UMASS/AMHERST

315Dfc.t.DD5flDSb7b

^ ^

0\.^^, '^'^ r

I, ■-♦ >

vv^

^-^^z

5*

--"T

4r

/^■7/-76'

*^s..^^•

DATE DUE

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
LIBRARY

S

74

E8E8

1871-75

TRANSACTIONS

OF THE

Essex Agricultural Society

m MASSACHUSETTS,

FOR THE YEAR

18T1,

WITH THE

ANNUAL ADDRESS

BY

HON. JOSEPH 8. HOWE.

PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE SOCIETY

PEABODY :

riUNTED AT "THK PEABODY PRESS OFFICE," WARKEN BAXK BUILDING^

1871.

JV

mm

UNlVERSllY^OF
iAS^^AC'IiiSLTTS

m>L-o\, MASS.

ADDRESS.

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Essex Agri-
cultural Society :

When I received your invitation to give the Annual
Address before this Society, I accepted it with many
misgivings. It seemed to be a hazardous experiment
for an ordinary farmer but little used to the pen, and
still less accustomed to the rostrum, to attempt to fill a
place in the long line of distinguished orators, statesmen
and agriculturists, whom the Society have honored b}-
calling to this duty, and who hate honored the Society
by accepting it.

But we farmers know that a luxurious diet, although
very pleasant and appropriate to Thanksgiving and
Christmas, does not, after all, fit us for active duty in
the field so well as a judicious mixture of Johnny cake
or brown bread. So perhaps it may be as profitable for
us to-day, if the quality of our intellectual entertainment

is lessened, and the time devoted to a consideration of
the ordinary details of our business.

One of the chief hinderances to agricultural progress
is the reluctance firmers feel towards giving the public
the benefit of their experience, either by writing or by
speech. There are men before me to-day, whose locks
have whitened in the sun and wind and toil of the
farm, — men shrewd, observing and practical, who have
wrung from the soil all they possess of worldly wealth, —
men competent to teach many of those who attempt to
instruct us, but who are only unwilling to make the at-
tempt. Could we obtain a record of the experience and
practice of these men the result would be invaluable.

Although tilling the soil has been one of the chief oc-
cupations of the race ever since our first parents were
driven from the garden, yet almost the whole field of
practical agriculture is debatable ground. There is
comparatively little absolutely Icnown of the mysterious
processes of growth daily going on before our eyes, and
men of equal judgment and experience differ widely in
their theories.

The census returns show that the relative number of
firmers is diminishing, especially in the New England
States, and that the tendency of population is to gather
into cities. Whether this apparent decline in agricul-
ture is because the culture of land pays less return, or
because improved implements have taken the place of
manual labor, or whether the decline is only apparent, is a
problem difficult of solution. It is certain that the de-
mand for all the varied products of the soil is greater
than ever, and consumers are slow to believe that the
prices they pay are not sufficientl}^ high. At the same
time some of us fail to see the substantial tangible evi-

deiice that our business is profitable. I have thought,
therefore, that we might well occupy the time allotted
to this address in considering the general plan of man-
agement which an Essex County farmer should adopt,
and also some of the difficulties he will meet in the
prosecution of his business.

In the first place we must recognize the fact that our
agriculture, especially that of Eastern Massachusetts, is
in a transition state, and adapt our business to the
wants of the times. The best method for the practice
of thirty years ago fails now to yield any profit. The
better facilities for transporting produce, the high price
of labor, the greater cost of living and high taxes, all
combine to render it almost impossible for the farm in
Eastern New England to pay a profit under the old sys-
tem of culture. The increased price of the great agri-
cultural staples does not keep pace with the increased
cost of production. The rich lands of the West can
and will furnish us with these articles at prices ruinous
to an Eastern farmer. So long as the Western farmers
can pursue their present course of impoverishing the
soil by continual cropping, just so long it is idle for the
Eastern farmer to attempt to compete with them. Our
soil, originally far less productive than theirs, has al-
ready undergone that process, and we must restore in
some measure the exhausted elements of fertility before
we can expect large returns.

The cost of cultivation is the principal item of ex-
pense that enters into the calculations of a Western far-
mer, while here the manure and labor necessary to its
application, forms the heaviest charge. The facilities
which steam has furnished for cheap and rapid trans-
portation, bringing the products of the South and West

6

to our very doors, has wrought a change in the condi-
tion of New England agriculture, whose magnitude we
cannot yet estimate. The old opinion that the farmer
should produce everything that he consumes, and the
kindred notion that he should consume as • far as possi-
ble everything which he produces, are exploded, and he
finds he must adopt the free trade principle of produc-
ing those commodities which yield him the most profit,
which his circumstances best fit him to produce, and
supply his remaining wants from other sources.

If we can raise onions, squashes, carrots or cabbages,
or any other product, and with this product buy twice
as much corn as we can obtain on the same ground with
a like expenditure, it is clearly poor economy to raise
corn.

If we expect to make our business profitable, we
must turn our attention to those crops which are re-
quired by our local markets, — crops which are perisha-
ble, or difficult or expensive to transport for long dis-
tances. We farmers of Essex are peculiarly situated.
Encircled by a belt of large manufacturing towns and
cities affording an abundant supply of fertilizing matter,
and a ready market for every product with Boston and
its surrounding cities, within easy reach of every town
in the County, our choice of the crops we will grow is
only limited by conditions of soil and climate. Here is
a field for enterprise that a farmer a hundred miles from
market, and away from a railroad, knows nothing about.
He must do as our fathers did, — produce such articles as
can be transported a long distance without injury, which
do not involve too great an expense in carriage, and
which do not need to be used at once. We can disre-
gard all these conditions.

The practical considerations which should govern the
farmer in his choice of crops are many, and vary with
the surroundings of each individual. Hay is, and must
continue to be, unquestionably, the leading crop for
all, except those engaged exclusively in market gar-
dening and horticulture. The small amount of labor
necessary to its production, our nearness to a market,
and, above all, the fact that only a small portion of oui'
cultivated land can be used at once in the production of
hoed crops, W'ithout expending more labor, manure and
capital than most of us can employ, combine td make
this crop the most important to an Essex County
farmer. It is safe to say that most farms should be
managed w'ith special reference to the production of
grass. And I mean by this, that the expenditure of
fertilizers and rotation of crops should always have ref-
erence to the crops of grass which are to follow.

Some cultivate the same lot of ground year after
year with a succession of hoed crops, meanw^hile doing
little or nothing to their grass lands. If, instead of
this, the different parts of the farm should be successive-
ly cultivated, and then sowed with grass, the total in-
come would be greater.

The census returns give the average yield of hay for
the State of Massachusetts at a trifle less than a ton per
acre. Perhaps the average for this County is somewhat
larger, but yet it is far below what the soil is capable of
producing. The culture of grass is as yet very im-
perfectly understood. The time and manner of sow-
ing,— the kind of seed and amount per acre, — the time
of cutting and mode of curing, — the effect of fall feed-
ing,— the most economical kind of top dressing, and the
time of applying it, are all disputed questions. Prob-

ably no rule can be laid down which will be equally
applicable to each individual case.

There is no time of year which will invariably turn
out to be the best for sowing. But I believe the opin-
ion of the best farmers seems to be that, on the whole,
there is less risk of failure if sown in early Fall or early
Spring, and with no other crop. Too much care cannot
be taken to secure a good " catch," because the future
prosperity of the crop depends largely on a thorough
stocking of the ground with plants. It is a "penny
wise and pound foolish " policy to run the risk of injur-
ing the young grass for the purpose of obtaining a little
larger income the first season.

If land is moist and thoroughly stocked, it may be
kept in good condition for several years by a judicious
top dressing. But my own experience is that top dress-
ing cannot be applied to high lands with so good a re-
sult. Manage as we may, in from three to five years
the crop grows less, the wild grass begins to creep in,
and in from five to eight years the land needs turning
over and re-seeding.

Having started with the idea that grass must be the
principal crop, a regular system of culture should be
adopted. A portion of the " bound out " land should be
ploughed up every year, and as near as may be a like
part of the land annually laid down with grass ; and we
ought to proportion the quantity ploughed each season
«o that the whole tillage land can be cultivated by the
time the grass becomes so much bound out as to need
re-seeding. And here let me suggest that many of us
would obtain a larger product at a less expense, if the
labor and manure were concentrated on a smaller space
of ground. I do not believe with some that what is

9

tjalled " high farming " is the great panacea for all the
"ills that agricultural flesh is heir to," It would have
been absurd to recommend the " old country " system of
agriculture to the Pilgrim Fathers, Avith all the wilder-
ness before them, just as it would now be absurd to ad-
vise a settler in a valley of the Rocky Mountains to
adopt the high culture system of Japan or Belgium.
AVhen land is plenty and cheap, and markets poor, it
does not pay the farmer to cultivate highly. He can
obtain an equal amount of produce easier and cheaper
by cropping his land, and when it is exhausted, shifting
his operations to " fresh fields and pastures new."

The more thickly settled the country, and the greater
the demand for agricultural products, the more thorough
the system of farming that will be most profitable. It is
doubtful if the high culture system of Belgium would be
profitable for us, even if practicable to adopt it ; still I
think it is time for us to take a long step in advance. It
is impossible to lay down a rule which will be equally
applicable to every one, for we are all more or less limit-
ed in the amount of available fertilizers.

But I think it is safe to say that if we have more land
under cultivation than can be kept increasing in produc-
tiveness, it would be more profitable to turn a portion of
it to pasture and cultivate less. In other words, if we
find the tillage land of our farms is not annually increas-
ing in fertility, economy requires us to increase the ma-
nure or diminish the extent of land cultivated.

Another point of importance is to so manage that the

land cultivated each year should lie as much as possible

. together. Many farmers pay no attention to . this, and

cultivate hoed crops at parts of the farm remote from

each other. The time lost in passing from one lot to

10

■another in the course of the year, and in moving team&
and tools, amounts to quite an item, especially where a.
large force of labor is employed.

I have stated the opinion that the most profitable cul-
ture of grass requires that as often as once in four to
eight years much of our land should be thoroughly en-
riched and cultivated with some kinds of hoed crops..
What these crops shall be depends upon a great variety
of circumstances. I believe it is sound doctrine that, as s/
general rule, no hoed crop should be raised which, witb
average success, cannot reasonably be expected to pay
the expenses of labor and fertilizers employed in its pro-
duction and leave the land in better condition. We must:
also be careful to select such products as our land is;
adapted to produce. This can only be ascertained by-
actual trial, at the same time taking care to avoid the?
mistake of going into the culture of any fruit or vegeta-
ble too largely at first. Success in the cultivation of any
crop, like the practice of any trade, requires a minute;
knowledge of all the details, which can only be gained,
by experience. If, therefore, the farmer proposes to unr-
dertake the cultivation of any new crop, the best jDlan is^
to begin in a small way, keeping a record of the time of"
planting, quantity and variety of seed, w4th other details ^
of management, each year observing the results and in-
creasing the amount of land devoted to its culture as^
may be found expedient.

Another consideration in the choice of crops is the^
character of the market to be supplied, its accessibility
and wants. It is a well known truth that the increased
supply of. any article enlarges the demand. Many pro-
ducts which a few years ago were considered as a luxury
which only the rich could afford, are constantly used by

11

the (lay laborers in our cities and villages. Twenty
years ago a half acre of strawberries would glut any
market in the County, and this delicious fruit was entire-
ly unknown in the smaller village markets. Now there
is scarcely a family which does not consume more or lessy
and their production is becoming a leading branch of
horticulture. And so of other things. Supply the mar-
ket with a really good fruit or vegetable, and the public
will learn to use it.

Another important consideration affecting the choice
of a crop is the size of the farm and facilities for obtain-
ing labor for extra purposes. Most of us are so situated
that we cannot readily increase our labor force very much
in any emergency; hence we find it most judicious to
employ a certain uniform number of men for the season.
It becomes of importance then, that the general plan of
management for the year should be so adapted to the
force employed that there may always be enough to do,
and yet that nothing may suffer. Unless the labor force
can be increased at pleasure, economy of management
requires that such crops should be planted, and at such
times, that their management w^ill not interfere one wnth
the other. Here arises the greatest difficulty in raising
strawberries and other small fruits, as well as early vege-
tables, on farms which produce large quantities of hay.
The small fruits must be marketed in their season, and
this is mainh'' at a time when hoeing and haying both
need attention.

One of the chief difficulties in raising roots largely I
have found to be the fact that they generally need hoeing;
and weeding during the early part of July, when they
are pretty sure to be neglected, and if neglected " too
long, ruined.

12

Another point worth considering in the selection of a
crop, is the use that can be made of it providing it can-
not be readily sold.

Articles of good keeping qualities will usually find a
market somewhere, but some of the most profitable kinds
of produce are perishable, and must be disposed of in
some Avay at once.

It is a good point in any product that it is worth
something to feed to stock providing there is no sale for
it in the market. If, for instance, we raise turnips or
cabbages, and by reason of a large crop the price is so
reduced that they hardly pay for marketing, they are
worth what it costs to raise them to feed to cattle. If,
on the other hand, we happen to have a surplus of onions,
tomatoes, or cucumbers, we must encounter loss, because
these articles have little or no value, except as food for
man. Did time permit, many other points might be
mentioned, having a bearing on the selection of crops.

But after all, nothing can be raised whicli will invari-
abty prove profitable, under the most excellent manage-
ment. The best rule seems to be to select a few special-
ties, and make their cultivation a study. It is poor pol-
icy to change continually from one thing to another, or
to attempt to produce many commodities at once. If
we decide to raise potatoes as a market crop, the fact
that potatoes are too cheap to pay well this year, is not
a good reason why we should not plant our usual breadth
of land in potatoes next spring. Those farmers who
thought they had discovered in the Early Rose, the phil-
osopher's stone wherewith to transmute the baser ele-
ments of the soil to gold, will have discovered their mis-
take, and next year will plant something else, perhaps
the Trophy Tomato or Norway Oats.

13

The place which stock should occupy in the best sys-
tem of farming, is another unsettled question. An abun-
dant supply of fertilizing matter is a prime requisite for
successful farming ; and whether it is more profitable to
sell produce and buy manure, or feed the products of
the farm to stock, depends upon the nearness to market
and facilities for obtaining dressing for the land.

It needs no demonstration to show that raising the
common kind of stock, such as is found in the great
markets, will not pay in Essex County. A four weeks
old calf generally sells for about as much money as an
average yearling.

The fact that but little stock is raised in the county.
and that usually from favorite or superior animals, shows ■
that farmers do not find it for their interest to pursue
this branch of husbandry. Neither can cattle be bought
and fatted with profit, as they could before the modern
facilities of tmnsportation from the West.

The dairy is, and must be, the only branch of stock
farming which will prove profitable in this section of
New England. The production of milk for market, is-
fast becoming a leading business, and the large propor-
tion of population who depend upon the farmer for a
suppty of milk, will make this a principal department
of husbandry in the future. There is a mistaken ideai
abroad concerning the profit of this branch of farming:
If we reckon milk at the wholesale price, and take into
account the market value of the provender and the aver-
age quality of cows kept for this purpose, we shall prob-
ably find the a.etwal profits of producing milk extremely
smalL This department of farming has engaged my at-
tention for some years, and I find the annual results aver-
age very nearly the same.

14

1 have usually kept a herd of from sixteen io twenty
or more cows, and have endeavored to procure as good a
quality of stock as could be obtained with reasonable
effort, and to feed as highly as farmers usually con-
sider judicious. The result has been, that the cows have
yielded on an average from twenty to twen'ty-two hun-
dred quarts of milk annually ; varying w ith the quality
of pasturing and freedom from accident to the stock.
The average quantity of milk annually produced by cows
throughout the country, is estimated, I believe, at less
than eighteen hundred quarts, and it is probably safe
to estimate the average quantity of milk obtained from
the cow.s of Essex County, at not far from two thousand
quarts per year.

The average wholesale price of milk is about four and
a half cents per quart, making the average annual in-
come of cows from ninety to one hundred dollars. To
offset this, we must reckon the value of about two tons
of hay, pasturing, a supply of green fodder in the fall,
and ten or twenty dollars' worth of grain, to say noth-
ing of labor and interest on capital.

Now to show what is possible, I will give the result of
observations made a year or two since for the purpose of
ascertaining the difference in income from diflerent cows.
I selected three cows from my herd, one of wdiich had
been kept upon the place several seasons and was thought
to be fully an average cow ; the other two were superior.
The quantity of milk produced by each was carefully
noted each week for a year. The result showed, that
while the average cow produced only twenty-one hun-
dred quarts per year, one of the others produced^ thirty-
one hundred and the other thirty-five hundred quarts, in
the same time. There was no perceptible difference in

15

•^he cost of keeping. Now if one could obtain a stock
of dairy cows which would produce three thousand quarts
per year, milk could be furnished the consumer at a less
price and a good profit to the producer. Any farmer
■who can procure a herd of such cows can make money
•with them.

'There is no doubt but that the production of stock of
^ quality equal to this, is entirely within the range of
possibility. The practical question is, How shall we
get such animals ? and this I regard as the most im-
portant point for every farmer who intends to make
-milk-raising a prominent part of his business. In the
present condition of stock-breeding, it is impracticable
for him to go into the market and purchase them, be-
cause such cattle are the exception, and those who
own them do not often offer them for sale. The only
way in which we can improve our milk stock seems
•to be to raise it ourselves, and perhaps the greater value
^of such animals will pay for doing it.

These are some of the points which an enterprising
farmer must consider, and decide, if he expects to meet
with success in his calling. But after he has decided on
the most judicious plan of management for his peculiar
circumstances, he will find new difficulties confronting
him. Our hard lands of New England will not produce
•paying crops Avithout a constant and large application of
fertilizers. The source from which they shall be drawn
will be to him a never ending perplexity.

The two principal sources of supply are stable and
oommercial manures. Our proximity to large towns en-
ables many of the farmers of this county to obtain the
former, and where this is practicable there is nothing
which can supply its place. It is idle to attempt to car-

16

ry on a farm profitably, keeping up the fertility of the-
soil by the use of any commercial manure which has yet
been placed within reach of Massachusetts farmers. It
is, however, often expedient to use them to start a crop'
and to help out a short supply of other fertilizers. But
he who places his reliance on them will find his profits.
vary in an inverse ratio to the cash paid out.

One of the most important and difficult problems we
have to meet, is to devise a method of restoring the ex-
hausted fertility of our pastures. We are constantly
abstracting those elements of the soil contained in the
products of the dairy and returning nothing. As a con-
sequence Ave see our pasture lands fail year by year,,
slowl}'', it is true, but as surely as the return of the
seasons. Most of our pastures are thorough to be cul-
tivated, and an application of the ordinary fertilizers is
temporary and too expensive. Much has been writtem
recently on this subject, but no cheap and effective-
method of renovating worn out pastures has yet been,
pointed out.

Another difficulty of increasing magnitude, and per-
haps the most perjjlexing of all, is the poor quality of
much farm labor. We can many of us remember when
young men from the country — neat, smart and intel-
ligent— came among the farmers for work about the first
of April in every year. Farmers' sons themselves, they
knew how to perform every kind of farm work, and,,
best of all, they seemed to make their employer's inter-
est their own. Now such help is rare, and we are oblig-
ed to depend largely on foreign labor, unfamiliar witk
our methods and often careless of our interests.

The farmer needs skilled labor almost as much as the
jnanufacturer-T-unless his own eye can constant]}' over-

17

sec all his work — because tbis work of tbe farm is not
a continual repetition of the same operations, like much
of the work performed in mechanics and manufactures,
but it is constantly changing ; hence skill and experi-
ence, as Avell as good judgment, are required for its best
performance.

Farmers do not commonly estimate the difference be-
tween the value of the service of a really good man
and that of a poor one at a sufficiently high rate. The
men of greatest physical strength and endurance are
not always the most valuable, but rather those of less
strength, it may be, who understand the diverse mani-
pulations of farm labor, who are careful of tools, indus-
trious, and mindful of the interests of their employer.
It is certainly true that the aggregate cost of farm
labor is now more than farmers can afford ; but if they
would discriminate more and pay their best men higher,
wages, instead of paying common wages to inferior
help, it would be better economy, and possibly the
quality of labor might improve.

The farmer's life is a never-ending conflict with weeds
and insects. Mechanical ingenuity has been taxed to
provide instruments for eradicating weeds in the most
thorough and economical manner, but yet some kinds al-
most baffle the farmer's efforts. By constant and time-
ly cultivation, most of the common weeds which infest
the garden and hoed crops, can be subdued.

But there are some great pests like white-weed, chick-
weed and witch-grass, which defy the most determined
energy and skill and reappear like the phoenix when
they seem to be exterminated. Some writers have the
boldness to say that wutch grass has a value, and even
recommend it as a good grass to cultivate. But a long
2

18

and intimate acquaintance with this nuisance, does not
impress one with a deeper sense of its virtues. The on-
ly redeeming quality it possesses, is that the hay, if cut
early, is good fodder. Its presence in the soil, nearly
doubles the labor of cultivation ; and unless thoroughly
kept in check, seriously diminishes the crop.

I think also, that its effect in a highly cultivated farm,
is to materially reduce the crop of hay. It docs not,
like other grass, grow thickly, but tall, coarse, and with
stalks widely separated. It kills out other more valua-
ble grasses, and in a short time " binds itself out," unless
the land is kept very rich. Although it may be impossi-
ble to exterminate this pest from land once thoroughly
filled with its roots, it may be managed so that it will
not materially injure the crops for some years.

It cannot be killed by hoeing, because the rootstock
has innumerable joints, each with a l)ud and tuft of roots
ready formed to grow, and cutting up has the effect to
produce many plants instead of one ; but like scourges
of society, it may be effectually disposed of by strangu-
lation. Any crop that will thoroughly shade the ground
until late in the fall, will effectually destroy witch-grass.

The potato is one of the worst crops to raise on ground
infested with this weed, because the tops usually die
early in the fall, and the crop is not harvested until later.
But a good growth of cabbages, turnips, or even fodder-
corn, will sometimes kill nearly every root. The decay
of the coarse, serpent-like rootstocks in the ground, not
only adds an element of fertility, but renders the soil
more friable ; hence another reason for killing the roots
in the ground, instead of attempting the hopeless task of
digging them all out and carting them away.

Destructive insects are more troublesome than an}'

19

weed. Thej^ come when least expected, remain for a
time and disappear without any visible cause. There is
nothing more vexatious than to see our choice plants cut
down by some destructive vermin that spring into exist-
ence as if by the sudden bidding of Omnipotence.
Scarcely do our young sr[uashes show themselves above
the ground, than the striped bug appears and gorges
himself on their tender leaves. We sift on some plaster,
and congratulate ourselves that the plants are saved,
when we find a creature on them more disgusting than
imy substance we can apply to drive him away.

We place a shingle in the hill, and by carefully watch-
ing every morning, and crushing every squash bug with
^i stone, our vines are at last free from bugs and in the
full tide of luxuriant growth. We feel sure of a crop ;
but some fine day we see the vines begin to turn yellow
and droop ; we examine and find a worm in the stem
against whose ravages we are helpless. We see our
vines Avither away one by one, until our plants and ex-
pectations of a plentiful crop are dead together.

And so almost every crop we raise, has one or more
insect-enemies. What the canker-worm leaves the cater-
pillar eats ; and if we protect our trees — as we may —
against these crawling abominations, the curculio and cod-
ling moth attack the fruit, and it drops before half grown.

The flea and the cut worm eat the young cabbages ;
the white grub cuts the roots from the strawberry, while
we helplessly look on and see the plants wither away ;
the currant worm deprives us of one of our most delic-
ious summer fruits ; the European cabbage worm has
made its appearance, and we are told that we can neither
prevent its ravages or make use of the plant after it has
been tunneled by this destroyer ; and worst of all we are

20

assured that the Colorado bug is steadily and surely
making its way eastward, bringing with it ruin and
destruction to the potato.

What purpose these destructive insects serve in the
great plan of the universe is a puzzling mystery which
may well be classed with the other great questions
of " good and ill foreknowledge and free fiite/' which
puzzled the fallen angels.

It is o'ratifvinjr to know that the same hand that

O ^ CD

sends the bane sends the antidote. These insects not on-
ly have numberless enemies among the birds and other
insects, but they all have their parasites by whose ener-
gies they are swept away, when they become too numer-
ous for endurance.

We must regard these troublesome enemies with the
philosophy thus expressed by a modern writer :

'■ Great ileas have little ileas upon their backs to bite 'em,

And little lieas have lesser Heas and so ad infinitum ;

And the great fleas themselves in turn have greater flt'as to go on,

While these again have greater still and greater still and so on."

Naturalists could render no greater service to the com-
munity than to investigate the habits of parasitic animals
for the purpose of ascertaining whether it is possible to
introduce or increase tliem by artificial means, so as to
aid the farmer in his warfare against the insects that prey
upon his crops.

Tlie good farmer will be a careful observer of the
weather. Not only during harvest, but at all seasons
the farm work for the day often depends upon the
weather probabilities. We must remember that storms
do not come by chance, but in obedience to certain at-
mospheric laws, which are yet imperfectly understood,
but which manifest themselves in certain well-known

21

pbenuiiieiui, preceding or accompanying these disturban-
ces. The system of weather reports inaugurated by the
national government is unquestionably destined to be of
immense value, not only to commerce, but to agriculture.
It is almost certain that at no distant day the weather
bureau at Washington will be able to predict the arrival
of a storm at any particular point, with almost as much
certainty as the arrival of the railroad train or steam-
boat. It will only remain to devise a .S3^stem of signals
by which this information can be transmitted over the
country, to enable the former to prepare for a storm sev-
eral hours in advance.

I have thus mentioned some of the contingencies
against which the farmer can be more or less guarded ;
but there are others which are beyond his control or
foresight.

The farmer's Ijusiness is with the great forces of na-
ture. He may lay his plans with the utmost skill and
prudence, and drought, or wet or cold may destroy them
all. His success, however, will depend upon the exact-
ness with which his operations conform to the laws
which govern the elements. In this respect his business
differs from every other. The manufacturer, for instance,
takes a piece of dead matter, like cotton or steel, and
makes of it what he chooses. He knows beforehand
just what kind of product will come from his machinery,
the quantity he will obtain, and what it will cost to pro-
duce it. If his machinery goes wrong, he can stop it,
and when he has once learned to manufacture an article,
he can go on indefinitely producing exactly the same
article.

The farmer desires to manufacture potatoes. He de-
posits his material — manure and seed — in the ground.

22

and patiently waits for the inscrutable machinery of sun
and earth and air and Avater to form his product. Over
this machinery he has no control whatever, and he can-
not tell until harvest how much his product will be, or
what it will cost. And if he obtains a superior article,
he is not certain that he can reproduce it. Just here
arises the uncertainty which surrounds the operations of
the farmer. It needs no argument to show that the
man wdio desires. to cultivate the land intelligently,
needs all the aid which science can furnish ; and, indeed,
science stops far short of his needs. He cannot suc-
ceed unless his plans harmonize with the laws of light,
heat, groAvth and moisture, although he may be ignorant
that such laAvs exist.

And here I Avould not be understood to advocate
farming by the book. Undoubtedly the man of science,
who knoAvs nothing of practical husbandry, Avill, as a
ftirmer, turn out to be a splendid failure, and simply be-
cause his science does not go far enough. Science is-
not yet sufficiently developed to enable him to construct
correct theories of agriculture. We knoAv from repeat-
ed observations that certain results usually folloAV certain
processes, but Ave cannot tell the " Avhy or Avherefore."
We knoAA^, for instance, that a small (juantity of gypsum
spread upon certain lands produces a Avonderful effect,
Avhile a like application to other lands has not the slight-
est influence ; and yet I believe no one has 3^et explain-
ed satisfactorily the mode in Avhich this fertilizer acts.
. Perhaps no men have rendered greater aid to agricul-
ture than Boussingault and Liel)eg, scholars of high
scientific attainments, but Avho applied their knoAvledge
to the practical culture of the land, for the purpose of
ascertaining the hiAvs Avhich underlie the hidden proc-

23

es.ses of vegetable life and growth. Men like these are
rendering the highest service to agriculture. Those who
only experiment in their laboratories, and write out the-
ories for farmers, based entirely on chemical analysis,
are " blind leaders of the blind." But those who — like
a distinguished member of this Society — devote them-
selves' to an investigation of the relations which Chem-
istry sustains to agriculture, and test their theories in
the field before giving them to the public, are entitled
to the thanks of the whole community. It is only by
the efforts of such men that agriculture can be raised to
the rank of a science. A great hinderance wdiicli every
observing farmer meets, is the length of time required
to try an experiment. If we are desirous of ascertain-
ing the comparative value of certain modes of culture,
or certain special crops, we find we can make only one
trial in a year ; and some experiments, such as those re-
lating to the application of manures, require more than
a year to determine the result. And here we discover
another important cause of the slow progress of agri-
cultural science. The most carefully conducted experi-
ment is liable to mislead, by reason of the many influen-
ces Avhich afiect the crop during its growth.

It is only by careful and repeated trials that the fiir-
mer becomes certain of the superiority of any particu-
lar method. And, even then, the efiect he attributes to
one cause may be owing to another. The increased
crop, which he thinks is due to some special fertilizer,
may be in consequence of some slight natural difierence
in soil, or amount of moisture, or other unseen cause.
To illustrate : — Perhaps no class of experiments would
be more valuable to farmers than a carefully conducted
trial to ascertain the comparative value of the difterent

24

kinds of food commonly used for milch cows. We
should naturally think that by carefully measuring the
food, and changing from one kind to another, the ques-
tion might, after a few days' experience, be decided.
But every dairyman knows that the quantity of milk
varies from day to day for other reasons. Extreme heat
or cold, drink at irregular intervals, or the want of it, to
say nothing of other causes, so modify the amount of
milk produced, that it is next to impossible to deter-
mine with exactness how much the difference in the
quantity of milk is owing to the difference in quality of
the food consumed. We find a like difficulty in other ex-
periments in husbandry. There are so many causes op-
erating, which we can neither understand nor control,
that it is not easy to determine how much of any effect
is due to any one of them.

Here again we see the need of more light and further
scientific investigation. We see, too, the value of a
comparison of views among the tillers of the soil, who
make claim to no other knowledge than that which is
experimental. One of the most genial writers of the
day, who unites to a high literary culture much practi-
cal knowledge of farming, recently gave the following
excellent bit of advice : — " If flirm writers would culti-
vate a nice habit of observation, and spend their writing
force upon exactness of detail in regard to their personal
experience, and leave scientific disquisition and theoriz-
ing to those who give their lives to such studies, I think
we should all be much better off for it." Does not the
value of an Agricultural Society depend mainly on the
opportunity it affords for an interchange of opinion, and
a public statement of agricultural experience ?

25

If the statements I have made arc in the main correct, it is
manifest that at i)rescnt there is no roval road to pecuniarv
success in agricultural pursuits, at least hi New England.
Some doubting agricultural Thomases even claim that there
is no path here to satisfactory financial results, and tliat capi-
tal and labor yield in farming, more meigre returns than in
.any other business. On tlie other hand, the outside world com-
..monly regards us as clu'onic grumblers. It says we are always
complaining of short crops of hay, rotting potatoes, extreme
drought or too much wet, Avhile in fact we generally pay our
bills, appear to have enough to cat, and sometimas ha\e a lit-
tle monc\- in the bank, and we are ti-iumpliantly asked " Who
.ever knew a farmer to f ul ?"

Such remarks always remind me of a good neighbor who
■was terribly afflicted with periodical fits of sick headache. At
these times he was obliged to give up work and retire to bed.
His thrifty wife had ne^•er suffered the torments of this dis-
•order, and thinking, probably, that a little energy and resolu-
tion would o^-ercome the trouble, used to drive the good man
up to his Avork with the consoling remark : " Nobody ever died
'of sick headache." Farmers never " /<f?7 " in the business
csense of that word, because their liabilities are mostly for
Teal estate, which, if not paid for, is usually mortgaged ; but
we have all known frequent instances of farmers who have
.bought farms on credit and were unable to keep them.

The truth, however, lies between the two extremes, as in
"the well known instance of the two ancient knights, who quar-
reled about the composition of the shield. Farmers generally
seem prosperous, and the reason is that as a class they have the
faculty of living within their means. If they lay up money
they do it by not spending, rather than by large profits. The
truth is, my friends, we cannot reasonably expect our business
to yield very large money returns. It is a well established law
of political economy, that any occupation pays a profit in pro-
portion to the risk involved. Tliis rule applies to all pursuits

26

in life as well as to ours. There are few -ways of employing
capital in Avliich the risk of loss is so small as in farming.

Hence, we should naturally expect the return to be corres-
pondingly small, but on nn average, sure. And I have some-
times thought, that if the excess of profits over the losses in
the different branches of industry could by anj' means be as-
certained, we should perhaps find ours not very far behind the
rest. It is true that agriculture does net present the iioss'ihili-
ties of obtaining fortune or fame, which are so attractive in
commercial or professional life ; but it does not involve the
hazard. AYe can scarcely conceive of an agricultural Vander-
bilt or Astor. The farmer's gains depend upon the same rules
of business which ensure success in any other calling. Brains,
energy, and executive ability, applied to the culture of the
land, will not fail to reward their possessor ; moderately per-
haps, but sufficiently for all the ordinary needs of life.

We must remember, too, that distinguished success in any
piu'suit falls to the lot of but few.

" The \ns,r\y fail, the one succeeds ;"

and if we think our neighbor's prosperity is greater than ours,
it is but fair to conclude that the ftuilt is })artly in ourselves.

We have thus taken a view of our occupation only from the
narrow ground of pecuniary interest.

It does not come Avithin the scope of my present purpose,
to discuss the aesthetics of agriculture, or its relations to the
happiness of those who make it the occupation of their lives ;
but I desire to remind you, in closing, that this aspect of our
vocation should not be disregarded. There is no branch of in-
dustry, which has in itself so many elements capable of produc-
ino; ease and content, as husbandrv. ]\Ien of all trades and
professions, work and drudge in the hope that they may some
day obtain a competence, and retire to a landed estate to enjoy
the fruits of their labor. But Avho ever knew a farmer to re-
tire from the farm to mercantile or professional life, or even to-

look forward to the day when lie miglit enjoy his gains in some
other employment? On the contrary, his attachment to the
old homestead increases with advancing years.

The trees, which his own hand planted, the lands — once
waste — wdiich his skill and labor have caused to bud and blos-
som as the rose, the adornings of tree and shrub about his
home, are all redolent with pleasant memories, and unite to
weave a bond of attachment between the farmer and his farm,
stronger than can be found elsewhere.

There is a healthy pleasure in country living in observing
the myriad forms in nature, as well the graceful curve of a
blade of grass, as the Avavy swaying of a field of grain, or in
viewing the woodland, the hills, and the whole l)road land-
scape, under the varying aspects of the procession of the sea-
sons ; a pleasure Avhich never cloys, Avhich though old is ever
new.

It is a mistake of our time, t ) neglect the cultivation of
that faculty which enables us to derive pleasure from these
sources. We are noted as a practical, matter-of-fact people,
dealing Avith the hard realities of life rather than its graces.
We take a certain pride in our rugged and robust ancestry,
and place little stress on the more genial qualities they lacked.

" Beauty will not make the pot boil," is an old saw we take
for our motto, forgetting that if it does not make the pot hoil
it furnishes a most piquant and relishing sauce to the contents.

AVe are endowed with the perception of beauty as a means
of happiness ; and it is neither unthrifty or effeminate for the
farmer to prove all the pleasures

"That valleys, groves, or liills or field
Or woods or steepy mountains yield."

The most gifted men, from Xenophon and Cato and Virgil,
down to our own day, have found their solace and dcliglit in
rural pursuits.

Let us, then, as farmers, make the most of our opportunities.

28

3iot only to increase our store, but to derive from our surround-
ings as much as possible of enjoyment for ourselves and those
sibout us.

If our gains are less than those of other callings, let us re-
aneniber that the deficiency is partly made up by the compara-
live freedom from the perplexities and turmoil to which they
sxre exposed, and by the healthy vigor of body and mind which
is the usual accompaniment of rural life.

THE EXHIBITION.

The Fifty-First Annual Exhibition and Cattle Show wa?
held at Ipswich, Sept. 26th, and 27th, 1871. The entries*
Avcre as follows :

Horses and colts.

o4

Cattle,

108

Ploughing teams.

l.S

Swine,

U

entries.

Sheep,

67

Poultry,

7C

) coops.

Agricultural implements ,

13

entries.

Carnages,

()

( (

Leather articles,

5

i i

Bread and Honey,

1!)

i i.

Flowers,

.SI

i (,

Counterpanes and Rugs,

')8

i i

Fancy work,

93

( (

Dairy,

13

( (

Grapes, Peaches and Assorted fruit.

114

plates.

Apples and Pears,

275

a

30

REPORTS, kC.

FAT CATTLE.

The Committee on Fat Cattle aAvard premiums as follows :

Paul T. Winkley, of K^ewburvport, first premium, the So-
ciety's Diploma and $10.

Second premium to Paul T. Winkley, of Xcwburyport,
liis off ox, $8.

Samuel A. Merrill, of Danvers third premium, $5.

Committee — James P. King, A. H. Gould, AVilliam Had-
ley.

STATEMENT OF PAUL T. WINKLEY.

To THE Committee on Fat Cattle. — Gentlemen: — The
feed of the fat cattle, which I enter for premium, has -been
hay, and four rpiarts meal each per day, the year round, ex-
cept when they were out to grass, which was about three
months. They Jiave done all the ox work on the farm. Their
breed is native or unknown. They were six years old last
spring.

BULLS.
The Committee award to Francis Dane, of Hamilton, for

31

imported Jersey Bull, two years old, first premium, diploma
and 110.

Charles Mitchell, Beverly, Jersey, second premium, $5.

Jos. Z. Gordon, West Newbury, Ayrshire, first premium,
diploma and |10.

G. W. Herrick, Gloucester, Ayrshire, second premium, $5.

Joseph Kittredge, No. Andover, Durham, first premium,
diploma and $10.

For the Committee — Eben G. Berry, Chairman.

MILCH COWS.

The Committee report twenty-one entries : eleven Jerseys,
"four Kerries, two Ayrshires, and the remainder grades, and
the so-called native breed ; and have awarded the following
premiums :

The first premium (diploma and $15) for milch cows, to
Henry G. Kimball, Bradford, for his grade Dutch cow.

The second premium ($10) to Francis H. Appleton, West
Peabody, for his Ayrshire cow " Maud."

The first premium, for Jersey cows (diploma and $10) to
-Francis Dane, Hamilton, for " Empress."

The second premium ($5) to D. F. Appleton, Ipswich, for
'" Daisy of Ipswich."

The first premium for Ayrshire cows, (diploma and $10)
to Francis H. Appleton, Broadfields Farm, W. Peabody, for
" Maud," Ayshire Herd Book, No. 604.

The second premium ($5) to John C. Dennis, Marblehead,
S&r " Mariana " A. H. B. 1538.

There were only two statements in regard to milk, feed,^
■etc., which the Committee could accept, and so have awarded
only two premiums. The rules of the Society are very clear
.on this point, and if exhibitors will not take the trouble to
read them, they must take the consequences. Mr. D, F. Ap-

82

plcton, IpsAvic'h, Ii;id on the j^rounds four Kerry coays, for cx-
liibition only. AVc rei>TCt tin's, as many Avould be glad to
know their capabilities as milkers.

We would like to impress on exhibitors the importance of
furnishing- comjiletc pedigrees, Avith numbers in Herd Books,
of the full blood animals, as by so doing, they AA'Ould facilitate
the duties of the judges, and fairer judgment could be given.

AVe Avould here mention that many of the cards and bits of
paper on the pens Avere almost illegible, and nearly all AA'ere
deficient in not stating for AA'hat premiums the entries AA'ere
made ; so that it Avas AAith some difficulty and Avaste of time
that the Committee found the proper animals.

Could not this hc: remedied by the Society furnishing cards,
AA-ith the proper classifications printed upon them ?

We think there AA'Ould be much advantage in announcing
the premiums by means of cards or ribbons, placed on the an-
imals or pens, the first day of the shoAv, so that the people by
personal examination may derive some benefit from the aAvards
of merit, rather than delaying the announcement until the din-
ner on the second day when the Fair is nearly closed.

Fortlie Committee — J. D. W. French,

STATEMENT OF HENRY G. KIMBALL.

One grade Dutch coav, four years old. Slie dropped her"
last calf ]March 1st, 1<S71. She is Avith calf by full blood
Dutch bull, to calve Jan. lltli, 1872. The first ten days in
June last, she gave tA\'enty-one quarts of milk per day. At
that time her feed Avas nothing but good pasturing. The first
ten davs in Septeml)er, she gave 15 1-2 quarts of milk per
dav. At that time her feed Avas dry jiasture and a good hand
full of corn tbdder morning and evening. She Iim.. had na
grain since the fifteenth day of May last.

STATEMENT OF FRANCIS H. APPLETON.

To THE CoAiAiiTTKK OX ]MiLrn (Ayrshike) Coavs. — Sirs:
— T enter mv thorouiih-brcd Avrsliire cow " Maud," (!04, for

33

premium. For age, sec printed pedigree, herewith. She
dropped her List calf Aug, 9th, and has not yet taken bull.

Last winter she was fed on hay and roots ; on pleasant days,
only, was in the jard most of the time. This summer she
has heen in the field during the day, and at night, in the barn
or yard ; has been fed, night and morning Avith either winter-
rye, oats, or corn-fodder, cut green. My pasturage amounts
to little or nothing, at present.

Maud, 604, calving Aug. I'th, gave during the first ten
days of June, as follows :

June.

10

>

00

>

g

> y

>

■J

2

>

t<

>

V

>
iJ

Total for the ten days, 17o 1-2 pounds ; average, 17 35-100
pounds per day.

During most of the first ten days of September, ]\Iaud was
on exhibition at the New England Fair at Lowell, and fell off
somewhat in her yield of milk, and no account Avas kept.
She is now giving nearly nineteen quarts per day. Maud's
largest yield has been between twentv-two and twentv-three
quarts a day.

jNIaud has won first and second premiums at IS ew lork State
Fairs, among a large competition ; and two years lias been in
the Gold Medal Herd, of same Society.

HERD OF :MILCII COWS.

The Committee aAvard the first premium to Francis Dane, of
Hamilton, diploma and $15.
John L. Shore V, Chairman.

np:iFEK8.

Tlie C^omnuttee on Heifers, make the followiug report, viz :

Heifers three years old : First, George M. Brown, Bradford,
dipk^raa and $10.

Second, Francis Dane, Hamilton, $(S.

Third, Francis H. Appleton, Peabody, $5.

Jersey Heifers, first, Francis Dane, Hamilton, $10.

Ayrshire Heifers : First, Francis H. Appleton, of Peabody,
$10."

Heifers two years old : First, H. G. Herrick, Lawrence, $8.

Second, Charles J. Peabody, Topsfield, |5.

Third, Francis Dane, Hamilton, $3.

Yearling- Heifers : First, R. G. Waters. Wenham, Heifer
with calf by her side, $5.

Second, Francis Dane, Hamilton, $o.

Committee — William Foster, Stephen E. Xoyes, Chai-les
Xelson, D. T. Morrison, Sidney F. Newman.

STATEMENT OF FRANCIS H. APPLETON.

To THE Co.^I.AIITTKK OX ( AyJISIUKE ) HeIFEIIS. SilS :

1 enter my two thoroughbred Ayrshire Heifers, "' Lily Dale,"
1475, and •' Lassie," 1442, for premium. For age, see print-
ed pedigree, herewith. " Lily Dale "' dropped her last calf,
Oct., 1870, and is due to calve Oct. '), 1871. She was
bought by me late last winter, but did not arri^-e on my farm
until May (Jth. Her yield, calving Oct.. 1870. during the
first ten davs of June, was as follows :

June.
J>ALi:.

1

>

'

4

>

(

^

)S

1

10

>

^l>

>y

>■

y

'f

y

>-

^

>

y

> y

>

^

^r'

,^

> ^

t>

s k

•^

g

g

g

g

^>

fc>

'-?

g

y t"

g

«

g

.§

% —

-

— o

^

-

-

-

^

cr.

n

CC'

=

a. —

•^

-

v.

-

GC «-.

'Total for ten days, ID" 1-4
pounds per day.

r.id.-

avcrage, 19 7.")- 100

35

Dining the Hiv-^t ten days of" Septoinbcr Lily Dale was dry.
She has won first preniinni atXew England Fair, 1871. She
has been seeond at N. Y. State Fair, 1870, and has twice been
in Gold Medal Herd at latter Society's Shows. Her dam is ii
celebrated prize Avinner, in Scotland and this country.

" Lassie " dropped her last calf April IHth, 1871, and is
due to calve April ord, 1872.

June. 1 •_' :; 4 .^ C 7 8 !

10

J^ASSIE.

^

g

r

O

c

Vt

.

g

^ 1

fe* t.* U" ts

S = ■•= ,o

Total for the ten days, 212 pounds: average, 21 2-10
pounds per day.

During most of the first ten days of September, Lassie was
on exhibition at tJie Xew England Fair at Lowell, and fell off,
somewhat, in her yield of milk, and no account was then kept.
She is now giving a little over 14 lbs. ^^er day. Her best
yield has been an average of 'Ih lbs. for two months time.

Lassie won seeond premium at Xew England Fair, 1871.

Lily Dale and Lassie have l)een fed alike since I OAvned
them, as follows :

Last winter, she was fed on hay and roots ; on pleasant
days, only, was in the yard mos' of the time ; this summer
she has been in the field during the day, and at night, in the
barn or yard ; has been fed, night and morning, Avith either
wluter-rye, oats, or corn fodder, cut green. ^\y pasturage
amounts to little or nothing, at present.

Believing that I have hereby complied with the require-
ments, I submit them to your judgment.

I also enter my yearling Ayrshire Pleifer, "• Lady Essex,"'
1413. For age, etc., see printed pedigree (in Catalogue)
herewith.

STATEMENT OF HENRY SALTONSTALL.
To TJIE Cu3IMlTTEE ON Jei;SEV CaTTLE OF THE E.s^EX

A(;ricultuijal Society, — GtntJcmen : — I beg leave to com-

86

mend to your favorable notice, my thoroughbred Jersey bull
calf, " Governor." Being but ten months old, he cannot be
entered for jjremium, and is sent for exhibition only.

His sire, Ceur de Lin, and dam, Diamond, were both se-
lected and extra cost animals. Bought in the Island of Jer-
sey by Thomas Motley, Esq. , and imported by Steamer St. Lau-
reat, in June, 18G8. Diamond was bought and imported for,
and is owned, by me. Ceur de Lin is the property of Benja-
min E.Bates, Esq., of Watcrtown.

Both are entered in the Herd Register of the American Jei-
sev Cattle Club, Xos. 81 S and 570.

WOKKIXG OXEX AND STEEES.

Tiie Committee on Working Oxen report : That there were
seven entries of Vv'orking oxen, six of which put in an appear-
ance, and Avent to trial ; and it jcas a trial, such as your Com-
mittee hope they will never be called on to witness again, here
or elsewhere. The load was two thousand pounds, exclusive
of the wagon, the hill the hardest in the county, and the oxen
averaging twenty-eight hnndrcd lbs. per ])air, made a very
])adly proportioned thing of the whole affair.

Every ox did his l)est, and a few pairs of the heaviest cattle
found the top of the hill ; but tlio lighter grade will " die Avith-
out the sight."

Li the name of humanity, in the name of everything that is
good and holy, your Committee Avould embrace this op})ortuni-
tv to enter their jirotcst again: t crnclty to dumb animals.

AAvards on working oxen from five to eight years old :

To George Ilodgsdon, of Ipswich, first ])reminni, diploma
and 112.

To R. S. Bray, of Xewbury, second premium, $10.

To William Eoster, North Andover. third premium, l<S.

37

Special premium, by Dr. Geo. ]>. Loring, for the best
teamster :

To R. S. Bray, of Newbury, premium of |10.

Steers four years old :

To II. S. Bray, of Nevv))ury, diploma and $8.

To Clias. J. Peabody, Topsfield, second premium of $5.

Committee — A. W. Smith, J. Longfellow, W. B. Alorgan,
A. B. Fellows.

STEERS.

The Committee on Steers report : The whole number of
steers entered for premium, was six pairs, four pairs of three-
year-olds, one pair of two-year-olds, and one pair of yearlings.

We have awarded premiums as follows :

For tlu'ce-year-olds, first premium of $0, to Romulus Jaques,
of West Newbury, and the second premium of $5 to Dr. Jos-
eph Kittredge, of North Andover.

For two-year-olds, second premium of $4, Moses Colman,
Newbury.

For yearling steers, first premium of |4, to Iliram Young,
Newbury.

Committee — Israel Herrick, Adoniram Porter, George A.
Dodge, George Hodgsdon.

STALLIONS.

The Committee on Stallions, four years old and upwards,
present the following as their report for the exhibition of the
Essex County Agricultural Society ,^held at Ipswich, Mass.,
Sept. 26th and 27th, 1871 :

There were offered for the examination of the Committee,

only tlirec stallions of" tour years old and n[)\vards, as iolloAvs.
viz :

'' Hamilton Boy,'" by Francis Dane, of Hamilto)i.

"• Gray Prince," by E. Battclle, of jSTcwbnryport.

/' Bine Jacket," by G. AY. Rogers, of Salem,

The first preminm of $15 and diploma was awarded t(j
"■ Hamilton Boy.^'

The second premium of $10 was gi^en to " Grau Prince.'"

The stallion "Bluejacket," though a fine, well-bred and
%aluable stock horse, having been owned by i\Ir. Rogers but
a few weeks, was not, by the rules of the Society, entitled to
any premium. The committee, therefore, deemed it well to sug-
gest the propriety of giving to Mr. Battellc, the owner of the
stallion " Gray Prince," a gratuity of $5, as the third premi-
um of $8 was not appropriated by them. In the class of
stallions of three years old, one colt only, A^as offered, and
that by Francis Dane, Esq., of Hamilton, to whom was award-
ed the first premium of $8, leavuig a balance to the Society,
even if the suggestion of the Committee be thought adAisal)le,
of $5.

AVc Acrv much regret so few horses Avere presented. It may
be accounted for by the small amount of premiums offered.
If an exhibitor be a man of Avealth, the idea of small premi-
ums a\-ails nothing ; but in the case of the majority of contrib-
utors at our Fairs,, the rearing of a colt to be four years of
age, is so great, that a preminm is quite an object to be sought
for, and the efforts made to obtaiii the first award of the Soci-
ety, Avould make it pay for a larger number of contributors to
contend for the prizes, Avith the ho2)e of getting them to de-
fray, not of course, the expense of Avholly rearing their ani-
mals, but their expenses during the exhibition.

The Committee Avish it was a standing and published regu-
lation of the Society, compelling each contributor, on present-
ing his stallion for entry jtt the Fair, to give, at the same time,
a AA'ritten pedigree of his animals, and one that can be thor-
oughly vouched for, it being of great importance in awarding

39

prciniiiuij, tliut it luay he said by the gentlemen authorized by
the Society to examine tliem, that their award assures the peo-
]>le of t!;e county of tlic value of the horses for stock purposes.

-V-UOther idea of importance Avhich not only met "with the
Avishes of tlic Committee, but must also all contril)utor.s of
first class stock, is tlic necessity of having close pens, not
only to protect the animals from the inclemency of the weath-
er, often quite severe at the period of our exhibitions, but also
that they may not be endangered by their neighbors, whilst
standing in the pens as they are uoav obliged to do.

The Committee Avould also advise the classifying the horses ;
for instance : in the exhibition of this year, the stallions of
Messrs. Dane and Rogers were, beyond comparison, the best
stock horses for gentlemen's driving purposes, Avhilst the horse
of ]Mr. Battelle, though of great value for the ordinary work
of the farm, Avas useless for fast work on the road. If a clas-
sification is made by the Society, or left at the discretion of the
Committee, it would not only much assist them in tlieir labor
but o-ive oreater satisfection to contributors.

The committee hope to see a much larger exhibition of stal-
lions another year, and also particular attention given by own-
ers, to establish beyond a doubt, the pedigree of their stock,
which, however, was given in a few cases this year.

Chairman for the Committee — Samuel C. Oliver.

BKEEDIX(i MARES.

The Committee award as follows :

To M. O'Shea, of Salem, first preminm, diploma and $1.3.

To S. C. Oliver, of Salem, second premium, $10.

For the Committee — Alvin Sniitli.

40

FAMILY HORSES.

The Committee award tlic first premium of diploma and $15,
to George W. Rogers, Salem.

Second premium of $10, to O. S. Butler, Gcoi-getown.

Third premium of $8, to Edward H. Little, Newbury, for
his horse " Tom."

For the Committee — Daniel F. Appleton.

FARM AND DRAFT HORSES.

The Committee on Farm and Draft Horses, report as fol-
lows the list of premiums :

P. Holt, North Andover, first premium, diploma and $12.

J. F. Dane, Hamilton, second premium, $10,

AV. C. Langley, Newbury, third premium $8.

S. A. Merrill, Danvers, fourth premium, $5.

And the best teamster, Sylvester Dane, of Hamilton, spec-
ial premium, by Dr. Loring, $10.

Committee — T. G. Ordway, Amos Pratt, Wm. 15. Rus-
sell.

COLTS.

The Committee on Colts have attended to their duty, and
awarded the following premiums :

The first premium of $10 and diploma, to Geo. W. Rogers
of Salem, for his four year old colt.

Second premium to Theodore Holraan, of Salem, $G.

Third premium of $4, to John Swinerton, of Danvers.

41
Tiirp:e Year Old Colts.

First premium of $8 to Geo. B. jMartiii, of Danver.-*, for
3ii8 colt, " Lady Linn."

Second premium, to Geo. B. ]\rartin, of Dajiver^, for his
^'Danvcrs Girl," $4.

Two Yeah Old Colts.

The First premium of $(3, to Jacob Elioadcs, of Lynn, for
liis two year old stallion colt.

Second premium of $2, to be divided bettween Geo. B.
Martin, of Dan vers, for his " Lady Jennctte," and S. B.
Crregory, Hamilton, for his stallion colt.

OxE Year Old Colts.

First premium of $6, to Ashael II. Patch, of Hamilton, for
liis yearling colt.

Second premium of $2, to F. Dane, Hamilton, for his
yearling colt.

The Committee noticed n very promising four year old
Percheron colt, on exhibition by F. Dane, but not entered
for premium.

There was a large number of very likely, promising colts
entered, and the Committee arc sorry they could not have had
moi'c jjremiums at their control, to award to them.

Committee — David Stiles, C. H. Gould, Eben King, D.
-A. Pettinffill.

SWINE.

The hog does not hold so important a position among our do-
aiiestic animals, as he did forty years since. Then the sale of
pork formed an important item for the farmers of this county.
Jfow we cannot successfully compete with the West in raising

42

pork. Then flic hog was used to coasuiue the whey and skhn—
mcd milk of our dairies. Xow a large part of" the milk is^
sold.

l^efore the potato rot appeared, they were exteusi\-ely used
in many places for feeding swine ; their market Aalue now is
too great for that purpose.

We think that Indian corn can not now be profitably grown
for feeding swine by the farmers of this county, except by a
few such men as Dr. J. H. Nichols, who have discovered the-
secret of growing it without animal manure ; yet still we think
that a small number of pigs may be economically kept upon
our farms. They will in part, live upon the refuse of the
kitchi?u, and things that would otherwise be lost. The hog,,
in his Avay, is a disorganizer ; give him the tough tassocks of
our bog meadoAvs, and he delights in tearing their matted
roots apart. AVe can turn this propensity of the hog to some-
practical advantage, if we keep his sty well supplied with veg-
etable matter which he will convert into good manure.

It is not Avell to put loam or any fine soil into his pen, for
it soon l)ecomes a compact mass ; but if Ave give him some or-
ganic matter, he a\ ill keep it in motion until he makes it good
food for plants.

None of those Avho have entered their swine for premium,
have given us any estimate of tlic cost of groAving a pound of"
jiork. In published statistics upon this subject, Ave find it es-
timated that a bushel of corn meal Avill make seven jjounds of
pork, in others that it made forty pounds. We think that
the smaller estimate is much nearer the average If avc allow
a bushel of meal to make 8 lbs. of pork, and estimate the nia-
inu'c to pay for the labor of feeding, aa'C can approxiniatc to-
tho cost of making pork.

The (Committee Avere unanimous in awarding the first pre-
mium and diploma to

Penny and Ash, of Saugus, for their improved Chester
Boar. We think this should have been called a grade Chester ,.

as it had the a[)iK'araiu'(' of the ci-oss of the Chester with some
sniallei' breed.

The Coniniittee, acting upon the instruction given, " 'J'hat
no premium sliould be given, unless the ol)ject was of a decid-
edl}: superior quality,"' did not think tliat any animal was en-
titled to the second premium.

They award the first premium and diploma t(j Ilenrv Sal-
tonstall, of Peabody, for his breeding sow.

The second premium to Joseph F. Dane, of Hamilton.

For the best litter of weaned pigs, they award the first })re-
mium of $5 to Henry Saltonstall, of Peabody.

The second to Wm. Foster, of Xorth Andover.

Committee — Wm. Iv. Putnam,, James T. Carleton, John
Lee, J. F, Knowltou, Jasper Kea.

STATEMENT OF HENRY SALTONSTALL.

To THE Committee ox Swixe, of the Essex AciiuciL-
TfHAL Society. — Gentlemen: — The Yorkshire sow, " ]\Ieg
]\[errilies," entered l)y me for the Society's premium for the
best breeding sow, was imported in January, ]870, by ship
"• H. I). Storer," from Liverj)ool. She was sired in England,
imported in dam, and dropped two months after arrival of the
vessel, ]March, 1870. She has been owned l)y me since she
was three months old.

She is tlioroughl)red, easily kept and fattened, gentle, a
good mother, and perfectly healthy.

She has had one litter of eleven pigs, one of A\hich was
killed accidentally, one has been sold, and tlie remaining nine
are entered as per next page. She is thin in flesh at this time,
because she has so lately weaned a hea\y litter of pigs.

I enter for exhibition — having obtained first premium at
last year's Show — the imported English White Boar " Cap-
tain Jinks," two years old.

The boar was piu-chased by Thomas Motley, Esq., for me.

44

from Peter Eden, one of the most celebrated prize takers and
breeders in England. ]\Ir. Eden refused Mr. Motley's offer of
thirty guineas, or $150 gold for any one of the soav pigs of the
same litter, eight weeks old.

These Englisli white pigs, as the Committee are doubtless
siware, are bred from Suffolk, Yorkshire, and others of tlie
^est English breeds, to combine their excellencies, and {:ro-
<luce a pig of good size, very small proportion of offal, small
l)ones, and great tendency to fatten. They have been bred
long enough to make a distinct breed, and are much prized in
England.

This boar is fed but once a day, from the lea\ings of the
liouse.

I also enter for the Society's premium, for the best litter of
- weaned pigs, nine pigs two and a half months old, from the
imported Yorkshire sow, " Meg Merrilies ", by my imported
English wliite boar, " Captain Jinks."

SHEEP

The Committee award to

D. F. Appleton, best flock, first, diploma and $8.

IFrancis Dane, second, $5.

B. D. Appleton, best buck, diploma and $G.

X). F. Appleton, lambs, $3.

Committee — D. Bradstreet, 11. Jaques, X. ^V. Moody

POULTKY.

Your Committee are pleased to be able to report that the
display of poultry at the recent fair, was very fine ; better in
.•quality than was ever before exhibited at any fair in Essex

45

County. It is a matter of fact, that this disphiy of fine fowl*
■was a prominent feature in the show ; and no one thing attract-
ed more notice from tlie assembled multitude. Why not at-
tract notice ? These fowls are strongly associated with all the
comfoi'ts of life : with the bed on Avhich we sleep, with all our
social festivals, with the dainty meats of our Society's dinner,
and the puddings, the custards, the cakes, and even the good
old fashioned pumpkin pies of every day life. We would
suggest to the farmers in this county, the propriety of exter-
minating all those puny, ill-looking, mixed up fowls, seen hov-
ering round the doors of so many of our good barns, and fill-
ing their places with some of tliose beautiful birds, cxhibitecl
E. K. Perkins, D. B. Wallace, H. C. Fegan, and a number
of others. Fowls that will adorn their pi-emises, spread their
tables with luxuries and fill their market baskets with profit.

We would also suggest to the Society, the propriely of en-
couraoing the breedinii: of these choice fowls among farmers,
by placing them on the same footing, with regard to the pre-
miums, with the cow, the horse, and the swine ; And your
Committee can sec no good reason why three premiums should
not be offered on each class of fowls, as well as on these ani-
mals, or anything else that goes to make up the show.

Why not weigh tlie produce of the cow, in the scale of do-
mestic economy, with the [)roduce of a flock of fowls, and
give to each its due in dispensing pi*emiums ? Why not place
the good dinners Avhich fowls give us by the side of the good
rides Avhich Ave get after our fast horses, and give to each its
due ?

We can see no reason Avhy the breeding of choice foAvlt^
should not Ijc encouraged among farmers, until every valua-
ble species be introduced into the county, and e\ery farm yard
have its choice flocks, until eggs are abundant, and the mar-
ket liberally supi)lied Avith good poultry. I have bred all the
choice breeds with success, for the past ten years, and have-
found by actual experiment that the breeds Avhich I Avill men-
tion below, are tlie most profitable for the farmers to keep-

The Briihums and C'dcIuius, wc esteem in all respects the best
suited to the wants of" farmers who are obliged to keep their
f(.»wLs confined.

But Avhei'e there is ample room, the Dominique, Leghorn,
and Plymouth Kock, will far surpass all others that I have ev-
er bred. And for the .fancy farmer, who prides himself on
his Jerseys, and his Ayrshires, we would recommend tho Ham-
burghs, Polish, and Game ; and last of all, the Bantams, Avhich
will give profits to his tables, and warning to his sluggish ris-
ers.

The Committee award as follows :

Light Brahmas, first premium, H. (■. Fegan, $o,

Second do, J, S. Ives, Salem, $L

Dark Brahmas, first premium, E. R. Perkins, Salem, .f3.

Second do, Mrs. G. L. Streeter, Salem, $L

Buff C^ochins, first premium, H. ('. Fegan, (JroAcland. $o.

Second do, E. E. Perkins, $1.

Partridge Gochin, first, E. IL Perkins, $3.

Second, Mrs. G. L. Streeter, $L

Black Chochins, first premium. E. P. Perkins, ^2.

Second, ]\Irs. G. L. Streeter, $1.

Dominique, first premium, E. 11. Perkins, $2.

^>econd, George W. Knight, Xevvburyport, $1.

Black Spanish, first premium, D. B. Wallace, $2.

Leghorn, first premium, E. P. Perkins, $2.

ILimbv.rghs, first premium, A. X. Plouff, Ipswich, $2.

Polish, first premium, E. P. Perkins, $2.

Game, first premium, C. H. Richardson, $2.

Bantams, first, premium, J. S. Ives, $2.

Ducks, first, premium, E. E. Bartlett, Xewburyport, $2.

Geese, first premium, Joseph Horton, Ipswich, $2.

H. ('. Fegan, Grovcland, one pair Black Cochins, gratuitv.
$1. . ^ •

(). F. Putnam, l)anvers,\\'ihl (iecsc, do, $2.

L. M. Locke, Salem, gratuity on coop of Pigeons, . ")U.

I), n. WnWh. Peabody, trio of Sicilian Chickens, $1.

E. R. Perkins, Salein, Ducks, U'
E. R. Perkins, trio Houdans, $1.
E. R. Perkins, do AVliite Cochins, Si.

Committee — John Swincrton, Jolin I. Ladd, C. H. Ord-
way.

PLOUGHIXG— DOUBLE TIO A:\IS.

Tlie Committee on Phmghing with Double Teams, have at-
tended to their duty, and w,ui!<l i-ej)ort tlie following awards :

To R. T. Jaques and I'. S. Bray, of Xewbury, the first
premium of diploma and §12.

To J. and D. L. Goodrich, West X(".vl)ury, the second pre-
mium, $10.

To Joseph Ilorton, of Ipswich, the third premium of $9.

The ploughs used were of the same pattern. Eagle, Xo. 20.

Committee — Sherman Xelson, John G. Little, Wm. B.
-Moraan.

PLOUGHING WITH SINGLE TEAMS.

The Committee award as follows :

To R. T. Jafpies, of Xewbury, first premium, diploma and
$10.

To George Ilodgsdon, of Ipswich, second premium, $7.
Committee — Philip Jones, Geo. A. Abbott, John Brown.

PLOUGHIXG— SWIVEL PLOUGH.

The Committee award to William Foster, of X'orth Ando-
ver, the second premium of $10.

48

To Eli C. Rankin, of Beverly, the fourth premium, $5.
Committee — Aaron Low, Geo. AY. Sanborn, Joshua X..
Kent.

PLOUGH IX(r— BY BOYS.

There Mere but two entries fur Boy-s <»n Plou<;liiiig, one did"
not appear.

AYillic Horton, of Ipswieh, ai;ed 15 years, plowed Avith
Doe Plow, 7 inches deep, and performed Avork in one hour in
Avorkmanlike manner, and gave perfect satisfaction to the Com-
mittee, and they have awarded to him the first premium of $25 ►

Committee — Aaron Dodge, Calvin Rodgers, J. P. King.,
Joseph Longfellow.

AG UICULTUK AL LMPLEMENTS.

The displav of rivticlcs catered under the bead of Agricul-
tural Implements Avas not quite as good as usual, OAving, per-
haps, to the fact that seA'cral other fairs in our vicinity opened
upon the same date.

There Avere tAvelve exhibitors, the largest of Avhom Avere
Whittemore, Belcher, & Co., and E. E. Lummus, both of
Boston. They offered the leading articles of their establish-
ments. Although there Avere several implements and ma-
chines in each of the above collections that are Avell knoAvn
and approved, tiie Committee did not think that there AA-as
that decided excellence, as a Avhole, that Avould entitle either
of these exhibitors to the premium of $15, offered by your
Society, for the best collection of implements and machines.

Aaron Dodge, of Beverly, exhibited XashAvitz's Pat. Pul-
vcriziu"- Harrow. This is an excellent harroAv. and the only-

49

objections tlie Committee could bring against it, Avere its high
price, 130, and its liability to Avear, Even with these objec-
tions, it will doubtless have a very extensive sale throughout
the country.

The " xVdvance " mower, by the same exhibitor, is not as
simple in its construction as some other mowers ; it has some
advantage, however, in the method of raising the cutter-bar ;
and mo:e than one of the Committee can testify as to its capa-
bility of doing good Avork in the field.

^^^hittcraore. Belcher & Co. exhibited the " Wood " Mower,
^riie manufacturers of this favorite machine have made a " new
departure" in the use of an iron frame. How far this change
may be a real improvement, a season's use will determine.
The "Wood" was the pioneer among light, cheap mowers,
and through all its modifications has proved itself among the
very best. The machine on exhibition was very simple, com-
pact, and put together with the smallest possible number of
bolts. Among its faults the Committee noticed the use of a
round bolt with a round head for iiolding the leading wheel to
the inside shoe. Such bolts are an abomination to farmers.

Among the articles exhibited by Whittemore, Belcher & Co.
and deserving mention, were the well known "Doe" Plows.
Also a cylindrical Hay, Straw and Stalk Cutter. This was
not shown to the Committee in operation, nor its price given,
but it had tlie appearance of being a very strong and effective
machine. The Blanchard ( 'luirn is a standai'd article. The
best materials are used in its construction and its price is rea-
sonable.

Buchan's l*atent ( 'arbolic Soaps and disinfectants for which
W. B. & Co. are agents, arc made in several different stvles
and for distinct purposes. They are adapted for use from the
toilet to the farm yard, and the constantly increasing demand
for these preparations show that they possess merit.

Among the articles exhibited by E. E. Lummus, of Boston,
^^'as a Swivel Plow of a new pattern, which Mr. L. desired to
test in presenc(> of the Committee. There was some difficulty,
4

50

liowcvor, in procuring a team for tlie ])urpo8e and tlie trial was
oniittod.

Mr. Luninms exhibited a " Sulky Horse Rake," (Plollings-
worth's patent,) which appeared to be a splendid article. I'he
method of" attaching the teeth is extremely simple and effective.
There was combined with this rake a (rrass-seed Sower — this
extra attachment costing $10 — the price of the Kake being $45.
The Grass-seed Sower was not shown in operation, but the
Committee thought it worthy the attention of our large farmers.

Mr. Lummus also exhibited a very light, strong, nicely
opeiating Horse Hoe. Tlie frame is made of bars of wrought
iron, curved to the ground, when they receive flat plates of
steel. In operation it cuts over the entire surface oi* the
ground — leaving it well puhcrized and level. It is highly
recommended by several farmers who have used it, and who
arc well known by your (^ommittee.

]\Ir. Lumnuis exhibited a " Lever" Straw Cutter, price $8,
that oj)erated well, and is easily kept in order. It is one of
the best articles of this class that has ever come to the notice of
the Committee. Owing to the short crop of hay, machines of
this kind are in greater demand than usual. Tiiey are ecpially
adapted for cutting hay, straw or corn-stalks.

Mr. I^unuuus also exhibited a Hay Tedder, price §51). being
mucl) less than other machines are sold for. The motion of
the forks i\n- throwing uj) the hay seems very much the same as
in the " 15ullard." It is lighter and more compact than its
neighbor. It is, howev{!r. a new machine, and the Conmiittee
could express no opinion as to its comparative merits. It is
worth tlie attention ;tl" all who intend purchasing a Hay Ted-
der.

]Mr. Lununus exhibited a Horse Hay Fork, which appears
to be a good article.

The " Kureka" ^Movvcr, exhibited by J. F. KinsuKui, is a
novelty in its line, the cutting being done directly behind the
horses. It is prol)ably the only machine made njion this plnn
that has met with anv success. 'Thv machine is large and

51

lieavy, but it cuts a vcrv wide f<\varth — the draft being- so di-
rect, it is claimed, that it runs easier in proportion to the work
done than any of the common side-draft mowers. It will ha^'e
to be reduced very much in size before the farmers of <yar State
Avill buy it to any extent. ]Manufacturers of the common style
mowers do not consider the " Eureka" a very strong- i-ival. It
is possible that it may become so.

C. C. Holt, of Lawrence, exhibited a Horse iJake, designed
to be self-operating. The slightest [)ressure of the foot of the
dri\er engages the head of the l-Jake with a geer Avheel, and
raises the teeth to discharge their load. It is somewhat com-
plicated and may not be as durable as the machines operated
l)y the main strength of the driver. It is worth an examination
In' all who nre interested in raking hay by horse power.

Webster Smith, of Ipswich, exhibited an Ox Wagon — com-
plete in every respect — a jxn-fect ujodel in its proportions and
Avorkmanship. Even our )nanufacturers of agricultural imple-
ments might examine this i)iece of work Avith ad\antage. This
AA'ag'on, like others made in this vicinity, is especially designed
for carrying hay — and pnjbably in no otlujr part of the coun-
irv can such la)*ge, evenly laid, handsome loads of hay be seen
as are hauled to l^oston from Essex County upon those Ipswich
hay wagons,

W. E. liarrett & Co., Providence, It. J., exhiltitcd the
■" Sprague " Mower. The machine offered being their one-
liorse mower, Aveight 450 lbs. — price $85. This machine is
compaiatively a new one, and has not been used in this county
ti) any considerabli' extent. It appeai-ed to be a first class ma-
chine— light, compact and easily operated. It is understood
that its manufacturers placed it upon the market at a somewhat ,
loAver ])rice than other machines had been held at — and that
this course has had the eflfect of reducing prices generally.

The Committee noticed a fault in the great liability of the
pitman to strike any obstructions in its path. The machine
.(lesei'ACs the exaniiiialiiin of all who iii'a iid bii_\iiig a ni()\, ei-.

For the Committee — A. IL Patch.

52
PLOUGHIXG WITH PIORSES.

Tlie Coniniittee on Ploughing Avitli Horses have attended to
the duty assigned them, and respectfully submit the following
report : —

Teams PKESE^'TED. — Peter Holt, Xorth Andover ; Ed-
ward H. Little, Xewbury ; Samuel A. Merrill, Dan vers :
Wm. Thurlow, Newbury ; Moody kS. Dole, Georgetown :
Edwin C. Little, Xewbury ; Eustare Baleh, Groveland.

There Averc eiglit entries, seven of which comneted for pre-
mium. After careful observation, the CommitiLo unanimously
award to Eustace P»alch, of Groveland, the first premium of
diploma and $10. Plough, Doe jSTo. 4. Time, 32 minutes.

To Edwin C. Little, of Xewbury, second premium of $7.
Plough, Prouty & Mears, No. 154. Time, 35 minutes.

To Edward H. Little, Xewbury, third pi-emium of $4.
Plough, iSIohawk Valley, No. 2. Time, 34 minutes.

The ground selected for tlie Ploughing jNIatcli w;is of rather
an uneven sm-face, particularly that part assigned to tlie Horse
Teams, the lower side, bordering on the river, being coAcred
with a thick growth of tanzy and couch (or more commonly
called dog) grass, requiring much skill from the })loughman
and strength from the team. We were pleased to see with
what ease and comfort the ploughing was performed both by
man and beast. We also commend them much for their cool-
nei^s and length of time in performing the work assigned them.
Tlie work done by the teams of Samuel A. Merrill of Dan-
vers, Peter Holt of North Andover, and Edward H. Little of
Newbury, differed l)ut little in point of workmanship, making
it somewhat difficult in judging to wliom the j)remium of four
dollars belonged. The Committee very much regret tliere
wei'c not more premiums offered in this department, and a\ ci-e
we not debarred by tlie rules of the Society, would reconmicud
gratuities to all com])etitors. AVe were highly j)lcased to find
upon the ground so many good and valuable horse-teams for
ploughing. It is many years since so large a mimber have

53

competed for premiums at one trial. We hope tlie Society
will in futui'e offer more and larger premiums in this depart-
ment, that it may not only stinudate our young men, but the
practical farmer to renewed endeavors in this direction. The
hir-tory of the horse can hardly fail to interest the most careless
student. From the earliest ages he has been man's faithful
ally and willing shive. Every branch of industry owes much
to his patient toil ; he ploughs the soil, sows the seed, reaps the
harvest and transports it to the di:jtant market. From yeai' to
year he has toiled unceasingly for his master, in the cart, the
mill, tiic freight-wagon or the mail-coach. In gracefulness of
motion, elegance of form and dignity of carriage he is supe-
rior to every other quadruped ; and by those nations to whom
he is kuov.'n, he is almost imiversally considerect the most use-
ful and manageable of all our domestic animals. Although
the horse was domesticated in the time of Moses, yet we know
little of his condition or the manner in Avhich he "was trained,
until within a little more than two thousand years. But our
agricultural methods are still rude, and must be considered so
Avhilc the plough is the symbol of agriculture. We can look
back and see the first cultivator of the soil, a naked savage,
who tries the first agricultur;ii experiment by making a hole
with his finger in the mud left bv the o^cvflowing waters of
some river, and depositing a grain of wild corn. How he
grins, on his return, to see the success of his experiment in the
silken tassel, and eventually in the golden ears I He tries
again ; but finding his forefinger sore from use, he improves on
this by using a stick to dibble in the grain, and thus invents
the first agricultural tool. A stone hatchet hews out the first
rude spade, and with this wooden spade the work goes bravely
on. We look down the stream of time and see the wooden
spade disappear, and a stick pulled by an ox take its place ;
then follows the Saxon peasant, with his wooden plough zig-
zagging over the ground, scattering his grain and reaping his
scanty harvest, but thinking, poor soul ! that never was there
snch an invention as his plough. What can possibly supercede

o4

it ? Here comes tl)o Yankee fiirmer with las steel" plough ancT
splendid team, turning OAer the broad furrow to the sun's eye,
then witii the harrow mellowing the rich soil, and with a drill
sowing his grain in parallel rows ; he fills his barns with plen-
ty, and exclaims. Where is the man who can impro\e upon
this? He is already born. Here comes on the great steam
pulverizer, which shall supercede the plough as surely as tltc
plough superceded the rough-hewn spade of the savage, stirring-
up the ground to the depth of two or three feet, and making it
all as fine as the finest garden-moidd . Then comes the steam
dibbler, planting every grain at an exact distance from every
other : not one here and one there, as at present — like the
plums in, a raiser's pudding, or croAvded together like the dol-
lars in his bags — but springing up and standing like the chess-
men on a board, with room enough to tiller out on every side.
Committee — A. !B. Fellows, Ipswich : H. W. Foster, Bev--
erly ; A. M. Bodwell, Lawrence; J. L. Xewhall, Xewbury-
port : T. K. Leach, Topsfield.

CAKIHAGES.

The Committee regret that the a])i)ropriatioii for Carriages
was only ivn dollars and a diploma. TIkm-c were six Carriages
entered for premium — five AVagons and a Phaeton — nu)st of
them of superior workmanship and worthy of the ^hole
amount set ;i[)art for this department of the exhibition. 'J'lie
awards uro :

Fi\e dollars and the (li[)lo)ua to Osgood Bros, of CJcorge-
lown, for an elegant Phaeton.

Three dollars to l^ike .& A\'h!p[)h>, Pcabody. for a very Mipe-
rior Milk A^'agon.

"^rhrc? dollars to ('. W . (^hapman, I{)s\vich, for Family
AVagon.

Two dolhirs grattiity to liradlcy tS!: Clark, A\'cnhanu inr
Covered AA'ai^on.

55

(ii-nttiity of two dollars to Dean & White, Georgetown, for
Two-seated ^A'agoii.

Two dollars to A^'ln. Xoyes, Xewburyport, for Wagon
made Avith one hand.

Committee — W. Ordway, O. S. Butler, James Wilson.^
Willis P. Saroent.

One of the best indications of a good farmer is the posses-
sion of a good team, and it is almost always the case that
Avherc a good farm or jnarket-wagon is found, good oxen and
horses arc found to go with them. The same remark is in a
measm'e true when applied to the lighter carriages for family
use. Essex Comity has occupied a prominent position since
the R,e\olution for the early introduction of the manufacture of
carriages, combs and boots and shoes. The people of the
American Colonies had been dependent upon the mother coun-
try for their manufactures, excepting those of the most simple
and ordinary character, until the puritanical principles of free
grace and free agency brought them up into the atmosphere of
independent thought and action, and finally to free suffrage.
In no department of mechanical labor can greater improvement
be shown, or the versatility of American genius be more fully
demonstrated, than a history of the vehicles of the county will
reveal. The colonial pleasure-carriage was a swing-cart, Avith
tAvo Avhecls, Avooden axle, strip tire, short boxes and linch-pins ;
hung upon thorough braces attached to Avooden springs, both in
front and behind, and painted Avith the inevitable Spanish
broAvn. These carts, Avith the ox-carts, Avhicli Avere universally
used for farm purposes, A\ere made by joiners and sometimes
by the farmers themselves. The roads A^'cre merely bridle
paths, running around upon the mai-gin of the Ioav lands and
over the highest hills. Long join-neys Avere made on horse-
back, Avith pillion or saddle-bags, as circumstances required.
A few cju-riages Avere imported for government officials and
some of the most aristocratic families of Boston and perhaps
Salem. In the year 1777, Nathaniel Greenleaf, of NeAvbury,

now West Newbury, g'ot up the first chaise that Avas manufiic-
tured in the valley of the Merrimac River, and probably in
Essex County. He was assisted by an Englishman, a deserter
from the army and a chaise-body maker by trade. It Avas pur-
chased bv Hon. TheophiluS Parsons, of Xewburyport, and was
the first chaise that was owned in that then aristocratic town.
The rapid increase of wealth in the seaport towns of New
England after the war gave an impetus to the business, and
orders for the " one horse shay " came from. Maine and New
Hampshire, and some were sent with the other staple produc-
tions of the county — shoes and tow cloth — to Charleston, S. C.
Everybody went to meeting on Sunday and lecture day, with-
out reo-ard to the weather. For those who lived remote from
the meeting-liouie and were able to buy one, a chaise was con-
sidered a luxury that it was not wicked to possess. In twenty
years after the war it had become the leading mechanical busi-
ness of Essex County. It was carried on extensively in New-
bury, now West Newbury, in Belleville, in Amesbury, Haver-
hill, Bradford, Itowley, Salem and Beverly. The business
involved so many difi^erent trades that a system of exchange,
or barter trade, Avas adopted by those who Avere engaged in it.
This opened the Avay for shoemakers, storekeepers, hatters and
even farmers to dabble in it, as the most available method of
turning the proceeds of their oavu industry into cash. This
barter system of manufacturing and the ex})enses incident to
dragging them around the country for sale, eventually rendered
the carriage business unprofitable, and it gradually gave place,
in all these Essex toAvns but Amesbury and Salisbury, to the
more extensive and profitable demands of the shoe and leather
trade. During the last seventy years great improvements have
been made in the style and in the mode of manufacturing car-
riajies. Four-Avlieeled vehicles have been introduced in all
their multiplied forms. The turned axle and pipe box, the
eliptic spring and hoop tire, patent and enameled leather, and
recently steel and iron, have been largely substituted for Avood,
AA'hich, taken in connection Avith the saving of labor bA- the use

of niac'luneiT and .^team power, have worked an entire revolu-
tion in tlie trade. The mode of sellino; is also chano-ed. De-
positories have been establislicd in all the principal cities of the
conntry, and the trade is now conducted ni)on the most ap-
proved .mercantile principles. The well known energy and
enterprise of the gentlemen who are engaged in this business
in Essex County, and the large amount of capital they employ
makes the prospect for the future most encouraging.
For the Comuiittee — AVarrcn Ordwav.

DAIRY

Tliere were twehc specimens of Butter entered for premium,
and the most of it "was of superior C[uality.

Francis Dane, of Hamilton, presented 20 lbs. of Butter
made from his Jersey Cows. It Mas of good color and of
superior quality. The Committee would recoinmend that he
receive tiie 1st premium, diploma and $10.

To Oliver Patch," of Hamilton, 2d premium, $8.

To Clarissa S. Caldwell, of Ipsvvich, 3d premium, $G.

To J. C. Underhill, of Peabody, 4th premium, $4.

The second premium would have been gi-^en to another, had
tlicrc been a statement accompanying the specimen as the rules
require.

Lucy JNIarshall, of Ipswich, presented a specimen of Cheese,
to whom the Committee would recommend the 2d premium
of $5.

After deciding on the several premiums, your Committee
(being most of them men of long experience in keeping cows
and making butter,) had an interesting discussion on the sub-
ject, and were happily united in their opinion on almost every
point, and requested their chairman to make a report and affix
their signatures to the same.

On examining the reports of former years we find a great
-similarity of opinion on tlie subject. But as the persons Avhose

58

names have lung been on our records as experts in l)utter-niak-
ing are passing away and younger ])ersons are taking their
places, who are looking to our reports tor int'orniation, it secnis
necessary that new reports should be made from time to time,
to supply the ^^•ants of our ever changing community.

The dairv in its different forms holds a prominent ])laee^
among the fjirmers of Essex, and most of the producers near
our cities and large villages sell their milk and make but little
or no butter and cheese. That a dairy may be ])rofitable, good
cows are indispensable. If the milk is designed for butter, the
quality as well as the quantity should be considered, and that
such information may be had the milk from each cow shoidd
be set and churned separately ; otherwise a cow that gi\es a
large quantitv of poor milk may 1)0 kc[)t for years unprofitable
to the owner and not be known.

How to get extra cows is a problem difhcult to sohc, as
most persons a:c not willing to sell their best cows at a reason-
able price. Mr. Dane's premium butter highly recommends
the Jersey cows, but as to the quantity made avc are not in-
formed.

Good keeping is necessary, as it has nnich to <lo w irh the
quality as well as the quantity of milk. Past<u'es witli a large-
portion of Avhite clover furnish good feed in summer. The
most of our pastures soon grow dry and the feed shoi-t, then
the question is what shall be used as extra feed.

Your Committee were unanimously of the opinion — lia\ ing-
had many years of experience and careful observation — that
green corn fodder is the best article that can be used', taking
into consideration its value for food, and the ense witli ^\liich it
can be raised.

The writer tried an exi)criment several years ago wliich a\ as
substantially as follows : .

Four cows were selected from his herd when liis pa.-hutvs
Avere parched with excessive drought. Two of them were i'cd
niii-ht and morning' with iireen coi-n-stalks, as much as tliey
would eat. The other two Averc; fed witli Knulish hav of me-

o9

flimn (jiialitx . as imuh as tlicy would cat, all goinii' in ^^^c same
pasture duriuii" the day. Their milk wa>s carefully measured.
After about two weeks their fecil was chauned ; those that had
been fed on corn were fed with hay, aiul those that had been
fed on hay were fed A\lth corn, for about two weeks lonfi:er, and
the milk cai'cfully measured. The result was nearly the same-
There was no perceptible difterence in the (piantity of niilk
produced when fed on green corn fodder or ]'"nglish hay.

The above experiment shows that it is much uiore profitable
feeding on green corn fodder than on hay, as it costs much
less.

Turnips are sometimes used in fall and w intci-, but if cows
are fed freely on them it Avill sometimes gi\ c an inij)leasant
flavor to the milk. Feeding freely on salt hay will sometimes
have the same effect.

An animal that was designed for beef broke into a field and.
eat freely of onions. It was soon slaughtered and the beef
Avas highly flavored with onion, Avhich woidd be unpalatalile to>
most persons. Had it been a cow in milk, it would have been
likely to have had the same influence on the milk and butter.

Pumpkins are good feed for cows, but one of your Commit-
tee expressed the opinion tb.at the seeds A\er(' injurious and
should not be fed to thou.

Beets or mangolds •Avill produce sweet milk, but not add to
its richness. Feeding on carrots ^^ ill ])roducc a richer quality
of milk than beets. -AVe have seen a superior quality of rich
yellow butter made in winter from cows fed largely on cariots.
Indian meal fed to cows will make rich milk. I;nt not add
much to the quantity. Feeding on shorts a\ ill iiu iciise the
milk in quantity, but not much in ({uality.

AVc think that corn fodder should not be ii.-cd until it has
nearly reached its groAvth, in the l)]ossom, as it then })0ssesses
more nutriment than Avhen cut earlier ; and avc also think that
it should not be sowed or planted too thick, as it often hxlges?
Avhich depreciates its value ; or if it does not lodge it groAvs in
the shade, Avithout the influence of the sun. Avhich irflucnce is

60

^iccessarv to make it nutritious;. Kvoiy fruit-grower knows
that fruit whicli grows in tlie sun is mucli better than tliat
^^liicli grows in the sliade. The same principle will hold good
nvith most kinds of vegetation.

Having procured good cows and rich milk, a good dairy-
a-oom or place to set the milk is indispensable. It is not lui-
Cjommon for milk in warm weather to sonr before the cream has
.-all risen.

The temperature of the dairy-room should range if possible
from oO^ to CA)'^' , and the cream ^^'hcn churned from f);")"-'
to 60°.

In most cases a basement or room partly under ground is
convenient, as it can more easily be kept cool. It should be
well ventilated and not dark. '

Jce may sometimes be kept in the room to good advantage,
r-as it is desirable that the milk shoidd cool as cpiickly as possi-
hle after it is drav.ai. AYe should recommend slats to set the
|ians on, or Avhat is still better, iron rods. The room, with all
its implements, should be kept sweet and clean, and nothing of
:in unsavory odor should be kept therein.

In regard to the process of making the butter, \vc M'oidd re-
fer to the statements of those who receive the ])remiums. It
"will be noticed in those statements that a difFereiicc of opinion
^3xists ill refijard to rinsins: the butter in cold water when taken
from the churn. Some say it is necessary ; others have a dif-
ferent opinion. We are of the opinion that it makes but little
«]IfFerence, ]iroviding the buticrmilk is all worked out.

STATEMENT OF FRANCIS DANE.

IIamiltox, Sept. 26th, 1871.

To TiiK Committee ox T>\uiy,— Gentlemen:— I ofter for
premium twenty lbs. Butter.

This box of September Butter, containing 20 lbs., was made
from the milk of Jersey cows. It was allowed to stand 24
hours, then the cream was taken off and stirred twice a day.

Gl

until chunied, Avliicli takes from eight to ten minutes. Then
the butter is taken from tlie elun-n and worked by clappers, anil
salted one. ounce to tlie pound. After twelve hours, Avorketl
aii'nin and formed as jiresentcd for ])rcmium.

STATEMENT OF OLIVER PATCH.

To THE Co:m-M1TTKh ox l)Aiuv : — I present for premium 11<
lbs, of Butter, made last \veek from the milk of two cows (of
the Galloway or Buffalo breed) and one two-year-old heifer.
Thcir feed has ])ccn only pasture and corn-fodder — no grain-
meal, or roots. Process of Making. — Strain the milk into tini
pans, having it on an average about three inclies deep. Let it
stand from 2-1^ to 48 hours, according to tlie weather — (last
week it stood forty-eight hours,) — ahvays being careful
to skim the cream before the milk turns. Stir the cream
daily, adding to it a little salt, and churn usually once a week.
\i\{\ about a pint of cold water to the cream at cluirning, as it
clun-ns easier and comes (piicker. Xever wash the butter ini
cold water, or put Avatcr to it after it comes. Salt it to suit
the taste, generally about an ounce to the pound. Let it stantt
over night, then work it over, weigh it out into pound lumps;
ready for market, in the same sha])e in which it is to-day offer-
ed for premium.

STATEMENT OF C. S. CALDWELL.

I offer IG lbs. Butter, made at two churnings, in Septem-
ber. The method of making is not new, I presume.

The milk stands 24 or oG hours before skimming ; the creami
stirred dailv, and in sunnner keep it but -three or fouv days :.
longer in cool weather.

AVhen the butter is taken from the churn, it is hard and!
waxy ; jiut immediately into a large pan of ice-water and
ANorkcd until all the Inittermilk disappears. Then salted andl

'>2

eet bv 1^4 hums, wlion it i.>< broken up, worked over and mold-
-ed, or packed stolid in firkins.

STx\TEMENT OF J. C. CJNDERHTLL.

Pi.'ocKss OF MaJvIXC IUttkI'w — Strain into each pan be-
tween two and three (juaits of milk ; when tliirty-six hours old
skim, taking as little milk as possible with the cream. Kcej)
both, cream and milk, exposed to liglit and air. Stir the col-
lected cream whenever new is, added, to keep it sweet. In
^varm weather churn tw ice, and in cool Aveather once a week.

When the chui-ning is done aTid butter is gathered, draw oii"
Lutteiuulk aisd (piickly rinse the butter with a little cold water
«nd work out buttermilk. Use one onnec of salt to a pound
of buttei", and one table-s[)Oonfnl of pulverized loaf sugar to
ten j)oun(i of butter. Let it stand twentv-fon* hours, Mork
thoi'i>uglily, anil mould.

STATEMENT OF LUCY MARSHALL.

I iM-e:-cnt foi- youi" examination four new-milk Cheeses, made
in the moritli of August, in the Ibllouing manner: At night
the milk is strained into a tub and rennet added sufficient to
bring it to a curd in about h^lf an hour ; it is then gently
broken ^\ ith (he hand, drained, sliced several times and left to
iStand until moniing, then sliced again, the morning's milk strain-
ed upon it, and the ])rocess of the previous evening repeated.
The curd is then put in a stone jar, without salt, and placed in
the cellar.: the same j)rocess is repeated with the next night's
and morning's milk. "J'hc curds are then mixed, scalded with
whey, bioken with the hands or groinid in a curd mill, salted
to taste, and picssed. One is a sage cheese.

