4AGRICULTURAL REPORT.

parts of the State, not much was effected by the society for the eight or nine years after its first incorporation. But after the importation of bread-Stuffs, to the amount of several millions of dollars, in 1837— 38, made necessary to a considerable extent from a neglected cultivation, and after many other evidences of a decaying agriculture, an energetic effort was made by many of the most active men of the State, as well agriculturists as others, to reanimate the society, and through its agency, if possible, to awaken a spirit of improvement with the farming classes.

On the 5th of May, 1841, the act for the encouragement of agri- culture was passed by the legislature of New York, appropriating 88, 000 for five years, to be divided among the agricultural societies, which has been continued to the present time. The State Agricultu- ral Society was recognized the same year, and a cattle show and fair held at Syracuse, which was a most creditable one, exceeding the expectations even of the most ardent friends of the cause. These fairs have been continued, increasing in interest, utility, and import- ance, every year..

Since the formation of the society last named,"State Agricultural Societies“ have also been incorporated in Alabama, California, Con- necticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michi- gan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Wisconsin;““Boards of Agriculture“ in Indiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Tennessee, and numerous ‧County Agricultural Societies,“ and other associations in which agriculture and horticulture are encour- aged, have been formed, making in the aggregate about eight hun- dred in number in the States and Territories. The operations of all these associations, in detail, would form a subject for an essay in a future Report.—

Another interesting feature in our industrial history is the annual appropriations by Congress for the collection of agricultural statistics, investigations for promoting agriculture and rural economy, and the procurement of cuttings and seeds for gratuitous distribution among the farmers, which appropriations are expended under the direction of the Patent Office; the idea having originated with Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, in 1839. The sums appropriated each year, since that period, for the above-named objects, and the number of copies printed of the Agricultural Reports, with the size of each volume, are denoted in the following table:— 4

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