DEFECTS AND DESTINIES OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. [Remarks of WM, P. VAN RENSSELAER, President of the Agricultural Society of Rensselaer county.]

THE celebration of the Annual Fair of the Rensselaer County Agricultural Society has excited an interest becoming the occasion, and is an evidence of the high claims which its object has upon community at large.

Agriculture is a pursuit which, above all others, distinguishes a state of civilization, and the progress of its improvement furnishes a test as well of the prosperity as of the intelligence of society. Upon it, as a basis, are erected all the frame-work and superstructure of the useful arts; its influence, too, is expansive in the highest degree, and with every new impulse it reaches the utmost bounds of individual enterprize. It gives wings to commerce and impetus to manufacturing industry, and sets in motion the various mechanic arts; it fixes the value of money, and the crops form the standard which regulates exchanges between the different portions of tho globe. The growth of the city depends upon the wealth which the country pours into its lap, and the increase of population upon those resources which the earth supplies. To the never-failing returns which the harvest brings in its annual round, kingdoms and republics alike look for the means of national aggrandizement and permanent prosperity.

These are truisms which all feel and appreciate, and justify the general estimation and preference given to the occupations of a country life from that early period when the classic muse gave dignity to the pursuits of the husbandman, to this day, when the energies of civil ized man are directed to reduce a vast continent in subjection to the agricultural arts. It is obvious then, that every effort made to meliorate the condition of agriculture, is deserving the highest attention, as by it wealth is created and diffused, and society mainly benefitted. It must be admitted, however, that though the earth teems with plenty, its cultivation has not produced in this country those results which should have accompanied labor and flowed from capital. In England and other European kingdoms, large districts are found in the highest state of cultivation, and so abundant are the returns, that the value of the land for farming purposes is enhanced altogether beyond our American ideas of agricultural property. Land for such purposes, although not equal in fertility to such as with us is considered of inferior quality, will

nearly command by the acre a price for which a good-sized farm may here be purchased. Although many causes tend to create this inequality in value, still much of it is owing to the improved state of agriculture in the old world and the careless mode of farming in the new.

It might perhaps naturally be supposed that nothing novel could be advanced respecting an occupation which has been man's constant study from the earliest ages of his existence-that the experience of many generations would have systematized this department of knowledge, and reduced to certainty those rules on which practical success depends yet, so far is this from being the fact, that through our ignorance of Nature and its constitution of things, from want of continued and persevering observation and a rigid analysis of cause and effect, nothing has been more devoid of system, or more uncertain in practice, than the Profession of Agriculture. The question then arises, in view of the increasing importance of an improved husbandry, how shall the end in view be obtained? how shall we most successfully introduce those principles which shall place our agriculture in a position to be benefitted by the experiments and deductions of science?

Among the most obvious methods of securing this object, is that pursued in almost every other vocation, viz. an association of effort. Instead of the farmer working at random, or by such aids as his own individual experience suggests, let his knowledge be enlarged and his information extended by interchange of opinion and intercourse with others in the same pursuit. If in accomplishing other great ends, of interest to the community, it has been found highly useful to concen trate into a common stock all the particular knowledge that can be collected, to serve as a fund from which those who wish to profit may draw; if the man of science have his institute, where he is aided in his researches by the labors and talents of his associates; if the merchant have his board of commerce, where all matters pertaining to his calling are watched over and perfected; if the manufacturer, by a home league, studies to subserve his particular interest, why should the agriculturist, without whose labor none other could exist, and whose occupation is paramount to all, omit to obtain like results in a similar way? It is by concentration of effort that the improvements characteristic of our times have been accomplished. Hence, some years ago, by the exertion of a few public-spirited individuals who aimed at establishing a more complete system of agriculture in this State, societies were organized in every county. It was supposed, by an annual exhibition of the products of farming, by bringing into comparison the

results of labor, by encouraging experiments in the various branches of domestic industry, and exciting a laudable competition, that much useful knowledge would be diffused, and a zeal enlisted that would insure its own reward. So commendable a design, nevertheless, failed: whether it were owing to the imperfect manner in which a commencement was made, or through an inherent defect in the plan, or a want of conviction of its utility among the agricultural class generally, or whether from those petty jealousies which often intrude to mar the best devised schemes for the public good, these societies, with hardly an exception, disappeared from view after a short and languishing existence. Yet they were not without some good effect remotely in producing a better state of things among the large class of the cultivators of the soil; public attention was aroused and a spirit of inquiry awakened, which resulted in the establishment of several Agricultural Journals, conveying much useful information, and where subjects were discussed of the highest interest to the farmer. Many practical principles were thus established, and their importance pressed upon the notice of landholders. Thus the way was prepared for more enlarged results; and in consequence, the public voice demanded the resuscitation of the New-York State Agricultural Society, whose object, comprising the interests of the great body of our population, commends itself in a manner deserving every encouragement-and it is hoped that through the patronage bestowed upon it, it will be the means of introducing a higher order of agricultural skill. In projecting a mode of effecting its important purpose, it was thought that County Societies would be most useful auxiliaries, and hence, by a subsequent act of the Legislature, such local associations were recognized, and an appropriation from the public treasury was apportioned among the different counties in the ratio of their population, upon condition that a like sum should be raised in each county by voluntary subscription. Such are the circumstances attending the formation of the Society whose anniversary we celebrate, and it becomes us to consider in what way we can best promote the purposes of its existence.

