from abroad. There may be partial exceptions to this neglect of agriculture in some of the states, among which we might designate Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York. The former, as is well known, possesses a comparatively barren soil, but by considerable effort it is brought, probably, into a better state of cultivation than any other section of New England. Good husbandry prevails also in some portions of the state of New York, particularly about the Genessee country, one of the most beautiful agricultural regions in the United States. Pennsylvania, also, with her immense resources of coal and iron, is in the main under the influence of as productive tillage as any other state in the Union, and possesses probably a better market. This is owing, in a great measure, to the existence of a hardworking German population, and the general establishment of internal improvements throughout the state, which furnish a ready market for agricultural products. Although considerable attention has been paid to the subject of agriculture at the south, by the institution of societies, and exhibitions of domestic products, it is believed that the planters make too large drafts upon the soil, and as they do not expend much labour in manuring, it becomes soon exhausted by improvident culture. We trust that the farmers of the country will return to the soil, and that agriculture, which is now so grossly neglected in comparison with other pursuits, will receive that attention which it richly deserves.

An agricultural convention has been recently held at Albany, in which certain resolutions were passed in favour of memorializing the legislature of the state for the establishment of a school for the teaching of scientific and practical agriculture; for the appropriation of money by government as rewards for useful inventions in husbandry; and also for the introduction of agricultural and horticultural books into the common schools, all of which we hope will prevail.

In order to show that the American mind has not been inactive upon the theoretic part of husbandry, we shall embody a list which was made in 1835, of the most prominent agricultural reports, volumes and journals, which have been published in the United States. The first work of that class published in this country, was Essays on Field Husbandry, by Jared Elliot, Connecticut; issued in Boston in 1760. The Massachusetts Agricultural Society was incorporated in 1792, and their first work, entitled Laws and Regulations of the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, with some interesting extracts from foreign and domestic publications, was issued in 1793. They subsequently published a collection of papers on agriculture, and finally, a voluminous work under the title of the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository. The Philadelphia Society

for promoting Agriculture, was instituted in 1785, and they have published five volumes of memoirs, the last in 1826. The Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, under the auspices of John Hare Powel, Esq. have published two octavo volumes, the first in 1824, and entitled Memoirs, and the second, Hints to American Husbandmen, which appeared in 1827. The Society in the state of New York, for the promotion of agriculture, arts and manufactures, issued-under the auspices of certain gentlemen, among whom was Chancellor Livingston— four quarto volumes of Transactions, the first in 1792, and the second in 1799. The Board of Agriculture in the state of New York published three octavo volumes of Memoirs, which were printed and distributed at the expense of the state. The first of these volumes appeared in 1821, and the third in 1824. The Albany County Society of New York have likewise published several agricultural tracts; and the Essex Agricultural Society have published thirteen octavo pamphlets, the first in 1818, and the last in 1834. This list comprises the most prominent agricultural reports, not including addresses, which have been given to the public previous to 1835. We subjoin the titles of the most important agricultural works which have been published in the United States, in chronological order.

Elliot's Essays; Boston, 1760. The New England Farmer or Georgical Dictionary, by Samuel Deane, D. D.; 1797. The Experienced Farmer, by Richard Parkinson, Doncaster, Eng.; Philadelphia, 1799. The Rural Socrates, or the History of Kliyogg, a celebrated philosophical Swiss farmer; republished, Hallowell, Maine, 1800. Essays and Notes on Husbandry and Rural Affairs, by J. B. Bordley; 1801. The Pennsylvania Farmer, by Job Roberts; Philadelphia, 1804. The American Gardener's Calender, by Bernard McMahon; Philadelphia, 1806. Forsyth on Fruit Trees; republished at the same time. complete Treatise on Merinos, by Mr. Tessier; 1811. Every Man his own Cattle Doctor, by Francis Clater; Philadelphia, 1815. Elements of Agricultural Chemistry, by Sir Humphrey Davy; republished, Boston, 1815. The Code of Agriculture, by Sir John Sinclair; republished, Hartford, 1818. Arator, a Series of Agricultural Essays; Petersburg, Va., 1800. The Farmer's Assistant, by John Nicholson; Lancaster, Penn., 1820. Treatise on Agriculture, by a Practical Farmer; Albany, 1820. Husbandman and Housewife, by Thomas G. Fessenden; Bellows Falls, Vt., 1820. The Farmer's Manual, by Frederick Butler; Wethersfield, Conn., 1820. Willich's Domestic En

To the enterprise of this gentleman, more than to any other individual in the United States, are we indebted for improvements in stock husbandry, by the importation of the best cattle from abroad.

cyclopedia; republished, Philadelphia, 1821. The American Orchardist, by James Thacher, M. D.; Boston, 1822. Letters of Agricola, by John Young; 1822. Nature and Reason Harmonized in the Practice of Husbandry, by the late John Lorain; Philadelphia, 1825. Compendium of Cattle Medicine, by James White; republished, Philadelphia, 1827. Manual on the Mulberry Tree, by James H. Cobb. Essays on Calcareous Manures, by Edmund Ruffin; Petersburg, Va., 1832. Treatise on Poultry, Cows, and Swine, by B. Moubray; reprinted from the sixth London edition, and adapted to the United States, by Thomas G. Fessenden, editor of New England Farmer; Boston, 1832. The Complete Farmer and Rural Economist, by Thomas G. Fessenden; Boston, 1834. These, together with works reprinted in this country from the pen of William Cobbett, and a few others of less magnitude, comprise the bulk of the agricultural volumes which have been published in the United States.

The following are most of the periodical journals devoted to agriculture which have been issued in this country, and we rejoice to say, that, as a body, they exhibit marked talent in their respective editors.

