Professor JOHNSTON having concluded, Mr. PRENTICE, the President of the State Agricultural Society took the Chair, and Mr. B. P. JOHNSON was appointed Secretary.

Mr. BEEKMAN, of Columbia, remarked that Prof. JOHNSTON having now finished his course of lectures, it was due to him, as well as to the Society, that we should express an opinion as to the merits of these lectures, and to test the sense of the Society, he begged leave to offer a resolution, which he read, as follows:

Resolved, That we have listened with great interest, as well as profit, to the very instructive course of lectures delivered by Prof. JOHNSTON, on "The General Relations of Science to Practical Agriculture ;" and that we take great pleasure in expressing our united approbation of the great practical value of his lectures to the practical farmer, as well as to the man of science.

Dr. BEEKMAN said he had another resolution in relation to the volume which Professor JOHNSTON had exhibited to us, being the second edition of his lectures on Agricultural Chemistry and Geology, presenting the results of scientific research adapted to practical Agriculture, which he begged leave to offer for the consideration of the Society. It was as follows:

Resolved, That as the principles advanced in the lectures which have been delivered, are more fully developed in the second edition of Prof. JOHNSTON's lectures on Agricultural Chemistry and Geology, we would respectfully request him, if consistent with his engagements, to prepare an edition for re-publication in this country.

Mr. Baldwin of Syracuse, said he rose to second the resolutions offered by the gentleman from Columbia; and in doing so, begged leave to submit a few remarks.

When we contemplate, said Mr. B., the elevated position which the learned Professor occupies in his own country, standing as he does at the head of a profession which he so much adorns; when we consider how extended, broad and profitable to himself as well as to others is the field of his labors-and how great have been the sacrifices pecuniary and otherwise, which he has made in accepting the invitation of our Society, to deliver its annual address last autumn, and in remaining here, and in this vicinity since that time, to deliver the course of lectures which have just now closed, and to which we have listened with so much profit and delight-and especially, when we reflect upon the character of those lectures-the beautiful manner in which they have opened to us the great volume of nature, giving us a glance at its hid

den mysteries and treasures-showing us the properties of the earth and the soils, the connection and relation between the earth and the vege table kingdom, and the connection and relation between that kingdom and the animal creation, with the means of improving each; and, by the knowledge thus imparted, provoked an appetite for more, and leading us by that knowledge, from nature up to nature's God, and thereby making us not only better agriculturists, but better men, better citizens, and better christians; in view, sir, of these multiplied and high considerations, I am sure that I but express a common sentiment when I say that we sincerely thank our friend, the learned professor.

And, Mr. President, said Mr. B., if these lectures shall have as we trust in heaven they may, the effect of awakening our Legislators to a proper sense of their duty in regard to this great interest, and which shall lead them fairly and fully to respond to the recommendations of his Excellency the Governor in his late message-to respond to the recommendations of the Agricultural Commissioners in their late and able report on the subject of an Agricultural College and Experimental Farm-to respond fairly and fully to the united voice of their constituency, how deep and enduring will be that obligation and our gratitude.

And sir, said Mr. B., why should they not thus respond? Have not all the other great interests of the State found protection at their hands, while this, the parent of them all, has been lost sight of and neglected. Is there any other interest in the State greater than this? And why should this alone be left without protection?

By the lecture which has just now closed, you have learned that the farming interests in this State are in process of deterioration; that the average of all crops is continually diminishing; the tables of the products, exhibited by the learned Professor, show this; and he also shows us the means by which these products may be increased-by which we may be brought back to the products of a virgin soil.

The learned Professor in his lecture this evening has also referred us to the products of the fertile soils of our new States, the prairies of the boundless west, and which are brought into direct competition with the products of the soil of this State, and by which it appears most evident that we cannot much longer sustain ourselves against this powerful competition. What then, sir, is to be done? Why, sir, there is but one thing that can be done, and that is, to improve our system of Agriculture, and by that system to increase the quantity as well as the quality of our agricultural products. The lights of experience and of science will enable us to do this. But a knowledge of that experience

and science must be acquired, and how can it be so well acquired as at an institution established for that purpose.

It is true that reference has been made by the learned professor to the agricultural schools of Bavaria, Prussia and other countries in Europe; but it occured to him at the time, as he doubted not it did to them, that as between the people of those countries and our own, there was no analogy whatever. Their governments were different. They were oppressed subjects; were vassals and serfs, while we were freemen; they were ignorant-we enlightened. There the masses are uneducated, while here education like the light and dews of heaven, under our common school system, descends as it should descend, alike and equally upon all. Our farmers as a class are intelligent and educated men. But few of the farmers of those countries own the soil they cultivate, while ours, not only own it in fee, but are emphatically the lords of the soil. Even in England, the learned professor has told us, that the farmers as a class were not reading men. How different the case with us. Ours are reading men. Where is the farmer in this State that does not at least take his newspaper? Look, sir, at the one hundred thousand subscribers and readers of various agricultural periodicals of the State, and it will be seen that there is not the slightest analogy between the old world and the new in this respect.

