THIRD 
fn Untjirntti iljt |>nil rail ilfi ffiM- 
SERIES. 
Vol. II. 
ALBANY, FEBRUARY, 1854. 
No. II. 
“We have Compassed this Mountain long enough.” 
HE object of the premiums offered by Agricultu¬ 
ral Societies generally, is two-fold; first, to en¬ 
courage the best kinds of farming, by rewards 
for the best crops, best implements,and the finest 
animals; and secondly to render the fairs so attractive 
by an assemblage of rare and interesting objects, that a 
large multitude may be induced to attend and pay the 
accustomed fee of admittance, to meet the expenses ne¬ 
cessarily incurred. The real and sole object of an agri¬ 
cultural fair, should be to impart valuable information 
to the whole community—it should be a school of in¬ 
struction in farming generally. What portion'of the 
visitors attend for this object, and what portion merely 
to gratify a lovei of novelty and sight-seeing, we leave 
for our readers to decide. Certain it is that the mana¬ 
gers of fairs have found it necessary to their pecuniary 
support, to make objects of mere show an essential por¬ 
tion of. their exhibitions—in some instances they have 
perhaps become too much for show, even at the ex¬ 
pense of what must always form a substantial basis for 
support, namely, lasting utility. So long however as 
the life-blood of agricultural societies consists in the 
fees paid by the multitude, we cannot object to the at¬ 
traction created by the expected presence of Presi¬ 
dents and Governors, Politicians and Generals, for 
these will commonly bring together more of the farm¬ 
ing community, than the finest animals, implements, 
and products in the world; and this will always be 
the case so long as farmers prefer political papers to 
agricultural journals. Our western friends have found 
another element of attraction, by displaying feats of 
horsewomanship through the stimulus of prizes, and so 
great has been the eagerness to see these brilliant ex¬ 
ploits of female equestrians, that twenty thousand per¬ 
sons were drawn together at a single county fair in 
Ohio the past autumn. 
Such modes of attraction as we have mentioned, we 
believe may be admitted even by so grave and digni¬ 
fied an association as an Agricultural Society ; but 
further than these we would not go, nor recommend 
the frivolity and idle amusements which have in a 
very few instances been connected with fairs, turning 
night into day, and setting a very bad example to 
farmers of steady habits,—who find no little trouble, in 
this flashy-age, in retaining the affections of their sons 
and daughters for the quiet and real pleasures of 
home, instead of the gilded follies and hollow enjoy¬ 
ments commonly known under the name of “plea¬ 
sure” Every thing connected with rural advance¬ 
ment, should contribute to a healthful and not to a 
vitiated taste, and when associations or periodicals 
cease to exercise such a salutary influence, it may be 
strongly questioned whether their best act would not 
be to cease to exist. 
But enough of this. The principal object of our 
present remarks is to suggest a change in relation to 
the common mode of offering premiums. Agi’icultural 
societies, from their earliest existence, have traveled 
on nearly in one unvarying track. Premiums,—to 
stimulate the exhibition of rare objects; and the exhi¬ 
bition of rare objects that the .people may be induced 
to come and see them. The premium lists of all are 
essentially the same. The best horses, the best cattle, 
the best sheep, and the best swine; the most promis¬ 
ing looking plow, wheat-drill, threshing machine, and 
reaper; the largest collection of showy fruit, and the 
most- laboriously wrought bedquilt and sewed flower- 
work. Now, some of these objects are most excellent; 
the introduction of fine animals, for example, to the 
myriads of farmers who would never have seen them 
but at such places, nor known of their existence, has 
conferred a benefit on the whole country that can be 
estimated only by millions. A similar influence has 
been exerted by the introduction of improved imple¬ 
ments, and by other improvements. 
A great field lies nearly unexplored, and farmers 
are thirsting for information, which these societies 
have as yet failed to furnish. We allude more partic¬ 
ularly to systematic knowledge relative to cultivation, 
feeding, &c., i'^ich is only to be learned by experi¬ 
ment, carefully, scientifically and rationally conducted. 
The organization and support of agricultural societies 
require that a large portion of the present system of 
premiums be retained: but experiments, such as we 
have mentioned, have been almost wholly overlooked. 
A few premiums have been offered for such experi¬ 
ments, but they have brought out still fewer results. 
Premiums are an insufficient stimulus for their trial. 
Most men seem to have taken it for granted, without 
ever questioning the opinion, that premiums must be 