The American Farmer; Baltimore, formerly edited by John S. Skinner. The New England Farmer, by Thomas G. Fessenden; Boston. The New York Farmer, by Samuel Fleet; New York. The Genessee Farmer, by Luther Tucker; Rochester, N. Y. Goodsel's Genessee Farmer, by N. Goodsel; Rochester, N. Y. Maine Farmer; Winthrop, Me. Cultivator, by J. Buel, J. P. Beekman, and J. D. Wasson; Albany. Farmer's Reporter; Cincinnati, Ohio. Northern Farmer; Newport, N. H. Southern Agriculturist; Charleston, S. C. Ohio Farmer and Western Horticulturist; Batavia, Ohio. Southern Planter; Macon, Ga. Farmer's Register, by Edmund Ruffin; Richmond, Va. Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, Mechanics, and Manufactures; New York. The Plough Boy; Albany, N. Y. The American Farmer's Magazine; Washington. Besides these journals, there is a work published in Wilkesbarre, Penn., in the German language, and entitled the Farmer and Gardener. Two horticultural journals have also been recently issued in Boston, the one entitled the American Gardener's Magazine; and the other, the Horticultural Register and Gardener's Magazine, edited by Thomas G. Fessenden. The list of works mentioned above' may not, perhaps, contain all the publications which have been issued in the United States, but it is sufficient to show, that how much soever we may have neglected the

For the above list we are indebted to a valuable correspondent of the New York Farmer, of March, 1835.

practice, we have not, as a nation, been deficient in theoretic husbandry.

The recent introduction of two new subjects of culture into the United States, will, if carried out successfully, produce a marked epoch in American agriculture-we mean the manufacture of sugar from the beet root, and also that of silk. The manufacture of sugar from the beet root was first introduced into France under the auspices of Napoleon, in 1811, and has been since carried on in that country with brilliant success. So great is the interest felt, and so auspicious is the prospect for the successful production of that article in the United States, than an association of gentlemen in Philadelphia have despatched an agent, Mr. Pedder, to France, in order to procure from that country all the information respecting the process which can be obtained. So far as returns have been received they are satisfactory, and there is every reason to hope that a successful experiment will soon be tried here. If it should succeed, the vast tracts of fertile soil which we possess would afford almost inexhaustible resources for that object.

The production of domestic silk seems to be a subject of no less importance than the manufacture of sugar, and we rejoice that public attention is awakening to this object. The consumption of that article is so great in our country, that its domestic production, superseding the necessity of its importation from abroad, would save a vast amount of expense, and at the same time produce the most beneficial consequences to the system of domestic industry. Rapid advances in this work are beginning to be made, and the Congress of the United States has caused to be printed and distributed a valuable treatise on its cultivation and manufacture. We understand, that, besides other improvements, an establishment for the manufacture of silk has recently been commenced in Dedham, Massachusetts, which, when in full operation, will run 1600 spindles, and employ 100 females. To those sections of the country which produce the mulberry tree in abundance, the manufacture of silk would doubtless be the most productive kind of labour which could be undertaken.

The immense resources of our country, and the geographical features, as well as productions of her different parts, seem to lay a natural foundation for a complete American system, which shall make us independent of the globe. The north, south and west have each peculiar advantages which do not seem to interfere, and which might be made materially to aid each other. It is hardly to be imagined that New England will ever be a great agricultural region, as this is prevented by the natural barrenness of her soil. Her prosperity must depend mainly on her commerce and manufactures. Nor do the pro

ductions of the south come in collision with those of the north and west, for they cannot be yielded by these regions. It is equally clear that the west must, in the end, become the great agricultural section of the country, as its natural advantages of soil place it above competition with the east in this respect. It is only by a system of internal improvement, acting upon these advantages, and by the encouragement of domestic industry, that the greatest good can be secured for all parts of the country.

We have endeavoured in this article-avoiding all minute sp.cification and statistical detail-to exhibit briefly the general progress of agriculture, and its condition in the United States. Nature has provided us with the resources of a great agricultural nation-in our vast tracts of fertile soil, untouched by the hand of man; forests, beneath whose shade the nations of Europe might find shelter and support; and giant lakes, connecting distant regions, as with inland seas, upon whose broad bosoms the navies of the earth might float. We have also navigable rivers of immense magnitude, running almost the whole length and breadth of the continent, and rail-roads and canals are in process of construction, which will connect the remote sections of the Mississippi Valley with the Atlantic frontier. These great public works, while they furnish channels of transportation for our agricultural products, are like so many iron chains, which bind together the local interests of different sections, and make, as it were, a single neighbourhood of the republic. We possess water power enough to employ all the machinery which can be manufactured, and to work up all the products which can be furnished by the soil. But more than all, we possess a free government, which grants to labour a certain and sure reward. All we want is concentrated, intelligent, vigorous industry. Give us but this, and we may be independent of the world, and become an exporting instead of an importing nation. The establishment of this true American system, would equally benefit every section of the country; the commerce and manufactures of the east, the rice, cotton, sugar, tobacco, and gold, of the south, and the agricultural products of the west. But the soil is the most certain source of support. "The Goth, the Christian, time, war, flood, or fire," cannot destroy it. To the earthquake alone will it yield. The glorious epoch of that golden age which is to dawn upon the world, has been described as the period when mankind shall rest in peace, beneath their own vines and fig-trees, with their spears beaten into pruning hooks, and their swords into ploughshares. If, as political economy informs us, labour is the source of wealth, experience also teaches that agricultural labour is the solid foundation of national permanence and independence. 3

VOL. XXI.-No. 41.