Connnittee — Joseph How, M. I. George, John A. Put-
nam, (lilbert Conant, Nathaniel Carleton, (ico. A. fodd.

r,K'i:AI) AM) liOXKV.
The Trustees of the Societv authorized the Connnittee on

(53

Bread and Honey to award in gratuities a certain amount of
money for the encouragement of making good bread, tlic bread
to be made without the aid of salenetus or other alkaline sub-
stance, and the process of making fully stated. Also to award
gratuities for Bees and Honey, -if there were contributed what
seemed worthy. '

In household economy the making of good bread is a subiect
•of much interest. Xot only health but equanimity of mind is
oftentimes disturbed by the continuous use of badly made
bread. Hence a lady at the head of a family, who cooks her-
self or by servants, should be an adept in this matter.

This is a practical world, and all j'oung ladies who can make
good bread should be looked upon by young men, in selectino-
a wife, as possessing in important qualification to preside as
mistress of a* household.

Your Committee, after carefully testing the several speci-
mens of Bread exhibited, unanimously award the followino-
gratuities, viz :

To Mrs. J. C. Underhill, Peabody, $2.

To Haimah X. Burnham, Essex, $2.

To Mary Bailey, :\Iethucn, |2.

To Etta Brown, Ipswich, $1.50.

To Mrs. Dean B. Parker, Grovelaud, $1..50.

To Deborah Pike, Bowley, $1.

There was one s[)ccimen of Bread as good as any on the ta-
ble which your Committee could not, under the rules of the
Society, award a gratuity, as there was no statement how it
was made.

CHATLITIES FOR liEES AM) HONEY.

To X. A. Dickinson, Ipswich, $2.
To Henry Alley, Wenham, Bees, |3.
To John Perkins, Ipswich, Bees, $2.
To Henry Alley, ^Venham, Honey, $2.

STATEMENT OF MRS. J. C. UNDERHILL.

Process of Making 13i{eai). — For six quarts of flour

<)4

take six common sized potatoes ; pare, slice, and boil tlieui
soft in as little Avater as possible. "When done, mash them,
mixing with them a tea-cup of flour ; then pour on cold Ava-
ter enonah to cool sufficientlv to rub smooth Avith the hands,
adding one-half cup full of (^imbridge Liquid Yenst, and let
it rise six hours in a AA^arm place.

Make a sponge of the six quarts of flour, one (jUiU't of tepid
AA-ater and the aboAC preparation, adding a little salt and two
table-spoonfuls of AAdvite sugar.

In t\A'el\'e hours stir into the sponge a tea-cu[> i'uH of boiling
Avater and snflicient flour to make the ])astc stiff enough to
knead, and let it rise. Then knead and make into loaACs, and
AA'hen sufficiently light bake three-quarters of an hour in a slow
oven. ^^Irs. J. C Uxdektiill,

Broadfields Farm, West l*eabody.

Committee — Josiah Xewhall, Charles Fngalls, F. A. AA'ait.
(jreorge Haskell, Amos Gonld.

PKAK'S.

Tiie Connnittee on IV'ars would state the exhibition as the
finest ever presented to the Society. 1'here Aveie 94 entries,
each and all deser\ing of great credit. After much time spent
in the examination of the different specimens [)resented, have
with nuich difficulty awarded the following premiums :

For the best plate of Pears, 24 spcciuiens, Augustine Ilodg-
kins, 15 and diploma.

To J. Perkins, Jr., for the be.^i ten varieties, $;>.

Two dollars each to Frank Perkins, XcAvbury, Bartlett ;
Tho^. Capers, Xewburyport, Belle T^ucrative ; 11. Jordan, I])s-
wich, Ik'urre P)osc : J. Perkins, IpsAvich, Onondaga ; B. F.
Stanley, Xewburyport, Seckel ; Eben Dodge, Salem, Buffum ;
B. F. Stanley, Xewburyport. Winter Xelis ; Wm. Willcomb,
I[)swich, \'icar of '\\'iiikfic!(l : ]i. Daniels, Ipswich, I>awi-cnce :

1)5

B. F. Stiinlcy, Xewlnirvport, Louise Bon ; A. IT. AVildes,
Tpswicli, B(MUTe C'lairgeau ; Wm. Stone, Ipswich, Golden
Beiine ; A. Ilodgkins, Ipswich, Duchess d'Angoulcme : ^Nlay-
nard Russell. Ipswich, Beurre de .Vujou ; Albion Smith, Salem,
Urbaniste : AA'in. H. Graves, Ipswich, Sheldon ; R. Daniels,
Ipswich, IMarie Louise ; X. K. Wait, Ipswich, Hovey's Dana ;
A.J. llul)bard, Peabodj, Paradise d'Autumn ; J. Perkins,
Ipswich, Doyenne Bossock.

GuATi iTiKs. — James Peatfield, Ipswich, $2 ; Edwin Cur-
rier, Newl)uryport, $1 ; Joel Caldwell, Ij)swich, $1 ; R. Jor-
dan, Ipswidi, $1 ; X. R. Wait, Ipswich, $1 ; B. F. Stanley,
Xewburyport, §1 ; John Ives, Salem, $1 ; A. J. Hubbard,
Peabody, $1 ; Benj. P. Ware, Marblehead, $2 ; J. A. Rog-
ers, Ipswich, $1 ; Peter Wait, Danvcrs, $2 ; Wm. Chickeriug',
Ando\'er, $1.

For the Committee — Samuel C. Pituian-

APPLES.

The Counnittee on Apples report as follows :

Benjamin P. A^'are, ^Marblehead, best 20 varieties, diploma
and $'j.

William \y. IVrklns, Xewbury, best 10 varieties, $o.

Samuel Xewman, Peabody, Ijcst 24 specimens, diploma
and $5.

Benj. P. Ware, ^farblehead, Ijcst 12 specimens Pickman
Pippin, $2 ; De Drap d'Or, $2 ; Seaver Sweet, $2 ; R. I.
Greening, $2.

Aaron Lowe, Essex, best specimens Porter, $2.

A. H. Gould, Topsficld, best specimens Baldwins, $2.

Willard G. Rolf, Xewbury, best specimens Roxbury Rus-
set, $2.

Thomas K. Leach, Topsficld, best specimens Ilubbardston
X'onsuch, $2.
o

()6'

Win. W. Perkins, Xcwbiirv. bcf^t speciincns Danvers
ySweet, $2 ; Xorthern Spy, $2.

AYillard F. Kinsman, Ipswich, Gl•a^cnstein, $2.

Samuel Xewman, Peabudy, best Minister, $2.

Eben Lord, Ipswich, best Sweet Baldwin, $2.

Y. G. Heard, Ipswich, for best 12 specimens of any other
Tariety llusset Pearmain, $1.

Itichard Hood, Danvers, best Fall Harvey, $1.

Klijah Vose, Ipswich, best Pennock's AVinter Ked, $1.

Peter Waite, Danvers, best Garden, $1 : Killhani Hill, $1 ;
Hunt's Russet, $1.

A. F. Huntington, Amesbury, Porter, $1.

Aaron P. Stone, Ipswich, Poxbury Eussct, $1.

D. A. Todd, Rowley, Nonsuch, $1.

D. Bradstreet, Topsfield, Bradstrcet Sweeting, $1.

M. F. Batchelder, Nonsuch, |1.

S. N. Baker, Ipswich, Russet, $1.

Geo. W. Sanborn, Georgetown, Russet, $1.

James Peatfield, Ipswich, William's Favorite, $1.

Committee — William Cliickering, Alfred Onbvay, Ilciuy
li. Ordway, B. F. Huntington, James Flint.

GRAPES, PEACHES, S.c.

The exhibition of Grapes was large and good. Most of the
Tarieties for which premiums are oft'ered by this Society were
represented by creditable specimeiis, and some by l)unches of
superior size and excellence. Among the latter were admirable
specimens of Rogers's No. 15 (Agawam), grown by Mr.
Alonzo Quimby of Groveland, which for size of the berry,
symmetry of the bunch, uniformity of color, and rij)eness of
the pulp, we have never seen sur])assed. There v.crc also fine
displays of Rogers's No. 22 (the Salem), the Delaware, Dia-
na, Concord, Creveling, and Isabella. Manv of these were,

of cour.sc, impcribctly ripi', pairtly (twing to an unfavorable
season, and Lccause the exhibition is held earliei- than the time
when our out-door grapes usually mature, with fe\v exceptions.

Tiie Kogers Crrapes maintained <>n this occasion that superi-
ority of quality, as fruit for the table, Avhich is 'now generally
conceded to this remarkable series of hyl)rids. Certainly no
collection of Grapes in the garden, for family use, can be con-
sidered complete without at least Xos. 15 and 22, (the former
amber-colored and the latter black,) and if 4, 43 and 19 are
added thereto, the variety Avill not l)e found amiss. All these
are good, and the vines are thrifty and vigorous in their growth,
except a tendency in Xo. 15 to mildew, whicli can be checked
by powdering or sulphur in dry weather. They will also bear
our winters without being laid down, which we consider an
essential quality, for vines whicli need to be taken do\\'n in
winter cannot be recommended for general cultivation.

There were i'lve dishes of the Concord and the Crevelinirs
and other sorts on the table, especially in the fine collection of
Mr. D. H. Stickney, of Groveland, which embraced the larg-
est number and best variety sliown bv a sinnle exhibitor. Both
the Concord and the Creveling are good grapes, and in gen-
eral appearance they resemble each other. If avc were called
upon to name the grape >vhich presents the most good fruit,
and can be grown by everyl)ody Avith the least trou))le, we
should say the Concord. Where only one vine is grown, in
the back yard, it should be the Concord. It should l)e in
every collection. And this because it is hardy and thrifty,
and always yields an abundant crop of fruit, which ripens
early. The flavor of the grape is not first rate, and is not rel-
ished by some on account of its " foxiness," but most people
who buy grapes in the market consider it nice ; and so does the
writer of this report. The Concord, being a good wine grape,
is usually chosen for vineyard purposes, on account of its relia-
bility in growth.

The samples of Delaware which Mere exhibited were gen-
erall}^ excellent. This is a justly favorite grape. Its small.

(IS

compact biinclic:; of little auil)ei' berries arc as pleasing to the
eye as any fruit that groAvs, and upon the tongue it yields a
delicious sweetness. The vine is latlier a sIoav grower, l)ut it
should be in every collection.

Of the newer Grapes there were fine specimens of the Adi-
rondack and Isabella, both black, and of the amber Diana,
neither of Avhich can be ranked in the first class. The Eurae-
lan was not sIioaSui. A splendid dish of the " Lady Mallard,"
a seedling from Lawrence, attracted the attention of the Com-
mittee, but on account of its inferior quality they Avere unable
to commend it.

The exhibition of cold house Gi-apes was -ina]! and not re-
markable.

The display of Peaches Avas inferior, and did not do justice
to the fruit-growers of the county, nor CAcn to a season Avliich
is eondenmed as unpropitions.

Among these several exhibitors and claimants the Committee
distributed, according to their best judgment, the meagre pre-
miums and gratuities offered by the Society. These awards do
not l)y any means indicate in each case the exact measure of
merit, but are gi\ en in the best Avay they can be under the
necessarily somewhfit arbitrary rules of the Society.

It is gratifying to notice the increasing interest that is taken
in jjrape culture. There is no fniit more Avholesome and deli-
cious, and none which will pay better for the lal)or expended
upon it, Avhether by the amateur in his city gar.^.en, for his OAvn
pleasure, or by the farmer in his vineyard, producing for the
market. There is a profit in it. ^ Tiic one solitary vine A\hich
may l)e planted in the lal:)orer's back yard and spread its beau-
liful foliage over his door and hang its j)urple clusters all
around his windows, is a sort of "farming by inches" which
may well be encouraged.

Of the expediency of cultixatlng the grape as a field crop,
there can be no rpiestion. That the vineyard pays, has been
repeatedly demonstrated in ]Massachu setts and in Essex Coun-
ty. The capital re<|nircd is not large, the necessary labor is

not groat, the crop is not more unccrlain than other:?, and the
amonnt of knowledge reqnired is readily obtained.

There are many stony acres in the southern part of our
count}', noAv almost useless, which might he as vine-clad as
the valleys of the Alps, while the light, sandy soils and warm
exposures of the valley of the ]\Iorrimac seem specially to invite
experiments in this direction. And although we cannot expect
to rival countries of warmer skies and longer seasons, in the
quality of our fruit, we may raise crops which ,,ill pay well
for the capital invested. The market for grapes as an article
of food is now immense, and nuist yearly enlarge, for now that
the masses have got a taste of the grape, there will he no limit
to the demand. And we believe this fruit can he raised profit-
ably, at tlie market price, as well as stravrberrics, raspberries,
blackberries, and otlier small fruits.

The interest which has been taken in gra})e growing in Es-
sex county lias already resulted in the addition of several ^■al-
uablc varieties to the list of vines. The merits of at least a
half dozen of Eogers's ITyl)rids are recognized tln-oughout the
countr^^ Allen's AVhite Hybrid, when grown under fiivorable
circumstances, is luisurpassed, and perhaps unequaled. And
rumor says that another veteran cultivator, in old Ipswich, has
one or more new seedlings which promise even greater things
yet, the whole of wiiich will be reveale<l in the fulhicss of time.
We hope it may be true. The best grape foe Xcw England
cultivation is yet to be produced. W.hocver shall originate t]\Q
hardiest, healthiest, sweetest and earliest of gra^ os, will be
entitled to the diplomas and premiums of all Societies.

For tlie Committee — Gilbert L. Streeter, Chaiiinan.

A^^ Ai;i)s.

11. Kutherford, Ipswich, for best Freestone AVliite Flesh
Peach ; Willard F. Kinsman, Ipswich, Yellow Rareripe ; Ben-
jamin A. Gray, Salem, Essex County Seedling — $1 each.
Alonzo Quimby, Grovcland, best Concord Grapes ; Mrs. Eben
Caldwell, Ipswich, best Hartford Grapes ; Abrain Lord, Ips-

70

Avieh, best Isabella Grapcc; ; John Perkiius, Ipswich, best Del-
aware Grapes ; R. Jordan, Ipswich, best lona Grapes; D.
H. Stickucy, Grovelaud, best Allen's Hybrid Grapes ; N. R.
Wait, Ipswich, best Diana Grapes ; D. II. Stickney, Grove-
land, best Adirondac Grapes ; R. Jordan, Ipswich, best Isra-
ella Grapes ; D. II. Stickney, Groveland, best Rogers' No. o
Grapes ; D. H. Stickney, Groveland, best Rogers No. 4
Grapes ; S. B. Gregory, Hamilton, best Rogers Xo. 22
Grapes ; Alonzo Quiniby, Gro-seland, best Rogers Xo. 15 —
$2 each. Aaron Low, Essex, best assortment of Cold House
Grapes, $5. D. II. Stickney, Groveland, best collection of
ten varieties, or more, diploma and $5. D. H. Stickney,
Grovelaud, best specimen of Crevelling, $1. Peter Wait,
Danvers, best Ijasket assorted fruit, $3. Mrs. Robert Jordan,
IpsAvich, 2d best basket assorted fruit, $2.

GKAXriTIES FOi; Gl.VVl'ES.

E. Yose, Ipswich, $1. J. Dudley, Ipswicli ; James Peat-
field, Ipswich ; R. Daniels, Ipswich ; J. P. C'oAvles, Ipswich :
Eben Dodge, Salem ; Tristam B. Eall, Ipswich ; Gilbert Co-
nant, Ipswich ; Henry ShaAA', Lawrence — 50 cents each.

The Committee also recommend gratuities of 50 cents to
Mrs. Oliver Underhill, and ]\[rs, Rawson Underbill, for excel-
lent specimens of canned fruit ; and of 50 cents to A. J. Be-
del, of Rowley, for samples of domestic wine.

Committee — G. L. Strceter, Y. G. Ilurd, Jas. Knowlton.

ELOWERS.

The Committee award to :

T. Capers, Xcwburvport, best ])air Parlor Bourpiets, pre~
mium, $o ; do. best })air Hand Bouquets, premium, $2 ; do.
best dish of Cut Elowers, premium, $2 ; do. best 12 Dahlias,
premium, $1 ; Mrs. George Giddings, Ipswich, Eloral De-
signs, premium, $2 : Mrs. Charles II. Goss, Ipswich, Petu-

71

nias, premium, $1 ; Mrs- A. H. AVildes, JpsAvich, Pansios,
premium, $1 ; Mrs. Hunt, IpsAvicli, Phlox, premium, |1 ; T,
Capers, Xcwburyport, Verbenas, premium, $1 ; Mrs. D. K.
Parkluu'st, Groveland, Native Flowers, premium, f 1 ; Thos.
Capers, Xewburyport, largest display, 2)remium, |3 ; ]Mrs. X.
R. Rutherford, Ipsvvicli, Vase of Flowers, gratuity, 50 cents:
E. Green, Ipswich, Dahlias, gratuity, 50 cents ; Emma Wel-
lington, Ipswich, Cut Flowers, gratuity, 50 cents ; Arthur
Kimball, Ipswich, Basket Flowers, gratuity, $1 ; ]Mrs. R. L.
Weymouth, Ipswich, Rustic Flowers, gratuity, 50 cents ; Liz-
zie W. Farley, Ipswich, Floral Design, gratuity, $1 ; Mrs.
W. S. Homer, Ipswich, Ferns, gratuity, 50 cents ; Lillie Otis,
Ipswich, Vase of Flowers, gratuit}^, 50 cents ; Abbie Newman,
Ipswich, Cut Flowers, gratuity, 50 cents ; S. J. Fellows, Ips-
wich, Cut Flowers, gratuity, $1 ; M. E. Peatfield, Ipswich^
Cut Flowers, Mrs. I). R. Parker, Ipswich, Hand Bouquets,
]\Irs. J. B. Grant, IpsAvich, Flowers ; E. Green, Ipswich,
Flowers, A])bie F. King, Ipswich, AVild Flowers, S. M. Hale,
Rowley, Flowers, L. A. Dodge, Ipswich, [Flowers — each 50
cents ; H. P. Goss, Ipswich, Flowers, $1 ; Miss E. Ellis,
Mrs. T. F. Cogswell, J. W.Bond, James Cook, E. K. Lord,
Maria Bancroft, J. B. Goodlnie, Mary C. Farley, Ipswich »
Flowers — each 50 cents.

VEGETABLES.

The Committee on Vegetables report eighty-nine lots on ex-
liil)ition. They award premiums and gratuities as follows :

I'KEMIl MS.

F<n- 12 best Turnip Beet, S. A. Merrill.
For 12 best Short Horn Carrots, M. F. Batchelder,
For 12 best ears Early Corn (Crosby's), S. A. Merrill.
For 12 best cars Late Corn (Stowel's), Aaron Low.
For ?} best Savoy Cabbage, M. F. Batchelder.

For o best Drumhead Cabbage, J(>^e[)h lloituii.
For 3 best large Druniliead Cabbage, S. A. ]\Ie)-rill.
For 12 best large Dutch Parsnips, D. G. Todd,
For 12 best round flat Tomato, S. A. Merrill.
For 12 best spherical Tomato,' Aaron Low.
For 12 best Tomatoes, Peter Smith.
For best specimens of greatest Aariety, Aaron Low.
For G best ]Mangold Wurtzcl, Benjamin F. Ware.
For 12 best Strap-leaf Turnips, M. F. Batcliclder.
For 3 best Marrow Squashes, S. A. ^Merrill.
For o best American Turban, M. F. P>atchclder.
For 3 best Hubbard, M. F. Batchelder.
For best peck of Danvcrs Onions, I. A. Ilogers.
For best peck of Flat Onions, S. A. Alerrill.
For best peck of Eed Onions, S. A. Merrill.
For best peck Early Rose Potatoes, S. A. Merrill.
For best collection of Garden Seeds, Aaron Low.

GUATViriKS.

For fnie Cauliflowers, S. A. Merrill, $1 ; Muskiuehnis, S.
A. Merrill, $1 ; Sweet Potatoes, Sidney L()^^', $1 ; lot of
Peerless Potatoes, P. ]^. Osborne, |1 ; flne ^'egetable Egg,
George T. Thornton, $1 : Kohl Pabi, B. A. Pobinson, $1 ;
A\'inter Crookneck, W. P. Phillips, $1 ; 2 large Watermel-
ons, ^Y. p. Phillips, $1 ; Mammoth Squash, W. P. Phillips,
$1 ; Phinney's Melon, Aaron Low, $1 ; Fine Carrots, F. II.
Appleton, $1 ; Sill's Melon, Andrew Lackey, $1 ; Cranber-
ries, T. Prime, $1 ; Carrots, Charles Mitchell, $1 ; Early
Pose, W. P. Phillips, $1 ; collection of Herbs, :M. F. Batch-
elder, |1. For large variety and excellent quality of collec-
tion of vegetables, the diploma of the Society is awarded to
Sanniel A. jNIerrill, of Danvers.

There were 89 entries in tliis department this season ; con-
trasting that with the .^)9 of last, we see one proof of tlie wis-

toin of holding our annual fair two years in succession in the
same place.

0\'cr thirt\' ycaiis ago I sold the first tomatoes ever brought
into the market of my native town. At that time we knew of
hut one a arietj' — the hirgc red ; a year or two after, some of
tlic purple sorts began to "creep in. For several years past I
have raised for seed purposes upwards of twenty varieties of
this popidar vegetable. Amidst so many varieties the new be-
j^Iriner stands confounded, asking, "What shall I plant?"
Let us first examine into the characteristics of some of these
varieties, and then, having these before us, we shall be pre-
pared for a discussion of their -merits. The old classification
was into Lai-gc Red and Round Red ; Large Red meaning
a large sized tomato of an irregular shape, and Round Red
any flat-round or spherical sort. Grouping together such of
the varieties now before the public as admit of being thus
classified, under Lai-ge Red, Alger, Chihuahua ; and under
Round Red, Wonder, General Grant, Chart(,>rOak, Mammoth
Cluster, Essex Early, Crimson Cluster, Orangefield, Powel's
Early, Trophy, A^'alcncia Cluster, Boston Market, Tilden, New
]\Iexican, DeLayc, Rising Sun, Lester's Perfected, or Fegee,
and New White Apple, Grape, Cherry, and Plum. Some of
these grow a little irregular, but for the most part arc round in
shape. Subdividing into splierical and fiat-round, I should
I)ut into the first class ^Mammoth Cluster, Cliarter Oak, Or-
angefield, Essex Early, Xew Mexican, Xew White Apple,
Gr;ipe, Cherry, and Plum. Let me here note, that probably
owing to a growth inten-upted by drouth, the second setting of
the fruit- of a roimd variety may be irregular in shape. Into
the second class go the remamder, with the limitation that Til-
<lcn's Tomato, DeLayc, Cook's Favorite, Maupay, Keyes,
Trophy, and Rising Sun hold nearly an intermediate position.
Early York, Philadelphia Early, Hubbard, and Dwarf Scotch,
Avould be classed withLarge Red, except for their size. The Fig-
Tomatoes, yellow and red, make a class by themselves. Sup-
pose a beginner was asked which of the sort he should plant

74

for Large Red ; I remark that Alger is early and prolifie ; Clii-
liuliua is very late, enormously large, but apt to decay before-
fully maturing. I also add tliat the Round Red sort arc much
the more popular in the market. Of the Round Red kind T
will here remark, that for want of proper care in selecting seed
stock, and also for a natural tendency to deteriorate, Avhich may
be influenced by locality and season, they will sometimes grow
irregidar in shape. Of those named, (V)ok's Favorite has so
deteriorated Avith me, that for the future I shall not grow it^
Tilden, though yet an excellent tomato, is not so regular in
shape as when it was first sent out.

Let us now classify our tomatoes with reference to earliness.
First, however. Ictus dismiss the Cherry, Grape, Plum and Fig^
sorts, with the remark that with the exception of the Fig they
are all early sorts ; that for flavor they cannot be surpassed ;:
that they are all highly ornamental ; that they are the best:
sorts for preserving in sugar ; that they, particularly the Grape-
and Fig, are highly ornamental when seen growing, or brought
on to the table for decorative uses ; and finally, that the Fig, as-
its name would indicate, is fig-shaped, and has been so nicely
preserved as to make quite a good imitation, in both appear-
ance, color and flavor, to the fig of commerce.

Of no vegetable have avc more conflicting testimony on the
question of earliness than of the tomato. Let me state a few-
facts which will explain away some apparent contradictionsv.
First, if the same variety of tomato be planted side by side in,
the same bed, on the same day, and the plants be transplanted'
on the same day, one lot on upland and the other on lowland i^.
those on the upland will yield the earlier fruit. Second, if the
same conditions be carried out, with the excej^tion that the t\vo«
lots be planted in the same location, but the soil in one pari?
shall be richer than the other, those growing on the poorer soil
will ripen the earliest fruit. Third, if every condition is the
same, but a difference in exposure, one lot having a warmer-
spot, that lot will ripen the earliest fruit. Fourth, if seed of
the same varieties be planted with a difference of some weeks

between tlieni, it is quite [)Ossible that those hi.st phiiitcd iiinj
ripen earlier fruit, fur the first lot may be dwarfed and othei-
Avise injured by cold Aveather. Fiftli, T am inclined to believe
that a trinnning of both tops and roots will make a difference as
regards earlincss. Xow if we find tliis difference where the
same kind is planted, of course avc shall find the same apparent
difference in the matter of earliness where the two kinds are
similarly treated, when in reality there Avoidd be no difference.
I have also found in my experience that a kind Avhicli I knew
by two years of experimenting as an early sort, when planted
where it had apparently every condition to fa\or earliness,
ripened its fruit later tlian any kind I raised that season ; ales-
son to me not to pronounce too empluitically from the result of
the experimenting of a single season. I have found Early
York, Hubbard (which I think is the same thing), Dwarf
Scotch, Essex Early, Kcyes, and General Grant, among my
earliest. Trophy is an early sort, though not of the very ear-
liest; Maupay, Lester's Perfected (or Fegee), New ]Mexican,
and Valencia Cluster, T rank among my latest sorts.

Discussing the Toniato with reference to size, I class Dwarf
ScotcJi, Early York, IIubI)ard, Essex Early, Keycs, General
Grant, Charter Oak, New AVliite Apple, and Orangefield, as
below the average ; and believe their peculiar place (of all but
Orangefield) to be as early tomatoes, though in yield both
Early York and General Grant are hard to surpass. The Tro-
phy is decidedly the largest of tomatoes yet introduced that are
available for market. The spherically round tomatoes are
more apt to fail in filling out solid than the flat-round sort, and
particularly is this true after the hottest part of the season is
})ast. They are also more liable to be green, unri^je, and
cracked near the stem, than the other sorts. Tomatoes differ
as much in flavor as do different Aarieties of apples ; and soil
and seasons appear to have some influence. Some are very
sour, some sweet, others at times bitter, and again at times a
rotten flavor is present. The quantity of the crop depends a

76

great deal on itc; eiu•liac^:^. 1 Ikiac had a yield at the rate of
over one thou:<and bushels of ripe tomatoes to the acre.

I pass from the general discussion to the merits and peculi-
jirities of some of the varieties. I find ])oth Alger and Keyes
to be tomatoes of excellent fla^'or, aud these are each distin-
guished by a foliage very similar to and suggestive of the , po-
tato, to which the tomato family is allied; the fla\or of each
of these vegetables suggest the other ; and the fruit of the to-
mato suggests strongly the ball of the potato. The Boston
JMarket tomato is of good market size, is early, colors ■well all
oxcv, and fills up very solid. This is the favorite sort around
Boston, Avhere leading market gardeners have their different
strains. Around Xew York this kind has not always gi^•en
such satisf letion, the gardeners there appearing to lay more stress
on size than on some more valuable characteristics, which ha^e
to be sacrificed. General Grant closely resembles Boston
Market, but is somewhat smaller, and })eriiaps rather more
solid ; it may be a little earlier, and is somewhat smoother. I
consider this but a strain of the Boston Market. The ]\lam-
moth Cluster is large, round and showy, but is too inclined to
be hollow to be considered an acquisition. Orangefield and
iSTew White Apple make a class by themselves. Tliey may be
called fi'uit tomatoes ; there are no other sorts tl)at ecpial these
for eating uncooked, as avc eat an apple. They are somewhat
small in size, but of elegant shape and color, contrasting beau-
tifully with each otlicr wlien brouglit on to tlic table in a dish
in their natural state. They })cel as readily as a peach, and
their flavor is unsurpassed. Tlie vIjics of Dwarf Scotch, De
Ijaye and Wonder are all dwarf in their h;!l)its and gi-owth.
DcLnye is a superb tomato, both in color and ([uality, A\hen
you can mature the fruit, but it is very late and quite a shy
bearer, so nuich so as to be of Jio value except for its curious
habit of growth, the leaves being very dark green, and excep-
tionally thick, wliile the stalk is very stout. ^Vonder, I have
grown but one season. It somewhat resembles DeLaye in
habit of growtli and l)caring (|ualit!(>s, thougli tlie jilant is

i i

larger and more proiluctive. Dwarf Scotcli is the most
dwarf A-ariety haAing tlic liabits of tlie common sort, witlt
wliicli I am acquainted. I con " ler it Ya]ual)le for those hard-
eners who seek an early kind, and have but little room to spare.
Keyes's Prolific was much over-praised w^hen first introduced,
and a reaction in public sentiment has caused it to be ranked
lower than it deserves. It is earlv, a fliir bearer, vieldino- fruit
sweeter than most Aaricties. ]\[aupay is a large, solid, hand-
some, late sort, having quite a basin around the stem. Early
York is somewhat irregular in shape, very early and very pro-
ductive. Fejce and Lester's Perfected are so nearly alike that
there is no distinction worth noting. The fruit is laroe and
very solid. If this tomato was of a scarlet color, and as early
as Boston ^Market, it Avould be a standard kind tluoughout the
XcAv England and ^Middle States. HoAvcver excellent in every
other respect a tomato may be, a purple color is death to its
prospect for general market purposes. The Tilden does best
Avith me on low, rich land, Avhere it groAvs to a large size, fills
out Avell, and its color is of a peculiarly brilliant scarlet. Like
the Lester, it appears to be more popular in private gardens
than in the public market. The Trophy is the largest of all
the round kinds. On my grounds, groAvn on a lar^e scale, it
proves to l)e, as a Avholc, very symmetrical and remai-kably
solid for so large a variety. I consider it a tomato of great
promise, and knoAv of no other variety that I Avould sooner
recommend for family use or for market purposes. It Avill not
yield in number equal to many other sorts, but then the mag-
nificent size makes all awards. I had a number of clusters
this season that had nearly a peck in each.

The yelloAv and Avhite varieties are closely allied ; the A\hite
Ijcing of a light straAv color, and each of these has a sweet
fiavor peculiar to them. It is somcAvhat singular that this fact
IS true of several kinds of berries, among AA'hich Avhite varieties
are exceptional. ^Miite straAvberries are SAveeter than the red
sorts; the same is true of Avhite raspberries, currants, black-
berries, and I think I may add the Aviiite Aarictics of grapes.

7f>

-Vs tuud for stock, tomatoes should be of u value siuulagous
to ii|)|jles, as they are closely allied, the acid of each bein^-
iiialic. C\)ws will cat them ravenously, consuming nearly a
bushel of green ones at a meal. I have not seen much in-
crease in the flavor of milk when tomatoes are fed green, and
have never fed them ripe. As tomatoes Avill yield over a thous-
rind bushels to the acre, and are already on the ground, requir-
ing no shaking off, this comparative value is held worthy of a
test by experimenters. The large yellow sorts would [>ro1)a-
!>Iv be the best kinds to grovr,

Tomato vineoar is lariiclv manufactured in !New Jcrsev, bv
a, patented process, but into which, it may be very safely as-
^iumcd, sweetening in some form enters. It is said to l)e \cvy
profitable.

Some hue and cry has been lately raised about the tendency
-of the use of the tomato to produce cancerous diseases. I
iuive as vet seen the name of no reputable physician connected
with this theory, and as the acid of this fruit is identical with
liiat of the apple, I presume the charge would be as reasona-
ble against one as the other.

As regards the cultivation of the tomato, this is so generally
understood that hardly more than a remark is required under
this head. The tomato Avill not grow in the open air before
the ground has become Avarm, and all planting earlier than this
serves to but injure the plant. They are oftentimes started too
early in hot beds, and because o\ergrown, are spindling before
they can be transplanted out into the open air. I would not
advise to plant the seed under glass earlier than April 1st, nor
transplanted into the open ground earlier than ^lay 20th.
Those planted for an early croj) should be put in ground not
very rich.

For the Committee — James J. H. (iregorv.

(COUNTERPANES, &c.

Tiic Committee on Counterpanes, Carpeting and Ivugs, re-

'9

.-spci-t fully Mibmit the report of iheir award of prciiiiiinu-* and
irratuitics, as follows :

COrXTEh'l'ANKS.

31j-s. Samuel H. Greeu, Ipswich, 1st pi'emium.
Hannah W. Kimball, Salem, 2d premium.
Margaret Wardwell, Metliuen, gratuity,
JBessie H. Palmer, Ipsvvi'jh, gratuity,
.Lucretia Choate, Essex, gratuity,
Eliza H. Lord, Tpswicli, gratuity,
Abbie Courteuay, I|)swieh, gratuity.
Annie P. Clark, Topslield, gratuity,
Kebecca Allen. Beverly, gratuitv,
Luell A\eri!l, Ipswich, gratuity,
a\Irs. Kben. Lalieuiau, ;xratultv.

$2 00

00

00

00

00

00

00

50

50

i;i <is.

Mrs. 1). J. Hale, liowley, 1st premium.

JNIrs. Nathaniel Spinney, Ipswich, 2d premium.

Mrs.'L. S. Brown, Ipswich, gratuity,

Mrs. Xancy S. Kussell, Ipswich, gratuity,

Floni and iMabjlla Ordway, Ipswich, gratuity,

Mrs. Harriet X. Foster, Ipswich, gratuity,

Mrs. William Hurd, Ipswich, gratuity,

^Irs. Puth D. Wilson, Beverly, gratuity,

"Charles Webb, Danversport, gratuity,

Mrs. Levi L. Howe, I[)swich, gratuity,

T. Morley, Ipswich, gratuity,

Mrs. Perkins Potter, Ipswich, gratuity,

Mrs. T. D. Gould, Ipswich, gratuity,

Mary E. Rust, Ipswich, gratuity,

S. M. Webber, Ipswich, gratuity,

Annie Lindberry, Ipswich, gratuity,

Mrs. Hannah W. Kimball, Salem, gratuity,

Mrs. Samuel W. Towne, Salem, gratuity,

Mrs. Mary Titcomb, Xewbury, gratuity.

;1

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

50

50

50

50

50

50

50

50

50

50

so

yiavy Tozcr, AVest Xewljiuy, gratuity, 50'

Marietta Liifkiu, Pigeon Cove, gratuity, 50

Mrs. S. C. Foster, Groveland, gratuity, AO

Carrie B. Killam, Boxford, gratuity, 50

Maria ]Millett, Rockport, gratuity, 50

Carrie L. Porter, AVeuliam, gratuity, * 50

Mrs. Eliza J. Hobbs, "Wenliani, gratuity, 50

]Mrs. Thomas Farris, Beverly, gratuity, 50
Committee — Ebeu Sutton, Mary A. Messinger, T^illie W.
Abbott.

ARTICLES :SIANUFACTURED FR0:M LEATHER.

The Committee award to Thomas L. Jewett, of Fpswich, for
Calf Boots, j)i'emium, $'2.

To F. "\V. Henderson, of Rowley, for thick Boots, pr. $2.

Do. do. do. for thick Shoes, pr. 2.

To Henry Plobbs, of Wenliam, for Wagon Harn(v^s, 1st
premium, $8.

Committee — D. H. Sticknev, J. jK. Joluison, ,)olui T^cvkins.

MANUFACTURES AND GENERAL MEPvCHANDLSE.

The Committee on ^Nfanufacturcs ;ind Genci-al ^rerchandisc
report as follows :

There were no articles entered in tliis dcp;ii-tmcnt for which ^
premium was offered, but the Conmilttce give gratuities as fol-
lows :

To Charles L. Palmer, of Boxford, for Hanunock-; niami-
facturcd, $1.

To R. T. Dodge, of Ipswich, for L*attan P^askets made, $].

To M. X. B. Perley, of Rockport, for Raw Hide Seated
Chairs manufactured, $2.

81

To W. M. Carpenter, of Rowlej ', for Infant Shoes manu-
factured, $2.

To Urius Urry, of No. Andover, for Horse Shoes made, $1.

To George H. Jones, for Photographs, $1.

Committee — S. ^V. Hopkmson, H. G. Herrick, Stephen
Oso^ood.

FANCY WORK.

The Committee regret tliat the di.sphiy of articles in this de-
partment was so meagre. They find nothing upon which they
feel justified in bestOAving the regular premiums. The follow-
ing gratuities are awarded :

WORK J;y CHILI )I{EX OF TAVELA'E YEARS AND UXDER-

Toil(>t Mats and Cushion, by Emma F. Cogswell of Ips-
Avicli, $1.

Cushion, by Jennie L. Cogswell of Ipswich, $1.
Two mats, by Ella L. Smith of Ipswich, $1.
Drawings, by Emily G. Patch of Ipswich, $1.

AVORK BY OTHERS.

Fancy Cart and Sleigh, by Augustine H. Spiller of Ips-
wich, $3.

Blanket and Skirt, by Mrs. L. R. F. Hammatt, Ipswich, $3,

Hair "Work, by Maria Estes of Peabody, $2.

A set of four pieces of Knit "Work, by Hannah W. Kim-
ball of Salem, $2. ^ •

Lace Work, on an old-fashioned lace cushion, by Sarah
Stanwood of Ipswich, $1.

Lace Work, by Abigail Haskell of Manchester, $2.

A very neat set of fancy articles in Bead work was exhibited
6

.S2

by Miss Lucretia Allen, a blind lady, of Danvers, upon which
the Committee bestow a gratuity of $3.

Also an Engraving in India Ink, admirably done, bv E. Ji.
lU'own of Ipswich, to which is gi^en a gratuity of $3.

A llustic Stand, by Philip E. Clark of Ipswich, Jiolding an
aquarium and a small fern case, should be mentioned as very
neatly executed; to which is given a gratuity of $3.

It is not often that Butte?' is placed among fancy articles,
and much seldomer a Flower constructed of that oleaginous
substance, but the Committee find a Dahlia made of butter, by
Mary S. Caldwell of Ipswich, which they consider worthy of
special commendation for its ingenuity, and to Avhich they
award a gratuity of $2.

Committee — Thomas Morong, John Price, Andrew Xichols,
:Mrs. John Pike, Mrs. D. F. Appleton.

FAPMS.

The Committee on Farms regret that they are forced to com-
mence their report by quoting a complaint made by their pre-
decessors many years ago, and often since repeated in the Es-
sex County Agricultural Society, " that so few of our farmers
have been willing to come forward as competitors for the lib-
eral premiums offered for farm management." A great variety
of agricultural or horticultural productions, from upwards of
fifty different farms in the county, were brought to the soci-
ety's annual exhibition at Ipswich, yet in only one instance
was an exhibitor willing to submit the entire management of
his farm, Avith its herds, its flocks, its fields, its orchard and its
;garden, to the inspection of the committee appointid by the
society to examine and to report thereupon .

The reason for this general unwillingness to compete for the
[)reiniums offered for the best managed farms, is (in the opin-
ion of the writer of this report), a general conviction in the

i

8a

minds of our most industrious and thrifty farmers, that tliey
are somewhat " beliind the times" in their aOTieultural manajje-
ment, wliile many of them must also be aware that they would
exhibit to critical visitors a lamentable lack of system, oi'der
and neatness. So they content themselves with taking to the
annual cattle show some of their best animals, fruits or vege-
tables, leaving behind them at their homes the evidences of
their unprogressive or slovenly management, and permitting
the " Fancy Farmers" of the county to carry off tlie premi-
ums which should reward well managed industry — premiums
which they might secure, if they would but temper their praise-
worthy toil and their commendal)le thrift with more system and
■with some attempt at neatness.

But the " Fancy Farmers" wlio are thus permitted to " walk
i)\er the course," and to ^xm the high honors offered by the so-
ciety to all competitors, do something for the advancement of
agriculture beyond demonstrating how commendable it is to
have fences clear from weeds, to have buildings neatly kept,
and to have " a place for everything, and everything in its
place." It has been asserted, that while the working farmers
of Xew England are not inferior in natural intelligence to any
other class of the community, they possess as a l)ody less of
that acquired knowledge which specially relates to tlie art by
which they live, than those occupied in manufacturing or com-
mercial pursuits. In Essex county, how^ever, our yeomen
have, during the past fifty years, been able to profit, when
they so desired, by the visible teachings of their neighboring
"Fancy Farmers," who, with no small outlay of money (and
often for their oavu amusement rather than from any desire to
educate othez's), have diffused Aaluable knoAvlcdge by experi-
ments, generally profitless in a pecuniary point of view to
themselves. As a general tiling, a thrifty, industrious, work-
ing farmer, pays little heed to tlie theoretical harangues of any
soft-handed man of leisure, but if he can Avitness, year by
year, the results of a practical operation of these same theories,
either good or bad, his storlin<x Yankee o-ood sense leads him to

84

adopt or to reject the example thus set him. lu this way, the
often sneered-at " Fancy Farmers" of Essex county have done
great good, ei'lier by practically demonstrating that it is profit-
ble to leave the same old ruts whicli have deepened year by
3'ear for the highway of progress ; or by conclusively proving
how worthless are many of the much talked of fashionable ag-
ricultural theories.

Your committee, instructed to examine one of these so-called
" Fancy Farms," witnessed its improvement and its manage-
ment with great interest ; and it is to be hoped that the follow-
ing imperfect sketch of it may induce many of the farmers
of Essex county, especially those owning low nnproductive
land, to make a personal examination for their own instruction.

Tlic ^' Appleton Farm" is in Ips\Aich, about two miles south
of the village, and on the line of the Eastern railroad. It is a
homestead, having been in the possession of the fomily Avhose
name it bears since 1635, and it is now owned by Daniel F.
Appleton, wlio is also engaged in successful business operations
elsewhere, but who directs its management, much of which lie
personally superintends. The good results of his mercantile
system, and of the methodical employment of capital in im-
proving the estate and the stock upon it, are plainly visible,
and demonstrate that it would be well for many of oiu- success-
ful working farmers to invest more of their gains from their
farms in blooded stock, manures, lal)()r and ditch-tile, rather
than in bonds or mortgages. The "Appleton Farm" contains
about two hundred and fifty acres, of which fifty are bog-
meadow, and eighty are rocky pasture. One of the commit-
tee, who was well acquainted "with the farm before it came into
the possession of its present proprietor, five years ago, stated
that it then produced only about six tons of English hay, and
twenty-five tons of fresh meadow hay. This year, it was esti-
mated that Mr. Appleton had cut seventy-five tons of English
hay, and two or three tons of meadow hay — the latter the pro-
duet of the then last piece of unreclaimed meadow, which has
since been plowed. There were, in addition, considerable

crop« of corn, potatoes, oats, turnips, carrots, cabbages, Hun-
garian grass, rape, &c., &c.

Mr. Appleton's chief aim, in liis plans for improving liis
farm (as he explained them to the committee) , is to show what
€an be done in reclaiming low, wet lands, which he regards as
the main future dependence of the farmers of New England
for supplies of hay. His frrst step, after having had tlie
low grounds of his farm surveyed, and the levels accurately
taken, was to have abroad open ditch dug through them, Avith
a sufficient fall to carry off the water emptied into it from
smaller ditches and covered drains. This main ditch, wliich
must be over a mile in length, and which has an average depth
of at least three feet, is the foundation of Mr. Appleton's im-
provements, as it enables him to thcroughly drain all of tlie
meadows through which it passes.

Ha^ ing secured an outlet for il c water, Mr. Appleton sur-
rounded a meadow of ten acres with a "catch- water ditch,"
aay, eighteen inches deep, leading, at long intervals, into the
main ditch. This meadow had been kept constantly wet by
springs in the headlands which surround it, l)ut the plan of
drainage was so successful that it was easily plowed and laid
down to grass. The committee walked OAcr a part of this
meadow, which was plowed last fall for the first time, and
sowed with herd's grass in December. It had received a top-
dressing after the sowing, of a compost of loam from under pas-
ture walls, mixed with ashes at the rate of thirty Ijushels to the
HCve, and a small quantity of barn-yard manure. The commit-
tee differed in their judgment of the yield then on the ground,
estimating- it at from two tons to two and a half tons to the acre.

A piece of three acres, comprising a part of the above men-
tioned ten acres, was a deep muck bed, and could not be plowed
in the condition in which it then was, four years ago. Mr. A.
consecpiently determined to try the experiment of covering it
with gravel, which was done by his farm hands and teams, in
the leisure days of winter. The following spi-ing it was sowed
with timothy — the seed started, but there was no crop worth

cutting- that year. In the fall it was heavily top-drebsed, with
barn-yard manure and thirty bushels of unleached ashes to the
acre. The effect of these fertilizers on the mixed gravel and
muck Mr. Applcton described to the committee as wonderful,
as for the next two seasons he cut over three tons to the acre
of the best quality of hay. This, he said, taught him the
value of muck land, when mixed with the earth of the uplands,,
whether gravel, or sand, or loam. He does not, however, re-
commend to others the same treatment of similar lowlands..
The heavy gravelling is too expensive to be profitable, and the-
same rcsidt can be much more cheaply reached, b}' draining,
then plowing and laying down to grass. Last year and this,
he is under-draining with tile the same kind of land, and after
lia\ing plowed it, top-dressing it lightly with gravel. In his:
opinion, this muck-land does not require as "thorough" drain-
ing as heavy clay land does — say sixty feet apart Avill do for
the tiles. A five acre lot of such land, which had been cleared
of roots, and stumps, and alder bushes, last fall, so that it was
plowed and sowed in December, Avas making a good show of
grass when the committee saw it. This piece had no other
dressing than the ashes of the bushes and stumps biu-ned when
it was cleared.

This fall, ten acres more of this swamp have been plowed,
and (In this case) before draining. This has been accom-
plished by the use of Holbrook's swivel plow, A^ ith " bog land
attachment," by the means of which both oxen A\'alk on the sod.
Mr. Applcton regards this as a very valuable arrangement,
whicli would have saved him much trouble and expense had he
possessed it at the connnenccmont of his improvement of low
lands. He will not, however, remit the draining and the top-
dressing on tlic j)i('((' just plowed with it.

Another, and perhaps the most important experiment made
by Mr. Applcton in reclaiming swarnp-land, is upon a piece of
thirteen- acres, lying upon the line of the Eastern railroad.
This piece is " thorough-draiiK d," with round tile and collars,
thiity-three feet apart, and three to four feet deep : and a com-

87 /

plete report on it by the Es!?cx Agricultural Society's com-
mittee on underdraining, with a diagram of the Avork, was
published in the society's volume of transactions for 1870. ■ It
may be well to add here that this land is entirely unlike either
of the pieces previously mentioned, having presented originally
a broken surface of knobs and of pond-holes, Avith numerous
springs. It consequently required a different treatment to re-
claim it, and in place of the encircling "catch-water ditches,'*'
previously described, it was so thoroughly under-drained as to
take off its own spring water. At the time of the committee's
visit this piece was covered with a heavy growth of oats and of
wheat (after a crop of corn, sixty bushels to the acre), which
had been sown with grass-seed, and top-dressed with ashes
and bone dust. Here was a visible example of the judicious
employment of capital, by which a comparatively barren, wet
pasture had been converted into a level, dry, fertile field.

The dry uplands of the " Appleton Farm" are in the main
treated as similar land On other New England farms is treated.
The committee saw ten acres in corn, three in potatoes, and
two in ruta-baga, with say half an acre each in mangel-wurt-
zels, and carrots and cabbages — all of Avhich it is intended shall
be consumed on the farm. These crops all looked Avell, and
Avere free from Aveeds.

Upon some pieces of light ujjland, far from the barn, Mr.
Aj)pleton has tried the plan of top-dressing grass Avith " com-
mercial manures," but the results have not been satisfactory,
and do not indicate that such treatment is profitable. He is
noAv trying another plan, A'iz : He ploAved up, two years ago,
a piece of light plains, manured it, planted it Avith corn in the
usual Avay, and afterAvards laid it doAvn to grass. This grass
was not moAved, but left for sheep to feed upon, to see if A\ith
the fair start of feed Avhich this treatment Avould afford the
sheep, they Avould imi)rove the land, Avhile they fed themselves.
He intends, after three or four years of this feeding,- to turn
under the sod, and to plant corn and ruta-bagas Avithout ma-
nure. We sliall see Avith Avhat results.

88

On this farm two distiiK^t and very different breeds of cattle
are now kept, viz : The delicate and beautiful Jerseys, and
the rugged and hardy Kerries, of the relative jiroiitableness of
which for New England farmers ]Mr. Applcton has no doubts.
In his opinion, the Kerries, considered only as milcli coivs, will
produce one-fifth more milk in a year than the Jerseys ; but on
the other hand, he frankly admits that the Kerries are very
slow to mature, and that their calves are not more than half
the weight they should be when they are of the age for the
butcher.

After the 1st of «Tuly Mr. Appleton keeps his fourteen cows
at the barn all the remainder of the summer, feeding them on
clover, green oats, and corn-fodder, sowed for that i:>urpose.
He admits that corn-fodder is not the best milk producer, but
he don't see how he could get along without it, [although he ex-
presses his determination to try more Hungarian grass another
year. He has adopted "soiling" as a necessity, his j)astures be-
ing unequal to sustain all the stock he must keep in winter, to
produce the large quantity of manu.re which his large farm re-
quires. Still, he has no doubt of the expediency and economy
of " soiling," by which he makes a very few acres sustain his
fourteen cows during the summer, and he has a barn cellar full
of manure in the fall.

Mr. Appleton's sheep are thoroughbred Cots wolds, of Avhich
he is very fond and very justly proud. He keeps them for
the breeding of rams to be sold as stock animals, and the re-
cent exhibitions of the Essex Agricultural Society have demon-
strated his success.

The farm buildings are in good repair, and the implements
were not only of the most improved kinds, but were e^•idently
well taken care of, instead of being left to lie and rot where
they were last used, as is often the case. The Ijarnyard and
cellars Avere well adapted for making manure, which is, after
all, the great secret of agricultural success. Tiiere are now
wintered upon this farm sixty head of cattle, estimated by
•counting five sheep as equal to one cow, and four horses as

89

oeqnul to fi\c eow.s. I'he swine, of course, perform their part
in tlie making of manures.

Mr. Appleton believes in ''high farming," and endorses the
old assertion, that "if high farming will not pay, then low will
not." Thus far, he says, he has only been making a farm,
and it is his wish that the Essex Agricultural Society send
its committee on farms, three years 'hence, to ascertain the
result of his experiments, and his endeavors to get his farm in
high condition. By that time he expects to be able to show
tliat his pecilniary investments have not only been productive,
•but profitable.

The committee have seen in Mr. Appleton's management
much that is worthy of high commendation, and they regard
his experiments in reclaiming low lands — viewed as experi-
ments— as of great value to the agricultural interests of Essex
■county, Avhere there is so large a proportion of comparatiyely
■unproductive swamps. • They consequently recommend that
the first premium of a diploma and thirty dollars be awarded to
Daniel E. Appleton of Ipswich.

Dr. James R. Nichols kindly invited the committee, with
the trustees and a number of prominent Essex county agricul-
turists, to visit his " Lakeside Farm," although it was not en-
tered for premium. Had it been brought before the notice of
your committee, officially, they would probably have simply
reproduced Dr. Nichols's own comprehensive accounts of his
experimental agriculture, published in his valuable "Journal of
Chemistry," and also those given in t]\e agricultural address
which he delivered at Amesbury in September. Applying
chemical science to agriculture. Dr. Nichols has made inquiries
into the causes of the fertility and barrenness of the earth, the
food and nutriments of vegetation, tlie nature of the soil, and
the best means of meliorating its condition. Recognizing the
fact that it is as ncccsL^ary for a good farmer to feed his fields
as )t is to feed his cattle, he has endeavored to ascertain what
.e.lements have been abstracted from the soil of his farm, and
to restore them or tlieir chemical equivalents. Your committee

90

recommend that he should be rewarded for the experiment*
which he has so carefully made, and encouraged to continue-
them, by an award of the diploma of the society.

In conclusion, the committee must express an earnest wish
that the working farmers of Essex county may be induced to
compete for the premiums of the society for " the best man-
aged farms." Our wealth owes its origin to productive labor,
and if some of our thrifty yeomen Avould tell how they man-
age their farms, often small in extent, and what their profits
are on the amount of capital invested therein, it could but
increase the number of cultivators of the soil. It may be-
safely asserted tliat every industrious, temperate farmer in Es-
sex county, who scatters the seed in faith, reaps the harvest in?
joy ; and that although manufacturers and merchants occasion-
ally draw i^rizes in their lotteries of life, the farmers enjoy
health, contentment, independence, and a competence — the-
true earthly elements of human happiness.

For the Committee — Ben. Perley Poore.

GKAIX CROPS.

Your Committee, to whom were entrusted entries of this-
important crop, would submit the following report :

There were four entries of Grain Crops, three of Rye and
one of Corn.

The entries of Rye Avere made by A. P. Xoyes, of Middle-
ton, S. A. Merrill, of Danvcrs, and J. C. and Romulus
Jaques, of West Newbury, who also entered corn.

It was the intention of the chairman of this committee to^
notify each member to visit the farms on wliich all the crops en-
tered were growing ; but Avhen he was notified of the entry of
the Messrs. Jaques's crop of rye, there was no time to call a
meeting of the committee before the reaper's hand would be
upon it. He therefore, on the morning of the 1 2th of Jidy,.

91

proceeded alone to look at this field of rye, thought it a fine
piece of grain, straw tall, heads long and well filled, and in his
opinion it would exceed thirty bushels to the acre.

On the 13th of July the Committee were requested to meet
at the fjirms of A. P. Noyes, of Middleton, and S. A. Mer-
rill, of Danvers. Only a part of the committee were present.
We found on the farm of Mr. Noyes what we thought to he
an extra piece of rye — very heavy straw and a good head, but
felt disappointed to find that it did not cover an acre of ground.
It was the opinion of the committee that there would be at the
rate of forty bushels to the acre. Mr. Noyes invited us to look
at another field, where we also found a good piece of rye —
the two fields containing about one and a quarter acre. The
committee thou^'ht these two fields of grain to be more than
one-half mile from each other — one piece upon his own farm,
the other upon a fiirm owned by another man, cultivated by
Mr. Noyes.

The committee also made a call, on the same afternoon, at
Mr. INIerrill's farm, of which a full account is given in the
Transactions of the Essex Agricultural Society for the year
1<^68, and we were well pleased with our visit, and with the
gentlemanly manner in which we were entertained by Mr. Mer-
rill. His grain was Spring rye, and a fair crop might be ex-
pected, although the dry season had injured it some. It was
the opinion of tlie connnittee that it would not be w^orthy of a
premium.

October 4th, the committee met at the farm of J. C. and R.
Jaques, of West Newbury, to examine their crop of Corn (tdl
the members present). The whole field contained about three
acres (only one entered). The committee thought there would
be a large yield u[)on this acre, and a good crop iq)on the whole
field. It Avas -very free from weeds, and showed good cultiva-
tion, and so did the farm generally. Things looked as if "farm-
ing might psiy." The committee left well pleased with their
visit, and the statement of the Messrs. Jaques proves that "wc
were not disappointed in our expectations. If the bushel

92

wliicli tliey sliclled was only an average, they wonkl have had
ninety-nine bushels, allowing 56 pounds to a bushel, which
must be called a good crop for one acre.

The committee award the premium of diploma and $10 to
•J. C. and Romulus Jaques, of West Newbury, for their crop
of Corn.

As was expected by the Committee, Mr. Noyes had a larger
yield of Rye than did the Messrs. Jaques. Mr. Noyes's state-
ment gives about 42 bushels, and the Messrs. Jaques's about
37 bushels per acre ; but it was the unanimous opinion of the
committee that the situation of ]\Ir. Xoyes's two fields of rye
lYcre such that he was not entitled to a premium. We award
the premium of $10 and diploma to J. C. and Romulus Jaques,
of West Newbury.

The committee arc pleased to say that there ha\-e been more
entries of grain crops this year than for some past years. On
examining the Transactions of 1868 and 1<S69, we found no
j^port from the Committee on Grain Crops. In 1870, only
two entries were made. This year there are four, and we hope
they will continue to increase, and that the committee for 1872
will be called upon to visit more fields of grain than the pres-
<*nt committee have been. Seventy dollars arc offered for pre-
miums on grain crops ; we could award only $20.

Who will make the entries in 1872? Is there no one Avho
lias 50 bushels of oats grown upon one acre of ground ? Where
:are the men who grew large crops of barley, wheat, etc. Is
there no " Poor " in Essex county ? The small crop of hay the
present year may account for no entries of that crop, and we
f lope the bean crop will not be entirely forgotten by the farmers
of Essex county in 1872.

Committee — Abel Stickncy, J. P. Goodale, Charles Rog-
ers, T. B. Fall, E. K. Lee*

STATEMENT OF J. C. AND R. JAQUES, WEST NEWBURY.

The crop oP Indian Corn which wc have entered for premium

93

grew on one acre of land. The soil is light loam. The crop
of 1870 was hay. It was ploughed in the fall, and the ma-
nure (five cords to the acre) was ploughed in, in the Springs
about eight inches in depth. The land was marked off in rows
three and one-half feet each way, and 300 pounds Bradley's
Superphosphate put in the hills, and planted the 10th of May;
cultivated each way twice, and hoed twice. The top stalks
were cut about the 1st of September, and October 25th we
commenced to cut and harvest, and finished October 30. The
amount of corn raised was eighty-four and one-half bushels^
eighty pounds to the bvisliel. Top stalks, two tons ; Ijutfc
stalks, three tons. One bushel of eighty pounds of ears was-
shelled and ground November 4th ; the shelled corn Aveighei^
sixty-six poinids.

EXPENSE OF CKOr.

Cost of ploughing, $1) 00

Value of manure' on the ground, 45 00

Cost of superphosphate, 9 00

Cost of harrowiug, 1 00

( *ost of seed and planting, 4 00

(^ost of cultivation, 7 oO*

Cost of harvesting and storing, 18 00

$93 50

VALUE OF CliOr.

84 1-2 bushels of corn, $84 50

Stover, 65 00'

Manure in the land for future crops, 22 50

$172 00

Deduct expenses, 93 50

Net income, $78 50

From actual measurement I hereby certify that the above
crop covered one acre of land and no more.

M. W. Bartlett,

94

STATEMENT OF J. C. AND R. JAQUES, WEST NEWBURY.

The crop of Winter Eve whicli Ave have entered for pre-
mium grew upon one acre of land. The soil is light slaty.
The crop of 1870 Avas hay — about one-half ton to the acre. It
was ploughed in August, 1870. Three cords compost manure
were spread upon it, and September 8th one bushel and one
peck of rye was soAved and harroAvedin. July 11th, 1871, it
WHS cut and harvested ; threshed and cleaned the middle of
September. The amount of rye raised Avas thirty-six bushels
and three jjecks — 56 pounds to the bushel. Straw, one and
three-fourths tons.

EXPENSE OF CROr.

Cost of ploughing.

Value of manure on the ground,

Cost of seed.

Cost of soAA'ing and harroAving,

Cost of cutting and harvesting,

Cost of threshino- and cleaning,

A ALl'E OF CROP.

oO bushels rye,

13-4 ton straAv,

Manure in land for future use.

Deduct expenses.

Net income, $58 o4

From actual measiu-emcnt I hereby certify that the above
crop covered one acre of land and no more.

j\I. W. Bartlett, Surveyor.

n

00

18

00

1

62

2

50

5

00

5

00

$35

12

$45

1)()

38

50

9

00

$03

4()

35

12

ROOT CKOPS.
Five entries Avcre made, one of Iluta bagas, one of Potatoes
aad three of Onions ; one of these Avas subsequently AvithdraAvn.
We found it impossible to bring the Committee together at

95

a gi^■eu hour, living as they did ou se\eral lines of railroad,
without considerable loss of time to one or more members of
it. We therefore suggest, that as far as it can be done with-
out sacrificing more important considerations, the Committee
on IJoots be made up of members residing in towns along the
same line of road. From the fact, that in one instance, after
visiting the crop entered, the land on which it grew pro\'ed to
be of too small area to answer the requirements of the 8g'
ciety, the Committer have also recommended that for the fu-
ture the area of the land be ascertained before the crops are
•entered and be ijiven to the Committee at the time of enterino;.
The crop of Potatoes bv ]\Ir. AVinkley was of one of the
new Aarieties, raised by ]Mr. Albert Bresee, of Vermont ; and
known as No. 0. or Peerless. This crop, as will be seen in
•the accompanying report, was enormous, being at the rate of
nearly 422 buslicls to the acre. In yield. No. () is fully equal
to the famous Harrison, while in quality it is much superior;
though hardly equal, I think, to its elder brother, the Earlv
Rose. It is remarkable that so heavy a crop should be grown
with only the residue of the manure left by the crop of the pre-
vious year, to feed on ; perhaps this may suggest an improve-
ment oxev our usual avuv of maiuu'ing the same season avc
, plant, when we have a strong clay loam to deal witli ; Avhich,
■ as we all know, is xery retentive of manure. Perhaps our
.usual method gives us too much top to the sacrifice of tubers.
In the footing up of. expenses, friend Winkley makes the us-
ual error of luiderestimatiug his labor. xVs a farmer, I shoukl
be loth to take the contract of giving a crop on 128 rods, the
two hoeings and accompan^dng weeclings it would require, for a
less figure than fifteen dollars. Again, with all the aid possi-
ble from modern implements, I Qould not dig and put into the
■cellar such a crop, with the picking of it up, which would be
.involved in the operation , for a sum hss than fifteen dollars ;
and with the common method of digging with the hoe, not
^even for that figui-e. But I assume that a man who had the
^enterprise to plant so largely of Xo. G dug his potatoes with

9fi

more or less aid from tlie ploug"h. I iind Allen's potato dig-
ger, Avhich is a modification of the double mould board plough,
a capital labor saving implement in potato digging. When I
first tested it I feared it would bruise the potatoes badly ; but
to my surprise it did not on the average bruise one to a cart-
load. I have had it tested on good loam, on rough, ledgy hill-
side, and on bog meadow ; it did the best of work, and about
equally well in each instance. I put two good hands digging
beside it on bog meadow, and found that with one person
to drive the horses and one to hold the machine, it did the-
work of twelve men, cutting and bruising next to no potatoes,,
while the best of diggers will always cut more or Icsis, and
some hands a quarter of what they dig ; particularly if the po-
tatoes are of large size and long in shape. I had fear lest a
large portion of the crop would be covered by the earth thrown
up by the machine ; but by digging every other row on the
piece and teaming them off before tlic remainder of the piece
is dug, there are certainly no more lost, and probably less,,
than by common hand digging. The implement requires two
horses and can be readily managed by any man vrho CAcr held
a plough. By careful figuring I found I cleared its cost every
two days, Avhen in use. I confidently advise every farmer
Av^io grows an acre of potatoes in drills, to buy one of these
diggers. The price is sixteen dollars ; it can be procured of
Ames & Co., and probably other dealers in Boston.

Patrick Kieley raised a very nice crop of liuta Bagas, for
table use, which appeared to be of the London Swede variety..
I must take issue with him on some of the details of the cost
of raising the crop : — Should not Avant to contract to plough
a half acre of land three times and harroAv tAvice, for less than
tAvelve dollars ; and could not spread butter a ery thick on.
l)read at that price.

The Onion crop of Mr. Joseph N, llolfe Avas Avorth going a
long journey to see. Of the Danvers variety the strain was
rounder than is usually groAvn, running almost hito the " goose-
egg " shape, a kind that gives the lai-gcst crop Avhen you get

^7

them ripe : l)iit are only safe in a very dry season, in a wet
season foiling to bottom down, and giving a large crop of seal-
lions. Mr. Rolfe lias a noble ambition as a farmer, and aims
yet to raise his thousand bushels of merchantable onions to
the acre ; but I would not advise him to run this strain of on-
ions ; his land is a clay loam, having a sandy sub-soil . I think
that a Avct season would be more apt to give scallions on such
a soil with this strain than a crop of marketable bulbs. The
tops of this crop were two and a half to three and a half feet
in length, measured as they lay in a dense, dr}^ mass, almost
covering the ground, Xoav every onion grower knows Avhat
would have happened with onions having such tremendous
tops, had the season proved a wet one towards its close instead
of remarkably dry. To ascertain the quantity of the half acre
three rows were taken, the middle row and one at each end.
These were pulled and topped on the ground, and then Avcigh-
ed ; and the yield as thus determined Avas at the rate of one
thousand and ninety bushels to the acre. As the crop was
somewhat green, the onions not being very hard, though the
neck:; were well dried down, the Committee arranged with INIr.
Kolfe to receive a report from him of the actual AveigLt of the
crop Avhen marketed. It Avill be seen by the report of ]Mr.
Rolfe that the yield of the crop was 970 bushels to the acre.
This is a remarkable crop, worth a journey of thirty miles to
see. With Mr. Rolfe's figures of the cost of his crop I nearly
agree, but shall put the cost of cultivation a little higher. I
find Holbrook's Double Wheel Hoe quite an improvement on
the common wheel hoe. It can be run much nearer to the
growing crop, and thus saves a great deal of hand weeding.

The members of the committee who visited the onion crop
of Mr. Noyes of Middleton foimd it to be of superior quality,
the onions being of excellent size for market, very hard and
well ripened, necks small, with not a pocketful of scallions on
the half acre. To determine the amount of the crop, three
rows were taken, one at each end of the half acre and one in
the middle : these were pulled, topped and carefully Aveighed,,

T .

V'8

iind {isisiiined to be the average of the entire crop. The crop
of Mr. Xoves was in excellent condition for marketing. I can
hardly agree with friend Xoyes as to the cost of raising his
cro2>. Adding the cost of topping the onions, I cannot make
it figure less than one hundred dollars, on the assumption that
he used but three cords of manure to the half acre, Avhich I un-
derstand is his statement. The great difference between my fig-
ures and his is in the cost of cultivation. There are peculiarities
worth noting in the management of Mr. Xoyes and ]Mr. Kolfe.
Mr. Noves did not plough his land in the spring, and ploughed
under nearly all the manure in the fall. ]Mr. Ilolfe harrowed
his manure in. Mr. Rolfe's soil Avas, as seen by the commit-
tee, a clay loam, quite free from gravel at the surface ; on sucli
soils manure could be more safely harrowed in than on lightei-
soils, as the moisture they retain helps to rot the manure, and
thus the surface is not dried so readily as on gravelly soils,
to the detriment, sometimes, of small seed, in their vegetating
and in their subsecpient growth. Again, a wet, heavy soil, in
earlv spring, manure harrowed in just below the surface, serves
to underdrain the laud of superfluous moisture, and thus favor
the vegetating and early growth of seed.

In West Newbury we found ourselves in a community where
the art of farming had been handed down from father to son
for five and six generations. Back from the farm-house of this
generation stand the houses dwelt in by past generations,, there
being usuallv three on each liomestead, the relics of antiquity
doing service as out-buildings. Three or four generations
dwelt under the hospitable roof of ^h. Ivolfc, from the aged
grandfather — aged ninety-two, a\ ith all the vigor of three score
and ten yet upon him — to the energetic young man just girding
himself to walk in the steps of his ancestor, and maintain the
honors of his house. ]Mr. Kolfe informed us that tlierehad not
been a farm sold in the neighborhood as far back as his mem-
ory ran. All honor to Newbury Old Town ! What a wealth
of association rises in one's mind as he looks aroimd on these
ancient homes. T would sooner li\e in a lon" cabin, sun-ounded

by these associations, tlian to exist in the finest palace in the
land without them. When -will our irreverent Yankee mind
give an English meaning to that richest of words, "Home?"
It exasperates me when men talk of leaving the community
wliere they and their ancestors before them were born and
reared, merely because they may be able to better their condi-
tion pecuniarily ? Nature oftentimes punishes this irreverence
severely. Of the scores of families who have left home from
my nati^-c town to settle in the far AVest, in the last thirtv
years, Avith barely an exception all who had sufficient means at
command returned, having realized in their absence that
■'Home" was more than merely an abiding place.

Our friend Merrill made a general entry of vegetables, but
after the sad misfortune that befel members of his fomily at the
Revere accident, withdrew it. A member so prominently ac-
tive heretofore is greatly missed ; he has the lieartfclt sympa-
thies of us all in his great l)ereavement.

The conmiittee have made tlie following awards :

For best conducted experiment in raising Potatoes, diploma
and $10, to Paul T. Winkley, of Xewburyport.

For best Conducted experiment in raising Puta Baga, diplo-
ma and $10, to Thomas Saunders, of Hamilton.

For best conducted experiment in raising Onions, diploma
and $10, t(. Joseph X. Polfe, of Xewbxu-y.

The committee Avould likewise reconnnend that a jrratuitv of
$10 be awarded to A. P. Xoyes, of Middleton, for his superior
crop of onions.

For the Committee — James J. H. Gregory, Chairman.

STATEMENT OF JOSEPH X. ROLFE.

The half acre of land upon which the onions were grown
that I offer for premium, is a dark loam, with a clay sub-soil.
It was planted Avith onions the two previous years. The land
was ploughed about six inches deep, the manure was spread

100

on after plowing (harrowed in with a common tooth harrow) y.
at the rate of nine cords per acre : sowed about the I3th of
April, in drills '13 1-2 inches apart, nsing four pounds of the-
Danvcrs yellow seed per acre. The ground was hoed seven
times with a wheel hoe, and weeded four times. The cropAvas
pulled the 12th day of September, and topped on the ground.
The manure used consisted of a compost of horse, cow and hog-
manure.

Cost of manure on half acre, $45 00

Cost of preparing the ground, fi 00

Cost of seed and sowing, !l 00

Cost of cultivation, 20 00

Cost of harvesting and topping, 20 00

The crop on the half acre, when measured and averaged by

the committee, was 545 bushels. The weight, Avhen sold, was

25,220 pounds : making 485 bushels, or at the rate of 070

bushels per acre.

STATEMENT OF A. P. NOYES.

Please find statement in regard to a crop of Onions raised
by myself:

The one-half acre of Onions 1 entered was measured by the
two members of the committees on root crops Avho visited m}-
farm. They also measured and weighed tAvo roAvs that Avould
be a fair average, and estimated that they measured at the rate
of 445 1-2 bushels to the half acre. The crop of 1870 Avas
onions, manured Avith six cords of barnyard manure per acre,
spread and ploughed in the fall of 1809, nine inches deep. In
the spring of 1870 I spread on about sixty bushels leached
ashes, harroAved through Avith a tooth and brush harroAV. Last
fall I spread on about six cords of stable manure, and ploughed
it in about eight inches deep. This spring I harroAved in about
three cords of salt sand to the acre. (By the Avay, I bought
this salt sand for muscle l)cd, and I really think that my land

101

nvoulclliave l)een iin as good a condition if I had used ten bush-
els of salt per acre instead, and saved some hard teaming and
some money.) I 8owed with seed sower about the 1st of
April, with Dunvers yellow onion seed, at the rate of four
pounds to the acre. The ground was hoed and weeded three
times. The onions entered for premium Avere pulled about the
5th of September, and I don't tliink I had half a dozen scall-
ions in the bed. They were fit for topping in a few days after
they were pulled.

Value of manure on half acre, $35 00

Cost of ploughing, harrowing, etc., 5 00 '

Cost of seed and planting, 10 75

Cost of cultivation, 18 00

^Cost of harvestinii', 12 00

I take pleasure in saying that the seed I have bought of you
thas always proved to be good. Yours trulv,

A. V. XovKs.

J. J. H. (fllEGOUV, Es(|.

STATEMENT OF PAUL T. WINKLEY.

Gentlemen, — The land on -which the potatoes grew which I
■enter for premium, Avas in grass in 18(31) and had been for six-
teen years. Last year Ave put on forty ox cart loads barn ma-
nure, and plowed in about six inches deep, and planted it to
corn in drills for cows when G:reen. The land is Avhat we
call clay loam. Last spring it was plowed about six inches
•deep and planted Avith Peerless potatoes, Avith no manure, in
drills aljout tlu'cc feet between roAA's and fifteen inches ap*art in
the drills, cut in pieces AA'itli tAvo eyes in a piece.

The crop is 340 bushels, (!0 lbs. to the bushel, on 1 2S
41)-100 rods.

Cost of cultivation and seed :

102

Plouo-liini'" and lian-owinu', $5.00

Planting, 5.00

Hoeing, 10.00

Digging and putting in cellar, 10.00

Three barrels seed, bought in Vermont, 30.00

$00.00
They were planted April 10. They arc late potatoes and
should be planted early ; but they are most excellent table po-
tatoes, and great yielders.

I certify that I have this day measured a lot of land for Paul
T. Winkley, Esq., of Newburyport, entered by him for a pre-
mium on potatoes, and find the same contains one hundred
and twenty-eight rods and forty-nine hundredths.

Dated at Xewburyport, September 23d, 1871.

Joseph G. Gekrisii.

statement of thomas saunders.

The crop for the last five years has been English grass, the
land gra^-elly and light on a side hill, manured with a compost
of meadow mud and barn manure, made in the cellar and
consisting of four parts of the former and one of the latter.
Ploughed the first time in November, 1870, just as light as the
sod could be turned, say from three to four inches deep. In
June cross ploughed, just the same depth as before, then har-
rowed, then ploughed again and harrowed again, finishing-
June 20tli.

Cost of 3 ploughings and 2 harro\\ ings, ft;().00

" of 3 1-2 cords of above compost, 21.00

" of labor and team in hauling and applying same, 0.00
" of seed, •^'>

•* of cidtivating and weeding, 7.00

" of harvesting, 0.00

Total cost of maiuu-e and labor in cultivating and har-
vesting crop, !^40.o5

103

Amount of crop o^T 1-4 bushels (at (30 lbs. per busbel)
suitable for market, and worth there 50 cts. per bushel fKio.-
(;7 1-2.

strawbp:kries.

Report of Committee on Strawberries and other small fruits :

The only statement presented Avas by B. F. Huntington, of
Amesbury, in regard to Slraicberrlcs.

This statement falls short of the requirements in some min-
or particnlars, but is such as in the judgment of your Com-
mittee deserves the premium offered, which w^e thei'efore award
liim.

We Avish to say that this Committee did not view the prem-
ises, but his character for veracity and uprightness is such that
Ave feel no hesitancy in aAvarding the premium as aforesaid.

.Vccompanying this report please find said statement.

Committee — Wm. AYillcomb, J. S. Preston, John L. l^ob-

STATEMENT OF B, F. HUNTINGTON, OF AMESBURY.

The crop of StraAvberries Avhich I present for premium Avas
raised on thirty-tAvo rods of land, the present year, Avliich Avas
an old onion bed, and had been manured for that crop Avith sta-
ble mamu'c. Xo manure Avas used for the straAvberries but
leached ashes. The plants Avere set in the spring of 1870.
Sold 142.5 boxes at an aAcrage price of 24 2(3-27 cts., $355.72.
Sold 4000 plants, 50 cts. per hund., 20.00

Sales, $375.72.

Kxpense of cultivation :

104

50 bush, ashes, $10.00

11 days work setting phmts, weeding, etc., 16.50

Team, 1.50

Picking and packing, 42.75

Marketing, 10.00

Plants, 10.00

Interest and taxes on hind, (),00

Total expense, $0G.75

Balance in favor of crop, $278.97

Note. — The above crop, viz., 1425 boxes on thirty-two
rods, equals 7120 boxes per acre, which at the price received
would amount to a product of |1 787.36 per acre.

The variety was the AAilson's Albany, which I have culti-
vated for ten years. I have also raised many other fancy sorts,
as the Triumphe Degand, Russells, Jucunda, Agriculturist,
etc., and have discarded all for the Wilson's, as that strawberry
brings as much in our market, as a better one does, and bears
more than double any other Aariety that I ever tried. The
plants were set in the spring, al)out the first of ]May, in two
rows, two feet apart each Avay, then leaving a space of three
feet, then two rows more, and so on, alloAving the plants to
run into the three feet space, and then the next spring taking
them out for plants to set or sell, and in so doing leaving
a path between each bed, which makes it convenient for pick-
ing.

The runners were trimmed twice at the first of the season and
allowed to grow the rest of the season, though in this I think
I made a mistake ; this year I allowed t\\c first runners to grow,
thus securing stronger i)lants for next year's bearing, and trim-
med the later runnei's. It is my opinion that we get more and
l)etter fruit in this way than in strictly hill culture, as in hill
culture I have sometimes had three hundred berries on a single
[)lant, almost always two hundred to two hundred and fifty, and

105

•ihe plant is not strong enough to carry out so many berries Ut
a suitable size. In regard to mulching and covering, I use pine
JeaACS (tassels) from the forests, the cost of which is the labor
of collecting them, which in my statement is put in Avith the
cost of labor.

This year I shall put the pine leaves on them, some salt
-grass on top ; for the past two winters ha^c been hard for the
plants, unless Avell protected. I take about one half the leaves
off in spring, leaving the rest on as mulching, which serves a
.good purpose in keeping down weeds, and keeps the fruit clean,
tliough making the crop three to four days later in ripening.

AVhen Mr. Robinson states the cost of picking and packing
is less than three cts. per box, I think he makes a mistake.
Jf I remember right, in my statement it is just thi-ee cts. per
box, one thousand four liundred and twenty-five boxes, at,three
cts. makes $42.75 ; though this season it cost me less for pick-
ing than some other seasons, owing to size and thickness of
the berries. A hand could pick seventy-five boxes per day on
an average, making at two and one half cts. per box, $1.87
per day ; and I have had a hand pick one hundi-ed boxes per
•day in the best pickmg. My own folks did the packing, which
I estimated a one half cent per box. One hand by working all
day could pack two hundred boxes, making one dollar ; though
in former seasons when I have hired, I have paid more than
that, about one ct. per box. I think the subsoil is a moist
loam, with ihe soil not over ten inches deep. The general
jirice paid fur picking in this phice is three cts. per box.

TREADAVELL FAini.

The Committee on the Trendwell Farm report that at a
^aneeting in May, at tlie farm, the committee examined the
•meadow muck which Mr. fJonld had dug tlie previous fall

100

agreeable to there quest of the (."oininittce, in order to test it^
Aahie upon the ])lain hind on the farm. It was foun(^to be of
a A'cry coarse, porous quality, tough in its fibre and of very
little value for fertilizing })urposes ; therefore do not urge it>j .
further use.

The grass fields that had been newly laid down or top-dress-
ed, were looking very well, Avhile the older grass fields Avere
quite feeble in appearance.

The farm has produced the same quantity of hay this yeiU' as^-
last, i. e., thirty-five tons. Four acres of winter onions yield-
ed seventy bush. A half acre of onions, very heavily manured,,
produced one hundred bush, of very large specimens. Owing'
to the drills being double the distance apart that they shouldi
have been, — the so^^'ing having been left to an inexperience*! !
man, — the crop Avas but half as much as it would have been un-r ■
der proper direction. This, with another half acre for early-
vegetables, composed all the land devoted to hoed crops.

Mr. Gould's plan now is, to apply the manure principally ta-
top dressing for grass. The farm has certainly improved very
much in the amount of products, under the terms of the lease^.
which Mr. Gould has faithfully performed : but it is believed;
that with a different and better (juality of land, very mud*,
greater results would have been realized.

For the C^ommittec — Benj. P. Ware.

FSSAYS AM) REPORTS.

The Counnittec of the Essex Agricultural Society on Essa\•^^;
Ivcports and Farm ^Vccounts, award for Essays :

To Francis H. Appleton, of 'W'est l^eabody, for his Essay.-
" On Improving Our Society," diploma and $15.

To Chas. J. Peabody, of Topsfield, for Essay on " Farming
as an occupation," second premium of $10.

To Frank H. Palmer, of Boxford, for Essay on '' Utility otV
Birds to Agriculture," third premium of $8..

107

iiKroirrs.

To Bon. Perley Poore, of AVest Ne\vl)urv, for Ivcport on
" Farms," diploma and $10.

To Ashael H. Patch, of Hamilton, for report on " Agricul-
tural Implements," second premium, $8.

To Joseph How, of Methuen, for Report on " Dairy,'' third
premium, $().

None of the accounts submitted to the Committee seemed
deserving of the premiums offered for '• Farm Accounts." A
Farm Account should com[)i-ehend all the items of income and
and expense, and so balance them that the profit or loss from
the entire farm business of the year can be ascertained. For
this purpose the mere collection of the statistics of the residts-
of cultivating the different fields on the farm, or of raising ])ar--
ticular crops, will not be sufficient,

Daniel E. Safford — Chairman of the Committee.

LIBRAEY.

The Committee on the Library, Avould report :
That very little interest is manifested in its success by the ■
officers and members of the Society. That no appropriations
have been made for several years, for its impro\"emcnt and
growth. The additions have consequently been few and imim-
l>ortant, and the circulation small.

This apparent indifference may be attributed in a great meas-
ure, to the following circumstances : 1st. The members are
scattered throughout the county, and very few can avail them-
selves of a library, if placed in any locality. 2dly. The for-
mation of public libraries, in many })laces supported by income
arising from invested funds, or from municipal appropriations r
these libraries are avcII supplied with books of value and inter-
est to all readers, odly. The multiplicity and cheapness of ag-
ricultural papers, and the prevailing practice of many of t])e

108

political, religious and other papers, devoting some space to-
agricultural matters.

In view of these considerations, the Committee deem it in-
expedient to have a circulating library and add thereto the pop-
ular af>ricultural literature of the dav ; but would recommend
the propriety of establishing a library of reference, and obtain
works of standard authority on agricultural and collateral sub-
jects ; also the publications of the various agricultural socie-
ties and boards of agriculture, not only of this country, but of
Europe and elsewhere.

The library contains many Aaluable works, which would
form a good nucleus for this purpose.

To this end a small annual appropriation, and the establish-
ment of a system of exchanges with kindred societies, would
be necessary. This last can be done through the Smithsonian
Institute, at a comparatively trifling expense.

Grant an appropriation and place copies of the transactions
in the hands of a committee, or some officer that will attend to
this special duty, and the Committee feel confident that, with
ilie zealous cooperation of the officers and members, a library
would in a few years be formed, of great value to the people
of this county ; and Avould very materially aid in promoting
agricultural knowledge and advancing the interest of tliis por-
tion of our citizens.

Committee — Hcnrv Wheatland, John M. Ives.

srCIGESTIOXS OF U\l. ALLEN W. DODGK.

(l'l"lJLISlli:i) UV A VOTE OF THE SOCIETY.)

At a meeting of the trustees held at Plummcr Hall, Salem,
<m Xov. ]r)tli, 1S71, the following gentlemen were present :
William Sutton, (Jeorge !>. Loring, Benj. V. A^'are, Ed-

1011

■ward II. Payson, Aaron Sawyer, Aaron Dodge, Allen AV.
Dodge, Joseph How, Ebcn G. Berry, E. K. Lee, Shermare
Xelson, David W. Low, Levi Emery, Josiali Xewliall, Joseph
S. Howe, J. J. H. Gregory, Paul T. Winkley, J. D. W.
Frencli, Samuel (*. Pifman, Alonzo B. Fellows, and Chai^. P.
Preston.

The following Suggestions to the Trustees, in relation to
nominating Committees, were adopted :

1. That they nominate only such persons as are known t<v
them to possess the requisite qualifications to serve on the C om-
mittees for which they arc severally nominated.

2. That they nominate only such j^ersons for committees as^
they ha^c reason to believe will servo on the same, and for
chairmen only such as Mill prepare a report.

o. That, having in view the interests of the Societv, as well
as of the towns which they severally represent, they nominate
no larger proportion of its citizens for committees, than it is:
fali-ly entitled to.

4, That they report at the meeting of Trustees next [follon-
ing any exhibition, the names of all persons nominated b}-
them respectively, that failed to attend to the duties assionetl
them, with the reasons therefor, so far as knoMn to them.

ESSAYS.

LMPIJOA'IXG OUll SOCIETV.
By Fjjaxc'18 II. Ari'LETOx, or West ri:AROi)Y.

As this is a subject for -whicli iniiiiy County Societies oft'er
special premiums, as an essay, I lia^e Avritten tlic followinu",
hoping that it will be Avell recei^•ecl.

!Many members of our Society appear to be perfectly satis-
fied with the present system Avhich governs the annual Shows
and the awarding of premiums ; and on the other hand, there are
many members who Avish to see the Society continually making
more improvement year by year. It coidd only be a selfish
motive that Avould prevent the former from encouraging the
wish of the latter ; and Avhere the object of any Society should
be to advance the Avelfare of the community, as is tlie case
with this Society, all selfish motiAC should be banished.

Airain, it is fair to assume that all members of the Societv
Avish to see it as successful as possible in whatever it under-
takes ; and as Ave all know that everything is capable of im-
proA'cment, we must admit that our Society nuist come imdei-
that head. I speak in this Avay, because, as we must all know
too Avell, there are some among us Avho obstinately close tlicir

Ill

car? to tlie voice of improvement, and who believe in "letting
Mvell enough alone," as they say. But should this motto ever
?be afloiptcdy no advances would he made, and a state of stagna-
ttion would be the consequence, which could only result in dc-
• cay and loss of influence. Our good old Societv is far from
:tlu8 state, but is c/ipable of much improvement. All possible
i improvement cannot be made at once, hut uuist be done step bv
.<tep, and the longer the steps the more shall I.e accomplished,
-I am going to suggest some impi'ovcments (hat occur to me,
and give my reasons for so doing, i:i tie Iiojk' that they will be
adopted, and that others will <lo likewise and suggest such im-
IJix)vements as occur t>) them. V\'ith live, but cautious, men
.to lead us, we cannot f;!il to advance the welfare of the com-
munity around us, \\hi('!! .-Iioiild be (.i;r object.

Why is it that the i^reuiiums arc not awaided until late the
second day of the Sliow, after the annual dinner is finished, at
>vLich time a small number of those interested surround the
SccECtary's chair to hear him read the long list? whereas, each
one of the members would be better pleased t ) have had the
|jremiums so awarded that the prize articles could be known
itncl examined by those visiting the Show and compared with
Zither competing articles. The names of individuals to whom
premiums Avere awarded for excellence in ploughing in its vari-
ous classes, etc., must necessarily be made known at about the
«imc time as at_present.

According to the present system the premiums are not
;ii\varded until the time arrives for taking the animals ofll^" the
; ground, whereby the people are unable to examine the prize
imimals, and thus profit by observing their points of excellence ;
;nnd the owners of animals, who are desirous of ffcttinii" their
stock home early, are thus unable to examine the premium
'.articles at the tent and halls of exhibition ; and no one can find
tjuch articles Avithout nuich ijiquiry, as no means are provided
ibr desifiuatin"; them.

Would it not be a good plan to instruct the committees to
.fill out their books inmiediatelv after making their awards, on,

112

the attei'iiuou of the first day of tlie Show, and at that time to
attacli to every premium article, and each pen containing a
prize animal, convenient printed cards to be furnished Ly the
Societv, desitruatinu' what awards each is entitled to? This
year I entered two animals under a committee, and both re-
ceived awards, but neither the Secretary nor myself know
Avhich of them received the higher award ; the committee made
no specifications, although they fully understood the names of"
each animal. In examining the premium cards in tlie various
classes, many worthy articles would be thus seen, A\liich would'
otherwise be unnoticed by the visitors.

By this plan tlie Secretary can be freed from the troublesome
tameness of reading so long a list of awards. According to-
tlie present system, many competitors are often obliged to wait
for the publication of the Premium List in some county papci-
the week following the Show, before they can ascertain what
awards they are entitled to. T\\e premiums awarded for suc-
cess at ploughing, drawing, etc., which are necessarily awarded
the second day of the Show, the Secretary could continue to
announce at the dinner : or they could be posted up in a con-
spicuous place at the Show. This system would benefit all
the visitors very much.

Many individuals who have served on Committees of our
Society, myself among the number, having complained of the
difficulty of finding the articles or animals entered for competi-
tion, on account of the incompleteness, illegible appearance,
or sometimes entire want of any card attached to what has Ix^cn
entered under their committee, I would suggest in this connec-
tion, that when any entry is made to the Secretary, a printed'
form, upon which shall be written the name of article and un-
der what class entered, be given to the person making the en-
try, and which shall be attached to the article Avhen placed on
exhibition. These printed forms will both serve as a check for-
the entry, and be of very great value to the committees.

I have also some Avords to say in regard to those departments
on the Premium I^ist in which I take most Lntercst. I refei"

113

to tlic preniiiuns offered for Bulls, Milch C'ow8 and Heifers.,
and the appointment of the committees to award tliem : and
shall speak particularly of the thoroughbreds, as the others
seem to be Avell provided for.

Among the bulls, the Jerseys, Ayrshires, Short-horns, De-
Aons and other recognized breeds are all placed under one com-
mittee, and the same may be said of cows and heifers. It is
specified that these " must have been owned by the exhibitor
four months previous to the Exhibition," and that "competitors
are re(juired to give pedigree, and committees are requested to
be particular in this respect."' These specifications arc excel-
lent, and should be followed to the letter with CAcrv thorouoh-
bred animal, as no animal is thoroughbred without an autlientic
])edigree, l)ut I fear this is too seldom done.

The type, or points, of an Ayrshire are different from those
of the Jersey, Short-horn and others. The thoroughbred Ayr-
shire is noted for a large yield of milk, and for the power of
transmitting that (piality to its descendants. Tlie thorough-
bred Jersey is noted for a smaller 1)ut Aery rich (butteraceous)
yield, and the poAver of transmitting it. The thoroughbred
Short-horn is noted for its capaljility of taking on fat, and thei-e
are some animals of this breed that are also very good milkers.

XoAA' let me ask my readers hoAv one committee is capable <jf
juslhj aAvarding premiums to these four, or more, entirely dis-
tinct breeds of cattle? Among thoroughbre<l milch coavs it
is not only necessary to ascertain Avhich animal can give the
most milk, l)ut Avliich is the best for breeding purposes.

FIac men are noAV appointed upon most of the committees,
and probably only three or four Avill be 2)resent ; let us say four
men serAC on the committee, the chances are that three of the
men respectively knoAv the points of an Ayrshire, Jersey and
Short-horn tolerably Avell, Avhile the third knoAvs little or noth-
ing abcnit cattle, Avhicli is making the best of it we can. The
committee, in examining the stock, come to the pens of Ayr-
shire bulls ; they all examine the bulls, and then three of tliem
look to the other man, aa-Iio knoAvs most about Ayrshires, and
8

114

ask liiui wliat his opmioii is, and, after hearing it, they arc verv
apt to award the pi'emiums according to his advice, or else thev
adopt tlieir own opinions of" what tliey know little or nothing,
and award the preminms accordingly.

It is next to impossible for any County Society to find one
committee that Avill be capable of judging of all the various
breeds of cattle that may be exhibited at a Show. In the list
of ])rcmiums issued by our Society this trouble occurs in the
Bull, Milch Cow and Heifer classes. To simplify matters, I
would recommend that each committee on cattle consist of
three members only.

