_Company at Saratoga—Fast Eating—Notices of Buel Farm—Mr Buel—New
York—State Agricultural Society—Advantages of a young
country—Farmers of Britain and the States—British Agricultural
Societies._
We reached Saratoga, the most celebrated watering-place in America,
about two o’clock, and found accommodation at Congress Hall, the
principal hotel in the village, and capable of accommodating 300
individuals. On retiring to prepare for dinner, my friend and I debated
the nature of the attire in which we should appear—he conceiving it
unnecessary to change our travelling garb, and I thinking it proper to
assume full dress, in expectation of meeting the gay, wealthy, and
polished of the land. We soon found ourselves seated at a second dinner
table, consisting of a numerous company, which the railway coaches had
just brought from Albany. The party displayed few symptoms of
refinement. A gentleman on the opposite side of the table deliberately
folded up the sleeves of his coat before commencing dinner, planted both
elbows on the table, and swallowed his food voraciously, without once
looking to the right or left. I felt, and perhaps looked, disappointed
at the hurried manner in which the party dined; and on the company
leaving table immediately afterwards, my friend enjoyed his triumph of
opinion, and quizzed my shoes and stockings, as a marked singularity
which both of us were anxious to avoid. Tea was served at seven o’clock,
and, as usual, the repast was a regular feeding race. Business may have
originated, but it cannot always excuse the practice of fast eating; and
the inmates of Congress Hall were in perfect idleness.
In the industrious and lower ranks of life I observed slower
mastication, and greater politeness and attention to each other at table
than what is generally met with at fashionable hotels. The former
frequent boarding-houses, not very plentifully supplied with waiters, or
female helps, and they consequently assist each other in carving, and
other duties of the table, while they have fixed hours of relaxation
from business, affording ample time for eating, whereas commercial men,
and other people who are not laboriously employed, eat at table with
numerous attendants, and at short intervals snatched from business.
Therefore, the traveller in America who draws an inference from what he
witnesses at the public tables of hotels, unfavourable to the manners of
the lower ranks of the inhabitants, does them injustice.
At Saratoga we tasted the different mineral waters, so deservedly
celebrated, and next morning travelled to Albany by the railway. The
soil over which we passed was unproductive sand, with exception of the
banks of the Mohawk, in the vicinity of Schenectady. Betwixt Schenectady
and Albany, the plains of the railway exhibited sand of fifty feet deep,
having a thick covering of small pine-trees.
I was fortunate in finding Mr. Buel at home, so well known as a farmer
throughout the Union. I walked over this gentleman’s grounds on my first
visit to Albany, and enjoyed the same privilege a third time in October.
The surface is highly undulating, the soil inferior sand, and extremely
wet, though capable of being drained. Notwithstanding these
disadvantages, some good crops were seen, more especially Indian corn
and Swede turnip, the latter having been sown after a hay crop, with
bone manure, manufactured by Mr Buel himself; and the state of the farm
is, perhaps, one of the most striking instances in America of man
overcoming the sterilities of nature.
Some attempts had been made at enclosing with hedges, consisting of
American and British thorn, as well as locust. The hedges were not of
sufficient age to enable me to judge of the fitness of the
last-mentioned plant for farm purposes; but I certainly did not augur
favourably of it, from the specimen before me. The American thorn was
preferred by Mr Buel to the British; and, perhaps, indigenous plants
will generally be found superior to foreign ones. In the present
instance, however, the soil was not such as I have found congenial to
the British thorn, and the management of the fences had not been
unexceptionable. A few days afterwards I had a proof of the growing
powers of British thorn at Geneva, where I cut a growth of the season on
the 24th. of June, from the hedge of Mr W——’s garden, three feet in
length. This, joined to the fine hedge of Mr F—— of the same place,
establishes the fitness of the British thorn for the climate of America.
The American thorn has very broad leaves, large fruit containing several
seeds; and when growing in single trees, has horizontal branches, few
prickles, and is apparently more dwarfish than the British species,
which possesses pendulous branches, with numerous prickles. The British
thorn has the property of growing throughout spring, summer, and autumn,
which, with its numerous and strong prickles, eminently fits it for a
fence plant.
