tion as would lead to the development of have been the Columbian Agricultural Sothe agricultural resources of the country, ciety for the Promotion of Rural and Doand as the result, the South Carolina Agri-mestic Economy, organized at a convention cultural Society had been established in held in Georgetown, D. C., on the 28th No1784, and still exists. The Philadelphia vember, 1809; and the first agricultural exSociety for the Improvement of Agriculture hibition in this country was, probably, one was formed in the same year, or the year held by that society in Georgetown, on the after, followed by a similar association in 10th of May, 1810, when large premiums New York in 1791, which was incorporated were offered for the encouragement of sheep in 1793. The Massachusetts Society for raising, etc. In the October following, in Promoting Agriculture was incorporated in the same year, Elkanah Watson exhibited 1792, and soon after commenced the publi- three merino sheep under the great elm tree cation of a series of papers known as the in Pittsfield, Mass., which was the germ of Agricultural Repository, which, for sound the Berkshire County Agricultural Society, good sense and judicious suggestion, chal- whose regular exhibitions began the year lenges comparison with any similar series following, and are believed to have been the ever published. It should be stated, how- first county exhibitions ever instituted in ever, that the prime movers in the formation this country. To show the feeling with reof these societies were not men actually en- gard to what was, at that time, considered an gaged in farming, though many of them were innovation, in a strictly farming community, owners of fine estates. The mass of farmers the projector of that society encountered the were not, as yet, fully prepared for this pro- opposition and ridicule of all classes of sogressive effort, and all the agricultural teach-ciety, from the moment the proposition was ings of educated and scientific men prove un-made. It was viewed by many with conavailing, unless the people themselves, the tempt. Gradually, however, the feelings of actual tillers of the soil, are prepared to receive and profit by their teachings. Many years elapsed after these carly efforts were made, before the habit of reading became sufficiently common among the masses of practical farmers to justify the expectation that any general benefit would arise from the annual publication of the transactions of these societies. There was little or no disposition in the community to examine the subject, and they failed to excite any spirit of emulation in the public mind. The improvements proposed fell almost dead upon the people, who rejected "book farming" as impertinent and useless, and knew as little of the chemistry of agriculture as of the problems of astronomy. A quarter of a century, however, effected some change, and in 1816 the Massachusetts society held its first exhibition, at Brighton, at which a list of premiums was offered, and a ploughing match instituted, not so much with the object of improving the plough as to try the strength and docility of the oxen. But the plough-maker happened to be there, and to have his eyes open; and since that day, an amount of knowledge has been brought to bear upon this implement sufficient to bring it very near perfection. The first national society established with this specific object in view, is believed to the people were enlisted in its favor, premiums were offered and awarded, and a large concourse, from all parts of the county, increasing rapidly from year to year, showed clearly that something had reached the heart of the community. But though this was the first county exhibition, so far as I am informed, it was not the first county society that was formed. The Kennebec Agricultural Society was instituted at Augusta in 1800 and incorporated in 1801, being the second society incorporated within the limits of Massachusetts, to which Maine, at that time, belonged. A voluntary association of the Middlesex husbandmen had also been formed in 1794, and incorporated in 1803, under the name of the Western Society of Middlesex Husbandmen. These were some of the early efforts in this direction, and though they, like other similar attempts, met with some opposition on the part of the very class they were intended to benefit, the increasing intelligence of the people very soon enabled them to live it down. Now we have more than a thousand similar associations, all striving, by the offer of premiums, and by bringing together the best products of the farm and the garden, to encourage improvement and stimulate enterprise. Almost every state in the Union has its state society, and almost every county, and, in some of the states, every county, has its county organization. And what is the result? It is well known that by far the largest and most valuable part of our practical knowledge is that which is got in our intercourse with our fellow men, with those who are engaged in the same pursuits and have the same interests as ourselves. The farmer has, therefore, gained, and is gaining a vast amount of information, much of which he can apply to advantage on his farm. Emerging from his naturally isolated position, he has become a more social being. More frequent contact with others, by way of competition, has stimulated mental activity. Contrast him now with his father on the same farm half a century ago, and see if there is not some improvement that can be traced to the social influences of the agricultural clubs and societies. In addition to these societies, most, if not all of which are encouraged by the several states in a substantial manner, there exist, in some of the states, boards of agriculture, organized as departments of the state government, and having a general supervision of the societies, receiving their official returns, and publishing an abstract of the most valuable papers presented, for general distribution. I do not think it is claiming too much for the agricultural societies throughout the country, to say that the general spirit of inquiry in relation to farm improvements, and much of the enterprise manifested by farmers of the present day, is due to their efforts. The most impartial judgment would, in fact, go much further than this, and say that a large proportion of the actual improvement that has been made in farm stock, farm implements, and farm products, may be traced, directly or indirectly, to the influence of the agricultural associations of the country. To appreciate this influence it is only necessary to consider the immense facilities which a well-conducted exhibition gives, not only to the agricultural mechanic for making known the nature and value of his improvements, but to the farmer for becoming acquainted with them. Many an invention would have slumbered in oblivion, or enjoyed only a limited and local fame, had it not been for the multitudes brought together at the state, county, and town fairs, which, it will thus be seen, furnish a most admirable