Xo premiums are at i)resent awarded to the following tlior-
oughbreds : — Bull-calves, three-year-old heifers, that have never
been in milk, two-year-old lieifers, yearling heifers and Iieifer
calves. The milch cattle owned throughout the county con-
sist chiefly of Ayrshires, Jerseys, Short-horns; Natives or
Grades, and specimens of a few other breeds, and I Avould sug-
gest that the following system of awarding premiums to Bulls,
Milch Cows and Heifers, l>e adopted in place of that now in use :

PKTLMIUM LIST.

i' ( ) V, 1". A w A i; I > !■: I ' A ']■ T hi; show.

AVI!SIII1!I>.

IJulls. two yL';ir.s old and upwards, I st premium, diplouiii and S^lU ; 2d do., $^>.

Bulls, under two years old, 1st premium, $.J ; 2d do., S-'!.

Milch Cows, four years old and ui)wards, 1st premium, diploma and ^\(i:

2d do.. *•').
Mileli lliifi'is, untlcr 1()ur yt'ars old. 1 st preuuuni. diploma antl !?!'•; 2d

do., *.">.
Heifers, one year old and upwards, that have never calved, ist ])ren)i)'<n.

*:> : 2d do., *;J.
Heifer ealves, under one year old, 1st premium, $4 ; 2d do.. $2.
Comimtlcr : — (Tlu'ee members to be definitely appointed before the .Show.)

Jr.KSKVS.

ISanie premiums as for Ayrshires.
'' 'oiinnillec : — (Three nu'nd)ers to lie dednitely appointe<l betbi'e the Sliow.)

115

SUOIM-IIOKXS.

Same premiums as for Ayrshires.
Coirimhtce : — (Three members to be definitely appointed before tlie Show.)

Nativks, oh Grades.

'Milch Cows, four years old and upwards, 1st premium, diploma and SlO :

2d do., $•>.
"IMllch Heifers, under four years old. 1st premium, di[)li)ma and SlO; 2d

do., sr>.
'Heifers, one year old and upwnrds, that have never calved, 1st premium,

S.-» : 2d do.. $:).
Heifer-calves, under one year old, 1st premium, $4; 2d do, $2.
'Committee : — (Three members to be definitely appointed l)cfore the Show.)

Otiiki! TiU)Uoi'(iHiutp:i) Stock.

Same classification to be used as with Ayrshires.
Vreraiums to be awarded at the discretion of the Conuiiiltce.
KJommitlce : — (Three members to be definitely appointed before the Show.)

]\IiLcn Cows.

T>est Herd, of not less than five in number, to be exhibited at the Show .
and a correct statement of manner of keeping and yield of milk for
the si.\ months preceding to be given, 1st premium, diploma and
SI."):: 2d do., SlO; .".d do., !&s.

Tiest Milch Cow, cither thoroughbred, native or grade, with satisfactory
evidence as to quantity and quality of milk and manner of feeding,
1st premium, diploma and Si.") ; 2d do., .f 10; 3d do., S.j.

'Committee : — (Tlnx'e members to be definitely appointed before the Show.)

NoTK. — All animals entered under the preceding classes must have been
owned by the exhibitor four months previous to the Exhibition. Com-
petitors are required to cive pedigree of all thoroughbred stock, and com-
tnittees are re(]uired to be particular in this respect. A written statement
will be required of the age and breed of the cows, and time they dropped
their last calf, and when they will next calve ; the kind, ([uantity and
■(piality of their food during the season, and the weight or measure of their
milk morning and evening, of each of the first ten days in June and last
ten days in August. Xo awards are to be made to animals that are nn-
worthy of them.

(I hav(! substituted above *■' last ten 'days in August " for " first ten days
in September," as it is at present, in order to keep the milk-record before
the falling oil" in milk, caused by attending '-New England," and other
Fairs.)

When otlicr thoroiiglibreds tliaii Ayrsliiiu's, Jerseys ;in<l Sliort-

116

horns, that are worthy of being encouraged, are known to he
in tlie county in sufficient numbers, I wouhl recommend that
separate premiums be offered for them. Sucli breeds may now
])e in the county unknown to me, and, if so, I would have sep-
arate premiums offered at once. Not knowing the exact yield,
cost of keep, etc., of the Kerry cattle, and how numerous they
are in the county, I cannot personally recommend them. It
would be useless to appoint separate committees for each of
the other thoroughbreds, Avhich are very seldom, if cvev, seen
at our Shows at present, but I would have the Society be lib-
eral in any a\N ards that will tend to extend the Sho^\-, and ele-
Aate the standard of farming throughout the county.

The officials in charge of the cattle-pens at Ipswich this year
did all they were advertised to do promptly ; but somebody
Avas at fault, in that, being obliged to stay in IpsAvich the
greater part of the night after the Show waiting for tlie freight
ti-ain, I was imable to get any hay for my cattle, except after
no little trouble and difficulty in searching for some place
where I could buy it. The Society ought to provide for an
emergency of this sort, as this fact might deter some people
from exhibiting their animals, Avho otherwise Avould do so.

There are but fcAv herds of thoroughbred animals of each of
the Aarious breeds in the county, and the OAvners of these ani-
mals are almost the only persons in the county aa^io are capable
of judging of the merits of tlieir respective breeds. But if all
the oAvners of the various breeds arc to send representatives
from their herds every year — and avc must all hope that the
inducements Avill yearly be such that all Avill send animals —
the OAvners of these cattle cannot, of course, serve on the com-
mittees ; and to haA-e unprejudiced judges Avho fidly understand
Avhat is required of them, avc must ask intelligent breeders of
thoroughbred cattle outside of the county to act as our judges.

Xo one can be a good judge of any breed of animals, imless
he is Avell acquainted Avith a large number of herds throughout
the country, and has cai-efully studied the characteristic points
uf both imported [and home-bred animals of note. T really

117

Ijcllcve tliei'C are but few persons in this county, or this State
e^■en, who knoA\' what the pedigree of a thoroughbred animal
should be, judging from my experience in examining the ani-
mals, and C(»nversiug with many formers, at our largest Fairs,
l);)th in this State and in Xew York.

To be a thoroughbred of any breed, an animal nuist ha\ e an
authentic pedigree showing that it has no blood in its veins
except that Avhich has come from animals raised in the country
where such breed originated, or that Avhich has come from ani-
aiials having such authentic 2>edigree.

^Vny animal . that has not such a pedigree is simply a Native
•or Grade, and should be entered as such ; and unless this Soci-
otv enforces its present ride, which requires competitors to give
pedigree, and requests committees to be particular in this re-
spect, it is useless to offer such a long list of premiums for
thoroughbred animals. As long as conunittees on thorougbred
catlle are appointed avIio know little or nothing about that of
Avhich they are to judge, I would advise all owners of thor-
oughbred stock to withhold their animals from entiy for pre-
miums, and not trust them in the hands of incompetent com-
mittees. If a good system cannot be otherwise l)rouglit about,
this is the best and quickest way it can be done. But Avithout
resorting to such a radical method, it can be much better
brought about by the trustees of the Society giving the matter
that consideration which it deserves, and remedying the fault
at once.

AVith an ample premium list, and conqietent and unpreju-
diced judges carefully appointed, we shall in this particidar
have all any one can wish, and if other nuich needed improve-
ments are also carried out, a most excellent Show must be the
result. In a comparatively small community there are but
\ ery few persons avIio can be unprejudiced judges of another
person's property, where such property is owned in small quan-
tity throughout such community — as for example, thoroughbred
cattle in Essex county ; but where prope^-ty is extensively owned
in large quantities, there are many persons Avho are competent

118

and imprqjudiccd judges of siicli pi'operty — as for example,
fruit in Essex county.

So )nucli for the charaeter of the committees that are to be
appointed l)v our Trustees ; and if it is certain that the men
wlio are appointed on these connnittees will serve, it Avill be
well and good. But unfortunately, according to the present
system, there are many vacancies on the committees, which
would not be the case if committees were carefully api)ointed.

Ponltrv is a branch of farming that is attracting much atten-
tion at present throughout this and neighboring States, and onr
county can boast of many fine birds, wdiich are one of the chief
features at our County Shows. The rivalry in this class nins
so high that all chance of prejudice influencing members of the
committee should be strongly guarded against ; and if neces-
sary, what objection Avould there be to asking persons outside
of the county to serve on committees, if capable and unpreju-
diced judges can only be obtained in this Avay? None ; and,
as I have already recommended in regard to some of the cattle,
this would be an excellent plan.

I think it Avould be better to divide the poultry into tAvo
classes, and place each class under a separate committee. At
our last ShoAV the Poultry Conunittee Avere nearly tAvo days
making out their list of awards on account of the large number
of entries. This is too much time to ask any committee to
give, and as the interest in poultry is on the increase, tAvo sep-
arate connnittees should be appointed. Let the larger birds
(Asiatic), and ducks, geese and turkeys, be in one class; and
the smaller birds (non-sitters), Avhich are more numerous than
the larger a arieties, be in tlie otluT : and this arrangement Avill
siui[)lifv matters very much. Jt must also be borne in mind
that new bree<ls are fre(piently coming into our notice, and our
premiums sliould be carefully revised every year accordingly.

I passed all my time, days and nights, at I])swich during tlu^

kst Show, having both cattle, vegetables and butter from my

Avn farm on exhibition, and being interested in the swine and

poultry, so that the foregoing is Avrltten from my own personal

11J»

experience, af'tei* two days of careful observation. There are
other subjects connected with the advancement of our Society
■which I shall hope to discuss at some future time, if otliers
shall not have already done i;o to advantage.

P. S. Would not an arrangement like the following be a
good one ? Let the Trustees of the Society divide themselves
up into committees of tlirec persons on each ; let each of these
committees have a certain number of the classes for whicli pre-
miums are offered allotted to them ; and let each of these com-
mittees be responsible to see that the proper number of compe-
tent judges are definitely appointed, under each class allotted
to them, l)efore the Premium List is issued.

FAKMIXG AS AN OCCUPATION.

HV C'llAltLKS .1. I'KAHOI)'^', OF TOI'SFIKLI).

In writing on this subject, I cannot give the experience of a
long life as could many of my l>rother farmers. I l)ring an
earnest love for the pursuit ; and as my attachment to it has
increased from childhood up, leading me to choose farming as
my business, I offer some suggestions as to t\w. l)est way of
managing farm matters, witli a consideration of some of the
conditions of success in tlie occupation, and a discussion of a
few of the more connnon objections to farming as a vocation.

AVhen one selects farming as a /jusincss, he of course under-
stands that as nuich money cannot be made •"< in many otlicr
])ursuits.

I liowEver bcli-rre tliat enough can l)c i. . d -o procure all
thin<>"s needful tor a <>()od livliiu' : si> nor.', i.od be deterred.

120

from following it, if tliey nntlcistaiul the businct^t;, through four
of -svant.

If one is not honi to the jmrsuit, it Avill take a long time for
him to learn all al)0ut the eare of the farm, or enough of the
varied operations re<[uired to make it pay.

It has been well said, that probably no mcclidnicul pursuit
demands so mucli knowledge for its sueeessful prosecution as
farming.

This may at first seem strange, but when we think of the
many things a farmer m^ist know, such as the nature of the soil
of different parts of his farm, and how to remedy any deficien-
cy that may exist, so as to adapt it to the wants of the crops
he wishes to produce ; the methods of culture required by dif-
ferent crops ; the most advantageous way of disposing of them ;
the care of stock and of farm machinery ; for in these days of
high labor, few can afford to do by hand anything that can be
done by a machine, we have outlined a business that de-
mands a mind clear and well-informed, a strong arm, and a
stout heart.

Of the other conditions of success I should jjhicc first, a
steady pertinacity of effort to make things better than they are,
a man should have ever before him an ideal farm, perfect in all
its ap[)uintmeuts, to whicli his actual farm should be made to
approach as nearly as may be.

This will keep him out of the ruts, and incline him to pro-
gress, in ever}' department of his business.

One should also keej) informed as to the relative value of
crops he can raise, for at present great changes are going on in
the prices of staple articles of farm produce, and he is wise
who takes advantage of tlie market to grow those crops that
will sell to tlu- best advanta<i-e. At the time of this writinir
hay is worth in Salem .$oS to $40 per ton, and corn can be
bought for from $o4 to $.'>6 per ton. It does not require nuicli
reflection to see that it is nmch easier and more profitable to
raise and sell hay, and buy corn for use on the farm, than to
produce the corn.

121

Tet iiuiny men raise as much corn as ever, because tliey are
:accustomed to do it and dread to make any change. I think,
liowever, tliat chaugin<ji; or neglecting to change in such mat-
iters from established customs must make a great dittercnce in
tlie profits of farming.

I would not imply that it is good policy for a farmer to sell
;inuch Enjilit^h hav : on the contrarv it is luidoubtedlv the best
plan to feed to stock kept on the place all the hay that is pro-
duced, and buy the grain in addition. Unfortunately, however.
hat few of us can do this ; for we depend on the money re-
ceived for hay to meet expenses.

Some few men, Avho can take city horses to board through
tliC winter, combine the best points of both systems, obtaining
the manure as a return for the care of the horses, and receiving
Jibotit as much for boarding them as the hay consumed Avould
brinii" in market.

A plan Avhich I tried on a small scale the past winter gives
me very good satisfiction, and furnishes a considerable amount
of manure.

Findino; in the fall that I should not be able to wt horses to
'I)oard to eat my surplus hay, I bought, in December, a few far-
row cows and fatted them, selling them, after feeding from two
to three montlis, at an advance sufficient to pay for all the hay
imd meal consumed.

Some plan of this kind nin>t, T tlilidv, be adoi)ted l)y many
of us to keep up the fertility of our soil. If we can
devise some system that will enable us to feed to advan-
tage more than we raise, we shall succeed in greatly increasing
the value of our fields and pastures, of Avhich avc have ample
assurance, in the results obtained l)v the farmers of England,
who have increased the average yield of wheat twenty bushels
per acre by this process during the last fcAV years.

.Vnother rerpiisite for the attainment of success is a strojig
Ijiitl!. A fiirmer of all men is most de])endent on nature for
his bread, and he should manifest in his life the belief that
"^ seed time and harvest shall not fail."' "NVe often hear men

122

expressing the opinion in sonic rainy time that the seed will'
rot in tlie ground ; and again, when summer comes, tliat every-
thing will dry up in the heat. Now we shoidd be above alK
this, knowing from the experience of the past that an impor--
tant crop is seldom cut off hy any change of weather, andtliat'
any loss on one product is almost always made up on some-
other one.

And above this general faith in the operations of nature we-
should reverently trust Him " who giveth food to all flesh ; for-
his mercy endureth forever."

There is yet a qualification to be mentioned, as important ajs
any that has been named : which is the need of more iufor--
mation on matters of public interest than is possessed by.
farmers as a class.

Of course the men now on the stage of active life arc not'
to be wondered at for this deficiency, as in their young days-
the facilities for obtaining such information Avere not nearly so .
abundant as at present.

It is therefore to the young men, Avho like myself, are just"^
beginning their career, that I would speak. In these days,
one must know^ something of events taking place beyond the-
limits of his own State, or country even, if he would take a,'
position of importance in the community ; and as we are so •
favored with good newspapers at cheap rates, there is no reason
why any one should fail to be well informed in regard to the-
progress of events throughout the Avorld.

If want of time to read is urged, I say that there are spare-
minutes enough in every week, if avc Avill only save them, to-
give a large amount of reading when taken in the aggregate.

AVc Avill n(»w consider some of the more cinnmon objections^
to farming as an employment. Thev are :

1 . The hard toil required.

2. The small amount of jnoney ol)tained for the labor.

H. The deprivation of social advantages enjoyed by the resi--
tlents of cities.

123

4. The small opportunity nrt'onled t'oi- iicfjiiiilnu' (listinctioi.
in any public capacity.

The first objection is tiie hard laboi- rcc^uired. AVe think this
is obviated in a great degree by it being nearly all perform-
ed in the open air, as it is generally admitted that one can per-
form a greater amount of work a\ ithout injury, Avhethcr it be
mental or manual, if he lives mostly out-doors.

The facts sustain this idea, for while Ave continually hear of
men in all other pursuits having to give up business on ac-
count of failing health, it is almost never that Ave hear of a
farmer suffering from such a cause. Then what other business
is there Avhere, taking six days in the Aveek and fifty-tAvo Aveeks
in the year, the labor is not more arduous and less satisfactory
than in farming.

I knoAV that young farmers, as they Avork in the field, some-
times look Avith euAv on the shoemakers, Avho finish their day's
Avork in the middle of the afternoon, and spend the remainder
of the day in base-ball or other sport. But if they Avatch these
same shoemakers through the year, they Avill see that there is
commonly a period of enforced idleness in the Avinter, that
must do much to absorb the abiuidant and easily-earned Avages
of the summer ; then if it Avere not for the name of sport the
the ball-playing Avould be harder than haying.

The second point is the small amount of money obtained for
tiie labor. To this the reply is, that money is Aaluable only
for what it will procure, and as I Iuia-c stated that it is gen-
erally admitted that enough can be procured to secure a good
li\ ing, I shall now show some thin2*s for Aviiich the residents of
cities pay large sums of money, which the farmer has Avithout
money and Avithout jiricc.

.Vlmost CACry one enjo\s hjoking at a Hue picture, and in the
homes of the Avealthy pictures are regarded as absolutely essen-
tial to the fin-nishing of the house, and for them large sums
are often paid, the masterpieces of our best artists frequently
bringing more than Avouhl be needful to stock a farm.

So, in view of the pleasure to be gnincd from these and other

124

■works of art, it is said one should choose an occupation that
will give him the means to gratify his taste ; hut one whose life
is passed among the constantly changing aspects of nature
needs no j/icture to enable him to comprehend that a sunrise is
beautiful. It does not require the skill of an artist to reveal
to his eye the loveliness of the rpiiet valley among the hills, or
the broad panorama A\hich he can Aicw from so many of the
hilltops of old Essex.

And if one has a taste for animals, it is much more satisfac-
tory to own the sturdy oxen, the quiet cow, or the fine horse,
than to be able to buy one of Landseer's paintings of them ; for
the most that he or Rosa Bonheur can do is to paint to look
like life. And what need has one, avIio can possess the origi-
nals, of the copies from life of even the most distinguished
-jirtists? So to every person who has a love for the beautiful,
•without the means to siuTOund himself Avith pictures, I sa}-
become a farmer, and then "lift up your eyes to the hills," or,
better yet, lice on one and be satisfied.

We will now consider the third point, Avhich is the depriva-
lion of social advantages enjoyed by the residents of cities. If
you Avere to ask Avhat adAantages farmers lose, the reply AVQuld
jnost likely be lectures. Noav, Iioav about the lectures? The
<:ommon opinion among Avell-informed men is, that as a means
of education, they are valueless, if of the kind knoAvn as popu-
lar lectures ; and if scientific, they are interesting only to a
limited number, and Avhatever advantages they afford in a so-
cial Avay can l)e obtained by other methods.

In reu'JU'd to conc^^rts and other i>'atheriui>s, Avhllc thev afford
much enjoyniient, avc think Ave are compensated in other Avays.
Said a minister to me or.ce, Avhen speaking on this subject,
''You farmers have a chance to think, that those Avho live in
cities fail to t)btain."

In the present condition of society, and Avith the aljundance
^)f newspapers, there is no reason Avhy the young farmer can-
not l)e as Avell informed in regard to all matters of puldic inter-
4vst as the young man in the city ; and if the former Avill spend

125

his lelfiurc in acquiring nsefiil infbnnation from books, he will
be proljably the more intelligent of the two.

Fourth ; The small opportunity for gaining distinction in
anv public capacity. It may be questioned whether this dlfs-
tinction is as enjoyable in possession as in anticipation, for we
know " uneasy lies the head that Avear*! the crown ;"' liut if one
lias the ability to rise in public life, there certainly is nothing
in farming as a pursuit to hold him back.

The liistory of this nation abounds in illustrations of this
trntli. From Washington down the line of presidents, and
among the statesmen of tlic country, too, we find eminent
names distinguished l)oth for success in public life and for in-
terest in agriculture. Webster's biography gives an account
ot' the intei-est which he took in his farm, and some of his let-
ters mention his oxen in a way Avhich shows he had a true
farmer's regard for his team. So, then, let us be good far-
mers, and if needed in any otho- place, have no fear but that
we shall be called, "not to go up higher'" (for Ave claim that
an intelligent farmer is on a level Avith men in any other i)osi-
tion), but to take a position of larger opportunity and Avider
fame.

At the present time, Avhen so many young men are going"
A\'est to settle, there is no doubt a temptation to many of us to
folloAv their steps, and abandon these rocky hills for the fertile
prairies of the distant States : but any Avho are inclined to go*
should ponder Avell before forsaking the- old farm, for in look-
ing at any ncAv position, Ave are more apt to see a fcAv obA'ious
adA'antages, than to gain a just conception of things as they
really are.

The dangei-s Avhich beset the groAving crops of AVestern men
from insect foes arc nmch gTcater than in this region, and th(
hardships Avhich men undergo in establishing themselves oih
ncAv land are so severe that it may be questioned if the moncA-
made by some of them Avould counterbalance the privation;
which they endure to get it.

So, all things considered, if one has a farm here, he runs y.

great risk in going AVcst oi" South with the expectation of im-
proving his condition. So to my brother fiirmers of Essex, I
sa}', what tliough

" The Southland boasts ils teeinin<j cane,
The prairied AV'est its heavy grain.
While sunsets radiant jrates unfold
On rising marts and fields ot" gold,"

still let us remain on these hills ; and as our fathers drew from
them bread, and as from this State have gone forth those who
have in all the walks of life honored their birthplace, let us
maintain a sturdy independence, endeavoring to make our farms
better than when we took them, — to make ourselves better
farmers and wiser men than any generation that has gone be-
fore, and so uniting in ourselves (jualities which distinguished
Lowell's hero, in his poem of " The Coiu'tin'," than Avhom

-• "Xone couldn't <iuick.er pitch a ton.

Nor draw a f'lu-row straighter."

with those which Whitticr has eiui>odied in his young farmer,

in 'Wmong the Hills," of whom at an interesting period of liis

life he says :

•• Framed in its damp, dark locks, his face
Had nothing mean nor common ;
Strong, manly, true, the tenderness
And pride beloved of woman.

'• He has his own free, bookless lore.
The lesson nature taught him ;
The wisdom which the woods, and hills.
And toiling men, have brought him."

Let us produce in real life the ideals of the poets, and .so
hold an honorable position in the connnunity, discharging all
the duties that come to our lot with the faithfidness with which
nature rewards our labor. And thus our beloved county shall
be as widely known in the futiu-e, as she has been in the past,
for the valor and enterprise of her sons, chief among wliom
i!»hall stand the tillers of the soil, for we may ever remember

" Honor waits o'er all the earth.
Through endless generations.
The art that calls the harvests forth.
And feeds expectant nations."

127
ESS:\Y Ox THE UllMTY OF HIItDS TO AGKICULTURL'.

HV FKANK II. I'AL.MKI.', OF JJOXI-OIM).

Better and more intim:ite aciiuiiiiitju c ■ with the habits ot"
''birds, animals andpLants, which arc to be found in the vicinity
of the fann,' is the only way to a[)preciate the assistance nature
is willing to render to the farmer ; and the more educated and
intelligent farmei's become as a class, the more will they study
the principles of grow-th and reproduction in the natural world.

It is an universal principle in the whole realm of nature that
tinimals and plants live by the destruction of other animals or
plants. So life ir; transmuted into higher life, and a chain of ex-
istence is formed, one lin!c (jf which being broken, disastrous
residfs are sure to follow.

Now nature, if left to herself, establishes tliis whole-
j?ome erpiilibrium between the fe.ttliered and insect tribes,
tIz : she produces no more insects than can be kept in check by
the birds. But man, by his artificial habits, disturbs the proper
balance between these tribes. By cutting down the woods, by
•<listurbing the quiet of the forest by the sharp report of the
gnn, he destroys or drives away the birds, and thereby stimu-
lates the production of insects, which become almost the great-
est [>ests of the agricultural interests of the country. The
extent of the evil caused by the infringement of these natural
laws is easily demonstrated, first by reference to the undoubted
facts of j)ast experience, and secondly by showing what must
surely follow the destruction of birds. It is estimated that at
least 5, 000, 000 bushels of wheat are yearly destroyed by in-
sects in the United States. 100,000 rose trees were lost
by one florist in France, being destroyed by insects. AVilson
^ays : ** Would it be believed that an insect no larger than a
<^in of rice should silently and in one season destroy some
thonsand acres of pine trees, many of them from two to three
feet in diameter and a hundred to a hundred and fift>^ feet high."
.And man v other like instances of the destructiveness of insects

128

might l)c mentioned ; but a\c paf>s to the confideriition of what
must follow the destruction of birds.

The reproductive energy of insects is truly wonderful. It is
said that a single pair of grain weevils have produced 0000
voung between April and August. The common varieties of
aphides, or plant-lice, which are found on almost every kind of
[)lant, are produced first from eggs laid the season before, and
then through the summer ; only females are developed. At
the last of the season males and females both appear, and eggs
are laid for the brood that hatches early in the spring. Ileaumer
says that one individual in one season may become the progen-
itor of six thousand millions. The silk-worm moth produce*
about 500 eggs ; the great-goat moth about 1000 ; the tiger
moth ICtOO ; the female wasp at least 30,000. There is a spe-
cies of white ants, one of which deposits not less than 60 eggs
per minute, giving oGOO per hour. Such, then, is the enor-
mous fertility of insects, and some of them breed se^•eral times
a vear, while most insectiverous birds breed but once a year,
and then produce but four or fi^e young. But nature has given.
to birds an appetite and an instinct which teaches them exactly"
when and ho\\- to go to Avork to capture and destroy insects amll
their eggs : and if the number of eggs produced by insects ie
wonderful, so the number destroyed l)y a single bird is marvel-
ous. Bradley says that a pair of sparrows A\ill destroj* 33J>0
carterpillars in a single w-eek. A young martin on a church
spire, opposite our window, was visited five times in as many
minutes by the parent bird, each time Avith an insects A brood'
of partridges will nearly exterminate the denizens of an ant-hill,
in a single day. Woodpeckers are incessantly eamploycd in
ridding the orchards of insects and their eggs, whic-li they skill—
fully discover under the pieces of dead bark. Robins, throug^i-
out the spring and summer, are continually digging for worms
and grubs, which they find concealed beneath the surface of tlie
ground. A day or two since we noticed a conunon chippiijg-
sparrow ca])ture a moth, and upon depriving her of it, vfC
f()und it to be tliat of the common ap[)lc-tree caterpillar (Clisi-

12:'

ociiiiipn. Anici-Icaii;i) . t^o (lt'^tl■lu•tiv(' to tlu' oirhurds of New
Knjrliiiid. It is easy to sec then, lu)\v, when birds, the nsitnral
enemies of" insects, are destroyed and driven away, it will fol-
low that Insects will increase, and an increase of insects is
svnonynions with a decrease of crops.

l->Mt there are to-day many farmers in Xew England who do
nothciie^c that birds are beneficial. They occasionally lose a
little corn by tlie crows, or a chicken by the hawks, and they
judge the whole class of birds by a few snch unfair samples.
They <lri^•e the robins from the garden thinking they are pull-
ing up the seed, and they take CAcry o])poi"tunity to drive from
the orchard the " sap-suckers," as they call the woodpeckers,
tliinking they arc sucking the sap of the trees.

To correct such mistakes, — to induce farmers to study more
the habits of Itirds, and to enable them more readily to distin-
guish the beneficial and injurious species, we shall give a brief
description of some of the commonest birds of Ksscx county.

AcciriTKii Cooi'Kuii — Cassiv.
('()nn:i;*s Hawk. — This hawk is a conmion sununer inhali-
itant of .Massachusetts, being the smallest of those liaAvks
known to the farmer by the significant name of " Hen Hawks."
The nest is usually formed in the deep avoo<Is, almost always
in a [)ine tive, in a fork near the top. It is constructed of
large sticks and t\\igs, and Vincd Avith leaves of different trees ;
^'fJS:^'^', from two to four: color, a dirty white, with spots of
brown and lilac, in some specimens distinct, in others the spots
are very obscure. The breeding season in ^Massachusetts is
about the loth of ^Nlay, l)ut varies as the season is particularly
late or eai'ly. This species is very injurious, as also the two
following, partly on account of the havoc they make in the
poultry-yard, but especially because they destroy a large niun-
ber of small birds, which, if permitted to live, would do a
great deal of good.

AcnriTKi; Ft sets — Jionapartc.
SiiAiM'-siiixNKi) Hawk. — This species makes its ap[)earancc-

130

about the Ic^t of' May, and tlirouiiliout the whole treason is en-
"•ajred in destrovins; small birdc?, which form a lar<>c part of its
food, although it occasionally captures a field mouse of some
sort. Audubon describes the peculiar flight of this bird as fol-
lows : — " While searching for prev, the Sharp-shinned Hawk
passes over the country, now at a moderate height, now close
over the head, in so swift a manner that, although your eye
has marked it. you feel surprised that the very next moment it
has dashed off, and is far away. The kind of vacillation or
wa\ering with which it moves through the air appears j)erfectly
adapted to its wants. It advances Avith sudden dashes, as if
im[)etuosity o!' movement were essential to its nature, and
pounces upon and strikes such objects as best suit its appetite,
l)ut so suddenly, that it seems quite hopeless foi any of them
to try to escape.'* The nest is usually placed in a pine, about
twenty feet from the ground, and is constructed of sticks, and
lined with small twigs and leaves. Eggs usually four, of a
bluish-white color spotted at larger end with brown. Tliey are
usually laid by tlie last week in May.

Bite* > uoijealis — Bunainiiic.

IvKD-TAiLEi) ILvAyiv. — ]Mr. Sanuiels. in "Birds of New
England," savs. "EACry one has noticed this hawk way up in
the air at a considerable height soaring in extended circles,
and uttering the oft-repeated cry. 'kac. kae, kae,' as he exam-
ines the earth beneath him for prey." I found a nest of this
hawk in Boxford, Mass., on the 7th of ]May. It was situated
in the to])most fork of a tall pine tree, being about twcnty-fiv<'
feet from the ground. It was a very large affair, constructed
of coarse twigs and sticks, many of them as large as my finger.
It was slightly lined with a few pine-needles and leaves of
other trees. In the nest was only one egg, though the mun-
ber generally laid is three. The egg was just hatching, the
young hawk having broken the shell so as to protrude his beak.
It nnist therefore have been laid by the 20th of April. Thij;
hawk is verv destructive to small birds and to ))onltry.

( 'iiu'us c V AXKis — Bole.
^Iaksii Hawk, Moise Hawk. — Thi.s liawk it; often .^ocu in
the orchards and fields, but especially in the meadows and
marshes, Avhere it captures a vast number of mice and moles,
which constitute the chief part of its diet. As it destroys but
few small birds, and never attacks ])oultry, it is regarded with
considerable favor by the farmer. It is easily distinguished
from other hawks, its habits being very different. It rarely
utters a cry like the other hawks, but silently skims over the
meadows in search of its })rey. 'L'he nest is built u[)on a knoll
in a meadow, and is formed of dry grass woven together, and
sliy-litlv hollowed and lined with soft grasses. Eggs four in
number, dirtv-white in color, generally laid by first week of
May.

Pkus I'l t.ksckns — Liiiiutiis.

DowN'i AVoODfKCKKh'. — This woodpecker is the smallest
we have, and is well known among farmers as a valuable
agent in destroying the larvae of insects which infest the orchard.
At all seasons of the year, but more particularly during Sep-
temljcr and October, it may be ol)served busily at work de-
stroying the eggs deposited on tiie apple trees by the "count-
less swarm of summer insects." This bird excavates a hole
about twelve or fifteen inches deep, in a decayed stump or limb
of a tree, in Avhich tlw eggs arc placed on a few soft chips left
in making the hole. They are five in number, of a beautiful
♦Tcamy-white color: they are usually laid l)y the lOth of ^Nfay.

Cola 1'T|-:s a i ■ u a'J'L' s — Sivaimon .
GoLDEX-AViNOKi) "WooDi'KCKEif. — This is the most com-
mon of all our "Woodpeckers, and any description of its habits
seems almost superfluous. Both birds assist in excavating the
hole which is to receive the egf;^. This is often from fifteen
to twenty inches deep. Xo nest is built, but on the bottom of
the hole the female lays eight pure Avhitc eggs, which are about
as large at one end as the other. If the eggs be taken from
her, leaving one for a " nest-egg," she Avill continue to lay

more. An in.^taiu'c camu to my knowledge \\Iicre twenty-fonr
ejiss Avere laid in this manner l)efbre tlie bird coidd be induced
to leave the liole which had been excavated uith so much
trouble. This bird is very beneficial to the farmer, as its food
consists almost entirely of insects destructive to vegetation.

Ti;o(;iiill:s coluijuis — Liunfeua.
Ri BV-jiij;(>ATEi) H[':n.MiXG-HiKi). — How often do Ave sec-
this beautiful little visitor in the flower-garden, at one instant
})ausing and thrusting its tiny bill into some f^OAver, and then
flashing out of sight like a meteor, and as suddenly reap})ear-
ing. This bird is commonly supposed to suck the honey from
the floAvers Avlien it thrusts its bill into them ; but this is a
mistake, since it is inscctiverons, and is searching after insects,
not hone\'. .Vbout ihe first of June the ITumming-Bird begins
to build. The nest is built of soft down taken from the stems
of some of the different ferns. lOggs two in number, Avhitc in
color, elliptical in shape. Period of incubation fifteen days.

Cii.KTi HA I'KLASciA — Unnwrn.

CiiiMNKV Swallow. — Perhaps no other birds are so largely
beneficial in their habits as the Chinmey SAvalloAv, for in every
city, town, or Aillagc there are thousands of them through-
out the summer engaged day and night in destroying
insects, -ifar up in the sky you can sec them as well as Ioav
down close to the earth, and in mid-air just aboAC the trees,
everyAvhere, busily engaged in catdiing their insect food.
About the 10th of May they commence building. The nest is
placed in an unused flue of a chimney, and is built of nuid and
sticks glued firmly together and to the chimney Avith the saliva
of the bird. This forms a fii-m structure, in Avhich four or five
eggs of a pure Avliite color are laid.

AxiitosroAirs vocii'ioui s — lionapaatc.

W'liii'i'oouwiLL. — This bird is Avell known from its peculiar
son<i-, which is heard through the first h.alf of the night during
the mating and part of the breeding season. It arrives from

'tlic Soutli about the t^ccond week in Mav. In it-s luihit.^ it re-
sembles tlic follownig sjieeiet*, and is very beneficial, as its food
'consists principally of tlie night-flying insects. This bird builds
iits nest, or ratlier lays its eggs, — for it builds no real nest, — on
the ground near a log, or where some brush or leaves have
'Collected. Tiie eggs arc two in lumiber, and Acry beautiful,
being a delicate shade of white, with s})ots and blotches of
brown and lilac all <)\ei- alike.

( 'j£( )i;i)KiLi:s I'oi'K J TK — Baud.
Nicn r Hawk. — This bird is about as common in tlie city as
the country, l)eing most often t^CLnx at twilight flying about just
over the tops of the buildings in the city, and oxqv the trectops
'in the country, uttering his short note or "squeak,"' as Mr.
Samuels calls it. This species destroys great nund)crs of night
.insects. About the middle or last of ]\ray the Night Hawk
•commences the duties of incubation, ]avinr>; tAvo eir"'s on the
*l)are ground, often on a rock, with no nest. Tliey are a dirty-
miiite color marked with sp(»ts of biown.

'l^i; Axxis ( "ai:o!Jm:\s!s — Bainl.

KiN<!-i;iRi), Bee Makiin. — This is a \vv\ common summer
iinliabitant of Xcw England, there being a pair or two nesting
on almost every farm. Tlie nest is placed in a fork of a limb,
generally of an apple-tree. Tt is composed externally of
coarse moss and roots, and lined with fine roots and horse
hair. Kggs are laid about the last of ]\Iay : arc a delicate
white color, spotted all over with brown and lavender. To
all but bcc-keepci-s this bird is a firm fi-iend, but it unist be
acknowledged that it destroys a large number of bees Avhcn-
ever it has an op[»ortunity. But other winged insects are also
*dcsti'Oved, and therefore this bird is beneficial to the farmer.

S A 'i < ) I ; X IS F r sf u • s — lia Ird .

rEWF.i; ; PiKKi'.E liiiM). — This well-known little bird ar-
rives from the South very early in the season, often as earlv
as the middle of March, when we see it perched on the ulckct

134

of a fence before our window, or on a limb overhanging a
stream of water, eagerly watching for the appearance of some
insect : and now Axith a quick dart it secures its prey, and re-
turns to its jtercli to break and eat it. This bird usually
places its nest under a bridge, or in a shed or barn cellar. It
is ])iiilt of roots, grasses, and moss plastered together with
nuid and lined Avith soft grasses and wool and feathers. The
cggx are fovw or five in number, of a beautiful jiurc white
color.

( '< >XT( UTS \ r It KN s CabdII Is.

Wood Pkwee. — This bird resembles the preceding in
many respects, but is not nearly so well known, as it is only
found in the deep Avoods. It builds a most beautiful nest up-
on a decayed limlj. Tt is formed almost entirely of the dif-
ferent lichens, together with a few grasses and fine roots. The
Avholc is glued together Avith the saliva of the bird. F-'ggs are
four in number, of a delicate cream color, spotted at greater
cud with blotches of dark brown.

Km mm >\ ax -MI n i .mis — Baird.

Lkast Fia'('atc;iiei;. — This little bird is commonly found
in the vicinity of the homestead, and often Iniiids its nest in a
tree close to the window, seeming to prefer the society of man
to the solitude of the forest. It builds a beautiful little home
for itself out of cotlou, feathers, and l)its of string, which
it weaves together and fastens firndy hi the crotch of some of
the upj)er branches of the tree. The eggs are four in number,
creamy-white in color. riii< bird, as its imnic implies, feeds
upon living insects.

Tri.'Dis nscKscKN's — Sleylicnx.

AVilson's Tjiui'Sir. — This bird makes its appearance about
the first of May, and may be seen in the deep woods busily
searching for its food, which, like that of all the thrushes, con-
sists chietlv of insects. The nest is jdaccd in a low shrul), some
times (Ml the ground. It is cousti-ucted of grass and leaves.

1 :v>

deeply hollowed, and lined with liuir and fine roots. '■'-'^rgf^
tour in nnndier, and of a l)luish-ii;recn color and oval in shape.

TiKDi s Mich'ATOiMis — Llmuvus.

TiiK lioiJiN. — Kvery one knows the Ivobiu, as it is a eoni-
mon visitor of" every State, county and town in the country.
]\[uch has been said both in favor and against this bird, but we
do not hesitate to call it, on the whole, beneficial. It cannot
be denied that it destroys many small fruits, but as these only
last a month or two, and as during the rest of the year this
bird is beiieficial, it seems to deserve favor. The nest and
eggs are so common as to need no description. The nest is
found in a variety of situations, having been found in trees,
bushes, stone walls, sheds, and on the ground. Two broods-
are reared in a season.

IlAi;i*oiMiv\ciirs Ki Fi's — Cahanis.

Bkowx Tmasii. — Mr. Samuels says, " Probably none of
om- sinnmer visitors are better known, and none are greater
favorite^!, than this bird. Its beautifid song and well known
beneficial habits have endeared it to the farmer, who takes it
inider his protection, as he should all the thrushes, and encour-
age its appearance in the garden and orchard." This bird is
known to all as the one we see perched on the top of some tall
tree pouring out a medley of song, which consists of a varietv
of notes of other biids and some original ones. The nest is
built about the middle of May, either in a bush or on the
ground. It consists of twigs, leaves and fibrous roots. E^ifs
three to five, dirty white, spotted thickly with brown and lilac.

(tAI^KOSCOI'TKS Cauolinknsis Cdhdllis.

CvTmiM). — This is a connnon species, being most often
seen, however, in low. swampy land, where it builds its nest
on a bush or low tree. It is constructed of sticks and twi<rs,
and lined with roots and hair. Kggs usually four in mnnber,
of a dark eiiieraJd UTcen color : thev are laid about the first

"Avcck iu Juni'. Thi^ bird take.-< its nanu' fnuu m plaintive note
it utters rcseniMiiiii' tlic mcwiiiL!: of a cat.

SiAlj V SI \Lis — Hiildciiimin .
Blui:iui;i). — Tliis beaiititnl bird is known and bctiiended
b\' every fanner. It makes its ap[)caranee ahnost the first of
the winged tribe, sonictiuies being s:cen before the snow lias
left the ground. Its Iieautiful song, heard when winter seems
still Avith us, is welcomed by all. About the nuddle or last of
April tliis bird eonimenees building. Tlie nest is [jlaeed in a
liole iu an apple tree, or a fence post, or iu a box pre[)are<l by
some friendly hand — anywhere, in fact, where it can find
warmth and protection fi'orn the cold winds. The nest is
])uilt of fcatiiers, soft grasses and cotton. I'^gg^ Jii'c four or
\\\c in uumljcr, of a ycry light blue color. The food of this
bird consists of noxious insects.

PaIU'S ATinC'AlMLLl s — Liiinai/s.
CiiiCKVDKi:. — This busy little bird is known ti> all as a resi-
dent with us throughout the whole year, and at all times it is
engaged in ridding the trees of their insect pests. It com-
mences Iniilding about the second week iu jNIay. The nest is
])]aced iu a hole in a d(>ad tree, and is built oi" moss, a few
fine grasses and hair. Kggs arc from six to ten, of a pure
-white color. spott<'(l at the greater end with brown.

(ii:(rnii.vi;i s tuiciiis — Caha/iis.
^IauvlaM) Yki.i.ow-tjiuoat. — This bird is a common snm-
■•ancr inhabitant of all the New England States. Its nest is
-usually placed on the ground, and is constructed of grasses
juid leaves. a)id linecl with hair. The (,'ggs are laid about the
first of fluue. They are. usually live in numbei", of a creamy-
white color, and covered more or less thickly with reddish-
brown spots. This species is most connnon in swampy dis-
tricts. It is beneficial as its food consists mostly of insects.

Sk'joimiaca KiriciM-A — Sint/iison.
TllK IvKDSTAKT. — This bird arri\cs from the Sontli about

'■^lio niicrdh' of May. It is a vi-rv bonclicial tipccics, destroying-
insects in the trees, and also flying insects. The nest is on a
low linil) of some small tree, and is constructed of strips of
bark, grasses and -weeds, all being glued together by the saliva
of the bird. It is lined Avith soft cottony substances. Eggs
ibnr ill nunibor. Avhitc, Avith spots of brOAvn.

Family Hiium>[mi).i..

Till-: S\\ ALf-ous. — The swalloAAs are all beneficial in their
habits, subsisting on insects, Avhich they are continually catch-
ing for themselves and their young. There are four species
i'ommon in Essex county as folIoAVS : Cliif or Eave S\vall(m%
Barn Suallov^-, "\Miitc-bellied Swallow and Bank SwalloAV.
These build their nests respectively on cliffs or eaves, in barns,
in boxes put up for their accommodation, and in sand banks.
The habits of this family of birds arc so Avell-known that am-
'des(Ti[)tIon is siiperihions. The Purple Martin also belongs to
this family, but is not now very common in Essex county.
Farmers Avould do well, howCA'cr, to put up martin-boxes for
its acconuuodation, and thus try to induce k ore (»f these l)irds
-to settle \\ith us, as they are very beneficial.

AAiPKLfs ci:!)i;f)i;i\i — lia'ud .

Ckdauiuui), CilHKUVlUltM). — To those Avho cultivate small
fruits thi.s bird is doubtless a considerable trouble, but U) far-
aners in general it is as beneficial as almost any other bird, Nut-
;tall>;"ys, " They fiiil not to assist in ridding the trees of the
I deadly enemies Avhich infest them, and the small cateipillars,
i beetles and various insects now [in spiing] constitute their
• only food."" The nest of this species is placed on a hori/.ontal
'branch of a tree, and i.; ijuilt of roojs, grasses, leases and
•grape-vine bark. Eggs, four or fire in number, are of a
'bluish-white color, and are marked Avitli spots of black and
1 brown.

ViUKc^s-^r.A'i V oLH' ACK A — lionajHir/c.

Tin: Bi:i)-i;vi;i) \'iirK(.>. — This little bird is desei-vedlv a

j>rc;it favorite. ItvS bcautitiil pliiintivc r^un^- may he hearil at
any lioiir of the day during the summer, as it searches through
the ehn and other trees for (?aterpinars and various other nox-
ious inseets. The nest of this bird is a wonder of ingenuity
and beauty. It is eonstructed of jiieees of was|)'s nests, I)its of"
paper, spiders' \vel)s, and thin pieces of l)ark. These arc
Avoven togetlier, and glued l)y tlie bird's saliva, in the form or
a basket, and sewed firmly to the fork of some small branch of
a tree. Eggs JH'e four in number, piu'e white, with spots at
larger end of brown and Idack.

Si'iZEiJ.A sociALis — Liondpurtc.

CiLiPrixu Si'AiMiow. — This is a very conunon and well-
known bird, since it seems to take delight in associating with
man, and is to be foiuid nesting near his habitations. The
nest includes a few fine grasses, but the chief substance used
is horsehair. The eggs are four or five in niunber, bluish-
green in color, and marked with sj^ots of black and browii^
thickest at the greater end. This bird is beneficial, subsisting
largely on insects.

Melostiza mklodia — Hal id.

Sonct Si'AKKOAV. — This bird takes its name from its Ix^uiti-
ful song, which is heard from early spring to the middle of
October. Its habits are beneficial. The nest is placed some-
times on the ground, and sometimes on bushes or small trees,
and is built of grasses and weeds. Kggs are four or five in
number, and arc; of a dirty-white color, spotted with difiercnt
shades of brown, thickest afr greater end. Two broods are
reared in a season.

1*II'1L() KRVTUUOlMnMlAr^.Ail S / "icUlot.

GuouM) Kor.iN, CiiEWiXK. — This bird has a peculiar note
resembling the syllables " che-wink," hence its name. It is a
very common species in Kssex coiuity, and may be ol)served
in the deep woo<ls and by the roadside I'unning nimbly along,,
or scratching among the lea\es and dirt for its insect food.

About the jsc'cund week in ^fay thit* bird cornincneet; liuildiiiu'.
The nest is phiced on the ground, often beneath a tussock of
grass. It is constructed of leaves and grasses, and is lined
with fine grasses and roots. Kggs are four in number, of a
dark reddish-white color, covered all over with fnic sj)ots of
brown.

Doj.lCJloN^ \ oK'i Zl\ OKI s — Sicain.'<o}i.
lionOLiMv, KEEi)iiiKi>. — In the Southern States this bird is
regarded with much dislike because it destroys a great deal
of rice, but to New England farmers it is \ery beneficial,
for while with us it subsists largely upon insects. Everybody
has been delio:hted with the beautiful sono- of this bird. Tlu
nest is placed beneath a tussock of grass in some swampy tract
of land, and is so well concealed as to be next to impossible to
<liscover it. It is built of m-asses and weeds. The evil's arc
four or five in number, and varv from lijjht blue to jxravish-
white in color, with blotches and spots of black and I)rown.

]MOLOTH Itl'S I'ECOltlS SlcaillfiOll.

Cow Blac"ki!I];i). — The habits of this bird arc very peculiar.
It makes its appearance about I'ke middle of iNIarch, and, in
flocks of perhaps ten or dozen, frequents the fields where cattle
are pastured, and feeds upon the flies and other insects which
arc to be found most plentifully about the cattle. AVlien the
female wishes to lay, instead of building a nest for herself, she
visits the nest of some other l)ird, usually one smaller than Ium-
sclf, and, watching for nn opportunity when the owner is
away, she deposits her egg. This is generally hatchc<l by the
l)ird who has thus been imposed upon; and the young Cow
Blackbird, being larger and stronger than the other young
birds, often crowds them out of the nest and monoj)olizes all
the nourishment and protection of the stepmother. The eggs
of this species are grayish-white, witli fine s])()ts of ])rown uwv
the whole sui'face.

A( i E L . K IS 1 ' 1 1 < KNH 'E T S VieUlot .

SwAMi' Blacki'.iiu), (Red Wi\<;ei> r>i.A(Kiui;i).) — This

140

i)ird r.rrivcs tVoin tlic South abuiit the iniddk' or hist of March,
and imiiiedlatcly cstahhshc:^ itself in the meadows and swanip.s.
About the iir.<t of ]\Iay tlic preparaticjns for building" ooni-
Hience. The nest is ])laccd in a low bnsh and is built oi
course grasses woven together and deeply hollowed. The
eggs, whieh :ire four or five in number, are of a light, blue
color, and are marked with streaks and blotches of brown and
?>laek. This bird is rather injia-ious in its hal)its, as it eats a
good deal of corn and otlier grain.

IcTKias 1>altim()j;e — Jiudtihon.
B.VLTiM( )!;!■: OifiOLE, (GoLT)EX RoHix.) — This is, perhaps,
the most beautiful bird in plumage and song we have. With
the colors of gold and orange-red contrasted Avith the black
on the wings, aud with a Aoiee of the purest harmony, it is
descrvedl}- a great faxorite. The nest of this bird is a very
curious alfair. It is commenced by winding and weaving to-
gether a lot of string, thread ravcllings, or anything else of
the sort, and binding the whole finally to the drooping branch
of an elm oi- willow tree. Thus a sort of [»on<'h is formed
five or six inches deep, i!i Avhich the nest proper is placed.
This consists princi[)ally of hair and a few fine grasses. The
«iru's arc four or iiv*,; in number and are of a l)luish-whitc
color, marked with.in-cgular spots and blotclics of dark brown
:ind I (lack.

("<)i;\"rs Am KIM CAM s — Audubon.
TifK ('n.M.Mox Ciiow. — No bird has ever exci(cd so much
rontroversv and conunent as the Crow. At one tim(> all the
nii-ricultural j):ipcrs wer(^ continually saying something for or
^igainst tin- bird, ;nid the question Avhether it is beneficial
or injurious has not yet been settled to the satisfaction of
all. In our opinion llic (Vow is very injurious, and Ave Avill
give a few reasons for this opinion. \t is Avell known to all
ikrmers that the ( Vow docs actually jiull up and eat a good
<k^al of corn. liut lliose Avho defend this bird say tliat the
insei'ts he destrovs eomjiensate for this Ios<. No«-, ii we

141

grant tliiis, the bird will be iiciitml, doing just as uiucli good
as he does harm. But this leaves unnoticed the fact, which Ik
nndoubted by all careful observers of birds, .that the Crow
destroys a great inimbcr of small birds wliich, if permitted to
live, Avould destroy more insects in a day than a Crow would ■
in a year. Therefore, A\e conchide his habits arc far front
bcnefleial. The nest is placed generally in a pine tree, near
the top, and is constructed of eonrse sticks and lined with
leaves. The eggs are four in number, of a light-green color,
covered with spots and l)lotches of l)r()wn. The eiigs are
generally laid by the first Aveek in ]\Iay.

( 'VAMI.'IS ('laSTATl.S SlCfl'lllSOJI .

I>n K Jay. — This l)ird is also of injurious habits, as ir
destroys but comparatively few insects, Avhile during May and
June it subsists on the ag^^i^ and young of other birds. The
nest is placed on a Ioav limb of a pine or other tree, and is
built of sticks and twigs, Avith hardly any lining. The C'-ir-*;
are four or five in number, of a light-green color, spottetl
finelv Avith different shades of brown.

14-2

o X c:
S cc 2

— X

— < c-1 r'l o oc o c

tl .- >- O -M

o

V3

o — -

" «^ .:; be n c

ci, i j^

iZ i r u C i c:

wj

■r. X -r. ^

X ^ o X

o c
'* >r o --c

_ O O 1-. X c t-

c o o 'ti cr o •*

■5 '~ '" 2 I n
>^ 01 I- = c:

Ti c-i X 'Ti — -T ?i -2 '":
f ri ■M

X

X

-3

'T.

p

;i

C5

^

A

-*

O

;^;

o

5

5
c

^

1)

rr

o

A-*

'^

r;

M X^ =

^ O r-"

3 r-j "i o; -T

^ = ^ s .5 o

^

?; ^ S 3 "^

1* 35 ^ . !«

;^ ><; ;5 t:) w

3 ■>

C0 = 3000C0

H H

^1 ^" I cc cf

-f X ■M

"-PC:

CO OC' —

I4;i

_1 1, -

-5 1 5:-

v_ 2 ^

^ '^

X

?

^

X

^

x

C- X

bC

s "

-r

—

cr

c:

5

.L^

i

■+- r;-

«

I -

T

-^

*?

;::

0;

^

:^

Vj

.:2 —

_

X

03

^'

j:;

"^ ■"

;

^

^

^

^

;:; c

-/_

.—

• >

>■

"t'

"^

y:

r^

o ^

;:i

—

^

•^

—

-'

1>

c ^

"

-r:

jZ

^

r^

r:

< O

'■i^

C

H

r-«

PC

'A

^

lO ^ '~ lO C C-l w — -- =: c: —
Ci I- I- ac w c ■>! X X c = c
"-"i rti c: i- » -f M --I iM ?i I- -^

ca =5 .r : ^ -^ "^

''- tK <» S 2

Lis' 2 Q .."5 x" ;2 ;£- .X .
( S .2 ^- ■= (^ _^'- ^ - 5 -ir

i I i ■§ H « II i I ^ :•£

k^'^i.— ^rtiSa>■x':;x-
?^ tC t^ z', !?; S ^, <, < ^ S t-

X w: W x X X X X X X /^ e^

x'x x'x'x'x aa'x'fc'x S C

1-: X -ti <M c^ ~i ri ^

144

OEFICEES OF THE SO( 1 ETY

FOR 1871—72.

ri;Ksii)F,NJ\

wji>LiAM srrJX)x, ..r iVaiuHiv..

Aici<: ri;i:s!i)KNT>

GEORGE B. LOKIXG, of .Sali-in.
JOHX KEELEY, of ILncrliill.
JOSHUA L. XEWIIALL, of XcNvl)urvporl':
BEXJ A:\IIX \\ AVARE. of :\lnrI.l(lH>ail,

TI.'KASrRKK.

EDWAIJI) 11. PAYSOX.of SaKiu.

sK('i;i;i" vi;v.
CIIAKLKS P. PHKSTOX, ^f Dauvrr;

iioNoKAitv Ti ; I ,•<■]■ i:j:s.

JOHX W. PlIOC^rOK, of Pcabody..
ALLEX ^^\ DODGE, of Hamilton'.
JOSEPH HOW, of :\r('tluicn.

U;

ria'siKKs.

ChaiK's P. Hlunt, Andovcr: Jamos P. King, Peabody :
Dudley Knulstrcet, Topsfield : David AV. Low, Gloucester ;
Ebon (i. IVrrv, Danveis : Edward K. Lee, Essex;

W. II. B. Cun-ior, Salisbury : Josepli Longfellov,-, Xewburv :
Francis Dane, Hamilton : William B. ^lorgan, A^"enllam ;

Aaron Dodge, Invcrly ; James K. Nichols, llaverbill ;

Ec\i Emery. Lawrence; Josiah Xewliall, Lynnficld ;

Alonzo V). Fellows, Ipswich ; Sherman Xclson, (Jeorgetown ;
J. D.^^'. French, \. Ando\ er ; AVarren Ordway, Bradford :
James Flint, Middleton : Sam'lC. Pitman, Swampscott ;

J. J. II. Gregory, ^Marblelu'ad ; Daniel 11. Stickney, Grovclnnd;
Joseph S. Howe, Methnen ; John L. Shorey, Lynn :
Joseph Hale, Kowley ; Aaron Sawyer, Amesbury :

Israel Ilerrick. Boxibid : T. C Tluirlow, AY. Xewburv :

John Knight. Jr.. ^lanchester : P. T. Winkley, Xewburvport.^

NEW MEMIJEPS— IMl.

Elias Andrews. Essex : A. Ilaseltine, Jr., Haverhill ;

John J^. Abbott, Ando\er ; John A. Iloyt, Georgetown :
Hartwell B. .Vbbott, Andover : Augustine Hodgkins, Ipswich ;
D. Brainerd Burnhani, Essex : George Ilodgdon, Ipsnvich :
Chas. P. P.an-ett, Gloucester; F. St. Clair Ilerrick, Lawrence;.
Olixer S. Biitlci", (Jeorgetown ; ]\Irs. Bobt. Jordan, Ipswich ;
Xl. F. Hntchelder. Peabody ; Xathan'l E. Ladd, Groveland ;
Dan'l T. I'libsoii, Gloucester; E. (\ Little, Xewburv:
Erastus ( 'lark, Ipswich: J. H. Lovering, Georgetown ;

(ieorii-e (L Davis, \. .\ndo\er : Charles ^Mitchell, Beverlv ;
Charles Dole, Ivowlev : Mrs. L. Mallard. Lawrence;

William A. Dane, Hamilton : D. Oscar Xclson, Ilowley ;
John (Jrant, rj)swich ; P. Ordway, Xewburvport :

Joshua B. (iiant, Ipswich : David T. Perley, Ipswich;
Da\i<l L. Haskell, Essex : Edward II. Potter, Bowley ;

lU

14o

Jolui Perkiu^s, Ef<j«cx ; Geo. W. S\ inoiids, Jv\ iinfield

Samuel T. Poor, Georgetown ;Xatlianiel Shatt^well, Ipswich ;
George II. Penney, Saugus : R. F. Stanley, Newbury port ;
AV. W. Perkins, Newbury : J. C. Stanley, Newbiiry])ort :
E. II. Perkins, Salem ; M. O'Sliea, Salem :

Mrs. Oliver Patch, Hamilton : Albert Titcomb, Rowley ;
George W. Rogers, Salem : J. C. Underbill, Pcabody ;
Eli C. Rnidvin, Beverly : Robert 11. Waters. AVenliam :

Moses A Sliacklev, Peal)ody : George 1). AValton, Peabody :
George J. Smitli, Rowley ; dosepli Wilson. Hevcrly.

^^3^Any citizen in the County may become a nK'niI)cr by
paying the sum ot" three dollars to increase the permanent funds
of the Society, and he will receive a certificate of his member-
ship from the Secretary. No fines or assessments are ever im-
posed. Mend)ers are entitled to the free use of tbe Library,
and a copy of the Transactions each yeai-. ^VU ordained Minis-
ters of the Gospel residing in the (^ounty, and editors of news-
papers, published therein, are entitled to the jirivilcges of th*-
Librarv.

47

LIBRARY.

TIic J^IJUJAUV is tis^tahlis^hed at tlie Plunuuer Hall, Essex
street, Salem, vvliere ^fembcrs ean obtain books under the f'ol-
lowini;"

K'KGrLATIOXS:

1 . Kach lueiuber shall be entitled t(^ take from the Library
TWO VOLUMES, on signing a receipt for the same, and agree-
ing to be aeeountable tlierefor.

'2. No membei* shall keep any book more than two weeks,
after being notified (l)y the rjl)rai-ian) that the same is wanted
by another member.

A. All book*; belon<2in<>- to the J^ibrarv shall be returned on
or before the 1 ')th of November in each year ; that the same
uiav be examined and the conditimi of the Library reported to
the Trustees.

4. .Vnv member who shall nesrlect or refuse to conform to
these Kegulations shall thereby forfeit the privilege of taking
l>ooks from the Libraiv.

U.S

T. i s t of Premiums, (t c

I AT CArXI.K.

Paul T. Winkley, Ncwburyport, 1st premium, diploma and 810 00

Paul T. Winkley, Newburyport, 2d premium, 8 00

Samuel A. Merrill, Danvers, nd premium, 5 00

BULLS.

Francis Dane, Hamilton, Jerseys, 1st premium, diploma and 10 6o
Charles ^litchell, Beverly, Jerseys, 2d premium, 5 00
Jos. C. Gordon, West Newbury. Ayrshires, 1st premium, di-
ploma and 10 00
G. W. Herrick, Gloucester, Ayrshire, 2d premium, 5 00
Jos. Kittredge, North Andover, Durhams. 1st premium, di-
ploma and 10 00

MILCH cows.

Henry (x. Kimball, Bradford, 1st premium, diploma and 1.5 00
Francis H. Applcton, Pcabody, 2d premium, 10 00
Francis Dane, Hamilton, Jerseys, 1st premium, diploma and 10 00
D. F. Appleton, Ipswich, Jerseys, 2d premium. 5 00
Francis H. Applcton, Pcabody, Ayrsliires, 1st ])rcminm, di-
ploma and 10 00
John C. Dennis, .Marblehcad, Ayrshires, 2d premium, 5 00

IIKIil) OF MILCH cows.

Francis Dane, Hamilton, 1st premium, diploma and 15 00

IIEIIKUS.

George M. Brown, Bradford, o years old, 1st ])remium, di-
ploma and 10 00
Francis Dane, Hamilton, 3 years old. 2d premium, 8 GO
I'rancis H. Appleton. Peabody, 3 years old, fid premium, 5 00

14!)

"Francis Dane, Hamiltdn, .Tersieys, 3 years ulJ, 1st premium, 10 OO
Francis H. Appleton, Peabody, Ayrshire^, ."5 years old, 1st

premium. 10 00

H. G. llerrick, Lawrence. 2 years old, 1st premium, 8 00

Charles J. Pcabody, Topsficld, 2 years old, 2d premium. o 00

Franci.s Dane, Hamilton, 2 years old, 3d premium. 3 00

R. G. Waters, Wenliam, yearlings, 1st premium, •> 00

Francis Dane. Hamilton, yearlings, 2d premium, .» 00

\V0KK1N(; OXEN Als'll STKERS,

iGeorge Hodgdon, Ipswich, working oxen, 1st premium, di-
ploma and 12 00
K. S. Bray, Newbury, working oxen, 2d premium, 10 00
William Foster, North Andover, working oxen, 3d premium, 8 00
K. S. Bray, Newbury, steers, 1st premium, diploma and H 00
Charles J. Peabody, Topsfield, steers, 2d premium, o 00
K. S. Bray, Newbury, best teamster, premium, 10 00

Romvdus Jaques, West Newbury, 3 years old, 1st premium, G 00

Jos. Kittredge, North Andover, 3 years old, 2d premium, ■') 00

Moses Colman, Newbury, 2 years old, 2d premium, 4 00

Hiram Young, Newbury, yearlings, 1st premium. 4 00

STALLIONS.

Francis Dane, Hamilton, 4 years old, 1st prem., diploma and 1.5 00
F. Battelle, Newburyport, 4 years old, 2d premium,
Francis Dane, Hamilton, 3 years old, 1st premium,

lUtOOl* MARKS.

M. O'Sliea, Salens, 1st premium, diploma and
S. C. Oliver, Salem, 2d premium,

FAMILY HOJtSES.

'Geo. W. Ivogers, Salem, 1st jiremium, diploma and
O. S. Butler, GeorgetoM'n, zd premium,
Edward H. liittle, Newbnry, 3d premium,

3'AKM AM) liRAlT JIOKSES,

Peter Holt, North Andover, 1st premium, diploma and
J. F. Dane, Hamilton, 2d premium,

1")

00

s

00

15

00

10

00

]n

00

10

oo

W

00

12

00

10

00

150

W. C. Langley, Newbury, 3d premium, 8 00
S. A. Merrill, Danvers, 4th premium, 5 00
Sylvester Dane, Hamilton, the best teamster, special pre-
mium, offered bv Dr. Loring. 10 00

Geo. W. Rogers, Salem, 4 years old, 1st prem., diploma and 10 00

Theodore Holman, Salem, four years old, 2d premium,

John Swinerton, Danvers, 4 years old, 3d premium.

Geo, B. Martin, Danvers, 3 years old, 1st premium,

Geo. B. Martin, Danvers, 3 years old, 2d premium,

Jacob Rhoades, Lynn, 2 years old, 1st premium,

Geo. B. Martin, Danvers, 2 years old, 2d premium,

S. B. Gregory, Hamilton, 2 years old, premium,

Asahel H. Patch, Hamilton, yearling, 1st premium,

F. Dane, Hamilton, yearling, 2d premium,

SAVIXE.

Penny »S^ Ash, Saugus, Boar, 1st premium, diploma aand
Henry Saltonstall, Peabody, Sow, 1st prem., diploma and
Jos. F. Dane, Hamilton, Sow, 2d premium,
Henry Saltonstall, Peabody, weaned pigs, 1st premium,
Wm. Foster, North Andover, weaned pigs, 2d premium,

SHEEV.

D. F. Appleton, Ipswich, tiock, 1st premium, diploiua and

Francis Dane, Hamilton, flock, 2d premium,

B. D. Appleton, Ipswich, Buck, 1st premium, diploma and

D. F. Appleton, Ipswich, liauibs, 1st premiuu\,

rOULTRV.

H. ('. Kcgan, (iroveland, Light Brahmas, 1st premium,
J. S. Ives, Salem, Light Brahmas, 2d preminm,

E. K. Perkins, Salem, Dark Brahma?, 1st premium,
Mrs. G. L. Streetcr, Salem, Dark Brahmas, 2d premium,
H. C. Fegan, (iroveland, Bail" Cochins, l;^t premium,
K. R. I'erkins, Salem, Bufl" Cocliins, 2d premium,
E. R. Perkins, Salem, Partridge Cochins, 1st premium.
Mrs. G. L. Streetcr, Salem, l*artridge Cochins, 2d premium,
I''. R. Perkins, Salem, Hhuk (■ochins, 1st premium.

6

00

4

00

8

00

4

00

{)

00

2

00

1

00

6

00

2

00

H

00

S

00

5

80

5

00

3

oa

S

00

5

00

(>

00

3

00

• >

00

1

00

3

GO

1

00

<)

00

1

00

3

00

1

00

.'>

00

1

00

2

00

1

00

2

00

2

00

2

00

2

00

2

00

2

00

2

00

2

00

1

00

2

00

50

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

oo.

I.')!

Mrs. G. L. Streetcr, Salem, Black Cochins, 2d premium.

K. R. Perkins, Salem, Dominique, 1st premium,

Geo. W. Knight, Newburyport, Donunique, 2d premium,

D. B. Wallace, Peabody, Black Spanish, 1st premium,

E. R. Perkins, Salem, Leghorns, 1st premium,
A, H. Ploufi', Ipswich, Hamburgs, 1st premium,
K. R. Perkins, Salem, Polish, 1st premium,
G. H. Richardson, Salem, Guineas, Isl premium,
J. S. Ives, Salem, Bantams, 1st premium,
E. E. Bartlctt, Newburyport, Ducks, 1st premium,
Joseph Hortou, Ipswich, Geese, 1st premium,
H: G. Fegan, Groveland, Black Cochins, gratuity,
O. F. I'utnam, Danvcrs, Wild Geese, gratuity.
Ij. M. Locke, Salem, coop Pigeons, gratuity,

D. B. Wallace, Peabody, Chickens, gratuity,

E. R. Perkins, Salem, Ducks, gratuity,
E. R. Perkins, Salem, Houdans, gratuity,
E. R. Perkins, Salem, White Cochins, gratuity,

I

IM.OUGIIIXO DOUliLE TEAMS.

II. T. Jaques aiul R. ]\[. Bray, Newbury, 1st premium, di-
ploma and
J. and D. L. Goodrich, West Newbury, 2d ])remium,
Joseph Horton, Ipswich, od premium,

VLOUGHINC — SINGLJO TEAMS.

R. T. Jatjues, Newbury, 1st premium, diploma and
George Hodgdon, Ij)svvich, 2d premium,

rj.OUGJIINf; AVITH HORSES.

Eustace Balch, Groveland, 1st premium, diploma and
Edwin C. Little, Newbury, 2d premium,
Edward H. Little, Newbury, 3d premium,

I'LOUGHING — SWIVEL PLOUGH.

William Faster, North Andover, 2d premium,
Eli C. Rankin, Beverly, 4th premium,

PLOUfJTIINO BY BOYS.

Willie Morton. Ipswich, 1st premium, 25 00

12

00

10

00

9

00

10

00

7

00

10

00

7

00

4

00

10

00

5

00

152

AOKIC UJ/rUKAl. 1 M I'J.K.M KN T.>

Aaron Dodge, Beverly, Pulverizing Harrow, 3 00

AVhittcmore, Belcher & Co., of Boston, Blanchaid t^hurn, 2 00
Whittemore, Belcher <fc Co., of Boston, AVIlliamson Whiffle-

tree, 2 00
Whitteniore, Belcher tV Co.. of Boston, Buchan'.s Carbolic

Soaps, 2 00

'Webster Smith, Ipswicli, Ox Wag >n, 8 00

('. R. Sargent, Newburyport, Seed Sower, 2 00

E. E. Lummus, Boston, Cultivator, 2 00

E. E. liummus, Boston, Ox Yoke. •> 00

E. E. Lummns, Boston, Straw Cutter, 3 00

l^'rancis Dane, Hamilton, Farm Wagon, Lsc premium, .j 00

iHenry Hobljs, Wenhani, Carl Harness, 1st premium, •"> 00

(AUK FACES.

'Osgood & Jhotliers, Georgetown, Pha-ton, diploma and o 00

('. W. Chapman, Ipswich, Wagon, 3 00

Pike cV, Whipple, Peabody. Milk Wagon, 3 00

Bradley t^' Clark, Wenham, Concord Wagon, 2 00

Dean cV, White, Georgetown, Wagon, 2 00

William TSoyes, Newburyport, Wagon, 2 00

Francis Dane, Hamilton, Butter, Isl premium, diploma and 10 00

Oliver Patch, Hamilton, Butter, 2d premium, 8 00

Clarisa S. Caldwell, Ipswich, Butter, 3d premium, (> 00

•J. C. Underbill, Peabody, Butter, 4th premium, 4 00

Liicy Marshall, Ipswich, Cheese, 2d premium, .3 00

I). F. Appleton, Ipswich, ])remium, dijiloma and 30 00

James R. Nichols, Haverhill, diploma.

UKAIN t'ROI'S.

J. (.'. vV R. Jacpies, AV'est Newbury, Corn (Vop, 1st pre-
mium, diploma and 10 00
J. C. (fe R. Ja(|ues, West Newbury, Rye Crop, 1st pre-

tnium, diploma anri 10 OC

l");^,

ROOT CUOl'S.

'Thom;is Saunders, Hamilton, Kuta Bagas, 1st premium, di-
ploma and 10 WO

Joseph N. Kolfe, Xewhiiry, Onion T'rop, 1st premium, di-
ploma and 10 00

A. r. Xoyes, Middleton, Onion Crop, gratuily, 10 00

Paul T. Winkley, XewLuryport, l^otatoe Crop, 1st premium,

diploma and 10 00

SMAf.I, J'KUITS.

Ij.Y. Huntinj^tcni, Aiuesbury, Strawberry Crop, 1st premium, 10 00

ESSAYS.

Francis IT. Appleton, AVest Peabody, 1st prem., diploma and 1.") 00

Charles J. Peabody, Topsfield, 2d premium, 10 00

iFrank H. Palmer, Roxford, ;5d premium, H 00

llKrOKTS OF COMMITTEKS.

33en. Perley Poore, West Newbury, 1st preri\., di})lomu and 10 00

A. H. Patch, Hamilton, 2d premium, 8 00

Joseph How, Methuen, Qd premium, (3 06

Awarded by Committee on Vegetables and Herbs, -f 66 00

" Fruit, 167 50

" Flowers, .'{;5 00

" " " " Counterpanes, Pugs, etc., ."56 00

" Fancy Articles, 28 00

*' " General Merchandise, • 8 00

" Bread and Honey, 10 00

*■' " Articles manufactured from

Leather, It 00

)81,278 00

154
RECAPITI'LATIOX

Amount awarded to Farms, §30 00

•' '* I'loughing, 109 00

" " Farm Implements and Car-

riages, 49 OO

$188 00'

lAKM STOCK.

Amount

awarded to Fat Cattle,

2:i 00

«i

" -

Bulls,

40 00

4(

Milch Cows,

70 00

"

Heifers,

07 00

««

Working Oxen and Steers,

58 00

"

Steers,

19 00

»«

Stallions,

;58 00

<i

Breeding INIares,

2.5 00

♦'

Family Horses,

;53 00

"

Farm and Draft Horses,

45 00

"

Colts,

49 00

"

Swine,

29 00

"

Sheep,

22 00

(i

Poultry,

46 00

FARM TKODUCE.

Amount awarded to Vegetables,
" Fruits,

" " Flowers,

Dairy,
" " Bread, etc.,

*' ■ " Grain Crops,

" " Root Crops,

*' " Small Fruits,

" " All other objects.

Total,

.559 00.

()6

00'

l<i7

00

;53

00

33

00

19

00

20

00

40

00

10

00

143

00

531

00

SI,

,278

00

LIST OF MEMBERS

OF TIIK

Essex Agrk ultural Society.

Note. — Tliose marked Avitli * deceased i^'mce l^rdil : with f
removed from the county. For names of membei's deceased
l»re\ious to 1801), refer to list pul)]ished that year.

*|{ailey. Thomas
IJinney, William V.
Cole, Augustus K.
I'^vans. John
(Goodwin, A. E.
(iunnison, William
Haskell, William H.

Abbott Asa A.
Abbott, George A.
Abbott, Ilartwoll, !>.
.Vbbott, John B.
*Abl)ott, Jonathan
Abbott, Moody IJ.
Abbott, Stephen 1).
Abbott. Sylvester
*Ballard, Joshua
lilunt, Charles C.
lUunt, Milton J.
lianiwell. Simeon
jHodwell, Henry A.
tBond, William'
Callahan, Robert
Carruth, Isaac
Chiekerin^, William
fChamberlain, N., Jr.
.Chandlei-, Joseph

AMESBURY.

Jones, J^hilip
fMoore, Appleton
Morse, John S.
Nichols, Charles H.
*Nichols, Stephen, Jr,
Patten, T. B.
(^nimby, Thomas W.

ANDOVER.

tChipman, Degrass
Cheever, James
*Clark, Ilobart
Cummings, C. ().
IFarnham, John C.
tFlag<j;, Wilson
Flint, John
Foster, Thomas C.
Foster, George
Foster, Moses, Jr.
•fFreneh, Charles
tFrench, (ieorge H.
*Gray, David
Harnden Henry C.
Hazen, Nathan W.
Hidden, Davi.l 1. C.
Holt, Dean
Holt, K. F.
fllolt. Herman

Sargent. J. B.
Sargent, Orlamlo
Sargent, Patten
Sargent, AVillis
Sawyer, Aaron
Sawyer, Thomas C.
Tukesbnrv. D. M.

Holt, H. !'.
Jenkins, John 1>.
Jenkins, Kendall
Kimball, Walter H.
Mason, George F.
*Merrill. William
Morton, ]Marcus, Jr.
*Needham, Samuel
fPiei'ce, William
*Pettingill, Merrill
l*helps, Hermon
Pillsliury, Paul ]'.
Rogers, Fitzwilliain
Raymond, Samu(d
ilea, Jasper
Smith, Peter
I'pton, Edward V.
Whittier, Nathaniel

15(>

AppU'ton, Isaac
Baker, .Folin 1.
liaker, Stephens
('base, Samuel
Cole, Zacliariah
Cressy, Joseph
Conelly, Stephen
J)odge, Aaron
I^oilge, lliehard
Dodoe, William K.
Edwards, Ephraim .V.
Edwards, Israel ( ).
Friend, Setli
Foster, Henrv W.

BEVERLY.

Giles, IJenj. A'.
Haven, Franklin
llerriek, Joseph II.
Lai'com, David
Lummus, E. E.
Lord, Abraham
Lord, Cyrus W.
Lovetf, Francis
^Marshall, Timotiiy
Mason, Lyman
]Mason, Alplionso
Meacom, .lolin
-Mitehell, Charles
I'aine, Charles C.

I'orter, Adoniram
"i'orter, John
fForter. llohert
Kankin, Kli C.
fSaflbrd, Nathaniel T.
Stephens, Augustus
*Sheldon. Jesse
Standley, Sam'l J). (J.
fvStone, Edwin Rl.
Walker, Lawson
Waters, IJichard V.
fWaters. W^illiam C.
Wilson, Joseph

Andrew. Isaae W.
I>arnes, IJ. S.
Cleveland, AVm. N.
t'ole, John K.
Curtis, Franeis
Chadwiok, (ieo. N\'
ly.w. John

BOXFORD.

Day, -foshua T.
tGould. Jacob
Hale, Isaac
Hale. John
Harriman, Daniel F
llerriek, Israel
Kill.im. Oliver I'.

Kimball. Samuel
Taliner, Charles Lane
Perley. Charles
Sawyer, 'J homas
W^ood, Enoch
Wood. John T.

Carlton, ffamcs T.
Carlton, Nathaniel
Chadwick, Henry M.
Cogswell, George
Cogswell, William
Day, Albert J.
Day, Hiram
Day, Lafayette
Day, Uoyal
Elliott, Williinn
Ellis, John A.
Emerson, ('harles 15.
(Jage, Edmund.
Hopkinson, Samuel W.
Ilaseltine, Thomas

BRADFORD.

Haseltiue, William
riohnson, A. F.
Johnson, Charles ( l.
Johnson, Laburfon
Kimball, Albert
Kind>all, A. Labnrlon
Kimball, Charles
Kimball, David
Kimball, Henry (J.
Kimball, Leverett
Kimball, Seth
*Kimball, Sdvester.
Kimball, William I>.
Kimball, AVm. lyuslaci-
Little. Mrs. M. V.

*Locke. Oliver
.Morrill, John F.
Morse, ('. F.
fXichols, Albert.
Ordwa^', Alfred
Ordway, Enoch F.
tOrdway, (ioo. W.
Ordway, Warren
I'eabody, Frank
I'eabody, Daniel
I'erley, John
fl'orter, William K.
•Sawyer, Samuel C.
Tewksbiu-y, John I».
+ Titcomb, Charles W

DANVERfi.

tAdams, Marshall ('.
liartlett, James A.
lii'iry, Allen A.
lierry, Ebcn (J.
Black, William
lioanlman, I. P.
JJrown, Amos
IJrovvn, Cliark's \\ .
IJutlcr, J. C.
Cimimings, Snmiu'l \\
fDeviTCUx, (Jeorgc F.
Dcmsi-y, L. P.
])oil<fe, Elnathan
DodgL', Francis
Dodov, AVilliam, .!.•.
iV'Uows, All'red
Fowler, Samuel P.
Fowler, Augustus
Freneli, ( ieorgc \N'.
(lould, Charles II.
(Jrosvenor, David A.
tHolden, Setli
Hyde, Elisha C.
Knight, S. l^everett
Lauder, William A.
Lane, Renjamiu 'V.
Langley, .1. P.

Andrews, Klias
Andrews, Klilui
Andrews, Josepli
Andrews, Miles S.

Legro, Edmun<|
Learoyd, A. P.
Martin, (Jeorge 15.
Massey, S. 1).
^Merrill, Samuel A.
Merrill, Levi
*Merrill, Ernest S.
Moody, II. L.
Mudge, Edwin
Xichnls, Andrew-
Page, Nathan, ,h-.
IVart. William V,.
Perley, A. P.
Perley, Frederick
I'erry. James M.
Pettingill, David A.
Pope, Ira P.
Porter, Benjamin F.
Pratt, Amos
Preston, Charles P.
Preston, John
Preston, Samuel
Preston, John S.
Prince, Amos
Putnam, Charles O.
Putnam, Orrin
Putnam, Otis F.

ESSEX.

Clioate, Davitl
Cogswell, Chas. 15.
I >odge, Grover
Haskell, David L.

IJurnham. D. 15rainerd Haskell, George
i5uinliam, Washington Knowlton, Aaron

* Adams (Jeorge E.
IJateman, A. V.
Boynton, George W.
fBrocklebank, Samuel
Butler, Oliver S.
Chapman, .fonathan

GEORGETOWN.

Dole, Moody S.
] )ole, Richmond
Hoyt, John A.
Jewett, .lacob F.
*Jewett, Robert
Lambert, Nathaniel

Putnam, F. W.
Putnam, Eben
Putnam, Edwin F.
Putnam. I^'rancis P.
Putnam, Israel II.
Putnam, J. A.
Putnam, Joel
Putnam. Rufus
Putnam, Wni. R.
Richards, Daniel
Sears, John A.
Silvester, Joshua
Spaulding, Samuel W-
Swan, Sylvanus B.
Swinerton, John
Tapley, (ieorge
Tapley, Gilbert
Tapley, (iilbert A.
*Tapley, Nathan
Waite, Peter
W'allis, Samuel
Walcott, William II.
AVarren, .Varon W.
W^arren, Jonas
Weston, Wm. I.,.
White, Amos A.
*Wilkins, Joe.l

Lee, JCdward K.
Low, Aaron
Low, Josiah
Mears, Wm. H..
Perkins. John
Story, Ephraiui.

Little, Samuel
Levering, John 11.
Moulton, Daniel E
Nelson, Charles
Nelson, Solomon
Nelson, Shernuin

158

Nclt.on, William
Osgood, Stephen
rettingell. Henry
rillshury, J.
Poor. Samuel 'I".
Preston. John

Sanborn, (Jeorj^e W.
Spofford, Sumner P.
Tenney. (ieorjre J.
Tenney, Richard
Tenney, Moses
TenneA', ^Nlilton (i.

Tenney, Orlando J 5.
Tenney, (lorham 1).
Wheeler, William S.
Wilson. Isaae
Wildes, (ireen

IJab.-oii, John J
IJabson, Gustavus Jr,
I«abs(jn, Daniel T.
liarrett, Charles 1'.
Hoynton.^CharUs
Jjutler, Benjamin F.
Clark, .John
Davis, William P.
Dale. Eben, Jr.
1 )('nnin. (ieor^e

GLOUCESTER

Garland, Joseidi
(Jriflin, Bennett
Iladlcy, William
Harvey, Alonzo 1".
Herriek, Gardner W.
Janu'^, Geor<,a'
Jones, William
l>ane, Andrew
i>ow, David W,
Lowe, Sidney

Parsons, William I'd
Patch, Isaac
I'earce, Edward H.
Piicker, Pichard W.
Uojier.-;, John ."*>.
Kust, William P.
Stanwood, Barnard
*Stevcns, Zachariali
Wonson, (ieorjre M.

Atwood, Moses P.
At wood Daniel
l')al(di, Eustis
P>alch. Thomas H.
I » urban k, John
Clark, Elijah
Curtis, Edwin 'l\
I^'etran, Henry C.
Hale, E. G. M.
Ifarch. Ira

GROVELAND.

Harrington, Edward
Hopkinson, Waiter, H.
I.,add, John I.
Ladd, Nath'l E.
Ordway, Leverett .S,
Parker, Benjamin
Parker, Eldred S.
Pemberton, Luther K.
Savary, Charles G.
Savarv, Charles P.

S[)otiord, .Jeremiah
Stickne\', Daniel H.
Stickney, Abel
fStickney, Niles 'I".
Stickney, Charles
Wardwell, Z. C,
Wales, Herbert E.
Woodman, L*a S.
Walker, (ieorjie S.

»l>artlett, James A.
IJarry, J. M.
Bodwell, Stephen
Brickett, Barnard
Brickett, Daniel
P.rickett, Daniel H.
Brickett, Franklin
Butters, Charles
Caldwell, William
Carlton, John
( 'arlton. Samue!

HAVERHILL.

Carlton William P).
(!hase, Abel W.
Chase, C. W.
fCoburn, A. M,
Coffin, (ieorge
Corliss, Charles
Curriei", Samuel M.
Cushman, K. P.
t'ummings, Henry
("ook, Justice T.
Clark, William P.

Cheever, H. W.
Dewhurst, James
fDavis, Phineas E.
Davis, George MV.
Dunbar, Charles H.
Eaton, Harrison
Elliott, Samuel H.
Elliott, Samuel
Emerson, Albert
Emery, Benjamin E.
Emerv, Moses d. -h

i.-):*

Farnswortlj. J. II.
Farrar, Joseph E.
Fellows, Samuel
Fitts, I), r.
Flanders, Daniel D,
fFletcher, Edmund
Frothingbam, Edw'd G.
(Jale, James E.
Gardnei', John
George, M. 1).
(Jile, James F.
(iilman, John 1*.
Goodrich, T. rl.
Grieves, J.
Hale, 8amucl
Haseltine, Amos, jr.
♦Harding, Thomas
*Harmoii, David ]*.
fHazeltine, Ha/en
Holt, Cliarles
Hooke, Daniel
How, Moses
Howe, Nathaniel S.
*Hovt, (Jeorge II.
Ho} t, Humphrpy
Ingalls. E. T.
Jeff'ers, William
Keely, John
Kittredge, Alfred
LackcN . Andrew

Allen, Fratuis U.
*Brovvn, Jacob
Brown. W illiani A.
tHiirnham, Choate
Dane, George
Dane, Samuel
Dane, Francis
Dane, (ieorge E. V.
Dane, VVm. ,\.

•Andrews, David
Andrews, Theodore

fLee, (jicor^e \V.
fLittle, Edmund I>.
fLittle, J, (J. S.
Longfellow, Samuel
Marsh, John J.
Merrill, William
Mitchell, E.
Mitchell, Seth K.
Morse, John
Morse, S. E.
Nichols, .lames R.
Ni diols, Jo'm H
tXichol:-. John A.
Noyes, J inies
Noyes, Johnsnn
Oberton, W. \V. S.
Ordway, Joshua H.
Patch, raul D.
fPlummer, H ram
* Porter EUeue/.cr
Porter. Dudley
Putiuim. Moses W.
Katidall, John P.
IJichards, William li
Richardson, John Pi.
Roberts, Stephen
Robinson J]dwin
Savary, Robert
Shattuck, L. P.,jr.
Slocuni, Rufus

HAMILTON.

Dodge, Allen W.
Dodge, Emerson P.
I )odge, ( Jeorge B.
Knowlton. Isaac
Knowlton, Isaac F.
Knowlton, Joseph
Lamson, Jarvis
Morgan, Luther S.

IPSWICH.

Appleton, Daniel F
Baker, S. N., Jr.

S'cepei', S!i('il>urne C
Smith, .I.'ssc
SiniU'v, flaiiie^ ^'.
Spiller. J. 15
Stewart. John
Swett, Jack:-nM B.
Taylor, Marl in
Taylor. Oliver
Taylor, Levi
'I'itcomb, Benaiah
Tompkins, Christ'r
Towle. Samuel K.
Turner, James
W.idleigh. Levi C.
Webster, David
Webster, Ebene/er
*\Vebster. Nathan
Websti-r. Richard
Webster, E. F.
tWelch. Ezra B.
^^ e>t, Thomas
Wesf, II. K.
Wisr. .James F.
Winchell, .James II.
*Wingate Moses
Wheeler, Allison
White, James D.
*Whittier, Leonard
Whittier, Warner H.
Whittier, Alvah

fNorris, (ieorge
Patch, Asahel 11.
Patch, Oliver Mrs.
Porter Oliver
Satford, Daniel E.
Smith, Alvin
Smith, John
Whittredge, John

Bond, James W.
Bray, Frederick

Itld

IJrown, Aaron F.
IJrown, ^lanassoli
Brown, John
Brown, William <l.
Caldwell, Al)rahani
Clark, Erastiis
Cogswell, Kbenezer
Cogswell, William
Conant, (lilbert
J)odgt', IJiclianl ']'.
tFarlry, Allre.l M.
"*Fark'y, Joseph
fFarley, Robert. .Ir.
Fall, Tristam I>.
Fellows, Alunzo 1>.
(rould, Jalin J.
Grant, .lohn

Ambro^(', Nathaniel
Bodwell, Asa M.
tBryant, Oliver
Cabot, George 1).
Currier, Kben T>.
*l)eeker, J. M.
Diirant, Adolphus
Durant, W. A.
Emerv, Levi
Freneh. A. J.
(iile, W. F.
Harmon. Natlian W .

*Allen, Jaeob A.
Baker, Ezra
Batcheldei', -John
Blaek. James D.
Breed. Andrew,s
Breed, Henry A.
Breed, Neliemiah. .Jr.
Brown, Ira P.
Chase. Nathan D.
fChaniberlain, Win. 1).
tCoiTir.-shall, .1. II-
■[•Collins. K/.ra

Grant, .Joshua B.
(ireen, George II,
Haskell, George
Hob! IS, John
Hodgkins, Augustine
Hurton, Joseph
Ilodgdon, George
Hunt, Samuel
Hurd, Y. (J.
Jewett, Israel K.
Jordan, ]\Irs. Robert
Kimball, Charles
Kimball, l)ani(\l
Kinsman. .Joseph F.
Kinsman, William H.
fLocke, Calvin
I.,ow, Tliomas

LAWRENCE.

llerriek. Fred. St. Chiir
llerrick. H. C.
Herriek, .James I).
Hills. George W.
Hood, ( Gilbert E.
Howard. .T. B.
Hubbard, Leavitt
f Kimball, .Tosiah
tKimball, William M.
Lamb, William ]).
."Mallard, :\Irs. L.
.Merrill, (ieorge S.

LYNN.

Davis, lOdward S.
lanery, ( ieorge 10.
Fay. William J*.
Graves, Samuel
Harris, \. S.
llawkes, Nathan M.
Healy, Mark
I lovey, lluf'us 1*.
Keene, (ieo. W.
Kimball, llnfus
Merritt, Cliarli.s

Marshall, .Joseph
fMerrill, E/.ekiel ()_
Mitchell, Frederiek
Ferley, David T.
Potter, Asa T.
Ivogers, Isaiah A.
Boss, .Joseph
Sjiatswell. Nathaniel
Smith, Webster
Story, Alden
Stone, Augustine.
Tappan, Amos
t^Vade, William F.
Waite, iVbraham I).
Wade. Asa
AYhittier, Maynard
A\'oree>ter. Ira

I'n-e, K. F.
Page, Edward
KoUins. John B.
Bussell. W, A.
Ste\ens, William
Saunders. Daniel, .Jr-
AVarren, .\lbert
Wilder, (;. W.
"Wheeler, H. T.

Wright, w. u.r.

*\\'ebster, ( liarles

Xcwhall, Hiram L..
Norris, (Jeorge, Jr.
Nye, James JI.
Osborn, William
fOsborn. William If.
Pottei'. lOdward V.
Shore}'. .John L.
Spinney, William X.
Saunderson, Joseph N.
Csher, Bohind G.
t\Vvm,in. Isaac

Browu, Josei)ll
Dan forth, John
tEiDorson, D. P.
Emerson, Hubbard
Ilawkes, (leor^e L.

Allen, Luther
Burnham, Frederick
Chase, Joseph S.
Cheever, William N.
Fitts, William
Friend. Daniel W.

Alley. Franklin
Appleton, ThoniHs
Child, Caleb
Cloutman, Henry
(xregory, J. J. II.
Hathaway, Joseph !>.

Barker, J. B.
Barker, Stephen
Bradley, Leverett
Butters, George "\A'.
Currier, Daniel
Davis, John
F.merson, Jacob, Jr,
Frederic, John W.
Gage, George W.
(ioss, Charles K.

Berry, Jonathan
Berry, William
Currier, George A.
Flint, JaTues

Adaui;?, Charles
Adams, Charles W
Adaras, John J.

