THE CULTIVATOR 
as* 
43 
N, Y, State Agricultural Society, 
Albany, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 1840. 
The Society met pursuant to adjournment, at the City 
Hotel in Albany, on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 1840. The Presi¬ 
dent Anthony Van Bergen, of Greene, took the chair, 
and Jesse Buel, of Albany, was appointed Secretary 
pro. tern. After the disposal of the usual preliminary 
business, 
On motion of Mr. Beekman, 
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to 
report the names of suitable persons, for officers of the 
Society for the ensuing year. 
The Chair appointed Messrs. J. P. Beekman, of Co¬ 
lumbia, J. B. Nott, of Schenectady, J. J. Viele, of Rens¬ 
selaer, J. L’Amereux, of Albany, and T. St. John, of 
Fulton, on said committee. 
The report of the Treasurer, was then read, accept¬ 
ed, and ordered filed, showing a balance remaining in 
the treasury, of $84 03. , , , 
Mr. Nott, from the committee appointed at the last 
meeting to memoralize the Legislature at its last ses¬ 
sion for an appropriation in aid of the cause of agri¬ 
culture, reported that all the duties devolving on that 
committee had been performed. _ 
On motion, a committee, consisting of Messrs. Nott, 
Beekman, and Walsh, was appointed to seiect subjects 
to be reported on at the next annual meeting of the So- 
ciety. 
Adjourned till to-morrow at 11 o’clock, A. M. 
Wednesday, Feb. 5, 1840. 
The Society met pursuant to adjournment. The mi¬ 
nutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. 
On motion of Mr. J. B.Nott, 
Resolved, That this Society will hold a semi-annual 
meeting on the-day of-in the town of-in 
the county of- ; and that the Executive Committee 
make the requisite arrangements for that purpose, and 
give suitable notice of the time and place at which the 
meeting will be held, provided they receive sufficient en¬ 
couragement from any county to induce them to believe 
that the objects of the Society will be advanced by such 
meeting, and that they will use their utmost endeavors 
to induce the farmers of the neighborhood, to meet the 
Society on that occasion; and also to secure the exhibi¬ 
tion of farm stock and implements, as well as plowing 
matches. . . 
Resolved, That the committees appointed on Agricul¬ 
tural subjects, be requested to report as far as practica¬ 
ble at said semi-annual meeting. 
The following preamble and resolution, offered by 
Mr. J. J. Viele, were adopted: 
Whereas, the present is a crisis in the history of our 
Agricultural Society requiring the most jealous and ac¬ 
tive exertions of the friends of improvement; and where¬ 
as we are fully persuaded that much good may be effected 
not only to individuals but to the community at large, 
by the united association and joint efforts of enlighten¬ 
ed and patriotic individuals—thereupon 
Resolved, That we, as a Society and as individuals, 
pledge to each other and to the community at large, our 
renewed exertions to build up and extend the influence 
of this association. 
On motion of Mr. J. P. Beekman, 
Resolved, That the Executive Committee of this So¬ 
ciety be requested to draw public attention to the annu¬ 
al meeting of this Society, to be held in February next, 
and that they take active measures for that purpose, 
by publications or otherwise, and that they report to the 
next meeting, the steps they have taken to carry into ef¬ 
fect this resolution. 
On motion of Mr. J. B. Duane, 
Resolved, That this Society most earnestly recommend 
to the friends of Agriculture throughout the counties of 
this State, immediately to organize county societies, and 
to send delegates to the State Agricultural Society the 
ensuing year. , 
The Society then adjourned to meet at the Capitol at 
3 o’clock, P. M. 
tance, and one that has been heretofore discharged with such 
ability and research, that I feel very great diffidence in en¬ 
tering upon it. 
Having, for many years, been nothing more than a plain, 
practical farmer, to digest a treatise on any subject, even on 
my own business, has not fallen in the range of my occu¬ 
pations, and to make addresses, other than to my workmen 
and my neighbors, has not entered into my habits. But, 
gentlemen, it does not become a plain-hearted yeoman to 
make apologies, and therefore 1 proceed to my duty, rely¬ 
ing with confidence on your forbearance and good sense. 
