To the energy and well directed efforts of these men, to the spirit derived from them by their successors, is due the elastic spring which characterizes our present agricultural endeavors, and whereby the application of science is made to impart new views, substantial improvement, renovated farms, and remunerating crops. The influences of your Society have given to the farmer better hopes; they have opened to his view a new soil, a new power, and a new mind, each more perfect for the production of comforts, happiness, and, above all, gratitude to the Giver of all good, for the inestimable benefits conferred upon us. To your Society, then, and to the intelligent farmers of New-York, who seconded its efforts, are we indebted for any recent advancement and improvement in our agricultural condition.

Here it may be asked, what advancement, what improvement is noticeable and can be claimed for this State, in regard to its cultivation, since 1841? In reply, let us refer to the census of the United States for 1840, and we find the utmost capacity of our systems and modes was the production of twelve bushels of wheat from an acre; in 1845, the average product, established by the State census, was fourteen bushels per acre; and by the United States census of 1850, we arrive at an estimated average of thirteen bushels per acre, thus exhibiting an improvement, in the article of wheat, of two bushels per acre in the last ten years.* This im

organ of the Society; and, under its patronage, presented to the farmers of the State many important and valuable papers. Judge Buel continued his efforts with unabated zeal until his death, in 1839. It is well known among the people of New-York that Governor Clinton was an early advocate for the establishment of an Agricultural Society, deeming it one of the most efficient aids to develop the agricultural resources of the State. A just tribute was paid to Governor Clinton, by H. Baldwin, Esq., of Syracuse, during the first Fair held by the Society in Central New-York. Mr. Baldwin was, himself, energetically engaged in promoting the objects of the Society, at an early day; so also were Hon. S. Van Rensselaer, Judge Samuel Cheever, Archibald McIntyre, General J. J. Viele, and many other true and zealous friends, whose names do not appear upon the records at the period named in this address.

provement may be more apparent when we state that, in 1845, our wheat crops occupied about one million of acres; consequently, the increase, if permanent, is an annual gain to the State, in this cereal, of about Two millions of dollars. The question, then, as to recent improvement, seems to be sufficiently answered, without spreading before you the details of other products.

Reference having been made to the census of the United States, it may be useful to draw attention to a remarkable defect (perhaps we may be pardoned for naming it as culpable negligence) in the action of the late session of Congress, when settling the form for the census of 1850; all inquiry has been omitted as to the quantity of cereal grains produced per acre—a fatal blunder in a document of such importance to the nation; a blunder depriving us of information in regard to the comparative condition of one of the most valuable sources of the nation's prosperity. This subject is worthy of attention, because, although the State of New-York has done much to perfect our local statistics, yet much more is needed to bring the benefits of this branch of knowledge to the fireside of every farmer, that he may be made more familiar with the sources of demand and supply-that labor may ascertain the source and just proportion of remuneration, and that values may be less fluctuating, and the farmer less exposed to temporary and artificial influences upon markets. It is not to be expected that the mass of the people-(and remember, that mass is the farming population)—it is not expected they will enter into the study of political economy; for, with profound regret I say it, we have been thus far denied the advantages of seminaries or colleges appropriated to our uses, and to fit us for such useful studies. Yet the day is approaching when the beams of science will enlighten in some measure the homestead of every farmer, and his voice will

The U. S. census of 1850, gives to this State 13,000,000 bushels of wheat, and we safely estimate the wheat acres at 1,000,000.

be heard within these walls, where it has struggled to assert its just claims, his mind will yet be stored with knowledge in every science and every art, gilding his peaceful paths, ornamenting and aiding the pure pursuits of his life, giving character to the nation among nations, preserving our highest privileges, securing the best enjoyment of man in this world.

It has been shown that the once fertile soil of this State had been reduced to a degree devoid of power to yield remunerating products; that portions of it have been abandoned from time to time to other purposes, until the difficulty of procuring subsistence from exhausted farms has called aloud for wiser action or some remedial power. We have seen that patriots and honored men have stepped forward, and, by combined efforts under your State Association, have collected and disseminated knowledge; they became the leaders of thought; they foresaw that new paths of thought must be opened, new light diffused, old prejudices eradicated, erroneous practices arrested.