161

LYNNFIELD.

llerrick, George K.
Newhall, Josiah
fPerkins, John II.
Perkins, John

MANCHESTER.

Gentlee, Ihomas P.
Hildreth, John D.
Knight, Henry
Knight, John, Jr.
Lee, John
Price, John

MAHBLEHEAI).

Hathaway, Soth W.
fMillett, Joseph
Nutting, John
Paine, Thos. Thomp'^on
llobinson, Frederick
t^^mith, Andrew

METHUEX,

Hicok, S. S.
How, Christopher
How, Joseph
How, Joseph S.
Ingalls, Charles
Ingalls, Joseph F.
Low, John*
Morrison, D. T.
Morse, Jonathan

MIDDLETON.

IIutchin.soUj J. A.
Xoyes, A. P.
Phelps, \Viniam \.
Utiles, David

XEWBUKV.

* Adams, John C.
Bray, Kichard S.
Caldwell, David S.

fUichardson, Ch;ules
■fSmith, Joseph
Smith, Henry E.
Symonds, (Jeorge W

Smith, A. W.
Tappan, Lewis W.
Tappan, Benjamin
Tappan, Ebenezer
Tappnn. Israel F.

Ware, Benjamin P.
Ware, Horace
Warren, David
Winslow, George W,
f Wyman, Israel
fWyman, Luke

XcvinSj David
Patterson, D. H.
Phippen, G. S,
llollins, Amos C
"*Russ, John
Sargent, S. (x.
Sleeper, William
Tozier, C. L.
fWelch, John

Sliles, Farnham
Stiles, Hiram A.
Wellman, John K.

Col man, Moses
Goodrich, William T.
Illsley, Paul M.

11

U'rJ

JiKjiK :s. Kicliiird T.
sFaqucs, T. W.
Kent, John N.
Kent, Joshua N.
Langk'v, Wilhain
Lonofellow, H. F.
Longfellow, J. ]\Irs.
Longfellow. .1.
Little, E; ('.
Little, Edward IL
Little, Stephen 'SV.

Adams, .1. (iuiiicy
Adams, Kufns
*Akernian. John
Akei-nian, Joseph
Ashby, William
Bak'h,John II.
Ballon, C. X.
Eartlett, T. K.
IJaleheldii'; Daniel ('
liattell, Elbridge
Boardman Isaao H.
Brewstei-, AVm. II.
IJriclier William
Brown, David 1".
Canney, Hiram
Capers, Thomas
Carey-, James
Cofiin, Frederiek -I.
Colby, (ieorge .1. I>.
Colman, James ( .
Colman, Daniel T.
Colman, AVilliam I'.
Currier, Warren
dishing, Caleb
Cutter. Eben 1'.
Davis, Beniamiu
Delano, ( )tis
fDodge, John S.
Dyer, J. B.
tFernald, Ilenrv I'..
Frencli, ('iirtis

Little, Nathaniel
Little William
Ivittle. Tristram
Lunt, Joseph
Luut, J. Austin
Lunt, Charles ISI.
Luey, Gideon IL
Moody, X. W.
Noyes, Luthei'
Xoyes, flames
Oi'dway. Mood}'

XEWBURYPORT.

Gale, Stephen M. •
(ieorge, Cieorge
GriHin, Eliphalet
Hale, .loshna
Ilale, Josiah L.
Hale, Isaac, Jr.
Hamlet, Daniel
Hart, James S.
"Horton. Daniel
fliudson. Clmrles II.
HufV. William
Hu.-e, William H.
Ireland, Charles H.
.lackman. George W.
Juluison. NN'illinm I*.
Kelley, E. (J.
Little, Moses S.
i/ittle John (L
i^unl, ^I-eajah
l-unt, Charles
^larston. Stej)l.en W.
.Merrill, Enoeh
Merrill, Samuel, Jr.
!Morse, Daniel L.
.Morse. James M.
?Jorss. flosej)!! 15.
.Mosely, ivdward .V.
.Mosely, Edward S.
Monlton, Jo.seph
Moulton. Henry W.
N'e^vll;lll, Joshua L.

I'lummer, Greenleal
Plnmmer, (r. II.
Plummer, Daniel, Jr.
Poole, B. B. Mrs.
Perkins, Charles L. •
Ptrkins. ^A'. W.
Randall, G. A.
liolfe, Joseph X.
Thurlow, William

AVoods, c. ^^^

Youna, Hiram

Xewhall, Asa T.
Xoyes, William, .Jr.
Ordway. Parsons
Page, ffohn T.
Pearson, J. P.
I'erley, R. M.
I'ettingell. Moses
fl'hillips, Samuel
I'lummer, Moses .V.
Pray, Pufus
Pemick, John 10.
"Robinson, J. I).
Shoof. Henry
Smith. David
Smith, lydmund
Smith, Robert A.
Stanley. B. F.
Stanley, ,\. C.
tStearns, Edwin
Stone, Jacob
fSumner, riohn
Tilton, Enoeii
Titeomb, Paul
Tapi)au, Samuel B.
Toppan. lOdward S.
t Walker, De.xter M.
fWilliams. Robert
Winkley, Paul T.
Winkley. J. Otis
Wood, David

(i;;

fA^jplcloii. S. F.
Bailey, Charles I'.
Berry, Jaool)
Blake, J. V.
BiitterfieUljCliaili - A.
Carltou, Daniel
Carltou, .Ji)sci>li
tCrosby, Josiali
Davis. George (i.
Davi*, Georue ]..
Dale, Williaui J.
Dale, William J. .!:•.
Dole, Francis F.
Farnluini, B. II.
Farnliaiu, Jvn o\>
Farnham, J. 1..
Foster, J. Frank
Foster. John I'.

XOKTH ANDONKB

tFoster, J. I'n'xnti
Fester, William
Foster, Samm 1
Foster, Orrin
Freneh, (k-orgc
French. J. 1). ^^'.
Fuller, Abijah V.
Gage, John C.
Goodhue, Hiram I',
(ireen, Arthur M.
I [ill, Samuel V*.
tJa(jnitli, Christopher P.
Jenkins. Ik-njamin V.
Jenkins. Milon B.
Johusan, Theron
Kittredgc, .Joseph
Manning, John
.Monl^omerv. James \.

Nasun, James
Feters, Nathaniel
Peters, William
Phelps, W. W.
Phelps, II. L.
Poor, James
fl'oore, Matlnflv
Iveynolds, James H.
fSlade, Jarvis
fSpaulding, Amos
Spotibrd, Farnham
Stevens, Moses T.
Shattuck, Thomas C.
Sutton, Kben
Symonds, Frcderiek
fWardwell, Orin
»Weed, Dan
fWilson, Abie!

Abbotl, Alhed A.
Allen. Lewis
Appluton. Francis II.
Ayer, Ilazen
Bancroft, Sidn/y C.
Barrett, K. P.
Basford, P. \i.
Jiatchelder, Malaejii F.
Blaney, Stephen
Bodge, Horatio
Bu.\ton. Daniel, Jr.
Buxton, Joshua
Buxton, Robert ('•.
Clement. John B.
Cook, Henry
Colcord, J. L.
Curtis, Andrew
fDavis, Mark
Fairtield, Joseph
Felton, William 1 1.
Flint, Thomas
Flint Horace P.

PEA BODY.

I\>bter, James B.
Goodale, Byron
( Joodale, J. V.
f Gunnison, EIi>h;i
Hardy. Isaac
Hills, Benjamiif M.
fHoyt, Joseph
Hutchinson, Samuel
Hubbard, John L.
Ilunlingtou. Benjamin
Jacobs, Edwaid W.
King, Adjos
King. Eben
King, Henry A.
King. James P.
King, Jonathan
King. Perley
Little, William II.
fLow, Caleb
^larsh, James
-Marsh, John
*Marsb, Philip

Merrill Wiugate
Needham, Joseph S.
Osborn, Abraham C.
Osborn. David
Osborn. Kendall
Osgood. Joseph
Potter, William
Poor, Henry
*Peirson, A. L.
fPhillips, Alonzo P,
J'oole, Fitch
Poor, Eben S.
Preston, Mosi-s
Proctor, Abel
Proctor, John W,
■Proctor, Thorndik 0
Kichard50n, W. li.
Saltonstall, Henry
*Sangei', Abner
Sawyer, Asa
*Scott, Benjamin
Shaoklt'.y, MosVf \.

1H4

Soutliwick. SiiuiiK'r
Stevens, John V,
Sutton, William
Sweet, Samuel
Underhill, .7. C.

Kstes, Mden C
Lune, Andrew
I -owe, William
Manniiiir, Janu's

Ciessy, J. S.
Dole, Charles
Dunimcr, N. N.
Fosii, Joshua
Hale, Daniel J.
Hale, Joseph

Andrews, Kandal
Andrews, Samuel V.
Barton, Gardner
*Barton, William C.
*Bowdoin, Willard L.
Jirookliouse, Robert, .Ir
Chamberlain, James
Chase, Stephen A.
Chase, William
Collins, William
Cressy, Josiab I*.
Cross. John I).
Daland, John
Endicott, William I'.
Endieott, W'ilHam C,
Felt, John
Fiskc, Joseph I-.
Foote, Caleb
Foster. Joseph C"
Foster, AVilliani H.
Foster, William J.
Goodhue, AVilliam P.
(.iray, Benj. A.
Ifath^wa^v, John,

I plon, Eben S.
Upton, Stephen
Viles. Bowman
Waleott. John C.

ROCKPORT.

Norwood, Goi'ham
Patch, William IT.
Pool, Ebenezer
Ivow. Ebenezcr

ROWLEY.

Hale. Thomas
Mighill, Charles ().
Morrison, Daniel
Nelson, 1). Osear
Payson, Aloses P.
Pike. John

SALEM.

*Uuntington, .Vsahid
Ives, John M.
Ives. John S.
Ives, William
Jones, Samuel (i.
KimbiU. James
Kinsman. Joliu
Lee, John C.
Lord, William
Loring. (leorgo 15.
Mack William
Maloon, William
Manning, Robert
Merritt, David
Messorvey, William S.
Metealf, Benjamin G.
Milton, T. Payson
Newcomb, Caleb
fNichols, (Jeorge. Jr.
Northend, William D.
Noyes, E. K.
Oliver. H. K.
Oliver, Saninel C.
O'Shea, M.

AVallis, David B.
Walton, George D.
Wheeler. Benjamin
Wheeler, Benjamin S.

Rowe, Jabez
Smith, Allen
Smith, Beman ('.
Smith, David

Potter, Edward IT.
Proctor, George
Smith. George J.
T"iteon\b, Albert
Todil. Daniel (J.

Peabody. John P.
Peirson, Edw. B.
Perkins, J. C.
J^hillips, Willard P.
Perkins, E. R.
Phippen, George D.
Pickering, John
Potter, Daniel
*Proetor, William
Pulsifer, Joseph
Bobtrts, William
fRobinfon, J. A.
Kogers, A. D.
Rogers, George W.
Rogers, Richard S.
Russell, John L.
Saunders, Thomas
Saunders, William
.Saunders, Robert J.
*Smith, ('alel)
Stimpson, James C.
Stow, Volney C.
Story, Augustus
^trceter, Gilbert L.

16.5

A\'ai-e. Horace
Ware, Horace C.
Wentzell, David

fAyer, James H. 15.
Clark, Thomas J.
(,'iirrier. Jacol),

Wheailaiul, Henry
Winkley, Knoeh

SALISBURY.

Currier. W. H. B.
Evan.«, Benjamin

SAUGUS.

Hatch. Anthony Xewhall, Herbert E.

H(Mi;jjbton, Hi^s. (). W. I'ennev, Geor<re H.

Mudge, E. U.
Phillips, J. n.

Adam;*. B. T.
Batchelder, Ezra
*Balch, Abraham
Bradstreet, Dudley
Clark, David
'^Cleaveland. John
Elliott, Israel D.
Einvrson, Thoiija.'^ J

Alley, Henry
•*Batchelder, Joseph
Bodge, Richard F.
Dodge, Andrew
Dodge, Ezra
Dodge, (ieovgo A,
Dodge. George F,

Bailey, Uriah.
Brown, Hayden
Brown, Osgood
Hrown, Robert L.
Carr, George W
Carr. James
Carr, Moses
v^''aTr» Saoniel

SWAMPSCOTT,

Palmer, John P.
Pitnani, Samuel C.

TOPSFIELD.

(jould, Ariel H.
Derrick, Charles
Hood, S. D.
*Hubbard, William
Lake, Charles H.
Lamson, J. .\rthur
Leach. Thomas K.
Miinning, James

WENHAM.

Hodge, Rufus F.
Edwards. Francis R.
Fiske, Alfred R.
Gould, Amos
Morgan. William B.
Hadloy. Franklin
Ilobb.s A. F.

WEST NEWBURY,

Chas-e, Samuel S.
FoUunsbee, B. A.
*Goodwin, Thos. C.
Goodridge. David L.
Goodridge, Horace M.
(loodridge, Joseph
Gowen, Ezckiel
froT'^on, .Ta^fipli Z-

^V'uodis. Alder. IJ,
fWyman, RufuH

* French. Moses
Gale. Josiah B.

Robinson, E. P.
*.'^\vee(ser. George H.

Stetson, Charles .V.
Wajhbtnn, John

Munday. William
Peabody, Charles J.
Pierce, T. W.
Poole, Benjamji)
*Kea. John jr.
Ward, Richard
Wildes, Moses
Wilson. Jiimes

Hobbs, Henry
Patch. Henry
Porter, William
Pingree, William (i
Robinson, John L.
Tilton, (ieorge H.
Waters, Robert H,

Grithu, B. F. S. .
Hosam, George
.faques, Romulus
Little, Edmund
Little. Oti*
Merrill, Elbridge
Merrill, William
Moodv Samuel Jr.

KR)

Moore. Alfred I>.
."Moulton, Daniel
*Moseley, C'Larlts ('
Nelson, Daniel 1'.
Xewell, Joseph
Xieholi^, Daniel W
Noyes, Anson W.
Xoye?, Stephen K.
<^)rdway, Cyrus Jv.
Ordway, Hanson
< )!(lwav. ^[i)odv

( )rd\vay. Tbonias G.
I'illsbury, Daniel
I'oiire, Amos
Poore. Hen: TV-rley
Voore, deorne II.
Toor, Closes 11.
Jtidgeway, Joseph X.
IJidifeway. Moses M.
Uidgeway. Sarah L.
liogers, Calvin
IJo'rers. Charle>

Rogers, (ienrjic C.
liogers. Ilirani
Smith. Amos
Smith, David
Smith, .James
Smith. Closes
Stanwooil. Moses 1*.
Thinlow, (ieorge,
Thurlow, Stephen C
Thnrlow. Thonnis C,
Tozei'. llirnm

Clark, Jo.'-eph F,
Flint, Charles L.
Gannett, W. W.
Kimball, Jonathan
King, D. Webster
Maynard. Lambert
X'orthend, K. T.
I'arker, James M.
Putnara, Benj;iniin C
Snow. Jesse W.
AVhittemore, Charii-.-
Ware. Darwin E.
Currier, Wm. A.
I'ayson, Thos. K.
Chapin, Wm, C.

XOX - RESIDEXTS.

Boston. I'oov. lieury.

IJoston. Lyford, Geo. II.

lioston. Payson, Sand T.

liostbn. Green, John A.

Boston. Cori>y, Chas. A.

Bo-ton. Baleh, Wm. II.

Boston, liogers, Benjamin

Boston. Chase. Joseph S.

Boston. Bodwell, Joseph 11.

Boston. ITutjbard, J. (J. II

\. r.oston. lIill,MoM-s

Boston. Carey. James

r)0>ton. C;dd\vell. Lmlnr

riovidence. Fowler. W. W.

Webb, Jr. Miehael

Providence

Whittemore, J. li. Chieopee Falls. Raymond. John W.

Sargent, (i. P. Philadelphia, Pa. Butters. H. A.

Cleavelaud, X. Jersey City. X. J. Andrews, M. C X

Merriaui, Arthur :\1. Colorado. Braekett. II. Clark

Evans, Benjamin \\'estboro. Hayes, J. F. C.

Eaton, Thomas ilarristown, III. Oliver, John E.

Cleaveland, H. W. S. Chicago, 111. Dow, Lorenzo

Rogers, Willinm Illinois. Stanlev, Sanitiel S.

Pag<', .\dino .Melamorn, III.

New York city.

New York.

Xcw York.

Xew York,

Xew York.

Maiden.

Maiden,

5lalden<

Hallowcll. :Me.

ampslead, X'. JL

Ucverc

Quinev,

LImira, X. Y.

Plymouth.

Cambridge.

Florida.

California.

\v Haven, Conn.

Virgini;!.

Iowa.

Everett.

Laconia, N. II.

Charh'stown.

1C7

(^ o >r T K >sr T s .

Adilress of Joseph S. Jlowc, - - - - ')

The Exhibition, ..... j'j

Kf-port on Fat ('<tttle, ... - - .-jo

Bulls, ..... :M)

Milch Cows, - - - - - ol

Herd of Mikli Cows, ... ;J;J

Heifers, ..... y^j

"Working Oxen, .... 3t;

Steers, - - - - - 37
Stallions, ....

Oi

Breeding Mares, .... :'A)

Family Horses, - - - - -JO

Farm and Draft Horses, - . - 4(J

Colts, ..... 40

Swine, - - - - - 4 1

Sheep, - - - - - 44

Poultry, - - - - . J4

Ploughing — Double Teams, - - 4 7

Ploughing— Single Teams, . - - 4 7

Ploughing — Swivel Plough, - - 47

Ploughing — By Ijoys. . - - 48

I'loughing — With Horses, - - .Vi

168

Report ou AgricuUuial linpleineutH, - - 48

Carriages, - - * - - 54

Dairy, - - - - - .j7

Pears, - - - - - 64

Apples, ----- 6o

Grapes, Pcuchcp, iVc, - - - (>6

Flowers, . . - . . 70

Vegetables, - - - - 71

Counterpanes. 6cc., - - - - 78

Articles Manufactured from Leather, - 80

Manufactures and General Merchandize, - 80

Fancy Work, - - - - 81

Farms, - - - - - 8:i

Grain Crops, . . - . 90

Hoot Crops, - - - • - - 94

Treadwell Farm, - - - - 10.5

Essays and lleports, - - - - 106

Library, ----- 107

Suggestions of Allen W. Dodge, - - - 108

Essay — Improving our Society, - - - 110

Essay — Farming as an Occupation, - - - 119

Essay— On the Utility of Birds to Agriculture, - 127

Treasurer's lleport, . - . . . 142

Officers of the Society, - - - - 144

New Members, - - -- - -145

Library Regulations, - - - - - 147

List of Premiums,' - - - - - 148

List of Members, - - - - - 155

T]R^]SrSA.CTIONS

Essex Agricultural Society,

m MASSACHUSETTS,

FOR THE YEAR 1872,

WITH THE

FIFTIETH

ANNUAL ADDRESS,

BY

HON. WILLIAM D. NOETHEND.

Publisliecl by Order of tlie Society.

SALEM, MASS.

OBSERVER STEAM PRINTING ESTABLISHMENT,

1873.

A.DDRESS.

There are at least four grand natural divisions of the United
States. They are known as the Eastern, Southern, Western
and Pacific sections. They are by nature distinguished each
from the others, by the differences in the character and wealth
of their important agricultural productions. These differences,
which are recognized by all, arise from the influences of
climate, soil, topography and geographical situation.

But the differences in the agricultural productions of the
several sections have not been more marked tlian the differences
in the great characteristics of their several populations. The
Eastern and Southern sections were settled by people of the
same I'ace and nation, yet within a brief period there were
developed in each of the two great communities, distinct,
national types of character. The original settlements of tlie
Western and Pacific sections were made principally l)y people
from the Eastern section, who, with their descendants, have
since exerted a powerful influence in the moulding of the
characters of their several populations.

Yet within the short period which has elapsed since their
first settlements, there have been developed in the people of
these sections great and distinct peculiarities of character, those
of each dissimilar from those of the other, and those of both
widely differing from the characteristics of the communities of
either of the older sections.

That these results in the great characteristics of the people
are not accidental, or caused by original difference in race of
the populations of the several communities, is further shown
from the fact that those who have immigrated from one section
to another have, in time, universally assimilated in their char-
acteristics to the people of the section of their adoption.

It can hardly be questioned that the great natural causes
which I have stated, especially climate, have determined the
agricultural productions of the country, and consequently to a
great extent the industrial pursuits of the people, and have
been largely instrumental in the production of these diversities
in the characters of the people of the several communities.

Climate and the conditions created by or attending it have
been the great causes from which were originated the differences
in the temperaments, ideas, modes of thought, habits, customs,
and in the moral and religious sentiments even, of the people
of the several sections ; indeed, they may be denominated the
primary causes of the different types of civilization, which
characterize the people of the different great divisions of the
country.

Consequently these natural causes, excepting so far as their
operations upon the characters of the people of the different
communities may be gradually, and to a limited extent, modi-
fied with their increased business and social intercourse, will
continue to exert their influences in the future, and substan-
tially the same differences in productions and in the characters
of the people will ever exist.

Man cannot so far dominate over nature that he can create a
uniformity of products in the several sections of the country,
or compel homogeneity between the people of tlie different
parts. The people of New England may not desire to conform
in their modes of living, thinking and acting to the habits and
customs of the people of the Southern, Western, or Pacific
sections, and they cannot compel the people of the other
sections to conform to the habits and customs which they have
established for themselves.

But these differences ija productions, and in the character-

5

istics of our people even, great and fundamental as they arc,
instead of causing antagonism and conflict, with wisdom on the
part of tlie different communities contribute to the highest
interest and advancement of all. Under a just system of
reciprocity and co-operation, the variety of our productions
inures to tlie benefit of the people of every section, and the
differences in the characteristics of the people of the different
parts tend to create a general catholicity of feeling, and to
incite a noble spirit of emulation between the different com-
munities, in their intellectual, social and moral advancement.

These truths our fathers comprehended. In devising a
system of government for these different communities, they
aimed at combining their several powers. They knew that a
rope is stronger made from braids than from single threads.
They did not attempt to destroy the autonomy of communities,
but to provide a system for their co-operation for the general
good. They did not attempt to interfere with the wonderful
order of nature. They proposed the grand experiment of
organizing communities, as individuals, into societies. They
established a states-system for the whole country, based upon
the internal freedom of the several parts. They left to each
large community entire control in all matters which affected its
people alone, and they conferred upon the general government
which they established, exclusive authority and power to regu-
late the intercourse of the several communities with each
other, and of the wdiole w^ith foreign nations.

Tlie states-system which had so long existed in Europe de-
pended solely upon precedents, to which each age and nation
might give its own interpretations. Our fathers made an
advanced step. They organized a Constitutional states-isystem,
in which the rights and duties of all were carefully described
and limited.

Under this system, and in, accordance with its spirit, all
business intercourse between the different sections has been
unrestricted. An unconditional free trade policy between the
different States has been maintained from the beginning, so
that interchange of products could always be made, subject
only to the cost of transportation .

6

Under this policy, each section has been largely benefitted.
The people of the Eastern section, extensively employed in
manufacturing, have received without imposition of duties a
supply of the great staple of the South, and have found a free
market for their manufactured goods in the other sections.
The people of the Southern section, employed in the cultivation
of their great and profitable staple, have been dependent u])on
the West for their cereals, and the people of the Western and
Pacific sections have found in the Eastern and Southern a
profitable market for their immense surplus of agricultural
products.

But the operations of this system of reciprocity, as devel-
oped with the growth of the country and increased facilities of
intercommunication, have produced great changes in the indus-
trial pursuits of each section.

It has tended, as do the operations of all systems for
promoting business intercourse between different communities,
to the division of labor, and to special employments.

In an isolated community, the inevitable tendency is to an
increase in the varieties of productions and employments, with
a view to make the community self-sup])orting. But wlicn
the energies and productions of different communities are
brought into free competition in their several markets, it is
found that, owing to the different natural advantages of the
several localities, certain agricultural products, indigenous to
the soil of all, can be grown in some clieaper tlian in the otliers,
and similar differences arc found in the adaptations of the
several localities for the different industrial pursuits, so that
the tendency will be in each community to ])roduce for the
market only those commodities which it has superior advan-
tages for, and to purchase other commodities which it needs,
from its associate communities, which can furnish them cheaper
than it can produce them.

Consequently, in discussing the condition of any one great
industrial pursuit in either of the large communities of the
country, it is important to understand and apply these truths,
and to inquire not only into its operations and the relations it

sustains to the other great industrial pursuits of the same com-
munity, but to study the character and extent of the productions
of the other communities with which there must be competition
in the market.

No industry of the country has been affected to such a re-
markable extent by the operations of our system of reciprocity
as that of the agriculturists of our own section. Until within
the last half century, the people of this section were largely
self-supporting. The farmer produced nearly, if not all, the
necessaries of life. He raised all the grains from which his
bread was made, the potatoes and other vegetables he required,
his beef, pork and mutton, and manufactured from the fleeces
of his flocks clothing for himself and family. He needed
money only for his trifling money taxes and for the purchase of
a few necessary articles from abroad. And he was compelled
to this mode of living from necessity. He had a scanty home
market for any surplus he produced, as the population were
principally engaged in agricultural pursuits, and with the great
cost of transportation, a poor market abroad. So for many
generations the farmer, living substantially on the productions
of his acres, to use a common expression, brought the year
about, perhaps no poorer, and fortunate if richer, at its end
than at its beginning. And so he went on through life, work-
ing hard and living upon the immediate products of his labor,
and leaving to those who came after him the lands which he
had inherited, with but little increase or decrease.

But within the last half century, the demands of the world
for cotton fabrics, and the extensive cultivation of the staple at
the South, and the settlement and cultivation of the vast and
fertile prairies of the West, have caused a great change in
New England farming.

Within this period, attracted by favorable circumstances and
natural adaptations, and stimulated by the artificial aids
afforded by protective duties on manufactured goods imported
from abroad, the people of New England have turned their
attention largely to manufacturing. As a result, large and
wealthy towns and cities have grown up, peopled by a non-

agricultural population, Avhich have created large and profitable
liome markets for agricultin*al productions. Indeed, to such
proportions has this population already grown, that the soil of
New England with its present or past cultivation, is insufficient
to supply the bread-stuffs needed for its support.

But this system of reciprocity is a system of compensations.
Whilst on the one hand it has thus operated to create large
and profitable home markets for our agricultural productions,
on the other hand it has thrown our markets wide open for
competition to agriculturists of the other sections, and the
competitor from the West has been able to produce and offer
in our markets most of the varieties of cereals cheaper than
they can be produced from our own soil. This fact has caused
alarm among our farmers. They have been reluctant to
abandon the cultivation of crops which they and their fathers
before them, regarded as important stai)les of the farm, and
there exists an apprehension that the result may be disastrous
to the farming interests of this section in the future.

If, from the character of our soil or climate or from any
other circumstances, it should appear that we have peculiar,
adaptations for the growing of these crops, and that no others
will compensate for their loss, there would seem to be ground
for such apprehension, but if on the other hand it shall be seen
that we can multiply other productions for which our soil and
adaptations are as favorable as for the raising of cereals, and
if, in addition, we can find a profitable market for such in-
crease, all cause of apprehension will be* removed.

Providentially, we are not confined to the raising of these
crops, and on the soil on which tho}^ have been cultivated we
can raise other and as profitable crops as those we are called
on to abandon, and for which we have sufficient market. From
lands in the neighborhood of the large towns can be produced
large varieties of vegetables and fruits, for wliich, with but
little cost of transportation, these towns afford a profitable
market, and from tlie lands more remote can be produced a
sur})lus of hay, for which there is a constant demand. Fields
can be advantageously cultivated for hay only in a small por-

tion of the country, and with the increasing demand for it in
our cities and towns, all will be needed that can be produced.

But the value to the farmer of the crops that he is called
upon to abandon has been much exaggerated. From statistics
of the productions of the State of Massachusetts in 1870, it
appears that the whole amount of grain produced in the State
that year from which bread can be made, is as follows :

Indian Corn - - - 1,327,000 bushels.

Wheat - - - 35,000 do.

Rye ... 232,000 do.

Oats - - - 733,000 do.

Barley - - - 126,000 do.

Total - 2,153,000 bushels.

It has been estimated that eight bushels of grain are required
to furnish bread-stuffs for each inhabitant. The population of
Massachusetts in 1870 was 1,457,354, so that the whole amount
of grain for bread-stuffs raised amounted to less than two
bushels to each inhabitant, sufficient to supply less than one
quarter part of the bread-stuffs required for consumption by the
people of the State. The value of it, at present prices, would
be about $1,700,000, and upon comparison of the statistics of
these crops made in 1870 with those made in 1840, it will
appear that there has been no considerable increase or decrease
in the production of either, whilst in that period our population
has doubled.

From the same statistics, it appears that the hay crop of
Massacliusetts in 1870 amounted to 507,000 tons, which at
$35.00 per ton would be of the value of $17,745,000, or more
than ten times the value of all the corn, wheat, rye, oats and
barley grown in the State the same year.

Whilst, then, it is plain that our farmers cannot raise cereals
as cheaply as they can be furnished from the West, yet it by
no means follows that the necessary abandonment of their cul-
tivation here is injurious to our farming interest. If our
farmers can raise equivalents in the place of these crops, and
purchase the grains that they need for their own use even.

10

cheaper than they can grow them, the change is certainly not
to their detriment.

These considerations suggest the very important questions,
what shall our farmers raise, and what mode of cultivation
shall they adopt from which tliey can expect the greatest profit ?

In considering these questions, we should have regard not
only to the crops we should grow in the place of cereals, but to
the necessary changes involved in the introduction of so large
a non-agricultural population in our communities. Upon ex-
amination, it will be found that the location of farms is of
primary consequence — whether near to or remote from large
towns. Indeed, as lands are now cultivated, the whole system
of cultivation of farms in proximity to towns is so different
from the system of cultivation of those remote, that they may
■ properly be treated separately.

Farms near to towns have a special value for the raising of
a large variety of vegetables and for the production of milk,
for which the populations of the towns furnish a ready market.
Experience has shown that for the greatest profit this cultiva-
tion must be very thorough, and that it should be made a
specialty, and that small farms under a high state of cultivation
are the most remunerative. But this mode of culture requires
very large amounts of manure, which cannot be furnished from
the farm, as it is cultivated for crops which are not returned to
the soil. This is supplied from the towns — from the stables
and the refuse of the streets and dwellings, which can be
transported to the farm at little expense, and which without
this demand would be of no value. The requirements of farms
for the production of milk are different. The farms, to be
profitable, must be larger, and, as much of the manure needed
for the crops is derived from the stock, there is, of course, less
to be transported from the towns.

But farmers remote from large towns have neither these
advantages of a market nor of manure, as the cost and time
required for transportation are too great in competition with
farmers in the vicinity of the towns. The greatest profit on
these farms is from tlie production of hay. This is their

11

specialty. And these farms for economy of management and
for profit, should be large. It is impossible for the farmer to
make a living from the production of hay, on the number of
acres which would be sufficient for the farmer near to the town.

But hay cannot be produced without manure. The farmer
must return to the soil equivalents for what he takes from it in
his annual crops, if he would keep up its condition. Every
farmer knows that a large portion of the manure applied under
the old system was required for the raising of the cereals, and
that grass is not so exhausting to the soil as corn. Conse-
quently, if the growing of cereals shall be discontinued, and
all the manure of the farm applied in the best manner for the
growing of grass, the amount grown will be much larger. But
this is not all. There is scarcely a farm in New England upon
which there are not beds of muck or other deposite, from which
material may be taken, which, incorporated with the manure of
the barn-yard, will furnish a large supply of fertilizing matter
for the farm. When the farmer learns that he is to look for
profits to the surplus of hay he produces, he will soon discover
means of increasing the fertility of his fields without resorting
to the uncertain fertilizers of commerce. But the fields from
which the hay is produced are not the only lands which require
the attention of the farmer. The condition of his pastures, in
whicli he feeds his stock a considerable portion of the year, is
of great consequence. The pastures of New England, espec-
ially those of this part of it, have sadly deteriorated. Most of
them will not support one half the stock they did half a
century ago. How far they can be economically improved, it
is impossible to predict. But all can be improved. Where
the pastures consist of good and clear land, they may be culti-
vated and manured for a few years, and the stock in the mean
time turned into the poorer fields, and thus the pastures be
fully renovated. Where this is not practicable, they may be
much improved for years by a single ploughing and seeding
down, even without the application of manures. Any stirring
up of their soils will prove l^eneficial.

These are a few of the suggestions which occur in reference

12

to the change required in the agricultare of our section. The
crops which have been referred to, have been selected not as
the only crops to be grown, but as the principal staples for the
market. Our farmers, in the necessary rotation of crops, will
find it for their advantage to raise more or less of the products
which are unprofitable in the market. They will grow some
crops for their own consumption, which they can purchase
cheaper. But these crops will be subsidiary to the main pro-
ductions. They will also find with the further growth of our
own and the other sections, that additional changes in the
varieties of crops to be cultivated will be required. We are
advancing fast and far. The various and rapidly increasing
industrial pursuits in which the people of the country are
engaged, act and re-act upon each other, and all are undergoing
constant modifications with the wonderful developments of every
year.

Thus the farmer of New England is reaping his share of the
blessings which the system of reciprocity organized by our
fathers, has conferred upon the people of the country. But
this the farmer does not always appreciate. Instead of com-
paring his condition with that of the farmer of half a century
ago, he is apt to contrast the profits of his fields with the
profits which, at the present time, capital employed in other
industries yields. He sees fortunes made in trade and manu-
factures which he can never hope to realize from his farm, and
it tends to discontent. He even concludes that farming in
New England is a doomed occupation. But if he will survey
the whole field, and consider all the circumstances and contin-
gencies of the different occupations, he will find much for his
encouragement. It is an accepted business axiom that profits
are in proportion to the risks. The risks which the men who
make large fortunes incur, are seen in the wrecks which are
strewed around us. Indeed, the risks of the money making
avocations, as they are called, are such, that if prosecuted for
a long period, financial ruin is the rule and not the exception.

The farmer does not make large profits. His capital is
subject to no risks, except from his own extravagance or mis-

13

management. With prudence and good husbandry, though his
crops may occasionally fail, he can always obtain a good living
without sale or mortgage of his lands. His capital is always
safe, and his accumulations, though small, are certain. He
may not die a rich man, and he will not live a bankrupt.

But let him compare his condition with that of the farmer of
half a century ago. It is plain that if he would be content to
live as the farmer then did, upon the products of his farm,
from his surplus productions, with the market of to-day, he
could soon acquire wealth. But the farmer of to-day does not
so live, and he has abundant reason to thank God that he is
not compelled to. The farmer of to-day lives better than did
the farmer of half a century ago. He receives not only the
necessaries of life, but enjoys many of its comforts and
luxuries. He dresses better, his house is better and more
comfortable, and furnished with taste, and even elegance. He
has more time and opportunities for reading and study. He
mingles more with the world. He invests more in charities.
He is enabled to improve himself, and to properly care for and
educate his children, the best and noblest products of his farm.
He is enabled to accomplish all these things from the profits of
his fields, and if at the end of the year he has laid by no more
than did the farmer of half a century ago, he has made
investments which no calamities in the future can destroy.

But I am reminded by the place of our meeting of " the
fields that no man ploughs, and the farm that pays no fee."

These fields are yours, sturdy men of Cape Ann. The
boundless deep with its myriad products is spread out before
you. The plough, the spade, the hoe, are implements unknown
in your farming. Beneath the sounding sea is the vast and
fertile garden, which for all time and without cultivation, will
furnish the nutriment for your productions. Your farming,
though full of toil and danger, is a continual harvest. You
are joint tenants of the farm — each gathers where he pleases,
without causing any diminution for those who follow.

Your products, like those of the farmer who ploughs his
fields, find a free market not only in our own, but in every
section of the country.

14

These views suggest another important and most interesting
inquiry to our farmers. It is, whether the great manufacturing
prosperity of New England, which is the support of our agri-
culture, is a permanent one ? It is plain that our people have
a great superiority for manufacturing, in the future, over the
people of the other sections, from the fact that the various
branches are here fully established and in successful operation.
This fact, other circumstances being equally favorable to all,
gives to our people an immense advantage. But this is not
all, nor the principal advantage which our people possess over
the people of the other sections for success in manufacturing
industries.

Industrial pursuits, like natural productions, are largely in-
fluenced by natural causes. The peculiar adaptations of our
people for manufacturing are traceable to climate and soil as
principal primary causes.

Our climate is favorable to the fullest mental and physical
development in the people, and operates as a stimulant upon
their strength and vigor. It is not so cold as to chill their
energies or to dwarf their physical organizations, nor so warm
as to produce enervation or lassitude. The winters are long
and cold, in which there can be no employment in the fields,
and the people from necessity lead an indoor life. The soil is
sterile and worn, and can give remunerative employment to
only a limited population. The sobriety of temperament, and
habits of patience, perseverance and regularity to which these
conditions tend, fit and dispose our people for the arduous and
unremitting labor of the work-shops.

These conditions give to our people great advantages over
the people of the other sections for the successful prosecution
of these industries, both in disposing them for the labor, and
in enabling them to accomplish more in it. Operatives at the
South, owing to the debilitating influences of the heat, are in-
capable of competing successfully with operatives at the East,
and the inhabitants of rich and productive agricultural regions,
like those of the South or West, cannot be induced to perform
the continuous labor which is required in the shops. As man

15

is constituted, if the climate where he lives is congenial for
out of door pursuits, or if land is plenty and cheap and he can
obtain an easy living from it, he will never voluntarily submit
to the constant labor and fatigue of the shops as an occupation
for life.

The correctness of these propositions is not to be tested by
the results of single experiences covering brief periods of time,
because so subtle and various are the operations of causes, that
it is impossible to determine correctly, from a few instances
alone, how far exceptional influences may have affected the
result they seem to prove. To arrive at even an approximately
correct conclusion from results of experience alone, we must
select a long period of time, collect the details and results
under the different circumstances of the period, and by a
process of generalization bring them all to bear upon the de-
cision to be made.

The fact that within the last few years the people of the
South and of the West have turned their attention more than
ever before to manufacturing industries, does not prove that
the propositions I have above stated are erroneous. The cir-
cumstances of the country, since the close of the war, have
been exceptional. The duties on imported goods have been
higher than ever before, the demand for manufactured articles
has been large, and the profits great, so that, for the time,
manufacturing may have been remunerative under circum-
stances far less favorable than those which aflTect the people of
New England.

Under ordinary circumstances, prices of manufactured
articles, from competition between manufacturers, will be such
that the profits on the capital employed will be in proportion
to the profits on capital employed in other pursuits. And as
labor enters largely into the cost of manufactured articles, if
one section of the country has advantages in labor not possessed
l)y the others, these advantages, other circumstances being the
same in all, will inevitably in time give to it a monopoly in
manufactures. A very slight difference in the cost of manu-
facturing will in the end compel those against whom the

16

difference exists, from the market. If in one section or belt of
the country sufficient to supply the whole, any staple production
of agriculture can be raised cheaper than in the others, includ-
ing the cost of transporting it to the market, even if the
difference is small, inevitably, in time, that section or belt of
the country will have the control of the market in that staple.
So, if in one section or belt of the country, under the same
conditions, manufacturing can be carried on cheaper than in
the other parts, even if the difference is small, as surely that
section or belt of the country will control the market in manu-
factured articles.

At a very early period in their history, the people of New
England commenced the erection of mills and the manufacture
of the coarser varieties of articles needed by the people of the
several Colonies. Although the amount they manufactured was
small, it was sufficient to attract the attention of the manufac-
turers in the parent country, who claimed an exclusive
monopoly in the colonial markets for their own goods. Upon
representations made by them, Parliament passed a law as
early as in 1699, forbidding the transportation of goods of
American manufacture, with a view to prevent the people of
New England from supplying the people of the other colonies
with their manufactured goods. In 1731, commissioners of
the Board of Trade considered and made a report to the House
of Commons on the subject of American manufactures, in the
conclusion of which they say, " From the foregoing statement,
it is observable that there are more trades carried on and
manufactures set up, in the provinces on the continent of
America to the northward of Virginia, prejudicial to the trade
and manufactures of Great Britain, particularly in New
England, than in any other of the British colonies ; whicli is
not to be wondered at, for their soil, climate and produce being
pretty nearly the same with ours, they have no staple com-
modities of their own growth to exchange for our manufactures ;
which puts them under greater necessity, as well as under
greater temptations, for providing for themselves at home."
And in 1750, Parliament declared mills for certain kinds of

17

manufactures in the colonies common nuisances, and directed
the Governors, on information of two witnesses under oath, to
cause the same to be abated within thirty days, or forfeit the
sum of X500.

Thus early the people of New England, against the remon-
strances and even commands of the parent country, established
and carried on manufacturing. The business was continued
and increased after the separation, and has been carried on
under varying circumstances to the successful results of the
present time. And now. New England is known at home and
abroad as tlie manufacturing section, as fully and universally
as the West is known as the grain-growing, and* the South as
the cotton-growing sections.

The facts and results of this long experience, as well as the
certain operations of natural causes, point to New England as
the manufacturing centre of the country in the future as in
the past.

The people of other sections may, to a limited extent, carry
on successfully some of the coarser manufactures, in which but
little skilled labor is employed, and may in exceptional times,
as within the last few years, attempt with temporary success to
establish other manufactures, but when the aflairs of the
country are brought back to their normal condition, it will be
found that such experiments will result in failure.

The people of New England, with the advantages of the
system of reciprocity throughout the country as in the past,
will always be able to control the markets of the country in
manufactured articles against any domestic competition, and
largely, in time, against any competition from abroad ; and with
the future growth of the different sections, no man can
calculate the proportions to which our manufacturing industries
will expand, or the amount of prosperity which their expansion
will bring not only to the agricultural, but to every other
industry of our section.

It is impossible for the people of the United States to over-
estimate the value of the system of government inaugurated by
their fathers. Under it vast communities, which under other
3

circumstances would have grown into independent nationalities,
move in perfect harmony, each independent in the exercise of
the rights of self-government, and all united in their inter-
course with each other and with the world. And this great
political success is paralleled only by the material prosperity
which the system has conferred upon the whole people. Instead
of each community living upon and conforming its industries
to its own natural productions alone, all, without restriction
and without payment of tribute, bring the choicest products of
their soil and labor to the common market.

Of the immense variety of productions, those that one sec-
tion can furnish cheaper than the otliers it ofters to all, and
those which any section can purchase cheaper than it can
produce, it buys of the others, and the people of each section
concentrate their efforts on what they can produce to the
greatest profit.

And may we not with confidence anticipate the day, when in
the light of a higher civilization, the selfishness of communities
will yield to the broader and nobler spirit of a common
humanity, when all the nations of the civilized world will
co-operate to abolish the offices of Customs, to disband the
armies of stipendaries they support, and open wide tlie markets
of the world under a system of universal reciprocity.

19

THE EXHIBITION.

Tlie Fifty-Second Annual Exhibition and Cattle Show was
held at Gloucester, Sept 24th and 25th, 1872.

The people of the town took a great interest in the Fair, and
added eight7j-five names to the list of members from Gloucester.
His Excellency, Gov. Washburn favored the Society with
his presence, on the second day of the Fair, and gave a very
interesting address at the dinner table, as also did members of
the society and other gentlemen.

The Show ^^as very successful in most of the departments.
The following entries were made :

Horses and colts,

Cattle — working oxen.

Town teams.

Bulls, Milch Cows, Heifers, <fec.,

Sheep and Swine,

Poultry,

Agricultural Implements,

Ploughing teams,

Carriages, - - ■ -

Articles manufactured from leather,

Bread, - - -

Flowers,

Counterpanes and Rugs, -

Fancy work, - - -

Manufactures and general Md'se.,

Grapes, Peaches, &c.,

Apples, - - - -

Pears, _ _ _

47

animals.

32

yokes.

82

a

53 animals.

27

a

69

coops.

7

entries.

12

a

5

ii

5

a

19

a

50

a

91

a

137

ii

29

u

29

" 63prts

38

" 228 "

50

" 250 "

20

REPORTS, &a

FAT CATTLE.

We, the undersigned Committee on Fat Cattle, award the
first premium of $10 and Society's Diploma to Lanesville
(Jranite Co., Gloucester, John Butman, Agent.

Committee — William Hadley, A. H. Gould, Geo. A. Abbott.

BULLS.

The Committee report eight entries, and have awarded the
following premiums :

Two-years-old and upward, thorough-bred Ayrshire, first
premium, diploma and $10, to S. F. Newman, Newbury, for his
bull, " Bismarck," 438, Ayrshire Herd Book.

G. W. Herrick, Gloucester, entered a good looking bull, but
as no pedigree was given, the Committee were unable to award
a premium, and so recommend a gratuity of $8.

Two-years old and upward, thorough-bred Jersey, first pre-
mium, diploma and $10, to Francis Dane, Hamilton, for his
bull, " Prince Albert," imported in dam from the Island of
Jersey.

Second premium of $5, to H. B. Sargent, Salem, for his bull,
" Thomas Dudley."

The Committee wisli to bring to the attention of exhibitors
the importance of handing in written statements of pedigree.

The Committee are obliged to conform to the rule of award-
ing premiums only where pedigrees are given. The State

21

Bounty is given our Society under certain conditions, one of
which is, that we shall award premiums only to thorough-bred
bulls.

Now, how is a Committee to judge correctly of the breed,
unless pedigrees are given ?

The majority of our cattle are, at the present time, either
grades or the so-called native breed. Grades are the best stock
that most farmers can afford to keep, and in many cases they
answer as good purposes as the thorough-bred ; but if a farmer
wishes to improve his stock, he must be careful to breed from
a good, full-blooded bull, for only in that way can he hope to
make real progress.

In the notes of the late Thomas Bates, who had sixty-five
years' experience as a breeder of cattle, published in the
London Farmer's Magazine, we find the following, which, we
think, will be of interest to every farmer : —

" The breeders of Aberdeenshire Cattle have felt the benefit
of a cross with what too often were very ordinary Short-Horns.
If they try it with the best breed of Short-Horns, they will find
the result very superior to their past trials. And if they
begin with the originals of the Aberdeenshire Cattle, the better
the Short-Horn bulls are, so much greater will be the benefit of
the cross. This is more absolutely necessary in crossing breeds
than even when breeding from pure stock, for if there is any
coarseness on either side, the stock is sure to inherit that
coarseness ; but when free from coarseness there is no fear of
crossing different varieties ; hut always let the male animal be
the one to improve on the female, that is, let the male be of a
superior tribe."

This extract is well worthy of close study, for here is the
concentrated experience of many years. We are told that
breeders have made the mistake of using too ordinary thorough-
bred bulls, that in crossing, if there is any coarseness on eitlier
side, the progeny will inherit it ; but aljove all, he says, let the
male be of a superior tribe to the female.

If this is true in crossing one breed on another, it would lie
equally true in crossing thorough-bred bulls on common cows.

90

of 110 ])articnlar breed ; and we should expect the prog'eny to be
ni(n"e thoroughly stamped with the impress of" the bull than in
the simple crossing of a thorough-bred on a thorough-bred.
On this feature of breeding we should build our hopes of
improving the common stock of the country.

To raise up a herd of good milkers, we must in the first
place select our best cows, descended from a line of good
milkers, if possible. These cows should then be served by a
bull of some superior family, thorough-bred, and the progeny
again served by a thorough-bred bull, and so on, constantly
crossing the best cows w^ith bulls of a superior race.

If this rule was carefully followed out, we should undoubt-
edly see more fine herds which, although not thorough-breds,
would have many of their characteristics and good qualities.

We will give an instance of the beneficial results of the
crossing thorough-breds on the common stock of our country.

A writer, (on stock raising,) in Texas, in a recent number
of the "■ Country Gentleman," says, some parties here are
owners of three hundred Short-Born bulls from which the
finest calves are raised by the cross between them and the
grade Texas cows. " These calves show Durham (or Short-
Horn) blood so clearly in every instance that they furnish
another proof of the general law, that the stronger and better
blooded of two races will give form and impress to the progeny.
This fact is remarkably illustrated in these herds. The second
and third crosses leave no traces of Texas blood."

The one object for breeding in Texas is for beef, and of
course the cross of the Short-Horn answers £hat purpose ad-
miral)ly ; but with us, where milk and butter are our chief
objects, a cross of the Ayrshire or Jersey would be better.

Another instance of the prepotency of thorough-bred blood
is very noticealjle in the marked influence of a Jersey cross on
our common stock. The smallest drop of Jersey blood in an
animal can almost always be detected by a good judge of the
breed.

Now the Jerseys are as thoroughly thorough-breds as any

23

breed we have, having been bred for a long period of years
without any intermixture of foreign blood.

Have we a native breed ?

There are many advocates of this so-called breed, who really
seem to prefer them to any other breed, and are free to express
their opinion to that effect.

We do not read that our forefathers discovered Neat Cattle
when they landed on the shores of America, or that they ever
found the aborigines of the country engaged in the peaceful
occupation of milking cows.

If a Darwinism was admissible, we should say that the
only way that a native breed could be accounted for, would be
that it had^ descended by natural selection from the Bison of
our western plains, and I must say that I have seen some Scrub
Bulls whose appearance would give strength to this idea. Mr.
Flint, in his book on Milch Cows, so well expresses my ideas
on this subject that I shall quote from it.

He says, "the term ' Native ' or ' Scrub ' is applied to a vast
majority of our American cattle, which, though born on the
soil and thus in one sense natives, do not constitute a breed,
race, or family, as properly understood by breeders. They do
not possess characteristics peculiar to them all, which they
transmit with any certainty to their offspring, either of form,
size, color, milking or working properties."

He moreover says that he can see no impropriety in the use
of the term " Native," when used as descriptive of no known
breed, but as applied to the common stock of the country.

" But perhaps the whole class of animals commonly called
natives would be better described as grades, since they are
well known to have sprung from a great variety of cattle pro-
cured in different places, and at different times, on the
continent of Europe, in England, and in the Spanish West
Indies, brought together without any regard to fixed principles
of breeding." The first importation of cattle into New
England is said to have been in the year 1624.

Under these circumstances, it would be more appropriate to
discard the name of " Native," and call our common stock by
the name of " Grades."

24

Let me ask those who are inclined to sneer at the merits of
thorough-bred animals : Could the " Native " or " Grade "
stock ever have reached the position they now hold in public
estimation without the help of the thorough-bred ? I claim that
the good qualities of our common stock are largely due to the
influence of the thorough-bred blood from which,, in some way
or other, they are more or less descended.

As an instance of how a drop (as it were) of thorough-bred
blood will cling to an animal, let me give a case which has
lately come under my notice.

The famous cow " Sibyl," fifteen-sixteenths Jersey and with
one-sixteenth Ayrshire blood in her veins, although 13 years
old and always bred to Jersey bulls, has lately dropped a red
calf, showing almost conclusively that the Ayrshire blood has
at last asserted its right to be seen in her offspring. ,

Now, I believe it is just tliese drops (as it were) of thorough-
bred blood to which, in a great part, we owe the good qualities
of many of our so-called " Natives."

J. D. W. FRENCH, Chairman.

MILCH COWS.

The Committee on Milch Cows award to Henry G. Kimball,
of Bradford, the first premium of $15 and diploma, for his
four-year-old grade Dutch cow.

The second premium of $10, to G. W. Herrick, of Glouces-
ter, for his grade cow, seven years old.

The first premium of $10 and diploma, to Francis Dane, of
Hamilton, for his thorough-bred Jersey cow Minnie, eight
years old.

Committee — Benjamin P. Ware, James P. King, William R.
Putnam, Moses A. Plummer.

25

STATEMENT OF HENRY G. KIMBALL.

Bradford, Sept. 24, 1872.
Entered by Henry G. Kimball one grade Dutch cow, four
years old. She dropped her last calf the first day of June
last ; she is with calf to calve the tenth day of May next. The
first ten days after calving she gave 22 1-2 quarts of milk per
day. At that time her feed was good pasturing with two
quarts of meal every morning. The first ten days in September
she gave 19 quarts of milk per day. At that time her feed
was poor pasturing with two quarts of meal in the morning,
and a handful of green corn fodder in the evening. The last
ten days of August she gave 20 quarts of milk per day.

STATEMENT OF G. W. HEREICK.

Gloucester, September, 1872.
My grade cow, seven years old, calved May 13th, 1872. The
first ten days in June her average mess was 20^ quarts per
day. For the last ten days in August her average mess was
14 quarts per day. Her feed was common pasture until July
first, with two quarts of meal per day, then she had corn
fodder instead of meal.

STATEMENT OF FRANCIS DAJsTE.

Hamilton, Sept. 20th, 1872.
To Chas. p. Preston, Esq., Sec'y of Essex Agri'l Society.

I enter for premium one thorougli-bred Jersey Milch Cow,
" Minnie," eight years old. She dropped her last calf June
27th, 1872, and will next calve April, 1873. Gave thirteen
quarts for the first thirty days after calving, averaged eleven
quarts and a half through the month of August. Seven quarts
of her milk will make one pound of butter. Food, grass.

HERD OF MILCH COWS.

The Committee report that as but one entry has been
made, we find it not a very difficult task to decide which was
4

26

the best Herd. The Committee also regret very much that
there were not other Herds of Milch Cows entered for premium.

Mr. Francis Dane entered for premium five pure Jersey Cows,
which were fine specimens of that breed. Their keeping since
June has been grass, and their appearance indicates that they
have had enough of it. They have averaged ten quarts of
rich milk each per day, and from forty-five to fifty pounds of
butter per week, through the season of grass.

We award to Francis Dane, of Hamilton, the first premium,
diploma and $15.

Committee — Horace C. Ware, Salem ; Charles Perley, Box-
ford ; George Haskell, Essex.

HEIFERS.

REPORT OF COMMITTEE UPON HEIFEES.
THREE YEARS OLD.

John Erwin, Jr., of Gloucester, native, premium $5.

TWO YEARS OLD.

Eben Dale, Gloucester, Jersey, premium $5.

G. W. Herrick, Gloucester, grade heifer, second premium $5.

John Perkins, Essex, grade, first premium $5.

Francis Dane, Hamilton, Jersey " Clara," premium $5.

YEARLINGS.

Francis Dane, Hamilton, Jersey " Fawn 3d," premium $5.
F. S. Lovett, Beverly, grade, first premium $5.
Washington Burnham, Essex, grade, second premium, $B.
Committee — John L. Shorey, Jasper Rea, Benj. E. Emery,
John Stone.

W^ORKING OXEN AND STEERS.

The Committee award for Working Oxen, the first premium
to Thomas G. Ordway, of West Newbury, diploma and $12.

27

Second premium to Pigeon Hill Granite Co., Rockport, $10.

Third premium to R. S. Bray, of Newbury, $8.

For Working Steers, second premium to Joseph Kittredge,
of No. Andover, $5.

For best teamster of oxen, to William H. Fhiley, of Dan-
vers, the Loring premium of $10.

Committee- — Francis Dodge, James T. Carlton, Moses H.
Poor, Andrew Dodge.

TOWN TEAMS.

The Committee on Town Teams report thirty-two pairs of
oxen entered for premium, of which nineteen pairs were from
Gloucester, and thirteen pairs from Rockport. Also, three
teams of horses from Gloucester, one of 8, one of 6, and one
of 4 horses.

Your Committee are of the opinion, that this is the best
show of Town Teams ever exhibited by our Society, particu-
larly the ox-teams. The President of our Society generously
put into the hands of the Committee the sum of fifty dollars,
to be awarded in special premiums, in addition to the one
offered by the Society.

We award a premium of $30, viz. : $25 offered by our
Society, and $5 of the special premium, to the Gloucester Town
Team of oxen.

Also $30 of the special premium to the Rockport Town
Team of oxen.

And $15 of the special premium to the Gloucester Town
Teams of horses, as follows :

To Abraham Day's 8 horse team, - |5 00

" Collins Bro's. 6 " " - - 5 00

" Town of Gloucester, 4 " " - 5 00

Committee — Thomas P. Gentlee, John K. Cole, Eben King,
Moses Knowlton.

28

STEERS.

The Committee on Steers report two pairs yearling steers
entered for premium.

Tliey award the first premium of $4, to Joseph Kittredge, of
No. Andover, and the second premium of 83, to George James,
of Gloucester.

The steers of Dr Kittredge attracted muc]i attention. Tliey
were perfectly handy, and under better discipline than one half
the oxen at five years old. They were driven by a boy of Dr.
Kittredge with a small cart, who had handled the steers and
showed the Committee tliat he knew how to drive oxen. The
advantage of making these steers handy Avhen so young is not
only to the steers, but to the boy who handled them also. He
has learned liow to drive oxen, which is of vast importance to
him as a farmer. The Doctor informed the Committee that
they were thorough-bred Durhams, and no doubt if they are
kindly used and well fed, they will make a large pair of oxen.

Paul T. Winkley, Chairman.

STALLIONS.

The Committee on Stallions make the following report :
First premium, di})loma and special premium, to Francis

Dane, Hamilton, for his " Young Morrill, Jr.," four years old.

No other competitor presented.

THREE years' OLD CLASS.

First, Jacob Rhoades, Lynn, " Messingcr."
Second, H. L. Hill, Andover ; no name given for his colt.
There being no competitor for either the second or third
premium in the four-year-old class, the Committee thouglit
proper to award an extra premium of $3 to the three-year-old
colt owned by T. B. George, Danvers, for " Diamond,"

Samuel C. Oliver, Chair7na7i.

29

BROOD MARES.

The Committee appointed by the Essex Agricultural Society
to examine and report upon Brood Mares at their Annual Fair,
held at Gloucester on Sept. 24tli and 25th, having attended to
that duty, submit the following report :

Your Committee consisted of the following named gentle-
men : — 0. S. Butler, Dr. W. Cogswell, Asa T. Newhall, Joseph
B. Spiller, Z. C. Wardwell, all of whom reported themselves
promptly at the hour named, except Mr. Spiller. Of Brood
Mares there were four entries by the following named persons :
Francis Dane of Hamilton, Charles B. Sargent of Newbury-
port, Moses K. Noyes of Newbury, and William Jones of
Gloucester. Neither of the above named persons, except Mr.
Francis Dane, fully complied with the requirements of the
society in making their entries.

On proceeding to the Fair Grounds, your Committee made
diligent search for brood mares, and after wandering up
and down the line of cattle-pens they found three mares with
their foals by their sides, and before leaving the grounds your
Committee found a brown mare with her foal, but were unable
to ascertain by whom she was entered, as there was neither
card or mark upon horse, colt or pen ; and as no keeper or
owner was present to give us any information, and as the horse
could not speak for herself, she was left in solitude and silence.
It is possible that she belonged to Mr. Jones, of Gloucester.

The first horse examined was Mr. Dane's Percheron mare
Empress. She is a noble specimen of the Percheron horse and
is described as follows : — She was imported from Percheron,
France, is about ten years old, is perfectly sound, and weighs
about twelve hundred pounds.

Your Committee are of the opinion that the society ought to
encourage the importation and propagation of this breed of
horses into Essex County, as a draft horse. For all farm
purposes the Percheron has no superior and hardly an equal.
The Clyde horse is his only competitor. Every farmer must
see, that if one horse will do the work of two, at the same
relative cost of purchase and keeping, (which is true of the

30

Percheron horse,) he will be largely the gainer by the intro-
duction of this breed of horses.

The second horse examined by your Committee was a Bay
mare with her foal, entered by Mr. Moses K. Noyes of New-
bury, without description or record, but in charge of a very
honest and intelligent young farmer. This is a very promising
young horse, and in form and feature, in limb and motion,
showed very remarkable points for a good family horse or a
horse for all work ; and your Committee are of opinion that
more attention should be given to breeding this class of horses.
If you go into our market, you will find it full of infe-ior
animals ; if you desire speed, you can find it ; if you desire
style, it is there ; if you are looking for a draft horse, he is
found in every market ; but if you desire a perfectly developed
and thoroughly trained family horse, you will have to wait
long, and when found, the owner takes your bottom dollar
before he parts with his family pet. If you do not believe it,
just give your order to the most responsible horse dealer in the
county for a family horse, with the following description : 1st,
he must be sound as a rock from head to heel ; 2d, he must be
from unexceptionable parentage ; 3d, he must stand squarely
upon good clean limbs that grow out of a good round black
foot, neither too high or too low ; 4tli, he must be fifteen and
one-half hands high, with his head so set upon good bracing
shoulders, that he needs neither check-rein or martingale to
keep it in place ; 5th, he must be free from all tricks, or dan-
gerous habits, in the stable or out of it, not afraid of any
object or timid in the presence of danger ; and if he is a good
feeder, all the better, and, if possible, let his color be a bright
dark bay, with black mane and tail ; his weight must not
exceed eleven hundred nor be less than ten hundred pounds.
And now, if you have made up your mind not to ride until your
horse arrives, you will go on foot a long time.

Mr. Noyes' horse does not answer the above description by
several points, but by a judicious crossing with the Morgan or
English blood, her stock might be improved so as to give a
very good foundation for a family horse.

31

The third horse examined by your Committee was a mare
with her foal, entered by Mr. Charles B. Sargent of Newbury-
port, with the following description : — She is a cross-blood, the
Morgan with the St. Lawrence. She was raised by Mr. Battell
of Newbnryport ; is fourteen years old.

The above named horse is a very superior animal, well
marked, properly developed and has taken premiums at one or
more of the New England Fairs, but in consequence of a
defect, by a rule of your Society, she was not entitled to a
premium.

The fourth horse entered at the Secretary's office, your Com-
mittee did not examine, as we had no certain means of knowing
what horse it was, or whether she was entered for a premium
or for an addition to the show. She might have possessed
qualities that would have entitled her to the first premium ; but
the Committee had no means of knowing it, consequently, your
Committee were of the unanimous opinion that only two brood
mares were entitled to premiums, as follows :

First premium, -115, with diploma, to Empress, owned and
entered by Francis Dane of Hamilton.

Second premium, $10, to Bay mare, , owned and en-
tered by Moses K. Noyes of Newbury.*

In closing our report, we would make a suggestion or two in
reference to entries and to the awarding of premiums.

First, all entries of stock should be made in strict accordance
with the rules of the society ; that is, there should be a care-
fully prepared description, fully written out, of the animal
entered. This statement should be prepared before and not
after arriving on the ground, and there should be no deviation
from this rule. Suppose, for example, the animal entered is a
brood mare with her foal by her side ; it is important for the
Committee to know very many things before deciding upon the
real merits of the Dam : — First, the description should state
the age and place of birth, her pedigree, if possible, tlic
number and character of her progeny, her habits and dispo-
sition, her endurance and reliability, as well as the most
satisfactory evidence that the animal is free from all physical

5^0

dcrects, I'or all or any of the al)Ove characteristics in the dam
have an important influence upon her offspring ; and if we
ever intend to improve this class of stock in Essex County, we
must pay more attention to these things, and if our Society is
to be a means of securing that improvement, it must be more
stringent in its requirements of those who ask for its premiums
and diplomas. The owners of stock ought always to be in
attendance upon the Committee at the time of examination, so
that they may answer any questions the Committee may ask.
Then the premium list should be carefully revised and im-
proved by offering large awards for the liest blooded stock. If
you look over your annual shows, it will be observed that the
Hall department is usually fully up to the standard, with the
present list of premiums. The cattle-grounds are sadly de-
ficient. Let the premiums be doubled or even trebled on
real meritorious stock ; then let there be suitable protection
from the weather by temporary sheds, so that if there should
be a long, cold storm, the animals would not be exposed to
danger ; then have competent committees attend faithfully to
their duties and decide impartially on the merits of stock
examined, and you would see more empty barns and pastures
throughout the county on the days of the fair, and our stock-
yards on the fair-grounds would compare favoraljly with any
County Show in the State, both in respect to numbers and
quality ; for instead of injuring the Society, it would lift it at
once upon a higher plane or" usefulness. As you raise your
standard and premiums, you increase the value of your decis-
ions and diplomas. When you have done that, stock-owners will
be as anxious to get your awards as those of any other society
in the land, especially the owners of the best stock.

We hope to live to see the day when a first j)remium with
di})loma shall add twenty ])er cent, to the market value of the
animal, and the lower premiums in that proportion. We shall
be told that the Society cannot afford to increase its premiums
and expenses. Tliis is not trve. It cannot aftbrd to follow its
present policy, if it means to live as an Agricultural Society.

Let the boast never be heard again that we have more than

33

twenty thousand dollars in funds, while our cattle-pens are
empty. Let it be our boast that we raise and own the best
stock in the old Bay State, and that our annual show brings
to our fair-grounds the best stock raised in the country.

We should remember that our Society is not a Savings Bank ;
its object is not to see how much money it can make and save,
but how much money it can raise and judiciously award in
premiums for the encouragement of every branch of agricul-
ture in the county. And we may rest assured that such a
policy would not tend to poverty ; but, on the contrary, if the
same law holds good here as in all other business, then the
giving that maketh rich would fill our treasury to overflowing.
Let the experiment be tried.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

Committee — 0. S. Butler, Wm. Cogswell, Asa T. Newhall,
Z. C. Wardwell.

FAMILY HORSES.

The Committee on Family Horses have attended to their
duty, and awarded the following premiums, viz. :

The first premium of diploma and $15, to George James, of
Gloucester.

The second premium of $10, to Samuel E. Sawyer, of
Gloucester.

The third premium of $8, to C. C. Cressy, of Gloucester.

Committee — E. G, Berry, David Stiles, Washington Burn-
ham, J. A. Savary, John D. Cross.

FARM AND DRAFT HORSES.

The Committee on Farm and Draft Horses award :
To Henry L. Tenny, of Newbury, diploma and first pre-
mium of $12.
To John Clark, of Gloucester, second premium of $10.
5

34

To George Dennin, of Gloucester, the third premium of $8.

To Edward H. Little, of Newbury, the fourth premium of $5.

Special premium offered by Dr. Geo. B. Loring for best
teamster, of $10, to Edward F. Little, of Newbury.

Special premium of citizens of Gloucester, of |25 : first
premium to Curtis C. Cressy, of Gloucester, of $15 ; the sec-
ond premium to Bennett Grifl&n,*of Gloucester, of |10.

Committee— A. B. Fellows, Rufus Slocomb, Bennett Griffin,
T. K. Leach.

COLTS— FIRST CLASS.

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FIRST CLASS COLTS.

Four Years Old.

To J. Otis Winkley, of Newbury port, the first premium, $10
and diploma.

To C. Mitbhell, of Beverly, the second premium, $6.

To Curtis C. Cressy, of Gloucester, the third premium, $4,
for his colt sired by Benedict Morrill.

There were several fine colts of this age entered ; one by
Aaron Knowlton, of Essex, deserving of special notice.

Three Years Old.
To George James, of Gloucester, first premium, $8.
Committee— E. K. Lee, Horace Ware, Horace C. Ware.

COLTS— SECOND CLASS.
The Committee on Colts have awarded premiums as follows :
To F. Dane, Hamilton, first premium of $6, on two years
old colt, sire Gray Eagle, dam Florence.

35

To John Perkins, Essex, second premium of i2, on two
years old colt.

To F. S. Lovett, Beverly, yearling colt, first premium, $6.
Committee — J. L. Colcord, A. P. Noyes, Thomas Sawyer.

SWINE.

There was but one entry in this department fulfilling the
requirements of the Society, and your Committee, without an
opportunity for debate or disagreement, award to Joseph
Kittredge, of No. Andover, second premium of »f5, for his
breeding sow.

Committee — John S. Ives, Henry W. Foster, N. T. Harris.

SHEEP.

First premium, diploma and |8, for best flock sheep, to
Francis Dane, Hamilton.

First premium, $3, for best lambs, to Francis Dane,
Hamilton.

Committee — Joseph Kittredge, Richard Ward, Aaron Dodge,
Asa Wade, William H. Felton.

POULTRY— FIRST CLASS.

The Committee having examined the various coops contain-
ing (with a few exceptions) an excellent show of the feathered
tribe from all parts of the county, would like to make a few

36

suggestions which would be, as they think, for the interest of
both Society and exhibition. We would suggest that premiums
be offered for fowls and the same amount for chicks not less
than four months old, in their respective classes, as it does not
seem to be hardly fair for chicks to be obliged to compete with
fully developed fowls, and the Committee noticed spring chicks
of great excellence, which should have received premiums, had
there been any offered by the Society. We think that it would
also be an improvement to offer premiums for the different
breed of ducks and geese, as we think it would tend to make
the show of these beautiful and profitable fowls larger and of
greater excellence. The Committee were liighly pleased with
the trio of White Brahmas exhibited by Ordway Brothers of
West Newbury, which, as Mr. Ordway informed them, were
brouglit to their present state of purity after three years of
careful breeding, which speaks well for the judgment and skill
of the breeder. We have made these few remarks, as we think
they would tend to help the exhibition and, as we know, better
satisfy the exhibitor. As this is one pf the most profitable
branches of farming, we think it the duty of the Society to do
all that they can to increase the interest in this pleasant
business, for it would be hard to find a person, either young or
old, who does not like to look upon the stately Asiatics as they
tread with lofty grandeur about his premises, or the small (but
mighty) Bantams as they march in all their glory among the
flock. And we believe that no part of farming pays better for
the capital invested than this, either in eggs or poultry. To
be profitable, there must be some care and labor exj^ended, as
in any other business, as you cannot expect to have fowls thrive
if allowed to become diseased and covered with vermin, as they
surely will if not kept clean and their pens purified at least
twice a year. For the prevention of vermin we have found
carbolic soap and powder to be an excellent thing, and would
recommend its use to all interested in poultry Perhaps it
would not be out of place if we were to give our experience in
keeping the different breeds, at any rate it can do no harm.
We will begin with the Brahmas, which for all purposes we

37

consider the best, if the right class is bred, as there is, as we
have found, two different kinds ; namely, the long-legged, coarse
race, which we consider worthless, and the short-legged, full-
breasted and plump birds, which make the best of table fowls
and come to maturity early. This class of Brahmas we can
safely say are as good fowls for eggs and for the table as can
be found.

. The Cochins we have found to be a great deal coarser and
not so good layers as the Brahmas, therefore, if only one kind
is kept, we should say the Light Brahmas were the best of any
of the large or Asiatic breeds. Of the French breeds we have
only tried to any extent the Hoiidans ; these we have found to
be hard to raise and poor layers. They will lay very well for
two or three months in the spring, and for the remainder of
the year, if we depended upon them for our custards and pud-
dings, I think we should not be troubled with these delicacies.
We consider the Dominique the best breed for poultry and eggs
in the whole list from Brahmas to Bantams. The chicks when
three months old are, if well fed, plump and fat and their
flesh being very yellow make them an excellent market fowl,
and they will lay, in our opinion, more eggs during the year
than any other kind.

If any pure breed is not sought for, we would speak a good
word for the cross between the Brahmas and Dominique or
Dorking, 'as we find them to equal if not excel any other kind,
especially for the table. If any interested in poultry can find
anything new or interesting in these random remarks, we shall
feel as though we had not spent our time without benefitting
anv of our brother fanciers.

The following premiums and gratuities are awarded :

Light Brahmas.

Robert Winn, Salem, first premium, ... $3 00
Ordway Brothers, West Newbury, second, - - 2 00

Dark Brahmas.
G. D. Walton, Peabody, first premium, - - S3 00
E. H. Brown, Gloucester, second, - - - 2 00

Buff Cochins.
E. K. Perkins, Salem, first premium, - - - 3 00

Andrew Lufkin, Gloucester, second, - - - 2 OQ

Partridge Cochins.

J). B. Wallace, Peabody, first premium, - - 3 00

C. P. Barrett, Gloucester, second, - - - 2 00

Black Cochins.
Ordway Brothers, West Newbury, first premium, 3 00

E. R. Perkins, Salem, second, - - - - 2 00

Creese.
Joseph Horton, Ipswich, first premium, - - - 2 00

D. Haskell, Rockport, gratuity, - - - - 1 00

Bucks.

E. R. Perkins, Salem, first premium, - - - 2 00
G. W. Herrick, Gloucester, gratuity, - - 1 00

G-ratuities.
Ordway Brothers, West Newbury, White Brahmas, 1 00
E. R. Perkins, Salem, White Cochins, - - 1 00

C. P. Barrett, Gloucester, gratuity, - - - - 2 00
Best Collection, E. R. Perkins, Salem, diploma.
Committee — J. Otis Winkley, Newburyport ; John I. Ladd,
Groveland ; Charles A. Beckford, Salem.

POULTRY— CLASS SECOND.

The Committee on Poultry award premiums as follows, viz. :
E. R. Perkins of Salem, best trio of Dorkings, first premium
of $2.

39

C. A. Beckford, Salem, best tro of Bantams, first premium,
$2. E. R. Perkins, second premium, |1.

E. E,. Perkins, first and second premiums on Hamburgs, $3.

E. R. Perkins, Plymouth Rocks, first premium, $2. D. B.
Wallace, second premium, $1.

E. R. Perkins, Dominiques, first premium, $2. Ordway
Brothers, second premium, 11.

E. R. Perkins, Leghorns, first premium, $2. Aaron Low,
second premium, $1.

A. P. Lufkin, Black Spanish, first premium, $2.

E. R. Perkins, Polish Fowls, first and second premiums, $3.

D. B. Wallace, Games, first premium, $2.

G-ratuities.

Edwin F. Hoyt, coop of Houdans, $2.

E. R. Perkins, Sultans, |2.

Ordway Brothers, Bolton Gray fowls, $2.

C. P. Barrett, Gloucester, coop of Pigeons, $1.

Committee — John Swinerton, Charles C. Blunt, James Flint.

PLOUGHING— WITH DOUBLE TEAMS.

The Committee on Ploughing with Double Teams report that
only three teams were entered for premiums : R. S. Bray and
E. H. Little of Newbury, Joseph Horton of Ipswich, and Sam-
uel James of Gloucester.

The land ploughed was well adapted to test the skill of the
ploughmen. Stones would occasionally break the furrows and
thus prevent that uniformity, which good ploughmen always
strive to show and which is considered by the inexperienced
essential to good ploughing. With only three teams, your

40

Committee were able to watch closely the management of each
and how the skill of the ploughman was promptly exerted to
counteract the etfect of obstructing stones and to keep straight
and even his furrows.

If the Committee were disposed to look for faultiness, it
would be found, perhaps, in the speed with which each teamster
attempted to outdrive his competitors. We are aware that a
team moving rapidly, with no obstructions to interrupt, will
throw over the furrows more evenly than one going slowly.
But your Committee think, that had each team moved at a
more natural gait, the furrows would have shown a less broken
surface when stones were struck, and the whole work would
have appeared quite as well. And the well trained, patient oxen,
always willing to exert their strength at the word of their
master, would not have shown unmistakable proof that they
had l)een driven at an unnatural speed. As is generally done,
your Committee reminded these competitors that the premiums
would be given for the best work — not for that done most
quickly. We hope to see an improvement in this respect in
the future.

The work done Ijy Mr. Horton's team was very good, enough
so to have merited the first premium ; but' the furrows were
laid a little more straight and uniform by Bray and Little's
team, on a lot which the Committee judged to be the most
difficult of the three to plough well.

The Committee unanimously award to R. S. Bray and E. H.
Little of Newbury, with Prouty and Mears Eagle Plough, No.
20, the first premium of $12 with diploma.

To Joseph Horton of Ipswich, with Ruggles and Nourse
Eagle, No. 20, the second premium of $10.

To Samuel James of Gloucester, with Hussey Plough, No. 3,
tlie third premium of <|9.

Committee — John Keely, Philip Jones, Wm. B. Morgan,
James T. Carleton, Sidney J. Newman.

41

PLOUGHING— SINGLE TEAMS.

The Committee on Ploughing with Single Teams report that
there was but one competitor for the premiums.

Mr. Thomas G. Ordway, of West Newbury, came upon the
ground with a fine pair of oxen and a Hussey Plough, No. 16.
He ploughed his lot seven inches in depth, making excellent
work, in fifty-eight minutes. The Committee recommend that
Mr. Ordway receive the first premium of Ten Dollars.

For the Committee — Joseph S. Howe.

PLOUGHING— WITH HORSES.

The Committee on Ploughing with Horses have attended to
that duty and respectfully submit the following report :

To Curtis C. Cressy, of Gloucester, first premium of $12
and diploma.

To Sylvester Dane, of Hamilton, second premium of $10.

To Edward H. Little, of Newbury, third premium of |8.

To Henry L. Tenney, of Newbury, fourth premium of $6.

Committee — Aaron Low, J. L. Newhall, Daniel Richards, T.
A. Rogers, Henry Hobbs.

PLOUGHING— WITH SWIVEL PLOUGH.

Your Committee on Ploughing with Swivel Plough would
report but one entry, which was made by Wm. Foster of North
Andover, who did the work in a very satisfactory manner to
your Committee, and they would award him the first premium
of Twelve Dollars.

Committee — Edward H. Little, Wm. H. Brown, S. A. Mer-
rill, Charles Perley, Henry G. Kimball.
6

42

PLOUGHING— BY BOYS.

The Committee onTlougliing by Boys of 18 and under are
unanimous in awarding the first premium of $25, to William
H. Finley, 17 years of age, of Danvers, who used the Conical
Plough, No. 5J. He finished his lot in one hour seven
minutes by ploughing thirty-two furrows.

Second premium of $15, to Willie Merrill, aged 16, of West
Newbury, with the Hussey Plough, No. 3, in one hour two
minutes by twenty-nine furrows.

Third premium of -flO, to Willie G. Horton, aged 15, of
Ipswich, with the Hussey Plough, No. 1(3, in one hour Ave
minutes by^twenty-nine furrows.

They all did excellent work with which the Committee were
much pleased.

Committee — Benjamin P. Ware, Robert A. Smith, Josiah
Newhall, E. G. Berry, Francis Dodge.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.

Premiums awarded by Committee on Agricultural Imple-
ments :

To E. E. Lummus, of Boston, for best collection of imple-
ments and machines, diploma and $15.

To Whittemore Brothers, of Boston, for best Hay or Straw
Cutter, 13.

ToiE. E. Lummus, for Randall's combined Harrow and
Seeder, gratuity, $3.

To F. F. Holbrook & Co., of Boston, for Hand Cultivator,
gratuity, $1.

To F.j^F. Holbrook &. Co., for Taylor's Hay and Grain Rake,
gratuity, 12.

To F. F. Holbrook & Co., for Swale Plow, gratuity, $2.

To Ames Plow Co., of Boston, for American Hay Tedder,
gratuity, $3.

To Ames Plow Co., for Perry Mower, $3.

43

To W. G. Prescott, of Hampton Falls, for Eureka Mower,
gratuity, $5.

Committee — David Smith, David Stiles, William B. Morgan,
Thomas K. Bartlett.

CARRIAGES.

We, the undersigned Committee on Carriages, award to
Loud & Brothers, of West Amesbury, diploma and first pre-
mium, $15, for Top Buggies and Concord Wagons.

Second premium, to H. G. & H. W. Stevens, of West
Amesbury, $10.

Third premium, to Pike & Whipple, of Peabody, for Ex-
press Wagons, $5.

Committee — Andrew Lane, Aaron Sawyer, James Wilson.

DAIRY.

i v^iAi , i*o v^viitani-

ing much valuable information.

42

PLOUGHING— BY BOYS.

The Committee onTloiighiug by Boys of 18 and under are
unanimous in awarding the first premium of $25, to William
H. Finley, IT years of age, of Danvers, who used the Conical
Plough, No. 5J. He finished his lot in one hour seven
minutes by ploughing thirty-two furrows.

Second premium of $15, to Willie Merrill, aged 16, of West
Newbury, with the Hussey Plough, No. 3, in one hour two
minutes by twenty-nine furrows.

Third premium of §10, to Willie G. Horton, aged 15, of
Ipswich, with the Hussey Plough, No. 1(3, in one hour five
minutes by*tweuty-nine furrows.

They all did excellent work with which the Committee were
much pleased.

Committee — Benjamin P. Wai-e, Robert A. Smith, Josiah
Newhall, E. G. Berry, Francis Dodge.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.
Premiums awarded by Committee on Agricultural Imple-

The Ti ustees do not wisii to be understood as endorsing the
award of the Committee on Agricultural Implements, of the
gratuities to the American Hay Tedder and Perry Mower, or as
recommending them as dcsiral)le macliines.

BENJAMIN P. WARE, } Committee on
.). B. SVVETT, ( Trustees.

To Ames Plow (Jo., oi i30siou, lur ^iiucin^an jl-ic«,j ^^^^^.■,
gratuity, $3.

To Ames Plow Co., for Perry Mower, $3.

To W. G. Prescott, of Hampton Falls, for Eureka Mower,
gratuity, $5.

Committee — David Smith, David Stiles, William B. Morgan,
Thomas K. Bartlett.

CARRIAGES.

We, the undersigned Committee on Carriages, award to
Loud & Brothers, of West Amesbury, diploma and first pre-
mium, $15, for Top Buggies and Concord Wagons.

Second premium, to H. G. & H. W. Stevens, of West
Amesbury, $10.

Third premium, to Pike & Whipple, of Peabody, for Ex-
press Wagons, $5.

Committee — Andrew Lane, Aaron Sawyer, James Wilson.

DAIRY.

There were seven specimens of Butter entered for premiums,
the quality of which w^as not quite equal to that of some
previous years, but after a careful consideration the Committee
report the award of the following premiums, viz. :

To Mrs. Sarah L. Ridgeway, of West Newbury, first premium,
" Harris on Insects" and $10.

To Francis Dane, of Hamilton, second premium, $8.

To Mrs. Oliver Patch, of Hamilton, third premium, $6.

To Joseph Hale, of Rowley, fourth premium, $4.

There were no Cheese entered.

In this connection w^e would call particular attention to the
report of the Committee on the dairy of last year, as contain-
ing much valuable information.

44

Committee — James Chamberlain, George L. Hawkes, Thomas
G. Ordway, Farnham Stiles.

STATEMENT OF SARAH L. RIDGEWAY.

West Newbury, Sept. 25, 1872.

Gentlemen : — I enter for premium fifteen pounds of Septem-
ber butter, made in the following manner :

The milk was strained into thoroughly scalded tin pans and
allowed to remain thirty-six hours, then skimmed into tin pails
and stirred at every skimming. As soon as churned the butter
was rinsed in cold water and salted to the taste with rock salt,
worked twice and prepared as presented.

STATE]MENT OF FRANCIS DANE.

Hamilton, Sept. 24th.
To THE Committee on Dairy : — I present for premium
twenty-four pounds of butter, made from the milk of Jersey
cows. It was allowed to stand thirty hours, then the cream
taken off and churned, which takes from fifteen to twenty
minutes. When the butter is taken from the cliurn it is put
immediately into ice-water and worked until all the butter milk
disappears, then salted, one ounce to a pound. After twenty-
four hours worked again and foi'med as presented for premium.

STATEMENT OF MRS. OLIVER PATCH.

To THE Committee on Dairy : — I present for premium
nineteen pounds of butter, made last week from the milk of
two cows of the Buffalo breed. Process of making — after
straining the milk, let it stand from twenty-four to forty-eight
hours, according to the weather, always being careful to skim
the cream before the milk turns. Stir the cream daily, adding
to it a little salt, and churn usually once a week. Add about
a pint of cold water to the cream at churning, as it churns
easier and comes quicker. Never put water to it after it comes.
Salt generally about an ounce to a pound. Let it stand over

45

night, then work it over, weigh it out into pound hnnps ready
for market, in the same shape in which it is to-day offered for
premium.

STATEMENT OF JOSEPH HALE.

To THE Committee on Dairy. — G-entlemen : — I oi^'er for
premium sixteen pounds of butter. This is a sample of forty-
two pounds made from tlie milk of seven cows in one week.
Feed, common pasture and corn fodder, no grain. The cows
are Ayrshire, Jersey, Durham and Native, all good cows for
butter, which I consider more essential than breed, although I
think a cross of Ayrshire and Jersey would be my preference.

Process of making — strain into well scalded pans, milk not
over three inches in depth. Let it stand from twenty-four to
thirty-six hours, according to the weather, (careful to skim the
cream before the milk turns.) Stir the cream daily, and keep
in a cool room. When put into the churn add about a pint of
cold water, or a small piece of ice. When churned, taken and
worked by hand, salted, a little less than an ounce to the pound,
let it stand twenty-four hours, work it over, (careful to get out
the butter-milk,) then weigh into pound lumps, and with clap-
pers form as presented for premium.

BREAD AND HONEY.

Your Committee, after testing the fifteen specimens of Bread
exhibited, award the following gratuities, viz. :
To Edith B. Jones, Gloucester, $3.
To Mrs. N. E. Ladd, Groveland, $3.
To Mrs. John C. Calef, Gloucester, $2.
To Mrs. D. H. Stickney, Groveland, $2.
To Miss Laura N. Pool, Rockport, $3.
To Mrs. Abby A. Herrick, Gloucester. $1.

46

Pies and Cake.

To Mrs. John J. Somes, Gloucester, for cream cakes, $1.
To Mrs. Israel C. Mayo, Gloucester, for one Washington
pie, $1.

No entries of bees and honey.

Canned Fruit.

To Mrs. Denmark Procter, Gloucester, for one dish grape,
apple and orange jelly, $2.

To Mrs. E. J. Hudly, Gloucester, for twelve jars preserves,
13. _

To Mrs. M. Y. B. Perley, of Gloucester, two jars peach
preserves, $1.

To Mrs. F. F. Emerson, Gloucester, canned pears 50 cts.

Committee — Charles Ingalls, J. A. Montgomery, Henry Alley,
M. S. Jenkins, John J. Gould.

FRUIT— SPECIAL PREMIUMS.

The Committee under the offer of a special premium by Mr.
Francis H. Appleton, for the best collection of fruit raised in
the County, report that they award the first premium of $15,
to Mr. Benjamin P. Ware of Marblehead ; and the second
premium of $10, to Mr. Aaron Low, of Es^ex.

Chairman — H. G. Herrick.

PEARS.

The Committee on Pears award the following premiums and
gratuities, viz. :

For the best twelve specimens of the following varieties, a
premium of $2 each :

Bartlett, to F. Willcomb, Ipswich ; Belle Lucrative, Beurre

47

Bosc and Dana's Hovey, to N. R. Wait, Ipswich ; Onondaga
(Swan's Orange), to Charles P. Barrett, Gloucester ; Seckel,
Horace G. Haskell, Essex ; Butfum, Aaron Low, Essex ; Win-
ter Nelis, Henry Savary, Groveland ; Vicar of Winkfield and
Sheldon, to H. G. Sanford, Gloucester ; Lawrence, Urbaniste
and Golden Beurre, to Benjamin P. Ware, Marblehead ; Louise
Bonne de Jersey and Duchesse d'Angouleme, Wm. W. Perkins,
Newbury ; Beurre Clairgeau, Geo. D. Glover, Salem ; Beurre
d'Anjou, John W. Marshall, Rockport ; Paradise d'Automne,
Peter Wait, Danvers ; Marie Louise, H. B. Upham, Lynn.

For the best twelve specimens of any other variety, $1, to
Henry Savary of Groveland, for Flemish Beauty.

For the best collection of twenty varieties, diploma and $5,
to B. P. Ware of Marblehead.

For the best ten varieties, -f 3, to Peter Wait of Danvers.

For the best dish of pears (not less than twenty-four speci-
mens,) diploma and $5, to John Clark of Gloucester, for
Doyenne Boussock.

Copy of Harris on Lisects, to William D. Northend of
Salem.

To Wm. H. Haskell of Gloucester, for a collection, a gratuity
of il.50 ; to Aaron Low, of Essex, gratuity, il.oO.

Warren Currier, Newbnryport, -f 1 ; J. S. E. Rogers, Ben-
nett Griffin, Albert Dodge, J. 0. Procter, Barnard Stanwood,
Foster F. Hobbs and Charles P. Barrett, of Gloucester, $1
each. William D. Northend, Salem, $L50. H. B, Upham,
Lynn, $1.

The past season has not been favorable to the growth and
maturity of pears, and the crop throughout the County, com-
paring it with that of the two or three previous seasons, has
been a light one ; consequently the display of this fruit at our
annual exhibition was not fully up to the usual standard.
Nearly all the pears exhibited were from Gloucester, or vicinity,
with one large collection from Marblehead, and smaller ones
from Lynn, Danvers, Salem, Essex and Ipswich, a single plate
from Newburyport, but not a specimen from Amesbury, Haver-
hill, Lawrence or Methuen.

48

The^^Hall, however, though a large one, was very well filled,
and the general effect was good. We would respectfully
suggest to the Committee of Arrangements that it would be
easier and more satisfactory for the several committees, to
have the apples, pears, peaches, grapes and flowers placed on
tables by themselves^ with each contributor's collection by itself,
until they had been examined and the prizes awarded. It was
impossible for your Committee to do justice to all, scattered as
the fruit was over some half dozen long tables, and the time
for examination being limited. The most noticeable pear upon
the tables was the Bartlett, of which many fine specimens were
presented, and which generally succeeds better than any other
variety. There were also very handsome specimens of the
Beurre Clairgeau, which would have done credit to any exhibi-
tion, but as this pear is so variable in quality, it should be
planted with caution. The Doyenne Boussock was large and
fair, and we believe this to be a good market variety.

Excellent reports and essays on pear growing have appeared
in former "' Transactions" of this Society, but as they have
probably been forgotten (if ever read) by the present generation
of fruit growers^ your Committee thought it might be well to
offer a somewhat extended report upon the general manage-
ment of the pear, hoping it Avould draw attention to the subject,
which we believe to be an important one. When we find, by
the census returns of Massachusetts a few years ago, the apple
and pear crop amounting to something over one and a half
million dollars, and in a year, too, when the apple was almost
an entire failure, we realize something of the importance which
this crop is assuming.

We believe that pears can be grown at a much greater profit
than apples, especially on our best land, in the immediate
vicinity of our growing towns and villages ; and are fully of
the opinion (and that opinion has been formed from observa-
tion), that no more suitable soil is to be found in the Eastern
or Middle States for successful pear growing, than is found
along the coast of this state and New Hampshire. It often
appears as though our sea breezes, or a taste of salt in the

49

subsoil, had an ameliorating efiect upon the fruit. But how-
ever this may be, it is pretty certain that the trees have received
more care and attention near our large cities on the coast than
in the interior. Tlie pear delights in a deep, rich'soil, inclined
to clay, or clayey loam ; yet we often see very good results on
a light, or sandy loam soil. Some varieties, as the Buffum or
Louise Bonne, do best in a light soil, while others, as the
Duchesse and Beurre Did, require a damp and rich one.
Fifteen or twenty years ago, when apple orchards were in their
glory, and apples were plenty and cheap, very little attention
was given to pears, except near the cities. But those days
have passed away, with the appearance of the canker-worm, the
borer, the apple-worm and excessive droughts, and now not
one apple tree is planted, where there were a hundred then.
With the present prospect for apples, it may yet appear that
apple trees are worth preserving. There has been of late
much complaint of the so-called Dwarf pear, and probably for
most purposes the standard is much the best, but at present we
will confine ourselves wholly to the standard pear, or that
worked upon the pear stock, and afterwards shall have a word
to say in favor of the dwarf, or that worked on the quince stock.
The first thing to be considered in planting the pear, whether
by the person who plants a few trees for family use, or by him
who plants more largely for profit, is a suitable soil. None of
our land is too good ; choose the best — such land as would
raise heavy corn, grass or vegetables — deep loam, or better if
inclined to clay. If it is so wet that water will stand upon it
two or three days after the frost is out, imderdrain it ; if it is
so damp that it will not work well and pidvertze for a week or
two later still, underdrain it ; not with stones, merely covering
them a foot or two, but thoroughly and sufficiently with tiles.
To any one who has never tried, it is surprising to see the
effect of thorough underdraining, even on any common crop ;
and the cost is not so much as people would at first suppose.
When land is underdrained extensively, the cost does not
generally exceed $40 per acre, when the tiles are 3| to 4 feet
deep and 30 to 40 feet apart. Who that owns a garden would
8

50

not willingly pay this small amount, rather than always have
his land wet and unfit for trees, or even early garden vegetables.
We would not wish to infer that only land which is damp
enough to need underdraining is suitable for pear trees.; but
the dryer the land the more will it need to be enriched.

