Niagara Agricultural Society 1792-1805
Text from the plaque
The first organization devoted to the improvement of agriculture in Ontario was founded at Niagara. Its original name, the Agricultural Society of Upper Canada, reflected Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe's hope that it would become a province-wide organization. Its members, mostly merchants, politicians, clergymen and gentlemen farmers, met regularly for dinner and discussion. They imported new varieties of fruit trees to the Niagara peninsula in 1794 and sponsored the province's first agricultural fair in Queenston in 1799. The society folded in 1805 and left its collection of reference books to the Niagara Library. Although the society was short-lived, its scientific approach to farming anticipated the work of regional agricultural societies run by farmers after 1820.
Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.
Find the place
The Region of Niagara
The Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake
On the east side of King Street just north of Picton Street
Also recorded for this place: The Region of Niagara
N 43 15.296 W 79 04.234
Recorded August 2004. Check current access before visiting.
More views
Where it stands
Visitors' notes
January 31, 2014
Francis Crooks was a member of the society. Do we know anything more about Crooks and the Society? Allan Smith in Grimsby