THE CULTIVATOR. 
9 
II 
other relieved, by common consent, and at the common charge. We 
have erected splendid and extensive establishments for the vicious 
and the poor. The county of Albany has been at greater expense 
for its poor than would be required of the state to establish and sup¬ 
port a school of agriculture. Would it not evince both prudence 
and economy to endeavor to prevent, or to lessen, these growing evils 
in society, by devoting a portion of the common means to schools, 
which should teach the hands useful labor, and imbue the heart with 
the love of virtue ! The adage teaches, that u an ounce of preven¬ 
tion is worth a pound of cure.” If ignorance be one of the chief 
causes of vice, and indolence the parent of want; and if knowledge 
be one of the mainsprings ot virtuous conduct, and competence the 
sure reward of industry—then the more knowledge is diffused, and 
the more that industry is encouraged, the less we shall be called 
upon to expend upon poor-houses and penitentiaries. It no longer 
admits of doubt, that knowledge and industry are the great conser¬ 
vators of public morals, as well as the great instruments of public 
wealth. 
It has been remarked, that the more we provide for anyone class, 
the more it will increase. This would seem to hold good in regard 
to the vicious propensities of our nature, and why not in regard to 
habits that are commendable and praiseworthy ! 
To speak practically. Our agriculture is greatly defective. It is 
susceptible of much improvement. How shall we effect this im¬ 
provement! The old are ton old to learn, or rather, to unlearn what 
have been the habits of their lives. The young cannot learn as they 
ought to learn, and as the public interests require, because we have 
no suitable school for their instruction. We have no place where 
they can learn the principles upon which the practice of agriculture 
is based—none where they can be instructed in all the modern im¬ 
provements of the art. It is devoutly to be hoped, that our fathers 
in council, justly appreciating the importance of the subject, will add 
another to the proud trophies which New-York has already won in 
the noble march of improvement, by properly responding to the cor¬ 
rect views of this subject expressed in the message of our chief ma¬ 
gistrate. 
Our periodical publications, devoted to the interests of the agri¬ 
cultural and mechanical classes, have proved highly beneficial, and 
are daily enlarging the sphere of their influence. These benefits, 
however, may be greatly multiplied by a cheap work, adapted to the 
means of persons in humble circumstances, and to the economy of 
those who are able but unwilling to expend two or three dollars a 
year for an agricultural paper. It is believed there are more than 
200,000 farmers in the state who read little or nothing calculated to 
improve their knowledge in the business by which they live. With 
the view of bringing the subject before the society, I have made in¬ 
quiries as to the price at which a respectable publication of this cha¬ 
racter can be printed. The estimates have been predicated upon 
the supposition, that the editorial labors will be gratuitous—that the 
subscriptions will uniformly be paid in advance—that arrangements 
will be made to give it an extensive circulation, and that an edition 
of at least ten thousand copies will be disposed of. The result of 
my inquiries is, that a monthly publication, of sixteen quarto pages 
to each number, making one hundred and ninety-two pages in a 
year, can be furnished in parcels of twenty or more, at twenty- 
five (50) cents per annum. The postage to any place within the 
state will swell the cost to the subscriber to thirty-seven and a half 
(62|) cents per annum. An amount so trivial, as to win indiffe¬ 
rence, and to silence the objections of avarice. I submit to you, 
gentlemen, whether a more efficient mode of furthering one of the 
objects of our association—the diffusion of useful knowledge—can 
be devised, than the one here presented. Through the liberality of 
two public spirited and highly respected gentlemen,* a specimen 
sheet of the proposed publication has been published, and has been 
submitted for public examination. Under the auspices of this socie¬ 
ty, the Cultivator may be rendered a vehicle of useful knowledge, 
and a means of effecting great public good. I commend it to your 
guardian care. 