Although Mr Buel’s farm is much celebrated, it presents few attractions
to any one conversant with British agriculture. He is himself, however,
an object of interest to the farmer of any country who has studied his
profession. His conversation on a variety of subjects amply unfolded to
me the treasures of an enlarged and well-stored mind, and I was
delighted to find his views of improving agriculture harmonize with what
I had long advocated in my humble sphere. At separation he presented me
with the printed proceedings of the New York State Agricultural Society,
of a considerable portion of which he is the author; and I imagine a day
spent with Mr. Buel one of the richest agricultural treats that can be
enjoyed in North America.
The New York State Agricultural Society was incorporated by act of the
Legislature, on 26th April, 1832. A Report, recommending a Legislative
grant, was approved, at a general meeting of the Society, in February,
1833, and in all probability the grant has been obtained before this
time. I extract the Report, as conveying, in the general remarks, with a
few exceptions, my own sentiments.
“_Report of the Select Committee on the Memorial of the New York State
Agricultural Society._
“Mr Sudam, from the select committee to which was referred the memorial
of the New York State Agricultural Society, praying for the
establishment of an Agricultural School,
“Reported:—That they have had under their consideration the subject
submitted to them, accompanied by a report made, during the present
session, to the New York Agricultural Society, and on which their
memorial to the Legislature is predicated.
“It will be conceded that there is no portion of the community more
entitled to the fostering care of the Legislature, than the tillers of
the soil. The farmers of the State of New York are a class numerous,
wealthy, industrious, patriotic, and above all other classes, from
principle, devoted to our republican institutions, and cherishing with a
holy spirit the union of our States. Their political exertions are not
called forth by a desire of any great portion of their own body for
legislative honours, or for those of the minor judicial situations in
the State; but to maintain and preserve inviolate that sacred trust
which has descended to them by the revolutionary efforts of their
fathers, the full protection of life, liberty, and property.
“When a storm arises in the horizon, and danger awaits us from abroad,
or when crazed ambition at home drives the frenzied passions of men to
madness and all its excesses, it is in the farming interest of the
country that you find the steady hand which holds the balance of
political power, and by its strong arm repels the foe, or by its
electoral voice annihilates the unjust hopes of the aspiring ambition of
profligate politicians.
“It may be said by your committee, (without the imputation of a State
vanity,) that New York holds a high rank by her munificent endowments of
colleges, academies, and common schools. We, knowing their extent, need
not elaborate on them in this report. Still it is but just to say, that
she is already cited in Europe as a signal instance of what may be done
for the education of every class of society, under the soft and benign
influence of a free government, and that her motto is, ‘Knowledge is
wealth.’
“In her enterprise, by facilitating intercourse between the different
sections of her State and the waters of the Atlantic, she is as
unrivalled in conception as she has been successful in execution. Not
content with this, it is an admitted fact, and worthy of all honour,
that she has carried into effect the most perfect prison discipline in
the world; and we have already witnessed the wise and the humane of
Europe resorting to her shores to ascertain the art of subduing the
rebellious passions of the worst of our race, without the aid of those
sanguinary punishments which have so long disgraced the Old World.
“Thus she has expended millions of her money, and already has she
erected a monument to the wisdom of her statesmen, more durable than any
ever dedicated to the victor of a thousand fields.
“Who are they who have contributed so freely, so generously to
expenditures calculated to immortalize the State, and to establish its
glory on so pure a foundation? Mainly the farmers of your country, the
yeomen of the land, the tillers of the soil. Freely have they given, and
joyfully have they paid, and most rich results have been the consequence
of their enlightened liberality.
“Is it then unfair to ask, what has been done by the legislature for a
class of its citizens so numerous, virtuous, and meritorious? The
stranger, when he sojourns in our land, and views all that has been done
for the cause of science, for education in the higher branches of
literature, for your common schools, for the reformation and punishment
of crimes on a scale superior to any State in Europe, naturally
enquires: Show me your agricultural school. You are essentially an
agricultural people; a class of society who have aided so liberally to
the institutions of your State, must have received the constant and
peculiar care of legislative protection and patronage, by forming their
minds, their habits and their tempers to become the patrons of the noble
monuments already erected, and which, while they shed lustre on our
State, have placed her first among her sisters in the Union.