It would be unpardonable in any one occupying this place 
on this occasion, neither will my feelings permit me, to pass 
in silence, the lamented removal, by death, of one of my 
predecessor presidents of this Society, the veteran and vene¬ 
rable patron, and almost the pioneer in agricultural improve¬ 
ments in this state, Jesse Buel, Esq. Like good old Cin- 
cinnatus, he left the field of politics and the cares of the 
state, to hold the plow and direct the labors of the field. In 
manners, plain and unassuming—in intercourse, open and 
conciliating—in knowledge of agriculture and the kindred 
sciences, various and profound—in labor for the common 
good, prompt, self-denying, and energetic—in theory, the 
farthest from visionary and speculative—in experiment, cau¬ 
tious and perseveiing—in his qualities as a man, a citizen 
and a politician, frank, honest, independent, unimpeacha¬ 
ble, Judge Buel was a pattern of worth, whose like we can 
not often find—whose loss will be severely felt, not only by 
his afflicted family, with whom we sincerely sympathise, 
but by a discerning public and an extended community. But 
as an able and adequate pen is engaged to prepare a memo¬ 
rial of his worth and our esteem, I forbear from saying more. 
Gentlemen, the burden of our intercourse to-day, is, the 
tillage of the ground, and this shall also be the burden of 
this address. This employment has been degraded by the 
proud and the indolent—regarded as secondary by the learn¬ 
ed, and the mercantile classes, and all who found it easier 
to live by their wits or by speculation, than by labor or fru¬ 
gality—and it has been undervalued by the community very 
generally. I can not deny that there have been some just 
grounds for considering this occupation as connected with 
low thoughts and narrow views; for too often have farmers 
neglected the cultivation of their rninds—the study of the 
constitution and laws of the country—even the news of the 
day—and thus have sunk to the humblest level of the com¬ 
munity, and their transactions have been marked by an en¬ 
tire want of liberality and enterprise; and so their business 
has been identified with themselves, and comparatively 
degraded. But this inference is exceedingly unfair. For, 
by this rule, we might degrade the vocation of the lawyer, 
the physician, and even the minister of religion; for often 
there have been low and unworthy members of these pro¬ 
fessions. But if we judge of the employment of the agri¬ 
culturist, by the testimony and action of the wisest and best, 
of men, we shall conclude that it is as honorable as it is in¬ 
dependent and profitable. In ancient times, not a few men 
of patriarchal renown, and of senatorial dignity, were til¬ 
lers of the soil; and this vocation has the example of the first 
of men, and the seal of the Creator himself. When he 
created man, he made him not a student, a philosopher, a 
statesman, a manufacturer—but a tiller of the ground. He 
placed him in a beautiful garden, studded on every side with 
trees that were attractive to the sight, and good for fruit, 
and bade him dress it and keep it. Here is a fine example of 
taste, for the walks of rural life. How appropriate for a 
farmer to have his habitation encompassed with trees that 
are pleasant to the eye and good for fruit, situated in the 
midst of a garden, where the fruits of his labor may smile 
upon him, as at noon, amidst the heat of the mid-day sun, 
he rests awhile from his tail; or in the morning or evening, 
within his piazza, trellised with vines, he reads the daily 
news, studies useful books, or meditates on the wonders and 
mercies of his God. 
I ask whether an employment thus directed, by the greatest 
and best of beings—exemplified by the worthiest of men— 
calculated to purify the heart, cultivate taste, and nurse de¬ 
votion, can be wanting in dignity, although its votary may 
go forth to his work in the broad-brimmed hat of straw, or 
in the soiled and unsightly frock of hemp or tow. I do not 
undervalue any honest and honorable walk of life; but I may 
affirm, that all are dependent upon and therefore subordi¬ 
nate to the business of the cultivator. The powers of the 
mind cannot be exerted without strength in the body. How¬ 
ever the man of simple study may think himself raised above 
the gross connections of sense, yet he must eat—he cannot 
subsist on the unsubstantial productions of his genius—he 
must have that bread which is gotten by the sweat of the 
farmer’s brow. 
Assembly Chamber, 3 o'clock, P. M. 
The Society met pursuant to adjournment. J. P. 
Beekman, Esq., from the committee to report the names 
of officers of the Society for the ensuing year, made the 
following report which was unanimously adopted : 
FRANCIS ROTCH, of Otsego, President. 
