The Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture (originally known as the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, PSPA), formally established on March 1, 1785, was the first American organization to focus exclusively on the reform of agricultural practices in the United States. It is a nonpartisan organization, and a registered charitable nonprofit (501(c)(3)) The president as of July 1, 2024, is Jessica McAtamney.
The idea of forming such a group was proposed to the American Philosophical Society by John Beale Bordley. Of the PSPA's twenty-three founding members, seven belonged to the American Philosophical Society, and four were signers of the United States Declaration of Independence. The society held its first election on March 29, 1785. The officers elected were Samuel Powel (president), John Beale Bordley (vice-president), Tench Francis (treasurer), and Timothy Pickering (secretary).
Activities of the society were somewhat intermittent, being disrupted by external events such as the 1793 Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic, the War of 1812, and the American Civil War. The society's members have contributed to scientific debates on agricultural topics, the promotion of new agricultural practices such as the use of crop rotation and fertilizers, and the detection and eradication of bovine tuberculosis. The society has been instrumental in the creation of other organizations and institutions such as agricultural fairs, the Farmer's Club, the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society, and the Farmers' High School (which became Pennsylvania State University). The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) credits PSPA as one of "the seeds sown which later sprouted and grew into the USDA".
Leadership and initiatives The Georgic farmers The original members have been variously described as "gentleman farmers" or "Georgic farmers". Many owned large farmlands, but farming was not their sole interest. Members like Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson saw agriculture as an important area of practice affecting both the economy of the state and the morality of its citizens. Bringing together agriculture, commerce and science, they viewed agricultural business practices and economic investment as foundational to the formation of an independent United States. In a scholarly approach to agriculture, they sought to combine traditional knowledge, practical hands-on experience, and the expansion of scientific knowledge through systematic procedures and experiments. Members such as Richard Peters and James Mease reported on their practical agriculture experience, experiments, and the relevance of chemical theories.
The society held monthly meetings in Carpenters' Hall, near Third and Chestnut Streets. Activities of the society reflected the interests of its members, who dealt with a variety of issues at different times. The society initially reflected the agricultural reform movement, with the goals of increasing agricultural knowledge and the production of agricultural goods for general consumption, beyond the use of farm families. Members such as Richard Peters, George Logan, and John Beale Bordley experimented on their own farms, and are credited with promoting the use of fertilizers such as plaster and gypsum, and the practice of crop rotation. As well as research and education, the society's stated goals included the awarding of prizes and support for the creation of other related societies.
In some cases, differences of opinion (as well as political and economic interests) led to divisions and the formation of organizations such as George Logan's Philadelphia County Society for Promoting Agriculture (1788). The PSPA's activities were interrupted between 1793 and 1805 due to the yellow fever epidemic and the resulting deaths of president Samuel Powel and others in 1793.
Richard Peters
As early as 1786, members of the society discussed the possibility of bridging the Schuylkill River. They planned to petition the Pennsylvania General Assembly for funding. PSPA member Richard Peters successfully lobbied for An Act to authorize the Governor of this Commonwealth to incorporate a Company, for erecting a Permanent Bridge over the Schuylkill River, at or near the City of Philadelphia. This was passed on March 16, 1798, and a company was formed to carry out the project, with Peters as its president. The bridge's piers were designed by engineer William Weston, while the 550-foot wooden superstructure was built by Timothy Palmer. The Permanent Bridge took five years to complete, and opened for use on January 1, 1805. It was later covered over. It was the first major bridge to cross the Schuylkill River, one of the earliest major river bridges in America and the first of them to be covered.
On April 9, 1805, the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture was formally reestablished with the election of new officers, "it appearing that the President and Vice President are dead, the members present being a quorum to constitute a regular meeting for the transaction of business." Richard Peters was unanimously elected as president. The society celebrated the building of the Permanent Bridge by erecting a commemorative obelisk, which included a sundial, an equation table, the monument's latitude and longitude, a compass, and a "mix of prose and verse".
How to share knowledge was a major challenge for the society. Lack of an agricultural press was a barrier until the 1820s. Published papers and communications on topics such as the Hessian fly, farm equipment, crop rotation, and dairy farming appeared intermittently in a variety of publications. The society had limited funding and found it difficult to cover the costs of publication; the quality of submissions was highly variable; and progressive agricultural publications had a small readership. Nonetheless, under Richard Peters, the society published five volumes of Memoirs of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture between 1808 and 1826. The first volume was published by a woman printer, Jane Aitken. A sixth volume appeared over a century later, in 1939.