In referring to agricultural associations, as a means of improve¬ 
ment, I think I shall be sustained by the opinions of those present, 
as well as by the authority of past experience, in the little I have to 
say. These associations tend to promote social and friendly inter¬ 
course, and an interchange of kind offices; to make our farmers 
emulous of excelling in their cattle, in their crops, their buildings 
* Stephen Van Rensselaer and James Wadsworth. 
and in the neatness and order of their domestic arrangements ; they 
bring them acquainted with each other’s improvements and means 
of economising labor; instruct them in the comparative value of 
breeds of animals and the relative value of crops. They promote 
industry, frugality, and the love of knowledge. They tend to mul- 
liply our comforts and increase our wealth, by the laudable emula¬ 
tion they call into action, and to enlighten and embellish our country. 
And yet I am sensible that those associations find but compara¬ 
tively few ardent advocates among our farmers. Many are indiffe¬ 
rent because they do not appreciate their benefits, or from an apa- 
thy, common to our nature, in every measure which does not pro¬ 
mise present gain. Some will not support them, lest they should 
lose a day or a dollar. And others oppose them from an envious 
wish to deprive their neighbors of that public commendation which 
they are conscious they do not themselves deserve, and are not like¬ 
ly to obtain. The man who thinks and acts only for self, regardless 
of the welfare of those around him, and who fancies that he rises be¬ 
cause others sink, mistakes alike his interest and his duty, and is a 
stranger to those ennobling feelings which flow from disinterested 
acts of benevolence and philanthropy. If the comparison may be 
tolerated, I would liken the selfish man to the moon, whose sombre 
rays impart no vivifying influence upon terrestrial objects:—and his 
contra to the sun, shedding abroad on every side his effulgent beams, 
and dispensing life, light and gladness to all around. 
The remaining subject which I proposed to notice, is the award¬ 
ing premiums for beneficial experiments and improvements in bus- 
bandry. I confess I am not satisfied of the utility of paying for the 
largest products or the fattest animals, yet I believe there are many 
other subjects on which premiums may be awarded with public ad¬ 
vantage. If my neighbor shall be induced by the expectation of a 
premium, to make some new application of science, or some new 
experiment in practical husbandry, which shall prove successful, and 
lead to important public benefits, we become gainers, however ex¬ 
pensive the investigation on the experiment may have been to him 
who obtains the premium. In this way great public improvements 
have accrued; and like means will produce like results. These re¬ 
wards are often the exciting cause to active industry, philosophical 
research, and to the development of inventive genius; which, like 
the seed whose latent vitality is quickened into action by solar influ¬ 
ence, grows, expands and matures into fruits of usefulness. Go to 
the American Institute at New-York, and see the numerous produc¬ 
tions which its premiums are eliciting from science and art. Look 
at Scotland, a country which is surpassed by none in recent im¬ 
provements in husbandry, and where agricultural premiums have 
been awarded for fifty years, and see its society distributing nearly 
ten thousand dollars a year, as rewards for diligence and skill dis¬ 
played in her rural affairs. But I need not seek for illustrations 
abroad. They abound in every county in our state where premiums 
have been awarded. Upon this subject I quote again my highly re¬ 
spectable correspondent, who remarks in strong language—“I have 
no doubt that the money which was appropriated by the state to en¬ 
courage agriculture, has increased the wealth of this county more 
than twenty per cent a year.” 
I have thus gone through with what I proposed to embrace in this 
address. I have pointed out some of the prominent defects in our 
husbandry, and have suggested means of remedying them at least in 
part. The means are partially at your command, and over them all 
you can exercise a salutary influence. I hope the present opportu¬ 
nity will not be suffered to pass without a united and successful ef¬ 
fort to advance the objects of public usefulness for which we have 
associated, and for which we have met on this occasion. 
Ballston, Dec. 3d, 1833. 
To Jesse Buel, Esq. President of the New-York State Agricultural Society: 
Sir— In reply to your letter of the 27th ultimo, in which you ask 
me to state to you the result of my experience of the utility and ex¬ 
pense of under-draining farm lands, I have to observe, that it is a 
subject to which I have devoted some attention for the few years 
during which I have had an interest in agricultural pursuits, and my 
opinion of its great utility is confirmed by every successive day’s 
observation. 
I have applied under-draining to twenty different fields, to the ex¬ 
tent of more than two thousand rods, and compute the average cost 
at half a dollar per rod. The expense, however, is determined by 
the proximity of materials, and the economy with which the work is 
performed. 