Look back once more upon the condition of this noble State, in the days of our fathers; read the descriptions by its early historians, and we are made to know that it was indeed "a good land-a land of brooks and water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, barley and vines; land of oil, olive and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness; thou shalt not lack anything in it; a land whose stores are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass." We know how abundantly it responded to the husbandman's labor; and we have seen how it fell off by degrees, from an abuse (and ignorance, probably) of the riches and blessings stored in the earth-ignorance, too, of the healing and recuperative powers within its bosom.

Let the meed of praise be awarded to your Association for their efforts to restrain the evil, and to open the doors of knowledge to all who would partake; as far as its power extended this has been freely done, without measure or stint; to this hour its gates have

been open to all-widely has it extended a hearty invitation to enter, and partake of every benefit and advantage. Among the means to effect the great objects in view, the Society has collected from the counties of this State, from other States of the Union, and from foreign lands, all useful facts for the promotion of Agriculture; it has encouraged the application of knowledge thus acquired, and, by results, has carried conviction to every candid, inquiring mind, that the soil possesses powers sufficient, when well and properly cultivated; and that its elements, with their distinctive properties and uses, must be comprehended and understood. If your State Society had made no farther progress, it would have been entitled to the people's gratitude; but it has gone in advance of this great work: during the last ten years, it has recorded the facts now stated, comprising ten volumes of their Transactions, forming a treasury of agricultural knowledge, fully explanatory of the application of science to our profession, and keeping pace with experiment and discovery from year to year. These volumes present to the observing farmer, to the mechanic, to the merchant, to the man of science, and to the statesman, matter for thought, study, and application. We find on its pages well digested and arranged materials in the department of chemistry applied to Agriculture, which, in fact, is the exposition of the elements of all matter, wherewith and whereon we as farmers bestow our labor. Physics, more especially in the division of mechanics, as being the right arm of Agriculture, is carefully treated; natural history, also describing natural objects useful or injurious to our profession; we find, also, extended notices of the products of the State, with their quantities and cost of production. In fine, we find in these volumes of Transactions a combination of knowledge, exhibiting objects and properties upon which, in a great degree, depend our safety, our comfort, and our enjoyment of life.

Thus you have before you, in part, the labors of your Association. Allusion might be made, with propriety, to the summer and winter exhibitions of your Society; their happy influences, not only as encouraging excellence and competition, but as furnishing the means for active exchanges of commodities. These festivals

carry with them their own commendation; they illustrate the effect of agricultural life upon our character and condition; they are the true World's Fair, giving knowledge of our productions and ingenuity to all quarters of the world; inviting commerce to deal with us in the useful and essential objects of man's good; enriching our nation, so that "gold is laid up as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks."* May our wise men and rulers never forget that pride and luxury will palsy the arm of Agriculture, and bring neglect upon honest labor! may their wisdom ever be directed to encourage the useful, without presenting any obstacle to the ornamental!

While we view the labors of your Society with satisfaction, and acknowledge the wisdom of our legislators in causing them to be spread widely among the people, we must not, we cannot shut our eyes to the truth, that we are but just emerging from dark ignorance; we must not flatter ourselves that we see plainly the broad and shining light of science; we are but in the shadows of the valley; we see the bright rays darting over the mountain's top into the far wilderness, strongly marking its outline, and shedding its genial glow upon us. Who among the sons of men can yet define the cause of the chemical differences of matter? Who can declare the temperature of the regions of space? Who can assign a reason for the irregular form of the continents of the globe, or for the position of the highest mountains or the lowest valleys? We know the facts, yet the cause is unknown; we see results, and signs of action, yet gather no insight into physical cause. We know the Source of all power and might; we know our duty to reverence and adore that Power-humbly and submissively to admit our feebleness, ardently to deserve and to desire, more and more, that knowledge which teaches us to avoid error-to do right. Our fathers saw clearly and felt that, to enjoy and be worthy of civil freedom, we should be prepared by instruction and education to understand our duties to God and to our neighbor; to effect this

• The gold introduced into the U. S., in the year 1851, amounts to about fifty millions of Aars.