“Shall we any longer be compelled to answer? We have no such
institution; we have provided an ample revenue for all but a complete
course of _practical_ instruction in agriculture. In almost every State
in Europe, the attention of despotic governments has been called—nay,
seriously and sedulously directed to the formation and endowment of
schools of this description. There it is admitted the motive to a
certain extent may be mercenary—to provide _food_ for taxation. Here it
is a _debt due from the State_ to a class which, before they _asked for
themselves_, have _contributed to all others_.
“It is conceded by your committee, that to a certain extent farmers are
not fond of innovations. If experiments are tried, they are too often
limited to one or two. If they fail, it is condemned. That prejudices of
this description are fast wearing away, we admit; but that they still
exist, to a considerable extent, there can be no doubt. And a _gentleman
farmer_ is generally at hand, as an instance of a poor farmer. But it is
not the intention of the committee to endow an institution to rear up
and educate persons in the mere theory of husbandry. It is to combine
practice with science; and if it should be said that this would be a
school only for the children of the more opulent, the unanswerable
argument is, that it is the same in regard to your colleges, and must be
so of necessity. Still the results of such an education, practised upon
in all parts of the State, must and will lead to the most beneficial
results. A good example is worth a world of mere speculation.
“In a school of this kind, under competent managers, there may be
concentrated the best models of practice, in rural labour, known at home
or abroad. The various breeds of domestic animals, the varieties of
garden and orchard fruit, and the implements of husbandry, may be here
satisfactorily compared, and their relative merits and advantages
determined. Diversified experiments may be made in the various
departments of husbandry, calculated to instruct and improve us in
practice. Mechanical science, particularly what is denominated _The
Mechanics of Agriculture_, may be illustrated and taught in the best
manner, in the shops, and on the farm. The application of science to the
mechanic and manufacturing arts, has, in a wonderful degree, simplified
their manipulations, abridged their labour, and rendered their results
more certain. From what has already been done, we are not permitted to
hesitate or doubt but science will prove equally beneficial to
agriculture. There is no business which embraces a wider range in
natural science than this.
“The laws which govern organic and inorganic matter, which influence the
economy of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, it cannot be denied, have
a controlling influence in the operations of the soil, and in the
business of raising animals and plants. Education (practical education)
is nowhere calculated to diffuse a more benign influence in society,
than when bestowed on the farmer. He neither claims nor can exercise a
monopoly. _His_ improvements and _his_ knowledge diffuse light around
him, and are beneficial to all within the sphere of their influence.
“Your committee feel assured, that if put into operation, this school
will become, not only popular, but highly useful. To the pupil it will
afford the most important advantages, besides instruction in the
principles and practice of rural labour, which, of itself, confers the
power of creating wealth. It will afford him the advantages of a
_literary school_, qualify him for the higher duties of civil life, and
give him withal, what is seldom acquired but in youth, habits of labour
and application to business; calculated alike to promote his individual
happiness, and the good of the State.
“With such an education, combining personal labour for a practical
knowledge of all the instruments of husbandry, and the mode and manner
in which it is to be prosecuted, those scientific pursuits will be
prosecuted with a certainty that the foot of labour is guided by the
unerring results of experience, founded in and regulated by the laws of
nature.
“This school is intended to be purely agricultural. But in saying this,
it will be necessary to open a course of instruction, combined with
labour, which your committee venture to say, will be as interesting, and
to the State, as valuable, as that which may be acquired in any other
seminary. The different qualities of soil, as fitted for the various
products of the earth; the use of compost and manures, as applicable to
soils: the seasons for planting the rotation of crops, and the vast mass
of practical information which enables man to transform a wilderness
into a paradise, is worthy the pursuit of the _richest_ as well as the
humblest of the land.
“Again, the importance of procuring, at all times and at fair prices,
prime stock, of the best breeds of cattle, ought not to be omitted,
either as an inducement to the Legislature, or as of the first
importance to the people.
