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tions of the society had only a limited circulation, yet they stimulated inquiry. The low condition in which agriculture was found, when these efforts commenced, may be learned from a report to the British board of agriculture, made by William Strickland, in 1794, after extensive travel in this state. "The course of crops," says he, "is as follows: First year, maize or Indian corn; second, rye or wheat, succeeded immediately by buckwheat, which stands for seed; third, flax or oats, or a mixed crop; then a repetition of the same thing, as long as the land will bear anything, after which it is laid by without seed for old field: Or, burn the woods (that is, clear the land from timber); then, first, wheat, second, rye, then, maize for four or five years, or as long as it will grow; then, lay it by, and begin on fresh wood land; or, burn the woods; then wheat four or five years; then one or two of maize, or as long as it will grow; then lay by four or five years for old field, without seeds. * * * * * * Manure is scarcely made use of, but what little is collected is given to the maize, which requires every support that can be given it. Clover is just beginning to be cultivated, in consequence of which good pasture and plenty of hay take the place of old field, and by the use of gypsum astonishing crops are obtained. The average produce of wheat in New York has been stated to me, by very intelligent persons, at twelve bushels per acre; which agrees with the general opinion, and I believe is as high as it ought to be stated. The average of Dutchess county, which, under a proper cultivation, would be a most productive as it is a most beautiful county, has been stated at sixteen bushels; twenty bushels per acre are everywhere a great crop. The average of maize may be about twenty-five bushels; thirty bushels per acre is a great crop. With such agriculture as has been stated, it is not to be wondered at that the produce should be so small, and yet it will be found that the average of this state is superior to that of any other in the Union. The wheat

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of New York is esteemed the best in the United States, and that grown on the banks and branches of the Mohawk, the best in the state."

To this graphic sketch it must be added, that farmers, at the period referred to, were destitute of proper implements of husbandry. The cast-iron plough had not been invented; and, not to mention more important instruments, now considered indis

pensable, the horse hay-rake, the thrashing machine, the roller, and the cultivator, were unknown; or if any of them had been invented, they were so imperfect and so little used as to produce no effect on the general state of agriculture. To understand the progress since made in the art of cultivation, as well as to mark the existing defects in our system, we must consider separately subjects which, when combined, constitute the basis of improved tillage. In all new countries, where the soils abound in the elements of fertility, manure is undervalued. No care is bestowed in preserving and using it, until diminished crops, from an impoverished soil, expose the error which has been committed. Although this error has been somewhat checked in a portion of the state, it still prevails in the newer regions where the natural fertility seems to be inexhaustible. Nevertheless, the contrast in this respect to the picture before presented, is full of encouragement. Barns and yards are now constructed with a view to the accumulation and preservation of manure, and extensive experiments have been made to ascertain the manner in which the greatest possible benefit can be derived from its use. Discrimination prevails in the application of whatever is used for that purpose, to the different species of plants. Indian corn and roots are now cultivated with the immediate application of fresh manures, while the grain crops are cultivated upon grounds previously prepared, by incorporating the nutriment with the soil. Several substances are now extensively used as manure with beneficial results, such as poudrette and peat, and especially gypsum, which, although fifty years ago known to be a stimulant to vegetation, was regarded as operating to exhaust the fertility of the soil. More gypsum is now prepared and sold in the counties of Onondaga and Cayuga alone, than twenty years since was used throughout the whole state. It has been found by experience that the deep ploughing, and complete pulverization, now performed with ease by means of improved instruments, expose the soil more completely to the action of the atmosphere, and furnish a better range or pasture for the roots of plants, and thus operate favorably in regard to both the certainty and abundance of production. The present mode of draining lands already capabable of cultivation, is wholly a modern improvement; that process having heretofore been confined to swamps and marshes. The sub-soil plough has been invented with express reference to

freeing soils from water and deepening them, without bringing to the surface the sub-soil which is unfit at first for purposes of vegetation. Our agriculturists have also learned that the mechanical mixture of the earths, by effectual ploughing, conduces to fertility.

But in no respect has there been a more decided advance in husbandry, than in the attention paid to the rotation of crops. The practice of exhausting land with a succession of similar or varied crops, and then "laying it by for old field," is no longer known. The importance of an alternation of crops with a seeding of grasses, as a part of the rotative system, is universally acknowledged, and has not only been demonstrated by scientific theory, but is now generally approved and adopted; and a system of rotation, in which crops cultivated with the hoe, alternate with the grains, has been recently found an economical substitute for the former process of summer-fallowing. A great advance in farming has been effected by the introduction of root crops into field culture. It is true that the labor of cultivation is expensive, but it is abundantly repaid by increased production, and the superior condition in which the soil is preserved.