It is important that pear trees should have shelter, or protec-
tion from the wind both in summer and winter. Perhaps the
principal reason why they do so much better in city lots than
in the country, is that they are so much better sheltered by
buildings, fences, shade trees, etc. In planting pears in the
open country, choose a location, if possible, where the wind is
broken off on the west and north (or better on all sides) by a
belt of trees, hills or buildings. When there is plenty of good
land and no shelter, it would be advisable to ])lant belts of
trees around it. Probably there is nothing better or mo-e
economical for the purpose, than a single row of Norwoy
spruce, planted four or five feet apart around the most exposed
sides. The white or Scotch pine would do very well if the land
was cheap, and sometimes arbor vifge makes a fine wind-breji.c,
but it is more apt to winterkill than either of the others.
If the soil is not rich, it should be made so by heavily manur-
ing at least a year before the trees are planted.

Many people are careful to select none but large trees to
plant, thinking they will bear much sooner than small ones.
If these could be taken up with all their roots, and quickly and
carefully reset, they would, without doubt, bear in a very short
time ; but in the way they are generally taken up, leaving most
of the roots in the ground, and planted leaving on all the top,
they are apt to linger along for years (if they live at all) before
recovering from the treatment. A moderate sized tree, with a
vigorous, healthy growth and plenty of good, fibrous roots, will
generally in five years be better than the large one, transplanted
as above ; but for orchard planting, or for a hundred or more
trees, we would advise not to take more than two or three
years from the bud, but those the very best selection. Trees
are often much injured by exposing the roots to the sun or
wind. We should remember that all their nom"ishment is

51

derived through the miall or fibrous roots, and a few hours'
exposure of these to a drying or cold wind will injure them
more than a journey of weeks, when the roots are protected
with damp moss or litter.

In planting, the holes should be' dug deep and wide, say two
or three feet deep crnd as many wide ; the sub-soil should be
thrown to one side and replaced with top soil. A little old
fine manure, worked well in with the dirt in the bottom of the
hole, will do no injury, but no new manure shoidd be used
around the roots. The tree should be planted as deep as it
formerly stood in the nursery. Those who have only small
gardens will always be well repaid for "trenching" the entire
plot, 18 to 24 inches deep. In that case no deep holes to be
filled up will be necessary. It is important (but often neg-
lected) to cut smooth the end of qxqy^ root before planting,
for however well the trees may be taken up with the spade, the
roots will be left rough and broken. In planting trees, a
person should not be afraid to get upon his knees, and make
good use of his hands. Every root and fibre should be care-
fully straightened out, and fine soil be well worked in, so that
every cayity may be packed full. Here is one great secret in
transplanting trees of any kind, to have the dirt come firmly
in contact with every root. Do not, as is sometimes recom-
mended in books, lift the tree up and down to work in the dirt,
but hold it perfectly still till finished. No water need be used,
unless the ground is very dry, when a pailful may be thrown
upon the roots after they are covei-ed, and the dirt drawn over
that. As soon as the ground becomes dry enough around the
tree, press it down firmly with the foot, and if the weather
continues dry go over the trees again, drawing up more dirt
and stamp it down as before. Very large trees may require
staking to keep them in place, but for those of common size
this will not be necessary.

The next operation will be " head in" the tree ; cut off the
superfluous limbs, and cut hack all the remaining branches,
according to their growth and the amount of roots. The tree
as it stood in the nursery, as nature formed it, had roots to

52

correspond with the top. A large portion of these roots were
necessarily left in the ground, and ought not a part of the top
to be taken off to balance the tree ? Trees with plenty of
roots, that made a small growth the last season, will often do
well without much heading in ; but those that have grown
vigorously ought to be cut back severely — fietter nearly all the
last year's growth. This also applies to the peach and other
fast growing trees and shrubs. When the hot, dry weather
commences in summer, a heavy mulcliing will be found very
beneficial to newly planted trees.

As to the best time for planting there is a variety of opinion —
our own experience would favor early spring, just as early as
the ground is dry and fine, though if the trees are dug early
and kept back, it is just as safe in May as in April. Where
the ground is not wet, early fall planting is generally success-
ful, and by many preferred. The distance apart again is a
subject of opinion. Our own advice would be to plant closely,
from twelve to fifteen feet, though it depends considerably
upon the variety ; some will die out every year, and after they
commence well to bear, will grow very slowly. This will
give three hundred and twenty-five to the acre, and fifteen feet
from each other, two hundred. When the ti-ees are young, any
low crop, like strawberries or garden vegetables, will not be
objectionable, nor when they are older, if it will be borne in
mind that the surface roots must not be cut oif. A better way
after five oi* six years is to manure heavily every fall, especially
around the trees, and level off and work in slightly with a
fork in spring ; then to cultivate with a horse during the
season, not working deeper than three or four inches.

After the first year the trees will need very little pruning,
except to shape and keep them well balanced. Some varieties,
as the Urbayiiste, will naturally grow in a regular pyramidal
shape, while others, like Rosticzer, will need considerable
heading in to make them compact.

The pear, like all otlier trees, is subj(!ct to diseases, perhaps
the worst of which are " leaf ))liglit" and " frozen sap blight."
It is a serious fault in a tree or vaiiety to loose its leaves in

63

summer or early fall, while one which has healthy smd persistent
leaves is to be preferred. The curculio and other insects
sometimes attack pears, but the injur}' is not often serious.
We should encourage the small birds in every possible way as
the best protection from insects. The canker worm, the borer,
the tent caterpillar and the codlin moth, which are so destruc-
tive to the apple crop, have not as yet troubled the pear ;
though the " web-worm," or fall caterpillar, shows a decided
preference for the pear and should always be destroyed.

Of the i:i7-ofit of pears there can be no doubt. But perhaps
some will say if they are generally planted and cared for as we
have described, it will not "■ pay" — they will become a drug in
the market. Having carefully watched the market for the last
ten years, we are free to say that the price of good merchantable
fruit has constantly advanced. Sometimes early August pears
have been a drug and have been sold at low prices, as have
also the first gathered of that most plentiful of all pears, the
Bartlett ; but this has been owing to having " windfalls" and
immature fruit forced upon the market, and tliat, too, in the
height of the peach season. What wonder is it that people
should prefer peaches to half-grown, flavorless pears ? Those
who have thinned out their fruit, and left it upon the trees till
fully grown, towards the last of the season, have obtained good
prices. Well grown Bartlett pears readily sold at four dollars
per bushel in any of the cities of this county, for the last three
seasons, by the middle of September, and a week or ten days
later were worth six or eight dollars in Boston, though probably
the average price through the season was not over three or
four dollars. Could not the growing of this pear be made a
specialty by some of our farmers in this vicinity, and would
they not readily find a market by the hundred bari'ols, in New
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Portland and the cities
further east ? Bartlett pear trees, in ten years from planting,
ought to yield a bushel to a tree, on an average, every year,
taking the whole orchard through. We know of some on a
small scale which have done much better than this. Any one
on reflection can see the difference between this and the profits
of apple orchards.

54

The marketing of fine fruit is quite a trade, as is also the
picking and ripening, but this can be readily learned when
enough is raised to make it an object.

We propose to name a few varieties, in the order of their
value for market and family purposes, and first will be the
Bartlett — of vigorous growth, adapting itself to a greater
variety of, soil and climate than any other, and of such won-
derful productiveness that young trees often bear to a fault ; of
good quality, though connoisseurs speak of a disagreeable
" musky flavor," still it is readily accepted by the " million,"
and bought in preference to tlie Seckel or Belle Lucrative^ and
is vithout doubt our most profitable market pear. The Beurre
d'Anjou, coming a month or six weeks later, is very highly
prized by those who know it best. A hardy and vigorous tree,
a regular but not over-abundant bearer, fruit of large size, good
quality, with an abundance of vinous juice. It is an October
pear, but- will keep well into November, and will always
command a high price. Six dollars per bushel was the whole-
sale price offered last year by dealers around Boston. We are
told of one tree in the western part of this State, the fruit of
which in one year was sold for $100. The Laivrence is a pear,
of wliich the more you know the better you will like it. Any
one who is not pleased with a Lawrence pear in its season
(November and December) is hard to suit. The tree is a very
slow grower ut first, but after it becomes well established, is
strong and vigorous. It is, taking the county through, one of
the most hardy trees known, and is becoming more popular
every year. Fruit of medium size, and quite sure to ripen up
yellow, and then it is sweet and delicious. The ySheldoii is a
pear of later introduction, very few trees in this vicinity are
yet of bearing size, the largest one we know bears regularly as
abundant crops as the Bartlett. Fruit large, russet and of the
finest quality, October ; tree very vigorous and hardy ; same
with Doyenne Boussock, though the fruit in quality would liardly
come up to the Sheldon ; still it is good, large and fair, and
very profitable fi)r the market. But this report will hardly
permit of a description of the Vicar, Beurre Bosc, (one of the

55

best, but a poor grower,) Belle Lucrative, Howell, Seckel, (Mon-
daga, Clapp's Favorite, Urbaniste, (a splendid pear, but tardy
bearer,) Merriam, liostiezer, Tyson, Bloodgood, and Doyenne
d'Eete, (these last sparingly for profit,) and the Biifjtuni for
sandy ground when others will not succeed. These are all
tried varieties, and no one will go very far astray in planting
any of them, but the danger is in getting too many rather than
too few kinds, and we should rather confine ourselves, however
extensive our orchard, to about half a dozen varieties.

Dwarf Pears, or those budded on the quince stock, (and it
should always be some strong growing variety, as the Angers
or Paris,) should always be grown in the pyramidal or bush
form, and should brancli within one or two feet of the ground.
It is well to plant close and not allow them to attain a large
size. In selecting dwarf trees, choose those that were budded
near the ground, and do not plant them too deep, just cover the
bud and no more. We are aware that many successful fruit
growers recommend covering the bud five or six inches in
planting, but it is not our practice. If the roots grow very
deep in the nursery, cut oft' a portion of the bottom in replant-
ing, as no tree will flourish for any length of time with the
roots deep in the wet, cold soil. The roots of all trees need
the heat of the sun, especially for perfecting the fruit. The
great advantages of dwarf pears are, tlie comparative earliness
with which they come into bearing, the small space they occupy,
and the improvement in the quality of the fruit. This last
perhaps would only apply to certain varieties. But few kinds
succeed well on the quince, and only those should be selected.
The quince roots are tender and should be covered every fall ;
many dwarfs were killed last winter, which a good mulch
around the roots would have saved. After they are large
enough to bear, a wheelbarrow load or two of manure in autumn
is a good protection, being careful that it does not afford a
harbor for the mice. Do not let dwarf trees over-bear ; very
little fruit should be allowed to remain on for the first few
years, and it is always well to thin out at least one half.
Dwarf pears do best in a dark, rich soil, sheltered from the

56

winds — just such as we should suppose many of our city gardens
to be, and not such as are many gardens in the country.

There is now standing in a garden in Ncwburyport a dwarf
Duchesse tree, which in a single season produced five barrels
of pears, that were sold in the city of New York at $20 per
barrel.

But do not expect too much, failures will often occur. The
Duchesse and Beurre d'Anjou referred to above are the excep-
tion and not the rule. And if these few hints should be of
service to any fruit grower, we shall be amply repaid for offering
them.

A few varieties recommended as dwarfs, in order according
to their value, would be Duchesse, Louise Bonne cle Jersey,
Vicar of Winkfield, Beurre d'Anjou, Belle Lucrative, Urhaniste
and Rostiezer.

Committee— T. C. Thurlow, D. H. Stickney, G. W. Gage.

APPLES.

Your Committee submit the following report on Apples :

For the best twenty varieties, Benjamin P. Ware.
" " " ten " Thomas H. Thurlow.

" " " twenty-four specimens, Aaron Low.

Mr. Low had twenty-four specimens of Roxbury Russett, that
were very good for the season. He had but one other compet-
itor for that premium.

For the best twelve specimens Hub. Nonsuch, Chas. F. Stiles,
Groveland.

For tlie best twelve specimens Gravenstien, Chas. F. Stiles,
Groveland.

For the best twelve specimens Porter, T. C. Thurlow, West
Newbury.

For the best twelve specimens Pickman's Pippin, B. P.
Ware, Marblehead.

57

For the best twelve specimens Baldwins, D. H. Stickney,
Groveland.

For the best twelve specimens Roxbury Russett, T. C.
Thurlow.

For the best twelve specimens Danvers W. Sweet, Edward
Perkins.

For the best twelve specimens Seaver's Sweet, Peter Wait.

For the best twelve specimens R. I. Greening, T. C. Thm^low.

For the best twelve specimens Sweet Baldwin, Aaron Low.

For the best twelve specimens Minister, Peter Wait.

For the best twelve specimens Drap d'Or, Benj. P. Ware.

For the best twelve specimens Ladies Sweet, J. W. Manning.

There were a number of other very fine specimens, but the
Committee had to pass them by on account of a deficiency in
numbers. Some of the best in the Hall were in that condition.

For the best twelve of other varieties.
Buckeye Pippin, T. C. Thurlow.
Sweet Russett, Zaccheus Burnham, Gloucester.
Detroit Red, Charles Harrington.
P. Sweet, P. Wait.
Northern Spy, Charles F. Stiles.
Golden Russett, Aaron Low.
Kilham Hill, B. P. Ware.
Dodge's Sweet, D. W. Low, Gloucester.
Haskell Sweet, James F. Story, Essex.
Fall Harvey, J. L, Smart, Danvers.
Maiden's Blush, J. W. Manning.

Gratuities of Fifty Cents Each.

Danvers Sweet, William H. Haskell, Rockport.
Golden Russett, Daniel Wheeler.
Sweet Baldwins, Thomas Haskell, Gloucester.
Grape Apple, Thomas Haskell, Gloucester,
Hub. Nonsuch, T. C. Thurlow.
Gravenstien, D. H. Stickney.
Porter, J. L. Smart.
8*

58

Minister, D. W. Low. Honey Pink, William H. Haskell.

Sweet Russett, Charles Harrington.

Roxbury Russett, D. W. Low.

Kilham Hill, William S. Friend.

Gravenstien, J. C. Calef, Gloucester.

Danvers Sweet, B. P. Ware.

Ever Keeping Sweet, B. P. Ware.

Fall Harvey, B. P. Ware.

Gustavus Sweeting, Daniel Wheeler, Rockport.

Ladies Sweet, Joseph -Andrews.

Sweet Baldwin, John Clark.

Buckeye Pippin, John Clark.

Golden Russett, J. Knowlton, Hamilton.

Your Committee have tried their best to render an impartial
report, and if they have failed to do justice to every exhibitor,
we feel that we have done the best that could have been done
with the fruit scattered over all parts of the Hall, and they
make this a suggestion, that in the future the different variet ies
be placed together until after the committees have given them
an examination; and then justice will have been given and
better satisfaction all around. The Hall Committee could
place the fruit where they saw fit after the examination.
Hoping that this report will meet the approval of all, we
remain truly yours.

Comynittee — John W. Marshall, Rockport, Henry S. Savary,
Groveland.

PEACHES, GRAPES AND ASSORTED FRUIT.

The Committee on Peaches and Grapes hereby I'eport pre-
miums and gratuities as follows :

59

Peaches.

For the best Freestone white flesh, G. W. Gage, Methuen,
premium, $1.

For the best yellow flesh, D. H. Stickney, Groveland, pre-
mium, $1.

For the best Essex County Seedling, B. A. Gray, Salem,
premium, $1.

W. P. Rust, Gloucester, plate peaches, gratuity, 50 cents.

S. M. Burnham, " " " " 50 cents.

B. H. Smith, " " " " 50 cents.

Foster F. Hobbs, West Gloucester, one plate peaches, Craw-
ford's Late, gratuity, 50 cents.

E. K. Lee, Essex, plate peaches, Geo. IV, gratuity, 50 cents.

G-rapes.

F E. Oakes, Gloucester, best Concord, premium, $2.

G. W. Gage, Methuen, best Hartford Prolific, premium, $2.

B. A. Gray, Salem, best Isabella, premium, $2.

G W. Gage, Methuen, best Delaware, premium, ^2.

D. H. Stickney, Groveland, best Israella, premium, $2.

G. W. Gage, Methuen, best Rogers 19, premium, $2.

For the best collection of ten varieties, not less than ten
pounds, G. W. Gage, Methuen, premium, |5 and diploma.

For the best assortment of Cold House grapes, Aaron Low,
Essex, first premium, $5.

George Perkins, Gloucester, second premium, $3.

Best specimen of other varieties, G. W. Gage, Methuen,
plate Blood Seedling, premium, $1.

Crratuities.

Eben Dale, Gloucester, plate Black Hamburg, -fl.
H. Tucker, plate Wild Grapes, 50 cents.
H. G. Sanford, Gloucester, plate Hartford Prolific, 50 cents.
Mrs. C. W. Dennison, Gloucester, plate Grapes, 50 cents.
John Clark, Gloucester, plate Native Grapes, 50 cents.
H. M. Brickett, West Newbury, plate Hartford Prolific,
60 cents.

60

Best basket of Assorted Fruit, Peter Wait, Danvers, first
premium, $3.

Aaron Low, Essex, second premium, $2.

Total amount of premiums, - - $34 00

" " " gratuities, - - 6 00 $40 00

All of which is respectfully submitted.

Committee — S. W. Hopkinson, Robert Rich, John A. Putnam.

FLOWERS.

There were one hundred and sixteen entries in the floral
department, for which the Committee had eighteen dollars to
appropriate in special premiums, and five dollars and one copy
of Harris on Insects in gratuities. This small amount of
money must be the excuse which the Committee reluctantly
oifer for passing so many beautiful bouquets and designs of
both cultivated and wild flowers without a premium or gratuity.
There were many varieties of foreign plants on exhibition from
the dwellings and conservatories of the citizens of Gloucester,
especially specimens of foreign grasses that were unique and
very beautiful. There were also some very fine tube roses
from Astoria, L. 1. The ladies of Gloucester deserve great
credit for the interest that they manifested in this exhibition of
the Society, and the Committee sincerely hope that their
example may be followed by the ladies in other localities where
the Society may hold its annual festival. Great progress has
been made during the last few years in the public taste for
flowers as well as in cultivating them. The increasing interest
in the floral exhibition at our Fairs gives promise of further
improvement in this department. The Committee would suggest
that the list of special premiums that the Society now offer
for flowers, be revised or enlarged so as to include some of the

61

new and finer varieties to which public attention is now directed.

The awards are as follows :

Three dollars to Thomas Capers, Newburyport, for one pair
Parlor Bouquets, also one dollar for Pansies.

Two dollars to Eben Dale, of Gloucester, for one pair of
Hand Bouquets.

One dollar to Mrs. Edwin 0. Parsons, for one Floral Design.

One dollar to Mrs G. S. Nickerson, for Floral Design.

Mrs. Charles Proctor, for dish of cut flowers, two dollars.

Mrs. D. W. Low, for Dahlias, one dollar,

Mrs. Timothy Favor, one dollar, for Petunias.

Mrs. John Norwood, for Phlox, one dollar.

Mrs, Simeon Beckford, Verbenas, one dollar.

For Wild Flowers, Clara Burnham, West Gloucester, one
dollar.

For largest display, three dollars and diploma, to John S. E.
Rogers, of Gloucester.

Grratuities.

Miss Lydia Boyd, of Essex, for bouquet and basket of
flowers, one dollar.

Mrs. Simeon Trask, for Asters and Bouquets, one dollar.

Mrs. C. W. Cochrane, for Pinks and Snap Dragon, one dollar.

Peter D. Smith, Andover, Dahlias and Verbenas, one dollar.

Mrs. J. L, Shepard, Verbenas, one dollar.

Mrs. Sidney Oakes, for ten varieties of elegant flowers, one
copy of Harris on Insects.

For the Committee — Warren Ordway.

VEGETABLES.

Your Committeee report that thirty-six separate lots were
exhibited. They have awarded as follows :

Twelve best specimens Early Blood Turnip Beet, $2, to Gard-
ner W. Herrick.

62

Twelve best Long Orange Carrot, i2, to Gardner W. Herrick.
Twelve best late Corn, 82, to Merrill Brothers.
Three best Savoy Cabbage, 82, to Merrill Brothers.
Three best Drumhead Cabbage, 82, Joseph Horton, Ipswich.
Three l)est large Drumhead, 82, to George L. Babson.
Twelve best large Dutch Parsnip, 82, to Merrill Brothers.
Twelve best round flat Tomato, 82, to Aaron Low.
Twelve best round Tomato, 82, to Aaron Low.
Greatest and best variety, 82, to Merrill Brothers.
Six best Mangold Wurtzel, 82, to Charles Bennett.
Twelve best Purple Top Turnip, 82, to E. K. Lee.
Three best Marrow Squash, 82, to Merrill Brothers.
Three best Turban, 82, to Benjamin P. Ware.
Three best Hubbard, 82, to Benjamin P. Ware.
Best peck Danvers Onion, 82, to Gardner Herrick.
Best peck Flat Onion, 82, to Merrill Brothers.
Best peck Red Onion, 82, to Merrill Brothers.
Best peck Early Rose Potatoes, 82, to W. J. Dale.
Collection of Garden Seed, $S, to Aaron Low.
Large, varied and excellent show of Vegetables, Merrill
Brothers, a copy of Harris on Lisects.

Gratuities.

Best dish Trophy Tomatoes, 82, to Pieter Smith.

Specimen of Wheat, home grown, 82, Thomas Haskell.

Mammoth Sweet Corn, 81, to George Burnham.

Red Drumhead Cabbage, 81, to Merrill Brothers.

Trace of Field Corn, 82, W. J. Dale.

Peck of Peerless Potatoes, 82, to Merrill Brothers.

Fine Crookneck Squashes, $2, to Charles E. Grover.

Trace of Field Corn, 81, to E. K. Lee.

Choice Melons, 82, to John L. Rogers.

Cranberries, 81, to A. C. Estes.

Russian Sunflower, 81, W, H. Haskell.

Celery, 82, to John S. E. Rogers.

Squashes, 81, Mrs. Eliza Herrick.

63

Peppers, $1, Merrill Brothers ; Potato Onions, |1, Merrill
BrotJiers.

Sandy Lake Potato, $1, George L. Nickerson.
Fine Cabbages, -12, B, Stanwood.
Fine Fottler Cabbages, $2, to Albert Dodge.
Sweet Potatoes, il, James F. Storey.

James J. H. Gregory — Chairman of the Committee.

COUNTERPANES AND RUGS.

The Committee on the award of premiums and gratuities in
the above department would report a very large and excellent
display of both Counterpanes and Rugs, and in their opinion
one of the most extensive oifered at a County Fair. The
Committee heg leave to submit the following report, as the
result of their labor in the award of premiums.

First premium for Counterpanes is awarded to No. 21, Mrs.
Horatio G. Sanford, Gloucester, for Silk Counterpane, <f4.

Second premium to No. 1, Mrs. Isabel Elwell, Gloucester,
Patch Work Counterpane (6214 pieces,) $2.

Gratuities were awarded for Counterpanes as follows :

No. 14. Mrs. Betsey Davis, Gloucester, silk counterpane, $1 00

No. 20. Mrs. Eliza P. Bulkley, Gloucester, - - 50

No. 91. Mrs. John Woodbury, Gloucester, - 50

No. 41. Mrs. Clara Presson, Gloucester, 3 white knit quilts, 50

No. 42. Mrs. Mary E. Hinckley, Gloucester, - - 50

No. 12. Mrs. Eliza B. Loring, Gloucester, - - 50

No. 13. Mrs. Lucinda Procter, Gloucester, - - 50

No. 35. Mrs. Mary Gaffney, Gloucester, - - 50

No. 11. Mrs. Hannah P. Jones, Gloucester, - - 50

No. 53. Miss Lizzie Griffin, Riverdale, _ _ 50

No. 79. Miss Elizabeth E. Coggswell, West Gloucester,

a young lady fourteen years of age, - - 50

64

No. 28. Mrs. Joseph 0. Procter, Gloucester, - 50

No. 34. Mrs. E. B. Center, Gloucester - - - 50

The first premium for Rugs is awarded to No. 18, Mrs. John
G. Bennett, Gloucester, $3.

Second premium is awarded to No. 78, Mrs. M. L. Hale
Smith, Pigeon Cove, $2.

Gratuities were awarded for Rugs as follows :

No. 3. Mrs. B. M. Smith, Salem, 4Tugs, - - $1 00

No. 4. Mrs. F. H. Turner, Gloucester, - - 1 00

No. 9. Mrs. Ann C. Ingersoll, Gloucester, 5 rugs, - 1 00

No. 32. Mrs. M. L. Sewall, Rockport, - - 1 00

No. 80. Mrs. C. Marston, Jr., East Gloucester, - 1 00

No. 5. Mrs. Mary A. Colby, Annisquam, - - 50

No. 15. Mrs. George W. Noyes, Newburyport, - 50

No. 19. Mrs. George D. Gardner, Gloucester, - 50

No. 24. Mrs. Timothy Favor, Gloucester, - - 50

No. 25. Mrs. Martha Shepard, Gloucester, - * - 50

No. 35. Mrs Mary Gaffney, Gloucester, - - 50

No. 44. Mrs. Addison Merchant, Gloucester, (Mosaic) 50

No. 45. Mrs. Luther Allen, Manchester, - - 50

No. 63. Mrs. F. H. Bryant, Gloucester, - - 50
No. 67 and 69. Mrs. Thomas Putnam, Danvers, (2 rugs) 50

No. 77. Mrs. Mehitable Woodbury, Pigeon Cove, (80 yrs.) 50

No. 81. Mrs. M. E. Procter, Gloucester, - - 50

No. 84. Mrs. M. I. Lowe, Rockport, - - - 50

No. 85. Mrs. L. Reed, Gloucester, - - - 50

No. 90. Mrs. Charles Story, East Gloucester, - - 50

Gratuities were awarded for Braided Mats as follows :

No. 17. Mrs. Harriet M. Cakes, E. Gloucester, (75 yrs.) $1 00

No. 36. Mrs. Addison Merchant, Gloucester, - 1 00

No. 39. Mrs. H. F. Bray, Gloucester, - - - 1 00

No. 73. Mrs. B. W. Wonson, Gloucester, - - 1 00

No. 70. Mrs. L. Allen, Manchester, - - - 50

No. 86. Mrs. Anna E. Wonson, East Gloucester, - 50

In closing our report, we would say that there were very

65

meny other beautiful counterpanes and rugs that the Committee
would like to have awarded gratuities, but owing to the exten-
sive display of both, the funds allowed this department would
not admit of further distribution.

Committee — Charles Babson, Jr., A. W. Warren, Mrs. E.
K. Lee, Mrs. Bennett Griffin, Mrs. Warren Currier.

ARTICLES MANUFACTURED FROM LEATHER.

Your Committee were disappointed in not seeing on exhibi-
tion a larger number of articles manufactured from Leather.
As this is one of the largest if not the largest interest in the
County, does the Society offer sufficient inducement in premi-
ums to bring out a good competition ? Your Committee would
say, however, that the articles placed on exhibition were very
good.

The case of samples of Ladies' Shoes offered by Messrs.
Clark & Foss, of Haverhill, are deserving of special notice.
We think for workmanship and style they compare well with
the best manufactures of Philadelphia, or the famous Burt of
New York, and that they are deserving of much credit for
their enterprise in establishing in our midst that branch of
manufacture.

We award them a gratuity of $10.

The sample pair of Fishing Boots offered by Nathaniel R.
AVait, of Ipswich, were very good, being made from a new
pattern with no seam on the inside to hurt the foot, which is a
■great improvement.

To him we award a gratuity of $5.

The Harness offered by H. S. McCuUock, of Gloucester, was
thoroughly made from good stock and will do good service.

To him we award a gratuity of $5.
9

66

We also award to C. C. Cressey, of Gloucester, for Carr|.age
Mats, 50 cents. Also for Sleigh Shoes, 50 cents.

Committee — Rufus H. Brown, A. D. Wait, N. E. Ladd,
George Tapley.

MANUFACTURES AND GENERAL MERCHANDISE.

Essex Agricultural Society :

Your Committee on " Manufactures and General Merchan-
dise" respectfully submit the following report :

Premiums.
No. 26. For the best display of Bonnets, S. H. Emanuel

& Co., Gloucester, - - - $4 00

Gratuities.

No. 1. Oil Clothing, Pew & Davis, Gloucester, - 2 00

No. 2. Toilet and Chemical Preparations, M. L. Weth-

erell, Gloucester, - - - - 2 00

No. 3. Bar Soap, A. Merchant & Son, Gloucester, 1 00

No. 6. Prepared Fish. George H. Smith, Gloucester, 1 00

No. 17. Baby Tender, H. S. Gates, Haverhill, - 1 00

No. 19. Burglar-proof Window Lock, H. B. Upham,

Lynn, - - - - - 1 00

No. 24. Duck Preserver, C. Nelson, Gloucester, - 1 00

No. 25. Copper Paint, Tarr & Wonson, Gloucester, - 2 00
No. 27. Excelsior Copper Paint, Gloucester Copper Paint

Co., Gloucester, - - - 2 00

No. 28. Bracket and Stereoscopic Stand, Geo. H. Dow,

Gloucester, - - - - - 2 00

No. 29. Waterproof Cloak, N. Babson & Co., Gloucester 1 00

Comynittee — Alexander Pattillo, William 0. Ward, Allan
Roo-ers.

67

FxVNCY WORK.

Premiums awarded by the Committee on Fancy Articles :

The first premium of $3, for work performed by a child mider
twelve years of age, was awarded to Miss Ursula A. Bryant of
Gloucester, for fancy needle work.

To Procter Brothers of Gloucester, Photograph Views, $1.

To Miss Lucretia Allen of Danvers, a blind girl, for fancy
bead work, a gratuity of S2.

To Miss Abby K. Williams of Gloucester, for three Worsted
Pictures, a gratuity of $1.

To Miss Ella W. Fiske of Salem, for Embroidery, $1.

To Miss Floi'cnce F. Sanford of Gloucester, for Sofa Tidy
and Cushion, $1.

To H. Mackey Coffin of Gloucester, Towel Rack and fancy
Brackets, $1.

To Miss Mary Douglass of Gloucester, Embroidered Under-
garments, $1.

To Mary Scripture of Rockport, for Embroidery, a gratuity
of $1.

To Mary Prindall of Gloucester, Knit Stockings and Lace
Fayal work, $1.

To Hattie C. Babson, of Gloucester, Afghan, $1.

To Margaret Wardwell of Methuen, Table Cover, II .

To Sarah E. Wetherell of Gloucester, Lamp Mat, $1.

To Charles H. Dow of Gloucester, Stereoscopic View Stand
and Bracket, $1.

To Chas. Bailey of Manchester, Toilet and other Brackets, $1.

To Daniel Wheeler of Rockport, one Block of Polished
Porphyry, $1.

To Mrs. Cyrus Story of Gloucester, Wax Work, $1.

To Anna E. Hildreth of Peabody, Wax Cross, $1.

To Sarah B, Saville, Gloucester, Picture in Water Colors, $1.

To Ann T. Grover, " " " " $1.

To Abbie L. Davis of Gloucester, Book of Pressed Sea
Mosses, $1.

To Lizzie Seaver of Gloucester, three Pictures, $1.

To Eliza R. Ames of Rockport, Embroideied Shams, $1.

68

To Mary W. Bayley of Newburyport, Embroidered Under-
clothes. $1.

To Maria L. Rogers of Gloucester, Worsted Cushion and
Mat, $1.

To Daniel Poland, Jr., of Gloucester, Vessel Models, $1.

To Judith Caswell of Gloucester, Tidy, $1.

To Mrs. H. G. Sanford of Gloucester, Tidy, SI.

To Charles P. Ross of Gloucester, two Cut Wood Picture
Frames, $1.

To Lydia E. Dench of Gloucester, one Cut Wood Frame, $1.

To Mary L. Bray of Gloucester. Worked Chair ^eat, $1,

To Lucy W. Davis, Gloucester, Tatting Collar, &c., 50 cents.

To Hattie M. Fears of Gloucester, two Tidies, 50 cents.

To Catalina Davis of Gloucester, Pin Cushion, 50 cents.

To Susan A. Higgins of Gloucester, Baby's Skirt, 50 cen^.s.

To Mrs. John S. Carter of Gloucester, Watch Case and
Tidy, 50 cents.

To Susie F. Small of Gloucester, Worked Skirts, 50 cents.

To Mrs. 0. A. Small of Gloucester, Worked Handkerch.of,
50 cents.

To Clara D. Burnham of W. Gloucester, Toilet Set, 50 cents.

To Josephine Woodbury of Gloucester, Cushion and Tidy,
50 cents.

To Rachel Webber of Gloucester, Tatting Collar, 50 cents.

To Ada C. Davis of Gloucester, Bead Cushion, 50 cents.

To Anna Niles of Gloucester, Towel Rack, &c., 50 cents.

To Helen Hare of Rockport, Lace Handkerchief, 50 cents.

To Mrs John Norwood of Rockport, Cone Wall Pockets,
50 cents.

To J. E. Giles of Rockport, a Bottle of Balm, 50 cents.

To G. F. Griffin of Annisquam, Frame of Shells and Sand,
50 cents.

To Misses Abbie L. Davis and Maria H. Bray of Gloucester,
box Marine Specimens, 50 cents.

To Miss Mary E. Tarr of Rockport, Worsted Work, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Epes W. Merchant of Gloucester, Worsted Picture,
50 cents.

69

To Maria H. Bra}' of Gloucester, Sea Mosses, 50 cents.

To J. J. Babson, Jr., of Gloucester, Carved Xapkin Ring,
50 cents.

To Mrs. Joseph Friend of Gloucester, Sea Mosses, 50 cents.

To Eliza Stickney of Gloucester, Pressed Autumn Leaves,
50 cents.

To Adelia F. Tomlinson of Gloucester, Picture, oO cents.

To Martha A. Wonson of Gloucester, Picture, 50 cents.

To ^lary S. Stacey of Gloucester, Picture Frames. 50 cents.

To Ella Proctor of Gloucester, Picture, 50 cents.

To Eliza G. Davis of Gloucester, Globe of Wax Flowers,
50 cents.

To Mrs. John J. Somes of Gloucester, Toilet Set. 50 cents.

To Miss Jeannie Ilolman, Tidy and Bag, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Mary Gilbert, Carriage Blanket, 50 cents.

To M. L. Hadley of Gloucester, Toilet Set, 50 cents.

To Susie F. Andrews of Esses, two Tidies, 50 cents.

To Ida M. Proctor of W. Gloucester, Pin Cushion, 50 cents.

To Mary Day of Rockport, Tidy, 50 cents.

To Nellie Griffin of Gloucester, Card Paper Box, 50 cents.

To Mrs F. F. Emerson of Gloucester, Pansy Mat, 50 cents.

To Mary Ganey of Gloucester, Fancy White Skirt, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Judith Caswell of Gloucester, Tidy, 50 cents.

To Mrs D. B. Friend of Gloucester, Worsted Mat, 50 cents.

Committee — Mrs. E. G. Berry, Mrs H. G. Sanford, Mrs.
Charles E. Grover, Andrew Nichols.

FARMS.

The Committee on Farms would respectfully report :

The diflficulty which has long existed in this County with

regard to the entry of Farms for premium still continues. It

may be truly said that no competition has yet been established

between the cultivators of our soil on the question of general

70

farm management, and the best method of arranghig a farm
with reference to economy and profit. There may be many
causes for this ; and tlie members of the Society may be
deterred from a strife for one of our most liberal and significant
premiums by the trouble and care and time which it involves.
Still the fact exists, and we are under special obligations, there-
fore, to the one exhibitor of this year, Mr. Francis H. Appleton
of West Peabody, who has conferred a great favor on the
farming community and this Society by a careful, elaborate
and interesting statement with regard to his own farm, and
whose courtesy and hospitality will long be remembei-ed by
those of the Committee who enjoyed it.

MR. FRANCIS H. APPLETON'S STATE^IENT.

Mv farm consists of one hundred and sixty-two acres, forty-
four acres being cultivatable, and the remainder wood, pasture,
marsh and waste land, which latter includes the land on
which my buildings, etc., stand.

The larger part of it, including all the land which I call
cultivatable, I bought March IT, 1869 ; the remaining part I
have purchased within the past year.

When I bought the farm, the forty-four acres, which I men-
tioned, were in an almost worthless condition for farming
purposes ; twenty-nine acres of it were mostly covered with
tough moss and old corn-hills, with a growth of young pine
starting upon it, and useless, broken-down stonewalls crossing
it, many of which have been removed ; the greater part of
these twenty-nine acres had not been plowed for upwards of
seventy years ; the remaining fifteen acres had, here and there,
old oak stumps and the like, from each of which a thriving
growlli of bushes was springing up, also numerous heaps of
stones scattered about, and a portion of it was dotted over with
the stumps of cherry trees, and crossed l)y tuml)ling down old
fences. The first year after taking possession, I left the better
looking portion of these fii^cen acres to cut for hay, and
plowed up and planted as much of the remainder as I thought
1 could manure.

This first year I planted two acres of roots, one of oats to
cut green, a little corn fodder and half an acre of kitchen
garden, and could secure only a scanty amount of manure for
them, and harvested five tons of hay, mostly composed of
white-weed. This was the yield of the farm in 1869.

This present year, the same forty-four acres of cultivatable
land has yielded as follows : —

One-fourth acre Ruta Bagas yielded 2 tons, 75 pounds.

One-fourth acre Mangolds yielded 10 tons, 1581 pounds.

Three-fourths acre Carrots yielded 9 tons, 1 635 pounds ; es-
timated forty per cent, rotten.

Two acres Winter Rye for fodder, mostly cut green, yielded
also 1300 pounds straw, and 8 bushels, 47 ])0unds rye.

One and one-fourth acres Corn fddder, cut one acre green,
and cured 3 tons, 340 pounds (dried.)

One acre Onions yielded 243 bushels marketable, 18 buishels
small; and where onions were killed sowed Ruta Bagas, which
yielded 2 tons, 1086 pounds ; estimated that five per cent,
onions were rotten and a large per cent, killed by hail and
cut-worm.

Four and one-fourth acres Potatoes yielded 617 bushels ;
estimated thirty-three per cent, rotten.

One-half acre kitchen garden ; a late crop of 1| tons small
turnips.

One-fourth acre, nursery of a variety of young trees im-
ported from England.

Six and one-half acres mossy field, not yet plowed, but to be
turned up this Autumn.

One-fourth acre occupied by stone walls.

One acre Hungarian grass yielded 3 tons.

Twenty-five and three-fourths acres grass land yielded 49
tons, 1320 pounds, much of which had been scantily manured
and seeded with white clover and red-top, intending it for
pasture, but all of which had been seeded down by myself.

There are also a few apple trees in good bearing condition
about the buildings, and I have also set out some young trees in
the same locality. A number of ornamental trees have also
been set out.

The land where Mangolds, Carrots and Onions were sown
was in eacli case divided into quarters and fertilized with the
following chemicals in addition to liarnyard manure, but either
the remarkable season, the rot or the cut-worm have prevented
my experiment from being useful, and I only give the chemi-
cals applied : — one-fourth without any fertilizer, one-fourth with
one hundred pounds Phosphatic Blood Guano, one-fourth with
one hundred pounds Muriate of Potash, one-fourth with one
hundred pounds Phosphatic Blood Guano and one hundred
pounds Muriate of Potash.

A part of my Potato piece, being exhausted land plowed
last Autumn for the first time for many years, I dressed as
follows : — Spread at tho rate of five casks of lime per acre in
the Autumn, and in the Spring four liundred pounds Phosphatic
Blood Guano, three hundred pounds Muriate of Potash and
two hundred pounds Nitrate of Soda. I have not the figures
at hand to tell the exact amount of land thus treated, but it is
sufficient to say that 1 also measured another portion of land
of the same character, which was manured with barnyard
manure in the hill, and ascertained the amount of the crop on
each piece. The land with chemical manure yielded thirty-
five bushels. The land with barnyard manure yielded ninety-
seven bushels. The potatoes were much injured by rot,
estimated loss being thirty-three per cent.

The fodder-corn was sown on exhausted grass land, quite
gravelly, and manured in the hill with barnyard manure. Some
of it reached a height of eleven feet in nine weeks from the
time of seeding.

The Carrot crop should be spoken of. Your Committee will
remember the fine appearance of my carrots when they saw
them. Not long after that time a blight struck the tops and
blackened many of them, and later in examining the roots, I
found them rotting last, and tliat in places only the hole where
the carrot had grown and rotted entirely away, could be found.
In plowing the ground after tlie crop had been removed, it was
surprising, also, to sec how many rotting roots were necessarily
left in the ground. I judge forty per cent, to be a fair estimate
of the loss.

The Onion crop, which looked finely early in the season and
which had been greatly injured by the cut-worm, was slightly
injured by the rot shortly before being pulled and also some-
what after pulling. Where the cut-worm destroyed the onions,
Ruta Bagas were planted.

The one hundred and eighteen acres of wood, marsh, pasture
and waste land are capable of much improvement, which can
be brought about by light expense, with time and patience to
help me.

I am at present mailing considerable improvement on the
highway which runs througli the farm, by grading and filling
and building new walls, which will advance the appearance
and usefulness of the road. The majority of my farm fences
are of the ordinary kinds ; but I have found a thousand or
more feet of ])oitable wooden fence very useful.

The only sound building that I found uj)on the farm was the
house, the other buildings being very dilapidated. Some of
these have been repaired, others have been torji down, and
some new l)uildings have been erected. A dilapidated barn,
fifty-five feet long by thirty-seven feet wide, 1 have entirely
renovated, clapboai'ded and shingled, and have lengthened by
an addition to its front, thirty feet long and forty-three feet
wide, so that it covers two commodious horse-stalls, one large
box-stall, twelve tie-ups for cows, one bull-pen, ample carriage
room, a boiler and grain i*oom, hayscales immediately inside of
large barn-door, and storage room for about forty tons of hay.
This year, by filling up much of the driveway from the floor to
near the gable, I have made more storage room. I shall
probably lengthen my barn forty-five feet during the coming
half-year. My buildings are painted, except the hospital and
henery, which are washed with a color to correspond. All the
buildings have been built simply, but strongly, with reference
to use and with no other ornamentation than to give their
exterior a neat and tasteful appearance, without incurring
unnecessary expense ; and many of them have been built by
myself.

The approaches to my buildings and to my barnyard have
10

' '74

been much improved by grading and filling, but it is impossible
to describe in a short space, on paper, how poor a condition I
found them in.

My Ayrshire Herd consists of an imported bull, three cows,
two heifers and two bull-calves. I have taken great care in
selecting those of my animals tliat I have not raised.

They are only those who either have been imported, those
whose immediate ancestors have been] imported, or whose
ancestors' pedigrees can be traced back to their progenitors in
Scotland. My Ayrshires are mostly young stock, and include
an imported bull, and a heifer. Lady Essex, 1413, which has
just dropped a fine bull-calf, and which is a promising milker.
I have also five grade cows, four of which I bought last Spring.

Having kept an accurate account of the doings of my cows,
I can give the following statement of their yield in pounds, etc.

The age given is taken on July 1st, 1872; the weights are
those recorded March 23d, 1872; and the number of days in
milk are comprised between August 26tli, 1871, and August
25th, 1872. inclusive.

Weio-ht of

No. days

Weight of

Name.

Age.

cow.

in milk.

milk.

Maud, 60-4.

8

1268 lbs.

320

81591 lbs.

Lily Dale, 1475.

4

975 lbs.

283

77281 lbs.

Lassie, 1442.

4

1151 lbs.

290

5277i lbs.

My milk is at present all sold to a milkman at the barn.

I have five half-Chester and half-Suffolk pigs, three months
old wlien your Committee saw them, bred by Henry Saltonstall,
Esq., West Peabody, Mass. ; also two farm horses.

My implements are, at present, a No. 4 Clipper Mower, a
BuUard Hay Tedder, and other necessary haying implements ;
a Holbrook's two-horse swivel, which does almost all my work,
an Eagle 20, and other plows ; a Hinge harrow, Sliares',
Thomas' smootliing, and the ordinary brusli harrow ; a large,
two-horse, cast-iron roller, made in sections; and other neces-
sary wagons, tools, etc.

I have also a collection of carpenter's tools, which have
enabled me to eiect several necessary buildings upon the farm.
I propose t(; Iniild the addition of forty-five feet in length in

75

the rear of my barn during the coming Winter, and do as
much of it as possible upon the farm.

Since writing the foregoing, after having visited many of
the most noted Ayrshire herds, I bought two heifers in miliv,
whose blood seemed to be most remarkable for its milking
properties.

The Committee award to Mr Appleton, for his Farm in West
Peabody, the first premium of Thirty Dollars and diploma.

Committee — Geo. B. Loring, Chairman ; Chas. V. Preston,
Benjamin P. Ware, J. D. W. French, Alonzo B. Fellows,
David W. Low.

MANURES.

Your Committee regret that no entries have been made for
the premiums offered by the Society, for the best conducted
experiment in the preparation and application of manures,
whether animal, vegetable, or mineral ; a subject of so much
interest and importance to the farmer, a subject upon which so
much has been written, and yet one upon which so little positive
knowledge has been obtained, one where agricultural writers
and theorists, doctors and chemists, manufacturers of fertilizing
nostrums and their advertising agents, farmers and market
gardeners, are agreed upon no two particulars concerning their
management and application.

It requires no little courage for any one to enter the arena,
either as a competitor for a premium or to add to the volumi-
nous writings already before the public, lest one should make
the present confusion more confounding.

An eminent agricultural writer and theorist advocates the
importance of using all manure green from the barnyard and
plowing directly in, lest it should lose some of its fertilizing
qualities by evaporation or fermentation. When immediately,
a dozen others take up the refrain and continue it to the echo.

until any one reading our agricultural periodicals would be led
to believe that any other use of manure would be entirely
destructive to the interests of the fanner, while the most
progressive farmers and market gardeners are ready to declare
tliat such manure is unfit for present use, for the growing of
the roots and vegetables most valuable in the market. Another
portion, equally sanguine, advocate the importance of plowing
in manure full ten inches deep, lest some of its good qualities
should escape in the air, while the most carefully conducted
experiments on record prove the greatest value is obtained by
placing it near the surface.

Some of the most eminent agricultural chemists of this
country and of Europe seem to prove by experiment, and do
assert, that worn-out lands may be reclaimed to fertility, at
small cost, by the use of chemicals alone ; and that all the
fertilizing value of a large load of barnyard manure may ue
chemically represented by a basket of various salts obtainji tie
at the druggists, that may be easily carried upon one's
shoulder. And yet your Committee observed the eti'ects lA' a
foiiiiula, prescribed by Dr. J. R. Nichols, on a part of a field
of potatoes, in comparison with another part manured with
barn manure, resulting very much in favor of the barn manure,
(for the particulars we refer to the report of the Committee on
Farms, published in the transactions of the Society this year.)

And to read many of the circulars of manufacturers of
special and general fertilizers, backed up as they are by recom-
mendations, evidently obtained Ijy friendly or mercenary
inducements, is sufficient, in many cases, to make the more
credulous part with their hard earnings, to secure what appears
to them the panacea for impoverished fields and short crops,
usually ending in disappointment.

Now, midst all this confliction of opinions and interests,
what is the farmer to do, who is anxious to improve his farm,
his crops, and his purse? Your Committee would answer by
some suggestions, based upon many years' experience and
observatiou. It is evident that the main dependence of the
farmer must be upon the deposits of the barnyard and cellar,
and a judicious system of composting.

The importance of getting all he can and saving all he gets,
to be used in the most economical and judicious way, cannot
be too strongly urged. All animal and vegetal)le substances
are valuable and should Ije carefully gathered and added to the
compost heap. Meadow muck and some kinds of salt marsh
should be dug- in dry seasons, in quantities to last for several
years, for the longer it lias heeu dug the more vahial)le it
becomes

The barn cellar and yard, together with the hog's pen,
should be sufficiently supplied to absorb and liold the urine
fnmi the cattle and no more. Tlie process of composting can
be more profital)ly conducted in the field where it is to be used,
than in the cellar or yard, as the treading of cattle interferes
witii the process of fermentation in a compost heap, and le-
quiring less labor to manipulate when in the field.

Your Committee are aware of the preponderance of authority
for keeping all manures under cover away from the air, sun,
rain and snow, but we venture the assertion that a compost
heap, made up of suitable materials and properly pi-epared,
gains more than it loses by exposure to those influences.

It is better that a compost heap should be made up in the
fall, at least four feet high, and the larger the better, in a
com[)act form, eitiier round or square, always commencing with
a layer of muck or soil, then of staltle nuxnure, sea-kelp or
some substance that will produce fermentation, such as fish
ofial, or fish pumace, then another layer of muck ; any refuse
vegetable substance may be added with the muck, in alternate
layers with the manure, until the heap is completed. The top
layer should be of muck. The manure in the heap should be
in proportion of one-third, or half, to the whole, according to
the strength of it. Such a heap will soon be in a state of
fermentation, and (like the little ieaven hidden in a measure of
meal,) will continue its work through the winter, until the
whole mass l)ecomes manure of equal value with the portion of
stable manure first applied.

This heap would be in suitable condition to be forked over in
March, and at intervals of two weeks for the second or third

78

time,. each forking over producing new fermentation, thereby
adding in vahie to the quality. The importance of frequent
forking over a compost heap is often overlooked. It is believed
that no labor performed on a farm pays better than this, and
none oftener neglected.

The henery, privy and sinkspout should all be abundantly
supplied with dry earth, or meadow muck, each having proved
to be perfect deodorizers, and much valuable manure may thus
be obtained.

Those farmers who are located on the borders of the ocean
may derive great benefit from its resources. Kelp, rockweed,
the various mosses growing in the ocean, are all powerful fer-
tilizers, whose value may be doubled by composting as described
above.

Night-soil from our larger towns and cities, that arc so
abundantly supplied with running water, is generally so diluted
that the teaming of it is now of doubtful expediency. However
much the sanitary condition of a city and its luxury may be
increased by the introduction of water and its consequent
sewerage, an immense waste of fertilizing material is caused,
which must eventually lessen the products of the country to an
amount incalculable.

After the farmer has carefully husbanded his resources for
manure and would still add to his stock of fertilizers, the
refuse of glue factories, morocco dressing establisliments and
lead factories may be bought at prices that can be afforded,
besides stable and hog 'manure, when competition does not run
too high. Wet or damaged salt, as a special manure for certain
crops, will sometimes double the product at very small cost.
Peruvian guano, at its present price, may probably be used at
greater profit than any other of the commercial fertilizers.

Bonos, when reduced by the farmer himself, are valuable and
may doubtless be used with profit, but no farmer can afford to
pay thirty or forty dollars per ton above the cost of the bones,
for grinding or reducing tlieni to phosphate of lime, and run the
risk of adulteration. Your CoDirjiittee would especially caution
their brother farmers against the purchase of the numberless so

79

called phosphates, that are thrown upon the market, or of
guanoes, whose only real recommendation is that they contain
some Peru\dan guano, or of .the special fertilizers so persistently
urged upon the farmer, except by using the greatest care to
guard against deception.

For the Committee — Benjamin P. Ware.

•FATTENING CATTLE AND SWINE.

The attention of your Committee has not been called to any
experiment upon the subject entrusted to their care, but as
Chairman of the Committee I would call attention to a few
facts, which would tend to the advancement of this branch of
Agriculture, especially in our Eastern States

Should accurate, detailed accounts of the exact cost of fat-
tening animals be kept, then, with a positive knowledge of
expenses as a basis, we could ascertain exactly how much per
pound we had gained or lost, and thus determine the advisa-
bility of continuing this branch of business.

Such accounts as I suggest, with an accompanying statement
of how much corn, etc., was required to make a pound of beef,
mutton, etc., as the case might be, would enable the agriculturist
to ascertain whether he can afford to fatten animals to a profit,
provided that he has a knowledge of the market prices of corn,
etc., and of beef, mutton, etc.

And with the knowledge of the constituent parts of corn,
etc., which can be obtained from the proper books, it is possible,
knowing tlie constituent parts of other articles of food and
their cost, to substitute other food for the corn, etc., that will
be cheaper and of fully equal fattening properties.

The small farmer cannot always keep as detailed accounts as
would be necessary to carry out my suggestions, but those who
fatten a large number of animals might do so and enter tlieir
results in competition for the premiums offered by our County

80

Society, and they could tliiis be brought before the public in
our Society's yearly printed transactions. Thus they would
be assisting in the general advancement of tliis subject.

Probably sucii accounts are at present kept, and, if the\^ are,
1 would urge that they be entered in conij)etition for the
premiums offered l)y our Society for Farm Accounts.

Carefully kept accounts must be the basis of all improvement
and future prosperity in farming, especially in the New
England States.

Chairman — Francis H. Appleton.

ROOT CROPS.

In looking at the premiums oiiered by the Society, we notice
first that ottered for Sugar Beets. From some cause this crop
does not attract so much attention as it did a few years ago.
No entry was made for this premium.

Next is Carrots ; although many of these are grown in some
parts of the County, no one has made any entry. The season
has not been very favorable for this crop, the heavy rains in
the early part of the summer made it difficult to subdue the
weeds.

The next is Parsnips, but comparatively few of these are
raised in this County. We have not seen a piece that con-
tained an half acre. This is a valuable crop, either for stock
or the table, but as the seed is so long germinating, it requires
much care to prevent the weeds from getting the mastery, and
it is more expensive digging than the other roots.

The next is for Rutabaga Turnips. We had one entry for
this premium, that by Dudley H. Porter of Hamilton. The
piece contained nearly one acre. The Committee measured off
an half acre. The crop, as will be seen by the statement, was
a small one to recommend a premium for, but various consid-
erations led us to this conclusion.

81

First, it Avas the best crop brought to oin notice; to those
farmers that may say we had a lietter crop, we will say that we
should have been very happy to have seen it, and hope that
next year they will invite the Committee to view a much larger
one. Again, we think it may be well for the Society occasion-
ally to pay a premium for a crop that is not large, to encourage
those that have a good crop to compete for the i)remium and to
show by contrast the difierent results between liberal manuring
and meagre.

Again, we sometimes hear the remark, that none but rich
men or fancy farmers can get a premium from the Essex
Agricultural Society. However groundless this may be, the
Committee wish to do what they can to show that it is not true.
Again, a crop that may appear small to some of the high
cultivators of Peabody and Marblehead, may appear large to
some in other parts of the County.

We recommend the Society premium of a diploma and $10.

There we're two entries for Mangold Wurtzels ; one by J. I).
W. French, North Andover, the other by Benjamin P. Ware of
Marblehead. It was difficult for the Committee to decide whicli
was the best conducted experiment. It will be seen by the
statements that Mr. French had liis rows six inches farther
apart than Mr. Ware, which enabled him to use the horse
cultivator between the rows. Mr. Ware does not tell us what
price he put for a day's laV)or ; Mr. French based his estimate
upon two dollars per day. Both pieces of land had been under-
drained and were similar in character. The land in both cases
was measured by the Committee. The Mangolds upon each
piece were uniform in size and very handsome. The one uses
stable manure composted with meadow mud ; the other, sea
manure composted with mud. It will be seen by the estimate
that they make a wide dilTei-encc in the value, Mr. French
putting them at $8.33 per ton, Mr. Ware at $13 per ton. It is
a trite saying that any article is worth what it will bring in
market. In a qualified sense this is true, but unlike hay and
grain, roots can not be kept but a short time ; a few tons may
be sold for $15 per ton, yet the whole may i^ot be safely esti-
mated at that price.
11

The true question is, what are they worth to the farmer,
■compared with hay and grain to feed to his stock ? We will
venture to give our own opinion that one ton of sliorts is equal
to four tons of Mangolds, and that fifty pounds of Indian meal
are equal to three hundred pounds of Mangolds for feeding to
milch cows.

Although we are strongly inclined to recommend planting
Mangolds far enough apart to use the horse cultivator between
the rows, yet as Mr. Ware has produced a larger crop by his
method, we recommend giving him the premium of $10 and
diploma, and we would recommend a gratuity of $8 to J. D.
W. French of North Andover.

There was no claimant for the premium on Onions. When
we think of the fact that a large part of the onions consumed
in New England are grown in this County, we should expect
that there would have been many competitors.

Potatoes.

Most of us have hitherto had the impression that a wet
season was favorable for the growth of the potato ; but many
of us now realize that an abundance of rain does not always
produce a good crop. Many ]ueces had a luxuriant growth of
vines and excited the hope of a large crop, but we Avere disap-
pointed. No one asked the Committee to look at their potatoes.

Cabbages.

The Committee recommend awarding the Society premium,
^10 and diploma, to J. J. H. Gregory of Marblehead, for crop
of Cabbages.

Squashes.

The only entry for this premium was by J. J. H. Gregory of
Marblehead. We recommend to him the diploma and premium
of $10.

The premium for Summer English Turnips Mr. Stiles did
not ask for.

83

It will be seen that only for four out of the ten premiums
has there been any competitors.

Committee — William R. Putnam, William B. Morgan, James
P. King.

STATEMENT OF BENJAIVUN P. WARE.

STATEMENT CONCERNING A CROP OF MANGOLD WURTZELS RAISED BY
BENJAMIN P. WARE OP MAKBLEHEAD, NOV., 1872.

In the fall of 1870, the half acre of land, upon which this
crop grew, was broken up, having been in grass for six years,
and in 1871, four cords of compost manure was applied and
potatoes planted. This land was formerly very wet, having
since been drained by a box drain running through it, two feet
below the surface, it has become fit for cultivation. The soil
is dark and heavy, resting upon a hard, gravelly sub-soil. A
compost heap was made up upon the land last fall by first a
layer of peat muck, one foot deep, then sea-kelp green from the
beach, same depth, then a layer of muck and another of kelp.
In the spring, as soon as the frost would permit, the whole was
forked over three times, at intervals of a week or ten days, by
which it was completely mixed and pulverized. This, to the
amount of six cords, was spread on and plowed in eight inches
deep, and harrowed. After a week it was plowed again the
same depth, which brought the manure to the surface, then the
pulverizing harrow was used until the manure was very thor-
oughly commingled with the soil ; after which, the surface was
dragged smooth, making as perfect a seed bed as could be
desired.

On the 12th of May, two pounds of seed, of the Norbiton
variety, were sown in drills, two feet apart. Just before the
seed came up, salt was spread broadcast on two-thirds of the
piece, at the rate of twenty-five bushels per acre. The crop
was hoed and weeded three times, and at the second weeding
the plants were thinned as nearly as possible ten inches apart.
The Mangolds were pulled, topped and piled up in the field and
covered with the tops to protect them from frost, on the 29th
of October ; after remaining ten days were stored in the cellar.

84

Owing to the large amount of rain this season, the crop was
injured on about one half of the piece, full thirty per cent.
Water stood on the surface a day or two at a time on several
occasions before it drained off, the drain being wholly under
ground.

1 observed that the eflect of salt upon the crop this year was
not nearly as marked as in some other instances. The year
before salt more than doubled the crop. That was a dry season,
and this a wet one ; "whether that was the cause of the
difference, I am unable to tell.

It will be noticed that, with the exception of the salt, the
cost of the manure applied was only the labor of carting and
preparing, as the muck and sea-kelp were products of the farm.

Cost of raising the crop.

6 cords of compost at $5, -
Laying out and spreading, - _ _

8 bushels salt at 25 cents, - - -

Plowing, - - - _ _

Harrowing and dragging, - - -

2 pounds seed at 75 cents.
Sowing, - - _ .
Hoeing, weeding and thinning,
Harvesting, - . . .

$72 25

The weight of the crop nine days after being
l)ulled, 19 tons 10 cwt. 78 lbs., market value
$15 per ton, - . . . 293 08

Allowing $2 per ton for marketing, 39 25

Cost of raising, - - - 72 25 111 50

$80

00

5

00

2

00

4

00

3

00

1

50

75

12

00

14

00

Profit, - - - - $181 b^

Benjamin P. Ware.

STATEMENT OF J. D. W. FEENCH.

STATEMENT CONCERNING A CROP OF MANGOLD WURTZEL9.

October 29th, 1872.

The land occupied by this crop was measured by the Com-
mittee and found to contain 22,720 square feet, something over
one-half acre. The Committee then measured off one-twentieth
of the whole piece, which was considered an average lot, to be
weighed at harvesting. This I have done, and the weight was
1800 pounds, which would give as the yield of the whole piece
36,000 pounds, or 18 tons of Mangolds.

The crop of 1870 was grass of very poor quality and small in
quantity. The land had been in grass many years and most
of it was low and wet. In the Summer and Fall of that year,
I drained the whole piece, of which this is a portion, Mith tile
drains.

The crop of 1871 was corn, and from two and a half to three
cords of stable manure were used. The soil varies from a peaty
to a gravelly loam. The manure was carted on and ploughed
in during the Autumn of 1871, and the land was cross-ploughed
in the Spring. The depth of tlie ploughing was from seven to
eight inches. The seed was sown May 17th, by machine, in
drills about thirty inches apart. The plants were thinned out
to twelve or fifteen inches apart in the rows. In reckoning the
labor, although more than one man and also horses were em-
ployed, I have calculated the time on the basis of one man's
work for a day.

Br.

4 cords of manure, - - - |40 00
\ bushel agricultural salt,
1\ days' ploughing,
2| days' ridging and sowing, -
6 days' hoeing and tliinning,

5 days' harvesting, - - - .
4 pounds seed, - - . .
Interest and Taxes, - - - .

$77 22

22

• )

• )

00

5

00

12

00

10

00

o

00

4

00

86

6V.
36,000 pounds or 18 tons of Mangolds, equal to

600 bushels at 25 cents per bushel, - $150 00

Balance to Cr., - - - $12 78

As Ave are considering only the marketable portion of the
crop, we have not taken into account the leaves, which accord-
ing to analysis are as valuable as the roots themselves.

It might be a matter for consideration, also, as to how much
of the manure remains in the soil for future crops. The use
of tlie salt was simply an experiment based on analysis. John-
ston gives tliree-fourths to one and a fourth per cent, of saline
matter to the Mangold (root.)

J. D. W. French.

STATEMENT OF J. J. H. GREGORY.

I enter for premium my crop of Hubbard Squashes. They
were grown on several different pieces of land, all on the same
farm, the aggregate measure of which was six and four-sevenths
acres. All the land had been in tillage for several years.
Most of it was a strong loam, underlaid Avith gravel. The
crop was planted l)etween the 20th and 25th of May. The
manure used was very rich, too rich for this very wet season,
causing an excessive growth of vine. The manure was a
compost of muck, barn manure, glue manure and fish. About
eight cords were applied to each acre and thoroughly worked
in by plough and harrow. The hills were nine by ten feet and
at the ultimate thinning two plants were left in each, which, as
the event proved, was just one too many. Were it not for
some danger from the attack of the borer, I would never leave
more than one vine to each hill.

Cost of Crop.
Six and four-sevenths acres of land, rent of, $100 00

52 cords of manure and spreading of same - 520 00

Amount carried vp - - $620 00

87

A^mount brought up - - $620 00

Ploughing of land, - - - - 3G 00

Harrowing and cultivating, - - - 20 00

Planting, ----- 9 00

Seed, - - - - - - 12 00

Cultivating four times, _ _ - 15 00

Hoeing four times, - - - - 25 00

Liming once, - - - - 4 00

Cutting and collecting, - - - 15 00

-fT5() 00

Value of Crop.
42 tons at 840 per ton, - - - $1680 00

Deduct cost,. - ^ - - - 756 00

Profit, ... - .f924 00

Marblehead, Sth Nov., 1872.
This is to certify that I have this day measured the several
tracts of land on the farm of James J. H. Gregory, Esq., that
were planted to Hubbard Squash the past season, and have
found them to contain six and four-sevenths acres.

Franklin Reynolds.

STATEMENT OF J. J. H. GREGORY,

To Chairman of Committee on Roots: — The piece of
American Improved Savoy Cabbage, which I enter, contains
27,000 feet, on which the cabbage by actual measure are two
feet apart in the rows, while the rows are three feet apart.
The number of plants on the piece, suppose every space to be
occupied, would be 4,500. As there are about one hundred
missing spaces, the actual number is about 4,400 ; of these,
five-sixths will average seven inches in diameter, and are worth
on the ground ten cents a head. The remainder, taken as
they run, are worth on an average four cents a head. I do not

88

think there is a cabbage on the piece that has not advanced so
far as to form a head. This variety of Savoy I consider of
superior excellence for market purposes, from the fact of its
being so reliable for heading and making so large a head on so
short a stump. This piece was raised on an old onion bed,
hence the quantity of manure to the acre was less than I am
in the habit of applying, it being at the rate of about four cords
to the acre. The quality of the manure was very superior, it
being made up of a compost of barn manure, sea manure, glue
manure and fish heads and sound bones. The seed was
planted about the 20th of June in the hills, which were two
feet apart, while the rows were three feet apart. The crop
received the usual treatment of three cultivatings and three
hoeings. The cabbage worm was fought with a compound
made up of twenty parts air-slaked lime, three parts super-
phosphate and one part of carbolate of lime. The compound
appeared to be efficacious, but this, my first test, demonstrates
nothing, although my acre of Marblehead Mammoth Drum-
head, to which it was applied several times during the season,
appeared to receive a decided benefit.

Cost of Production.
Manure teamed and spread, -t cords,
Ploughing of land,
Harrowing and cultivating.
Marking out and planting,
Seed, - _ - .

Thinning out, - - -

Applying compound and cost of,
Three hoeings,
Three cultivatings, - - -

Hire of land, . _ .

i40

00

3

00

2

00

4

00

2

00

2

00

4

00

8

00

8

00

$73

00

20

00

S93 00

$366 50

29 32

1395 82

93 00

89

3665 heads at 10 cents,
733 heads at 4 cents, . - .

Subtract cost, - -

Profit, - - . - .f 302 82

Cabbages of all kinds are very dear this fall, which makes
the profits of a good crop figure remarkably high.

Marblehead, Nov. 8, 1872.
This is to certify that I have this day measured the piece of
land on the farm of James J. H. Gregory, Esq., on which his
Improved American Savoy Cabbages are now growing, and
find it to contain 27,000 feet.

Franklin Reynolds.

statement of j. j. h. geegory.

I enter for premium one lot of Stone Mason Cabbage, con-
taining an area of 47,808 feet. This piece was planted June
12th, the seed being dropped into hills averaging two feet
apart, while the rows average three feet apart. The land,
which was in sward, was broken up this spring and received a
good coat of very rich manure, at the rate of eight cords to the
acre. The manure was a compost of muck, clay, rotten kelp,
herring and the heads and sound bones of fresli fish with some
glue manure. The manure was worked in by Shares' harrow.
The crop received the same treatment as the piece of Savoy,
with the exception that the cut-worms having worked l)adly,
much of it had to be replanted in parts several times over.

The cost of production was as follows : —

Interest on land, - - - - $16 00

Manure and spreading, - - - 90 00

Ploughing, - - - - - 6 00

Harrowing and cultivating, - - ^ 3 00

Amount carried up - - $115 00

12

90

Amount brought up
Marking out and planting, -
Seed, - - - -

Thinning out,

Applying compound and cost of,
Three hoeings.
Three cultivatings.
Transplanting into vacant spaces.

$115

00

6

00

3

00

8

00

7

00

13

00

12

00

3

00

$162 00

Value of Crop.
5976 heads at 11 cents each, - - - $657 36

1584 heads at 6 cents each, - - 95 04

8752 40
Deduct cost, - - - - - 162 00

Profits, - - - - $590 40

In estimating value of crop, I have put it at two cents less
per head than the present value of cabbages, of equal quality,
in Boston market, and have allowed about one hundred as the
number of vacant spaces on the piece.

I have deducted three hundred and sixteen from the crop,
that number not having formed heads of any market value ;
still, such cabbages have a value, for by protecting them over
winter in a growing position, nearly all will make good market
heads by spring.

James J. H, Gregory.

Marblehead, 8th Nov., 1872.
This is to certify that I have this day measured the piece of
land on the farm of James J. H. Gregory, Esq., on Avhich his
Stone Mason Cabbage are now growing, and find it to contain
47,808 feet.

Franklin Reynolds.

91

statement of dudley h. portee.

Hamilton, Nov. 12, 1872.
Gentlemen: — The land on which the Ruta Bagas grew,
which I offer for premium, has been in English grass for the
last eight years. Ploughed the first time in November, 1871 :
€ross-ploughed again this last June and harrowed ; finished
June 20th ; sowed in drills about three feet apart. The crop
is 196 bushels, sixty pounds to the bushel, on the half acre,,
"worth in market 62 cents a bushel.

Value of 2| cords of manure, - - $18 00-
Labor and team in hauling and applying the same, 5 00/

Seed, - - - _ . QQ.

Cultivating and weeding, - - - 6 00

Transplanting, - - - - 2 00

Two plowings and harrowings, - - 6' 00

Harvesting, - - "- - 7 00

$44 GO

Market value, - - , _ $-\_s& 40-

Cost, - - - - - - 44 GO'

Income, - - - _ $85 80*

Dudley H. Porter„

TREADWELL FARM.

The Committee on the Treadwell Farm report that the seven
years' lease to Mr. Ariel H. Gould terminates next April, and
that Mr. Gould has complied with the teraas of the lease
satisfactorily to the Committee ; he having applied to the farm
ninety cords of good merchantable manure the first year, and
fifty cords each following year until this year, io which he has

02

applied thirty-five cords, making in the aggregate fifteen cords
more than required. He has not, however, dug and applied
the two hundred loads of muck per year according to the terms
of the lease ; for the reason that, having tested the muck which
is on the farm, the Committee were satisfied that it Avas of so
poor quality as to be of little or no value. He was therefore
excused from its further use.

The farm has been very much improved under the manage-
ment of Mr. Gould. Instead of the bare and barren appearance
of seven years ago, with no sod and little else but stunted
sorrel and moss upon a greater part of the farm, it now has,
on the larger portion, a firm and well established sod, giving
indication of a fertility unknown to the farm before.

The products this year have been eighteen tons English hay,
one ton roweh, (much more might have been cut, but Mr.
Gould preferred to feed it,) a quantity of corn fodder and of
turnips. Mr. Gould was unfortunate in having a field of
squashes eaten up by the bugs, and in the failure of the seed to
come up on a piece of turnips.

The farm-house has been newly shingled the last year, at a
cost of 843.22. This had become absolutely necessary to
make it habitable.

Tlie question now arises, what shall be done with the Tread-
well Farm ? The present tenant does not wish to renew his
lease ; and in the opinion of your Committee, if let to such a
tenant as would be likely to want it, the farm would certainly
depreciate from its present condition, and become a reproach
to the Society. For very few men have opportunity to apply
the quantity of manure that Mr. Gould has. May not, there-
fore, the question of selling it be properly considered at this
time ? It is believed that it can now be sold for a sum, which,
properly invested, would bring to the Society an income double
the present rent of the farm. The Society would then be
relieved from all further anxiety on the subject.

Committee — Benjamin P. Ware, AVilliam Sutton, George B.
Loring, Charles P. Preston, J. L. Newhall.

93

DESTRUCTION OF CANKER WORMS.

The Committee on the " Destruction of Canker Worms"
have carefully attended to their duty and submit the following
report.

The Society offers two classes of premiums — one " for the
best conducted experiment in preventing the ravages of the
canker worm," and one for " a new, cheap and effectual remedy
against the ravages of the canker worm."

For the first named premium there were two entries, one by
Mr. Thomas Sawyer of Boxford, and one by Mr. Charles K.
Lake of Topsfield. The Committee visited the orchards of
both competitors in the first part of July, when the extent to
which the orchards had been eaten could be easily seen. Mr.
Lake entered two orchards, which had been mainly protected
by Ord way's Protector, of which further mention will be made.
Although no statement has been submitted by Mr. Lake, and
although he was suddenly called from home just before the
Committee visited his orchards, so that they were unfortunately
deprived of his valual^le personal ex])lanations, yet the Com-
mittee by inquiry of others were able to arrive at what seemed
to them a satisfactory conclusion.

The protector chiefly used by Mr. Sawyer is simply a trough
or gutter laid upon the ground around the tree, and filled with
coal tar from the gas works. His statement, which is herewith
submitted, gives a very clear account of the course of experi-
ment which has led him to adopt this remedy. Many of his
trees were almost entirely free from signs of the canker worm,
certainly perfectly protected from practical injury to the fruit.
Your Committee recommend that he be awarded the first
premium of twenty-five dollars.

There were two entries for the hundred dollar premium ; one
by Mr. Sawyer and one by Mr. Thomas K. Leach of Topsfield.
Your Committee regarded both entries as substantially for the
same thing. Mr. Sawyer uses a trough or gutter having a
rectangular channel, while Mr. Leach cuts out a triangular
channel, thereby wasting less stock, presenting a wider surface
of tar and yet requiring less to fill the trough. Mr. Leach has

94

manifestly made an improvement in the construction of the
trough, but as troughs somewhat similar to these are said to
have been used in the town of Danvers many years ago, your
Committee think neither of the above named gentlemen
entitled to the premium for a " new^ cheap and effectual remedy
for the ravages of the canker worm."

They recommend, however, tlmt in consideration of the value
the introduction of these troughs is likely to be to the public, a
gratuity of fifteen dollars he awarded to Mr. Leach for his
improvement in their construction.

Perhaps it should here be stated that one member of the
Committee dissents, for reasons which he has embodied in the
accompanying Minority Report. We understand that he
objects to giving any premium whatever, because he believes
that the destruction of the canker worm will be accomplished
soonest by letting it alone. But assuming the policy of offering
these premiums to be sound, he would agree with tlie majority
in respect to the proposed awards. We have here neither time
nor space to discuss his view of the subject, but for the benefit
of those orchardists, who do not accept his theory and are
determined to fight the canker worm, we wish to present the
facts brought to the notice of the Committee, and the con-
clusions drawn by the majority in reference to the different
methods of opposing the canker worm now in use.

The troughs used by Mr. Sawyer are made of two by three
joists sawn from two-inch plank. A channel, an inch or more
deep and an inch and a half wide, is grooved out and the stock
is then sawn off in a mitre box at suitable lengths for different
sized trees, and the pieces nailed together, one side slightly,
so that it can easily be removed when placed around, the tree.
A square box or trough is thus made, which is laid level on
the ground around the tree. Tlie space between trough and
tree-trunk is filled with dirt, the trough itself filled with coal
tar from the gas works, and the work is done. On ploughed
land it is easy to level up the earth around the tree, but on
grass ground it may be necessary to carry sand or dirt on
which to place the trough. The troughs first used by Mr.

95

Sawyer had a cover of boards to prevent the rain and leaves
from getting into the tar. But he finds the plain troughs just
as effective at less than half the expense, although of course
they require a little more care. He states that he made his
troughs himself, and that they cost from twelve to seventeen
cents per tree. Of course they can be made from the cheapest,
coarsest plank, and after they are laid down the tar will help
to preserve them many years. The cost of the coal tar is said
to be small.

Mr. Sawyer states that he found it necessary to stir the tar
but two or three times in the Spring or Fall, and that few
troughs required refilling. At the time of holding the annual
Fair in Gloucester, he told us that by stirring the tar then in
the troughs many of them would effectually bar the passage of
the grub. These statements seem to show that the trees will
require but little labor or expense for several years after the
troughs are put down. We have also made inquiry of other
parties who have used these troughs, and the testimony is
unanimous as to their effectiveness when properly used.

The troughs used by Mr. Leach differ from those of Mr.
Sawyer only in having a triangular channel, which Mr. Sawyer
admits to be an improvement. Mr. Leach thinks his troughs
can be furnished ready for the trees at twenty-five cents each,
as orchards average. Of course the expense will largely
depend on the quality of the lumber used.

Ordway's Protector is an ingenious metal contrivance encir-
cling the tree, and suspended from it by a cloth, and presenting
sharp edges over which, it is claimed, the grub cannot pass It
was patented some years ago and is quite expensive. The
design being simply to prevent the ascent of the grub, it has
been found that the grub, finding no way of climbing the tree,
lays her eggs on the cloth by which the Protector is suspended,
and on the trunk of the tree below. As soon as the young
worms are hatched, they ascend the tree and climb over the
Protector. To overcome this difficulty, Mr. Lake covered the
trunk of the tree belo^y the Protector with cloth, so that after
the grubs had laid then- eggs, it could be removed and the eggs

06

destroyed with the cloth. The result of his experiment showed
that the Protector thus used was quite successful, although the
Committee thought the trees were damaged about as much as
the average of trees protected by other methods. Perhaps
Ordw'ay's Protector is as effectual a preventive as anything
which does not cause the death of the grub before laying her
eggs. Mr. Sawyer states that, by tarring the trees above the
Protectors, he became satisfied that the grubs could not pass
over it, but he also states that be caught grubs and young worms
ascending the tree at the same time. He also found large
numbers of young worms hatched upon the stone walls by the
side of the trees, from which it is fair to presume that they
would travel to the tree.

If it is a fact that the grubs lay their eggs upon the stone
walls and stubble and continue to run until after the young
worms begin to hatch, it seems to be clearly demonstrated that
no protector can effectually save the tree unless it causes the
death of the grub or prevents the ascent of the newly hatched
worms. The expense and the fact that a new cloth for both
tree and Protector must be annually supplied, constitute the
principal additional objections to a general use of Ordway's
Protector.

There was also brought to the notice of the Committee, by
Mr. John Bradstrect of Wenham, a zinc protector, consisting
of a trough surrounding the tree and designed to be filled with
kerosene oil. This costs twelve cents per inch (in diameter),
and was patented in 1865. We were unable to pronounce
upon the effectiveness of this protector ; tlie only objection
raised was that of expense. Another contrivance brought to
the notice of the Committee has been patented, we understand,
by Mr. Mears, of Essex. This consists of a trough or gutter
of coarse cloth or bagging. A hoop is sewn into a cloth, the
upper end of which is tied tightly around the tree, and by
raising the hoop a gutter is formed, which is to be filled with tar.

The tar wcei)s slowly through the cloth, constantly present-
ing a surface of fresh tar underneath, over which the grub can
not })ass. And if the grub is able to pass over the underside,

97

she still has to cross the tar in the trough. We did not hear
that this remedy had been tried sufficiently to test its value,
but if not too expensive, it may prove a useful preventive
against the ravages of the canker worm.

The application of tar or printers' ink to the trunk of the
tree, with or without tarred paper, is probably the most common
method of preventing the ascent of the grub. It is generally
believed that ink is better than tar, because it requires less
frequent applications, still there is a wide difference in the
estimates of its value by those who have used it.

Mr. Sawyer states that in his case ink was too expensive,
and yet the writer of this has used ink on an orchard of ten or
twelve hundred trees for the last four years, and has protected
them from substantial injury to the fruit at an expense probably
less than would have been required by any other known method.
These apparently conflicting statements can doubtless be recon-
ciled on the theory of difference in location. It is well known
that the grub begins to run as soon as the ground is thawed
after a severe freeze, and continues to run whenever the
weather is warm enough through the winter and spring until
the season is over. The warmer and dryer the location the
sooner and oftener will the grub make her appearance, and
consequently an orchard situated on a southerly exposure, on
warm land, will require very much more attention than one on
a cold, wet soil exposed to the north. Mr. Sawyer's orchard
is situated on warm, dry land, while mine is on a colder soil,
inclined to the north, and hence there is no doubt that it would
require much more labor and expense to protect his orchard
equally with mine by this method of using tar or ink.

The chief objection to the use of tar or ink is the uncertainty
of accomplishing the desired end. The grubs will sometimes
run when least expected, or a storm will set in and prevent
renewal of the tar or ink, while it nowise hinders the grub.
Sometimes, too, in inking a large orchard, the workmen become
careless and occasionally miss a tree, or make an imperfect
application of the ink, so that the grubs can pass, and one
omission of this kind is fatal when the grubs run thickly.
13

98

If the ground shuts up early in the fall, and remains frozen
till late in the spring, the trees can be pretty efiectually
protected by a careful application of ink for from two to four
weeks. But it is extremely difficult in our open winters and
early springs to do more by this method than to repel the main
army of grubs from our orchards.

These methods of preventing the ravages of the canker
worm are all that have been brought to the notice of the
Committee. Any of them properly used will doubtless prevent
serious loss in the crop of apples, but the farmer desires to use
that method which best combines economy and effectiveness.
None of them will prove satisfactory without the utmost care
in their application, for the grub is a most persistent and
determined creature and only succumbs to impossibilities. But
it is also true, that the more thoroughly the trees are protected
the less the attention afterwards required.

The first year that tar, ink or any substance which kills the
grub is used, there is constant danger that they will appear in
such numbers as to " bridge over," and thus enable some to
cross on the dead bodies of their comrades. But after an
orchard has been well protected, there is little danger that the
gruljs will next year go up in sufficient numbers to do this.

It is evident enough that every orchardist can protect himself
from serious injury by the canker worm if he chooses to make
the effort. Let him invest sparingly, if at all, in new-fangled
notions and patents, but adopt those methods which have been
tried and found successful, and which do not require large
outlay. Let him remember that " Eternal vigilance is the
price of /rmY," and that he must do his work with the utmost
thoroughness to ensure success. By so doing his eyes will not
be pained by the sight of sere and reddened trees in June, nor
his cellars lack the red and golden harvest of October.

For the Committee — Joseph S. Howe.

MINORITY REPORT.

The opinion of the undersigned, as one of the Committee, is
in brief to let the canker woi'ms quite alone, and if all apple

99

growers in any locality infested would omit using any patent
tree protector ^ tar or any other preparation, they would find that
in two or three years the canker worms would disappear from
starvation, or lack of sufficient food, of a proper kind, to bring
them to perfection, sufficient to propagate their kind for another
year's operations.

I have come to this conclusion after careful observation and
my own practice ever since the appearance of canker worms in
my locality. A majority of my neighbors have used every
known remedy to save their apple crop^ but have met with very
poor success, while those who have adopted the " let alone
policy,''' have done equally as well, and in some cases better.

In short, I consider all of the so-called tree protectors, tar,
printers' ink, etc., (except for puffing a worthless article,) so
much money and time thrown away.

Respectfully submitted,

William Bricher.

STATEMENT OF THOMAS SAWYER.

To THE Committee on Destruction of Canker Worms : —
When the canker worms in small numbers first made their
appearance in my orchard, as many as eight years ago, I
thought I would pay no attention to them. But as they
increased very fast each year, I found I must do something, or
my trees would be entirely destroyed. I commenced experi-
menting in 1870, by putting tarred paper and printers' ink on
about one acre, or nearly one hundred trees, and the same
numl)er with paper and tar. I also put Ordway's Protector on
forty or fifty trees. The Ordway Protector protects them from
the grub, but not from the worm, as I found in the last days of
April the worms were ascending the trees over the Protector.
I placed paper and tar above the Protectors, and caught thous-
ands before the middle of June, when every leaf was eaten.
The ink was too expensive, as it was necessary to apply it
every day, or at least every other day. I tried about one
hundred trees with boxes, to which was attached a gutter filled

100

with gas tar, and which cost about fifty cents per tree. I also
tried a few trees with gutters laid on the ground and filled with
tar, which I found answered the same purpose. The cost was
about fifteen cents per tree.

Last fall (1871,) I put these troughs around four hundred
trees, at a cost of about twelve cents per tree. The foliage of
these trees was entirely eaten in 1870. The tar was stirred
two or three times in the fall and the same in the spring. Care
must be taken to prevent the grubs from bridging over, or the
gutter becoming filled with leaves. 1 found this to be a sure
thing, if properly attended to.

This year the trees have not been eaten to injure the fruit.
The foliage of the same trees was entirely destroyed in 1870.
I shall have from two to three hundred barrels of good apples
this year, 1872. If any one is interested in my method, I
should be happy to give them any information I can, and the
trees speak for themselves.

Thomas Sawyer.

Boxford, Oct. 1, 1872.

1776. International Exhibition, Philadelphia. 1876.

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES CENTENNIAL COMiUSSION.

Philadelphia, Pa., October, 1872.

Essex County Agricultural Society,

Chas. P. Preston, Sec'y, Danvers, Essex Co., Mass.

The Anniversary of the Independence of the United States
in the year 1876, is to be celebrated by an exhibition of the
products, arts, and industries of the country, and of the world.
This is in accordance with an Act of Congress approved March
3d, 1871. By this act the task of preparing and superintend-
ing the exhibition was imposed upon the United States
Centennial Commission, consisting of two members from each
of the states and territories. The Commissioners have twice
met in general session, a permanent organization has been

101

eifected, and the chief outlines of the plan for the exhibition
have been agreed upon.

This exhibition is to be international and universal — inter-
national inasmuch as all nations will be invited to participate
in it ; and universal, because it will include a representation of
all natural and artificial products, all arts, industries, and
manufactures, and all the varied results of human skill, thought
and imagination.

The outlines of a simple yet comprehensive classification
have been adopted. There will be ten departments, each sub-
divided in ten groups, and these again into classes. The
details of this classification are now being elaborated and will
be published in due season, together with such rules and regu-
lations as may be found necessary for the proper conduct and
management of the exhibition.

It is intended that ample space shall be assigned to each
state, territory, and foreign country, for a just and proper
display of their products. It is believed that not less than
fifty square acres of floor space, under roof, will be required for
this purpose. A site combining the advantages of a sufficient
extent of level ground, with picturesque and cultivated sur-
roundings, easy of access by rail, water, and by ordinary roads,
has been assigned for the buildings and grounds at Fairmount
Park, in the City of Philadelphia. The exhibition will open
in April, and close in October.

Each State of the Union will be expected to send its peculiar
products, illustrating its resources, both developed and unde-
veloped. A complete exhibition of this kind by all the States,
will afford the means of comparing their industrial condition
and capabilities. The products of mining and of agriculture
will occupy a large portion of the space allotted to each state,
and will receive tlieir just share of attention in this universal
display.

An undertaking so patriotic in its conception, so vast in its
proportions, and so useful in its results, commends itself to
the hearty sympathy and support of an intelligent people.
Patriotism, as well as an appreciation of the industrial, educa-
tional, and moral influences of well organized exhibitions,
should impel all citizens to lend a helping hand. It is the
duty of the Commission to prepare the way and open the doors,
but the people, in their sovereign right and strength, must
make the exhibition. By their aid, alone, can it be made a
just and comprehensive display of the industrial, intellectual,
and moral development of the Nation during the first century
of its existence.

102

The Commission not only relies with confidence upon the aid
of the people in general, but it hopes to receive the co-operation
of the many state societies and' organizations which for so
many years have aided in directing and realizing the popular
demand for agricultural and industrial exhibitions. The desire
to secure, at an early date, your efficient co-operation, has led
to this connnunication, which is made at the request of the
Executive Committee of the Commission.

Permit me, in closing, to suggest that the facts herein stated
miglit, with great advantage to the exliibition, be communicated
as publicly as possible to your membei'S and exhibitors, and
that, if agreeable, they should be incorporated in your printed
reports. A committee of your members might be appointed to
consider and suggest such measures as may appear most
desirable to promote tlie success of the object for which the
Centennial Commission is appointed. A general plan for the
organization of Co-operative Centennial Associations in the
several states and territories is now under consideration, and
when perfected will be published for distribution.

Please acknowledge the reception of this communication.
Very Respectfully,

Your Obedient Servant,

WM. PHIPPS BLAKE,

Executive Commissioner.

tJNDERDRAINING LAND.

Mr. C. 0. Cummings, Superintendent of the Andover Town
Farm, made the only entry of underdrained land, whicli is a
piece of said farm, containing four acres and five rods of clay
land with a mixed sub-soil of clay and loam. Sept. 23d, three
of your Committee visited it. Notwithstanding the preceding
Thursday and Friday were days of almost incessant rain, the
ground even in the liollows or sags was apparently dry enough
to cultivate hoed crops, and although a heavy second crop had

103

been cut, it was covered with a thick growth of grass, and
presented a splendid appearance.

After it was abandoned as a brick yard, for which it was
formerly used, up to 1865 we know nothing of the condition of
the land. In 1865, one of our number helped harvest what it
produced, which, he thought, was about one ton of pretty good
swale hay. In 1868, Mr. Cummings, having obtained permis-
sion of the overseers, underdrained it by laying twelve hundred
and sixty-eight feet of tile, with a fall of fifteen inches per one
hundred feet, and twenty-one and five-elevenths rods of covered
stone drain. Adjoining it, on the north, is a small piece of
meadow, with numerous springs, and through which, also, flows
a large quantity of water from beyond the railroad. On the
line between this meadow and the land under consideration,
Mr. Cummings dug a trench, four feet deep, the entire length
of the meadow. In the bottom of the trench he laid a covered
stone drain, and filled the remainder of the trench to the
surface of the ground with small stones, and upon these he
built a substantial stone wall. From the drain under the wall
a 3-inch tile drain is laid entirely across the land to a brook on
the southerly side, and thus a great amount of water is carried
directly to the brook which otherwise would run over and soak
into the land.

The position of this drain, as well as all the others, the
peculiarity in the position of which was made in order to tap
certain springs, and which Mr. Cummings says he should never
again pay any attention to, may be seen in the accompanying-
plan. In 1868 and 1869 the land was planted to potatoes, and
a medium quantity of barnyard manure was used. The result
was a heavy crop, the exact amount of which is forgotten. In
1870, it was seeded to grass with oals. The oats yielded well.

In 1871, a large amount of both first and second crop was
taken from the land, which was thought by good judges to be
in the aggregate twelve tons. In 1872, the produce of the land
was estimated by a member of your Committee, who in 1865
helped harvest it, to be eight tons of first crop and four of
rowen.

$28

08

5

97

57

63

26

82

104

Cost.
936 feet 3-incli tile, at $30 a thousand,
332 feet 2-ineh tile, at $18 a thousand,
Laying of same at 75 cents per rod,
21 5-11 rods covered stone drain at $1.25

Total, - .... ,$118 50

Setting aside the years 1868, 1869 and 1870, when it was
occupied with potatoes and oats, the proceeds of which would,
we think, fully cover the expense of tilling and harvesting up
to the present time, we have for 1871 twelve tons of hay, which
at the low average, for that year, of $35 per ton, $420 00

1872, twelve tons at $30, - - - 360 00

Total, $780 00

Cost, - - - - - - 118 50

Balance, - - . - $661 50

We conclude our report by expressing the opinion, that a
man who causes twelve tons of first quality of grass to grow
where only one of poor quality grew before, from an inborn
love of improvement, deserves as rich a reward as the man who
improves his own for his own good. We therefore award Mr.
Cummings the first premium of $15 and diploma.
For the Committee — J. C. Underbill.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.

The Committee on Essays and Farm Accounts report.

