THE CULTIVATOR. 
him materially in expressing his ideas. Farmers arc 
not wanting in talent, in natural capacity ; they need 
only practice to enable them to explain to others clearly 
and forcibly their own persuasions : and this practice is 
afforded by a club, where everyone feels free to express 
himself, and obliged to contribute something to the 
general fund. The formation of a club would also ena¬ 
ble the farmers in every town to own an agricultural 
library, and to have the'reading of all the best agri¬ 
cultural journals. If at the outset twenty farmers con¬ 
tribute five dollars each, the club will have the means 
of purchasing many of the standard works on agricul¬ 
ture, and with them can form the nucleus of a library 
which can be increased as funds will permit. Another 
advantage, which should not be krt sight of, is the 
beneficial effect which these club meetings would have 
on the sons of farmers and the youth generally. They 
would be led to regard farming as a rational and pleas¬ 
ing pursuit, rather than a slavish drudgery, and would 
turn their attention to studying agriculture, and to ob¬ 
servation, instead of avoiding everything that savors 
of the soil. 
With these remarks, at the request of several cor¬ 
respondents^we present the following form of organiza¬ 
tion, which is hot essentially different from others be¬ 
fore published, and may be modified to suit localities 
and circumstances :— 
PREAMBLE. 
Whereas, we believe that by familiar consultation, mutual 
assistance and organized effort, our knowledge of the theory 
and practice of agriculture may be much increased, and 
rendered more immediately and lastingly useful both to our¬ 
selves and others; and as we are determined to avail our¬ 
selves of every means in our power to aid the.work of agri¬ 
cultural improvement, and to ascertain as rapidly as possible 
the principles of successful farming ; 
Resolved, That we form ourselves into an association, and’ 
adopt ibr our government the following Constitution and 
By-Laws : 
CONSTITUTION. 
Article 1. The style of this society shall be the Farmers’ 
Club of--. Its object shall be die discussion of agricultural 
subjects, the cultivation of our minds, and tiie improvement 
of the agriculture of this town. 
Art. 2. Any person residing in the town may become a 
member of the society, by paying into its treasury the sum 
of one dollar annually. 
Art. 3. The officers of the society shall be a President, 
one Vice President from each school district, a Secretary, a 
Treasurer and a Committee of three, to be chosen from the 
Vice Presidents, who, with the President and Secretary, ; shall 
constitute the Executive Board of the Club. 
Art. 4. The Club sliaU hold regular semi-monthly meet¬ 
ings at such time and place as shall be designated by the 
Executive Committee, from the first of December to the 
first of April; and monthly meetings during the remaining 
months. 
Art. 5. The Executive Committee shall have the general 
supervision of the Club ; prepare and present topics for dis¬ 
cussion : expend the funds of the society for such books and 
agricultural publications as will in their judgment best further 
the purposes cf the Club. 
Art. 6 . The Secretary shall keep a full record of the dis¬ 
cussions of each meeting, and record them in such form as 
to make them permanently accessible for reference. 
Art. 7 Each member shall, in the course of the year, 
make a full statement in writing of the condition of his farm’ 
the crops raised, his mode of treatment and the yield per 
acre, together with the actual amount of profit accruing from 
his farm; which statements shall be filed and preserved in 
the library of the Club. 
Slick By-Laws as will secure the most regular at¬ 
tendance and serve to awaken the greatest interest, 
should he adopted ; and what these should be, those 
who form the Club will be the best judges. The topics 
for discussion should be fixed upon at least one month 
in advance, and every member should make it his busi¬ 
ness to inform himself thoroughly on the subject previ¬ 
ous to the meeting. At the early meetings such sub¬ 
jects as the following might be discussed with profit : 
What soils are best adapted for the growth of wheat, 
corn, oats, potatoes, turneps, &c. % and what manures 
have been found most beneficial for these crops ? What 
rotation of crops is the most advantageous on upland, 
and what on intervale farms? What are the best 
methods of securing barn-yard manure, and of man¬ 
aging a compost heap? What mode of applying ma¬ 
nure insures the greatest benefit to the soil ? What 
soils should be selected for the growth of fruit? and 
what is the best method of preparing the soil for and 
cultivating fruit trees ? What are the advantages of 
deep or subsoil plowing ? What breed of cows are 
most profitable for dairy purposes ? What.breed of 
sheep are most profitable to the farmer ? In addition 
to these a great variety of subjects growing out of 
farm management, and the culture of different crops 
will arise, which may be debated with profit and inter¬ 
est to every farmer. 
If it should be found impracticable to enlist large 
number of farmers at first, let a few (a half dozen is 
enough for a commencement) form such a club, and 
the advantages of it will soon be so apparent that more 
will fall in and aid in sustaining it. The excuse that 
you have no one in your town who is competent to take 
the direction of such an association, is a weak one. 
Just organize a Club, with the determination to make 
it useful to yourselves; and it- will raise up men to 
maintain and improve it. 
Since the above was written, we have received the 
following : 
Amenla, Ducliess co., Nov, 4th, 1853. 
Mr. Tucker :—You solicit information in relation 
to a constitution for Farmers’ Clubs. I would refer 
you to the February number of the Cultivator for 1847, 
page 62. 
I would suggest, in addition to this constitution, that 
farmers carry samples of the corn, wheat and other 
grains they raise, also fruits ; and by comparing their 
productions and mode of treatment, they would be 
able to discover errors in names and cultivation. 
A club was formed in our school district on a plan 
similar to the one referred to, and though wise ones 
looked cunning out of the corners of their eyes, and 
ridiculed the idea of improving from such a source, we 
met regularly once a week in the school house, and I 
venture to say that the farmers in this district would 
not be willing to part with the knowledge gained by 
thus interchanging opinions, for all the over wise will 
learn while pursuing their old fashioned course. Notes 
or minutes were kept and published in our village pa¬ 
per, which now form a convenient reference. Plans for 
experiments were laid out at our closing meeting in the 
spring on different grains, grasses and the action of va¬ 
rious manures on different soils, which are to be report¬ 
ed on at our first meeting in December next. Yours, 
Geo. W. Coffin 