In addition to monthly meetings, the society gave presentations, awarded prizes, and sponsored agricultural fairs. It held its first agricultural exhibition in 1822, attracting visitors to view cattle, farm products, and machinery. The society was involved in testing and distribution of seeds and plants, and published an agricultural almanac between 1816 and 1829.
One of many suggested initiatives that was proposed but lacked funding was an experimental farm. Philadelphia physician Benjamin Rush, a founder of the nation's first medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, suggested that provisions be made to create a chair of veterinary medicine. Rush's idea was far ahead of its time: only in 1882 did University Trustee Joshua Ballinger Lippincott donate money for a veterinary school.
Richard Peters died on August 22, 1828. The society's records were not well-preserved during the early 1800s: the society apparently became inactive again prior to 1838.
Nicholas Biddle The War of 1812 may have disrupted activity of the society. The period between 1810 and 1850 saw major changes to American infrastructure. Improvements to roads, canals and railroads made it easier for farmers' produce to reach markets, while the telegraph, newspapers and magazines increased their access to information. One of the papers given by James Mease reported on the transmission patterns of Texas fever as cattle were moved north from South Carolina.
In 1838, the Farmer's Cabinet, which began publication in 1832, reported that the Society for Promoting Agriculture had been revived with the election of Nicholas Biddle as president. The 1840s are described as an active time for the society, with meetings, lectures and exhibitions. In 1847 the Farmer's Club was organized as an adjunct group.
Frederick Watts On February 6, 1850, the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture proposed that a Farmers' Convention be held in Harrisburg in 1851, with delegates from each county in Pennsylvania, to form a State Agricultural Society. Frederick Watts, a member of the PSPA, became the founding president of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society (PSAS).
In 1853-4 PSPA lost access to the locations where they had held their exhibitions, interfering with their activities. In 1855 the location of their meetings was changed.
Nonetheless, the PSPA and the PSAS successfully lobbied the Pennsylvania state legislature to form the Farmers' High School, chartered on February 22, 1855. It was later renamed the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania and subsequently became Pennsylvania State University.
Tensions in the American states came to a head during the American Civil War which lasted from April 12, 1861, to May 26, 1865. Members of the PSPA may have held differing views about the war and the issues behind it; in any case, the war became a major focus during that time. By 1861, the PSPA had become largely inactive.
Leonard Pearson In 1888, the society's original papers were given to the University of Pennsylvania. In 1909, Leonard Pearson, Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, found the records of the society in the university library. He contacted surviving members to form a quorum to restart the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture. Sadly, Pearson died on September 20, 1909, before the quorum met. He was elected posthumously as a member of the society in 1938.
Pearson, who also held the position of state veterinarian, was the first person in the United States to use tuberculin as a diagnostic agent for the detection of bovine tuberculosis, on March 16, 1892. Bovine tuberculosis is a zoonotic disease that can "jump" from animals to humans. Potentially deadly, it can be transmitted to humans through the consumption of unpasteurized milk. Pearson's "Pennsylvania Plan" for tuberculin testing was approved by the United States Bureau of Animal Industry, and adopted by the United States Livestock Sanitary Association for use by various federal, state and local officials between 1901 and 1917.
After Pearson's death, other members of the society carried on his work, appealing for research and action on bovine tuberculosis during the 1920s and 30s. Their goal was the eradication of bovine tuberculosis within the United States. The first county-wide tuberculin test was applied across the state of Pennsylvania in 1923. From 1923 to 1950, the tuberculosis incidence in Pennsylvania diary and breeding cattle was reduced from 9.29 per cent to 0.9 per cent. By 2011, the 93-year-long effort for the voluntary identification and slaughter of affected animals had decreased disease prevalence to <0.001%, an impressive achievement in public health and education.
In the 1940s, the PSPA began to hold its monthly lunch meetings at the Union League of Philadelphia.
Mark Allam
In 1954, Mark Allam became a member of the society. He worked with Hardie Scott and others to include the PSPA in the reconstruction of Independence National Historical Park and the renewal of Old City, Philadelphia. As a result, PSPA and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society became joint tenants of 323-5 Walnut Street for a rent of $100 per month and care of the gardens. The three-story brick row houses at 319-321 and 323-325 Walnut Street were built by Robert Kidd in 1810 and 1812, and taken over by the National Park Service in 1951.
Technological change