“The question is, shall we endow a school, to which many would desire to
send their children for the purpose of preparing them to depend in
future life on one of the most certain, and therefore the most happy of
human pursuits; combining in itself all the elements of constant,
regular, and sagacious employment; and freed from the cares and
corroding recollections, present or past, of the pursuits of a political
life?
“It is evident that law, divinity, and physic, are overstocked. The
pursuits of commerce are laborious, and do not very often yield a return
to persons of a moderate fortune and liberal education: as now educated,
they are not fitted for farmers; so tenaciously do those early habits
adhere to them, that the attempt at agriculture is generally a failure.
Your committee propose to give them a school, to which resort may be had
for the cultivation of the mind, and the improvement of the person:
Laying the foundation for future toils and pleasures, (for toils in
agriculture are pleasures, when conducted to a successful result,) for
future health and happiness, and preparing them to rear up a race, fit
to transmit to posterity the liberties we so highly cherish.
“Your committee do not, in this report, enter into a detail of the
expenditure necessary for this school. That is so fully treated of in
the annexed report to the Agricultural Society, that they could only
repeat what is there stated. But they cannot close without remarking
what must be obvious to all, how much skill and science may effect in
agricultural pursuits.
“Is there one of our body who has not seen, and remarked, the difference
in adjoining farms, where _nature had made no difference_ in the soil?
It is this practical skill, this science, combined with labour, that
they desire, (most anxiously desire,) to bestow on a rising generation;
and they deem it their duty, most earnestly, to press it on the
consideration of the Legislature, as called for by every consideration
due to the public welfare, to the true and lasting interests of the
State; and as the last, but most substantial pillar in the varied
edifice of her public institutions.
“Impressed with this belief, and that the school recommended will, in
many ways, prove highly beneficial to the community, and persuaded that
the State will ultimately be fully indemnified for her advances, your
committee have prepared a bill in conformity with the prayer of the
petitioners, which they have directed their chairman to ask leave to
present.”
“_Report of the State Agricultural Society, Albany, February 14th,
1833._
“The committee appointed at the first meeting of the Society, to report
a plan for an Agricultural School, with an estimate of the expense
necessary to establish and put the same into operation; together with
their views of such an establishment, beg leave to submit the following
report:—
“The main objects of the proposed school are, to impart to agriculture
the efficient aid of the sciences, and to furnish it with the best
models of practice; to teach, simultaneously, in the period of youth
devoted to academic studies, the practical operations of husbandry, and
such branches of useful knowledge as may tend to elevate its character
and increase its products. The _plan_, therefore, should embrace,
“1. A Farm, of sufficient extent to afford room for the diversified
operations of tillage, cattle and sheep husbandry, and of orcharding and
gardening—on a scale that will admit a fair comparison being made of
crops, of breeds of cattle and sheep, and of the varieties of hardy
fruits; and sufficiently diversified in soil and surface as to admit of
satisfactory experiments:
“2. A Farm House and Farm Buildings, which may serve as models of
convenience, taste and economy, and accommodate the head farmer and his
assistants:
“3. A School Building, for the accommodation of teachers and scholars:
“4. A Library and Philosophical Apparatus:
“5. Stock and Implements for the farm: and,
“6. Shops for the construction of farm implements and machinery, for the
use of the farm, for the illustration of mechanical science, and to
afford practical instructions to the pupils in mechanics.
“These items of expense, which may be considered preliminary and
permanent, together with the cost of the furniture required for the
school building, are estimated at $7,500.
“1. The plan of education might embrace: practical instructions in the
various operations and labours of the farm, the garden, the orchards,
and the shops: and,
“2. The study of the natural sciences generally, mathematics, mechanics,
chemistry, and drawing, so far as these may conduce or become
subservient to agricultural improvement; together with such other
branches of knowledge as will qualify the students for the higher duties
of civil life—such as will fit them to become independent electors,
discreet jurors, faithful magistrates, and wise legislators.
“As prerequisites to admission to the school, the pupils might be
required to possess a good common school education, to be at least
fourteen years of age, and of good moral character. Four years might
constitute a course of studies; and the internal regulations and police
of the school might be conformed, in a measure, to those of our military
academy.