There were submitted to us the reports of the several Com-
mittees, but no essays or statements of Farm Accounts.

The report of the Committee on experiments in raising root
crops covered several interesting and valuable statements by
competitors, giving account of the expense and income of
their experiments, but the Committee did not suppose that

105

these came within the meaning of " Farm Accounts," and have
not considered such for a premium.

We award the premiums offered for Reports of Committees
as follows, to wit :

First premium of $10 and diploma, to Joseph S. Howe of
Methuen, for report on " Destruction of the Canker Worm."

Second premium of $8, to T. C. Thurlow of West Newbury,
for report on " Pears."

Third premium of $6, to J. D. W. French of No. Andover,
for report on " Bulls."

For the Committee,

Daniel E. Saffoed, Chairman.

Salem, Nov,, 1872.

<*'

14

D5

o

106

H

I— I
o
o

<
w

W

H

b

o X © o r-i "2 o

t- O O O t- T-l ^

C-l >* lO ■* r-l

ft • f^

•2 -I -2

•r: M -S

•« -2 «y g

aa flJ c3 O

a s w t^

■3 » . S

K 'J tC O)

P-i ^ H "

•S S 2 "S "S +i
^ S i^ S — ' d

s I e 6 I

1—* fU

^

^

<u

CO

^

d

•«

^

o

5^

,c

f. o >o 0^

o ^ 2 5g
(M Tji g (N

O © Q I 3

»o £• I 2J

p

<
P5

o

w

P

o >ra ©
Sn cs o

OS©

o O .2

o C rv;

■^ 2 S S
CO © © ©

o © © 2

o © © ©

© o 2 2S

Cl O O (N

P s

© .2 c

o :?;

cS fe

Ph -

c 2 ©

^ 5 fe 2 S

^ i2 P G

g >^ a ft .»• ^

ft«

i3 p S ^ 'B

5 W

• a)

^E^HH

;ziS

p:5 «

s s

O O ij

PQ « .^
2 == °^

■^ (M , .
© >i '^

OT t« tn
C - a;

ft ft^^

O o

o o

£ g 2
^ o ^

o 15 - -3 f^
g o ^

«; !z;

■g 42 P
0 c o

o <"

r-l j3

ftl

-3 tS -M
o o o o o o o o

Phhhhhhh

s -2

•< S 1^

<JO

O O O CO

O O O 00

•^ O O 00

O C5 Tj( C-l

C5 CS '^ C;

107

CO O O CO t^

. .# 1= O X

,ii b~ O ~ cc

o c-1 o o 21

O 1— I I— ^ C2

ti

CO

IM

>-0

t-

CO

co"

CO

«?

O 'O

« p

••-?

-73 O rt

•§m

^

m «©o

(M O 0-1 -

l-H CO c-1 bq

01 lo C5 C

CO 30 ,-( ir;

CO •"^ t- ?2

^ kH

„ . Pi

+3 +3 "^

c3 cS _

-O ^3 Q

f^ 5 W

S >>

H O

I ci " W
S^ to pK pij

3 H H

^1

w ,. ^

P

® -S o

-^ ^ c« >.

««^

g

H

%

^

-M C3

S

H

i-J

3

Oi

"So +3

02

3

S cc

02

X

"71 a

OOOOOOOOOO

oooooooooo

OOOOOO-^OIOO
OOOOoOC-lCi l^OOO
OT-;iooocCTf(->*iw01

«> . rtl Ol O CC O '-0 LO lO CO O

■^ ~i lO "— I '^ O O 01 CC Ci ^^ o

,^oc;t'~t~-oooo(Mocooo
s:oo'*'coiooo'*c-i,-i'Mi-)

O-O rt iH rt rH rH tH

s s

«2 ^

• — c3 O 3 -^

M «j J a

^^«2

^ 3

■^ 3
3tt

C aj X C

.2 K ^ .2
h5 "^ '3 ^

t: 03 rt
3 .03

3

2 '^
5 -^

i; M c3

S "S ^

^ M

ci i: ,aj o a: -;;

C C c C s q

a

t< »- Ul tH fc< t< tj -

c3 C3 rt cS cS

rt cj cS :S

tOJOioiooorHdeoe^iefl

108

TRUSTEES' MEETING.

A meeting of the Trustees of the Society was held at Plum-
mer Hall, Salem, Nov. 15th.

Present — Messrs. W. Sutton, G. B. Loring, J. L. Newhall,
J. Keeley, B. P. Ware, C. P. Preston, E. H. Payson, G. A.
Abbott, D. Bradstreet, E. G. Berry, A. M. Bodwell, A. B.
Fellows, H. W. Foster, J. D. W. French, J. Flint, J. J. H.
Gregory, Joseph S. Howe, R. Jaques, J. P. King, J. Lee, D.
W- Low, E. K. Lee, A. Lane, W. B. Morgan, J. Newhall, T. J
Ordway, D. H. Stickney, J. R. Swett, A. Sawyer, D. G. Todd
and P. T. Winkley.

Gen. Sutton presided, and the following business was
transacted.

The Committee appointed to audit the bills of the last show,
reported :

Receipts, - - - . |1741 00

Expenses, . _ . . 1480 15

Balance, - , . - $260 85

The several Committees on Farms, Crops, etc., reported, and
their repoHs were considered.

The report of the Treasurer, E. H. Payson, was read by him,
and he was unanimously re-elected.

A report of the Committee on the Treadwell Farm was read
by B. P. Ware, Chairman, recommending the sale of the farm
on the expiration of the lease in April next.

Voted — That the Committee ascertain what sum can be
obtained for the farm, and be instructed, if they deem it ex-
pedient, to call a meeting of the Society to authorize the sale.

Voted — That the next Show be held at Gloucester.

Voted — That Fifty dollars V)e appropriated for a scholarship
in the Masac husetts Agricultural College, provided the Com-
mittee, Messes. A. W. Dodge, G. B. Loring and J. R. Nichols,
deem it expedient to expend said sum.

Voted — That a committee of seven be appointed by the
chair, to report a list of committees for next Show, and present.
the same to the Trustees in June for their action.

Chas. p. Preston, Sec'y.

109

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY

FOR l87'2--73.

PRESIDENT.

WILLIAM SUTTON, of Peabody.

VICE PRESIDENTS.

GEORGE B. LORING, of Salem.
JOSHUA L. NEWHALL, of Newburyport.
JOHN KEELEY, of Haverhill.
BENJAMIN P. WARE, of Marblehead.

TREASURER.

EDWARD H. PAYSON, of Salem.

SECRETARY.

CHARLES P. PRESTON, of Danvers.

HONORARY TRUSTEES.

JOHN W. PROCTOR, of Peabody.
ALLEN W. DODGE, of Hamilton.
JOSEPH HOW, of Methuen.

110

TRUSTEES.

George xV. Al)bott, Andovcr ; James P. King, Peabody ;
Dudley Bradstrcct, Topsfield ; Joliii Lee, Manchester ;
Eben G. Berry, Danvers ; David W. Low, Gloucester

Asa M. Bodwell, Lawrence ;
G. \V. Boynton, Georgetown
Thomas J. Clark, Salisbury ;
Francis Dane, Hamilton ;
Aionzo B. Fellows, Ipswich ;
Henry W, Foster, Beverly ;
J. D. W. Frencli, N. Andover
James Flint, Middleton ;

Edward K. Lee, Essex ;
Andrew Lane, Rockport ;
William B. Morgan, Wenham ;
Josiali Newhall, Lynnfield ;
Warren Ordway, Bradford ;
T. G. Ordway, W. Newbury ;
Dan'l H. Stickney, Groveland ;
Jackson B. Swett, Haverhill ;

J. J. H. Gregory, Marblehead ; John L. Shorey, Lynn ;

Joseph S. Howe, Metliuen ; Aaron Sawyer, Amesbury ;

Israel Hcrrick, Boxford ; Daniel G. Todd, Rowley ;

Ricliard Jaques, Newbury ; P. T. Winkley, Newburyport.

NEW MEMBERS— 1872.

John Atkinson, Gloucester ;
B. D. Appleton, Ipswich ;
Wm. Howe Burnham, Essex ;
S. A. Burnham, Gloucester;
Fitz J. Babson, Gloucester;
H. A. Burnham, Gloucester ;
Horatio Bal)sou, Gloucester ;
Aaron W. Bray, Gloucester ;
A. M. Burnham, Gloucester ;
Geo. R. Bradford, Gloucester ;
0. S. Bailey, Amesbury ;
Eben Blatchford, Rockport ;
Edward H. Bi'own, Gloucester;
George B. Blodgett, Rowley ;
Israel II. Cole, Gloucester;

R. C. Lawrence, Gloucester ;
A, F. Lindberg, Gloucester ;
C. H. Loud, Amesbury ;
E. F. Little, Newbury ;
G. B. Loring, 2d, N. Andover
Ebenezer H. Morse, Salem ;
Chester Marr, Jr., Gloucester
Israel C. Mayo, Gloucester ;
L. McFarland, Gloucester;
Josiali Mayo, Jr., Gloucester
E. W. Merchant, Gloucester ;
Frank Marsh, Peabody ;
John W. Marshall, Rockport :
George Norwood, Gloucester
Isaac F. Osgood, No. Andover

Ill

Curtis C. Cresse}-, Gloucester ;
David M. Cole, Boxford ;
John Croiiin, Gloucester ;
John S. Carter, Gloucester;
Sherman J. Carter, Gloucester ;
C. H. Campbell, Gloucester ;
John Corliss, Gloucester ;
Benjamin F. Cook, Gloucester ;
Benj. H. Corliss, Gloucester ;
John C. Calef, Gloucester ;
Thomas Conant, Gloucester ;
Samuel H. Curwen, Andover ;
J. Merrill Currier, Lawrence ;
Ephraim A. Dane, Hamilton ;
Wm. P. Dolliver, Gloucester ;
Abraham Day, Gloucester ;

C. W. Dennison, Gloucester ;
James Davis, Gloucester ;
John H. Dolliver, Gloucester ;
Stephen Dodd, Gloucester ;

J. Franklin Dyer, Gloucester ;
Wm. C. Dolliver, Gloucester;
Henry Emanuel, Gloucester ;
Jeremiah Foster, Gloucester ;
Robert R. Fears, Gloucester ;
Robert Fears, Gloucester ;
E. G. Friend, Gloucester ;
Thomas B. Ferguson, Salem ;
Geo. W. Foster, No. Andover ;
Sam'l B. Gregory, Hamilton ;
Addison Gilbert, Gloucester ;
Ghas. E. Grover, Gloucester ;

D. F. Gardner, No. Andover;
Horatio M. Howard, Newbury ;
Benjamin Haskell, Rockport ;
H. C. L. Haskell, Gloucester ;
Wm. H: Haskell, Gloucester ;

George W. Parsons, Wenham
Wm. G. Plummer, Newbury ;
Mark Pitman, Beverly ;
Wilbur F. Proctor, Gloucester
Moses B. Perkins, Topsfield ;
Joseph 0. Proctor, Gloucester
William H. Perrin, Gloucester
Henry S. Perrin, Gloucester ;'
David S. Presson, Gloucester
David Plummer, Gloucester ;
Augustus E. Price, Gloucester
Alexander Pattillo, Gloucester
N. H. Phillips, Gloucester ;
William A. Pew, Gloucester ;
W.*Frank Parsons, Gloucester
F. H. Palmer, Boxford ;
George W. Peabody, Wenham
John S. E. Rogers, Gloucester
Joseph W, Ropes, Danvers ;
George C. Rankin, Beverly ;
John D. Rankin, Lynn ;
Allan Rogers, Gloucester ;
Jacob Rhoades, Lynn ;
Eli F. Stacey, Gloucester ;
Edward Staten, Gloucester ;
Jos. C. Shepherd, Gloucester
Cyrus Story, Gloucester ;
John E. Somes, Gloucester ;
Sam'l E. Sawyer, Gloucester ;
John H. Stacey, Gloucester ;
H. G. Sanford, Gloucester ;
B. H. Smith, Gloucester ;
J. Morris Spofford, Groveland
Charles F. Stiles, Groveland ;
George Todd, Gloucester ;
John Todd, Gloucester ;
Robert A. Tibbetts, Gloucester

112

Benj. K. Hough, Gloucester;
Edward C. Hoyt, Gloucester ;
B. F. Huntington, Amesbury ;
Richard Jaques, Newbury ;
A. W. Jewett, Manchester ;
Moses Knowlton, Essex ;
Thos. J. Knowles, Gloucester ;
Francis M. Loring, Gloucester ;
Gorham P. Low, Gloucester ;
George Lane, Gloucester ;
T. S. Lancaster, Gloucester ;

C. P. Thompson, Gloucester ;
H. L. Tenney, Newbury ;
Nath'l Webster, Gloucester ;
Isaac M. Woodbury, Topsfield ;
J. W. Wonson, Gloucester ;
John J. Wilson, Gloucester ;
M. L. Wetherell, Gloucester ;
Aug. H. Wonson, Gloucester ;
F. G. Wonson, Gloucester ;
Addison Witham, Gloucester ;
Nathaniel S. York, Gloucester.

113

LIST OF PREMIUMS, &c.

10 00

8 00

10 00

5 00

FAT CATTLE.

Lanesville Granite Company, John Batman, Agent, Glou-
cester, 1st premium, diploma and §10 00

BULLS.

S. F. Newman NcAvbury, Ayrshire Bull, two years old, 1st

l)remium, diploma and
G; W. Ilerriek, Gloucester, Bull, two years old, gratuity
Francis Dane, Hamilton, Jersey Bull, three years old, 1st

premium, diploma and
H. B. Sargent, Salem, Jersey Bull, four years old, 2d premium,

MILCH COWS.

Henry G. Kimball, Bradford, Grade Dutch, 1st premium,

diploma and 15 00

G. W. Herrick, Gloucester, grade, 2d premium, 10 00

Francis Dane, Hamilton, Jersey, 1st premium, diploma and 10 00
Francis Dane, Hamilton, herd of Milch Cows, Jerseys, 1st

pi'emium, diploma and 15 00

HEIFEKS.

John Erwin, Jr., Gloucester, native heifer, three years old, 2d

premium, 5 00

Ebon Dale, Gloucester, Jersey, two years old, 2d premium, 5 00

G. ^y. Herrick, Gloucester, grade, two years old, 2d premium, 5 00

John Perkins, Essex, grade heifer, two years old, 1st premium, 5 00

Francis Dane, Hamilton, Jersey heifer, 1st premium, 5 00

Fi-ancis Dane, Hamilton, Jersey Yearling, 1st premium, 5 00

F. S. Lovett, Beverly, grade yearling, 1st premium, 5 00

Washington Burnham, Essex, grade yearling, 2d premium, 3 00

"WOEKJIsG OXEN AND STEEES.

Thomas G. Ordway, West Newbury, working oxen, 1st pre-
mium, diploma and 12 GO.

15

30 00

30 00

o 00

5 00

6 00

4 00

3 00

114

Pigeon Hill Granite Company, Eockport, working oxen, 2cl

premiinii, 10 00

E,. S. Bray, Newbury, working oxen, 3d premium, 8 00

Joseph Kiltredge, North Andover, working steers, 2d premium, 5 00
William H. Finley, Danvers, best teamster of oxen, the Loring

premium. 10 00

TOAVN TEAMS.

Gloucester town team of oxen, premium,
Eockport town team of oxen, premium,
Gloucester town team of horses, viz :

Abram Day's eight horse team, premium,

Collins Brothers, six horse team, premium,

Town of Gloucester, four horse team, premium,

STEEKS.

Joseph Kittrcdge, North Andover, yearlings, 1st premium,
George James, Gloucester, yearlings, 2d premium,

STALLIONS.

Francis Dane, Hamilton, stallion, four years old, 1st premium,

diploma and Oliver premium, 10 00

Jacob Ehoades, Lynn, stallion, three years old, 1st premium, 8 00

H. L. Hill, Andover, stallion, three years old, 2d premium, 5 00

T. B. George, Danvers, stallion, three years old, 3d premium, 3 00

BROOD MAKES.

Francis Dane, Hamilton, mare, 1st premium, diploma and 15 00

Moses K. Noyes, Newbury, mare, 2d premium, 10 00

FAMILY HORSES.

George James, Gloucester, family horse, 1st premium,

diploma and 15 00

Samuel E. Sawyer, Gloucester, 2d premium; 10 00

C. C. Cressy, 3d premium, 8 00

FARM AND DRAFT HORSES.

Henry L. Tcnney, Newbury, draft horse, 1st premium, di-

.ploma and 12 00

John Clark, Gloucester, draft horse, 2d premium, 10 00

George Dcnnin, Gloucester, draft horse, 3d premium, 8 00

Edward 11. Little, Newbury, draft horse, 4th premium, 5 GO

115

Edward F. Little, N'ewbiiry; best teamster of horses, Loring

premium, $10 00

Curtis C. Cressy, Gloucester, best pair of draft horses, special

premium, 15 00

Bennett Grilfin, Gloucester, pair of draft horses 2d premium, 10 00

COLTS, FIRST CLASS.

J. Otis Winkley, N'ewburyport, four year old colt, 1st prem-
ium, diploma, and 10 00
C Mitchell, Beverly, four year old colt, 2d premium, G 00
Curtis C. Cressy, Gloucester, four year old colt, 8d premium 4 00
George James, Gloucester, three years old, 1st premium, 8 00

COLTS, SECOND CLASS.

Francis Dane, Hamilton, two years old colt, 1st premium, 6 00

John Perkins, Essex, two years old colt, 2d premium, 2 00

F. L. Lovett, Beverly, yearling, 1st premium, 6 00

SHEEP.

Francis Dane, Hamilton, best flock, 1st premium, diploma and 8 OO
Francis Dane, Hamilton, best lambs, 1st premium, 3 00

SWINE.

Joseph Kittredge, Korth Andover, for breeding sow, 2d

premium, 5 00

PLOUGHING, DOUBLE TEAMS.

Bray and Little, Newbury, 1st premium, diploma, and 12 CK)

Joseph Horton, Ipswich, 2d premium, 10 00

Samuel James, Gloucester, 3d premium, 9 00

PLOUGHING, SINGLE TEAM.

Thomas G. Ordway, West Newbury, 1st premium, diploma and 10 00

PLOUGHING WITH HORSES.

Curtis C. Cressy, Gloucester, 1st premium, diploma and 12 00

Sylvester Dane, Hamilton, 2d premium, 10 00

Edward H. Little, Newbury, 3d premium, 8 00

Henry L. Tenny, Newbury, 4th premium, 6 00

PLOUGHING WITH SWIVEL PLOUGH.

William Foster, North Andover, 1st premium, diploma and 12 00

116

PLOUGiiiNa BY BOYS. — Sutton Premiums.

"Willlnm H. Finley, Dan vers, 1st premium, '$25 00

Willie Merrill, West ISTewbmy, 2d premium, 15 GO

Willie G. Hortou, Ipswich, 3d premium, 10 00

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.

E. E. Lummus, Boston, best collection, diploma and 15 00

Whitteraore Brothers, Boston, hay-cutter, gratuity, 3 00

E. E. Lummus, Boston, Eandall's Harrow, gratuity, 3 00
P. F. Ilolbrook & Co , Boston, Taylor's rake, gratuity, 2 00

F. F. Holbrook & Co., Boston, cultivator, gratuity, 2 00
F. F. Holbrook & Co., Boston, swivel plough, gratuity, 2 00
Ames Plough Co, Boston, hay tedder, gratuity, 3 00
Ames Plough Co , Boston, mower, gratuity, 3 00
W. G. Prescott, Hampton Falls, N. H., mower, gratuity, 5 00

CARRIAGES.

Xioud Brothers, West Amesbury, buggies and wagon, 1st pre-
mium, diploma, and 15 00

H. G. & H. W. Stevens, West Amesbury, buggies and wagon,

2d i^remium, 10 00

Pike & Whipple, Peabody, express wagons, premium, 5 00

BUTTER.

Sarah L. Ridgway, West N'ewbury, 1st premium, Harris's

Insects and 10 00

Francis Dane, Hamilton, 2d premium, 8 00

Mrs. Oliver Patch, Hamilton, 3d premium, 6 00

Joseph Hale, Rowley, 4th premium, 4 00

FARMS.

Francis H. Appleton, Peabody, diploma and 1st premium, 30 00

ROOT CROPS.

Dudley H. Porter, Hamilton, Ruta Bagas, diploma, 1st premium, 10 00

Benj. P. \¥are, Marblehead, mangolds, diploma, 1st premium, 10 00

J. D. W, French, No. Andover, mangolds, 2d premium, 8 00

J. J. H. Gregory, Marblehead, cabbages, diploma, 1st premium, 10 00

J. J. H. Gregory, Marblehead, squash, diploma and 1st premium, 10 00

UNDERDRAINIKG LAND.

C. O. Cumimings, Andover, underdraining land, diploma and

1st premium, 15 00

117

CANKER WORMS.

Thomis Sawyar, Boxford, experiment for destruction of can-
ker worms, 1st premium, 25 00

Tliomas K. Leach, Topsfield, improved boxes for destruction

of canlvcr worms, gratuity, 15 00

REPORTS or C03IJIITTEES.

Joseph S. Howe, Methuen, report of committee, diploma and

1st premium, 10 00

T. C. Thurlow, West Newbury, report of committee, 2nd pre-
mium, 8 00
J. D. W. French, No. Andover, report of committee, 3rd pre-
mium.
Awarded by Committee on poultry,

" " vegetables and garden seeds.

" fruit,

"■ " flowers,

" " counterpanes, rugs, &c.

". , " fancy articles

" " general merchandise,

" '' bread and honey, &c.

" " articles manufactured from leather, 21 00

0 00

71 00

71 00

191 00

23 CO

35 50

54 00

18 00

22 50

, 21 00

SI ,369 00

EECAPITULATIOIS^.

FARMS.

Amount awarded to Farms,

S30 00

a u

Underdraining Lands,

15 00

a a

Ploughing,

139 00

n u

Farm Implements and Carriages,

68 00

FAR3I STOCK.

Amount awarded to Fat Cattle,

10 00

u a

Bulls,

33 00

(( u

Milch CoAvs,

50 00

n Cl

Heifers,

38 00

a u

Working Oxen and Steers,

45 00

Amount carried forward $176 CO 252 00

118

Amount brought foricard
Amount awarded to Steers,

" Town Teams,

" Stallions,

" Brood Mares,

'' Family Horses,

" Farm and Draft Horses,

" Colts,

" Sheep,

" Swine,

" Poultry,

FAEM PKODUCE.

Amount awarded to Vegetables,
" " Fruits,

Flowers,

Dairy,

Bread, &c.,

Root Crops,

Destruction of Canker Worms,

Reports of Committees,

All other objects,

Total

!?176 00

252 00

7 00

75 00

26 00

25 00

33 00

70 00

42 00

16 00

5 00

71 00

546 00

71 00

191 00

23 00

2S 00

22 50

48 00

40 00

24 00

123 50

571 00

$1369 00

119

COn^TElSTTS.

PAGE.

Address of Wm. D. Xortliend, .... 3

The Exhibition, - - ... _ . 19

Eeport on Fat Cattle, -..-.. 20

Bulls, 20

Milch Cows, ..... 24

Herd of Milch Cows, . . . - 25

Heifers, ...■■.. 26

Working Oxen and Steers, - - 26

Town Teams, ..... 27

Steers, ..... 28

Stallions, ..... 28

Brood Mares, .... 29

Family Horses, .... 33

Farm and Draft Horses, ... 33

Colts, ...... 34

Swine, ..... 35

Sheep, ...... 35

Poultry, ..... 35

Ploughing— Double Teams, - - - 39

Ploughing— Single Teams, - - 41

Ploughing With Horses. . . . - 41

Ploughing— Swivel Plough, - - 41

Ploughing — By Boys, - - - - 42

Agricultural Implements, ... 42

CaiTiages, -...-. 43

Dairy, 43

Bread and Honey, - - - . - 46

Fruit — Special Premiums, ... 46

Pears, ...... 4(5

Apples, ..... - 66

Peaches, Grapes, and Assorted Fruits, - - 58

Flowers, -....- 60

Vegetables, ...... 61

120

Report on Counterpanes, &c., - - - - '63

Articles Manufactured from Leather, - - 65

Manufactures and General Merchandize, - 66

Fancy Work, ..... 07

Farms, 69

Manure?, - - - - - - 75

Fattening Cattle and Swine, ... 79

Eoot Crops, .----- 80

Tread well Farm, ... - 91

Destruction of Canker "Worm, - - - 93

International Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876 - 100
Underdraining Land, - - - - ' 102

Reports of Committees, ... 104

Treasurer's Report, ._...- 106

Trustees' Meeting ...--. 108

Officers of the Society, ..... 109

New Members, - - - - - - -110

List of Premiums &c, - - - - - 113

TJRA.ISrS^OTIOlNrS

Essex Agricultural Society,

m MASSACHUSETTS,

FOR THE YEAR 1873,

WITH THE

FIFTY-FIRST

ANNUAL ADDRESS,

EET. CHAELES B.' EICE,

Publisheci by Order of tlie Society.

SALEM, MASS.:

OBSERVER STEAM PRINTING ESTABLISH3IENT.
1873.

A.r>DE,ESS

Mr. President^ and Crentlemen of the Essex County Agricultural
Society :

It is pleasant for me to meet you here to-day not only for
the interest which, as a citizen, I must feel in that most
important branch of industry you represent, but on account
also of many personal associations and memories connecting
me with the pursuit yon follow. My home in boyhood, and for
years after that period had passed, was upon a farm. I have
had practical acquaintance with the planning and labors, and
have entered into all the habits and tastes that belong with a
farmer's life. Our early impressions do not readily leave us ;
and there has been with me no wish that they should be
removed. Being thus the son of a farmer, and having been a
farmer, it is easy for me still to reckon myself as of the same
calling with you. This habit is so strong as to put me into a
kind of doubt sometimes for the forms of speech that should
be used, since I might as naturally say " we farmers " as
"you."

But this claim which I make to be in a manner one of your-
selves, I fear I should poorly justify if I were to attempt to
speak at length to-day upon the particular methods of the art
in which you are engaged. There are few men that ever
attain to fullness and thoroughness of knowledge in more than
one of the several fields of occupation and study that are
opened to us. Having, therefore, my own main employment

ill these later years in another line, I could not expect to say
anything worth your hearing with regard to either the special
studies or the practical methods of Agriculture. I have come
reluctantly to this conclusion, since some such directly and
narrowly practical discussion would be most appropriate to the
occasion, and since this Society has had, often, in former years,
the good fortune to be so entertained ; and since, too, withal, as
I suppose, it is not easy for any of us to make confession of
any lack of knowledge upon any subject whatever.

But though I can not do what would be best, I do not mean
to leave off speaking altogether. Agriculture has not only its
interior field, belonging to itself, but its relations also to w4iat
is around it. Thus one who for some time had not been within
the enclosure, though he would not be able to advise as to the
laying out and tilling of the field itself, might still have
knowledge of the place where the land lies, of the approaches
to it, and of the features of the surrounding country. It is to
a little walking over these adjoining grounds that I purpose
to-day to invite you.

One of the first questions that arises with respect to any
pursuit is for the eflect it has upon those that are engaged in
it. Our occupations are not carried on for their own sakes,
but for their human uses. We enter upon them that we may
grow and he profited by them as men ; or that other men may
have benefit from them through us. Thus in agriculture there
is the farmer above the farm. We look to see what the influ-
ence is of the calling on the 7nan ; and wdiat powers it gives
him over other men about him.

This matter is worth our special attention. We may give it
the title : The Farm and the Farmer. Or, feince we wish to
know how one engaged in this pursuit is affected towards what
is manly, we might call it : The Farmer and the Man.

The standing of the farmer, as a man, in his business, and
by means of it, — this is Avhat we are to consider. The relations
of the farmer to society will also be involved ; with the in-
quiries, what they are, and what opportunities and special
strength may be afforded for them.

In the treatment of this sulycct, I have thought that some
benefit might be had from my own former hfe upon a farm,
and from that association with farmers in interest, taste and
sympathy, as well as by personal intercourse, which I have
never ceased to maintain.

The topic, too, it might be observed, is not far removed from
the particular province of a preacher. There we are busied
with the culture of man. And though we do not take all of
that work as belonging directly to us, but only certain parts of
it, yet we have some acquaintance with the whole ground, or
ought to have. Our Master called some of the early preachers
to be " fishers of men." If they had been tilling their fields
when He spoke to them, He might probably have said " raisers
up," " growers" of men. And He did speak of a " harvest"
they were to gather in, of which the ears, the sheaves of grain,
were men. Thus we are concerned in our profession in what-
ever has to do with this rearing and direction of manhood,
which is, indeed, a matter of common interest with us all.

The first use of a farm as to the farmer is to afford Mm a
living. The way in which it may be made to do this best
belongs to that inner department upon which I am not to enter.
But however it is done, the thing itself is fundamental. It is
very important, too, it should be at once admitted, that the
means of support drawn from the farm be abundant. Little
progress of any kind is apt to be made where communities, or
whole classes of men, are weighed down by utter poverty.
Thus the peasantry in many countries of Europe, and of the
East, are able, from one generation to another, to effect
scarcely anything more than a bare continuance in life. It but
seldom occurs with such a people, that there is any rising up
even of single individuals above the low general level. The
mass goes forward but slowly, if at all, and there is no shooting
beyond it of personal resolution or genius. We know how
different in this latter respect the condition of things is in our
own country. The child of a poor man is likely enough to be-
come rich, and the son of the most obscure farmer may have no

6

harder climbing to the Presidential chair than the son of the
President himself. But there are no poor classes among us,
and therefore, really, no cases of individual poverty. The
man whom we call poor is able to educate his children, and
there is open before them any position for which they may
be fitted, with surrounding agencies assisting them towards
it, rather than repelling them from it. The resources, that
is, of the community in which he lives, are largely at his
disposal, and he is not^ therefore, poor.

A variety of causes have contributed to bring al)Out, and are
operating still to maintain, this state of hopefulness and thrift
and measurable equality. The opening newly before us of a
wide land has had its share. Favoring providences from the
past have assisted. Our planting was of a stock distinguished
and notably, at that time, for vigor and endurance, for strong
personal independency, conjoined with a public spirit resolute
and tenacious. Our civil institutions took a form in which
these qualities found expression and exercise, and through
which they have continued reproduction. Our social ideas and
customs were drawn into a corresponding order, from which
they have not, as yet, greatly removed. And all this has been
done beneath the fashioning power of a religion set by all its
precepts, and far more thoroughly and irremovably in all its
fundamental truths and facts, for the recognition of brother-
hood and the ordaining of justice and love among men.

The developing causes have been various, but the fact itself,
near at hand, is this : that the great leading class of working
men, by whom the soil is tilled, have never been and are not
poor. They own the land. They live by it. They have
resources. They keep their place with dignity and power in
that general society which they largely constitute. They hold
a due control over the institutions and tlie government which
their fathers formed, and which in principle or in administra-
tion they themselves, and none without them, are al)le to
change.

Labor in other departments has had its share ; but this
agricultural interest is great and fixed beyond any other. The

position which it has l)een able to maintain has had more
immediately to do than anything else in the production and
preservation of the openness, the elastic freedom and the
equality of our American society. And reliance of the same
sort must be had upon it in all the future.

Now we may not suppose that the ability of our farmers to
keep the place they have so far held, depends solely on their
resources in property. It rests, in part, on their own care and
vigilance and determination, and some of the public duties to
which they are thus called, we shall have occasion to notice.
But the matter of property is of great account. And any
considerable loss in this respect in the relative weight and
power of the farming population of the country, would be
productive of the most serious evils. If the tillers of the soil
among us were, as a class, to be reduced to that poverty in
which those of the same occupation are compelled to live in
India, or even in France, there would speedily follow, even if
these had not gone before, governmental and social changes,
bringing us somewhat into the likeness of those nations of the
old world.

For these public reasons it is to be desired that our agricul-
tural population should ever be thrifty and prosperous. The
possession of money has also its immediate personal advan-
tages, proper to be valued and sought for. I hope, therefore,
you are all rich ! And, indeed, you are.

I do not forget that the average farmer must both work and
calculate for his living. He earns his money, as a man ought
to do. I think, too, that at the present time the pay he gets in
money for his day's work is somewhat less than that of other
working men, who are no more than his equals in diligence
and skill. This, in fact, is well understood to be so, and the
reasons and remedies for it have been of late much discussed.
There has been a local cause in operation in the unequal terms
upon which the New England farmer has attempted to compete
in the growth of the great staples, with the new and more fertile
West. But this in our own neighborhood, at least, has been
in part removed by the turning of attention to those produc-

tioiis that can not be readily brought from a distance ; and it is
further, even if it be not fully, counterbalanced by other
advantages of nearness to market. Moreover, the farmers at
the West are themselves now feeling the pressure, and are
underpaid for their work. Their difficulty, as they think, is in
want of cheap transportation to the seaboard. They are partly
right, and so far there can and ought to be in that respect a
remedy. But the distance and the cost of removal, from those
great wheat and corn fields to the Western and still more to
the Eastern shores of the Atlantic, will always be considerable ;
and these farmers of the Mississippi will find the most thor-
ough cure for their troubles not when they can slip easily to
those far off markets, but when they have drawn the markets
themselves to their doors.

But for the present state of things there is a simpler and
more adequate interpretation. The agricultural interest is
slightly depressed, temporarily, throughout the country. The
reason is, as I think, chiefly that it is to some extent and
temporarily overdone. It has been pushed, by the opening of
these vast Western fields, more rapidly than other branches of
industry, and yields in consequence smaller pay in comparison.
It is only the great law of equalization in supply and demand
bearing slightly and for a little time against us. But there is
no occasion either for violent measures or for discouragement.
The natural remedy will soon come. Few, perhaps none, will
need to leave the business. Some temporary check will be put
upon the bringing of new lands under culture. The trades and
handicrafts will fill up, the country will grow, and there will
be a demand for the fruits of the earth that will repay again
the labors of the hu8l)andman. The ship may be rolling a little
upon one side now, but she will have her turn of rolling the
other way ; or if her trim is not quite right, the sailing master
will shift only a few bales and will not throw over the whole
cargo. At all events we need not jump overboard ourselves.

Besides, even while we make this allowance that the farmer
is at present relatively underpaid, it will not follow that the busi-
ness is a poor one. It has its compensations of various sorts.

9

Some of tliem are in this line, too, of ultimate pecuniary advan-
tage. There is its comparative freedom from the evil of sudden
and sweeping losses. There are the opportunities always afford-
ed upon a farm for the employment of time, so that none need be
lost ; the occasions for continual and permanent improvements,
which tell in the end upon one's estate ; the constant incite-
ments to economy and thrift that belong with the possession
and culture of land, wliich, talien together with other kindred
habits of life they involve or favor, have made our farmers to
be not relatively poor by any rule of measurement that can be
found. In this matter of money they can stand against any
other class. Let any other pursuit in which large numbers of
men are engaged be taken. Make the comparison not with a
part of these men, Init for all, and for a lifetime with all, and
the farmers will not be found the poorer. I do not except from
this comparison the mercantile pursuits, nor what are called
" the learned professions," — saving only the ministry !

In this first great matter, then, of furnishing the means of
living, the farm does not do poorly for the farmer unless it be
when the farmer does poorly by his farm. It will give him
more than a bare subsistence, and will afford him as much of
resource and as fair a setting out in this respect toward man-
hood, as any other business would be likely to do. There will
be need of work and of prudence, but there are necessities in
all human life, and within their appropriate bounds are to be

thought of as blessings and not grievances.

*

Passing, therefore, onward from this point, we may notice
again that the farm affords to the farmer the peculiar advan-
tages of a 'permanent home and a fixed place of occupation.
Certain tendencies in this fixedness of place toward thrift, by
the improvement of time and the investment of labor, have
already been alluded to as bearing upon the pecuniary resources
and gains of the farmer. Besides these there are influences
from the same source acting directly on the man himself, and
by means of which the farm may make the farmer to be more
a man.

10

Our farmers, to be sure, are not fixed in their places of
living, so but that there is much of removal among them. But
there is less of change than with any other class of our
population ; and more of probability in the case of any individ-
ual that he will spend his life where he now is, and that his
children after him will occupy the same homestead. And it is
more likely, also, looking towards the past, that he himself is
occupying the seat of his fathers. There is a value for him in
such memories and prospects. The sentiments awakened by
these associations with place are among the most refined of
any of which our nature is susceptible. They remove us from
ourselves. They connect us by ties of interest and thoughtful-
ness with those that have gone before, and with those that are
coming after us. They are not narrow but broad in their
reaching over space, though they l)egin upon a single spot.
From the love of home and of neighborhood we pass to the
love of country, and to some afiectionate concern for all that
belongs to the earth itself, the common home of our race.

It is not a small thing for the farmer that his business itself
may bring directly upon him the culturing power of these
associations. They ought to be much thought of and cher-
ished. A man should thus put upon his farm some marks of
himself that may remain upon it. A substantial and well
planned building, or a work of fencing or drainage, may thus
become a memorial of his ownership ; or the setting out of a
group of trees in some well chosen spot, adding to the attrac-
tiveness and perhaps also to the comfort of the place. Every
one ought thus to aim to leave, if he can, some outward sign of
good upon the earth for his living in it.

But setting aside sentiment, if any one wishes to do so, there
is an advantage the farmer has from his permanent dwelling
place in that he can see what he has done. This, at all events,
is distinct and commonplace. If he works a little harder than
usual one season and clears the rocks thoroughly out of one of
his ploughed fields and lays them into a solid wall, his work is
before him, and he can always see what he has done. The
craftsman, on the other hand, or the trader, or the clerk, if he

11

has distinguished himself by any such unusual labor or earn-
ing, may be very likely to spend that money in hiring a horse
or buying a new coat. Now I do not mean to speak dispar-
agingly of either horse or coat, only it is certain that when
both are gone they can neither of them be seen further, nor in
that way enjoyed.

There is some motive, also, here toward economy and fore-
sight and thrift with the farmer in his living permanently in
the midst of his works. And these qualities are not now
mentioned on account of what they bring to a man in posses-
sion outside of himself, but for what they bring within him, in
that they make him to be sagacious, prudent and thrifty.

Then a man's permanent home tends to give him a marked
character of his own. He lives by himself. Pie lives on his
own land. He takes care of it himself; and does his own
thinking and ordering about it, and has done so for years. He
gets planted on that spot like a man with a standing place and
foothold of his own. He comes to be a whole, distinct, estal)-
lished man by himself, with marks of his own upon him. Or
whatever the occasion may be, of the fact itself I am sure,
that there are more men of marked character and individual-
ity and self-completeness in our agricultural districts than are
to be found anywhere else, unless perhaps it may be among the
men of the sea.

Then, too, though the farmer has a place of his own, yet he
lives conspicuously among his neighbors. He knows them and
they him. They have been long there together. A man's
doings are observed, his habits noticed and remembered. Each
name and family seat gets a character in the neighborhood.
It is likely to be a better one for this continual observation and
responsibility. Thus it is that the neighborly relations of
farmers are apt to be pleasant and helpful. The exceptions
will be conspicuous and disagreeable, no doubt, by the w^orking
of the same causes that make them rare.

And here I will say that I do not believe it to be true, as is
often reported, that these agricultural districts are peculiarly
infected with gossiping and scandal and a peering and vexatious

12

curiosity. I will not deny that our farmers' wives and daugh-
ters may possess and communicate knowledge reasonably, but
I do affirm, and from much acquaintance with them, that they
make habitually better use of their tongues than that person
does of his, who calls them, as a class, lovers of scandal and
gossip.

Besides giving him a good support in ah established home
and neighborhood, the farm offers to the farmer, further, the
advantages of a business primary and central in its nature and
relations.

The husbandman deals freshly and at first hands with
nature, as no one else does. His main concern is with the
great natural powers of the earth, the air and the light ; and
with those living forms which these powers sustain. He is
brought near to that presiding Intelligence by which these
agencies are ordained and controlled. There is a dignity upon
him in this place where he stands. He is a child of the globe
itself, upon which he lives : and more than any other his
dependencies are removed from among men. In all this there
ought to be, and is, some helpfulness towards sobi-iety and
devoutness and manliness and courage.

There is a satisfaction, too, in the farmer's work of pure
production. It is a fresh addition beneath his hand to what
the world contains. There is a pleasure in the growth of a
field of corn, beyond what its bare value in money could give.
And this sense of satisfaction passes over upon the returns
received. Almost every one, I think, must be aware of a
certain difference between the worth of a hundred dollars the
farmer has from the corn he raises and the like sum gained by
its rise upon the trader's hands ; though for his time and care
and skill the trader also is a producer of value.

The business of the farmer is primary also in the matter of
its standards of prices of labor and of production. With
land at a moderate cost, the best rule for determining the
average value of labor is the measure of what a man can earn
in cultivating the soil. That is the great, leading occupation.

13

It is regulated on first principles. It has little that is fictitious
or arbitrary about it. Let a man go at it and see what he can
earn. The farmer being thus in this business knows ordinarily
that he is getting for wliat he raises not far from what it is
worth, that is, not far from what it can, in fact, be fairly raised
for. I do not forget that the farmer's occupation, though
relatively the most independent, is concerned, like every other,
in the general welfare of society, and in the condition and
management of all public affairs — a connection laying duties
upon him which he can not safely neglect. Still the nature of
his business, open and broad and primary as it is, and com-
paratively clear of artificial complications, does keep him free
from much of that annoyance as to the price of his work,
with vexation of mind and heart, which is felt in many other
occupations, and for which it is not easy always to furnish a
remedy.

The farmer works, too, for himself, with no employer or
master, saving only those productive powers of nature acting
upon his farm, which he studies and serves and uses. He can
work thus when he pleases, and as many hours in the day as
he pleases, and he neither needs nor will tolerate any meddling
with him ; and he makes his reckoning for what he does
with these productive powers he serves. And beyond this he
is answeral)le to no one, except for his accountability to the
Author of nature and of man for the appropriate use of his
capacities. There is a force for manly culture in this place he
holds as to his time and work.

Further, this clear establishment of the standards of value
has a tendency again, along with the other agencies already
mentioned, toward habits of economy and prudence. The
farmer knows, better than men in some other callings, what
things cost by their true measurement in time and work. He
is more likely to know how they should be taken care of, used
or spent. This intelligence he has on this subject there is
much need that he should impart to some other men.

Again, on this same ground, the peculiar, primary and fun-
damental quality of the farmer's business places him in good

14

relations with men of all other pursuits. All men are really
interested in the prosperity of all other men in every legitimate
employment. But it is not always easy to see it. As to the
farmer it can generally be discovered. The workman of every
craft, the manufacturer, the merchant, the clerk, has reason to
be glad when this great labor of production prospers. It is
true that the farmer may make some apparent or exceptional
gain in years of scarcity by the liigher prices he gets. But
years of scarcity are not, on the whole, best for the farmer.
His direct business is to bring into existence, of what man
needs from the soil, the largest amount at the least cost. As
he succeeds in this all others are profited.' This is so far
generally understood that men look favorably upon him in his
calling, and recognize him as a common friend and helper. It
is worth something for a man who values the highest things to
be planted so in his business where he may be regarded as
being, and may be, the friend and ally of all his fellow-men.

The farmer is thus permitted, in a peculiar manner, and
required, to hold fraternal relations with the men of every
other branch of industry. He is in the midst of them and
before them all. He may be no narrow or clannish man,
confining his interests and sympathies to those of his own or
any other single occupation. He must hold out a hand to all.

This ease of affiliation between the farmer and the men of
other employments is always to be noticed in our Agricultural
Fairs, which are mechanical exhibitions almost as much, and
to some extent commercial. And it has occurred to me also
that our own county offers a peculiarly happy illustration of
this fact in the prosperous establishment of its numerous and
varied industries within what were at first, for the most part,
agricultural communities. This multifariousness of pursuit
within our county is indeed most remarkable, with the variety
which it involves in modes of life, and the compass it gives to
society among us. It may be believed that the like breadth
and scope is not to be found upon the same extent of territory
anywhere else in our State or in the country.

15

Essex County is historic. It is the second only in the period
of its settlement, in Massachusetts and in New England, — or
third, if we allow precedence to the beginning at Portsmouth.
It has its historic centre, and has always had its men of historic
spirit. It is scientific, with its institutions and men in that
line of note. It is agricultural, as we know, with thoroughness
and spirit among its farmers. It has been commercial, and
preserves still the traditions of foreign traffic. It is manufac-
turing in wonderful variety. We can clothe a man in cotton
and wool and linen, and jute if he chooses, of our own
fashioning, and can put a hat on his head and shoes on his
feet — having before that tanned his hides. We can then teach
him theology, and something of patent medicines, and send him
away in a railroad car or pleasure carriage made to his order,
and ballasted, to steady his theology, with machinery for spin-
ning, or weaving, or sewing, or threshing ; or with stone to
build a town. We have our quiet rural homes, our villages,
our cities, not large, but many and making all the district
populous, our residences for rest and pleasure along the sea,
and then, characteristic and unique, beyond the land, and from
off all our shores, these fishers, these husbandmen of the deep.

I can not now suffer this occasion to pass without mention of
the blow that has lately fallen upon this interest of the fisher-
men, and upon this town in which we are assembled.* It has
happened to me, in a former year, to have been here and in
these neighboring towns, while tidings were hourly arriving
from the scenes of a similar destruction ; and I have heard
thus before these sounds of simultaneous and general mourn-
ing. But this latest disaster, of but a month ago, is without
example even in your experience. I bring you to-day, in
behalf of these your brethren, the husbandmen of the land,
our regrets at the misfortune that has befallen you in your
business, and our deeper sympathy for the loss from your

* By the great storm of August 24th, eight fishing vessels, as is supposed at the
time of this writing, were lost with their crews ; three times as many more
were stranded, or totally disabled. And the number of men in all that perished
may not, it is feared, fall much short of one hundred and fifty.

16

homes of the men, the reapers of tliis perilous harvest of the
sea, buried beneath the furrows, upon the fields they tilled.
We wish for you the return of more prosperous years, and the
care in your present troubles of the Greater Husbandman, who
makes perfect often His choicest fruits under the shadows of
clouds and tempest.

But again the farm does well by the farmer in giving him an
occupation full of variety, with the benefit of frequent change
in what he does. This is refreshing both to the body and the
mind.

Many descriptions of mechanical and of mercantile work are
monotonous. They are the same thing day by day, and year
after year. They are carried on within doors and in the same
room, with no change for storm or sunshine, or winter or spring.
The farmer's occupation is all different. It is largely in the
open air, which is itself healthful and exhilarating ; and which
brings him into the presence of all the variety of the sky and
the fields. Then there are many kinds of work, and they
change with the weather and the seasons. There is no other
occupation in which there is so great a number and variety of
things to be done, or in which the work depends so much upon
the time of the year or the sort of a day it is abroad. Upon a
large farm there are not far from thirty distinct classes of
labor to be performed : and each of these may have many
divisions of its own, as haymaking has, or the care of the
farm stock in winter.

The work changes, too, with the shifting weather. It is not
the same work for the clear and the cloudy day. In May, if
it is too hot, the oxen must rest, and the lad plants his water-
melons. If the east wind blows freshly in October, and the
sky is hazy at the southwest, great loads of corn are brought in
for husking while the storm lasts. A shower in July rallies
all the help to save the dry hay. It is flung quickly upon the
cart, to the music of the coming thunder. And there is a
sharp eye, too, from the younger people, upon the neighbor's
field, to see that ours is cleared the first by a few minutes.

17

The farmer's business brings him to notice the aspects of
nature that are changing with every day, and for the different
periods of the year. There is no one that keeps the time
through all the year as the farmer does. His different em-
ployments return with tlie seasons and come to be associated
with them. Everything that is peculiar in the year affects
them. With an early spring the work comes soon and hurries
all the hands. If it is a warm, wet summer, the hay goes up
over the great beams to the ridgepole of the barn ; and the boys
have a tough time crowding it away under the rafters. The
very dry and hot year shows itself upon the Indian corn, that
loves the scorching sun. But if it is cool and only moderately
dry, the potatoes are large and thick in the hill. A snow-
storm in the first part of November brings home the young
cattle and the sheep, to take their breakfast spread over the
ground in the next field ; for it is too early yet for their winter
quarters.

The most ignoble and unsatisfactory of all pursuits is the
driving of calves. It is appointed to this animal tribe to
attain to the full command of its physical organs much earlier
than it is able to appreciate the motives in accordance with
which they should be directed ; that is, as I suppose a German
philosopher would say, before it has reached the polarization of
its related consciousness : or, as it may be otherwise stated,
the creature will run with the wind before he knows anything.
After a long chase you have brought him to the bottom of the
hill by the gate, and the rest of the cattle have gone through.
You look upon them with a sense of relief and approbation as
they walk decently along the road. It would have been better
to have watched the calf. He springs off too suddenly to be
stopped. His thin frame offers no resistance to the air, except
that he is swayed a little aside into a gentle bend, like a sheet
that moves upon its edge. It is the most hyperbolical and
returnless of curves. He is across the ravine and over the
ridge beyond. By good luck, however, you get past him at an
angle of the fence, and he bears away for the gate, frightened
and bellowing. The whole herd comes back to see what the

18

mischief is. There is hope that he may now be driven out
with the others. Such a trust, however, has no firm ground
in the nature of the young animal. He darts from among
them and passes you with a long jump, when you are about
three steps off. To any but a good boy the juncture will seem
to call for forms of speech the use of which has been very
properly forbidden us. The calf is vanishing along the line of
rocks that lead to the most upper and northwest corner of the
lot.

That calf must be let alone for a day or two ; and at the end
of that time I will tell any boy, that wishes to know it, of a
better way for setting out to begin with in bringing home those
calves from the lot.

The plays of the children, also, and the employments within
doors of the housekeepers are affected almost as much by the
changing of the seasons. One who has not tried it can not
tell how great the difference is in these respects between life in
the country and in a large town ; or between that in a farmer's
house and any other, even in the country. ' The farmer and his
family are the only people that know how the promise has been
kept, that seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and
summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

There is a certain power of sympathy with nature that is
rarely if ever possessed, except by one who has lived long in
the midst of natural things, and had his home among them.
Men and women of culture, and with a good eye and a good
tongue, will come out into the country for an excursion of a
few weeks, and they will tell a pleasant story of what they
have seen, and write sparkling letters for the papers or the
magazine. But if they were never anything more than city
people, there will always be something wanting — a ground
flavor, which a short lying only on the turf will not give.
Nature herself is with them as a maiden may be with a lover
that comes to woo her ; she has many cheerful and sprightly
things that she will say ; but yet the ways that are most her
own, her happiest and home-like life, she will show only to the
family circle — the brothers and sisters who have grown up

19

with her from childhood — I speak of farmers' daughters. If
there are any other young women wliose habits as to strangers
and the liome people are such that they could not be made use
of in this comparison, I have myself no knowledge of them.

The farmer's life, with all its variety, dependent upon the
changes in the natural things with which he has to do, brings
him thus into sympathy with nature herself, which is pleasing
and refreshing. It may be true that many farmers do not take
much notice of this. But there are those that do. And there
is an influence from this source upon many even of those that
have no care or thought of it.

I understand very well that a farmer's life is not altogether
or mainly made up of poetry or any other kind of sentiment.
But there are no lives that are. There is plain and hard work
everywhere. But this I afl&rm, that the farmer has his work
with more of interruption and variety in it than most men.
And moreover that living upon the open face of nature and in
the midst of all those scenes and appliances designed to refresh
the sense and quicken the imagination, he may and does gain
thus a benefit of this sort, for which, whether he always knows
it or not, he owes thanks to his calling.

But further, the farm gives the farmer a fair opportunity for
mental culture.

In the first place, the business of agriculture has its own
requirements in intelligence, and they are not small. It offers
opportunity to study in many ways in its own special line, and
demands it in order to the highest success. You are familiar
with the subject at this point, to which your attention is often
directed, and I need not dwell upon it. Only I will observe
that in so far as knowledge, of whatever sort, is in fact needed
for the most successful prosecution of your work, in so far at
least you have opportunity to gain it, since your business pays
you for it.

Besides, agriculture has its special connections, somewhat
outside of itself, that invite to thoughtf illness and knowledge.
Some of these are legal in their nature. And there may be
mentioned, as a specimen, the question often agitated in other

20

countries, and beginning to be raised and lil^ely at some time
to become prominent with us, concerning the tenure of land,
and the extent, especially, of the right of private property in
it. It is fundamental in your calling. The earth is given to
the race of man. It belongs, subject only to necessary and
reasonable limitations, equally to all. This premise of the
socialist and the radical can not be overturned ; and it is not
properly his alone, but it is in many ways involved in our
public law. It is of importance, then, for the farmer living
upon land he calls his own, to be able to show, as I think he
can, that that mode of distribution of this common inheritance
in the earth by which, subject to various limitations from
powers reserved by the body of society, he is allowed to take
and hold and transmit as his own a certain portion of land, is
in accordance with natural justice, and is for the general good,
and is practically that distribution by which, on the wl\ole,
every man, of every occupation, may receive the largest return
from the productive powers of the earth, and may really enter
most fully into his own share in its possession.*

* The abuudance and clioapness of land in our country has thus far prevented
any considerable discussion of this question. It will not be so indefinitely in the
future. And it is time now that the true moral foundation of the legal right, as
it exists among us, should be distinctly understood. Many persons would be
inclined at first to deny that the earth belongs in substantial equality to all men.
But that denial can not be maintained, and ought not to be. The true course is
to admit that general ownership, and then, as intimated above, to make the issue
upon the manner of the apportionment. It can then be made to appear that the
interests of all men are really i^romoted by the existing arrangement.

Great numbers of men are not able to occupy for themselves any part of the
soil of the earth, being busied with other jjursuits. Their interest in it is to be
able to buy most clieajjly its products. This they can best do when each man
tilling the soil is allowed to own the land he tills ; as experience and reason show.
But this title of private ownership is by no means an absolute one. It is quali-
fied first by the legal reservations held by the body of the community in the right
of eminent domain — a right of far more extensive practical ajjplication than most
peoide are aware of — api)earing even in the matter of the power of taxation, and
of the creation of a i)ublic debt, which becomes a lien on the land ; and secondly
by the moral conditions of the case, which make the private owner really a kind
of trustee for all mankind.

It is plain, too, that a man ought not to be allowed to own and hold, against
occupation by those who would settle upon and till it, vast areas of land. It
may be that there will be needed with us no legal provisions against this evil,
beyond what are involved in the rules now existing with respect to the distribution
of estates at the owners' death and the virtual prohibition of entails. But care
should certainly be taken in this respect in the disposal of the public lands.

21

Reference might also be made to questions of taxation. I
believe that a wrong has been done by the action of our legis-
lature at its last session in raising the point of exemption for
incomes from one thousand to two thousand dollars. The
change has lessened perceptibly the amoiuit of my own tax bill ;
but this does not enable me to see its justice. A man should
pay taxes somewhat according to his ability, which his property
may not always represent. The salaried man often spends
money much more freely than the farmer. He can pay for the
support of government somewhat in proportion to his spending
in other directions. And the man who is prudent in his habits,
and thus saves a little property, ought not for that reason to
pay the whole tax of that one who chooses to spend all his
income upon himself and his family — an income much greater
it may be than the owner of the property has ever had. Certain
men with salaries were no doubt in a position to get at the
legislature and make a din in its ears. Perhaps it would be
worth their while for the farmers to try what virtue there is in
a little noise. At all events the matter is one to be thought of.

Besides these special connections of the farmer with public
afi'airs, like those which have been mentioned, he has his
broader relations as a man with the civil and religious institu-
tions of society. These relations involve men of every other
pursuit indeed. But they have some peculiar responsibilities
for the farmer as belonging to the most fixed and permanent
portion of the community. They are educational in their
pressure upon him.

But furthermore, farming gives good opportunity for general
mental culture. I know the difficulties that exist. But I
know also that they are not insurmountable ; and I can affirm
from my own experience, that it is possible, without neglecting
unduly the labors of a farm, to gain some not small amount of
time for general reading and special study. The extent to
which this can be done will vary with the seasons of the year,
and it will require in any case calculation and resolution ; but
the time can be had.

The general statement, at all events, that our farmers have

22

good intellectual opportunities may have its quick and most de-
cisive proof in the fact, that these farmers are intelligent men.
The thing is, and it has therefore been brought to pass. Our
agricultural population is intelligent, fully up to the standard of
the general average, and as I think above it. There may be
with them less of showy knowledge, but there is not less of
that which is substantial.

Clearness of perception, a steady and firm judgment, a stout,
solid, compacted, sensible understanding, these high mental
qualities abound among them. It is well known with our
preacher'fe that a country congregation can be brought to follow
a close and deep argument quite as well as a city audience.
And I suspect a lawyer, if he were allowed to choose for
himself a jury that he meant to blind and confuse and twist,
(if a lawyer ever did mean to do such a thing,) would not go
first of all to put into the box twelve farmers. The business
may be known then, like a tree, by its fruits.

It may be said, however, that there are at least certain occu-
pations that are, of their own quality, intellectual, and that
agriculture must always appear at some disadvantage compared
with these. The matter at this point is of importance enough
to be looked at a little ; since there are impressions of this
sort in the minds of many persons, especially young people,
operating unduly to the disparagement of agriculture, and
having influence with some in the choice of their occupation
for life.

It is granted that there are such distinctively intellectual
pursuits. But not all are of this class that are sometimes
thought to be. We must object, therefore, in the first place, to
the spreading of that name over wide fields of employment, or
idleness, to which it does not belong. Then the distinctively
intellectual callings are few in comparison and limited in
capacity. It is well that they should be entered by those that
have special fitness for them ; but they will not hold great
numljers of men. Further, those that are in them, while they
get more of mental exercise and growth in particular direc-
tions, are not by any means always made to be stronger men

23

than others of equal natural endowment in a different line of
life.

There is the broad question, besides, running under all this
ground, as to the degree of merely intellectual development
that is, on the whole, desirable with man. Some strong physi-
cal basis is needed. What proportions of mental and of
bodily exercise and development are required for the highest
efficiency of life in a single person, is not settled. For a whole
community or race the question has far more of complication,
and no one can tell how it may yet be solved. Unbalanced
mental development weakens the stock of life. It is written
in nature that man shall not live alone by schooling. There
are those in our day that should study the writing, A general
eagerness, therefore, for intellectual pursuits, while full of
promise, might have also its elements of danger for a people ;
especially if joined with a distaste for manual labors. The
following too far such a mode of life, besides its other diffi-
culties, is open to this serious embarrassment, that a people
could not live to pursue it. And when we consider the leading
place which agriculture holds, by the appointment of nature,
among all occupations, we may perhaps conclude that that
admixture which it requires or allows of bodily and mental
exercise is near to the proportion that will be found on the
whole and for most persons to be best.

And again the end of life is not in intellectual growth alone,
even if there were no checks upon it. It is in capacity to act
strongly and well. Goodness enters into it, and power of will
towards that. The best life is that which is most intelligently
and forciljly directed towards good. These other elements the
man of studious life may sometimes miss. The man of labor
may gain them, and stand before him by any measure of-
strength and valuable accomplishment. The farmer has much
to help him do it. His business in this respect brings him as
near to the due balance of life, it may be, as any.

Books are not all. And moreover for the most of wisdom
they have, one does not need a vast multitude of them to find
it. There is a popular delusion on this point, which the

24

intelligent farmer should not share. He may know that tlie
most of what is best lies within his reach ; so tliat he need not
be hindered from arriving at large attainments if he has the
mind for it. He has the great Book which, besides its one
chief aim, has proved itself in its quickening power on the
mind, a book of Life. Passing beyond this he can surely find
means to establish himself well in history, which is the basis of
all general culture. He may grasp the outlines of the natural
sciences ; and may follow out somewhat any for which he has a
liking. Then there is a range of special studies, with books of
reference in great numbers useful for those that pursue them,
but for others possible to be dispensed with. But beyond these,
and of that which for general purposes is more needful, for
range of thought, for power and beauty in speech, for elevation
and refinement of mind, the really great masters in all ages
and tongues are but few. In philosophy, poetry and oratory
their names may be spoken almost in a single breath. He is
wisest who is most with these. Of books in these departments
you need but few. If you know the masters, it is of little
account that you are not acquainted with all the pupils.
Saving for special study, your authors may be less in number
than twenty rather than more than forty. And though you do
not have all, even of the best, a few may still sufiice.

These appliances for growth and culture lie within the young
farmer's reach. He need not vex his soul, or reckon himself
an underling, if he does not read all the books that are written,
old, or even new. If he has on his table a joint of beef and
good bread, with milk and vegetables and a basket of peaches,
he can live without maccaroni and frog and mushrooms. The
lighter literature of the day need not be set wholly aside ; but
if one will make his main diet of it, he will spoil shortly both
his taste and his digestion.

I repeat it, therefore, the opportunities of the young farmer
in this respect are not poor. He can buy the books he really
needs. The money tlie clerk, his neiglibor's son, spends for
cigars will pay for them. He can find time to read them.
Part of it he can take by leaving the evening gathering at the

25

village store. His mind need not be ill furnished. And lie
may gain, if" he will, a solid and even an elegant culture.

Whether, therefore, we look at the general average of mental
power as actually existing among our agricultural men, or at
the possibilities that are open for higher attainment, we must
conclude that the farm does well in this respect by the farmer.

And the business thus, as we have seen, supports him,
planted permanently and centrally with regard to men of
other pursuits, with variety in his work, with s])ace in it for
mental culture and Avith many special occasions throughout for
growth .in strength and wisdom.

It is evident that you farmers ought to be and are remark-
able men ! And I hope you know it.

It follows that you ought to put yourselves forth tvith power
upon the society in which you live. Let me press upon you this
practical conclusion. It may be that as a class you lack some-
thing in this particular. You are to be depended upon
generally to stand in your places, and to stand, mostly, for
what is sound and true. But you do not always move quickly
enough to go out and attack what is false and evil. You are
conservative and cautious ; it comes in part of your occupa-
tion, and you bear sometimes too much. It is not in your
profession to make a noise, and you make sometimes too little.

Open then your lips more freely to denounce the follies and
wrongs you yourselves despise. Put forth your hands more
frequently and strongly to control the destinies of the nation of
which you form so important a part.

You need to have some care to do this. Your life is more
quiet. You are on your farms. You are less frequently than
some others in the places of public resort. Your habits of
mind have come somewhat to correspond. Other more bustling
and noisy men, if you do not mind, will appear to be shaping
public sentiment and directing public affairs, and shortly to be
thinking themselves to be the public.

It should be with you a perpetual concern to maintain that
weight in the community to which you are fairly entitled, and

26

to give your constant and poworfiil support to tliose principles
of sobriety and of wholesome and U])rig1it living, which you
yourselves should have formed.

There are counsels appropriate to the men of your occupa-
tion in all times. In pressing them, therefore, upon your
attention to-day 1 shall incur no risk of giving offence to any,
as if only narrow and invidious applications were intended ; —
a thing as distasteful to me as it would be contrary to all the
proprieties of this occasion. There is nothing to be said in
which patriotic men of eveiy party and association may not
fully concur.

That there is a tendency among us to recklessness and
extravagance in expenditure and to an ostentatious style of
living, that there is an undue haste to be rich, or a distempered
anxiety to gain the means of gratifying expensive tastes, that
there is with many an unscrupulousness as to the methods to
be taken for acquiring money, that these practices have affected
the public service, so that frauds abound and the suspicion or
the reality of corruption is on every hand, that these evils have
increased of late, and worst of all, that we are in danger of
becoming accustomed to them, so that they will be endured
with too much of patience ; this it may be presumed no one
will deny.

It would be strange, too, if these mischievous personal habits
into which many men in public and private life have fallen did
not, to some degree, infect the management of distinctively
political aflairs. Yet it is not true that we have fallen upon
the worst of times in this respect. Nor need we believe, as I
do not, that the leading political men of our day are sinners
above all that have gone in their places before them, or above
all other men. But at all times the temptation is strong to an
overheated and unscrupulous pressing of partisan ends ; and
men are apt to lose sight in their zeal of the fact that the
public interest they propose to serve involves the rights and
welfare of the members of every opposing party as well as their
own. This goes, so far, to strike at the fundamental idea of
republicanism in government, which is that of a commonwealth
for all.

'J.i

For all these mischiefs, wliether old or new, it is the duty of
every citizen to assist in searching out and applying a remedy.
A responsibility rests upon you, farmers, as belonging to the
most numerous and to the leading class in our population.
Your knowledge also of the worth of money and your general
habits of prudence and economy give you peculiar ability to
interpose with effect in checking tlie course of private and
}»ublic extravagance. The maintenance of a wholesome sim-
plicity in living rests peculiarly upon you, and the powerful
requirement of exactness and fidelity in every public trust.

The nature of your pursuit, and the wide and helpful rela-
tions it holds with others on every side, give you also opportunity
to assert often with effect the great truth of a common interest
between all men of every party and class. You ought, there-
fore, to stand up for charity, for fairness, for the most exact
and scrupulous and considerate regard for the rights of every
one of your fellow citizens. And these things you ought to do
promptly, boldly, firmly, persistently, stoutly and effectively,
•now and always, that the Republic may live and its enemies
perish.

You should choose more of your own number to public office,
though there ouglit to be in this no narrowness of action.
There are men, farmers, in our own county and throughout the
land, of integrity, of breadth and solidity of character, of
capacity for the ordering of affairs, amply qualifying them for
the responsible posts of government. More of them should
be there.

I have endeavored thus to magnify your calling as farmers,
which is indeed honorable and full of opportunity beyond what
I have been able to set forth. I congratulate you upon all the
evidences of thrift which your yearly exhibitions afford. You
are prosperous here. Your former neighbors of the same
avocation are entering on the great West ; and they will hold
and control those imperial lands. Your calling will not fall
from respect and power. I doubt not you will continue to
respect it yourselves, and will enter into all its good.

28

It is to he hoped, too, that your sons may, many of them,
follow it after you. It is a promising heginninu' of life.

Set your hoy out heartily upon it. Teach him to honor God,
to obey his father aiul mother, to be courteous to his sisters,
and to los'e his countiy. Let him learn to spend his evenings
at home, and to choose to do it. Train him carefully, Imt not
hardly, in his work ; and let him never come to despise work
with his hands. Have him put spirit and life in it, so that he
may become a quicker and better workman than any of the men
you can hii-e. Let him early learn responsibility, and grow to
be watchful and systematic and prompt. See that of his own
mind his hoe is always bright and his cart under cover. Give
him a good chance at the schools. Ground him in history.
Strengthen him with Blackstone and the Federalist and Kent ;
and let him walk, in the winter nights, with the kings of
letters and song. Teach him to hate a lie, to scorn dishonor
in others, or in himself. Have him to be careful for his own
rights, but chiefly as part of the rights of all. Make him more
mindful of a caucus than of his daily bread. Let him be early
and resolute and patient at a town meeting ; helpful in all
neighborhood undertakings ; more anxious to be useful than to
he thought so ; and understanding that to serve his country
does not signify to be served himself of her and fed at her
hand. Let him be builded thus clear and broad and sound,
strong with the integrity and backbone and pluck of his
fathers, trustworthy, trustworthy in every grain of his life-, a
great, solid, upright, steadfast man.

When he is grown up and these things are well established
upon him, let us know of this boy of yours, and after we have
sent him to Congress we will make him Governor and
President.

29

THE CATTLE SHOW AND FAIR.

The Fifty-Tliird Annual Exhibition was liekl at Gloucester,

Sept. 23d and 24th, 1873.

The following entries were made :

Horses and colts, -

OO

animals.

Cattle — working oxen, bulls, fat cattle,

milch cows, heifers, &c.,

90

((

Sheep and swine,

24

a

Poultry, ... -

110

coops.

Agricultural implements.

7

entries.

Ploughing teams,

11 teams.

Carriages, . . . -

3 entries.

Articles manufactured from leather,

5

a

Bread, honey, &c.,

51

a

Butter, ....

5

a

Plowers, -

42

a

Counterpanes, (fee,

100

a

Taney work, - - . -

137

li

Manufactures and general merchandise.

22

a

Grapes, peaches, &c.,

40

u

Apples, ....

52

" 213 pFts

Pears, - -

89

a 450 u

Assorted fruit, &c., -

8

a

CHAS. P. PRESTON, Secretary.

30

REPORTS, &c.

FAT CATTLE.

There were but two Fat Cattle entered for premium, those
]by T. G. Ordway, of West Newbury. For his off ox the
Committee award the first premium, the Society's diploma and
$10 ; for his near os, the second premium of -$58.

Committee — Jas. P. King, A. H. Gould, John Bray, Joseph
Akerman, J. Z. Gordon.

STATEMENT OF THOMAS G. ORDWAY.

To THE Committee on Fat Cattle: — These ca.ttle I pur-
chased the middle of March. They have done all my work —
ploughing-, drawing manure, getting in hay — filled barn ninety
five feet long — and all other work required of oxen on a farm.
Have worked them considerable on tlie highway. I gave them
hay and five quarts meal, each, per day until the 2otli of
May, then turned them out to grass ; have not had meal since.

BULLS.

The Committee on Bulls award the following premiums :

Two-years-old and upward, thorough-bred Jei^ey, first
premium, diploma and $10, to G. W. Herrick, Gloucester, for
bull " Rebel."

Second premium, $5, to Geo. W. Kittredge, North Andover,
for bull " Prince."

Two-years-old and upward, thorough-bred Short-Horns, first
premium, diploma and $10, to Geo. W. Duncan, Haverhill,
for bull "Champion" — three years old, weight 1680 pounds.

31

Under two years old, thorough-bred Jersey, first premium,
$5, to Geo. A. Abbott, Andover, for bull " Victor."

There were eight entries in all, but the above premiums were
the only ones, under the rules of our Society, that could be
awarded. When will exhibitors understand that tliey " are
required to give a written statement of pedigree," and that the
judges cannot receive a bull as thorough-bred simply because
that Avord is prefixed ? It would be well for competitors to
remember this, if tliey expect premiums.

This rule, if adhered to, will, in the course of years, do
more for the encouragement of breeding good stock than it is
possible for our Society to do in any other way. Tliat there is
sound reason for this rule hardly any one at the present time
would care to dispute. Merely to strengthen our position, I
shall quote from a little book, entitled " Cattle and Cattle
Breeders," by William M'Combie, M. P., a breeder of many
years' experience, one who bred for profit ; and also from the
writings of the " Northern Farmer," published in the Farmer's
Magazine for 1870. The former says — " Pedigree is of the
most vital importance. We ought always to prefer a bull of
high pedigree, with fair symmetry and quality, to another bull,
though much superior in appearance but of questionable pedi-
gree." " Breeders have not given the subject the attention it
deserves. I have paid dearly for my experience in the matter."

The latter says — " The surprising influence for good which
the male of pure descent, of whatever the breed, exercises on
the quality and character of the future offspring being now well
understood, no effort should be spared to procure purely-bred
bulls, and on no consideration should a cross-bred animal be
used. The extra price is not wortli a thought, as by the time
the progeny of the pure-bred bull have reached the a'ge of
twelve months, they will have paid not only the difference
between the pure and the cross, but the entire value of their
sire, and that without extra feed and attention."

Farmers are apt to breed in a haphazard, careless sort of
way, and if luck favors, now and then get something they call
pretty nice. Successful breeding requires the closest study.

32

Darwin writes with much truth—" Not one man in a thousand
luis accuracy of eye and judiiinent sufficient to become an
eminent breeder. If gifted with these (|uahties, and he studies
the subject for years, and devotes liis lifetime to it witli in-
domitable perseverance, lie will succeed and make gi'eat
improvements ; and if he wants any of these qualities, he will
assuredly i'ail."

lint you say, if not thus gifted, shall I give up breeding
altogether ? No, assuredly not, Strive to learn some of the
great principles of breeding, learn from the experience of other
breeders, take up their results and go on ; and though you may
not become eminent, you may do much good and make many
improvements in your time and generation.

As an example of an eminent breeder the late Thomas
Jiates stands out prominently. At the sale of Charles CoUing's
short-horn cattle in 1810, Mr. B. purchased "• Young Duchess,"
for 188 guineas. This, with another cow previously bought,
was the foundation of the celebrated Duchess tribe, one of
which, "the 8th Duchess of Geneva," at the auction sale at
New York Mills last month, sold for the enormous sum of
'l!<40,G00, and will soon be on her way to England. At the
same time, " the 2d Duke of Oneida" brought $12,000 ; one
hundred and eight head averaged $3,523.

At CoUing's sale, " Comet," the highest priced animal on
the ground, sold for one thousand ginneas, and forty-seven
animals averaged a little moi-e than one hundred and forty-two
guineas.

There must be something in pedigree and blood when cattle
sell readily at such prices. Grand results these, no haphazard
breeding here ; but the closest study and attention down the
line of breeders from Colling to Walcott and Campbell.

The maxim, " penny wise and pound foolish," is never more
fully verified in any business than in stock raising. It is the
poorest policy in the world to l)uy stock animals simply because
cheap. If you wish to raise stock to sell, or merely to breed
for your own pleasure, get the best at any reasonal)le ])rice. If
you do not, after years of ])atient waiting, yon will regret?

33

when perhaps too late to remedy your mistake, that spirit of
false economy . which persuaded you to purchase mediocre
animals. Cceteris paribus, of course the cheapest are the best.

If a breeder wishes to make his mark and see success in his
own lifetime, he must be content to learn from the example
and experience of his predecessors and contemporaries. Life
is rarely long enough for a man to start out and establish a
breed, although he may make vast improvements in existing
breeds, and place many stones in the stairway which leads
towards the summit of perfection.

Breeding is a science. The field for experiment is boundless;
but only such men as Darwin mentions can reap a full harvest,
although many may receive adequate and even satisfactory
returns for the labor and expense incurred. Let us look at
some of the principles of breeding as laid down by Prof. James
Law, which should receive the serious attention of every one
who desires to be a successful breeder.

The laws of variation, he says, are quite as important to
study as the laws of hereditary transmission, for without vari-
ations improvements would be impossible. Among the causes
of variation are mentioned food, climate, soil, use, disuse,
reversion or breeding back, prepotency, imagination of the
mother, the influence of a former pregnancy, disease and
accident. One can easily see the influence of food by noticing
the difference between two herds of the same breed, the one
kept by a generous, the other by a niggardly, feeder. High
feeding, Prof L. says, tends directly to variation and im-
provement.

Climate and soil have a marked influence on a race of cattle,
which will be evident in its effects long after a removal to a
dissimilar location. For this reason, we should be careful to
select only such animals as are adapted to the climate and soil
of our own farms. On this subject, the " Northern Farmer "
writes, — " It is highly necessary to take into consideration the
class of animals that will suit the farm, it being much better to
get them of a size rather under than over the capabilities of
the soil, as in that case improvement will begin at once;

34

whereas, if the opposite has been the case, the stock must
recede. .

" A man possessed of large capital can easily place on his
land animals of immense bone and substance, and of the most
approved breeds, but he cannot so easily alter the character of
his soil and make it iit to carry such cattle ; that must be a
work of time, however great may be expenditure with the view
of improvement ; and consequently it becomes good, sound
policy to keep both stock and soil progressing in the same
ratio."

In selecting a breed of cattle, we should choose that which
has been bred in a country as similar as possible to our own
in climate, soil and in its natural features.

Use and disuse of parts. Cows in a wild state yield very
little milk, and if our cows are not milked regularly and com-
pletely, the quantity of milk will decrease, or may cease
altogether, whereas by the constant and proper use of the
udder the flow of milk is continued. Cows that are worked,
as often happens on the continent of Europe, acquire in time
stouter limbs and a heavier appearance than if kept for simple
milch purposes. Swiss cattle are remarkably coarse and heavy
limbed for their size, in consequence of their almost daily
efforts in climbing the steep mountain sides.

Atavism, reversion or breeding back, is a subject of great
importance and a proper understanding of it indispensable for
the breeder. Darwin mentions many curious cases of reversion.
He crossed a Black Spanish cock with a white silk hen ; one of
the offspring was almost exactly like the wild Callus bankiva.
Another experiment is mentioned, in which some West High-
land cows were crossed with purely-bred short-horn bulls. The
cows were of a red color, and the bulls red, red and white, or
dark roan. A considerable number of the calves were white,
or white with red ears, and he says, it is highly probable that
here the off"spring reverted, in consequence of the cross, to the
color either of the aboriginal parent species, or of some
ancient and half wild parent breed.

The same author writes, — " As a general rule, crossed

35

offspring in the first generation are nearly intermediate between
their parents ; but the grandchildren and succeeding genera-
tions continually revert, in greater or less degree, to one or
both of their progenitors."

" With cross breeds, the act of crossing in itself certainly
leads to the recovery of long lost characters, as well as of those
derived from either parent-form."

In speaking of latent characters he observes, — " we can thus
understand how, for instance, it is possible for a good milking
cow to transmit her good qualities through her male offspring
to future generations ; for we may confidently believe that
these qualities are present, though latent, in the males of each
generation."

Agassiz has stated that " Children are not only the children
of their father and mother, but they are the children of their
grandfathers and grandmothers ; they are the children of the
generations preceding them, so much so that it is a well estab-
lished fact that very often children resemble their grandparents
more than they resemble their parents."

Thus we see the importance of a good pedigree and the
value of a pure-bred ancestry. In my own experience, a case
of apparent reversion has occurred in breeding Essex swine,
although I had good authority for believing that all my animals
were descended from perfectly pure-bred stock, yet in a litter
of eight pigs one was white with black spots, the others were
entirely black. As the improved Essex is supposed to have
some infusion of Chinese blood, this would seem a probable
instance of breeding back to the black and white Chinese hog.

Prepotency is a subject which should receive the careful
consideration of every farmer who, although not a breeder of
thorough-breds, is a raiser of stock. On this point Law
expresses his views so well that I shall quote liberally. " Pre-
potency is less frequently the prerogative of the individual
than of the breed which has been bred long and carefully to a
particular type. Hence the great value of short-horns and
other pure races in imparting to other breeds, with which they
may be crossed, their own qualities to a proportionately greater

36

extent than tlie share they have had in begetting them."
" Crossing a pure, well fixed breed with one whose characters
are less fixed and constant will bring the impure breed very
quickly to the standard of the pure, and this will be a change
for the better or the worse, according as this pure breed excels
or comes below the other in personal qualities. Thus breeding
our common cows with a poor aboriginal race of any country
will deteriorate them rapidly, while crossing them with Short-
Horn, Ayrshires, or Dutch, will with equal rapidity improve
them. Again, crossing of these improved breeds with a poor
but strongly fixed and prepotent breed will be at the risk of
obtaining a reversion to a more primitive and still poorer type
of the race. Crossing thus becomes an art, whose principles
must be studied and acted on in order to succeed."

There are many well authenticated cases where the imagina-
tion of the mother seems to have left its impression on the
offspring. It is related, on authority of Col. Bryant, Fair-
haven, that a number of black cows, sent to an island, had by
accident a dun steer introduced among them, and that their
calves were without exception of a dun color. Other instances
of the same kind, especially among the lower animals, might
be mentioned.

The effect of the first pregnancy on succeeding ones is a
principle supported on the authority of Agassiz and others,
and by many well known instances which confirm their state-
ments. I have noticed particularly in breeding dogs that the
first pregnancy has had a most noticeable influence on after
progeny. This should be a warning to careful breeders not to
allow their heifers to have connection with any but superior
bulls.

Youali:, in speaking of disease, says there is scarcely a
malady to which the horse is subject which is not hereditary.
If this is true of the equine, it can hardly fail to apply in some
degree to the bovine^ species. Seeing that hereditary evil
qualities may be transmitted with almost as great facility as
good qualities, we cannot be too cautious in selecting for
breeding only animals of good health and vigor.

Malformations and injuries from accident are closely allied
to disease, and are governed by the same laws, though not
invariably so. Law mentions the case of a cow having her
horn knocked off, which afterwards had three calves hornless
on the same side of the head.

Interbreeding is a subject of no little importance. Mr.
Bates' views were these, that " to breed in and in from a bad
stock was ruin and devastation, yet that the practice may be
safely followed, within certain limits, when the parents so
related are descended from first rate animals." .For thirteen
years this celebrated breeder of Short-Horns bred closely in
and in, but during the next seventeen years, thrice introduced
fresh blood into his herd.

Nathusius, a careful observer and a breeder himself, writes,
" from study and his own experience, he concludes that close
interbreeding is necessary to ennoble the stock ; but that in
effecting this the greatest care is necessary, on account of the
tendency to infertility and weakness."

Darwin declares that there is high authority for asserting
that many more calves are born cripples from Short-Horns
than from other less closely interbred races of cattle.

Thus I have presented, in a very incomplete way, (for pages
might be filled on every subject mentioned,) some of the
axioms of good breeding, theories they may be called by some ;
but unless they can be disproved by equally well founded
arguments, must be accepted by the fair-minded. At any
rate, they present a vast field for research, inquiry and experi-
ment, which every wise breeder will enter into with the
determination of strengthening or weakening the principles
laid down.

I have in this article quoted largely from authorities, whose
opinions based on careful observations and experiments, will, I
think, carry more weight and awaken more thought than any
simple essay on the subject.

J. D. AV. FRENCH, Chairman.

North Andover, October 10th, 1873.

38

STATEMENT OF GEORGE A. ABBOTT.

The tliorougli-bred Jersey bull Victor owned by George A.
Abbott of Andover, and entered by him for premium, was
dropped May 1, 1872, by the imported cow Jenny, then and
now owned by Wm. H. Plummer of Brighton, and conse-
quently is now little over sixteen months old. He was sired
by the thorough-bred bull Tom, now owned by Dr. Augustus
Mason of Brighton. Tom's pedigree is sire Duke of Cambridge
(imported), Herd Book, page 24 ; dam Cora (imported). Herd
Book, page 262.

STATEMENT OF GEORGE W. DUNCAN.

Haverhill, Sept. 22d, 1873.
Chairman op Committee on Bulls :

Dear Sir : — The bull named " Champion " I enter for
premium is a thorough-bred Short-Horn, three years old last
May 25th, and weighs 1680 pounds.

I purchased the cow that dropped this bull from a friend
in western New York, a raiser of cattle, who said " she was
with calf from his thorough-bred bull."

The cow was a full blood Short-Horn, I owned two years.
It was an unusually promising calf. I raised it and have owned
and kept him for cows at my Buttonwood farm.

In three cases in this city he has got twins, that have lived
and are doing well ; — J. B. Spiller, a member of this Society,
R. P. Cushman and a gentleman from West Parish.

MILCH COWS.
The Committee on Milch Cows award the premiums as fol-
lows :

JERSEYS.

Samuel E. Sawyer, Gloucester, for Jersey cow, Fannie, first
premium, $10, and diploma.

39

GRADES.

Joseph Andrews, Essex, grade Jersey, first premium, $15,
and diploma.

G. W. Herrick, Gloucester, second premium, " Beauty," 810.
Geo. M. Wonson, Gloucester, third premium, " Perfection,"

Far the Committee — John L. Shorey.

HERD OP MILCH COWS.

The Committee on Herds of Milch Cows, report that there
were two entries for premiums, and that both were from
Gloucester. Mr. Geo. M. Wonson exhibited a herd of six
cows, and Mr. G. W. Herrick a herd of nine. The premiums
were awarded as follows :

To G. W. Herrick of Gloucester, first premium, $15, and
diploma.

To Geo. M. Wonson of Gloucester, second premium, $10.

The Committee regarded the statement of Mr. Wonson as
barely explicit enough to bring his herd within the rules of
the Society, inasmuch as it failed to give a clear statement of
the yield of his herd, based upon actual measurements.

In consideration, however, of the quality of his stock, and
the evident intention to comply with the prescribed regulations,
they felt justified in awarding him a premium.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

Committee — Jos. S. Howe, Chas. Perley, Horace C. Ware,.
Geo. H. Haskell, Albert Titcomb.

STATEMENT OF G. W. HERRICK.

Gloucester, Sept. 20, 1873.
To the Committee otj, herds of Milch Cows.

I enter for premium a herd of nine milch cows. I give their
mess for the first ten days after their calves are taken from
them, and the last ten days in August. Calves are taken from

40

the cows at four days of age. In regard to feeding and general
management of my cows, 1 would say that I feed them regu-
larly, night and morning, on salt and English hay, and some
roots, with four to six quarts of meal and shorts per day.
Watered twice every day and groomed every morning. This
is my treatment, from the time they come to the barn in the
Fall until they are turned into the pasture in the Spring.
Their feed, since turned into pasture, has been common pastur-
age, with four quarts of meal and shorts per day, and green
fodder in its season.

First 10 days
after calving.

Last 10 days
in August.

Average.

Brunette, calved Mar 4, 1873. 16 qts. per day. 11 qts. per day. 13^ qts. per day.

Cora,

Maud,

Pride,

Dora,

Lydia,

Emma,

Nellie,

Jennie,

Mar. 21, 1873.
April 1, 1873.
April 7, 1873.
May 15, 1873.
June 30, 1873.
July 1, 1873.
July 28, 1873.
Aug. 7, 1873.

16
20
16
23
16
15
19
14

10
12
13
11
9
12
18
12

13
16
14i
17

m

13i
18i
13

STATEMENT OF GEORGE M. WONSON.

East Gloucester, Sept. 23, 1873.
Entered by Geo. M. Wonson, one herd of six cows, two of
them dry, to calve next month. Four of them, with fair feed,
will give over twenty quarts of milk per day. The other two
are two and three year old heifers, promising to make good
cows. Their feed is one quart of meal and two quarts of
coarse shorts, morning and night. Also, a small armful of
green corn fodder, each night since the 25th of July. The
pasturing is very poor. I think the four cows will average
fifteen quarts of milk per day, through the season.

41

HEIFERS.

The Committee on Heifers have attended to their duty, and
submit the following report, viz. :

Thirteen entries were made, representing twenty-two ani-
mals. Of thoroughbreds under four years of age, in milk,
there were no entries. On Grade or Natives, under four years
of age, in milk, there were four entries ; and we award to G.
W. Herrick, of Gloucester, the first premium of -$10, and to
Geo. M. Wonson, of Gloucester, the second premium of $5.

Of Thoroughbreds, one year old and upwards, that have
never calved, there were ten entries, and we award the follow-
ing premiums, viz. :

AYRSHIRES.

First premium to Aaron Knowlton, of Essex, $5.

JERSEYS.

First premium to Jefferson Coolidge, of Gloucester, $5.

Second premium to Geo. M. Wonson, of Gloucester, $3.

Of grade or natives, one year old and upwards, that have
never calved, there were five entries ; and we award to D. Har-
rison Porter, of Hamilton, the first premium of $5, and to G.
W, Herrick, of Gloucester, the second premium of $3. Of
thoroughbred Heifer Calves, under one year of age, there was
only one entered ; and we award to Samuel E. Sawyer, of
Gloucester, the first premium of $4, for his Jersey calf
" Sweetheart." Of grades or natives under one year of age^
there were two entries. And we award to David Bennison, of
Gloucester, the first premium of |)4, and to Geo. Collins, of
Gloucester, the second premium of $2.

Xhere were several other animals which the Committee deem
worthy of special notice, among which may be mentioned three
Jerseys owned by Francis Dane, of Hamilton, two, owned
by Samuel E. Sawyer, of Gloucester, one, owned by Eben
Dale, of Gloucester ; but after close examination and careful
consideration of all the animals entered for our inspection, we
have thought it just and proper to make the awards of premi-
ums as above stated.

Committee — John H. Cheever, Romulus Jaques, Isaac F.
Knowlton.

42

WORKING OXEN AND STEERS.

The Committee on Working Oxen report seven pairs entered,
six of which competed for the premiums, and award as
follows : —

First premium, to Thomas Haskell, of West Gloucester,
diploma and $12.

Second premium, to Gardner W. Herrick, of West Glouces-
ter, $10.

Third premium, to Thomas W. Hazeltine, of Bradford, $8.

Steers — none entered.

Special premium by Hon. George B. Loring to best teamster
of oxen or steers, $10, awarded to Joshua Roberts, of West
Gloucester.

Committee — Alden C. Estes, S. E. Noyes, J. P. Goodale.

TOWN TEAMS.

The Committee on Town Teams report one team of four
horses owned by George Collins, of Gloucester, which they
consider fully entitled to a premium, and award $12.50 ; and
also award $12.50 for the finely decorated car containing the
May party, drawn by said horses. They were somewhat dis-
appointed to find but three pairs of oxen, that they could call
a Town Team.

Parties having single pairs of oxen on the grounds, belong-
ing in different towns, kindly ofi'eredthem to assist to draw the
beautifully decorated car prepared for the procession, for which
they have our thanks. The Committee award to the town
team of three yokes of oxen from Gloucester $12.50, and also
award $12.50 for the decoration of the car, containing nine
young ladies representing the products of the seasons, &c., of
which a more extended report will be made for publication in
the transactions of the Society.

For the Committee — Thomas P. Gcntlee.

Sept. 28d, 1873.

43

STEERS.

The Committee on Steers report only four pairs entered for
premium, two pairs of two-year-old, and two pairs of yearlings.

The steers entered by George W. Kittredge, both two-year-
old and yearlings, were well broken to the yoke, and were
worthy of notice. These steers were taken from the pens, and
put with the ox team which made up part of the procession,
which moved through many of the streets of the city, his
yearlings acting as leaders of that team, and attracted partic-
ular attention (perhaps not so much as the young ladies who
crowded the agricultural car drawn by that team) for the
remarkable, gentle manner in which they performed their part
in the procession, doing it much better than many old oxen
would have performed the same thing.

The Committee feel it their duty to award for yearlings, the
first premium of $4 to George W. Kittredge, of No. Andover.

Second premium of $3, to Geo. W. Herrick, of Gloucester.

For two-year-old, first premium of $5, to George VV. Kit-
tredge, of North Andover.

Second premium of |j4, to George James, of Gloucester.

Committee — Abel Stickney, S. B. Swan, George W. Sanborn,
James Nason, Richard Ward.

STALLIONS.
• The Committee on Stallions respectfully make the following
report.

In the class of four years old and upwards were three en-
tries : William Cogswell, Bradford, " King William ;" George
A. Rogers, Salem, " Jim Fiske" ; Francis Dane, Hamilton,
" Young Morrill."

First premium, fl5 and diploma, to G. W. Rogers, Salem,
for " Jim Fiske."

Second premium, ilO, to Wm. Cogswell, Bradford, for
" King William."

44

Third premium, $8, to Francis Dane, Hamilton, for" Young
Morrill."

Class of three years old and upwards, first premium of $8,
to Thomas Sawyer, of Boxford, for " Napoleon."

S. C. Oliver, Chairman.

BROOD MARES.

The Committee on Brood Mares respectfully report the
following awards : —

After some looking about your Committee found upon the
fair grounds four mares, three of them having colts by their
sides. Entries as follows : Benjamin P. Ware, of Marble-
head ; Abijah P. Fuller, of North Andover ; John B. Hodgkins,
of Rockport; W. H. Knowlton, of Rockport.

At the pen of the mare " Kate," entered by Mr. B. P. Ware
of Marlilehead, we found her in charge of his son, who gave
us all the information we desired in relation to her, also a
written statement from Mr. Ware. We found her to be a
good, medium sized, young and sound animal, ada])ted to both
the road and the farm, six years old, weighing (by Mr. Ware's
statement) ten hundred pounds. The colt is four months and
sixteen days old, quite large of its size, well built and per-
fectly kind and gentle, and has every appearance of making a
good horse.

