The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1851-06-25
FROM THEPATENT OFFICE aERORss

The following extracts are from The in
troductory remarks, by DANiEL LEE, undef1
whose personal supervision the Patent
| Office Report has been coilated. .,e.,s,
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION, -
Since 1928, when Judge Buel introducs
ed the first bill to establish an AgricDItu-
raj College in the State. Of New York By
legislative aid, Constant efforts have been
made to render the study Of rural econo.
my as science, not less than its practice
as an art, popular in this country. Twehs
ty-seven years have now elapsed--a whols
generation has passed off the stage-and
New York, with her FIVE hundred thous~
and cultivators Of the soil, is still wi.hous
the first agricultural school worthy Of the
name; nor is any other State in = better
condition. Dark as this view Of agricul-
tural education really is, il is the darkness
that precedes the dawn Of a bright and
happy day. Men who have labored for
the improvement of Agriculture. and the
elevation OF Agricultursts, for q quarter
of century, with little Of hope and less
of pecuniary reward, now realize the be-
ginning Of an auspicious change in pub.
lie sentiment. Thanks, to agriculturaf
journals and societies. the people will soon
discover that labor and capital, devoted 70
tillage and husbandry, are as worthy Of
legislative consideration as labor and cap.
ital employed in mining, commerce, and
manufactures. So soon as this truth shaft
be fairly comprehended, the long struggle
Of the friends Of improvement will be
crowned with success, and the victory
won over both ignorance and its traditions.
1t is indeed wonderful how long those
enlightened, reasoning farmers, who, like
Washington, cherish due respect for,
their high calling, have had to beg and.
beg in vain of State Legislatures, and of
Congress, for a little assistance to prevent
the universal impoverishment Of Americsu
soils Whatever has been done 10 arrest
the exhaustion Of arated lands has been.
effected not only without due aid from
Government, but in spite Of mistaken
policy, wkich encourages the removal Of
all the elements Of bread and meat from
cultivated fields, and their speedy trans
portation beyond the possibility Of restitu-
ton. Neither the earnest recommenda.'
tions Of the ilustrious farmer Of Mt. ver-
non, nor the prayers Of two generations
Of agriculturists, nor the painful fact that
nearly all titled lands were becoming les6
and less productive. could induce any Leg.
isature to foster the study Of agriculturs
as science, Happily, this term, when
used in connection with rural affairs, is
no longer the subject Of ridicule. Some
pains have been taken, in this Report, to
prove that one thousand millions Of dol
lars, judiciously expended, will hardly
restore the one hundred million acres Of
partially exhausted lands in the Union 10
that richness Of mould, and strength Of
fertility for permanent cropping, which
they possessed in their primitive state.
The continued fruitfulness Of the eartlr
is an interest far greater and more endur..
ing than any form of government
II the twenty-five millions Of people now
in the United States may rightully con.
sumo the natural fertility Of one-third oE
the arabic lands of the country, the forty.
four millions who will be here twenty-five
years hence may properly extinguish the
productveness Of the remaining two thirds
Of all American territory.
A great principle is involved in tne sci.
ence of agriculture, which reaches through
indefinite generations, and forms the b.
sis of all possible improvements, and Or
the highest hopes Of our race. All ad-.
vancement is impracticable in a country
that closely approximates the condition or
a desert. As nation of farmers, is itnot
time that we enquire by what means, and
on what terms. the fruitlulness OF the earth,
and the health and vigor of its invaluable
products, may be forever maintained, ie
not forever improved?
These are questions Of universal con-
cernment TO the careful and rigid insesti.'
CATION of which no man should refuse to-
lend a listening ear. A governmental pol
icy which results in impoverishing the mar
ural fertility Of land, no matter by what
popular name it is called, must have IN
end. 1t is only question OF time when
this truly spendthift course, this abuse Of
the goodness OF Providence, shall meet
its inevitable punishment To show the
necessity OF reform. plain estimats has
been made, in the chapter on aAgriculta<
raj Statistics" to prove that we annnally
waste enough Of the elements Of bread,
without which not the first kernel Of corn
can be formed, to produce one thossAna
million bushels Of this important staple.
The Board Of Agriculture Of the State9
of Ohio estimates the crop Of corn in l849s
within the limits of that State, At sevenfy
million bushels; and it will hardly be ex~
travagant 10 say that the farmers Of Ohio.
Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and WisceA-
sin, export million tons Of bresastelh
and provisions where they import ose toN
Of the atoms drawn from their virgin soils,
to form agricultural products. Can Il b.
said, in truth, that million tons &c bread
and meat are produced from nolhings