“A department of the farm should be set apart for experiments in
husbandry, and the details and results of these experiments accurately
registered. The garden and the orchard should contain all the good hardy
fruits, and specimens of all hardy plants, that may be useful on the
farm, in the arts, in commerce, or that are ornamental—in order that the
relative value of different species and varieties may be determined, and
their mode of culture and process of curing taught to the pupils, and
the approved kinds furnished for public distribution.
“To put the school into operation, there will be required—a principal,
professors, and teachers—a steward and servants, for the school:
“A manager, labourers, and assistants, for the farm:
“Machinists and assistants for the shops: and,
“A practical and scientific manager for the garden and orchard.
“The number of officers and assistants which will be required, must
depend upon contingencies: and of course the committee do not pretend to
state with precision, in their estimate, the amount of their salaries
and pay.
“The proceeds of the school and the farm may be expected to increase for
some years, and will materially depend on the terms of tuition. The
committee have assumed, as reasonable data, that the number of pupils
would average 200, and the average produce of the farm amount to $4,000
per annum, for the first four years. Upon the assumed data, then, the
estimate would exhibit the following result:—
_Preliminary Expenses._
Farm of 400 acres, at $30, $12,000
Farm buildings, 6,000
School buildings, 25,000
Library and Apparatus, 7,500
Stock and implements, 3,150
Shops and tools, 1,250
Furniture for school, 1,150
Incidental, 1,500
———————
Total preliminary expense, $57,550
_Annual Expense._
Salaries of officers and teachers of the school, $5,100
do manager and labourers on farm, 1,000
do machinists, 600
do gardener, 300
Expense of boarding 200 pupils, at $1,50 per week, 14,400
Servants for the establishment, 2,000
———————
Estimated annual expense, $23,400
———————
$80,950
=======
_The Annual Receipts are computed as follows_:
Board and tuition of 200 pupils, at $150 per annum, $30,000
Produce of farm, 4,000
———————
$34,000
=======
“Thus the total expense of establishing the school, and of maintaining
it the first year, is estimated at $80,950, and the income, after the
first year, it is believed, will be amply sufficient to defray all
expenses. Yet to meet contingencies that may occur, and to make up for
any deficiency in the estimate, the committee think that an
appropriation of $100,000, the surplus to be invested for the benefit of
the institution, will ensure usefulness and permanency to the school,
and prove amply sufficient to meet all its wants. This sum, if equalized
among the population of the State, would operate as a tax of about _five
cents_ to each inhabitant.
“Your committee have thus complied with the requisitions of the society,
in submitting the plan of an Agricultural School, and an estimate of the
expense necessary to establish and put the same into successful and
permanent operation. It only remains for them to state their opinion of
its utility.
“The agriculture of a country affords the best criterion of its
prosperity. Whether we compare kingdoms, states, counties, districts, or
farms; the condition of this branch of labour, which they severally
exhibit, is a sure index, not only of the pecuniary, but of its moral
condition. It is no less an axiom founded in truth, that agriculture
prospers or languishes, in proportion to the science and skill of the
men who manage its labours. It is not the natural fertility of the soil,
so much as the intelligence and industry of those who till it, which
gives to husbandry its interests and its rewards. The man who devotes
the energies of a highly cultivated mind, to the improvement of this
primitive and all-important branch of labour, is a public benefactor.
Cincinnatus did more to immortalize his name, and to command our
applause, by his love of rural labours, than by his military exploits.
Washington, amid all the honours that irradiated his brow, sought his
highest pleasures in the business and retirement of the farm. And it was
the first remark of our present chief magistrate, to the writer, after
introduction, that he would not forego the pleasures of the farm for all
the honours and emoluments that this nation could confer upon him.
Education enables man to appreciate the wonderful provisions which God
has made for his happiness in rural life, and imparts to him the ability
of diffusing instruction and happiness to multitudes around him.
