214 
Annual Report of the 
some others that were started soon after. The first permanent one 
was the Highland Society of Scotland. Its first annual meeting 
was held in 1784, and was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1787. 
It is still not only living, but is, with one exception, probably the 
most useful association of its kind upon the British Islands. The 
Royal Agricultural Society of England was established in May 
1838, and then consisted of 466 members. In twenty 3 r ears its 
membership had increased to more than ten thousand. It is still 
in successful operation, and bids fair to be still more successful in 
the future than it has in the past. 
The first Agricultural Society in this country was the Philadel¬ 
phia Society for promoting agriculture, established 1785. A few 
others followed previous to 1800. There was one in my native 
county, I think as early as 1810, at which premiums were awarded 
for the best workmanship at different kinds of farm labor. My 
now aged father took the first premium (a silver cup) for doing the 
best plowing; it was sometime between 1810 and 1820. Agricul¬ 
tural societies are now permanently established, and generally well 
supported throughout the civilized portion of the civilized world. 
They have been and still are the means of great good in bringing 
farmers and communities together; in encouraging the backward to 
some improvement^ and stimulating those more advanced to still 
further progress in exchanging ideas, and in many other ways that 
I cannot now stop to mention. 
The first school or college that 1 find devoted to agriculture, was 
started at Hofwyl, in Switzerland, in 1806, by Fellenburg. This 
seems to have been a success from the start. In thirty years no 
less than 3,000 pupils had been trained in agricultural knowledge, 
and made, as is believed, more useful to themselves and the world 
than they otherwise could have become. Since that time many 
other schools have sprung up in different parts of Europe. In 
France, Russia and Prussia they are supported by the general gov¬ 
ernments. In other portions of Europe they exist supported by 
various methods. I need not stop to more than mention the agri¬ 
cultural colleges in our own country; one of them in each state, 
where it is to be hoped they will prove to be permanent bless¬ 
ings to the whole country. 
Agricultural papers seem to be a peculiarly American institution. 
I believe they are not numerous outside of our own country. The 
