4 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
he trusts that hereafter this act of courtesy will not be omitted by || 
such other societies as may successively be formed in this state.! 
Since our meeting in February, 1833, societies have organized, asj 
far as I have been informed, in the following counties: Columbia,' 
Albany, Rensselaer and New-York ; and a re-organization has like- j 
wise been effected in Saratoga. No doubt there have been socie-, 
ties organized in other and more distant parts of the state, but in 1 
what particular counties I am unable to say, as in several of the' 
western counties, agricultural societies, I perceive by the papers, are 
in a course of successful experiment. Most of these have had their 
exhibitions in the course of the last autumn, and I have not heard of ;| 
a dissenting voice to the beneficial effects which have followed these j! 
first trials of agricultural skill and improvement. On the contra- :; 
ry, as far as public opinion could be gathered from the papers which j 
have announced these meetings, they have spoken in warm com- j 
mendation of the good effects which have already been experienced,' 
and in anticipation that greater will follow. For myself, 1 attended 
a few of these exhibitions in neighboring counties and in my own, 1 ! 
and in all instances was both gratified and amply rewarded for the! 
time and money so spent. These exhibitions will annually become’ 
more useful as well as interesting, for as the respective societies in¬ 
crease their members, and have time to improve their internal or- [j 
ganization, the subjects for premium will be more varied and better j 
selected, the articles exhibited of better quality and in larger quan- |j 
tity. New fields of investigation will be opened, and the old ones j 1 
more thoroughly and satisfactorily explored. The business, too, at II 
their annual meetings will be more systematically conducted, and 
every thing connected with them assume a due course of improve¬ 
ment, so that they will command public approbation, and make ad¬ 
vocates of those who are now unbelievers or neutrals. Besides the 
opportunity that is thus afforded by the meeting of these county so¬ 
cieties for the exhibition of the best and varied kinds of stock, and 
all the available fruits of husbandry—and excited as their owners 
naturally will be by a laudable spirit of competition, which is still 
further increased by the hope of obtaining the badge of superiority 
—a premium—advantages of themselves sufficient to compensate 
for the little time and money they cost in our attendance upon them, 
farmers appear not to be aware of the great influence a well orga¬ 
nized and conducted society will have upon the per acre price of 
their farms. To say it would be ten dollars per acre, after a few 
years of its existence, and its effects have been a little tested by 
time, would be surely saying little enough of what will hereafter be 
apparent. It must be obvious that when all of intellect in a whole 
community is brought to bear upon a single subject, with the zeal 
it naturally engenders, the new lights it constantly elicits, the improve¬ 
ments that must necessarily follow steps which all lead directly to 
the adoption of a better system, husbandry with these aids, will as¬ 
sume new forms and be rendered far more lucrative and attractive. 
Can it be otherwise then that our farms will be made more valuable, 
our pursuits more pleasant, our houses more comfortable, and our 
means more abundant 1 This concert of action will have the same 
effect in leading to important results that military combination and 
skill have over the uncombined and ill directed efforts of adisjointed 
but populous community. History teaches us that the united efforts 
of a few hundred have overcome thousands not so trained and con¬ 
nected. Let us avail ourselves of this lesson from history as applied 
to our particular pursuit, and by united effort, if it is guided by in¬ 
telligence, our state will become as eminent for the successful culti¬ 
vation of her soil, as she now is for the elevation which she has at¬ 
tained in her career of internal improvement. Providence has been 
bountiful to us, not only in our location, in giving us a healthy cli¬ 
mate, a fertile soil, streams to float away our produce to the best 
markets, and strength of body to encounter the fatigues incident to 
the improvement of these great advantages,—but, has the mind 
heretofore borne her share with the toils of the body 1 My observa¬ 
tion tells me not. Let us henceforward call her into active requisi¬ 
tion, to aid the operations of our hands, and their joint labors will 
make our pursuits not only more pleasant, but infinitely more profit¬ 
able. But what can concentration of effort effect without we have 
the aid of agricultural journals to inform the public mind ? The an¬ 
swer must be—nothing. We have, however, these invaluable re¬ 
sources, and thanks to the intelligence of our community, they are 
daily becoming more numerous, interesting and instructive. It is 
but a few years since the first of these was established, and then it 
was more in the nature of an experiment. That day has gone by; 
the experiment, after years of trial, was successful, and we have now 
four valuable journals in circulation, and in successful operation in 
this state. From their reports, the numbers of their subscribers have 
materially increased within the last year, and it argues well for the 
public taste that political papers occasionally publish useful agricul¬ 
tural essays in their columns, as it clearly indicates a growing de¬ 
sire in their readers, who are generally farmers, for information up¬ 
on their particular pursuit. The last year has been peculiarly au¬ 
spicious on this subject. In every part of the state the calls for the 
publication of agricultural articles have been numerous, and cheer¬ 
fully responded to, and the State Agricultural Society now makes 
its particular acknowledgments to editors of newspapers in every 
county in this state, for giving publicity to such communications as 
they have done themselves the honor to furnish them. We trust 
the editors of our state will continue to keep open their columns to 
all that tends to the improvement of agriculture, inasmuch as by 
their general circulation in all classes of our citizens, they diffuse 
most extensively whatever information they contain. 