The second horse examined by your Committee was a bay
mare belonging to Mr. Abijah P. Fuller, of Nortli Andover,
who had her in charge and promptly gave us all the information
desired. This was a very fine animal, well built, smooth
limbs and joints, perfectly sound and kind, and we should
judge by her movements that she was a remarkably good
traveller. The colt by her side is two months old, a perfect
beauty, well built, good size, and every way a promising colt.
We saw nothing objectionable about the mare except her age,
which, by her movements, looks and actions, does not injure

45

her in the least, although we would not recommend breedmg
from mares at eightaen years of age or upwards.

The third horse examined was a black mare, with a colt by
her side, belonging to Jolm B. Hodgkins, of Rockport. We
found no owner or any one in charge of her. The mare is a
very pretty bodied animal and well built, except her hind legs,
which we found to be badly out of order. And according to
the rules of the Society we were unable to award a premium.

The fourth horse examined was shown, by a card on the
pen, to be a mare belonging to W. H. Knowlton, of Rockport,
a very fine looking animal, and had she been entered as a
family horse we have no doubt that a premium might have been
awarded her.

After a careful examination your Committee make the
following awards :

To Benjamin P. Ware, of Marbleliead, for his mare " Kate,"
the first premium of diploma and $15.

The second premium of $10, to Abijah P. Puller, of North
Andover, for his bay mare.

We suppose the object of the Society in offering premiums
for brood mares, is for the special purpose of improving our
stock of horses, and, in order to do that, great care should be
used in the selection of mar^s for breeding purposes. There
certainly is no kind of an animal wliere greater care is neces-
sary in their selection than the brood mare, not only that she
is free from all unsoundness, but that she is well built, honest,
kind and free ft'om all tricks. Size, symmetry and soundness
are mostly to be regarded in the mare : — " blood from the sire,
beauty from the dam," is the golden rule. Until greater care
is used in the selection of the sire» as well as the dam, our
markets will be supplied with inferior horses, a great many of
them unfit for use. As the horse is one of the most useful and
noble animals upon the globe, we feel that too much cannot be
said in his praise. And we are pleased to know that men in
our midst of high rank and culture, standing at the head of
society, can say a good word for that no])le animal, the horse,
not afraid to take him by the head and exhibit him at a horse

46

fair, certainly such a man is entitled to the word reverend. The
day of progress has truly dawned upon us, and the time for
improvements in horses is at hand. We hope in future there
may be at our annual shows a greater exhibition of brood
mares, as they make one of the most attractive departments of
the show.

Committee — A, B. Fellows, Frank Alley, Eben King, A. T.
Newhall, F. R. Allen.

FAMILY HORSES.

The Committee on Family Horses report, that there were
eight entered for premium, ranging from five to twenty-two
years of age, and from eight to twelve hundred pounds weight,
and award the first premium of 115 and diploma, to C. C.
Cressy, of Gloucester, for his bay mare, six years old.

Second premium of $10, to Charles Davis, of Rockport, for
his brown horse, five years old.

Third premium of $8, to Samuel E. Sawyer, of Gloucester,
for his bay mare, seven years old.

Committee — Benjamin P. Ware, C. H. Gould, H. A. Stiles,
John Bradstreet.

FARM AND DRAFT HORSES.

The Committee on Farm and Draft Horses report :
The first premium of diploma and $12, to Aaron Knowlton,
of Essex.

The second of |10, to Samuel Dane, of Hamilton.
The third premium of $8, to S, F. Newman, of Newbury.
The fourth premium of |5, to Willard Smith, of Essex.
The special premium for best teamster of horses offered by

47

Dr. George B. Loving, of 110, they award to Edward F.
Knowlton of Essex.

Committee — Horace Ware, Francis Dodge, C. C. Blunt, M,
A. Shackley, David Smith.

COLTS— FIRST CLASS.

FOUR YEAR OLD COLTS.

There were only two entries. The Committee award first
premium to C. C. Cressy, Gloucester.

Second premium to Thomas Sawyer, Boxford.

THREE YEARS OLD.

First premium to Thomas Sawyer, Boxford.
Second premium to J. J. Manning, Rockport.
Committee — Y. ^G. Hurd, G. W. Rogers, J. Augustus Sa-
vory, Benjamin Haskell.

COLTS— SECOND CLASS.
The Committee award as follows :

TWO YEARS OLD.

To Herbert Sargent, of Gloucester, first premium, $6.
To Francis S. Lovett, of Beverly, second premium, $2.

YEARLINGS.

To Charles S. Kennison, of Byfield, first premium, $6.
To Frederick Norwood, of Gloucester, second premium, $2.
Committee — A. M. Bodwell, C. H. Little, J. B. Spiller, G.
C. Ruggies.

SWINE.
Three entries of swine were made.

BREEDING SOWS.

W. A. Dane, of Hamilton, first premium, diploma and
No other entitled to a premium.
Submitted by — Henry W. Foster.

48

SHEEP.

The Committee on Sheep report the first premium for Cots-
wold breeding ewes, to Francis Dane, of Hamilton, diploma
and $8 ; for lambs, first premium, ^3 ; for ram, first premium,
$6.

Committee— J). M. Tewksliury, I. M. Woodbury, R. Ward.

POULTRY— FIRST CLASS.

The Committee on Poultry, first class, unanimously make
the following awards :

LIGHT BRAHMAS.

Ordway Brothers, first premium.
J. W. Plouff, second premium.

DARK BRAHMAS.

Windsor M. Ward, first premium.
Ordway Brothers, second premium.
I. W. Kimball, gratuity, $1.

BUFF COCHINS.

Ordway Brothers, first premium.
Andrew P. Lufkin, second premium.
T. P. Hale, gratuity, $1.

PARTRIDGE COCHINS.

Ordway Brothers, first premium.
Charles A. Marr, second premium.
Windsor M. W^ard, gratuity, $i.

BLACK COCHINS.

Ordway Brothers, first premium.
I. W. Kimball, second premium.

DUCKS.

Bennet Griffin, first premium.

WHITE BRAHMAS.

Ordway Brothers, gratuity, $1.

49

BEST COLLECTION.

Ordway Brothers, diploma.

J. M. Currier, Amesbury, large and choice collection, gratu-
ity, $15.

R. G. "W. Foster, Amesbury, 5 coops cochins, gratuity, -$5.
Fo7' the Committee — J. C. Underhill.

POULTRY— SECOND CLASS.
List of Preyniums.
PLYMOUTH ROCKS.

First premium, Ordway Brothers, West Newbury,
Second " " " "

DOMINIQUES.

« First premium, Ordway Brothers,
Second premium, J. B. Smith, Newburyport,

LEGHORNS.

First premium, E. A. Page, Swampscott, -
Socond premium, W. M. Ward, Peabody,

BLACK SPANISH.

First premium, C. P. Barrett, Gloucester,

GAME.

First premium, Edward F. Hoyt, Gloucester,

GOLDEN SEAB RIGHT BANTAMS.

First premium, Samuel Sylvester, Gloucester, -
Second premium, I. W. Kimball, Hamilton,

HOUDANS.

Gratuity, Ordway Brothers, ....

DOMINIQUE LEGHORNS.

Gratuity, Aaron Low, Essex, . . . -

BOLTON GREYS.

Gratuity, Ordway Brothers, ... -

m

00

2

00

3

00

2

00

3

00

2

00

2

00

2

00

2

00

1

00

1

00

2

00

1

00

50

BROWN LEGHORNS.

Gratuity, Ordway Brotliers, 1 00

Committee — James Flint, Robert G. Buxton, Charles B.

Coo'swell.

PLOUGHING -DOUBLE TEAMS.

The Committee award the first premium to Joseph HortoUy
of Ipswich, -112 and diploma.

The second premium of $10, to Dennen and James, of
Gloucester.

The third premium, to G. W. Herrick, of Gloucester.

For the Committee — Wm. R. Putnam.

PLOUGHING— SINGLE TEAMS.

The Committee on ploughing with single ox teams report
that the only entry was by Dennin and James.

The ploughing was very good and in the opinion of the
Committee was worthy of the first premium. The Huzzey
plough was used.

CoTrmiittee — C. K. Ordway, R. S. Bray, A. P. Johnson.

PLOUGHING— WITH HORSES.

The Committee appointed by the Society for the purpose of
awarding premiums on ploughing with horses have attended to
that duty, and beg leave to make the following awards :

Teams entered and presented : Sylvester Dane, of Hamilton ;
Curtis C. Cressy, of Gloucester; Edward H. Brown, of Glou-
cester ; Albert Titcomb, of Rowley.

Your Committee were unanimous in the following awards ;

51

To Sylvester Dane, of Hamilton, the first premmm of diplo-
ma and 1 1 2. Plough, Eagle, No. 73^ ; time, 30 minutes.

The second premium of $10, to Albert Titcomb, of Rowley.
Plough, Huzzey, No. 16 ; time, 40 minutes.

The third premium of $8, to Edward H. Brown, of Glouces-
ter. Plough, Belcher & Taylor, No. 61 ; time, 32. minutes.

The fourth premium of $6, to Curtis C. Cressy, of Glouces-
ter. Time, 33 minutes.

The Loring premium of $10, for best teamster, to Oscar
Littlefield, of Rowley.

The land selected for ploughing was rather uneyen and
sideling, very dry and gravelly. It has never before been our
good fortune to witness such noble horse teams for ploughmg, the
uniformity in tlieir size, their movements and worli. They
performed the work assigned them witli apparent ease in
ploughing the sixth of an acre, in an average of thirty-five
minutes, with the exception of Mr. C. C. Cressy's team.
Owing to his using a plough not suitable for a pair of horses,
he could nofe avoid ploughing his land eight inches in depth,,
cutting a furrow sixteen inches wide. We think the plough he
used would have answered the purpose for four or six oxen^
and no doubt good work could have been done.

It is very important that a suitable plough should be selected
for a pair of horses. We have no doubt had Mr. Cressy had
a good and suitable plough he would have taken a larger
premium. It is just as important that we have good ploughs,
as that we have good horses for ploughing.

The history of the cast iron plough cannot be otherwise than
interesting. About tlie year 1720, Joseph Foljamble, of Roth-
erham, England, received the first patent upon record for a
plough. No doubt it was a great improvement upon those,
previously used. Again, about the year 1740, James Small, of
Berwickshire, Scotland, invented the first cast iron mould board ,
and they were manufactured by him for fifty years, still using
the wrought iron share. In 1785, Robert Ransom, of Ipswich,
England, first applied cast iron for that purpose. Charles
Newbold, of Burlington, N. J., made the first cast iron plough

52

in America. He received his first patent 17th of June, 1797.
Although great improvements had been made upon the old
wooden ploughs, so great were the prejudices against them,
that many people believed that cast iron poisoned the ground
and retarded the growth of crops ; and after the inventor had
expended $30,000 to get his plough into general use, he was
obliged to give up his business and leave the American farmers
to use their old wooden ploughs. The most ancient plough we
have any record of, was a crooked stick, somewhat improved
afterwards by being sharpened with iron. The Hindoo and
even some in this country use a plough but little in advance at
the present day. The Chinese use a similar plough at the
present time, and in continental Europe, France, and some
other countries, no better ploughs are used at the present day.
Very little progress or improvements were made in the manu-
facture of the plough until within the present century.

Good ploughing is the first requisite to the growth of good
crops. " Deep ploughing saves manuring." One of the
greatest errors of the New England farmers is shallow plough-
ing. We hope in future no premium will be offered for
ploughing six inches in depth, but that it may be changed to
not less than seven inches.

Committee — A. B. Fellows, Levi Emery, M. H. Poor.

PLOUGHING— SWIVEL PLOUGH.

The Committee on Ploughing with Swivel Plough have
attended to the duty assigned them. There were but two
competitors, T. G. Ordway, West Newbury, and Wm. Foster,
North Andover.

We respectfully award the first premium to William Foster,
$12 and diploma, for his Holbrook plough.

Unfortunately, T. G. Ordway had a new plough from Ames
Plough Co. ; not working very well, he withdrew from the
field.

53

We liope in future to see more of the Swivel ploughs on th^^
field. This Committee think favorably of that plough to pul-
verize our New England soils.

Committee — S. A. Merrill, B. S. Barnes, James T. Carlton,
Samuel Dane, Isaac F. Knowlton.

PLOUGHING— BY BOYS.

Special premiums by the President for ploughing by boys.
There was but one entry, by Willie Merrill, of West Newbury,
and your Committee award him the first premium, $25.

Comynittee — D. Bradstreet, Josiah Newhall, Daniel G. Toddy
Hermon Phelps.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.

The display of goods entered in the class of Agricultural
Implements was not quite so large as usual at our fairs.

There were ten difierent exhibitors, but no one of them made
any considerable number of entries. In the list for which
specified premiums are offered, there was only one entry ;
possibly this list might be enlarged with advantage.

The Committee were all present, with the exception of Mr.
Griffin, of Glouceseer, who being an exhibitor declined to act.

The premium of $15, for largest and best display, was not
given, but the amount, with the $20 placed at the disposal of
the Committee, was awarded for such articles, as were consid-
ered of established merit.

The following is the list of entries and the awards of the
Committee : —

Bennet Griffin, Gloucester, Gratuities.

1 " Hollingsworth's" Patent Rake, - - - $3 00

1 " Bullard Hay Tedder," diploma and - - - 5 00

54

1 each, " Ames Steel" and " Hus.sey Cast" Plows, - 3 00

1 " Randall" Harrow, 1st prem., diploma and - - 5 00

Hay Fork, - 1 GO

John Atkinson, Gloucester, Hand-made wagon and cart

wheels, - 3 00

Whittemore Bros., Boston, 2 Side Hill Plows, 1 Hay

Cutter and 1 " Doe" Plow, - - - - 3 00

1 Vegetable Cutter, $2 00 ; Wheel Jack |1 00 - - 3 00
Frank Burnham, Ipswich, Play wagon, covered seat,

diploma and 3 00

1 set Sled Shoes 5 00

Reed and Bowen, Boston, Foot Power Wood Sawing

Machine, diploma.
Greenwood and Bassett, Haverhill, Washing Machine, 2 00
Among the novelties attracting general attention, there was
in Mr. Griffin's collection an old fashioned wooden mould-
])oard plow 100 years old ; side l)y side with this stood one of
the Ames Co's beautifully finished steel plows, showing at a
glance the progress made in tlie art of plow making ; however,
for cultivating the rocky land of Cape Ann, it may be ques-
tioned whether the modern implement can do more service
than the old one has performed in its day.

The covered seat for hay wagons, shown by Mr. Burnham,
is probably as creditable an improvement as was examined by
the Committee. It seems to make the market hay wagon
almost perfect. The idea of a covered seat is by no means
new, but its perfect adaptation for this special purpose is under-
stood to be due to Mr. Burnham.

The sled shoes of Mr. Burnham are a device principally
designed to prevent the sled from slipping sidewise. The shoe
is made of ctTst-iron and steel. There is a slot running the
whole length of the shoe, through which a plate of steel is
made adjustable, very jnuch in principle like a centre-board to
a boat. Of course we could give no trial. The testimony of
several persons who had seen its operation was favorable, and
the Committee awarded a gratuity.

The " Warrior" mower is comparatively a new recruit, but

55

looks like a veteran of service. We tliink it was shown for
the first time at our fair. It ought to fight successfully all
mowing machine patent combinations ; for such a system of
wheels and gearing was probably never before seen or heard of.
Its inventor must have had visions similar to those of the old
prophet Ezekiel, for he has embodied herein the " wheel in the
midst of a wdieel," and " one that turns not as it goes." The
machine appears to be well made and reasonable in price, and
will probably take a place with first class mowers.

The " Wood" mower, shown by Mr. Fellows, is one of the
best machines in the market. The leading characteristics of
this are lightness and simplicity. In these it has always been
unrivalled. There are several machines that in some features
have advantages over this, but these points of excellence are
often made at the expense of complication. The machine has
been improved during the past season in several minor points,
hardly to be noticed except by those who have used them.

Immediately after the plowing match a trial was had of the
"Randall" and "Worcester" Harrows. The trial resulted
so favorably to the former that the Committee gave it a pre-
mium without dissent. The Randall Harrow is in principle
something like the " Nishwitz," which has been in use in the
county for several years. Its price, $S0, seems too high, — but
the Worcester Harrow is held at $65 — placing it out of the
reach of farmers, whatever its merits may be. It may be
described as suspended from wheels by chains and levers, and
as perfectly under the control of the driver as a wheel rake.
It is very portable, and comfortable for the operator. It is
claimed that the draft, in proportion to the work done, is much
lighter than other harrows, also that it runs more steadily.

The devices for heading barrels, <fec., by Griffin & Smith, of
Ipswich, could not be found by the Committee.

The Committee understood that the entries of Mr. Lummus
were transferred to Mr. Griffin, and the awards for same were
made to Mr. Griffin.

Respectfully,

A. H. PATCH.

Hamilton, October, 1873.

■ 56

CARRIAGES.

The Committee award as follows : —

To James B, Richardson for phieton, bos buggy, &c., diplo-
ma and $15.

To J. M. Currier for business wagon, $10.
Committee — W. Ordway, Aaron Sawyer.

DAIRY.

The Committee on the Dairy report : —

The number of entries was small and of butter alone. With
them were the following statements :

No. 1. 12 lbs. butter, the product of one native cow, from
8 days' milking, entered by Mrs. Sarah P. Burnham, Essex,
Mass.

STATEMENT OF MRS. MEHITABLE FOSTER,

No. 2. The 16 lbs. of September butter that I herewith
send in a square box done up in pound lumps, is a specimen of
the butter made this season from the cow, half Jersey and
half Ayrshire, now seven years old, that we have owned for
four years past — having made from her, year before last, 205
lbs., and having averaged this year more butter per week than
then. Her feed has been common pasturing, and 2 quarts of
Indian meal, and 2 quarts of shorts per day during the season.

Process of making — Milk each morning and night, strain the
milk into tin pans, and let it stand till lit to strain, according
to weather. The cream is kept in an earthen pot till it is
churned, which is once a week. It is seldom that cold water
is used in working the butter in the cliurns, as we have no
trouble from the butter coming soft. It is worked over by hand
directly it is taken from the clnn-n, to get out the butter-milk,
and then it is salted. The next day it is worked over again
and made into pound lumps for market, averaging 40 cents
per pound.

Hamilton, Sept. 23, 1873.

57

STATEMENT OF SARAH L. EIDGEWAY.

No. 3. To THE Committee on Daiey : — I enter for premi-
um fifteen pounds of September butter, made in the following
manner :

The milk was strained into well scalded tin pans and allow-
ed to stand thirty-six hours, then skimmed into tin pails and
stirred at every skimming. As soon as churned the butter
was rinsed in cold water and salted to the taste with rock salt,
worked twice and formed as presented.

West Newbury, Sept. 23, 1873.

STATEMENT OF MRS. FARNHAM STILES.

No. 4. To THE Committee on Dairy : — I enter for premi-
um fifteen pounds of September butter, made in the following
manner :

The milk is strained into tin pans, and placed in a well-ven-
tilated dairy room to remain from 24 hours to 36 hours. The
cream is then removed into a stone jar and stirred twice a day.
Before churning it should be brought to a temperature of about
62 degrees. The butter is then taken from the churn and the
buttermilk thoroughly worked out with the hands, and salted
with 1| ounces to the pound. After remaining 24 hours, it is
worked again and made into lumps as presented.

The Committee award the following premiums, viz. : —

To Mrs. Farnham Stiles, Middleton, first premium.

To Mrs. Sarah L, Ridgeway, W. Newbury, second premium.

To Mrs. Mehitable Foster, Hamilton, third premium.

To Mrs. Sarah P. Burnham of Essex, for 12 pounds of but-
ter made from one cow in eight days, the amount not being
that required by the rules of the society, but the quality being-
good, the Committee awarded gratuity of $3.

Chairman — George B. Loring.

58

BREAD AND HONEY.

Your Committee were pleased to see so fine specimens of
Bread exhibited this year. In household economy the making
of good bread is a subject of much interest. Hence a lady at
the head of a family, who cooks herself or by servants, should
be an adept in this matter.

Your Committee, after carefully testing the several specimens
of bread exhibited, would unanimously award the following
gratuities, viz. : —

To Mrs. Addison Witham, of Gloucester, - - $2 00

" " Olivia Proctor, of Gloucester, - - - 2 00

" " L. D. Sawyer, of Amesbury, - - - 2 00
" Mary P. Bartlett, of Rockport, - - - - 1 00
" Mrs. Isaac A. P. Steele, of Gloucester, - - 1 00
" " N. E. Ladd, of Groveland, - - - - 1 00
" " J. W. Wheeler, of Annisquam, - - - 1 00
" " C. A. Alley, of Wenham, - - - - 1 00

CAKE AND PIES.

Miss Annie Laura McEachran, Gloucester, for sponge

cake, .-.__.-- 50

Miss Hattie Fall, of Gloucester, for sponge cake, - - 50

Mrs Edwin Lane, of Gloucester, for lemon pie, - 50

CANNED FRUIT.

Mrs. Abbie Dodge, of Gloucester, 10 jars preserves - 50

Mrs. David Plummer, " 6 " " - 50

Mrs. Isaac A. P. Steele, " 7 u u . 50

Mrs. Charles Boardman, 4 jars of preserves, - - 50

Mrs. H. M. Hilliard, 4 jars of preserves, - - - 50

HONEY.

To H. Alley, of Wenham, 12 jars of honey and 12 box-
es of honey in comb, 5 00

lor the Committee— T. B. Fall.

59
FRUIT— FOR THE BEST COLLECTION.

APPLETO^^ PKEMIUM.

The Committee appointed to award the special premiums of-
fered by Mr. Francis H. Appleton for the best collections of
fruit — would award the first premium of $15 to Benj. P. Ware
of Marblehead, and the second of $10 to Peter Wait of Dan-
vers. Mr. Appleton, in offering these premiums, has expressed
his own belief in fruit raising, and shown his desire that it
shall be entered into intelligently, and after thorougli* investiga-
tion. He does not offer a premium for the largest collection,
but for the best — the best varieties as well as the best specimens.
It is a mistake often made by beginners, that of getting too
many varieties, — and those not adapted to their own soil and
locality — of consulting books and fruit catalogues, more than
their practical neighbors, who have for years made fruit-grow-
ing a profitable business. For instance : a man in Marblehead
might wish to put a portion of his farm into an orchai'd, think-
ing to grow fruit for the market. His soil, perhaps a strong,
clay loam, he would find after consulting with his neighbors,
was very well adapted to the pear ; and he could easily ascer-
tain what varieties were the most profitable in his own immedi-
ate neighborhood ; also the best mode of culture, etc. Another
man in Methuen, on a different soil, and removed from the sea
air, might find other varieties succeeded better with him.
Some 12 or 14 years ago, we planted about 75 pear trees upon
our farm — 25 of these were Bartlett — the others, two of a kind
of those most highly recommended, from the earliest to the
latest. This year they all bore bountifully, and as they could
not be used in the family, a large part were sold in our nearest
market. The Bartletts in their season (and we let them liana:
upon the trees as long as possible) sold readily at |10 jjer
barrel. The others were sold in small lots as they ripened, and
with difficulty brought $1 50 and f2 per bushel — even such
varieties as Belle Lucrative, Flemish Beauty and Urbaniste.
Had there been enough to have made it an object, they would
liave brought more ; but aside from the trouble of marketing
so many sorts, had the trees all been Bartletts, the fruit would

60

have brought, at least, $100 more the present season. Perliaps
for a term of years, other varieties might be as profitable as
the Bartlett, but for profit in all kinds of fruit raising, we
would recommend that a specialty be made of a very few vari-
eties. Of course, the case Avould be different with the person
who desires a succession of fruit through the whole season for
family use, or with the amateur who expects to show his hun-
dreds of varieties at the exhibitions.

So witl\ apples ; if any one, who has cheap land, is satisfied
that it will pay to plant apple trees, or to take care of those
already planted, will it not be wiser to plant the Baldwin and
Hubbardston, than to try all the varieties recommended in a
N. Y. catalogue ?

Several persons, back a few miles in New Hampshire, have
proved that peaches can be raised profitably in this vicinity.
The one who has been the most successful, had seven acres
planted in 1857, upon the top of a hill, on what could be called
" pine land" — a sandy or gravelly loam. He believes peaches
can be raised with as much certainty as any fruit, if planted on
such land — high — alcove the " frost line." His trees have
borne regularly, nine years out of ten, and the fruit has brought
him i 4 to $6 per bushel at his nearest depot. Those who have
noticed the price of " selected peaches" in Boston market, for
the last few years, can judge whether such a crop will " pay."

So with strawberries. One person in our immediate vicinity,
has made a specialty of the Wilson strawberry, having some
four or five acres devoted to it, and has cleared enough in one
year to buy a small farm.

But these cases do not happen by chance ; they are the re-
sult of careful, thorough investigation, and above all, persever-
ance. He, who after planting his orchard or garden, falters or
gets discouraged, because of a few canker-worms, borers,
mildew or drought, is umvorthy of the fruits which a bountiful
Providence would bestow upon us.

Committee — T. C. Thurlow, G. W. Gage, John A. Rogers,
0. S. Bailey, James Wilson.

61

PEARS.

^ First premium pears, as per book, $2 each, as follows :
Bartlett, B. P. Stanley, Newburyport ; Belle Lucrative, J. C.
Calef, Newburyport ; Beurre Bosc, Peter Wait, Danvers ;
Clapp's Favorite, Addison Gilbert, Gloucester ; Onondaga,
Luther D. Pettingell, Salem ; Seckel, B. F. Stanley, Newbury-
port ; Buffum, F. P. Andrews, Essex ; Winter Nelis, Thomas
Capers, Newburyport ; Vicar of Winkfield, Thomas Capers,
Newburyport ; Lawrence, B. F. Stanley, Newburyport ; Louise
Bonne and Beurre Clairgeau, A. J. Hubbard, Peabody ; Golden
Beurre, Peter Wait, Danvers ; Duchesse d'Angouleme, B. F.
Stanley, Newburyport ; Urbaniste, Peter Wait, Danvers ; Shel-
don, B. F. Stanley, Newburyport : Beurre d'Anjou, A. J.
Hubbard, Peabody ; Paradise d'Automne, B. P. Ware, Marble-
head ; Marie Louise, Peter Wait, Danvers.

SINGLE DISHES — 11 EACH.

Uvedales St. Germaine, David Smith, Rockport ; Andrews,
W. B. Parsons, Rockport ; Doyenne Boussock, T. P. Thurlow ;
Howell, Peter Wait, Danvers ; Fulton, William B, Parsons,
Rockport.

Best twenty varieties, diploma and $5, A. J. Hubbard,
Peabody.

Best ten varieties, $3, B. P. Ware, Marblehead.

Best plate of pears (Bartlett), B. P. Ware, Marblehead, $5.

GRATUITIES.

Mrs. S. W. Brown, for Doyenne Boussock, - - - 50

D. G. Todd, for Sheldon, 50

W. H. Haskell, collection, 1 00

Charles Gardner, for Louise Bonne de Jersey, - - 50

W. B. Parsons, collection, 1 00

T. C. Thurlow, collection, 1 00

C. B. Barrett, collection, 1 00

G. B. Glover, for Beurre Clairgeau, .... 50

D. G. Todd, for Beurre Clairgeau, - - - - 50

Peter Wait, for Lawrence, 50

J. C. Calef, for Belle Lucrative, 50

62

G. P. Rust, for Bartlett, 60

Mary G. Lambert, for Duchesse, 50

Charles Hodgkius, for Flemish Beauty, ... 60

Warren Jones, for Flemish Beauty, .... 50

H. G. Sanford, for Sheldon, 50

Bennett Griffin, " 50

AsaTarr, " 50

John S. E. Rogers, for Bartlett, 50

John W. Marshall, " 50

J. J. Babson, " 50

John W. Marshall, for Tyson, 50

Committee — Andrew Lackey, John M. Ives, Wm. H. Mears.

APPLES.

The Committee chosen to examine the different varieties of
Apples make the following report :

Best collection twenty varieties, Benj. P. Ware, of Marble-
head, diploma and $5.

Best collection of ten varieties, Wm. B. Parsons, Rockport,
$3.

Best plate of apples, G. H. Shepherd, Gloucester, diploma
and 15.

Best twelve specimens of the following varieties :
Baldwins, W. B. Parsons, Rockport, - - - |2 00

Porters, T. C. Thurlow, West Newbury, - - - 2 GO
Pickman Pippin, Benj. P. Ware, Marblehead, - - 2 00

Roxbury Russetts, " " - - 2 00

Hubbardston, Thomas K. Leach, Topsfield, - - 2 00

Danvers Winter Sweet, Wm. B. Parsons, Rockport, - 2 00
Seaver's Sweet, Benj. P. Ware, Marblehead, - - 2 00

Gravenstein, H. Alley, Wenham, - - - - 2 00

Minister, Peter Wait, Danvers, - - - - 2 00

Sweet Baldwin, George Cogswell, - - - - 2 00

R. I. Greening, Thomas G. Ordway, Newbury, - 2 00

Drap d'Or, F. D. Winter, Gloucester, - - - - 2 00

2

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

63

Lady Sweeting, Benj. Hodgkins, Riverdale,
Lady Apple, Charles J. Peabody, Topsfield,
Garden, Peter Wait, Danvers, - - - - -
Kilham Hill, John S. E. Rogers, Gloucester,
Northern Spy, Wm. W. Perkins, Newbury,
Codlin, J. W. Wheeler, Annisquam, - - -
Javetts Red, Asa Tarr, Rockport, - - - -
French Honey Pink, Wm. H. Haskell, Gloucester,
King of Thompkins County, " "

Pearmain Russett, Benj. P. Ware, - - -

Liscom, H. Alley, Wenham,

Blue Pearmain, Elias Andrews, Essex,

Hall's Flat, D. Plummer, Newbury, - - - -

New York Pippin, Joseph Horton, Ipswich,

Fall Sweet, B. Stanwood, Gloucester, _ . _

Grimes Golden, C. P. Barrett, Gloucester, -

Moody Apple, Wm. W. Perkins, Newbury,

Alexander, David Parkhurst, Manchester, - - - 1 00

The following contributors were awarded gratuities of 50
cents each :

Joseph A. Moore, Gloucester ; Wm. W. Perkins, Newbury ;
Peter Wait, Danvers ; Levi Denning, Lanesville ; L. D. Nash,
Gloucester ; B. Stanwood, Gloucester ; Benj. H. Smith, Rock-
port ; John F. Burnham, Essex ; John Story, Essex ; Samuel
L. Young, Lanesville ; D. Bradstreet, Topsfield ; Luther Allen,
Manchester ; David Parkhurst, Gloucester ; Mrs. Eliza Elwell,
Gloucester ; Mrs. Henry P. Davis, Gloucester ; A. E. Price,
Gloucester ; Miss Tucker, Gloucester ; J. C. Calef, Gloucester ;
Moses Barrett, Gloucester ; Wm. Babson, Gloucester: James
F. Story, Essex ; G. A. Lane, Annisquam ; John Price, Man-
chester ; Mary G. Lambert, Rowley ; T. J. King, W. Newbury ;
Charles J. Peabody, Topsfield ; Albert Titcomb, Rowley ; H.
Alley, Wenham ; J. L. Stanwood, Gloucester ; T. R. Lee,
Essex.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

Committee — John W. Marshall, M. S. Jenkins, William
Chickering.

64
PEACHES, GRAPES AND ASSORTED FRUIT.

PEACHES.

Thomas Capers of Newburport, best white flesh peach,

first premium, - - - - - - - $1 00

A. S. Perkins of Salem, best yellow flesh peach, first

premium, - 1 00

H. G. Sandford, gratuity on peaches, - - - - 50

Warren Currier, Newburyport, gratuity on peaches, 50

GRAPES.

Geo. W. Gage of Methuen, best Concord and Massasoit,

2 each, -..----. 4 00
Best collection, -.._-.- 5 00
Luther K. Pemberton of Groveland, best Hartford Pro-
lific, - - - 2 00

A. Sargent, Riverdale, best Isabella, - - - 2 00

Geo. Todd of Gloucester, best Delaware, - - - 2 00

D. H. Stickney of Groveland, best Wilder, - - 2 00

W. H. Haskell, best Salem, 2 00

John Perkins of Ipswich, best collection of Cold House

grapes, - . - 5 00

Also, best Black Hamburg, - - - - - 1 00

Warren Currier, Newburyport, best Muscat - - 1 00

S. A. Cole of Gloucester, Hamburg grapes, - - 1 00

GRATUITIES.

J. Bartlett of Rockport, 1 00

T. E. Oakes, Gloucester, . . . . . 50

Timothy Dennis of Annisquam, ----- 50

Mrs. Linden Mallard of Lawrence, - - - - 1 00

Sylvester Moore of Bradford, 50

E. Dale of Gloucester, - 1 00

Mrs. E. D. Campbell, 50

CRANBERRIES.

Thomas Haskell of Gloucester, best pk. of cranberries, 3 00
J. J. Bray of Gloucester, pk. of cranberries, 2d premi-
um, . - 2 00

65

Elias Andrews of Essex, pk. of cranberries, 3d premi-
um, $1 00

H. A. Stiles of Middleton, gratuity, - . - 1 00

John Hildreth of Manchester, gratuity, - - - 1 00
Peter Wait of Danvers, best basket of assorted fruit,

premium, __.-_.- 3 00

Mrs. D. W. Low, Gloucester, for basket of wild fruit,

gratuity, - - - - - - - - 1 00

Committee — D. H. Stickney, Sam. W. Hopkinson, Robert
Rich, Elias Andrews.

FLOWERS.

Your Committee tender the following report of their awards :
Best pair of parlor bouquets, T. Capers, Newburyport, $3 00
Best pair hand bouquets, E. Dale, Gloucester, - - 2 00
Best floral design, E. Dale, Gloucester, - - - 1 00
2dl)est floral design, Mrs. Denmark Procter, Gloucester, 1 00
Best dish cut flowers, first premium, T. Capers, New-
buryport, --------100

Best dish cut flowers, second premium, Seth L. Cole,

Gloucester, -100

Best twelve dahlias, George H. Pulcifer, - - - 1 00
" " petunias, Mrs. C. W. Cochrane, - - 1 00

" " pansies, Miss Bessie Pulcifer, - - 1 00

" " phlox, Mrs. John Norwood, - - - 1 00
" " verbenas, Mrs. Martha Gale, - - - 1 00
Best collection native flowers, Mrs. Wm. Horner,

Georgetown, 1 00

Largest and best display from, one individual, Mrs.

Daniel Low, Rockport, diploma and - - - 3 00
Dianthus pinks, Mrs. C. W. Cochrane, gratuity, - - 50
Vase flowers, Miss M. Friend, gratuity, - - . 50

Basket of flowers. Miss Blanche Sanford, gratuity, - 50
One vase flowers, Miss Marietta Wonson, gratuity, - 50
Wardian case of ferns, Annie H.Dollivcr, Gloucester, do. 50

66

One pair hand bonquets, S. L. Cole, Gloucester, gratuity, 50
One parlor bouquet, Mrs. Sydney Oakes, " " 50

Geraniums, " " " " 50

Fern pyramid, Clara P. Anderson, " " 50

Hand bouquet, Louise Lufkin, " " 50

Parlor bouquet, Miss Ella Wonson, " " 50

Stocks, Mrs. J. H. Headly, " " 50

Vase of gladioli, John S. Rogers, " " 50

Dish of ambronia umbellata, Miss C. B. Stanwood, " 50

Yase of cut flowers, Miss Ada C. Davis, " 50

Vase Sweet Sultan, John S. Rogers, " 50

Parlor bouquet, Mrs. Lemuel Shepard, " 50

Native flowers, Sarah E. Dennen, W. Gloucester, " 50

Autumn leaves, Mrs. D. Plummer, Gloucester, " 50

One vase flowers, Mrs. C. S. Merchant, " " 50

Rustic stand, Mrs. Seth L. Cole, " " 50

Golden banded lily, B. D. Hill, Peabody, " 50

Verbenas, J. S. Rogers, Gloucester, " 50

Vase flowers, Master D. W. Rogers, Gloucester, " 50

Fuschias, Mrs. Denmark Proctor, " " 50

Moss monument, Mrs. Geo. Nickerson, " " 50

Basket ferns and autumn leaves. Miss Eliza Stacey,

Gloucester, gratuity, 50

Japan lilies, T. C. Thurlow, W. Newbury, gratuity, - 50

With so small a sum of money at their disposal tlie Commit-
tee feel wholly incapacitated to do justice to the brilliant array
of flowers presented for their inspection, and in justice to the
ladies of Gloucester we would say that it is the finest exhibition
we have had for several years.

Owing to the kind liberality of your President, we were
allowed ten dollars extra to award in gratuities.

We would suggest that the phrase in the text book, " For
best pair of Floral Designs," be made to read " For the
best Floral Design," for the trouble of arranging and carrying
to the liall a floral design is so great, we never yet have seen
on exhil>ition more than one design from one contributor.

For the Committee — Mrs. N. E. Ladd.

67

VEGETABLES.

The Committee on Vegetables have made the following
awards :

For twelve best specimens Early Turnip Blood Beet, $2, to
Albert Titcomb, of Rowley.

For twelve best specimens Long Orange Carrot, $2, to Albert
Titcomb, of Rowley.

For twelve best specimens late Sweet Corn, $2, to Joseph
Say ward, of Gloucester.

For threo best Savoy Cabbages, |2, to Joseph Fellow^s, of
Ipswich.

For three best Drumhead Cabbages, 12, to Albert Titcomb,
of Rowley.

For three best large Drumhead Cabbages, $2, to Gardner
W. Herrick, West Gloucester.

For twelve best large Dutch Parsnips, $2, to D, G. Todd, of
Rowley.

For twelve best specimens of Round Flat Tomato, $2, to E.
K. Lee, of Essex.

For best dish of Tomatoes, $2, to Aaron Low, of Essex.

For greatest and best variety of Tomatoes, $2, Aaron Low,
of Essex.

For six best Mangold Wurtzels, $2, to Gardner W. Herrick,
West Gloucester.

For twelve best Purple Top Turnip, $2, to Allen Smith, Jr.,
Rockport.

For twelve best Yellow Rutabagas, $2, to Gardner W. Her-
rick, West Gloucester.

For twelve best White Rutabagas, $2, to C. R. Anderson,
North Andover.

For three best Marrow^ Squashes, $2, Gardner W. Herrick,
West Gloucester.

For three best Turban Squashes, |2, to Benjamin P. Ware,
Marlilehead.

For three best Hubbard Squashes, $2, to Franklin Alley,
Marblehead.

For best peck Danvers Onions, •'i^2, to Franklin Alley,
Marblehead.

68

For best peck Yellow Flat Onions, 82, to R, T. Jaques,
Newbury.

For best peck Red Onions, $2, to F. Alley, Marblehead.

For best peck Early Rose Potatoes, 82, to John H. Cheever,
Manchester.

For best display of vegetables, diploma of the Society, to
Aaron Low, of Essex.

For best collection of garden seed, 88, to Aaron Low, of
Essex. For next best, $5, to Clarence E. Brown, Ipswich.

GRATUITIES.

H. A. Stiles, Middleton, cranberries, _ . .

W. B. Parsons, Rockport, melons, _ - _ -

A. 0. Estes, Rockport, collection, - - - -

B. Stanwood, Gloucester, collection, . - - -
Daniel G. Todd, Rowley, Field corn,
Samuel IngersoU, Gloucester, cabbages and melons,
G. H. Shepherd, cabl)ages, . _ _ - -
W. W. Perkins, Newbury, Long Smooth Beets, -
Bennett Griffin, Gloucester, collection, . - -

C. R. Anderson, N. Andover, fine cauliflower,
" " " onions, - - -

E. Dale, N. Andover, collection, -----
Aaron Low, Essex, Marblehead squashes,
" " " for collection, diploma.

George Ross, collection,

G. W. Herrick, W. Gloucester, Early Vermont potatoes,
David Pulsifer, Peerless potatoes, _ - - -

D. W. Low, Canada A''ictor tomato, - - - -
John S. Rogers, fine melons, _ . - - -

" " celery, ------

W. H. Haskell, Gloucester, collection, . _ .

Alden Harris, Beverly, mammoth sunflower.

Committee — I. A. Rogers, Daniel Buxton, Jr., James J.
Gregory.

81

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

J.

H.

69

COUNTERPANES AND RUGS.
Committee on Counterpanes, Carpetings and Rugs report : —
For best wrouglit counterpane, first premium. Miss Nellie M.
Wonson, i4. Second premium, MrsxMeribah Clark, $2.
Gratuities were awarded for Counterpanes as follows :

Miss Mary Bennett, -11 00

Sabra Easkeat, 50

Mrs. David Aiken, --.---. 50

Mrs. John Norwood, - - - - - - - 50

Estelle Forbes, 75

M. E Proctor, 75

Mrs. S. B. Chamberlain, . - . . . 50

Mrs. Simeon Bickford, - 1 00

Lydia Tucker, ------- 1 00

Mrs. Barnard Stan wood, - - - - - - 50

Mrs. C. H. Peirce, - 50

Mrs. Benjamin Hodgkins, 50

Mrs. L. P. Winter, piece of stair carpeting, - - 75

Best wrought hearth rug, first premium. Miss Lizzie Baxter,
$3. Second premium, Mrs. B. F. Stanley, $2.

Gratuities were awarded for Rugs as follows :

Mrs. Nancy Parsons, - - - - - - $1 00

Mrs. E. Maguire, 50

Mrs. Anna Harraden, - 50

Mrs. Charles Wilmington, ------ 75

Mrs. Warren Burnliam, - - - - - - 1 00

Mrs. David Low, -...-.. 75

Mrs. Thomas Proctor, 1 00

Mrs. Benjamin Bowden, 75

Mrs. D. R. Parker, 1 00

Mrs. Mary Swift, 50

Mrs. John Wilkins, -.-... 1 00

Committee — H. G. Herrick, Mrs. H. G. Sanford, Mrs. Ben-
nett Griffin, Mrs. Barnard Stanwood, Wm. D. Lamb.

70

ARTICLES MANUFACTURED FROM LEATHER.

We award for articles manufactured from leatlier as below :
H. S. McCuUock, Gloucester, two sets Harness, gratuity, $5 00
John F. Todd, two pairs Boots, gratuity, - - - 2 00
Wm. L. Crockett, one pair Boots, gratuity, - - 2 00
James S. Jewett, one pair Boots, gratuity, - - - 1 00

CoTnmittee — Edward N. Jacobs, H. E. Ladd, Geo. W. Keene.

MANUFACTURES AND GENERAL MERCHANDISE.

The Committee on " Manufactures and General Merchan-
dise" have attended to their duty and award the following pre-
miums and gratuities.

For the best display of Bonnets, 1st premium to W. 0. Ward,
Gloucester, $4 00 ; 2d best, 2d premium to S. H. Emanuel &
Co., Gloucester, .$2 00.

For best specimen Horn Comb to Thos. Hale, Rowley, $3.

GRATUITIES.

Manning & Co., Rockport, 4 Sheets Fish Glue, -

" " 3 Bunches Isinglass,

H. E. Whales, Haverhill, 1 case Dental Work, -
F. W. Evans, Newburyport, Patent Clothes Dryer, -
Manning Organ Co., Rockport, 2 Organs, -
R. G. W. Foster, Amesbury, Frame, - . .
Newell Giles, 2 Packs Isinglass, . - .

W. R. Porter, 3 Sad Irons,

Gloucester Copper Paint Co., Copper Paint,

Committee — George W. Keene, J. B. Sweet, H. G. Herrick.

;2

00

1

00

1

00

1

00

3

00

1

00

2

00

1

00

2

00

FANCY WORK.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FANCY ARTICLES.

We would award for work done by children under 12 years :
To Lulu Hunt, of Gloucester, aged 7 years, for tidy mat,
second premium, $2.

71

To Henry W. Tarr, of Gloucester, aged 7 years, for clierry
stone watch chain, second premium, |2.

To Ida McDonald, of Gloucester, aged 11 years, for crayon
picture, $1.

To Helen M. Dennis, of Gloucester, aged 10 years, for lamp
mat, $1.

To Alice A. Morgan, of Wenham, aged 11 years, for tidy, II.

To Fannie L. Story, of Gloucester, aged 12 years, for tidy,
50 cents.

To Charles P. Ross, of Gloucester, for wooden chain, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Sarah Riggs, of Gloucester, aged 92 years, silk
patch work, 11,

To Mrs. R. D. Wait, of Ipswich, aged 89 years, one pair
hose, $1.

To Mrs. Mary H. Gilbert, of Gloucester, aged 87 years, knit
blanket, $1.
* To. Mrs. J. P. Trask, of Gloucester, aged 70 years, tapestry
50 cents.

To Miss E. A. Blood, of Gloucester, two portraits of great
merit, $2.

To Miss J. W. Knowlton, of Rockport, a fine collection of
Cape Ann minerals, $1.

To Horace Bass, of Gloucester, a fine collection of Cape
Ann birds, 11.

To Edward A. Johnson, of Manchester, a fine collect ion o
articles turned from wood, |1.

To Edward Flint, of Manchester, cut vase of wood, $1.

To Mrs. Mary E. Goodnow, of Gloucester, 3 cushions, &c., $1.

To Miss Edith Kendall, of Gloucester, box of tatting work, $1.

To Mrs. J. N. Millard, of Gloucester, a tastily arranged
bouquet of Bermuda sea-weed, $1.

To Mrs. Frank Dunn, of Gloucester, a fine display of Chi-
nese and Japanese work, $1.

To Mrs. Wni. N. Perkins, Jr., of Gloucester, afghan, fl.

To Miss H. M. Burnham, of Gloucester, table cover, 50 cents.

To M. E. Sawyer, of Gloucester, toilet set, 50 cents.

To M. E. Bray, of Gloucester, tidy and watch case, 50 cents.

To Etta Lufkin, of Gloucester, watch case, 50 cents.

To Mrs. E. N. Knowlton, of Beverly, embroidery, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Addison Merchant, of Gloucester, afghan, 50 cents.

To Mrs. S. E. Chamberlain, of Gloucester, tidy and skirt,
50 cents.

To John Stimpson, of Gloucester, cocoaniit baskets, 50 cents.

To A. M. Richardson, of Rockport, scrap bag, &c., 50 cents.

To L. A. Bigelow, of Gloucester, lamp mat, 50 cents.

To Emma H. Gage, of Methuen, tatted skirt, 50 cents.

To Mrs. P. Haskell, of Gloucester, 6 pairs nippers, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Frank Dunn, of Gloucester, marble painting, 50 cents.

To Mrs. S. M. Wheeler, of Gloucester, 2 lamp mats, 50 cents.

To Mrs. M. R. Scripture, of Rockport, ottoman cover, 50 cents.

To Mrs. C. Smith, of Gloucester, frame of wood, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Cyrus Story, of Gloucester, sofa pillow, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Charles E. Grover, of Gloucester, picture, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Geo. S. Tomlinson, of Manchester, crayon picture,
50 cents.

To Frank K. Rogers, of Gloucester, two pictures, 50 cents.

To Mrs. N. E. Ladd, of Groveland, spatterwork, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Joshua Ingersoli, of Gloucester, shell monument,
60 cents.

To S. C. Parsons, of Gloucester, sea mosses, 50 cents.

To Nellie M. Wonson, of Gloucester, wax leaves, 50 cents.

To James Parker, of Gloucester, three pictures, 50 cents.

To Mrs. T. K. Leacli, of Topsfield, sea mosses, 50 cents.

To G. A. Williams, of Salem, knit shawls, 50 cents.

To M. J, Bingham, of Manchester, knit jackets, 50 cents.

To Amelia Martin, of JMancliester, pillow cases, 50 cents.

To Sophia Gangloff", of Gloucester, box fancy work, 50 cents.

To Aaron F. Clark, of Gloucester, picture and tal)le, 50 cents.

To Ida Mayo, of Gloucester, hair pin cushion, 50 cents.

To Abbie Mayo, of Gloucester, towel rack, 50 cents.

To Mi-s. John Parker, of Gloucester, pin cushion, 50 cents.

To Miss Mary Low, of Gloucester, embroidered skirt, 50 cents.

To Estelle Deering, of Gloucester, two pictures, 50 cents.

73

To James H Laver, of Gloucester, crayon, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Sarah B. Saville, of Gloucester, painting, wild flow-
ers, 50 cents.

To Clara F. Brackett, of Gloucester, tidy, 50 cents.

To Mrs. S. F. Small, of Gloucester, fancy sewing, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Ellen Lufkin, of Gloucester, laundry work, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Laura E. Elwell, of Gloucester, embroidered skirt,
50 cents.

To George Douglass, of Gloucester, pen work, 50 cents.

To. Mrs. John F. Wonson, of Gloucester, 2 pictures, 50 cents.

Whole number of contributors, 156.

Number awarded gratuities, 65.

Amount at disposal of Committee, 855.

Amount awarded by Committee, -144.50.

For the Committee — Andrew Nichols.

POULTRY.
A few, still remain in our county ,who either from prejudice
against all improvements, or some other cause are still satisfied
with the barn-yard fowl, so called, a fowl bred hap hazard
since the settlement of our country ; but the number is small,
and growing beautifully less compared witli the rapidly in-
creasing number of those who are not at all satisfied with the
above, but want a more showy and profitable bird. This, some
find in the Light Brahma, with its snow white feathers, in
beautiful contrast to the black tail and penciled heck, which
with its lofty carriage and contented appearance, admits it to
the class of the most attractive ; while its hardiness and dis-
position to make returns for all expense and trouble bestowed
upon it make it the best of the winter layers. About the
same may be said of the Dark Brahma as it differs but little
from the Light except in plumage. Others find their beauties
and great egg producers among the different varieties of Cochins
all of which are beautiful when purely bred. A rapidly in-

74

creasing number find in the Plymouth Rock, a new variety, all
they desire in poultry ; beauty, and utility. Again, some favor
the French varieties, while a large number, which is fast ap-
proaching a majority of all poultry admirers give precedence
to the Ijeghorn, a breed of which there are three varieties, viz. :
Brown, Dominique and white — the Brown at the present time,
standing on the top-most round. Thus we see that each variety
of each breed has its admirers, and therefore, to interest and
reach the pockets of all, no variety can be discarded.

It is the aim and object of the Essex Agricultural Society to
promote the interests, not only of agriculturists, but of all pro-
ducers, and the poultry breeder can only be benefited by creat-
ing more interest and enthusiasm in poultry raising ; but, say
many, the hen fever is high now, — admitted, but it is not
high enough, or ever will be, until perfect birds of each variety
become the rule instead of the exception.

The merchant, tailor, grocer, &c., &c,, each and all put their
hands in the producer's pocket, and so must he put his hand in
their pockets, and how can he better do it than by producing
perfect birds to sell, for many do keep, who cannot breed fowls.
Then, the poultry interest is one which the Society should fos-
ter and increase to the utmost. How shall it be done? As a
starting point we respectfully offer the following suggestions.

Provide a tent or some shelter for the poultry when on exhi-
bition, and again bring into the arena Essex Go's most exj)eri-
enced and, therefore, best l)recders, who retired from the
contest because they found neither profit or pleasure in expos-
ing their birds which had been carefully housed at home, to
the inclemency of the weather, unless it was in the colds and
subsequent roup caused l)y such exposure.

Offer more premiums. A first and secondTor fowls and
chickens of each variety of each breed ^recognized by the
Society, whether it be one, as the Plymouth Rock, or three, as
the Leghorn, and thereby, increase the interest and number of
exhibitors. Increase the interest and pleasure of visitors by
proper arrangement ; that is require each class, each l)reed,
and each variety of each breed, to be placed contiguously, so

75

that the lover of any particular variety can examine those of
his choice without going the entire length of the line of coops,
and so that your committee can do its duty better and easier.
Give no premiums when ])irds are not properly mated in the
coops, or when they do not figure a certain numl^er of points,
the number to be fixed by the society.

The above suggestions are derived from the Massachusetts
Poultry Association's rules at its exhibitions, and may be
worthy of your consideration.

By adopting the foregoing rules, or better ones, as from time
to time they suggest themselves to the society, we see no reason
why the poultry exhibition, at the Essex Agricultural Society's
annual fairs may not become equal to any in the state or nation.

Chairman — J. C. Underbill.

GRAIN CROPS.

A. P. Noyes, of Middleton, entered a crop of rye.

Two of the Committee viewed it on the second of July. It
was nearly five feet high, remarka'bly even, free from rust, but
apparently suffering from tlie unusually early drought. They
would recommend awarding to him the diploma and premium
of ten dollars.

It will be seen by the accompanying statement that the yield
was thirty-three bushels per acre. The crop last year was
corn. He makes no mention of the straw, which has been
nearly as high in Boston market the past year as the best of
English hay. The raising of grain in this county at the pres-
ent time is up-hill work, and few, if any, would grow it, if
they could get their land into grass without it. To some
extent this can be done. Tlie Early Rose potatoes ripen early
enough so that they can be harvested and the land sown with
grass seed soon enough for it to get well rooted before winter.

We get but little information from Mr. Noyes's statement in
regard to the cost of growing a crop of rye. When rye is

76

worth one dollar per bushel, and labor costs twenty-five cents
per hour, to cut with the cradle and bind and thre^i with the
flail, as we must do to save the straw, it will take a large part
of the grain to pay for harvesting and threshing ; if there is
any riiargin above the cost, it must be upon the straw. Al-
though rye may be grown upon comparatively poor soil, yet
when the graiix and straw are both sold from the farm it must
be an exhausting crop.

We had no entry for wheat, oats or barley, and but one for
Indian corn.

Lafayette Day, of Bradford, entered a crop of corn. The
chairman was alone in his examination of this crop, but will
take the responsibility of recommending the award of the
premium of $10 and diploma to Mr. Day.

This field is near the Merrimac River ; the soil appeared to
be a sort of alluvial deposit, where corn can be grown as
cheaply as in any part of the county.

From his statement we find the cost of growing the corn per
acre, for manure, thirty-two dollars, - - - <|32 00

Ploughing, $6, harrowing, $3, seed, .70, planting, $6, 15 70
Cultivating, $15, cutting stalks, 7, harvesting, 26, - 48 00

Cost,

83 bushels of corn, entire stock.
Value of fodder, thirty dollars.

Total profit, $31 70

For the Committee—Win. R. Putnam.

STATEMENT OF LAFAYETTE DAY.

Bradford, Mass., Nov. 7th, 1873.
Mr. Preston :

Dear Sir . — The Committee on grain crops have visited my
premises and requested me to hand the report to you. I will
now make a statement concerning the land. It is one acre
and a half in size, the soil is loamy. In 1871, it produced a
grass crop, in 1872 a corn crop. The dressing I used was
twenty oxcart loads of barn-cellar manure per acre.

.

163 70

68 40

30 00

98 40

77

Treatment of 1873 — This year I put on the same amount of
manure, of which, four-fifths I ploughed in and the rest put in
the hill. The cost of the manure was forty-five dollars. In
addition to this I put on twenty bushels of ashes after the corn
was up. Their valiie was three dollars and a half.

I ploughed it May 1st, eight to nine inches deep, at a cost
of six dollars. It was harrowed twice, at a cost of three
dollars. It was planted May 20th, three feet and nine inches
apart each way, and from five to six kernels in a hill, which
was about ten quarts per acre. The seed was that which was
formerly known as the Mitchell corn, eight rowed yellow corn
with a red cob. The cost of the seed was seventy cents ;
planting, six dollars.

It was cultivated three times, weeded once, and cultivated
twice. The cost of cultivating, including weeding, was fifteen
dollars. I cut and tied the stalks Sept. 1. The cost of cutting
was seven dollars. The bulk was equal to three tons of English
hay. It was harvested October 25th ; cost of harvesting, in-
cluding husking, was twenty-six dollars. The corn when
shelled and weighed amounted ta eighty-three bushels per acre.
The bulk of the butt-stalks was about two tons.

ROOT CROPS.

The Committee on Root Crops respectfully report the follow-
ing :—

The number of entries are few, and indicate a decreasing
interest in the cultivation of many varieties of roots.

There were but three entries made this season. Two of on-
ions ; one by Mr. Albert Titcomb of Rowley, and one by Mr.
George N. Ordway of West Newbury ; and a crop of Cabbages
by Mr. Albert E. Lufkin of Essex.

One statement came to the Committee in a very imperfect
manner. The papers which have been laid before them are
herewith submitted, and premiums awarded to those who have
complied strictly with the rules of the society.

78

We award to Albert Titcomb of Rowley, for best crop of
Daiivers Onions, the 1st premium of Diploma and $10.

To Albert E. Lufkin of Essex, Diploma and ^10, for his crop
of Stone Mason Cabbages.

Committee — A. B. Fellows, James P. King, Joseph S. Howe,
Aaron Low.

STATEMENT OF ALBERT TITCOMB.

Statement concerning a crop of onions, raised by Albert
Titcomb in the town of Rowley, 1873.

In 1871 the crop was onions. Cattle manure from barn
cellar, about thirty loads to acre was used.

The crop of 1872 was onions, and about the same kind and
quantity of manure was used as in '71. A strong, floury soil
with clay bottom.

For the crop of 1873, ploughed once the previous autumn,
about five inches deep ; after ploughing we applied thirty loads
of thirty bushels each, barn cellar manure on the top. In the
spring the land was thoroughly pulverized with Avheel, tooth
and brush harrows. The manure was applied in a green state,
and became hard and crusty ; fearing that it was not fertile
enough for plant food in the early season, I spread on- the top
and harrowed in six hundred pounds of Cumberland Super-
phosphate to three fourths of an acre. We then raked the
land smooth, and on the 13th of May sowed, with seed sower,
Yellow Danvers Onion seed, at the rate of five pounds to the
acre. Half the seed was new and half one year old. I think
the new seed did the best. We lioed and weeded the bed four
times, and weeded once when the onions were large. The crop
was harvested in this manner : — We pulled four rows, threw
them on tiic bed, then hoed the space and raked the weeds
clean ; we pulled four rows more and threw them on tlie clean
space ; hoed and raked as before, and so on through the whole
bed.

Part of the onions were topped on the bed, the remainder
carted to barn to be topped in unfavorable weather. Tha top-
ping can be done much quicker on the bed if the weather is
favorable.

79

Cost of raising crop on half an acre.

15 loads manure at $2 50, - - - - - $37 50

300 lbs. Cumberland Superphosphate at 3 cents, - 9 00

Ploughing, 2 50

Harrowing, ..---..- 2 50

Raking, - - 2 00

Sowing seed, .-.-.--- 1 50

Hoeing and weeding, 25 00

Pulling and topping, 18 00

Carting to barn, ...---. 8 00

Barrels, 35 00

Barrelling, -..----. 6 00

Carting to station, .-.-.-- 6 00

Use of land, ..-...- 10 00

Storing, ... - 5 00

$168 00

Amount of crop 423 bushels, to half acre or 147 bbls.

at $3 50, 514 50

Net profit, - - $346 50

The above statement is made by estimation, except the
amount of crop which was measured by David J. Woodman.

STATEMENT OF ALBERT E. LUFiaX.

Tlie land, on which the cabbages I enter for premium were
raised is a hard clay soil ; it had been in grass for fifteen years
(or more) with very little manure during the time ; and the
crop for two or three years was very light.

Plowed in spring of '72; applied about tliree cords manure,
mostly spread on ; and planted with corn and potatoes ; and
had a very good crop.

Plowed this year May 19th. Spread on two cords manure
and one cord rock-weed. Manured in the hill with one cord
composted fish manure, and planted May 28th with Stone Ma-
son cabbage; re-set alwut one-half the plants from the 18th to
20th of July.

80

The lot, as measured by the committee, contains 85 rods ;
and I have harvested from it 2,020 marketable cabbages, esti-
mated to weigh 10 ponnds each.

Dr.

To 3 cords manure,

" Rockweed,

" 3 days labor,

" seed,

" cultivating, __.__.

" 7 days hoeing,

" 2 days setting plants,

" harvesting and marketing,

Or.
By 168 dozen cabbages at 75 cents,

Net profit, 46 25

This is to certify that I have helped harvest the above crop
and consider this a correct statement.

Samuel Lufkin.

$24 00

3

00

5

25

2

00

2

50

14

00

4

00

25

00

179 75

$126

00

CRANBERRIES.

The Committee on the cultivation of the cranberry have
attended to their duty and respectfully submit the following
report :

Mr. Hiram A. Stiles, of Middleton, is the only person who
claims a premium, under the rules of the Society, for his
exjjeriment in the cultivation of the cranberry. With this
report will be found his statement of his method of cultivating
tliat luxurious and healthful fruit. On the 12th of September,
187S, the Committee visited Mr. Stiles and viewed the grounds
on which his experiments have been made. There we found a

81

fine crop of berries, ripe and fit to be gathered. This was a
very favorable time to view his crop and to learn the result of
his experiments. His method of preparing the ground for the
planting of vines has been varied on different parts of his
meadow, and the results have been different. Upon that part
to which we were first introduced he had spread a thick coat of
gravel or coarse sand, after having ploughed the ground. On
those parts of his meadow treated in this manner we found the
berries much smaller in size and the vines far less productive
than when the ground had only been ploughed and smoothed,
without any top dressing having been put upon it. From Mr.
Stiles's experiments, as well as from our own experience in
this business, we think that we may infer that the natural soil
of our meadows is best adapted to the growth of the cranberry.
No top dressing has ever been put upon that particular spot of
meadow on which Mr. Stiles claims a premium. The ground
was only ploughed and smoothed, and the vines were set in the
natural soil. No expense has since been incurred upon it.

On viewing this spot we found the vines grown so rank as
almost to prevent the grass from springing up among them.
The crop upon these vines was abundant, the berries were of
an extraordinary size, ripe and beautiful and of an excellent
quality. It was truly a fine sight to look upon. This was
j)erhaps the largest crop that has ever grown upon these twenty
square rods of ground, measuring twenty-three bushels, equal
to one hundred and eighty-four bushels to the square acre.

Mr. Stiles has not always been able to keep his meadow
flowed in the winter season, and no doubt his crop may some-
times have failed on this account. Unless our meadows be
kept flowed during the freezing months and drained during the
summer, we can have no certainty of a crop of cranberries ;
but if this be done, perhaps no crop of fruit is so sure as that
of the cranberry, unless some casualty happen to it, such as
early frosts or the ravages of the cranberry worm, that some-
times destroy almost a whole crop. Any bog meadow that
can be drained and flowed can be turned into a rich cranberry
field, and there is much of this kind of land that can be made

82

to yield a large income with but a trifling expense. We think
well of Mr. Stiles's method of ploughing his meadow in pre-
paring it for the planting of the vines ; there are many
advantages resulting from it. But there are meadows that
cannot be ploughed ; on such cranberries can be grown with
much profit without ploughing. We know of several such
meadows, one in particular, on which so much as a peck of
cranberries had never grown since the recollection of the oldest
man living. Some ten or twelve years ago this was drained
by ditching ; the peat taken from the ditches paid the expense
of it. A small flume was built so as to flow the meadow in
the winter to the depth of about four feet ; this cost but about
five dollars. The third year after this work was done, the
vines without planting had grown so as to bear twenty bushels
of cranberries. Tliis is but a small piece of meadow, and
from that time to the present the average yield has been from
twenty to forty bushels per year. We could name other
meadows that have yielded a large income without any planting
of vines. But perhaps we have already gone beyond our
proper bounds, and we will close our remarks by saying that,
as we understand it, the question of premium in this case
belongs to the trustees to decide at their meeting in November,
and we can therefore only give our opinion regarding Mr,
Stiles's merits in the case. We consider him worthy of much
praise for the pains he has taken in his experiments, and we
think he is entitled to a premium for his successful cultivation
of the cranberry on the twenty square rods which he has
entered for premium.

Chairman — Gilbert Conant.

STATEMENT OF HIRA5I A. STILES.

MiDDLETON, November, 1873.

STATEMENT CONCERNING A CROP OF CRANBERRIES.

The portion of land upon whicli the cranberries grew which
I offer for premium, contains twenty rods. It was ploughed to
the depth of ten inches in September, 1866, using the Michigan
sod plough. The land previous to ploughing produced from

83

1200 to 1500 pounds of hay to the acre, of good quality for
meadow. The nature of tlie soil is sandy, and to the depth of
twelve to eighteen inches is more abundant than nearer the
surface.

The land was harrowed with the Iron Tooth Harrow and
rolled, for the purpose of leveling the surface and preventing
grass from springing up between the furrows. About the 20th
of May the following year, the vines were taken from a bog
meadow by hand and set in holes, made ten inches apart. The
roots were generally placed downwards, using from five to ten
vines to a bunch, covering the same to the depth of two inch-
es. Since that time no labor has been expended.

The average annual yield of berries up to the present year
has been about two bushels. The berries the present year are
uniformly large in size and of excellent quality ; quantity of
berries the present year, twenty-three bushels.
Cost of ploughing, harrowing, &c.. - - - $4 00

Cost of procuring and setting vines, - - - - 11 00
Cost of gathering and marketing, - - - - 20 00

$35 00
Market value of berries, 88 00

Balance, 153 00

This may certify that having witnessed the measurement of
the land upon which the cranberries grew, I regard it as correct.

John W. L. Moulton.

DESTRUCTION OF CANKER WORMS.

The Committee on Destruction of Canker Worms respect-
fully submit the following report : —

The Committee were invited to visit but one orchard, — that
of Daniel Foster, 2d, of N. Beverly — whose statement is hereto
annexed. They recommend the award to him of the first pre-
mium of $25. Mr. Foster's orchard was visited in the latter

84

part of August. The trees were well loaded with fruit, and
no traces of canker worms could be seen upon the foliage. Mr*
Poster stated that until within two years the trees have been
completely stripped of their leaves. He then had " Matthews'
Protector " placed upon the trees, since which time they have
been entirely free from worms.

The " Protector" is simply a covered metal trough encircling
the tree, and filled with crude petroleum. To prevent the
grubs crawling up under the " Protector," the space between
the trough and tree is carefully packed with dry oakum. The
protectors have never been removed from the trees since placed
upon them two years since. Mr. Poster stated that the total
expense of protecting two hundred and fifty trees was 1268 — a
little more than a dollar per tree. His orchard is compara-
tively young, and the trees of medium size. Your committee
are well aware that a premium given under these circumstances
implies an endorsement of the preventive used and hence have
endeavored to ascertain whether " Matthews' Protector" has
proved successful in other instances.

From the best evidence that could be obtained, the Commit-
tee were satisfied that Matthews' Protector properly applied and
used, entirely prevents the passage of the grub. The chief
objection to its use is the expense — as its cost is ten cents per
inch in diameter, applied to the trees and ready for use. Proba-
bly orchardists having a small number of trees may find it for
their advantage to use such a protector even if somewhat ex-
pensive.

But farmers having extensive orchards, will be likely to
hesitate before incurring such an expense, and inquire if some
other, cheaper methods cannot be found. We do not now pro-
pose to discuss this point, or the expediency of making such
an outlay on a large orchard.

We will only add that in the judgment of the Committee,
" Matthews' Protector" is not a swindle, and that if farmers
are willing to expend the amount necessary to apply it, they
can in that way fully protect their trees from the ravages of
the canker worm.

For the Committee — Joseph S. Howe.

85

STATEMENT OF DANIEL FOSTER, 2d. •

To THE Committee on Destruction op Canker Worms : —
I enter for premium my orchard of two hundred and fifty trees
which I have protected for the past two. years by the use of
" Matthews' Tree Protector."

The trees had been badly eaten for several years previous,
but they have now fully recovered from the ravages of the
worms, and this year have a good quantity of fruit.

I consider the Protector a sure preventive.

North Beverly, Sept. 23, 1873.

TREADWELL FARM.

report op the committee on the TREADWELL FARM.

The seven years' lease of the farm to Mr. A. H. Gould
expired last April. The Committee then let it to Mr. T. W.
Pierce, for the term of one year, for five hundred dollars rent,
not confining Mr. Pierce to any particular system of cultivation.

Committee — Benjamin P. Ware, Geo. B. Loring.

ESSAYS, FARM ACCOUNTS AND REPORTS OF
COMMITTEES.

The Committee on Essays and Farm Accounts, after a care-
ful examination of the several papers submitted to them, award
the following premiums, to wit : —

First premium, of $15, to Francis H. Appleton, of Peabody,
for essay on " Foreign Agricultural Experiences."

Second premium, of $10, to Charles J. Peabody, of Tops-
field, for essay on " Hints and Suggestions on Managing the
Farm."

Premium of $10, to Francis H. Appleton, of Peabody, for
" Farfia Accounts."

86

Reports of Committees.

First premium, of $10, to J. D. W. French, of No. Andover,
for report on"" Bulls."

Second premium, of -18, to Gilbert Conant, of Ipswich, for
report on " Cranberri-es."

Third premium, of -16, to T. C. Thurlow,of West Newbury,
for report on " Best Collection of Fruit."

For the Committee — Charles A. Sayward.

Ipswich, Dec. 9,1873.

ESSAYS.
rOEEIGN AGKICULTUEAL EXPEEIEXCES.

BY FRANCIS H, APPLETON.

It is now a rather late date to attempt to write an essay for
presentation to the Society's Committee, to be completed before
the required time, especially as my six months' absence from
home has made much business for me that calls for immediate
attention. Having, however, attended the Show of the York-
shire Agricultural Society of England, and the Show of the
Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, I want to give
some information about what I saw at them. I was only a
part of a day at the former, but was three days at the latter.
The former is the Society's Show of the largest county in
England, and the latter, while it is the leading Agricultural
Society of Scotland, is also a worthy rival of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society of England.

I left London one morning and reached Harrowgate, in
Yorkshire, the same afternoon, it being the 4th of August.
The following morning the Sliow opened at 9 o'clock, and I
was at the entrance early, where I found the fee equal to about
seventy cents. The following day the fee was about twenty-
eight cents. The first day at English shows is generally the
time that the judging takes place, so that, in order to avoid a
large crowd of people which would impede the judging, the fee

87

is then placed at a higher figure than afterwards. It is their
object, also, to have the prizes all awarded and every prize
animal and article distinctly labelled as soon as possible after
the entrance gates are opened to the public. At some English
shows that I attended, the judging was completed before the
public was admitted.

The judges are carefully selected men, and every thing that
is placed on exhibition is subject to the Societies' laws and
regulations, which are strictly enforced. These laws and
regulations have been carefully compiled and revised, and, as
they at present exist, are the result of many years of practical
application and experience.

To no country can we so well turn for instruction in the
management of our Agricultural Societies as to our mother
country, old England. I did not meet with a case where a
committee of judges was composed of more than three persons,
and they often consist of only two members.

No entries can be made with the Secretary of a Society after
a fixed day, at least several weeks before the Show takes place,
thus allowing the necessary provision to be properly made for
the exhibitors, the positions on the grounds to be definitely
assigned beforehand, and a complete catalogue of every animal
and article exhibited to be printed, containing a plan of the
grounds, showing the exact position of the various classes.
These catalogues are for sale during the Exhibitions, and as
soon as all the prizes have been awarded, a list of these also is
printed and sold. The former sold for about twenty-six cents,
and the latter for half that amount.

By the methods adopted in England and Scotland, the prizes
are so carefully awarded that inferior and unworthy animals,
etc., very seldom, if ever, find their way into the prize lists.

The officers of the Societies personally superintended the
carrying out of all the arrangements upon the Show ground,
assisted in expediting the duties of the judges by preventing
delays in bringing animals into the rings and in other ways,
saw that the prize cards were properly attached to the animals,
had order enforced when such was necessary, and made them-
selves generally useful in whatever ways were possible.

88.

Suitable offices were provided upon the grounds for the
Government of the Societies, judges and reporters. A refresh-
ment room was also there under the patronage of the Society,
but was in no way financially connected with the Society.

Yorkshire being a part of England where many hunters are
bred, this class of horses formed a large part of the exhibition,
and a magnificent lot of animals they were. A large ring,
about 280 feet long by 130 feet wide, with rounded corners,
was used for judging them, and there was also a smaller ring
with a swinging hurdle in its centre for testing their leaping
powers. There was also a third ring for judging cattle, about
150 feet long by 100 feet wide. Each of these rings had two
swinging gates at either end, one having " Entrance " and the
other " Exit " over it, in white letters on a black ground. The
former was conspicuous only from outside the rings, and the
latter was readily seen from the inside. All chances of con-
fusion were thus very much lessened. In the centre of the
judging rings were seats for the judges, and a signal board,
upon either side of which were posted the number of the class,
as shown in the catalogues, and the numbers of the animals
receiving the prizes ; the numbers were changed as each class
left the ring.

Each animal carried a white cardboard label, bearing its
catalogue number in black lettering, which was tied between
the horns of cattle and on the breast of the horses, as a means
of ready reference to the catalogue, where full descriptions of
all entries were given. The prizes are awarded and the rib-
bons attached to tlie animals by the judges before they are sent
from the rings.

On the last day of the Yorkshire Show, which lasted three
days, there was a parade of the Short-Horns at 10 A. M., and
at 10.30, a parade of all the horses, in the largest ring in front
of the grand stand. The several rings were enclosed by a
wooden fence, formed by driving three-inch by four-inch joist
into the ground, about ciglit feet apart, leaving about four feet
out of the ground, then nailing a similar piece of joist along
their tops. The cattle were in open sheds, twenty feet wide

89

and of the required length, divided in the centre by a partition,
which reached to their top and extended their whole lengthy
and on either side of this partition stalls, ten feet square, were
formed with boarded sides, about four and one-half feet high,
to hold one animal. These sheds were covered with canvas, as
were all the other buildings, except a few of the largest.

One cattle ring was sufficient, as it being the home-county of
the Short-Horns, the other breeds were represented by a very
small number of animals. In the same way among horses,
the hunters so largely predominated that one ring sufficed.

At the entrance several self-registering turn-styles were
placed, and each visitor was notified, by a conspicuous sign, to
enter through one or the other style according to the kind of
ticket that he possessed. This, besides being a precaution
against dishonesty, was also the means of readily recording
the number of visitors at the Show.

The agricultural implements, road-engines and other portable
steam engines, were the only articles not under cover, and
even some of these were provided with shelter ; all live stock
and other articles were in covered sheds. At the Yorkshire
Show a number of closed boxes were provided for horses, and
also a row of boxes with open fronts. All the horse boxes and
sheds were here arranged with the fence enclosing the grounds
for one side.

Let me now speak of the Highland and Agricultural Socie-
ty's Sliow, more particularly in those respects wherein it differs
from the Yorkshire. Much of what I have already said will
also apply to the former.

All horses, except brood mares with foal by their side, were
shown in stalls arranged with the heads towfirds the high feiice
which enclosed the Show grounds, and with a passage about
eight feet wide behind the animals, under the same cover;
this was a close shed, and the fact that there were two hundred
and ninety-seven horses entered for exhibition will give an
idea of the length of shed required. The boxes for the brood
mares were arranged in the line of stalls and were about the
width of two stalls and length of one, the fronts being formed

90

with movable wooden rails to the height of four and one-half
feet. Every day, except the first, there was a parade of all the
horses in the morning and also in the afternoon, commencing
respectively at 12 and 2.30 o'clock ; but the cattle were never
paraded. This may seem to many of my home readers a hard
thing to accomplish satisfactorily, knowing the number of horses
■exhibited, but each class being paraded separately though in
quick succession, and volunteers being ready to lead the
horses when necessary, who seemed to be stimulated to do
so by their interest for the success of the Show, every horse
was always present in tlie line looking his best.

The prize winners took the lead in their proper order of
merit and were distinguished by different colored ribbons,
every animal liaving his catalogue number attached to him in a
conspicuous place. This constituted the chief feature of in-
terest to the mass of the people, and took place in the large
ring in front of the grand stand, where an extra fee of about
twenty-six cents was charged for entrance.

Everything was arranged on the grounds according to their
classes, and every class was arranged according to the order in
which the entries were made with the Secretary. Thus full
justice could be done in the criticisms of visitors, and the
judges, knowing this facfand feeling that their reputation was
thus at stake, were necessarily most careful in making their
awards of prizes.

A military band played well selected music at fixed hours
during the Shows. To make an average statement, it may be
said that the grounds were opened to the public at 8.30 A. M.,
and closed at 6 P. M.

The complete catalogue of the Yorkshire Society contained
about one hundred pages, with some additional pages, the use
of which was sold for advertisements. It also contained a
good plan of the Show grounds and the programme for the
Show. It was a pamphlet measuring five and three-eighths
inches by eight and one-half inches. The Highland and Ag-
ricultural Society had one catalogue for live stock, containing
one hundred and four pages, and another for other entries of

91

seventy-two pages, each with no advertisements. Both of
these were the same size as the Yorkshire catalogue, and all
had good indexes.

The total number of live stock entries in the Highland and
Agricultural Society were : Cattle — Short-Horns, 83 ; Polled
Angus and Aberdeen, 68 ; Galloway, 40 ; Ayrshire, 126 ;
Highland, 47 ; Fat Stock, 38 ; extra cattle, 4 ; total, 406.
Horses — for agricultural purposes, 221 ; hunters and roadsters^
40 ; ponies, 27 ; extra horses, 9 ; total, 297. SheejD — Cheviot,
67 ; blackfaced, 55 ; Border Leicester, 67 ; long wooled other
than Leicester and Border Leicester, 35 ; Leicester, 15 ; South-
down, 9 ; Shropshire, 20 ; short wooled other than Southdown
and Shropshire, 3; extra sections, 4; extra sheep, 3; total,
278. Swine, (divided into two classes only, large and small
breeds,) about an equal number in each class, 61 ; extra swine,
1 ; total, 62. Poultry, 387. Summary, by heads, cattle, 406 ;
horses, 297 ; sheep, 582 ; swine, 96 ; poultry, 534 ; total, 1915.

The total number of entries, by heads, in the Yorkshire
Agricultural Society were : cattle, 106 ; sheep — Leicester, 78 :
Lincoln, 64; Shropshire, 33 : total sheep, 175. Pigs, twelve
months old and upwards, large breed, 7 ; small breed, 10 ;
black or Berkshire breed, 7 ; breeds not qualified to compete
in previous classes, to be judged in one class, 17 ; pigs, not
exceeding twelve months old, large breed, 11 ; small breed, 19 ;
black or Berkshire breed, 11 ; pen of three store pigs of any
breed from four to nine months old, 15 ; total pigs, 97.
Horses, 335. Blacksmiths, (competition for prizes), 23. To-
tal entries of live stock, as in catalogue, 736.

I feel that we can take many a good suggestion from the
facts I have given, and I hope my fellow countrymen and
others will peruse them and compare them with our needs at
home.

The English Societies have no located grounds, but have
always found it best to move from place to place each year.
Their grounds are fitted up by contract, and the boarding is
sold after the close of the exhibitions. The Smithfield Club
Fat Cattle Show in London is one of the very few that are

92

located. This, however, cannot be compared with our Agri-
cultural Society Shows. In English Shows animals have every
opportunity given by which all the useful powers of the animals
■exhibited for the Society's premiums can be displayed and
judged.

In order to give a good idea of the encouragements offered
fot the breeding of both beef and milch cattle in Great
Britain, I give the following summary of prizes, etc., offered
by the Yorkshire Society for Short-Horns, representing beef
cattle, and by the Highland and Agricultural Society for Ayr-
shires, representing milch cattle : — Short-Horns, class I., bulls
any age above three years old, best, 1140 ; second, |55 ; third,
$27 ; 9 animals entered, but 6 exhibited. Class II., bulls
abov€ two and not exceeding three years old, best, $112;
second, $55 ; third, $27 ; 5 entered, but 3 exhibited. Class
III., bulls above one and not exceeding two years old, best,
1112; second, $55; third, $27; 11 entered, but 9 exhibited.
Class IV., bull calves above five and not exceeding twelve
months old, best, $82 ; second, $55 ; third, $27 ; 16 entered,
but 11 exhibited. Class V., cows of any age above three
years old, in calf or milk, best $140 ; second, $55 ; third, $27 ;
8 entered, but 4 exhibited. Class VI., heifers not exceeding
three years old, in calf or milk, best, $112; second, $55;
third, $27 ; 13 entered, but 8 exliibited. Class VII., heifers
not exceeding two years old, best, $112 ; second, $55 ; third,
$27 ; 11 entered, but 6 exhibited. Class VIII., heifer calves,
above five and not exceeding twelve months old, best, $82;
second, $55 ; third, $27 ; 14 entered, but 13 exhibited. Total
amount of premiums, $1548 ; total animals entered, 87, and
total exhibited, 60 ; white rosettes attached to animals indi-
cated first prize, crimson second, and blue third.

Ayrshires — First prize, bulls at former shows — each animal
exhibited in this class receives a medium gold medal ; 2 en-
tered and 2 exhibited. Class I., bulls calved before first of
January, 1871, (this list was compiled for tlie Show of August,
1873), premiums, $112, $55, medium and minor silver medals,
(making four premiums) ; breeder of best bull, silver medal ;

93

9 entered and 9 exhibited. Class II., bulls calved after first
of January, 1871, premiums, $112, $d5, medium and minor
silver medals ; 16 entered, but 13 exhibited. Class III., bulls
calved after first of January, 1872, premiums, 855, $27, medi-
um and minor silver medals ; 18 entered, but 15 exhibited.
Class IV., cows in milk, of any age, (the animals in this class
which have not calved before the Show will be judged along
with cows, in calf, of any age), premiums, 882, -144, medium
and minor silver medals; 31 entered, but 20 exhibited. First
prize cows at former Shows, each animal exhibited in this class
receives a medium gold medal ; 3 entered and 3 exhibited.
Class v., cows in calf, of any age, or heifei^ in calf, calved
before first of January, 1871, (animals in this class which have
calved before the Show will be judged along with cows in milk),
premiums, $82, 44, medium and minor silver medals ; 14 en-
tered, but 12 exhibited. Class YI., heifers calved after first of
January, 1871, (animals in this class which have calved before the
Show will be judged along with cows in milk), premiums, $55,
827, medium and minor silver medals ; 18 entered, but 15
exhibited. Class YII., heifers calved after first of January,
1872, premiums, 844, 822, medium and minor silver medals ;
16 entered, but 15 exhibited. Total amount of premiums, $816,
medium gold, 7 medium silver, 7 minor silver and 1 silver
medals ; total animals entered, 126, and total exhibited, 103.

To show the encouragement offered for the breeding of
agricultural (which includes draft horses in general), and also
coach horses, I give the following. But my readers must
remember that in Great Britain the hunting horse being used
for purposes of exercise and pleasure, while in this and other
states the trotting horses are by far tlie most geiierally used for
purposes of pleasure, I can not well make a comparison by
giving a copy of the premiums oifered for hunters in Great
Britain. The premiums offered by the Highland and Agricultu-
ral Society of Scotland for agricultural horses are : —

First prize stallions at former Shows — each animal exhibited
in this class receives a medium gold medal ; 2 entered and 2
exhibited. Class I., stallions foaled before first of January,

94

1870, (this list was compiled for the Show of August, 1873),
premiums, $165, $82, medium and minor silver medals ; breed-
er of best stallion, silver medal ; 24 entered, but 19 exhibited.
Class II., entire colts foaled after first of January, 1870, pre-
miums, $110, $55, medium and minor silver medals; 36
entered, but 27 exhibited. Class III., entire colts foaled after
first of January, 1871, premiums, $82, $44, medium and
minor silver medals ; 41 entered, but 33 exhibited. Class IV.,
entire colts foaled after first of January, 1872, premiums, $55,
$27, medium and minor silver medals ; 22 entered, but 18
exhibited. Class Y., mares, (with foal at foot), foaled before
first of January, 1870, premiums, $110, $55, medium and
minor silver medals ; 19 entered, but 15 exhibited. First prize
mares at former Shows, exhibited for medium gold medal ; 1
entered and 1 exhibited. Class VI., mares (in foal) foaled
before first of January, 1870, premiums, $82, $44, medium and
minor silver medals; 15 entered, but 8 exhibited. Class VII.,
fillies foaled after first of January, 1870, premiums, $55, $27,
medium and minor silver medals ; 12 entered, but 9 exhibited.
Class VIII., fillies foaled after first of January, 1871, premiums,
$44, $18, medium and minor silver medals ; 21 entered, but 17
exhibited. Class IX., fillies foaled after first of January, 1872,
premiums, $33, $16, medium and minor silver medals ; 19
entered, but 12 exhibited. Class X., draught geldings foaled
after first of January, 1870, premiums, medium gold, silver,
medium and minor silver medals ; 5 entered and 5 exhibited.
Class XI., draught geldings foaled after first of January, 1871,
premiums, medium gold, silver, medium and minor silver
medals ; 4 entered, but 3 exhibited. Total amount of premi-
ums, $1084, medium gold, 1 silver, 11 medium silver and 11
minor silver medals ; total animals entered, 221, and total
exhibited, 169.

The premiums offered by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society
for coach horses are: Class I., coacliing stallions, $55, $27 ;
10 entered, but 9 exhibited. Class II., two year old geldings,
$55, $27 ; 8 entered and 8 exhibited. Class III., two year old
fillies, $38, $16 ; 4 entered, but 3 exhibited. Class lY., three

95

year old geldings, $82, $27; 12 entered, but 11 exhibited.
Class v., three year old fillies, $55, $27; 4 entered and 4
exhibited. Total amount of premiums, $327 ; total animals
entered, 28, and total exhibited, 26.

While making a short but most interesting visit to a Hun-
garian acquaintance, I was shown, among other things, a way
of curing fodder-corn that I know must be new to most of my
readers, and wishing to make it known to them I had intended
to write of it now. My Hungarian friend has, however, adopt-
ed my suggestion and has himself written a description of it
for the " American Agriculturist," which I copy. The fodder
is cut for use in a manner similar to that in which hay is cut
from a stack.

" Sour-Fodder Making. The curing of various kinds of
green fodder into sour hay is perhaps in the United States a not
commonly practiced manipulation, especially the souring of
green corn, which should be practiced with more effect on the
farms of the United States of America. The making of dry
hay of green is an injurious manner of curing it. Although
the writer of this is not acquainted with American farming,
except by reading the American Agriculturist, nevertheless I
communicate a method of preservation of juicy fodder, pecu-
liarly important for corn-producing America.

" The corn is sown broadcast, or drilled- in rows nine to
eighteen inches apart, two mezins to one Austrian toch, (or
about 3.3 hectolitre to one hectare.) [This is nearly three and
one-half bushels to the acre.] The cultivation remains the
same ; the field must be kept free from weeds. At blossom
time the corn is mown, loaded into wagons, and hauled in.
The home-brought corn is put in large ditches, (German,
Grube Miethe,) ten or twenty rods long, and is here pressed in
by a few men walking on the green corn. The accompanying
engraving will explain the whole. The ditch is twelve feet
deep, twelve feet wide at the top, and six feet at the bottom.
The length will need to be sufficient to contain the fodder to
be preserved. The ditch must be dug in dry ground. When
the ditch is filled, the green corn is built like a stack upwards,

96

about ten feet over the level of the ground, as shown in the
engraving. The finished stack is then covered with earth
about two feet thick on every side. It is best to cover the top
of the stack at first, because the weight of the earth pressing-
down the green corn, as much earth is not needed for covering
as is the case when the sides are covered at first.

" This sour-hay mak-
ing enables us to store a
large quantity of juicy
fodder for the winter,
and if well covered with
earth it may be stored
for a few years without
any injury. The most
important of all is, the
beasts being once ac-
quainted with this sour
hay like it very much.
With us (in Hungary)
DITCH FOR THE CORN. tlic sour hay is cut and

mixed with corn-meal, or some other ground grain, and given
to the cattle, but the sour hay may be fed uncut also.

" In sections where stones and bricks are to be obtained
chiefly, the sides of the ditch may be walled, but it is not
necessary.

" I should be very glad if these lines would serve to encour-
age the sour-hay making of corn by the American farmers."
— American Agriculturist for October, 1873. G. C.

Albrchtsfeld, Hungary.

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS ON MANAGING THE FAEM.

BY CHARLES J. TEABODY.

How can a young man with a small farm and but little money
make more than it costs to live ? A difficult question to

97

answer, as not only have the situation and soil of the farm to
be considered, but the disposition of the owner also.

I purpose at this time to discuss what can be done by
farmers having from fifty to eighty acres of good land, in the
central or western part of the County. A fair valuation of such
land in my neighborhood is $40 per acre for pasture land, and
$75 to $125 for fielding, and I suppose about the same in other
sections of the county.

To this discussion I come with but a limited experience ;
and, though I have given much thought to the subject, as every
one must to his constant employment, the conclusions to which
I have come are doubtless somewhat imperfect, as time enough
has not elapsed to thoroughly test them in the field. And many
men have found that if all that can be done on paper could be
made equally satisfactory and profitable on the farm, we should
not need to pursue the subject of this essay any further, since
by availing ourselves of a few books we could all be wealthy and
wise.

I have no plan to offer which is original with myself, for I
believe the best chance of success is found in looking into the
methods of those who have been prosperous, and copying the
best points of their systems into our practice.

In doing this care must be used that the changes attempted
are not on so large a scale as to embarrass one, if any unex-
pected circumstance should prevent its being as profitable as
was expected. This is especially true of new crops, as
frequently the experience of several summers is needed to
enable one to grow them at a profit.

The great dilficulty in our farming operations is the scarcity
of good help. I put it on the basis of scarcity, not cost, of
labor, as is frequently done ; for I think the relative wages of
farm laborers to-day are no higher, when compared with the
prices of farm produce, than they were when good men re-
ceived fifteen dollars per month for the season of six or eight
months, and extra help could be had in haying for half the
present price. A partial remedy for this is found in the use
of horse labor for many operations which were once done bj

hand. Nor is the use of the horse confined to the hay-field,
but every year it is found that some new work can be done as
well by horse as by man power.

For instance, many men who raise large crops of potatoes
cover them with a light plow drawn by a single horse, thus
doing the work rapidly and well. I find that even on heavy
land this method works well, if a little care is taken to go over
the ground and level the top of the furrow, where lumps of
earth or stones rest upon it.

It will be seen that if a change of this kind can be made,
and this branch of work quickly disposed of, attention can be
given to other work and thus a start obtained on the season's
work, that will be appreciated as the weeks pass. Another
point on which opinion is changing is in regard to the amount
of land it is best to plant ; the old custom of many acres and
medium crops is giving way to the system of Europe, and con-
forming to the practice of the gardeners near our cities, which
is to put on to one acre all the manure and labor the old way
gave to four, and getting a crop equal to the larger lot.

The old story of the man who left his sons a treasure buried
in a field, which they were to find by digging, will apply to
Essex County as well as elsewhere. Some recent writer has
said that most men reckon only the superficial area of their
farms, as if tliey had a title to but a few inches in depth, for-
getting that often a soil may be made much more productive
by cultivating below the level at which it has usually been
worked.

The author of " My Summer in a Garden " says he derived
great pleasure in thinking that though he had but a small piece
of land on the surface of the earth, yet he owned clear through
to China. Even if we do not care to go in quite so deep as he
did, we may with advantage work deeper than many of us
have been in the habit of doing.

I find that so fully are some of our best nursery-men con-
vinced of benefit resulting from deep culture, that they take
pains to trench the soil of the beds in which they grow their
sample plants and shrubs to a depth of two feet, claiming that

99

the extra expense of cultivating the ground is more than
repaid by the increased vigor of the plants. The experience of
our onion growers points in the same direction, as tliey find
that the more thoroughly the soil is prepared the more profit-
able is the crop ; and the best results are not obtained till years
of careful culture have been given to a field.

