362 
THE CULTIVATOR 
We have given but a meagre outline of these valuable 
papers—those who wish to understand the details of the 
process, with many other interesting particulars, are re- 
ferred to the Transactions of the New-York State Agri¬ 
cultural Society for 1851. 
Agricultural Fairs. 
The importance and usefulness of Agricultural Fairs 
has not been over rated. They have done more than 
any other one means to awaken the desire for improve¬ 
ment, to arouse the ambition to excel, and to furnish 
tangible evidence that superior culture will produce su¬ 
perior products. From small beginnings, these farmers’ 
festivals have extended themselves over a great part of 
our land, and every year vies with its predecessor in the 
beauty, excellence, and variety of its exhibitions. This 
is well; but ambition should not stop here. The farmer, 
the gardener, the breeder, should carry home with him 
something more than his diploma and premium. He 
should acquire, in his experience, the power to carry his 
improvements to a still higher degree of perfection. The 
mere repetition of the same scene, under slightly varying 
circumstances, will soon tire. New elements must mingle 
in the rivalry of every competition, fresh energy must 
be brought to every recent discovery and improvement, 
or we tread in the same beaten circle. 
All the experimenting, thus far, on the different modes 
of culture, on the soils best adapted to certain crops, on 
the manures most efficacious on different soils, and when 
applied to differeent crops, has not demonstrated one 
generally admitted and safe conclusion. Our farmers 
consent to assemble year after year, bringing with them 
the same implements, the same stock, the same articles 
of manufacture, and having received the accustomed 
premium, they go home well satisfied with their progress. 
The failure to derive any lasting good from such exhi¬ 
bitions is directly chargable on the farmers themselves. 
Careful reports have been made of the proceedings of 
each Agricultural Society, which are accessible to the 
mass of farmers, agricultural papers keep their subscri¬ 
bers informed of all the improvements and discoveries 
in culture, and each farmer must systematize the facts for 
himself, and draw his own conclusions as to what is 
adapted to his wants. 
There is no such thing as avoiding the labor necessary 
to arrange the experience of others, so as to appropriate 
it to individual use. Eminence in farming, as in all oth¬ 
er pursuits, must be the result of personal observation 
and study; and the compilation of facts, however valua¬ 
ble, by an editor, will not make amends for the want of 
such personal effort as we speak of. Scientific men will 
do their part faithfully and well—editors will use their 
best exertions to arouse public interest and properly di¬ 
rect it, but “ each man must build over against his own 
house.” The golden age of farming will never come till 
each agriculturist goes thoughtfully about his own work, 
investigates and decides for himself his own matters of 
economy. Universal intelligence is the sine qua non of 
universal success, and when it comes to be considered as 
important for a farmer to be educated to his profession, 
in order to live by it, as it is in other callings, then, and 
Nov. 
not till then, will the progress of Agriculture be certain 
and constant. 
We venture to say that hundreds of farmers take an 
Agricultural paper, who do not derive from it the slight¬ 
est advantage, merely because they do not classify and 
digest what they read. So, many who attend an Agri¬ 
cultural Fair, gratify only their curiosity for sight-seeing 
—admire, it may be,w T hat is pleasing or novel; but never 
think that their main business should be to inquire into 
the means which have been used in the production of 
premium articles, the manner in which the fine cattle 
are bred, and the advantage of employing improved im¬ 
plements in their farm labor. Too many look with an 
envious spirit upon all that is better than their own, de¬ 
ride what is inferior, and go home to plod on. This-state 
of things may be incident to the comparatively recent 
origin of fairs in many parts of the country; still, we 
think there is an error here which needs correcting. 
We are led to notice another prevalent evil among the 
j agricultural community, and that is a want of organiza¬ 
tion among farmers for promoting their own interests. 
They are not recognisable as a class, save at State and 
County Fairs ■, they claim no rights, assert no privileges, 
demand no exemption, but suffer in silence, or spend 
their strength in fruitless complainings. In other occu¬ 
pations men club together to maintain the position of 
their craft • they call for the protection of their interests, 
and they find means to secure their ends. Mechanic’s in¬ 
stitutes are very common in our large manufacturing 
towns. Young men are taught by their daily experience 
and observation, that superior education and industry are 
necessary to success in their trade, and many a penniless 
apprentice has risen to eminence by his own exertions, 
aided by a library, and whatever other means were in his 
power. On the contraiy, the leading question with our 
farmers too often is, how shall I get independent of my 
calling? how can I avoid the drudgery and toil of it? and 
not how shall I improve my farm the most, and make 
farming the most honorable and delightful of pursuits? 
We want to see a universal consolidation of themasses for 
self-improvement, and the rights and well-being of far¬ 
mers, made foremost in our national councils, as they 
are the most deeply connected with national prosperity. 
When the united voice of the farmers of this republic 
comes up in one cry, they must and will be heard. 
When they come to feel the truth of the remark 
which politicians love to weave into their honied speeches, 
that the u bone and sinew” of the nation’s strength lies 
in them, then will they not sit in sackcloth and ashes at 
the gate of legislative assemblies, but go manfully in and 
take the rights which have been too long entrusted to 
those who neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, 
but eat the fruits of other’s labors. There should be in 
every town a “ Farmer’s Club,” not consisting merely 
of a few of the more wealthy, but of the entire body 
of farmers. This club should own a library of Agricul¬ 
ture, consisting not only of the more popular class of 
agricultural publications, but also of all the foreign 
standard works on this subject. In this way a vast 
amount of instruction and information might be derived, 
and the expense, when divided among a large number 
of farmers would not be very considerable. This club 