Agriculture has only recently been appreciated in its full importance: the late discoveries in chemistry and geology which have been brought to bear upon it, show what a wide field it opens for our investigation, and what vast improvements in theory as well as in practice must be made by those who would cultivate the soil to the best advantage. The primary object of labor being to obtain the largest results with given means, it will at once be seen that something more is required

than mere physical force or manual dexterity. As a knowledge of the heavens and the planetary motions is not obtained by sight, but by study, and thought and research, taxing the intellect; so also the earth on which we tread, has its mysteries, which require a high degree of intelligence to comprehend. It needs a close observance of the facts which Nature places before us, an enlarged experience as to the manner in which she performs her part, and under what circumstances coöperation can be given in aiding her beneficent designs. Her intentions are not to be disregarded; her secrets must be sought out by patient research, and when developed, are to be considered in every possible light, that her silent agency may not be misunderstood. Agriculture is a science which embraces a most extensive range of knowledge; and it is undergoing the investigation of some of the most learned men of the day. The various soils and the substances which enter into their composition, the chemical ingredients which form their character, their mineral properties which affect particular growths, the diversified compounds which form the best and most profitable fertilizers, the manner in which their agency is exerted, the modes of tillage, the proper rotation of crops, the best system of fallowing, the advantages of the root culture, and the various methods of preparing the ground for cultivation, are some of the leading topics, to the elucidation of which, experiment has been directed with a view to profitable results. A natural inquiry arises, why American agriculture lags behind that of other nations. It would be supposed that in a new country, where land is cheap and free from many restrictions which elsewhere encumber it; where the soil is in the full vigor of its natural strength; where, moreover, intelligence is so widely diffused and knowledge so easily obtainable; that every modern improvement would at once be appropriated and made to minister largely to the farmer's necessities. Industry has not been wanting among us, for no people are more fond of hard labor or more capable of endurance than our enterprizing population; yet the rewards of toil are by no means what they might be, or commensurate with the advantages with which we are favored. Abroad, the capitalist at once makes use of scientific discoveries and secures the benefits which successful experiment has tested, while too often we follow the trodden path, rejecting the guides which the learned proffer for our assistance, and pursue a losing course, while the road to wealth is quite as accessible and more easily travelled. Old errors and prejudices, which, like ill weeds, are of strong and tenacious growth, have been allowed too much sway; and the same sys

tem which has been pursued for generations, appeals to the force of habit for its continuance. Our older publications, however, show that agricultural knowledge is increasing among us the timid doubt there expressed has been oftentimes resolved, and the cautious suggestion hesitatingly made has been approved, and is daily acted upon as a thing of course that farther changes will be made and gradually gain favor, is apparent from the great and increasing interest with which all that appertains to this subject is viewed.

In noticing some of the prominent defects of our agriculture, it may be remarked that the system is chiefly deficient in not being based upon scientific knowledge. "Book learning" has been despised as unfit for the realities and practical details of a farmer's life, and the deductions of science have often gained ground by mere accident, or have been indebted to the concurrence of some fortunate circumstance for their introduction. A leading object of this Society then is, to make known at its fairs and annual meetings, as well the experience of the farmer, as to promulgate new discoveries in the art of culture, and by competition to stimulate the zeal, and by honorary rewards to excite the ambition of those who have the means and the power of improving our home industry. We may thus hope to see a better system of agriculture introduced, and the farmer instead of working at random, will be governed by the same rules with which others have attained their object. The law under which we are organized requires that they to whom a premium may be awarded for a crop, shall give in writing an accurate description of the whole process of cultivation, with all the circumstances attending it. This one feature alone in the plan of these societies must have the effect of embodying a mass of information from practical husbandmen from which the greatest benefit may be anticipated. Were it to have no other result than to excite inquiry and lead to judicious experiment, a great point is gained; for, be it remembered, we require a system of husbandry of our own. Our climate and new soil and local condition require a peculiar application even of well-established principles, and what may answer a purpose in England or Germany, may be entirely unadapted to our situation. We are not to follow blindly the practice of those countries whence we derive most of our agricultural books, and whence we import the finest stock of animals, for nothing in this matter may be taken on trust. Though we may not have reached the high cultivation which other countries have attained, it by no means follows that the same principles are to be carried out by the same routine. A process of culture