 
ence with fact, taught how the most barren soil may be 
made vastly productive, diflfused his acquisitions by the 
press, and by life and by precept was the farmer’s friend; 
(applause:) to Willis Gaylord, whose agricultural essays 
are standard authorities, honorable to the man and to the 
State; to Le Ray de Chaumont, who kept alive an agri¬ 
cultural society in Jefferson county, when all others had 
expired, and gave the impulse to the formation of the 
State Society, of which he was the first president; to 
James Wadsworth, for his skill as a cultivator, and still 
more for his liberal exertions, pouring out thousands af¬ 
ter thousands, at the impulse of a generous mind, as if 
from a well-spring of good will, to promote agricultural 
science in primary schools. (Great applause.) And I 
should be wanting on the occasion, did I not tender the 
expression of your regard to the present president of the 
State Society, to the influence of that institution of which 
he is the honored head; to its Journal of Agriculture, 
to its annual fairs. But let me also entreat its friendly 
wishes to its purpose of establishing an agricultural 
school; and to that other more diffusive design of intro¬ 
ducing, through its secretary, scientific works on agri¬ 
culture into school libraries. I am happy also to an¬ 
nounce that efforts are now making to constitute agricul¬ 
ture, as it deserves to be, a branch of instruction in one, 
at least, of your Universities. (Loud cheers.) 
I have named to you some of the benefactors of Agri- 
, culture in New-York. Their benefits endure. The pur¬ 
suits of the farmer bind him to home. Others may cross 
continents and vex oceans; the farmer must dwell near 
the soil which he subdues and fertilizes. His fortunes 
are fixed and immovable. The scene of his youthful la¬ 
bors is the scene of his declining years; he enjoys his 
, own plantations, and takes his rest beneath his contem- 
. porary trees. 
: But the farmer is not limited to the narrow circumfe- 
I rence of his own domain; he stands in relation with all 
! ages and all climes. Your society has done wisely to 
• urge on those who bear the Gospel to untaught nations, 
: to study their agriculture, and report for comparison eve- 
! ry variety of tillage. All ages and all climes contribute 