J. B. Duane, of Schenectady, I 
H. D. Grove, of Rensselaer, 
A. Walsh, do. } Vice Presidents. 
J. J. Viele, do. 
S. Van Rensselaer, Albany, J 
Luther Tucker, of Albany, Cor. Secretary. 
W. Cooper, of Albany, Rec. Secretary. 
C. N. Bement, of Albany, Treasurer. 
J. B. Nott, of Schenectady, 
J. P. Beekman, of Columbia, > Ex. Committee. 
A. Van Bergen, of Greene, ) 
The President delivered the following 
Address. 
Fellow-Citizens—Cultivators of the Soil: 
For the honor of being called to the Presidency of this 
Society, and to the duty of addressing you on this occasion, 
I would render to you my unfeigned thanks. This is an 
honor to which, among so many of my fellow-agriculturists, 
older and more experienced than myself, I could have but a 
feeble claim, and this is a duty of such extent and impor¬ 
However the merchant, with bleached hands and well lined 
purse, may contemn the hard toil, brown visage, and mode¬ 
rate gains of the farmer, yet would his store-houses contain 
“ a beggarly account of empty boxes,” if it W'ere not for the 
grain and raw material, which the strong sinew T s and dili¬ 
gent exertions of the husbandman had produced. The me¬ 
chanic, as he plies his profitable toil in the well enclosed 
shop, shielded from heat in summer and cold in winter, may 
congratulate himself that he escapes the hardships of the far¬ 
mer, as in summer he pants under the direct rays of the sun, 
or amid w inter’s snow he cuts his wood or quarries his stone, 
or carries his products to market; but equally destitute would 
the mechanic be of the materials he works, or the food that 
keeps him alive, if the tiller of the ground should cease his 
labor. This is, then, manifestly the primary employment 
of man—first in order—first in necessity and importance. 
Before science had struggled into birth—before mechanics had 
studied out the form of the spade, or the invention of the 
plow, husbandry had begun to supply the wants of man. 
And as science and mechanical skill arise, it challenges for 
itself a study profound as theirs, and claims them not as 
leaders but as mere auxiliaries. 
Agriculture implies and subjects the sciences and the arts. 
The farmer by vocation, also partly a shepherd, as at early 
dawn he goes forth, when the stars are still shining, or at eve 
when he houses his flocks and herds, and as he finds that 
certain influence* of the heavens modify things on earth, be¬ 
comes a practical astronomer, and ought to be a scientific one 
His business involves the laws of chemistry, botany and 
geology. By the last, he is to judge of soils and their fitness 
for certain products; by the second he must determine what 
plants are most suitable to his soil and climate; by the first 
he must be instructed in that most important branch of know, 
edge to the farmer, the nature and composition of manures, 
and their fitness to the several kinds of grain and fruits ho 
proposes to cultivate. The laws of mechanics are before his 
eyes every day. With the crowbar in hand, he daily em¬ 
ploys the lever; under his barrack you will find the screw, 
which he uses every day when he elevates its roof. Go 
with him to the forest and see him use the inclined plane and 
pulley, as he heaves the rail cut on his sleigh or wagon, or 
the W'edge as he cleaves it into fencing stuff. At the pent 
stock, near his door, where he waters his cattle, he studied 
the first problem of hydrostatics. Perhaps by the sulphur 
spring that bubbles along the margin of the meadow, he may 
be led to think on mineralogy. Thus does his science stand 
at the head of the honored catalogue: or if there is a circle 
of the sciences, ours is the centre around which the rest are 
ranged. 
The profession of the farmer has suffered by both extremes 
of theory and of practice. Some mere theoretical farmers 
have pursued their visionary notions of book farmers so far, 
as to make themselves the laughing stock of all sensible men, 
and have, in the end, brought ruin upon themselves and dis¬ 
grace upon theory. Others who have been mere practical 
farmers, have so stubbornly adhered to the customs of past 
generations, as to reject the valuable discoveries of science, 
proved by experiments, and thus have dragged half a cen¬ 
tury behind the age, and lost half the profits they might have 
made. It will be evident that the perfection of our art lies 
in the golden medium between these extremes. Let all theo¬ 
retical suggestions be tested by experiments on such a scale 
as to show their value, without endangering the main in¬ 
terest of the farmer; and then when their own observation 
shall have distinguished between the visionary and the valua¬ 
ble, they will be prepared with confidence to reject the one 
and to adopt the other. Then only, when agriculture shall 
have the boundaries of theory and practice well defined, the 
laws of each well understood, and the system distinctly set¬ 
tled and set forth, will it rise in the estimation of a discern¬ 
ing public, to the level of the professions of law, physio 
and theology. 