medium of communication, both to the mechanic and the farmer, making it for the in terest of both to attend and avail themselves of the facilities offered them. Thus a great public interest is served, notwithstanding the individual mechanic or inventor may have his own interest chiefly at heart. And what is true with regard to agricultural implements, is true to nearly an equal extent of every thing else brought for exhibition to the fairs of the societies. A farmer sees fruits that he knew nothing of, and could not obtain otherwise. He knows who presented them, secures the same for his own farm, and within five years can present as good samples himself. He sees animals brought to a degree of perfection of which. he had never, perhaps, conceived. Thought is excited. He asks himself whether they are more profitable than his own; procures them, perhaps, and thus an improved stock is disseminated over the country to take the place of that which is inferior, but which costs the individual nearly or quite as much to keep as that more valuable and profitable. I need not enlarge upon this point. Enough has been said, I think, to show that the modern system of associated effort is a most decided progressive movement; but let us trace out more in detail some of its results. And first, in the multiplication and improvement of FARM IMPLEMENTS. There is, perhaps, no branch of farm economy in which the progress of improvement has been so apparent and unquestionable, as that made in the implements of agriculture during the last half century. It might almost be said that progress in agriculture itself may be measured by an increased demand for new and better implements, as the advance in civilization is shown by a greater demand for comforts and luxuries by the people. There was a time, as we have seen, in the history of American farming, when labor was cheap, when strong limbs and the power of endurance were the requisites chiefly sought for in the hired man, and when his labor was paid for as so much brute, physical force. Intelligent labor, skill, and thought found higher rewards in other callings, and the practical farmer was thought to be sufficiently well informed if he was able to hold plough, to mow, to sow, and to reap. The labor-the physical force necessary to carry on the operations of the farmcould be obtained very easily in those days, and it was natural that farmers should be about to work in this way. The massive old satisfied with the limited variety of imple- wooden plough required a strong and wellments then in use. The isolated position fed team to move it through the soil, a in which they were placed, their limited op-heavy, muscular man to press it into the portunities for travel and observation, the ground, another to hold, and another to drive. difficulties, in fact, of getting about among people engaged in the same pursuits, all helped to strengthen prejudice and foster a repugnance to try new and unused implements, or to strike out into new fields of experiments. Besides these obstacles in the way of improvement, the progress then made in the various branches of mechanics was extremely limited, and the adoption of new and improved implements must follow, of course, in the wake of mechanical invention. The few rude and imperfect implements in use at an early day were, for the most part, of home manufacture, or made by the neighboring blacksmith, who had a thousand other things to make at the same time. There was little idea of a division of labor. Jack at all trades was good at none. As early as 1617, some ploughs were set to work in the Virginia plantation, but in that year the governor complained to the company that the colony "did suffer for want of skilful husbandmen, and means to set their ploughs on work; having as good ground as any man can desire, and about forty bulls and oxen, but they wanted men to bring them to labor, and iron for the ploughs, and harness for the cattle. Some thirty or forty acres we had sown with one plough, but it stood so long on the ground before it was reaped, it was most shaken, and the rest spoiled with the cattle and rats in the barn." This complaint had some effect, for, in 1648, a cotemporary resident says: "We have now going near upon a hundred and fifty ploughs," and they were drawn by oxen. We may judge, therefore, of the economy of the work it performed. What was true of the early period of the settlement, was true, to nearly an equal extent, for a hundred and fifty years, so far as the implements and the processes of farming are concerned. All these last were traditional, handed down from sire to son, and adhered to in the strictest manner. The implements consisted almost wholly of the plough, the spade, a clumsy wooden fork, and now and then a harrow. I have in my possession two of these wooden forks, made, and in use, at least a hundred and fifty years ago, in the Massachusetts colony. They were regarded as curious for their antiquity in the youth of the grandfather of the donor, who died some years ago, upward of ninety years of age. That would date them back nearly two centuries, perhaps. At this time, the ploughs used among the French settlers in Illinois were made of wood, with a small point of iron tied upon the wood with straps of raw-hide. The beams rested on an axle and small wooden wheels, the whole drawn by oxen yoked to the ploughs by the horns, by means of a straight yoke attached by raw leather straps, with a pole extended from the yoke back to the axle. The plough was very large and clumsy, and no small one was used by them to plough among the corn till after the war of 1812. The carts they used had not a particle of iron about them. During the last century, the old "Carey plough" was more extensively used in the Atlantic states than any other pattern, though the particular form of this instrument varied almost as much as the number of small manufacturers or blacksmiths who made it. The Carey plough had a clumsy wrought iron share, a land-side and standard made of wood, a wooden mould-board, often plated over, in a rough manner, with pieces of old saw-plates, tin, or sheet iron. The handles were upright, and were held by two pins; a powerful man was required to hold it, and double the strength of team now commonly used in doing the same kind of work. The "bar-side plough," or the "bull plough," was also used to some extent. A It is recorded that in 1637 there were but thirty-seven ploughs in the colony of Massachusetts Bay. Twelve years after the landing of the pilgrims, the farmers about Boston had no ploughs, and were compelled to break up the bushes and prepare for cultivation with their hands, and with rude and clumsy hoes or mattocks. It was the custom, in that part of the country, even to a much later period, for any one owning a plough to go about and do the ploughing for the inhabitants over a considerable extent of territory. A town often paid a bounty to any one who would buy and keep a plough in repair for the purpose of going flat bar formed the land-side, and a big |