Sir, continued Mr. B., the farmers of New-York are not only ready for, but they demand this measure-the ground is already preparedthe loaf is already leavened; for eighteen years at least it has been at work, and what are its fruits? Look, sir, to the general interest awakened on this subject, look to the immense gatherings at your annual fairs, look to the improved condition of stock and agricultural implements; and above all, sir, to the increased circulation of agricultural papers and books, and you will agree with me, sir, that the time has come; that the harvest is ripe; and the sickles are ready and only wait the bidding of the law-making power, to commence the work. Yes, sir, the time has come when the farmers of New-York, in view of the almost overwhelming competition of the west, are called upon to look at home-to protect their own interests. And how, sir, I repeat, is that interest to be protected, except by the introduction into it of the lights of experience and science? We have this evening been taught by the learned Professor, how one acre can be multiplied into four acres; or, in other words, how one acre can, by an improved system of Agriculture, be made to yield as much as under our present system, four produce. Now, sir, suppose a proposition were to be submitted to this Legislature, by which the agricultural wealth of the State, for an outlay of a

few thousand dollars, could be doubled, does any one doubt that such proposition would at once be seized upon and adopted by that honorable body? Surely not; and yet for a comparatively small outlay, by adopting the system proposed, that wealth may not only be doubled, but quadrupled. And will not the Legislature adopt it; will they not give us an institution where the farmer's boy may be educated-where he may receive in reference to his calling, such an education as all other classes in this community receive in reference to theirs? In a word, will it lon'ger allow this numerous and highly respectable class of our fellow citizens to be neglected; will the Legislature longer allow this great interest, which lies at the foundation of all others, to suffer for the want of that aid which it, and the united voice of an impatient constituency so loudly and imperiously demand? I trust not, sir. I trust, said Mr. B., that the Legislature will not only give us an Agricultural College and Experimental Farm, but that it will endow it with such ample funds, as to place it upon a strong and permanent basis, a basis which shall alike perpetuate throughout all time to come, the wisdom of this Legislature and the liberality of the State.

Mr. B. begged pardon for trespassing so long upon the attention of the house, but he could not have said less, either in reference to his friend, the learned Professor, or of the great and interesting subject now before the Legislature, without doing violence to his own feelings; and he therefore hoped that he might be excused for the time which he had occupied.

Mr. B. said he must also crave the indulgence of the house for a moment, while he considered the second resolution offered by the gentleman from Columbia. That resolution, sir, proposes to reprint in this country a valuable work of Professor Johnston on the subject of Agriculture and its kindred sciences. I have not, said Mr. B., read the whole of that work, but from the examination which I have given it, I am satisfied that it will make a valuable addition to our agricultural libraries; indeed, such is its character that I am of the opinion. that any man who will make himself familiar with its contents, will become a scientific farmer. But the English edition was too expensive for general circulation; he hoped, therefore, that a cheap American edition might be issued, and that it might be found, as he had no doubt it would be, on the shelf of every intelligent farmer of the State. And, in conclusion, he desired that both resolutions might be adopted.

At the close of Mr. B's. remarks, the resolutions were unanimously adopted, and then the Society adjourned.

B. P. JOHNSON, Secretary.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES AT ANNUAL MEETING,

JANUARY, 1850.

ESSAYS AND EXPERIMENTS.

Committee.-John Delafield, Oaklands; J. P. Beekman, Kinderhook; George Geddes, Fairmount.

The attention of the committee, to which was referred essays, experiments and work on schools, has been led, in the course of their examinations, to contemplate the vast field of usefulness which from year to year is opening to view, under the influences of the State Agricultural Society. Upon the surface of this broad field, may be distinctly seen many of the well defined and fixed principles of Agriculture, traced out in lines to be easily and readily comprehended by the intelligent and inquiring man.

Within a few years, the cultivation of the earth has become a study; a science, claiming much observation, research and investigation, with as much application of mind as any other pursuit. For a time, the novelty of this study, its varied divisions and sub-divisions, embracing nearly every other art, and every science, confined it within the range of a few prominent facts, whose cause and effect were understood by a less number of men. Happily, this study is now advancing with rapid strides, and these facts are multiplying, dissipating early difficulties, breaking down, and crushing in their progress the most obstinate of old prejudices.

Since the organization of the State Society, eight volumes of its Transactions have been published, and each volume contains essays or papers, on one or more subjects connected with Agriculture, carrying practical and important information to the farmer, not to be had elsewhere. Few, perhaps, are aware of the number, extent and value of these papers; nor was the committee prepared to find so large a collection as appears upon reference to the Society's Transactions. An alphabetical catalogue or list is appended to this report, stating the [Assembly, No. 175.]

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