“It should be the policy of government, therefore, which watches over
the interest of all, to infuse into the labours of husbandry, all the
lights of science and knowledge—to take care to expand and elevate the
minds of those who are to give it efficiency and character, and to call
forth skill and industry by proffered rewards. With us these
considerations possess peculiar force. Our population and business are
emphatically agricultural, and every aid which is extended to this class
benefits, indirectly, every portion of the community. Agriculture
constitutes the fountains of the thousand rills, which, swelling and
traversing every part of the State, propel the spindle and the hammer of
the artisan and the manufacturer, and finally, by their union, make up
the mighty stream of commerce which unceasingly flows into the Atlantic.
“That our agriculture is susceptible of improvement—that the products of
its labours may be doubled, nay, quadrupled, must be apparent to those
who have compared our husbandry with that of some European countries, or
who have contrasted at home the well-cultivated district or farm with
those which are badly managed. How is the desired amelioration to be
effected? How can a better husbandry be so well promoted, as by teaching
it to our youth? By sowing our seed in the springtime of life? Prejudice
nowhere retains a stronger hold than among farmers who have approached
or passed the meridian of life. While some retain old practices, for
want of confidence in their knowledge to guide them in better ones,
others lack the first requisites to improvement—a consciousness that
their system is not the most useful; while not a few are influenced, in
their hostility to public means of improvement, by the desire to keep
things to their own level. If we would efficiently improve this great
branch of business, and elevate its character, as well as the character
of those who are engaged in its operations, we must do what universal
experience has shown to be the only sure method. We must lay our
foundation in the rising generation—we must teach the _young_ idea how
to shoot—we must instruct the head to help the hands. Our physical and
mental powers are twin sisters; they lighten each other’s labour, and
mutually impart a zest to each other’s enjoyments. And as it is becoming
common to introduce manual labour into literary schools, it is courteous
that literature and science should requite the civility, by associating
with the inmates of schools of labour.
“Agricultural schools, although of modern date, have nevertheless been
established in most of the states of Europe, and their utility has been
fully demonstrated. Who has not heard of the school of Fellenburgh, at
Hoffwyl, or of Von Thayer, at Moegelin—to which young men are sent from
every part of Europe, and even from America? In France and Prussia,
agricultural schools have been founded and maintained by the
governments. If they are found to be beneficial, and worthy of
governmental support, in countries where power is vested in the few, how
much more salutary must they prove here—where our institutions receive
the impress of their character from the many, and where the perpetuity
of these institutions depends emphatically upon the intelligence and
virtue of the agricultural population. Despotism will never flourish in
American soil, but through the ignorance, and, we may say, consequent
depravity of its cultivators.
“Your committee recall to recollection, with feelings of pride, the
munificent benefactions of the Legislature, to advance the literary
character of our State; and the fact, that comparatively nothing has
been done, legislatively, to improve our agriculture, which employs
five-sixths of our population, can be ascribed to the fact, that nothing
has been asked for—nothing thought of. Our public colleges and
academies, for literary instruction, are numerous and respectable. They
meet our eye in almost every village. But where are our public schools
of labour? Where is the head taught to help the hands, in the business
which _creates_ wealth, and which is the grand source of individual and
national prosperity and happiness? Our literary and professional schools
have been reared up and sustained by the expenditure of more than two
millions of dollars from the public treasury, and they continue to share
liberally of the public bounty. It will not, however, be denied, that
the benefits which they dispense are altogether partial,—that the rank
and file of society, destined by heaven to become the conservators of
civil liberty, are virtually denied a participation in the science and
knowledge,—in the means of improvement and of happiness which they are
calculated to dispense. Is it not a mandate of duty, then, as well as of
expediency, that the benefits of public instruction should be more
generally dispensed?
“We hazard not the fear of contradiction in assuming, that if a moiety
of public moneys, which have been appropriated to literary schools, had
been judiciously applied, in rendering science subservient to the arts,
and in diffusing the higher branches among the labouring classes, the
public benefits from the appropriation would have been far greater than
they are at the present day. How many hundreds may now be pointed out,
of liberal education, who are mere ciphers in society, for want of the
_early habits of application and labour_, which it is the object of the
proposed school to form and infix! And how many, for want of these
habits, have been prematurely lost to their friends, and to a purpose of
usefulness for which man seems wisely to have been created—that of doing
good to his fellows.