Our farmers have generally been very negligent in regard to improving the breed of domestic animals. Recently, however, the efforts of a few public-spirited persons in introducing cattle, swine, and sheep, from improved stocks in Europe, have been crowned with high success. The race of horses has been less improved. It is to be hoped that the time has passed when efforts in this important department of agriculture must encounter popular prejudice and ridicule. In England the advance in weight of cattle, sheep and lambs, has averaged at the Smithfield market, as estimated by different individuals, at different times, as follows: In 1810, cattle, twenty-six stone six pounds; 1830, thirty-nine stone four pounds; 1840, forty-six stone twelve pounds; in 1810, sheep and lambs, two stone; 1830, three stone eight pounds; 1840, six stone six pounds. Although it can not be affirmed that an equal advance has been made here, yet very beneficial effects have resulted as well from the greater care practised in feeding and raising stock, as from the introduction of improved breeds from abroad. The merino blood in sheep has been so extensively diffused since its introduction here in 1809, that it is supposed none of the former race of that animal

remains unmixed in the country. Among the animals which have been introduced are the Short-Horns, Hereford, Devon, and Ayrshire cattle; the South-down, Leicester, and Coteswold sheep; the Berkshire, Irish-grazier, and Kenilworth swine; and pure bloods or crosses of some of these animals are found in every county, if not in every town in the state. At the present time, thirty-five bushels of wheat per acre is not considered a great crop, and the product frequently reaches forty and even fifty bushels. Seventy-five or eighty bushels of corn per acre is not an extraordinary yield. We can not speak with confidence of the increase of root crops; since, with the exception of the potato, all culture of that kind is still in its infancy. It is much to be regretted that provision has not hitherto been made for obtaining statistics concerning the quantity of land under cultivation, and the number of acres devoted to particular crops and their extent; since the information which might have been thus derived would have been not merely useful in ascertaining the present condition of agriculture, but eminently conducive to its future improvement.

The chief step in the improvement of the plough, was the invention by Jethro Wood, which consisted in substituting in the construction of that instrument, cast-iron for wood and wroughtiron. The new plough thus produced was more manageable, and more easily drawn; and the apprehensions that its strength would not be found sufficient to resist the power applied to draw it, were ultimately found to be groundless. The utmost skill of mechanism has also been applied in ascertaining the form best adapted to equalize the friction and resistance with the work to be performed. Land is now more perfectly and quickly tilled with the labor of two horses, than with double that power applied to the implement before in use. Moore's plough, for use upon an inclined surface, performs its work with as much ease and completeness as similar labor is performed upon a plane. The thrashing-machine, a modern invention, has already become indispensable to the farmer. With the horse hay-rake in the meadow, labor is performed equal to that of six men; while as a gleaner of the harvest-field, its use annually more than repays its cost. The cultivator has greatly reduced the expense of producing Indian corn. Modern improvements of the harrow have diminished the weight of that instrument, and given it greater

efficiency in pulverizing the soil. The heavy-wrought hoe, and the clumsy three-pronged iron fork, have given place to the steelplate polished hoe, and to the steel fork with four or six tines. We have machines which, with the application of horse-power, clear in a perfect manner ten or fifteen acres of grain per day; and drill-barrows, which have reduced the labor and waste of sowing and planting. There has been a marked improvement in the quantity and quality of fruits: Our farmers are not all of them satisfied now, as formerly, with the apple-orchard, but have their fruit-gardens, in which, with the arts of grafting, inoculating, and transplanting, fine varieties of pears, plums, cherries, and other exotic and domestic fruits, are produced. The dwellings of our farmers are now much less frequently than heretofore, constructed as if magnitude was the most important object in their erection. Farm-houses may now be found in all parts of the state, combining elegance with comfort and convenience, and refined taste is manifested in the planting and preservation of shade-trees. The location and the adaptation of barns and other outbuildings are now especially regarded.

While the society of 1793 gave to agriculture the impulse which has resulted so propitiously, it is now apparent that that institution was defective in omitting to establish fairs, or gatherings, in which farmers and patrons of the art might exchange friendly greetings, and become acquainted with improvements of tillage and implements. In 1819, under the administration of De Witt Clinton, and chiefly in consequence of his recommendations, an act was passed, appropriating ten thousand dollars annually, for four years, to improve agriculture, the arts, and manufactures. A board of agriculture was established, and provision was made to induce the organization of societies throughout the state. The anniversaries of these institutions were the farmers' holydays, when lectures and addresses were delivered, and premiums were awarded to those who produced the finest animals, the largest and best crops, the most useful inventions, and superior domestic fabrics; but the societies soon languished and became extinct. The chief fault of the law of 1819 was that it did not hold out sufficient inducement to voluntary effort. The distribution of the public money was unconditional, and when it ceased the societies were without funds. Nevertheless, the act of 1819 was followed by very beneficial VOL. II.-9

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