But this great object can be effected only by liberal, ener¬ 
getic and concerted action. The patrons, admirers and 
friends of agricultural improvements, must unite with the 
practical farmers of the state, in endowing a normal school 
and farm in which all the sciences connected with husband¬ 
ry shall be taught, and where the best modes of tillage shall 
be exemplified. I could not give a suggestion as to the size 
of the farm, or the scale of expenditures in the school, but 
I may observe in general, that the location should be cen¬ 
tral and easy of access; the land should be so chosen as to 
unite specimens of the several soils from the pure sand to 
the pure clay; the buildings should be models for a farming 
establishment, only that they should be sufficiently extensive 
to accommodate professors, students, and laborers. To 
commence, one professor of the theoretical branches, and 
one able practical farmer might be sufficient. Here, young 
gentlemen intended for agricultural pursuits should spend a 
year or more, studying and laboring alternately, until they 
were masters of the theory and practice. To accomplish 
this project, all necessary legislative aid would be readily 
granted, whenever the legislature should perceive by the 
liberality of private donations, and the earnestness and num¬ 
ber of petitions, that a great body of their constituents de¬ 
manded such a measure. Of the necessity and benign ef¬ 
fects of such an institution there can be no reasonable doubt. 
For if skill in farming is no more intuitive to man than dex¬ 
terity in mechanical operations, then it is as necessary that he 
should be carefully taught the one as the other. And if know'- 
ledge and competence be important elements in our tempo¬ 
ral happiness, then the institution which furnishes the surest 
means of attaining them is one of the highest interest to man. 
And how many blessings would it diffuse through society, if 
a cultivated mind should elevate the laboring man above low 
pursuits; and well directed industry should fill his barn and 
Ilia larder with plenty. 
The success of this Society must be a source of pride and 
gratification to us all. The position it has assumed in the 
community—the interest it imparts to the cultivator of the 
soil, may well inspire emotions of exultation. It is an ob¬ 
ject of too great importance to be suffered to decline. But 
onus, fellow-members, the charge especially devolves; and 
we are called upon to cherish its interests, to promote its 
prosperity. But the progress of the time, and other exer¬ 
cises which will claim attention, admonish me to close this 
address. 
It only remains, gentlemen, that I should congratulate yon 
on the abundant encouragement with which a benign Provi¬ 
dence has crowned our labors through the past year. Our 
country overflows with the productions of the farm. Our 
barns are pressing out, our store-houses are filled with plenty. 
The voice of gladness has rung through the land. Gentle¬ 
men, I have no doubt you will cordially join with me in 
giving thanks to that Almighty Parent who rules the chang¬ 
ing year, makes the sun to shine, the rain to descend, clothes 
the fields with beauty and abundance, and fills our houses 
with comfort. Gentlemen, I fervently wish that He may 
grant many blessings to you, and prosperity to our cause. 
Professor Amos Dean, of Albany, having been select* 
ed by the Society, to prepare a Memoir of the late Hon. 
Jesse Buel, pronounced the following 
Eulogy. 
The treasures of the Republic are to be found in the worth, 
the virtues, the intelligence, and the integrity of the citizen. 
He alone sustains the burdens, as he receives the benefits, 
of all our institutions, our frames of government, our plans 
of policy. 
The mere citizen, uncontrolled by higher powers, and un¬ 
aided by adventitious circumstances, has been, in truth, but 
a recent actor in the affairs of our world. The great instru¬ 
ments of change in the political condition of nations, hava 
been principally the slave and the subject. In the revolu¬ 
tions that have waited upon human affairs, we have witness¬ 
ed almost every thing dominant in its turn. The despot, the 
demagogue, the monarch, the aristocrat, have each and all 
had their day of trial and of triumph. Let the honest, intel¬ 
ligent, unpretending citizen now have his. He claims it ia 