“From a full conviction that the interests of the State not only
warrant, but require, an appropriation of public moneys to this object,
your committee beg leave to recommend to the consideration of the
Society the following resolution:
“_Resolved_, That a respectful memorial be presented to the Legislature,
in behalf of this Society, and of the great interest which it
represents, praying that suitable provision may be made by law, for
establishing a school of agriculture, on the plan recommended in the
preceding report; and that the co-operation, in this application, of
societies and individuals friendly to the object of the petition, be
respectfully solicited.”
The report is attributed to Mr Jesse Buel, and is a document creditable
to its author and the society which adopted it. It advocates mental
cultivation of farmers, as the best means of improving agriculture, and
youth as the seedtime of an abundant harvest of human knowledge.
Whatever diversity of opinion may exist in rural matters, every
individual who has reflected on the subject, will admit the mind of the
farmer is the chief implement of husbandry on which the agricultural
system depends, and by which its advancement can be best effected. Man
is the principal animal connected with the farm, and the amelioration of
his mind more important than the improvement of brute formation. Mr Buel
knows well the strength of prejudice existing amongst farmers, the
results of their isolated situation, and that youth is generally the
only season when new impressions can be made and acted on. In advanced
agriculture, the mind will guide the hands as well as all farm
machinery, and science and art become blended together in the relation
and loveliness of conjugal unity. Mental illumination of farmers is not
merely calculated to advance agriculture, but to enable them to see, in
their professional pursuits, the means of serving their
fellow-creatures, and the exhaustless bounty of God.
New York is justly considered the leading state of the Union, being
celebrated for prison discipline, extensive canaling, common schools,
and if Mr Buel’s vigour is spared for a few years, it is also likely to
be distinguished for its agricultural institution.
The United States possess great advantages, from being new or young
countries, in which no class have exclusive privileges, and where the
selfishness and prejudices of classes are seldom manifested. The
inhabitants are a mixture of all nations, or the descendants of such, in
which the fetters of old customs have been loosened perhaps by
collision, and, in measures of general utility, they can at once adopt
the wisdom of antiquity without its folly. Many of their public
institutions are illustrative of this as well as Mr Buel’s report.
How different is Britain and Ireland from the state of New York, where
the “tillers of the soil” are regarded as the most patriotic class,
holding the balance of political power, and alike ready in repelling
foes and restraining profligate politicians. In former ages the
cultivators of British soil were considered mere vassals, and termed
villains. At present they are lightly esteemed by those who chiefly reap
the benefit of their exertions; and although this is the age when the
schoolmaster is said to be abroad, judicious steps have not been taken
to improve their condition.
Agricultural societies are to be found in almost every county in
Britain, but their proceedings seldom directly embrace the improvement
of the moral condition of humanity. Indeed their proceedings have
sometimes an opposite tendency, by seeking to maintain monopolies and
duties on foreign produce, which cripple trade, curtail the field of
industry, and enhance the necessaries of life, from all of which
wretchedness and vice flow. But the population actively engaged in
agriculture are also little cared for, and their condition seems
declining comparatively with other classes. Such institutions too much
overlook youth and moral agency in improving agriculture, and spend much
of their funds and time on minor objects.
In making these observations on the agricultural societies of Britain, I
am aware of some exceptions. The Liverpool society is a good
institution, and a manufacturing district is the situation where an
efficient society might be expected in Britain, as furnishing members
liberal in mind, and comparatively free from agricultural prejudice.
The Highland Society of Scotland is also a good institution; its ample
funds accomplishing much for the benefit of the country by giving
premiums; but more advantage would result from their application in the
improvement of youth, and in cultivating an experimental farm something
analogous to what Mr Buel recommends. Edinburgh would form an excellent
situation for such, where there is already a University Professor of
Agriculture. An experimental farm of sufficient size would furnish
better results from systematic procedure and continued registration,
than the efforts of isolated individuals. With such an institution, sons
of landed proprietors might be instructed in the science and art of
farming, and the management of property. Stock and seeds might be
experimented with and improved; and by the sale of them the institution
would support itself.