In conformity with a resolution of this society, Ambrose Spencer, 
Horatio Hickok and Jesse Buel were appointed a committee to re¬ 
port a memorial to the legislature, praying that legislative provi¬ 
sion be made for a State Agricultural School. In conformity with 
the above resolution, a petition was prepared and presented to both 
senate and assembly, in February, 1833. In both branches reports 
favorable to the object solicited were made, and I must refer the 
society to the report of Mr. Sudani of the senate, and Gen. Skinner 
of the assembly, in which the advantages that would result from the 
establishment of such an institution are both ably and eloquently 
pourtrayed. In neither branch of the legislature were these reports 
acted upon. It was thought most judicious at first to inform the 
public of the object contemplated, and the purpose it was to answer, 
trusting that as the public mind became enlightened, it would per¬ 
ceive the necessity of the institution thus sought, the great benefits 
that would follow from it, and that if it met with a general ap¬ 
proval, the public voice would at the proper time call for it. The 
call lias been made : petitions from many counties in the state have 
this year been presented to the house ; public bodies have given the 
project their sanction. The extremes of the state, from Long-Island 
to St. Lawrence and Erie, have united with the centre in a voice of 
approval, and the more the subject is canvassed, the more deep and 
abiding is the impression of the great benefits that will flow from the 
establishment of an agricultural school. In due time we trust our 
hopes will be consummated. 
There has also been a general wish expressed within the last year, 
throughout every part of the state, for legislative aid to enable the 
county agricultural societies to offer and pay premiums for articles 
thought worthy of them. The object is extremely laudable in itself, 
and as the premiums are among the aliments essential to the exis¬ 
tence of such societies, we trust the boon will not be denied. Are- 
solution was likewise passed at the meeting of the State Agricultu¬ 
ral Society, in 1833, that annual fairs be held at New-York and Al¬ 
bany, and that the first attempt be made in the then ensuing autumn. 
A correspondence was opened with the municipal officers of each of 
these cities to give effect to the resolution of the society. By an 
unavoidable delay, it could not be carried into effect in New-York, 
but it was in Albany. A fair was held under the auspices of this 
society at the latter place, which, although it was the first, fully met 
public expectation. It was visited by gentlemen from almost every 
portion of our state, by many from the eastern states, and those 
that were most competent to form an opinion of its merits, from hav¬ 
ing attended similar displays elsewhere, declared, that in the varie¬ 
ty, excellence and value of the stock, particularly the cattle exhibit¬ 
ed, the fair at Albany was most abundantly successful. 
From the foregoing imperfect survey of the operations of this so¬ 
ciety for the last year, we have every inducement to persevere. We 
ought to be gratified at the success that has thus far crowned our 
efforts. We see hundreds of intelligent men springing up in every 
section of our state, willing to aid and share in our labors—the whole 
community alive and awake to the subject of farther improvement, 
and each individual member of it solicitous to perform his part in this 
general march of mind for the attainment of these great objects. 
It is only for the society to give a proper direction to these efforts, 
and make them subservient to the advancement of agricultural in¬ 
dustry and prosperity, and her benefits will be felt and acknowledged 
throughout everv portion of our state. 
.T. P. BEEKMAN, Cor. Sec. N. Y. Ag. Society. 
Kinderhoolc, March 5, 1834. 
