TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND THE MIND. 
New Series. ALBANY. NOVEMBER, 1851. Vol. VIII.— No. 11. 
Agricultural Schools. 
An Institution for practical agricultural education is 
becoming more a desideratum every year. Before the 
soil had suffered from continual draughts upon its pro¬ 
ductiveness, its fertility gave the farmer no reason to 
doubt that its resources were inexhaustible; but when 
his crops, with the same cultivation, are lessened season 
by season, he asks for a remedy for this evil. That ex¬ 
perience alone,®in the same beaten track, will produce 
any higher result, is an idea which the many worn-out 
farms disproves sufficiently. There must be “an install¬ 
ation from the very beginning”—a right commencement, 
and a proper and continued attention to preserving the 
heart and vitality of the soil, if its worth is to be retain¬ 
ed, notj^pnly unimpaired by culture, but always improv¬ 
ing. There are facts connected with tilling the soil, 
which the day-laborer could never discover, or at best, 
only after a succession of repeated failures, which in all 
probability would have made the richest lands almost a 
desert, and the experimenter too old to reap much re¬ 
ward for his exertion. It is urged, on the other hand, 
and with some force, that the laboratory of the chemist 
is not the place to acquire valuable information on prac¬ 
tical agriculture,—that farmers are dependant on the la¬ 
bor of their hands for their support, and have not the 
means to devote the flower of their youth to scientific 
study. It is said that nature is the only proper labora¬ 
tory for the sons of the soil, and the sun, rain and virgin 
earth, all the needful chemical agents. 
That objections like these are not well founded, and 
can have but little weight, must be evident on reflection. 
Soils do deteriorate, crops decrease, fruit trees become 
diseased or die through utter neglect, and the staple 
products of farms suffer from blight, or other unknown 
causes. The investigations of inquiring scholars have 
already thrown much light on these subjects, and agri¬ 
cultural papers have done what they could to keep the 
public informed, and to promote further reseach. Yet 
there is something wanting, and that seems to be a means 
of imparting just the information needed, and that so ex¬ 
plained and brought down to common apprehension, that 
the intelligent culturist can make farther and certain 
progress. To supply this want, efforts have been made 
from year to year to induce the legislature to endow an 
Agricultural College in connection with a model farm, 
but without success. Many think the time has not yet 
come when such an institution can be made successful. 
without greater expense and risk than the demand will 
warrant. 
It has-dong been our opinion, that the true interests of 
agricultural education would be best promoted by the es¬ 
tablishment of an institution like the one proposed by 
Prof. Norton, under the auspices of the University of 
Albany, the prospectus of which was given in our last 
No. It does not propose to make an adept chemist, mi¬ 
neralogist, or geologist of the student; but simply, by a 
course of lectures, adapted to the sphere of the farmer’s 
observation, to acquaint him with the general principles 
of the composition of soils, the best methods of fertiliz- 
and invorating them, the theory of rotation in crops, and 
the general improvement of plants and animals. The 
advantages of such a course of lectures are ably set forth 
in the circular, and the value of the knowledge that can 
be obtained by instruction thus communicated—by the 
mutual sharpening of mind with mind, and the influences 
that cluster around an institution where combined effort 
for a given end is being made, cannot well be estimated. 
To those who have been readers of the Cultivator, we 
need not speak of the ability of Prof. Norton, his clear 
views on all practical as well as scientific subjects, and 
his capacity to impart valuable instruction. Among 
profoundly learned scholars in his department, he holds 
an eminent rank, and his knowledge is of that available 
sort which adapts itself to the popular demand. 
We hope the friends of agricultural education through¬ 
out the state will aid this effort. Provision has been 
made by the Trustees of the University for the gratui¬ 
tous attendance of two young men from each Senatorial 
district in the state, upon the course of lectures the en¬ 
suing winter; and those who feel an interest in this sub¬ 
ject should see that this liberal offer is not lost to the 
community. We know of no way in which so much can 
be accomplished for the cause of'agriculture, at so small 
an expense; and we cannot doubt that the return of a class 
of seventy-five or a hundred young farmers, from such a 
course of instruction, to their summer labors, in diffe¬ 
rent parts of the state, would be the means of awaken¬ 
ing an ardent desire in others to avail themselves of a like 
benefit, and secure without further effort, a full atten¬ 
dance in the future. Thus a sure foundation will be laid, 
upon which can be erected an institution which will sup¬ 
ply our wants, without the possibily of a failure—will 
grow up with our growth, and strengthen with our 
strength. Neither public or private munificence will be 
withheld when the community become convinced that 
our farmers need its enlargement, and will avail them- 