It may now be considered as proved that one acre well
worked is more profitable, as well as more enjoyable, than two
half cared for ; therefore let us strive in friendly rivalry to see
who shall have, not the most acres, but the best. Here is
another consideration in favor of small farms, the taxes are
less, and while we may double the value of our land by high
farming, we do not have to pay for it as we should if we
increased the number of acres.

From the cultivation of the soil we pass easily to the consid-
eration of the team with which we cultivate. Whether for
this oxen or horses are best must depend largely on the
character of the soil and also to what use the animals can be
put when not at work on the farm. For my own use I prefer
oxea, because, although slow compared with horses, they are
sure and much less expensive both in first cost and also in
maintenance, while if disabled by accident the loss is slight
{as they are of value for beef) to what the loss of a horse is
«nder similar circumstances. They are also more easily ob-
tained when extra team is wanted for a short time, and may
often be fattened and sold at a good profit when the work is
■done, while horses are hard to dispose of as well as to obtain.

Many persons would be surprised at an attempt to educate
oxen beyond the point of making them understand the mean-
ing of the words employed to direct their movements. I have
satisfied myself that they can learn much more than this, and
that time spent in training a yoke of oxen that one intends to
keep for a length of time is well employed, as the intelligent
labor of an animal, as of a man, gives the best results.

In view of the advantages resulting in many instances from
underdraining, it is well for us to inquire if we may not with
profit do something by this process to make the wet lands of

100

our farms more productive. If we have not the capital to make
extensive and thorough work with tiles, most of us can make a
beginning with the small stones that have accumulated during
past years ; for these will make a good drain if la'id with care.

There are those who say that on springy land it will pay to
drain the whole farm. 1 think, however, it is not proved as
yet, that for common farming the return would exceed the
outlay. We are, however, likely to learn from the experiments
of the gentlemen who, with ample resources, combined with a
love for farming, are working out for us in Ipswich, Hamilton
and West Peabody, not to mention other places in the county,
so many valuable results in this matter of draining, and also
in the application of commercial fertilizers and home-made
composts, giving us from year to year the conclusions and the
data from which they are drawn, thus aiding us, who are unabh
to enter the field of costly expenditure, to determine what will
pay. It is a common custom to sneer at the fancy farming of
such men. I think we are under obligation to them for the
introduction of fine stock, new crops and the experiments to
which I have referred.

How much of interest is added to our annual shows by the
choice animals of these wealthy farmers. Even if we do not
care or can not afford to own such ourselves, yet we enjoy
looking at them and judging of their adaptability to our use by
the record they make.

As an illustration of the benefit conferred by this class of
farmers in past years upon their neiglibors of more limited
means, I would cite the introduction of Jersey stock. Nearly
every one admits that for dairy purposes they are unequalled,
and 1 find that a grade Jersey will sell for more money than a
common cow. It is also much in their favor that for common
use, with ordinary care and keeping, the grades are better than
the thorough-breds.

For this improvement in our stock we are indebted to fancy
farmers. Who else would have incurred the expense of im-
porting cattle, and on their arrival oflered such facilities for
the diffusion of the blood among the herds of their vicinity ?

101

We will now endeavor to suggest some characteristics of the
man wlio will be likely to prosper in his business, as they are
shown in tlie records of old time and set forth in the writings
of those who, from their position, are always listened to with
regard ; and endeavor to combine these with such facts as I
have been able to gather from the men who are good farmers
around me, and from my own experience.

I find the difficulty we experience in Essex County to-day of
getting active men to work for us is not new, and the principle
that to be fit to rule farms or cattle men must be smart, is as
old as the time of Pharaoh, who said to Joseph, if thou
knowest any men of activity among thy brethren make them
rulers over my cattle. The garden of the slothful man, with
the condition of its crops, is also on record somewhat further
along in the same book. I think this activity to give the best
results should be continued through the winter, by doing some
outside wor-k, such as teaming wood or timber, or almost any
job that offers employment and pay for time that cannot be
well used at home.

This should not be pushed to an extreme, for to be wise in
the development of one's powers some time in the winter must
be spent over books and with friends, or else the usefulness of
the man will be little more extensive than the area of his farm.

Another point to be regarded is the value of time in the
busy seasons of the year. We all find that work drives if the
spring is late, and hoeing and haying come together; when
this happens, we must make the best of it and make every
hour tell on the work. Something may be done in preparation
for the season of hurry by having tools in order, all farm ma-
chinery made ready in advance, so that when the rush comes
on we can start the mower without spending hours in getting
it into running order. In furtherance of this design, it will
pay to keep all small tools in particular places, and after using
them put them where they belong.

A little care expended at night in looking over the tools
used during the day, in cleaning plows, and hanging up chains
and harness, so that in the morning, (which according to the

102

proverb has gold in its mouth,) no time shall be lost, is the
best way, I have found, to keep tilings square, " with the work
right up to the season's front" from day to day.

There yet remains a subject which, if not so important in a
pecuniary aspect as some we have considered, is still quite as
likely to affect the farmer's reputation among those who are
not particularly familiar with farming, as any we have dis-
cussed. I refer to keeping the premises, and particularly the
door-yard, neat and trim. On most farms there is no necessity
for having a brush-pile in front of the house, nor all the old
carts and sleds assembled as if they were tlie chief attraction
of the homestead. Such things we see more often than is to
the credit of our fraternity. If we must clutter, let us keep it
out of sight as much as possible, for both strangers and thrifty
farmers will mark us down in the scale if we are negligent in
this regard.

In closing this article, if I were asked to write down the
secret of profitable farming, I should like to call your attention
to the sentiment expressed by Steele, in a letter to the Spec-
tator, under date of Jan. 23, 1712, which is as follows : — " He
who promises himself anything but what may naturally arise
from his own property or labor and goes beyond the desire of
possessing above two parts in three even of tliat, lays up for
himself an increasing heap of afflictions and disappointments."
How significant these words to-day, in this panic of those who
make haste to be rich by speculation and fraud.

Since to our labor we look, we must be active, must know
that time is precious, and learn to be quick, for there are so
many duties to attend to that, with all the machinery of mod-
ern farming, we shall fail to realize the benefit of the statement
that " much increase is by the strength of the ox," unless we
apply that executive ability to all departments of our work,
which has ever characterized those whose success has made
them famous in any of the industrial pursuits of the world.

The counsel which Dickens puts into the mouth of one of his
wise old men, who is advising a nephew about to start in life,
is worthy the careful study of all young men. He says : —

103

" The world is before you, as you enter it so will it receive you ;
if you had the abilities of all the great men past and present,
you could do nothing well without sincerely meaning it and
setting about it. If you entertain ihe supposition that any
real success in great things or in small ever was or could be,
ever will or can be wrested from Fortune by fits and starts,
leave that wrong idea here."

The man who wants ,a leisure life had better keep out of
farming in all its branches ; but the man who believes " that
his own right arm shall make him king," not king over men in
the sense in which the words were written, but king over diffi-
culties and obstacles in his path ; the man who knows something
of the feeling of the Scotch poet who " walked in glory and in
joy behind his plow along the mountain side ;" the man who
has the skill and patience to make two blades of grass grow
where one grew before; to him we say, " All hail." Welcome
the day when by the efforts of such men the care of our farms
shall be considered as honorable and as worthy the best efforts
of the best men as the care of banks or the affairs of commerce.

FAEM ACCOUNTS.

BY FRANCIS H. APPLETON.

In presenting these accompanying farm accounts, it will be
necessary to preface them with a few explanations. I present
them, hoping that they will be the means of drawing forth
comments from practical farmers and others, and if they shall
do only a very small part towards advancing scientific investi-
gations in agriculture, I shall be much pleased. I would say
to the farmers that every agricultural truth, and by that I
mean any information that is not based upon guessing, (which
unfortunately is the way too many farmers base their informa-
tion,) that they can give to the public through the agricultural
or other papers, will help greatly in establishing agriculture as
a science.

104

My accounts are presented in a form that I, at the present
time, believe will make most of them explain themselves.

Not having been able to keep such a record as would enable
me to ascertain the exact amount of labor, and use of horses
or oxen, expended upon each crop, and thus determine what I
ought to charge to each crop, etc., for it, 1 have estimated
these amounts, having consulted the most reliable sources of
information on that subject within my. reach.

Knowing, however, that, on different kinds of soil, and with
the cost of labor varying in different localities, money figures
that might be true in one community would not be true in
another, I expect that my estimates in this respect will not
seem correct to every one. In charging the labor to the Live
Stock account, I have included the labor consumed in deliver-
ing the manure upon the fields, and have credited the Live
Stock with all the manure hauled from barn-cellar at about $10
per cord. You will notice that my stock consume much grain,
which increases the fertilizing power of their manure.

In estimating the amount to charge for use of implements, I
have ascertained the cost of repairs, and their depreciation in
value during the year, and have apportioned it among the
different crops, etc., according to the amount of land occupied
by each crop.

I charge all the manure applied to a piece of land to the
next succeeding crop, making no allowance for that part of the
manure which is not consumed by that crop. My reasons are
that, although we can ascertain with much accuracy either by
an analysis of the crop after it is harvested, or by reference to
tables containing averages of many analyses of various crops,
(see appendix to " How Crops Grow," by S. W. Johnson, M.
A.,) how much manure is taken up by any crop, and thereby
know how much of the manure is left unaccounted for, we can
not tell how much of this manure that is left unaccounted for
will be available for future crops, and how much will be lost by
leaching, or other causes.

I therefore seed down to grass after the condition of the land
has been improved by cultivated crops, or otherwise, and let

105

the profit and loss account show the true profit or loss on the
farm, in addition to the value of the labor, wear and tear of
implements, etc., that has been expended on the supposed
improvements of the farm, with the intention of letting a
future year prove whether such supposed improvement was
real or imaginary. I shotild also add that one source of profit
is not shown in my accounts, namely, the pleasure and health-
ful exercise derived from life in the country.

Successful farming depends on so many things, with our
present system of farming, that its profits or losses cannot be
ascertained in a single year. The weather of one year may be
such that either the profits are made small or a loss sustained,
and the next year may be so successful that the case is changed,
and the profits be such, perchance, as to more than make up
for the losses of a previous year.

It is often the case on some farms that the true profit and
loss is ascertained only by casting the balance from the
accounts of several years at once.

Sometimes a tract of land is bought with the intention of
making it a residence for the owner, or with the expectation
that it will come into the market at a future day for house lots,
and it is farmed to help pay the interest and taxes on it, the
price paid being high, and the profits, if looked for as in the
latter case I mention, expected to be returned at some future
day.

Thus the profit and loss account must be kept open, some-
times for a long period of years, until the land has been all
sold, to show the true profit on the investment.

No profit can be derived from farming on poor land, and
hence the cause of emigration from the East to the West to
obtain the fertile land at small cost ; and thus we see the need
of scientific agriculture in the East which shall show what
system we must adopt to improve our unproductive lands and
make them capable of doing all that is possible towards sup-
plying our wants, and we ourselves must do all we can in this
way to keep at home those who have grown up and been
educated in the East and for whose education our citizens have

14

106

been taxed, that we may derive some benefit from their learn-
ing, I am convinced that the only way for the farmer to find
out whether he is gaining or losing is to keep accounts similar
to those which I present. If his accounts show him that he is
losing, let him carefully and quickly consider what is the cause
of his loss, and when he has found* it out let him strive to
remedy it. It may be traced, among other things, to misap-
plied labor or manure, or to the poor condition of the land.

To refer to my grain account, you will notice that the average
cost of my oats used during the year was about 60 4-10 cents
per bushel ; of my Indian meal used was nearly 75 1-2 cents
per bushel ; of my shorts was $32.30 per ton.

My manure account, which shows what manure I have bought,
tells you that I have used several kinds of commercial fertilizers,
but as to their power I should be unwilling to give advice, as
the weather of last year was such that everything either showed
remarkably good growth, or was injured by the wet season, so
as to conceal any noticeable effect of the fertilizers applied.
Another year I hope my experience will be more satisfactory
in this respect.

I should generally use less Nitrate of Soda, and larger
quantities of more lasting sources of Nitrogen ; using the
former, which is very soluble, quick acting and soon used up,
when Nitrogen is wanted as a stimulant.

The Phosphatic Blood Guano is a refuse of slaughter houses
in a more condensed form, and bears the test of chemical anal-
ysis well, which shows that it contains much useful fertilizing
power.

All the fertilizers that I have named or bought can be ob-
tained in Boston. Muriate of Potash is a good source of
Potash when it cannot elsewhere be obtained on more reasonable
terms.

The market value of commercial fertilizers varies somewhat,
but if we know the constituent parts of them, the price will
guide us as to which fertilizer to select, where two or more
would answer a purpose equally well.

I give below a list of my animals and the number of days

107

they have been in my barn dnring the past year, which includes
all my stock, except three boarding horses, of which I cannot
tell the number of days that they were in my barn. I also
give the number of pounds of milk sold from each cow, with
the approximate age of each of my Ayrshires, and the number
of days that they suckled their calves. I have made no account
of several calves that were killed immediately after birth,
which I was unable or did not wish to raise. By referring to
the last column you can ascertain what my stock consisted of,
Jan. 1, 1873.

<D _ .

i4

-*-? m CO

Names.

Approxima
age in year
Jan. 1, 187:

PI

3 .

'So

O

Remarks,

Bull "Lord Avondale,"

2

?66

Cow " Maud,"

9

366

8582i

3

" "Lily Dale,"

4

366

8984A

" " Rose Douglas,"

4

37

543

" " Effie Douglas,"

3

37

739

" "Lassie,"

4

366

5591

3

Heifer " Lady Essex,"

2

366

663

43

" " Peabody Belle,"

1

366

Bull-calf "Charles,"

1-6

96

" "Corporal,"

1-3

157

" "Harry,"

1

120

Sold.

Grade Cow, (3-4 Ayrshire,)

298
366

6913

76011

U It

340

6980

u u

310

68351

tl u

344

6886

Sold.

1 pair Horses,

366

1 " Oxen,

55

Sold.

M

46

6 fattening Pigs,

120

Sold.

5

244

60,318

I give below the total yield of most of my cows for the
whole year 1872, which I have been able to do with much
accuracy : —

Maud, 8,582 1-4 lbs. ; Lily Dale, 8,984 2-4 ; Lassie, 5,591 ;
Grade Cow, (3-4 Ayrshire,) 9,530 ; Grade Cow, 7,601 1-2 ;
Grade Cow, 7,592; Grade Cow, 8,179 3-4; Grade Cow,
7,293 1-4.

108

LAND.

Dr.

1873. Jan. 1. To value of land $563153

land bought 1503 50.

interest and taxes 444 90

S7569 93
1873. Jan. 1. To value 163 acres land 7135 03

Cb.

1873. By crops raised for interest and tax on land , $331 37

1873. Jan. 1. value of land 7125 03

Profit and Loss, for loss of interest 213 .53

$7569 93

BUILDINGS.

Dr.

1873. Jan. 1. To value of buildings $9000 00

carpentering, etc 314 19

Labor on buildings 20 00

Live Stock, for use of horses 5 00

Implements, for use of 3 00

interest and taxes 599 50

$9941 69

1873. Jan. 1. To value of buildings 9320 00

Cr.

1873. By Live Stock, for interest and taxes on bam, etc $333 06

Labor for interest and taxes on house and shed 266 44

1873. Jan. 1. value of buildings 53.20 00

Profit and loss, for repairs , 22 19

IMPLEMENTS.

Dr.

1873. Jan. 1. To value of Implements $1035 80

repairs and new stock 341 00

$1376 30
1873. Jan. 1. To value of implements 1215 08

Cr.

1873. By loan of hay wagon $1 00

crops raised, highways and buildings for use of im-
plements 151 44

1873. Jan. 1. value of implements 1315 08

Profit and loss 8 78

$1376 30

.109

LIVE STOCK.

Dr.

1872. Jar. 1. To value of Live Stock $1785 00

Live Stock bouglit 1148 00

interest and taxes 144 51

Hay and Pasture, for 54,217 lbs. English hay

and clover 114(3 33

13,771 lbs. Meadow Hay 137 71

5000 lbs. Salt Hay G2 CO

2000 lbs. Weeds and Straw 5 00

Use of Pasture 100 00 145154

Buildings for interest and taxes 333 06

Ruta Bagas, ifil'J lbs 10 65

Winter Rye, fed green CO 00

Root Crop, for 1440 lbs. Mangolds 46 1)4

23,100 lbs. Carrots 132 42 179 30

Fodder Corn, for 4000 lbs. cured -0 CO

1 acre fed green 23 97 43 97

Grain, for 513 bushels Indian Meal 380 64

369 bushels Oats 222 95

15,037 lbs. Shorts 242 91

600 lbs. Linseed Meal 16 CO 869 00

Expenses 1~0 32

Labor COO 00

66744 41
1873. Jan. L To value of Live Stock •. 2628 00

Cr.

1872. By 60,318 lbs. Milk 61384 73

crops raised for manure 175 08

crops raised, for highways and buildings, for use horses 182 85

Live Stock sold 474 25

boarding Horses 80 CO

value of Live Stock 2628 00

Profit and Loss 1819 50

86744 41

HAY AND PASTURE.

1872. Jan. 1. To 1800 lbs. English hay and clov(

" " 5000 lbs. Salt Hay

" " 2C00 lbs. Weeds and Straw. .. . .

seed

35,917 lbs. Englisli Hay

Amount carrietl far ward

Dr.

§270 00

62 CO

5 CO

61 09

628 83

$1027 42

no

Amount brvu'jht Jbnviiril ?;1027 4'^

S7T1 lbs. Meadow Hay 87 71

seed 18 15

Manure for 30(5 lbs. Peruvian Guano 12 83

500 lb?. Nitrate Soda ;.2 18

200 lbs. Bone Black 3 G3

1000 lbs. Ground Bone "0 75 C9 3J

salt 1 50

Labor £00 00

Live Stock, for use of horses 50 00

Implements, for use of tO 00

Land, for interest 1()3 03

taxes on hay land 15 33 178 30

Profit and Loss 1089 09

§2771 Gl

1873. Jan. 1. To value of crop, etc 13::0 07

Cr.

1872. By Live Stock §1451 51

1873. Jan. 1. By value of crop, etc.,— 1500 lbs. 1871,— hay crop 22 50

81,320 lbs. English hay and clover 1219 80

8000 lbs. Meadow Hay 30 00

27 lbs. Red Clover seed 3 24

16 lbs. White Clover seed 8 00

10 lbs. Alsike Clover seed 5 03

2J bush. Timothy seed 14 53

8^ bush. Red Top seed 17 00 1320 07

SiTTl 01
RUT A BAG A.

Dl?.

1872. Jan. 1. To SGOO lbs Slo 43

Gced

Manure

Live Stock for manure

Use Horses

Labor

Implements, for use of

Land, for taxes and interest

1873. Jan. 1. To value of crop.

1872. By Live Stock

1873. Jan. 1. value of crop, 3056 lbs.

Profit and Loss*

SO

5 82

9 03

1 76

9 16

1 22

74

§43 51

12 69

Cr.

19 65

12 69

11 17

§43 51

* Including value of manure left in land by crop of 1S72.

Ill

WINTER RYE.

Dr.

1873. To Manure $70 00

Labor 8 00

Implements, for use of 5 83

Land, for taxes and interest 6 00

1873. By 9 bush. Rye.

Live Stock. .

Profit and Loss*.

ROOT CROP.

1873. Jan. 1. To 1440 lbs. Mangolds

18,865 lbs. Carrots

seed

Manure

Labor

Live Stock, for use horses

Implements, for use of

Land, for taxes and interest. .
Profit and Loss

$89 83

Cr.

$9 00

.50 00

30 83

$89 83

Dr.

$46 94

106 37

5 90

96 67

83 00

15 00

9 31

3 98

2 56

$367 63
i873. Jan. 1. To value of crops, etc 188 37

Cr.

1873. By Live Stock $179 36

1873. Jan. 1. value of crop*+, 31,581 lbs. Mangolds 89 57

15,400 lbs. Carrots 93 40

use horses, crop 1873 3 00

use implements, crop 1873 1 30

labor, crop 1873 3 00 188 37

$367 63
* Carrot crop rotted badly.
t Not including value of manure left in land by previous crops.

FODDER CORN.

Dr.

1873. Jan. L To 3000 lbs $15 00

seed

Manure

Labor

Live Stock, for use horses

Implements, for use of

Land, for interest and taxes

• Including value of manure left in land by crop of 1872.

10 00

86 04

35 80

8 00

8 13

3 74

112

1873. Jan. 1. To value of crop .26 70

Cr.

1873. By Live Stock $43 97

1873. Jan. 1. value of crop, 5340 lbs 20 70

Profit and Loss* 86 04

$156 71
ONION.

Dr.

1872. To Manure $120 61

Bbls. and seed 32 00

Live Stock, for manure for crop 1873 90 00

Live Stock, for use of horses 15 00

Labor 95 00

Implements, for use of • ' • • 10 91

Land, for interest and taxes 2 99

$366 51

1873. Jan. 1. To value crop, etc 122 11

Cr.

1872. By crop sold $168 91

1873. Jan. 1. value crop, etc., 5086 lbs. Ruta Bagas 21 11

manure hauled for crop 1S73 90 00

use horses, crop '73 3 00

use implements, crop '73 3 00

labor, crop '73 5 00 122 11

Profit and Losst 75 49

$366 51
POTATO.

Dr.

1872. To Manure $313 33

bbls., seed, etc 65 12

Labor 8124

Live Stock, for use horses 28 09

Implements, for use of 31 79

Land, for taxes and interest 13 34

$533 90

1873. Jan. 1. To expenses for crop '73 13 70

Cr.

1872. By crop sold $278 90

expenses for crop '73 :

labor 4 00

use horses 6 00

use implements 2 70 12 70

Profit and Losst§ 241 30

$533 90
* Including value of manure left in land by crop of 1S72.
t Inchuliiig value oi' manure left in land by pievious crops.
t Including value of manure left in land by crop of 1872.
§ Crop rotted badly.

113

HUNGARIAN GRASS.

Dr.

IS'ra. To 3 bushels seed $8 65

Live Stock, for manure 60 00

use horses 10 00

Labor 6 00

Implements, for use of 6 91

Land, for taxes and interest 2 99

$94 55
1873. Jan. 1. To value of crop, etc 60 93

Cr.

1873. Jan. 1. By value crop, 6000 lbs 54 00

11-5 bushels seed 6 93 60 92

Profit and LossJ 33 63

$94 55

FOREMAN'S GARDEN.

Dr.

1873. Jan. 1. To Manure $7 50

Live Stock, for manure 16 00

for use horses 6 00 23 00

Implements, for use of 4 45

Land, for interest and taxes 1 49

$35 44
1873. Jan. L To value of Turnips 6 23

Cr.

1873. Jan. 1. By value or 1500 lbs. Turnips $6 23

Labor 29 21

$35 44

FIELD, NO. 3.

Dr.

1873. To Manure $44 16

Labor 35 00

Live Stock, use of horses and oxen 20 00

Implements, for use of 15 00

Land, for interest and taxes 18 74

$132 90
1873. Jan. 1. By value of labor, manure, etc 132 90

Cr.

1873. Jan. 1. To value labor, manure, etc $132 90

$132 90
I Including value of manure left in land by crop of 1872.
15

114

HIGHWAYS.

Dr.

1872. ToLabor S42 00

Live Stock, for use of horses and oxen 24 00

Implements, for use of 9 00

§75 00

Cr.

1873. By Profit and Loss §75 00

§75 00

LABOR.

Dr.

1873. To casli paid §1893 00

Foreman's Garden 29 21

BuUdings 266 44

§2187 65

Cr.

1873. By crops raised, Highways, Buildings, and Live Stock.. . $1204 20
Profit and Loss 983 45

$2187 65

GRAIN.

Dr.

1873. Jan. L To 19 bushels oats §1125

4 bushels Indian meal 3 50

600 lbs. linseed meal 16 50

410 bushels oats 244 70

550 bushels Indian meal 414 93

15,537 lbs. shorts 250 41

$941 28
1873. To value of grain in barn 73 38

Cr.

1872. By Live Stock $869 00

1873. Jan. 1. By value of grain in barn :

41 bushels Indian meal 31 78

60 bushels oats 33 00

.500 lbs. shorts 7 50 72 28

$941 28

MANURE.

Dr.

1872. Jan. 1. To manure on hand $624 00

" " 2000 lbs. Muriate of Potash 69 10

" " 12 casks lime 10 20

506 lbs. Peruvian Guano 21 19

884 lbs. Nitrate of Soda 39 21

1000 lbs. Phosphatic Blood Guano 56 06

16.50 lbs. Bone Black 21 81

1000 lbs. Ground Bone 30 75

$878 33

115

1873. Jan. 1. To value of fertilizers in barn 64 83

Cr.

1872. By Hay and Pasture $69 38

Rata Baga 5 82

Winter Rye TO 00

RootCrop 96 67

Fodder Corn 86 04

Onion 120 61

Potato 313 32

Foreman's Garden 7 50

Field No. 3 44 16

1873. Jan. 1. value of fertilizers in bam, 200 lbs. Peruvian

Guano 8 37

1000 lbs. Muriate of Potash 34 55

84 lbs. Nitrate of Soda 3 72

1450 lbs. Bone Black 18 18 64 83

$878 32

INSURANCE.

Dr.

1872. Jan. 1. To cost of insurance on buildings and hay $95 90

insurance of hay 15 00

PROFIT AND LOSS.

Dr.

1872. To Land, for loss of interest $213 53

Buildings, for repairs 23 19

Implements* 8 78

Live Stock 1819 50

Ruta Baga* 11 17

Winter Rye* 30 82

Fodder Com* 86 04

Onion* 75 49

Potato* 241 30

Hungarian Grass* 33 63

Highways 75 00

Labort 983 45

$2600 90

1873. Jan.L To balance! . 2509 25

Cr.

1872. By hay and pasture $1089 09

1873. Jan. 1. RootCrop 3 56

By balance! 2509 25

$3600 90
* Including value of manure left in land by previous crops,
t Labor employed in all improvements, clearing land, thinning woodland, etc.
t Including value of all improvements on farm during 1872, and value of manure left
La land by previous crops, etc.

116

o

w

1— I

01 Tfl

0) "H

H "5 02 "S 2

M m

o S

o g

5 fi

a =s

O t- « O

CO o o o

CC CO -"tl ■*

. os :

S o •
C t»i I-

o

§ 2 ''^ •

rt . ^ O

■ CO

o

s '-5 '^ ^•■
m

CO OJ ^

rfi O

a CO m"

^ CO ^

^ S -^

0^ 'So +j

> -^ a

I - g

H -< -31

C5

P
CO

O

W

T-l tH CO rd

CD tu

o O

s

,2 •

_o

a :

o

a, .

'^ :

o

K :

to

a

pq •'

N

O

^ •

a :

w

c .

u .

Vh .

O)

a :

^ a S '

^ m Q

H H H

O 3

P

o ^

c5 5 '

3 f".ti

oo eocooo ooo

oo t-oooo ooo

c3

•- 3 .£:

a.* O o

c S o

^ a

rt

i> CO W C>? CO

CO O Oi GO O

r-l O iO

0500^

c a -d

3 S^co;g^o

CO Iz;

r3

pa -

Ef^ >

g<^ c >-

<) to c
to d

^ - .2

3 2 5*=^ =

c c o

H - H H

o o o o
H Eh H H

a o-

s oS -s g

H H

g?^

S5 ;z;

5C .1-1

'^^ (2 >,
<^ 22 a

117

pi^

ft

5

<H

o

O

'rf

;5

-a
n

§

s

-(-»

p-

ki ^ ta^

ai

icH

CI

<u

p-

J

be

fit"©

j^-giQoi~-o?o©oioooo

lO lO O "* '* o

Q O i-H ^

rOOJiX^-COOrHCJGOCOOOO

IC -*< CO lO 00 C5 Ol

'S «^

C5 01 T-H Ol O i> CO
i-H rH T-H r-( 0} r-t

s a

CO

o

l-(

0-1

T-H

m

o

CD

lO

CO

-+I

CO

CO 05 H

a m

cj

rS

rt

n

OD

H

»J

«J

OJ

^

"3

^

■^

c3

f-l

cS

m

m

W

5

"3

a

m

o

o

— '

CS >■ o CS

r s a ©■

■ o o

O ^ 5 2

g ^ a j5 _o

t; cj cS .13 OJ D S
fe ;? ^ Pn g g <J

^ ^ ^ .^3 ^ ^ ^

(» O) O q;

a 'd !-.

i^ a H

02 PQ S
o — ^

a

J3 J ^ J=

to CO QD QD

W »« lO »c

3 X

a> .d

tC IE

no «1 rf

S W O

-?. w

a w ;?;

118

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY

FOR IBT-S-y^.

PRESIDENT.

WILLIAM SUTTON, of Peabody.

VICE PRESIDENTS.

GEORGE B. LORING, of Salem.
JOSHUA L. NEWHALL, of Newburjport.
JOHN KEELEY, of Haverhill.
BENJAMIN P. WARE, of Marblehead.

TREASURER.

EDWARD H. PAYSON, of Salem.

SECRETARY.

CHARLES P. PRESTON, of Danvers

HONORARY TRUSTEES.

JOHN W. PROCTOR, of Peabody.
ALLEN W. DODGE, of Hamilton.
JOSEPH HOW, of Methuen.

119

TRUSTEES.

Charles C. Blunt, Andover ; James P. King, Pcabody ;
Dudley Bradstreet, Topsfield ; W, Eustis Kimball, Bradford ,'
Geo. W. Bojnton, Georgetown; John Lee, Manchester ;
Thomas J. Clark, Salisbury ; E. K. Lee, Essex ;
James P. Cleveland, Boxford ; Wni. B. Morgan, Wenham;
Francis Dodge, Danvers ; Josiah Newhall, Lynnfield ;

Francis Dane, Hamilton ; Thos. G. Ordway, W. Newbury;

Henry W. Foster, Beverly ; Wm. H. Patch, Rockport ;
Alonzo B. Fellows, Ipswich ; S. C. Pitman, Swampscott;
J, D. W. French, No. Andover; E. P. Robinson, Saugus ;
James Flint, Middleton ; J. B. Swett, Haverhill ;

Bennett Griffin, Gloucester ; D. H. Stickney, Groveland ;
J. J. H. Gregory, Marblehead; John L. Shorey, Lynn ;
H. G. Herrick, Lawrence ; Robert A. Smith, Newburyport;
Joseph S. Howe, Methuen ; Aaron Sawyer, Amesbury ;
Richard Jaques, Newbury ; Daniel G. Todd, Rowley ;

NEW MEMBERS— 1873.
Joseph B. Abbott, Wenham ; J. Henry Hill, Amesbury ;
E. M. Boynton, W. Newbury ; Thomas Haskell, Gloucester ;
John H. Cheever, Manchester; Samuel James, Gloucester ;
James P. Cleveland, Boxford ; Joel Kimball, Danvers ;
J. M. Currier, Amesbury ; Isaac W. Kimball, Hamilton ;

Joshua S. Dodge, Beverly ; Allen Lee, Manchester ;
Benjamin N. Dodge, Beverly ; A. E. Lufkin, Essex ;
Benjamin B. Dodge, Beverly ; Mrs. Martha J. Low, Rockport ;
George W. Duncan, Haverhill; John G. Munsey, Beverly;
Isaac C. Day, Boxford ; F. B. Messer, Peabody ;

Seth Friend, Beverly ; John J. Manning, Rockport;

Thomas Gould, Beverly ; Wm. N. Manning, Rockport ;

Hugh Hill, Beverly ; Richard P. Mills, Rockport ;

John B. Hodgkins, Rockport ; W. E. Merrill, W. Newbury ;
H. N. Harriman, Georgetown; Moses K. Noyes, Newbury ;
Clara A. Hale, Rowley ; G. N. Ordway, W. Newbury ;

120

Dudley H. Porter, Hamilton ; Charles Tapley, Danrers ;
Samuel B. Perry, Bradford ; William Tliornton, Bradford ;
J. E. B. Perkins, Ipswich ; John F. Todd, Rowley ;
Simon J. Roney, Lynn ; S. M. Titcomb, W. Newbury ;

J. B, Richardson, Beverly ; Henry A. White, Danvers ;
Moses Ridgway, W.Newbury; Chas. E. Webster, Bradford ;
Allen Smith, Rockport ; Windsor M. Ward, Peabody ,

Mrs. Farnham Stiles, Middleton ;

2^^ Any citizen in the County may become a member by
paying the sum of three dollars to increase the permanent funds
of the Society, and he will receive a certificate of his member-
ship from the Secretary. No fines or assessments are ever im-
posed. Members are entitled to the free use of the Library,
and a copy of the Transactions each year. All ordained Min-
isters of the Gospel residing in the County, and editors of
newspapers, published therein, are entitled to the privileges of
the Library.

121

I.IST OF PREMIUMS, &c.

FAT CATTLE.

Thomas G. Orel way, West Xewbury, for off ox, 1st premium,

diploma and ^10 00

Thomas G. Ordway, West Newbury, for near ox, 2d premium, 8 00

BULLS.

■G. W. Ilerrick, Gloucester, pure bred Jersey, 1st premium, di-
ploma and 10 00

Geo. W. Kittredge, i*^o. Andover, pure bred Jersey, 2d premium, 5 00

Geo. W. Duncan, Ilaveihill, pure bred Short-Horn, 1st premi-
um, diploma and 10 00

'Geo. A. Abbott, Andover, Jersey, under two years old, 1st pre-
mium 5 00

MiLCiT cows.
Sam'l E. Sawj-er, Gloucester, Jersey, 1st premium, diploma and
Joseph Andrews, Essex, grade, 1st premium, diploma and
G. W. Herrick, Gloucester, grade, 2d premium,
Geo. M. Woiison, Gloucester, grade, 3d premium,

HEED OF MILCH COAV8.

G. W. Herrick, Gloucester, herd, 1st premium, diploma and
Geo. M. Wouson, Gloucester, herd, 2d premium

HEIFERS.

G. W. Ilerrick, Gloucester, grade, under four years old and in

milk, 1st premium,
Oeo. M. Wonson.^ Gloucester, grade, 2d premium,
Aaron KnowUon, Essex, pure bred Ayrshire, ove*' one year old,

1st premium,
J. Coolidge, Gloucester, Jersey, overoue year old, 1st premium,
G. M. Wonson, Gloucester, " " " 2d premium,

D. Harrison Porter, Hamilton, grade, not in milk, 1st premium,
G. \V. Herrick, Gloucester, " '* " 2d premium,

Samuel E.. Sawyer, Gloucester, pm-ebred calves, 1st premium,
David Bennison, Gloucester, grade calves, 1st premium,
George Collins, " " '' 2d premium,

10

10 CO

15 00

10 00

6 00

15 00

10 00

.0 00

5 00

5 CO

5 00

3 00

5 00

3 00

4 00

4 00

2 00

12 50

12 50

12 50

12 50

4 00

3 00

5 00

4 00

122

WOEKING OXEN.

Thomas Haskell, Gloucester, 1st premium, diploma and 12 00

Gardner W. Herrick, Gloucester, 2d premium, 10 00

Thomas W. Ilaseltine, Bradford, 3d premium, 8 00

BEST TEAMSTER OF OXEN.

Joshua Roberts, Gloucester, premium offered by Geo. B. Loring, 10 00

TOAVN TEAMS.

Geo. Collins, Gloucester, team of horses, premium,

Geo. Collins, Gloucester, for decorated car drawn by them, grat,

Town team of oxen, from Gloucester, 1st premium.

For car decorated, drawn by them, gratuity,

STEERS.

Geo. W. Kittredge, North Andover, yearlings, 1st premium,
Geo. W. Herrick, Gloucester, yearlings, 2d premium,
Geo. W. Kittredge, North Andover, two years old, 1st premium,
George James, Gloucester, tw^o years old, 2d premium,

STALLIONS.

G. W. Eogiers, Salem, in class of four years old or upward, 1st

premium, diploma and
Wm. Cogswell, Bradford, in class of four years old or upward,

2d premium,
Francis Dane, Hamilton, iu class of four years old or upward,

3d premium,
Thomas Sawyer, Boxford, three years old, 1st premium,

BROOD MARES.

Benjamin P. Ware, Marblehead, 1st premium, diploma and
Abijah P. Fuller, North Andover, 2d premium,

FAMILY HORSES.

C. C. Cressy, Gloucestei*, 1st premium, diploma and
Charles Davis, Eockport. 2d premium,
Samuel E. 8awjer, Gloucester, 3d premium,

FARM AND DRAFT HORSES.

Aaron Knowlton, Essex, 1st premium, diploma and

Samuel Dane, Hamilton, 2J premium,

S. F. Newman, Newbury, 3d premium,

Willard Smith, Essex, 4th premium,

Edward F. Knowlton, Essex, best teamster of horses, premium

offered by Geo. B. Loring, 10 00

15 00

10 00

8 00

8 00

15 00

10 00

15 00

10 00

8 00

12 00

10 00

8 00

5 00

123

PAIRS or DRAFT HORSES.

David Know] ton, Essex, 1st premium, 15 00

Edward H. Brown, Gloucester, 2d premium, 10 00

COLTS — FIRST CLASS.

C. C. Cressy, Gloucester, class four years old, 1st premium, di-
ploma and
Thos. Sawyer, Boxford, class four years old, 2d premium,

" " " three years, 1st premium,

J. J. Manning, Kockport, three years, 2d premium,

COLTS — SECOND CLASS.

Herbert Sargent, Gloucester, for two years old, 1st premium,
Francis S. Lovett, Beverly, " " 2d premium,

Charles S. Kenison, IN'ewbury, yearling, 1st premium,
Frederic Norwood, Gloucester, yearling, 2d premium,

SHEEP.

Francis Dane, Hamilton, Cotswold breeding ewes, 1st premium,
" " " ram, 1st premium, diploma and

" " " lambs, 1st premium,

PLOUGHING — DOUBLE TEAMS.

Joseph Horton, Ipswich, 1st premium, diploma and
Dennin & James, Gloucester, 2d premium,
G. W. Herrick, Gloucester, 3d premium,

PLOUGHING — SINGLE TEAMS.

Dennin & James, Gloucester, 1st premium, diploma and 10 00

PLOUGHING — HORSES.

Sylvester Dane, Hamilton, 1st premium, diploma and 12 00

Albert Titcomb, Eowley, 2d premium, 10 00

E. H. Brown, Gloucester, 3d premium, 8 00

C. C. Cressy, 4th premium, 6 00

Oscar Littlefield, Rowley, best teamster in horse ploughing, 10 00

PLOUGHING— SWIVEL PLOUGH.

William Foster, ISTorth Andover, 1st premium, diploma and 12 00

PLOUGHING BY BOYS.

WUlie Merrill, West N^ewbury, special premium, 25 00

10 00

6 00

8 00

4 00

6 00

2 00

6 00

2 00

8 00

6 00

3 00

12 00

10 00

9 00

124

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.

Bennett Griffin, Gloucester, horse rake, 3 00

" " " Bullard tedder, diploma and 5 00

" " " ploughs, 3 00

" " " Kandall harrow, diploma and 5 00

" " " double harpoou hay fork^ 1 00

John Atkinson, Gloucester, wheels, 3 00

F. Burnham, Ipswich, covered seat for hay wagon, diploma and S 00

" " Burnham's sled shoes, 5 00

Whittemore Bros., Boston, Doe plough, 3 00

" " " vegetable cutter, 2 00

" " " vrheel jack, 1 00

Heed & Bowen, Boston, sawing machine, diploma.

Greenwood & Bassett, Haverhill, washing machine, 2 00

CARRIAGES.

James B. Richardson, phteton, etc., premium, diploma and
J. M. Currier, Amesbury, business wagon, premium,

DAIRY.

Mrs. r. Stiles, Middleton, butter, 1st premium, diploma and
!Mrs. Sarah L. Eidgway, "West Newbuiy, 2d premium,
Mr*. Mehitable Foster, Hamilton, 3d premium,
Mrs. Sarah P. Burnham, Essex, gratuity,

SWINE.

W. A. Dane, Hamilton, 1st premium, diploma and 8 00

GRAIN CROPS.
A. p. Noyes, Middleton, rye, 1st premium, diploma and 10 00

liafayette Day, Bradford, corn, 1st premium, diplonosa and 10 OO

ROOT CROPS.
Albert Titcomb, Rowley, onion crop, 1st premium, diploma and 10 00
Alb'rtE. Luf kin, Essex, cabbage crop, 1st premium, diploma aad 10 00

CRANBERRIES.

Hiram A. Stiles, Middleton. cultivation of cranberries, Ist pre-
mium, diploma and 15 00

DESTRUCTION OF CANKER WORMS.

Daniel Toster, 2d, Beverly, experiment, 1st premium, 25 00

ESSAYS.
r. H. Appleton, Peabody, 1st premium, diploma and 15 00

Chai'ks J. Peabody, Topsfield, 2d premium, 10 00

15 00

10 00

10 00

8 00

6 00

3 00

125

KEPOETS OF COMMITTEES.

J. D. "W. Prcnch, North Andovcr, 1st premium, diploma and 10 00

Gilbert Couaut, Ipswich, 2d premium, 8 00

T. C. Thm-low, West Newbury, 3d premium, 6 00

FARM ACCOUKTS.

F. II. Appleton, Peabody, 1st premium, 10 00

Awarded by Committee on Poultry, 7G 00

" " " " Vegetables and Seeds, 76 00

" " " " Fruits, 221 50

" " " " Flowers, 35 00

" " " " Counterpanes, Eugs, etc., 28 50

" " " " Fancy Articles, 34 50

" " " " G-oii3raIM;rch.maise, 23 OD

" " " " Bread and Honey, 20 00

" " " " Articles manufactured from leather, 10 00

£1378 50

RECAPITULATIOJSr.

FARMS.

Amount awarded to Ploughing, S124 00

" " Farm Implements and Carriages, 6100

~ S1S5 00

FARM STOCK.

Amount awarded to Fat Cattle,

18 00

Bulls,

30 00

Milch Cows,

65 00

Heifers,

46 00

Working Oxen "Working Steers

and Teamsters,

40 00

Steers,

16 00

Town Teams,

50 00

Stallions,

41 00

Brood Marcs,

25 00

Family Horses,

£3 00

Farm and Draft Horses,

4r, 00

Amounts carriad forward 4UJ UO 185 UO

126

Amounts brought forward

409 00

Amount awarded to Pairs of Draft Horses,

25 00

u u

Colts,

44 00

tl ((

Sheep,

17 00

(( ((

Swine,

8 00

li ii

Poultry,

FAEM PRODTTCE, ETC.

76 00

Amount awarded to Vegetables and Seeds,

76 00

Fruits,

221 50

Flowers,

35 00

Dairy, .

27 00

Bread, etc.,

20 00

Eoot Crops,

20 00

Grain Crops,

20 00

Cranberries,

15 00

Destruction of Canker "Worms,

25 00

Essays, Farm Accounts and Ee-

ports of Committees,

59 00

(( a

all other objects,

96 00

185 00

579 00

614 50

S1378 50

127

TRUSTEES' MEETING.

A meeting of the Trustees of the Society was held at Plum-
mer Hall, Salem, Nov. 14th.

Present — Messrs. Wm. Sutton, G. B. Loring, J. Keeley, B.
P. Wa.re,.C. C. Blunt, D. Bradstreet, A. W, Dodge, F. Dodge,
J. EIow, H. G. Herrick, A. B. Fellows, J. D. W. French, J.
S. Howe, D. G. Todd, J. P. Cleveland, John Lee, J. P. King,
B. Griffin, E. K. Lee, R. Jaques, W. B. Morgan, J. B. Swett,
J. Newhall, W. E. Kimball, W. H. Patch, D. PL Stickney, J.
L. Shorey, T. G. Ordway, A. Sawyer, R. A. Smith, S. C. Pit-
man, J. Flint and C. P. Preston.

The President, William Sutton, presided, and the following
business was transacted.

The Committee appointed to audit the bills of the last show,
reported :

Receipts, ... - 11271 03

Expenses, . . . . 1261 79

Balance, - - - - $9 34

There are unpaid bills amounting to about $75.

The reports of the several committees on Grain and Root
Crops, Cranberries, the Tread well Farm, and Destruction of
Canker Worms, were read and accepted.

Mr. E. H. Payson, Treasurer, read his report, which was
accepted, and he was unanimously re-elected for the year
ensuing.

Voted — That the report of the Committee on Essays, etc.,
be accepted when presented by them.

Voted — To continue the Fifty dollar scholarship in the Mas-
sachusetts Agricultural College to Geo. R. Dodge.

128

Voted — To hold the Cattle Show and Fair, next September,
in Danvcrs.

The fuUowuig Committee was chosen to have charge of the
fixtures and I'lirniture belonging to the Societ}' : — Charles P.
Preston, B. P. Ware and II. G. Herrick.

Voted — That a committee of seven be appointed to report a
list of committees for the next Fair, at the Trustees' meeting
in June next, as follows : — Goo. B. Loring, Allen W. Dodge,
11. G. Herrick, D. H. Stiekney, R. A. Smith, Bennett Griffin
and James P. King.

Voted — To add twenty per cent, to tlie premiums on Stock
and Poultry, and fifty per cent, to the premiums on Fruits,
Flowers and A^cgclablcs.

Voted — That diplomas be awarded only for animals or arti-
cles of especial merit.

Messrs. E. K. Lee, B. Griffin and A. Low were chosen to
revise the premiums on Poultry, and Messrs. J. J. U. Gregory
and B. P. Ware those on Fruits and Vegetables.

Voted — That each exhibitor of Poultry sliall be required by
the Committee to make a statement, in writing, of the merits
of the breed or breeds which he exhibits.

Chas p. Preston, Sec'y.

129

CONSTITUTION

OF THE

ESSEX AGRICULTUEAL SOCIETY.

Article i. There shall be a President, four Vice Presidents, a
Secretary and a Treasurer, who shall be Trustees, ex-offido ; in addition
to these, thirty (originally twelve) other Trustees shall be chosen from
the members at large, all of whom shall continue in office until others
are elected in their stead.

Art. II. There shall be an Annual Meeting of the Society, at
such time as the Trustees shall determine ; at which all officers shall
be elected. Twenty members at least shall be necessary to constitute
a quorum for the transaction of business.

Art. III. If at any meeting of the Society, or the Trustees, the
President and Vice Presidents shall be absent, the members present
may appoint one from among them to preside at such meeting.

Art. IV. The President, or, in case of his absence, either of the
Vice Presidents, with the advice of the Trustees, may call a special
meeting of the Society ; or whenever a written application, with the
reasons assigned therefor, shall be made by any twelve members of the
Society, to the President and Trustees, they shall call such meeting.

Art. v. The meetings of the Trustees shall be held at such time
and place as they shall from time to time agree upon ; seven of whom
with the presiding officer shall make a quorum.

Art. VI. The Trustees shall regulate all the concerns of the
Society, during the intervals of its meetings ; propose such objects of
improvement to the attention of the public, publish such communica-
tions, and offer premiums in such form and value as they think proper,
(provided the premiums offered do not exceed the funds of the So-
ciety :) and shall lay before the Society, at each of its meetings, a
statement of their proceedings and of the communications made to
them.

130

Art. VII. The Secretary shall take mmutes of all the votes and
proceedings of the Society and of the Trustees, and enter them in
separate books ; and shall record all such communications as the
Trustees shall direct. He shall write and answer all letters relating to
the business of the Sooiety.

Art. VIII. The Treasurer shall receive all moneys due or payable
to the Society, and all donations that may be made to it ; for which he
shall give duplicate receipts, one of which shall be lodged with the
Secretary, who shall make a fair record thereof. The Treasurer shall
from time to time pay out such moneys as he shall have orders for from
the Trustees ; and shall annually, and whenever thereto required,
render a fair account of all his receipts and payments to the Society
or a committee thereof. He shall give bonds for the faithful discharge
of his dut}^, in such sum as the Trustees shall direct, and with such
sureties.

Art. IX. A committee shall be appointed annually by the Trustees
to audit the Treasurer's accounts, who shall report to the Society ; and
the same being accepted shall be entered by the Secretary in his books.

Art. X. In case of the death, resignation, incapacity, or removal
out of the county of the Secretary or of the Treasurer, the Trustees
shall take charge of the official books, papers, and other effects, be-
longing to the office that may be vacated, and give receipts for the
same ; which books, papers, etc., they may deliver to some person
whom they may appoint to fill the office until the next meeting of the
Society, at which time there shall be a new choice.

Art. XI. Any citizen of the county may become a member of the
Society, by pa3'ing the sum of three dollars to increase the perma-
nent fund of the institution.

Art. XII. A Committee shall be raised from time to time to solicit
Jind receive subscriptions for raising a fund for encouraging the noblest
of pui"suits, the Agriculture of our country ; the same to be sacredly
appropriated to that purpose.

Art. XIII. All ordained ministers of the Gospel who reside Avithin
the county, shall be admitted honorary members of the Society.

Art. XIV. In addition to the usual number of Trustees annually
elected, the past Presidents of the Society shall be honorary members
of the Boai'd of Trustees.

131
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
ADOPTED SEPT. 29th, 1863.

Article i. The officers of the Society shall consist of a President,
four Vice Presidents, a Treasurer, Secretary, and thirty Trustees.

Art. II. A Committee of one from each city and town in the
county, represented in the Society, shall be appointed at each annual
meeting, by nomination from the floor, to report a list of officers, (with
the exception of Treasurer,) at the next succeeding annual meeting,
which report shall be acted on, and the officers elected at said meeting
by the ballots of the members present.

Art. III. The Treasurer shall be elected annually by the Trustees,
at their meeting in November.

Art. IV. The Committee on nomination shall hold its meeting prior
to the fii-st day of July each year ; and its report shall be immediately
placed in the hands of the Secretary, for the examination of any mem-
ber of the Society ; and the Secretary shall cause ballots to be prepared
in conformity with said report, for the use of the members, and
presented at the annual meeting.

Art. v. The first election under these amendments to be had at
the annual meeting in 1864, and they shall only apply to the Trustees
so fast as they go out of office under the present tenure of election.

AMENDMENT ADOPTED SEPT. 24th, 1867.

Tmstees of the Society shall not be eligible to act upon the nom-
inating committee ; and members of the nominating committee shall
not be eligible as candidates for Trustees.

AMENDMENT ADOPTED SEPT. 29th, 1868.

Each member of the Committee for the nomination of officers shall
be empowered to appoint a substitute in case he declines serving.

AMENDMENT ADOPTED SEPT. 23d, 1878.

Article 1st amended so as to provide that one Trustee from each
town in the county, in which there are members of the Society, shall
be chosen from the members at large.

132

LIST OF MEMBERS

OF THE

Essex Agricultural Society.

KoTE. — Those marked with * deceased shice 1869 ; "with f removed
from the county. For names of members deceased previous to 1869,
refer to hst published that year.

Bailey, O. S.
*Bailey, Thomas
Binney, "William C.
Cole, Augustus K.
Currier, J. M.
Evans, John
Goodvrin, A. E.
Gunnison, William
Haskell, William H.

Abbott, Asa A.
Abbott, George A.
Abbott, Hartwell B.
Abbott, John B.
*Abbott, Jonathan
Abbott, Moody B.
Abbott, Stephen D.
Abbott, Sylvester
Andrews, Moses C.
*Ballard, Joshua
Bard well, Simeon
Blunt, Charles C.
Blunt, Miltcfti J.
■fBodwell, Henry A.
j-Bond, William
Callahan, Robert

AMESBUEY.
Hill, J. Henry
Huntington, B. F.
Jones, Philip
Loud, C. H.
fMoore, Appleton
Mors9, Daniel L.
*Morse, John S.
Kichols, Charles H.
Kichols, Stephen, Jr.

ANDOYER.

Carruth, Isaac
fChamberlain, IST., Jr.
Chandler, Joseph
Cheever, James
Chickering, William
fChipman, Degrass
*Clark, Hobart
Cummings, C. O.
Curwin, Samuel H.
fFarnham, John C.
fFlagg, Wilson
*Flint, John
Foster, George
Foster, George W.
Foster, Moses, Jr.
Foster, Thomas C.

Patten, T. B.
Quimby, Thomas W.
Sargent, J. B.
Sargent, Orlando
Sargent, Patten
Sargent, Willis
Sawyer, Aaron
Sawyer, Thomas C.
Tukesbury, D. M.

fFrench, Charles
fFrench, George H.
*Gray, David
Harnden, Henry C.
Hazen, Nathan W.
Hidden, David I. C.
Holt, Dean
Holt, E. F.
fHolt, Herman
Holt, H. P.
Holt, Joseph S.
Jenkins, John B.
Jenkins, Kendall
Kimball, Walter H.
Mason, George F.
*MeiTill, William

133

Morton, Marcus, Jr.
*Xeedham, Samuel
*PettingLll, Merrill
Phelps, Hermon

Appleton, Isaac
Avery, Mark B.
Baker, John I.
Baker, Stephens
Bell, John
Chase, Samuel
Cole, Zachariah
Conelly, Stephen
Cressy, Joseph
Dodge, Aaron
Dodge, Andrew
Dodge, Benjamin K.
Dodge, Benjamin S.
Dodge, Joshua S.
Dodge, Richard
*Dodge, William E.
Edwards, Ephraim A.
Edwards, Israel O.
Poster, Henry W.

Andrew, Isaac "W.
Barnes, B. S.
Chadwick, George W.
Cleveland, James P.
♦Cleveland, Wm. N.
Cole, David M.
Cole, John K.
Curtis, Francis
Day, Isaac C

Carlton, James T.
Carlton, Nathaniel
Chadwick, Henry M.
Cogswell, George
Cogswell, William
Day, Albert J.

fPierce, William
Pillsbury, Paul P.
Raymond, Samuel
Rea, Jasper

BEVERLY.

*Priend, Seth
Friend, Seth
Giles, Benjamin V.
Gould, Thomas
Hathaway, John
Haven, Franklin
Herrick, Joseph H.
Hill, Hugh
Larcom, David
*Lord, Abraham
Lord, Cyrus W.
Lovett, Francis S.
Lummus, E. E.
*Marshall, Timothy
Mason, Alfred A.
Mason, Alphonso
Mason, George
Mason, Lyman
McDonald, Daniel

BOXFORD.
Day, John
*Day, Joshua T.
fGould, Jacob
Hale, Isaac
Hale, John
Harriman, Daniel F.
Hen'ick, Israel
Killam, Oliver P.

BRADFORD.
Day, Hiram
Day, Lafayette
Day, Royal
Elliott, William
Ellis, John A.
Emerson, Charles B.

Rogers, Fitzwilliam
Smith Peter
Upton, Edward C.
*Whittier, Nathaniel

Meacom, John
Mitchell, Charles
Munsey, John G.
Paine, Charles C.
Pitman, Mark
Porter, Adoniram
*Porter, John
tPorter, Robert
Rankin, George C.
Richardson, J. B.
tSafford, Nathaniel T.
*Sheldon, Jesse
Standley, Sam'l D. G.
Stephens, Augustus
fStone, Edwin M.
Walker, Lawson
Waters, Richard P.
fWaters, William C.
Wilson, Joseph

Kimball, Samuel
fPalmer, Charles Lane
Palmer, F. H.
Peabody, Stephen
Perley, Charles
Sawyer, Thomas
Wood, Enoch
Wood, John T.

Gage, Edmund
Haseltine, Thomas
Haseltine, William
Hopkinson, Sam'l W.
Johnson, A. P.
* Johnson, Charles G.

134

Johnson, Laburton
Kimball, Albert
Kimball, A. Laburton
*Kimball, David
Kimball, Henry G.
Kimball, Leverett
*Kimball, Seth
*Kimball, Sylvester

fAdams, Marshall C.
Bartlett, James A.
Berry, Allen A.
Berry, Eben G.
Black, William
Boardman, I. P.
Brown, Amos
Brown, Charles W.
Butler, J. C.
Cummings, Samuel P.
fDevereux, George F.
Demsey, L. P.
Dodge, Elnathan
Dodge, Francis
*Dodge, William, Jr.
Fellows, Alfred
Fowler, Augustus
Fowler, Samuel P.
French, George W.
Gould, Charles H.
Grosvenor, David A.
tHolden, Seth
Hyde, Elisha G.
Kimball, Joel, Jr.
fKnight, S. Leverett
Lander, William A.
Lane, Benjamin T.
Langley, J. R.

Andrews, Elias
Andrews, Elihu
Andrews, Joseph
Andrews, Miles S.

Kimball, Wilham B.
Kimball, Wm. Eustace
Little, M. P. Mrs.
*Locke Oliver
Merrill, John F.
Morse, C. E.
Ordway, Alfred
Ordway, Enoch F.

DANVERS.
Learoyd, A. P.
Legro, Edmund
Martin, George B.
Massey, S. D.
♦Merrill, Ernest S.
Merrill, Levi
Merrill, Samuel A.
Mudge, Edwin
Kichols, Andrew
Page, JiTathan, Jr.
Peart, William B.
Perley, A. P.
Perley, Frederick
Perry, James M.
Pettingill, David A.
Pope, Ira P.
Porter, Benjamin F.
Pratt, Amos
Preston, Charles P.
Preston, John
*Preston, John S.
Preston, Samuel
Prince, Amos
Putnam, Charles O.
Putnam, Eben
Putnam, Edwin F.
Putnam, Francis P.
Putnam, Israel H.

Ordway, Warren
Peabody, Frank
Peabody, Daniel
Perley, John
Perry, Samuel B.
Sawyer, Samuel C.
Tewksbury, John B.
Thornton, William

Putnam, J. A.
Putnam, Joel
Putnam, Orrin
Putnam, Otis F.
Putnam, Rufus
Putnam, William R.
Richards, Daniel
Ropes, Joseph W.
Sears, John A.
Silvester, Joshua
Spaulding, Samuel W.
Swan, Sylvanus B.
Swinerton, John
Tapley, Charles
Tapley, George
Tapley, Gilbert
Tapley, Gilbert A.
*Tapley, Kathan
Waite, Peter
Walcott, William H.
Wallis, Samuel
Warren, Aaron W.
Warren, Jonas
Weston, William L.
White, Amos A.
White, Henry A.
*Wilkins, Joel

ESSEX.
Burnham, D. Brainerd Cogswell, Chas. B.
Burnham, Washington Dodge, Grover
Burnham, Wm. Howe Haskell, David L.
*Choate, David Haskell, George

135

Knowlton, Aaron
Knowlton, David
Knowlton, Moses
Lee, Edward K.

* Adams, George E.
Bateman, A. P. ,
Boynton, George W.
fBrocklebank, Samuel
Butler, Oliver S.
Chapman, Jonathan
Dole, Moody S.
Dole, Richmond
Harriman, Hiram N^.
Hoyt, John A.
Jewett, Jacob F.
*Jewettj Eobert

Atkinson, John
Babson, Daniel T.
Babson, Fitz J.
fBabson, Gustavus, Jr.
Babson, Horatio
Babson, John J.
Barrett, Charles P.
Boynton, Charles
Bradford, George R.
Bray, Aaron ^V.
Brown, Edward H.
Burnham, A. M.
Burnham, H. A.
Burnham, S. A.
Butler, Benjamin F.
Calef , John C.
Campbell, C. H.
Carter, John S.
Carter, Sherman J.
Clark, John
Cole, Israel H.
Conant, Thomas
Cook, Benjamin F.
Corliss, Benjamin H.

Low, Aaron
Low, Josiah
Lufkin, A. E.
Mears, Wm H.

GEORGETOWN".

Lambert, Nathaniel
Little, Samuel
Lovering, John H.
Moulton, Daniel E.
Nelson, Charles
Nelson, Sherman
Nelson, Solomon
Nelson, William
Osgood, Stephen
Pettingell, Henry
Pillsbury, J.
Poor, Samuel T.

GLOUCESTER.
Corliss, John
Cressy, Curtis C.
Cronin, John
Dale, Eben, Jr.
Davis, James
Davis, William P.
Day, Abraham
Dennin, George
Dennison, C. W.
Dodd, Stephen
Dolliver, John H.
DolUver, William C.
Dolliver, Wilham P.
Dyer, J. Franklin
Emanuel, Henry
Fears, Robert
Fears, Robert R.
Foster, Jeremiah
Friend, Elbridge G.
Garland, Joseph
Gilbert, AddLson
Griffin, Bennett
Grover, Charles E.
Hadley, William

Perkins, John
Story, Andrew
Story, Ephraim

Preston, John
Sanborn, George W.
Spofford, Sumner P.
Tenney, George J.
Tenney, Gorham D.
Tenney, Milton G.
Tenney, Moses
Tenney, Orlando B.
Tenney, Richard
Wheeler, William S.
Wildes, Green
Wilson, Isaac

Harvey, Alonzo F.
Haskell, H. C. L.
Haskell, Thomas
Haskell, William H.
Herrick, Gardner W.
Hough, Benjamin K.
Hoyt, Edward C.
James, George
James, Samuel
Jones, William
Knowles, Thomas J.
Lane, Andrew
Lane, George
Lancaster, T. S.
Lawrence, R. C.
Lindberg, A. F.
Loring, Francis M.
Low, David W.
Low, Gorham P.
Lowe, Sidney
Marr, Chester, Jr.
Mayo, Israel C.
Mayo, Josiah, Jr.
McFarland, L.

136

Merchant, E. W.
Norwood, George
Parsons, "William, 2d.
Parsons, W. Frank
Patch, Isaac
Pattillo, Alexander
Pearce, Edward H.
Perrin, Henry S-
*Perrin, William H.
Pew, William A.
Phillips, K H.
Plummer, David
Presson, David S.
Price, Augustus E.
Proctor, Joseph O.

Atwood, Daniel
Atwood, Moses P.
Balch, Eustis
Balch, Thomas H.
Burbank, John
Clark. Elijah
Curtis, Edwin T.
Fegan, Henry C.
Hardy, Ira
Harrinsfton, Edward

Allen, Francis R.
*Brown. Jacob
Brown, William A.
fBurnham, Choate
Dane, Ephraim A.
Dane, Francis
Dane, George
Dane, George E. F.
Dane, Samuel
Dane, William A.

Barry, J. M.
*Bartlett, Jamss A.
Bodwell, Stephen

Proctor, Wilbur F.
Kicker, Richard W.
Rogers, Allan
Rogers, John S.
Rogers, John S. E.
Rust, William P.
Sanford, H. G.
Sawyer, Samuel E.
Shepard, Joseph C.
Smith, Benjamin H.
Somes, John E.
Stacey, Eli F.
Stacey, John H.
Stanwood, Barnard
Staten, Edward

GROYELAIs^D.

Hopkinson, Walter H.
Kimball, Charles
Ladd, John I.
Ladd, Nathaniel E.
Ordway, Leverett S.
Ordway, Moody
Parker, Benjamin
Parker, Eldred S.
Pemberton, Luther K.
Savary, Charles G.

HAMILTON.
Dodge, Allen W.
Dodge, Emerson P.
Dodge, George B.
Gregory, Samuel B.
Kimball, Isaac W.
Knowlton, Isaac
Knowlton, Isaac F.
Knowlton, Joseph
Lamson, Jarvis
*Morgan, Luther S.

HAVERHILL.

Brickett, Barnard
Brickett, Daniel
Brickett, Daniel H.

*Stevens, Zachariah
Story, Cyrus
Thompson, Chas. P.
Tibbetts, Robert A.
Todd, John
Webster, Nathaniel ]
Wetherell, M. L.
Wilson, John J.
Wftham, Addison
Wonson, Augustus H.
AVonson, F. G.
Wonson, George M.
Wonson, J. W.
York, Nathaniel S.

Savary, Charles P.
Spofford, Jeremiah
Spofford, Morris
Stickney, Abel
Stickney, Daniel H.
Stiles, Charles F.
Wales, Herbert E.
Walker, George S.
Wardwell, Z. C.
Woodman, Ira S.

fNorris, George
Patch, Asahel H.
Patch, Oliver Mrs.
Porter, Dudley H.
Porter, Oliver
Rankin, EU C.
Safford, Daniel Fj.
Smith, Alvin
Smith, John
Whittredsre, John

Brickett, Franklin
Butters, Charles
Caldwell, William

187

Carlton, John
Carlton, Samuel
Carlton, William B.
Chase, Abel W.
Chase, C. W.
Cheever, H. W.
Clark, \Villiam P.
fCobm-n, A. M.
Coffin, George
Cook, Justin T.
Corliss, Charles
Cummings, Henry
Currier, Samuel M.
Cushman, E. P.
Davis, George \V.
Davis, Phineas E.
Dewhurst, James
Dunbar, Charles H.
Eaton, Harrison
Elliott, Samuel
Elliott, Samuel H.
Emerson, Albert
Emery. Benjamin E.
Emery, Moses G. J.
Earnsworth, J. H.
Earrar, Joseph E.
Eellows, Samuel
Eitts, D. F.
Flanders, Daniel D.
fFletcher, Edmund
Frothingham, Edw.G.
*Gale, James E.
Gardner, John
George, M. D.
Gile, James F.
Gilman, John P.
Goodrich, T. J.
Grieves, J.
Hale, Samuel

* Andrews, David
Andrews, Theodore
Appleton, B. D.

*Harding, Thomas
*Harmon, David P.
Haseltine, Amos, Jr.
*Hazeltin3, Hazen
Holt, Charles
Hooke, Daniel
How, Moses
fHowe, Nathaniel S.
*Hoyt, George H.
*Hoyt, Humphrey
Ingalls, E. T.
Jeffers, AVilliam
Keely, John
Kittredge, Alfred
Lackey, Andrew
fLee, George W.
fLittle, EJm-md B.
tLittle, J. G. S.
Longfellow, Samuel
Mirsh, John J.
Merrill, William
Mitchell, E.
Mitchell, Seth K
M3rs3, John
Morse, S. E.
Nichols, Jamas R.
fNichols, John A.
Nichols, John B.
*Noye3, James
Noyes, Johnson
Oberton, W. W. S.
Ordway, Joshua H.
Patch, Paul D.
*Plummer, Hiram
Porter, Dudley
*Porter, Ebenezer
Putnam, Moses AV.
Eandall, John P.

IPSWICH.
Appleton, Daniel F.
Baker, S. N., Jr.
Bond, James W.

Richards, William B.
Richardson, John B.
Ridgway, Joseph N.
Roberts, Stephen
Robinson, Edwin
Savary, Robert
Shattuck, L. P., Jr.
Sleeper, Sherburne C.
*Sloeum, Rufus
Smiley, James Y.
Smith, Jesse
Spillcr, J. B.
Stewart,. John
Svvett, Jackson B.
Taylor, Levi
Taylor, Martin
Taylor, Oliver
Titcomb, Benaiah
*Tompkin3, Christ'r
Tjwle, Samuel K.
fTurner, James
AVadleigh, Levi C.
Webster, David
Webster, Ebenezer
Webster, E. F.
*Webster, Nathan
Webster, Richard
tWelch, Ezra B.
West, H. K.
West, James F.
West, Thomas
Wheeler, Allison
White, James D.
Whittier, Alvah
*Whittier, Leonard
Whittier, Warner R.
Winchell, James H.
*Wingate, Moses

Bray, Frederick
Brown, Aaron F.
Brown, John

18

138

Brown, Manasseh
Brown, William G.
Caldwell, Abraham
Clark, Erastus
Cogswell, Ebenezer
*Cogswell, William
Conant, Gilbert
*Dodge, Richard T.
Fall, Tristam B.
fFarley, Alfred M.
*Farley, Joseph
fFarley, Robert, Jr.
Fellows, Alonzo B.
Gould, John J.
Grant, John
Grant, Joshua B.
Green, George H.

Ambrose, Nathaniel
Bod well, Asa M.
fBryant, Oliver
Cabot, George D.
Currier, Eben B.
Currier, J. Morrill
*Decker, J. M.
Durant, Adolphus
Durant, W. A.
Emery, Levi
French, A. J.
Gile, W. F.

*Allen, Jacob A.
Baker, Ezra
Batchelder, John
Black, James D.
Breed, Andrews
Breed, Henry A.
*Breed, Nehemiah, Jr.
Brown, Ira P.
Chase, Nathan D.
Chamberlain, Wm. D.
fCoggeshall, J. H.

Haskell, George
Hobbs, John
Hodgdon, George
Hodgkins, Augustine
Horton, Joseph
Hunt, Samuel
Hurd, Y. G.
Jewett, Israel K.
Jordan, Robert Mrs.
Kimball, Charles
Kimball, Daniel
Kinsman, Joseph F.
Kinsman, William H.
fLocke, Calvin
Low, Thomas
Marshall, Joseph
fMerrill, Ezekiel O.

LAWRENCE.
Harmon, Nathan W.
Herrick, Fred. St. Clair
Herrick, H. G.
Herrick, James D.
Hills, George W.
Hood, Gilbert E.
Howard, J. B.
Hubbard, Leavitt
fKimball, Josiah
fKimball, William M.
Lamb, William D.
Mallard, L. Mrs.

LYNN.

*Collins, Ezra
Davis, Edward S.
Emery, George E.
Fay, William P.
Graves, Samuel
Harris, N. S.
Hawkes, Nathan M.
Healy, Mark
Hovey, Rufus P.
Keene, George W.
Kimball, Rufus

Mitchell, Frederick
Perkins, J. E. B.
Perley, David T.
Potter, Asa T.
Rogers, Isaiah A.
Ross, Joseph
Shatswell, Nathaniel
Smith, Webster
Stone, Augustine
Story, Aid en
Tappan, Amos
Wade, Asa
fWade, William F.
Waite, Abraham D.
Whittier, Maynard
* Worcester, Ira

Merrill, George S.
Page, E. F.
Page, Edward
Rollins, John R.
Russell, W. A.
Saunders, Daniel, Jr.
Stevens, William
Warren, Albert
* Webster, Charles
Wilder, G. W.
Wright, W. H. P.

Merritt, Charles
Newhall, Hiram L.
Norris, George, Jr.
*Nye, James M.
*Osborn, William
tOsborn, William H.
Potter, Edward P.
Putnam, F. W.
Rankin, John D.
Rhoades, Jacob
Roney, Simon J.

139

♦Saunderson, Jos. K.
Shorey, John L.

Brown, Joseph
Danfoi'th, John
Emerson, D. P.
Emerson, Hubbard
Hawkes, George L.

Allen, Luther
Burnham, Frederick
fChase, Joseph S.
Cheever, John H.
Cheever, William M.
Fitz, William F.
Friend, Daniel W.

Alley, Franklin
Appleton, Thomas
Child, Caleb
Cloutman, Henry
Gregorj^, J. J. H.

Spinney, William N.
Usher, Roland, G.

LYNNFIELD.

Herrick, George E.
Newhall, Josiah
Perkins, John
f Perkins, John H.

MANCHESTER.

Gentlee, Thomas P.
Hildreth, John D.
Jewett, Alfred W.
Knight, Henry
Knight, John, Jr.
Lee, Allen
Lee, John

MARBLEHEAD.
Hathaway, Seth W.
fMillett, Joseph
Nutting, John
Paine, Thomas T.
Robinson, Frederick

Hathaway, Joseph B. *Stone, John

♦Barker, J. B.
*Barker, Stephen
Bradley, Leverett
Butters, George W.
Currier, Daniel
Davis, John
Emerson, Jacob, Jr.
Frederic, John W.
Gage, George W.
Goss, Charles E.

Berry, Jonathan
Berry, William
Currier, George A.
Flint, James

METHUEK

Hicok, S. S.
How, Christopher
How, Joseph
How, Joseph S.
Ingalls, Charles
Ingalls, Joseph F.
*Low, John
Morrison, D. T.
Morse, Jonathan

MIDDLETON.
Hutchinson, J. A.
No3'es, A. P.
Phelps, William A.
Stiles, David

fWyman, Isaac

fRichardson, Charles
Smith, Henry E.
fSmith, Joseph
Symonds, George W.

Moon, Ambrose
Price, John
Smith, A. W.
Tappan, Benjamin
Tappan, Ebenezer
Tappan, Israel F.
Tappan, Lewis N.

Ware, Benjamin P.
Ware, Horace
Warren, David
Winslow, George W.
fWyman, Israel
■j-Wyman, Luke

Kevins, David
Patterson, D. H.
Phippen, G. S.
Rollins, Amos C.
*Russ, John
Sargent, S. G.
Sleeper, William C.
Tozier, C. L.
fWelch, John

Stiles, Farnham
Stiles, Farnham Mrs.
Stiles, Hiram A.
Wellman, John K.

140

Adams, Charles
Adams, Charles W.
*Adams, John C.
Adams, John J.
Bray, Eichard S.
Caldwell, David S.
Colnian, Moses
Goodrich, William F.
Hill, Mark F.
Howard, Horatio M.
Illsley, Paul M.
Jaques, Richai-d
Jaques, Richard T.
Jaques, William
Kent, John N.
Kent, Joshua N.
Langley, William C.
Little, E. C.

Adams, J. Quincy
Adams, Rufus
*Akerman, John
Akeiman, Joseph
Ashb}^, William
Balch, John H.
Ballon, C. N.
Bartlett, T. K.
Batchelder, Daniel C.
Battell, Elbridge
Boardman, Isaac H.
Brewster, W illiam H.
Bricher, William
Brown, David F.
Canney, Hiram
Capers, Thomas
Coffin, Frederick J.
Colby, George J. L.
Colby, George W.
Colman, Daniel T.
Co!man, James C.
Co'. man, William T.
Currier, Warren

NEWBURY.

Little, E. F.
Little, Edward H.
Little, Joseph
Little, Nathaniel
Little, Silas
Little, Stephen W.
*Litt]e, Tristram
Little William
Longfellow, H. F.
Longfellow, J.
Longfellow, J. Mrs.
Lucy, Gideon R.
Lunt, Charles M.
Lunt, J. Austin
*Lunt, Joseph
Moody, N. W.
Newman, Sidney F.

NEWBURYPORT.

Cushing, Caleb
Cutter, Eben P.
*Davis, Benjamin
Delano, Otis
fDodge, John S.
Dyer, J. R.
fFernald, Henry B.
*French, Curtis
Gale, Stephen M.
George, George
Griffin, Eliphalet
*Hale, Isaac, Jr.
Hale, Joshua
Hale, Josiah L.
Hamlet, Daniel
Hart, James S.
*Horton, Daniel
flludson, Charles H.
Huff, William
Iluse, William H.
Ireland, Charles H.
Jackman, George W.
Johnson, William P.

Noyes, James
Noyes, Luther
Noyes, M;)ses K.
Perkins, Charles L.
Perkins, W. W.
Plummer, Daniel, Jr.
Piummer, G. H.
Plnmmer, Greenleaf
Piummer, William C.
Poole, B. P. Mrs.
Randall, G. A.
Rogers, Abial
Ro^fe, Joseph N.
Tenney, H. L.
Thurlow, William
AVoods, C. W.
Young, Hiram

Kelley, E. G.
Little, John G.
Little, Moses S.
Lunt, Charles
Lunt, Micajah
*M.irston, Stephen W.
Merrill, Enoch
Merrill, Samuel, Jr.
Morrison, Daniel
Morse, James M.
Morss, .Joseph B.
Mosely, El ward A.
Mosely, Edward S.
Moulton, Henry W.
Moulton, Joseph
Newhall, Asa T.
Newhall, Joshua L.
Northend, E. T.
Noyes, William, Jr.
Ordway, Parsons
Page, John T.
Pearson, J. P.
Parley, R. M.

Ui

Pettingell, Moses
•fPhillips, Samuel
Plummer Moses A.
*Remick, John E.
*Eobinson, J. D.
Shocf , Henry
Smith, David
Smith, Edmund

fAppleton, S. F.
Bailey, Charles P.
*Berry, Jacob
Blake, J. P.
Batterfield, Charles A,
Carlton, Daniel
Carlton, Joseph,
tCro.>by, Josiah
Chsver, \Vm. J.
Davis, George G.
Davis, George L.
Dale, William J.
Dale, William J. Jr.
Dole, Francis F.
Farnham, B. H.
Farnham, Jacob
Farnham, J. L.
Foster, J. Frank
Foster, John P.
fFoster, J. Prescott

Smith, "Robert A.
Stanley, B. F.
Stanley, J. C.
•fStearns, Edwin
Stone, Jacob
f Sumner, John
Tappan, Samuel B.
Tilton. Enoch

NORTH ANDOVER

Foster, William
Foster, Samuel
Foster, Orrin
French, George
French, J. D. W.
Fuller, Abijah P.
Gage, John C.
Goodhue, Hiram P.
fGraen, Arthur M.
Gardner, D. F.
Hill, Samuel B.
fJaquith, Christop'r P
Jenkins, Benjamin F.
Jenkins, Milon B.
Johnson, Theron
Kittredge, Joseph
Loring, Geo. B. Jr.
Manning, John
Montgemery, Jas. A.

Titcomb, Paul
Toppan, Edward S.
jWalker, Dexter M.
t Williams, Robert
Winkley, J. Otis
AVinkley, Paul T.
Wood, David

Nason, James
Osgood, Isaac F.
Peters, Nathaniel
Peters, William
Phelps, W. W.
Phelps, II. L.
Poor, James
fPoore, Matthew
Reynolds, James H.
■j-Slade, Jarvis
fSpaulding, Amos
Spofford, Farnham
Stevens, Moses T.
*Shattuck, Thomas C.
Sutton, Eben
Symonds, Frederick
t Ward well, Orin
* Weed Dan
fWilson, Abiel

Abbott, Alfred A.
Allen, Lewis
Appleton, Francis H.
Ayer, Hazen
Bancroft, Sidney C.
Barrett, E. P.
*Basford, P. R.
Batchelder, Malachi F.
Blaney, Stephen
Bodge, Horatio
Buxton, Daniel, Jr.
Buxton, Joshua

PEABODY.

Buxton, Robert G.
Clement, John B.
Colcord, J. L,
Cook, Henry
Curtis, Andrew
*Davis, Mai'k
Fairfield, Joseph
Felton, William H.
Flint, Horace P.
Flint, Thomas
Foster, James B.
Goodale, Byron

Goodale, J. P.
fGunnison, Elisha
Hardy, Isaac
Hills, Benjamin M.
flloyt, Joseph
*IIubbard, John L.
Huntington, Benjamin
Hutchinson, Samuel
Jacobs, Edward W.
*King, Amos
King, Eben
King, Henry A.

142

King, James P.
King, Jonathan
King, Perley
Little, William H.
fLow, Caleb
Marsh, Frank
Marsh, James
*Marsh, John
*Marsh, Philip
*Merrill, Wingate
Messer, F. B.
Needham, Joseph S.
Osborn, Abraham C.
Osborn, David
Osborn, Kendall
Osgood, Joseph

BlatcMord, Eben
Estes, Alden C.
Haskell, Benjamin
Hodgkins, John B.
T^ane, Andrew
Lowe, Martha J. Mrs.
Lowe, William

Blodgette, George B.
Cress}-, J. S.
Dole, Charles
Dummer, N. iN".
Foss, Joshua
Hale, Clara A.
Hale, Daniel J.

*Peirson, A. L.
■fPhillips. Alonzo P.
*Poole, Fitch
Poor, Eben S.
Poor, Heniy
Potter, William
Preston, Moses
Proctor, Abel
Proctor, John W.
*Proctor, Thorndike
Kichardson, W. B.
Saltonstall, Henry
*Sanger, Abner
Sawyer, Asa
jScott, Benjamin

ROCKPOKT.

Manning, James
Manning, John J.
Manning, William K.
Marshall, John W.
Mills, Richard P.
Norwood, Gorham
Patch, William H.

ROWLEY.

Halo, Joseph
Hale, Thomas
Lambert, Mary Mrs.
Mighill, Charles O.
Nelson, D. Oscar
Payson, Moses P.
Pike, John

Shackley, Moses A.
South wick, Sumner
Stevens, John V.
Sutton, William
Sweet, Samuel
Underbill, J. C.
*Upton, Eben S.
Upton, Stephen
Viles, Bowman
Walcott, John G.
Wallis, David B.
Walton, George D.
Ward, Winsor M.
Wheeler, Benjamin
Wheeler, Benjamin S,

Pool, Ebenezer
*Row, Ebenezer
Rowe, Jabez
Smith, Allen
Smith, Allen, Jr.
Smith, Beman C.
Smith, David

Potter, Edward H.
*Proctor, George
Smith, George J.
Titcomb, Albert
Todd, Daniel G.
Todd, John F.
Webster, Charles E.

Andrews, Randal
Andrews, Samuel P.
Barton, Gardner
*Barton, William C.
*Bowdoin, Willard L.
Brookhouse, Rob't, Jr.
Chamberlain, James
Chase, Stephen A.

SALEM-
Chase, William
Collins, William
Cressy, Josiah P.
Cross, John D.
Daland, John
Endicott, William C.
Endicott, William P.
Felt, John

♦Ferguson, Joseph B.
Fiske, Joseph E.
Foote, Caleb
Foster, Joseph C.
Foster, William H.
Foster, William J.
Goodhue, William P.
Gray, Benjamin A.

143

Hathaway, johii
*Huntington , Asahel
Ives, John M.
Ives, John S.
Ives, William
Jones, Samuel G.
Kimball, James
Kinsman, John
Lee, John C.
Lord, William
Loring, George B.
Mack, William
Maloon, William
Manning, Robert
Merritt, David
Messervey, William S.
*Metcalf , Benjamin G.
*Milton, T. Pay son
Moody, H. L.
Morse, Ebenezer H.

fAyer, James H. B.
Clark, Thomas J.
Currier, Jacob

i^'ewcomb, Caleb
flN'ichols, George, Jr.
Northend, William D.
Koyes, E. K.
Oliver, H. K.
Oliver, Samuel C.
O'Shea, M.
Peabody, John P.
Peirson, Edw. B.
Perkins, E. E.
Perkins, J. C.
Phillips, Willard P.
Phippen, George D.
Pickering, John
Potter, Daniel
*Proctor, William
Pulsifer, Joseph
Roberts, William
fRobinson, J. A.
Rogers, A. D.

SALISBURY.
Currier, AV. H. B.
Evans, Benjamin
*Erench, Moses

SAtJGUS.
Hatch, Anthony Newhall, Herbert E.

Houghton, Thos. O. W. Penney^ George H.

Rogers, George W.
*Rogers, Richard S.
*Russel, John L.
Saunders, Robert J.
Saunders, Thomas
Saunders, William
Smith, Andrew
*Smith, Caleb
Stimpson, James C.
Story, Augustus
Stowe, Volney C.
Streeter, Gilbert L.
Ware, Horace
Ware, Horace C.
Wentzell; David
Wheatland, Henry
Winkley, Enoch
Woodis, Alden B.
fWymanj Rufus

Gale, Josiah B.
Pray, Rufus

Robinson, E. P.
*Sweetzer, George H.

Mudge, E. R.
Palmer, John P.

SWAMPSCOTT.
Phillips, J. B.
Pitman, Samuel C.

Stetson, Charles A.
Washburn, John

Adams, B. P.
*Balch, Abraham
Batchelder, Ezra
Bradstrcet, Dudley
Clark, David
*Cleaveland, John
*Elliott, Israel D.
Emerson, Thomas P.
Gould, Ariel H.

TOPSriELD.

Herrick, Charles
Hood, S. D.
*Hubbard, William
Lamson, J. Arthur
Leach, Thomas K.
Manning, James
Munda}', William
Peabody, Charles J.

Perkins, Moses B.
Pierce, T. W.
Poole, Benjamin
*Rea, John, Jr.
Ward, Richard
Wildes, Moses
Wilson, James
Woodbury, Isaac M.

X'^inc

Abbott, Joseph B.
Alley, Henry
*Batchelder, Joseph
Bodge, Eichard F.
Dodge, Andrew
*Dodge, Ezra
Dodge, George A.
Dodge, George F.

*Bailey, Uriah
Boynton, Eben W.
Brown, Hayden
Brown. Osgood
Brown, Robert L.
Carr, George W.
Carr, James
*Carr, Moses
Carr, Samuel
Chase, Samuel S.
Follansbee, B. A.
Goodridge, David L.
Goodridge, Horace M.
Goodridge, Joseph
*Goodwin, Thomas C.
Gordon, Joseph Z.
Go wen, Ezekiel
Griffin, B. F. S.
Hosam, George
Jaques, Romulus

WENHAM.

Dodge, Rufus A.
Edwards, Francis R.
Fiske, Alfred R.
Gould, Amos
Hadley, Franklin
Hobbs, A. F.
Ilobbs, Henry
Morgan, William B.

WEST NEWBURY.

Little, Edmund
Little, Otis
MeiTill, Elbridge
Merrill, Willir ra
Merrill, William E.
Moody, Samuel, Jr.
Moore, Alfred L.
*Mosely, Charles C.
Moulton, Daniel
Nelson, Daniel P.
Newell, Joseph
Nichols, Daniel P.
Noyes, Anson W.
Noyes, Stephen E.
Ordway, Cyrus K.
Ordvfay, George N.
Ordway, Hanson
Ordway, Thomas G.
*Pillsbury, Daniel
Poor, Moses H.

Peabody, George W.
Parsons, George W.
Patch, Henry
Pingree, William G.
Porter, William
Robinson, John L,
Til ton, George H.
Waters, Robert H.

Poore, Amos
Poare, Ben : Perley
Poore, George H.
Ridgway, M. Moses
Ridge way, Sarah L.
Rogers, Calvin
Rogers, Charles
Rogers, George C.
Rogers, Hiram
k m th, Amos
Smith, David
Sm^th, James
Smiih, Moses
Stan wood, Moses P.
Thurlow, George
Thurlow, Stephen C.
Thurlow, Thomas C.
Titcomb, Silas M.
Tozer, Hiram

145

]S'0]S^-RESIDEXTS.

Balch. Wm. H., Maiden ;
Bod well, Jos. R., Hallowell, Me.;
Brackelt, H. Ciaik, Virginia ;
Clark, Jos. F., Boston ;
Currier, Wm. A., Boston ;
Chapin, W. C, Providence, R. I.;
Cleveland, X., Jersey City, N.J.;
Cleveland, H.W. S., Chicago, 111.;
Colby, Clias. A., Jfew York ;
Chase, Jos. S., Maiden ;
Car}', James, Quincy ;
Caldwell, Luther, Elmira, X. Y.;
Cary, James, New York ;
Dow, Lorenzo, Laconia, jS". H. ;
Eaton, Thomas, Han-istown, 111. ;
FUnt, Chas. L., Boston ;
Fowler, W. W.. Plymouth ;
Gannett, W. W., Boston ;
Green, John A., New York ;
Hubbard, J. G., Hampstead, N.H.;
Hill, Moses, Revere ;
Hayes, J. F. C, Iowa ;
Kimball, Jona., Boston ;
King, D. Webster, Boston ;
Lyford, Geo. H.jNew York ;
Lake, Chas. H., Churchill, M:d.;

Maynard, Lambert, Boston ;
Merriam, Arthur M., Colorado ;
Norwood, Gorham, Gorham,Me.;
Nichols, Albert, Chicago ;
Ordway, G.W., Manchester, N.H,;
Oliver, John E., Lynn ;
Parker, James M., Boston ;
Putnam, Benj. C, Chelsea ;
Payson, T. E., Providence, R.I. ;
Page, Adlno, Metamora, 111.;
Porter, Wm. F., Cambridge ;
Poor, Henrj^ New York City ;
Payson, Sam'l F., New York ;
Rogers, William, Illinois ;
Rogers, Benjamin, Maiden ; .
Raymond, John AV., Florida ;
Snow, Jesse W., Boston ;
Sargent, G. P., Philadelphia, Pa.;
Stickney, Niles T., Oskosh, Wis.;
Stanley, Sam'l S., Charlestown ;
Titcomb, Chas. W., Boston ;
Whittemore, Chas. A., Boston ;
Ware, Darwin E., Boston ;
Whittemore, J. R., Chicopee ;
Wheeler, H. T., Worcester ;
Webb, Michael Jr., Cambridge.

19

147

CONTENTS

PAGF.

Address of Eev. Charles B. Rice, ^ ^ . 3

The Cattle Show and Fair, - - . - 29

Report on Fat Cattle, - - - - - 30

Bulls, - - - - . 30

Milch Cows, - - - - - 38

Herd of Milch Coavs, ... 39

Heifers, - - . - - 41

Working Oxen and Steers, - . - 42

Town Teams, - - - - 42

Steers, - ^ - - ^ 43

Stallions, ... ^ . 43

Brood Mares, -. - - - 44

Family Horses, - - - - 46

Farm and Draft Horses, ... 48

Colts, ...-'. 47

Swine, ----- 47

Sheep, ----- 48

Poultry, . - - . 48

Ploughing — Double Teams, - - - 50

Ploughing — Single Teams, - ^- 60

Ploughing with Horses, - * 'SO

Ploughing — Swivel Plough, •• 52

Ploughing — By Boys, - - - - 63

Agricultural Implements, - * - 53

Carriages, - - - - .56

Dairy, ----- 56

Bread and Honey, - - * - 58

Fruit — Best Collection, . - - 59

Pears, - - - - - 61

Apples, . - . - - 62

Peaches, Grapes, and Assorted Fruits. - - 64

Flowers, .... 65

Vegetables, - - - - - 67

148

Eeport on Counterpanes, &c., ... 69
Articles Manufactured from Leather, - - 70
Minufacturcs and General Merchandise, - 70
Fancy Work, - - - - 70
Poultry, .... 73
Grain Crops, . - - - 75
Roat Crops, - - . - 77
Cranberries, - - - - - 80
Destruction of Canker Worms, - - 83
Treadwell Farm, - - - - 85
Essays, Farm Accounts, and Eeports of Com-
mittees, - - - - 85
Essa3' — " Foreign Agricultural Experiences," - - 86
" Hints and Suggestions on Managing the

Farm," - - - - 96

" Farm Accounts," . , . 103

Treasurer's Report, ..... 116

Otli^ers of the Society, _ - . . 118

New Members, - ' - - - 119

List of Premiums, &c., - - - - 121

Trustees' Meeting, _ . - - . 127

Constitution of the Essex Agricultural Society, - 129

List of Members, . . , . - 132

TRANSACTIONS

OF THE

Essex Agricultural Society,

IN MASSACHUSETTS,

FOR THE YEAR 1874,

WITH THE

FIFTY-SJilCOND

ANNUAL ADDRESS, ,

JOHN L. SHOREY, ESQ.

PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE SOCIETY

PEABODY:

.PRINTED AT "THE PEABODY PRESS OFFICE," WARREN BANK BUJLDING

1874.

ADDRESS.

There is, perhaps, no subject Avhich has been so long before
the public mind, upon which there yet remains so great a de-
gree of misunderstanding and confusion, as upon the true re-
lation of agriculture to the other great industries of the world,
considered both as to its importance and as to its desirability
as a vocation. To bear out this assertion, witness the query
so often put to us as a crucial test, " Does farming pay?"

As if agriculture, an industry coeval with the foundation of
civilized society, and underlying its very existence, were in its
multiform phases thus to be summed up and disposed of; thus
to be weighed in the financial balance of the smallest brain,
perhaps, forsooth, to be found wanting. As well might be
propounded the question, " Does mercantile business pay?"

The answer would not be different. Trade is a necessity
evolved from the conditions of civilization, and admits of no
general reduction to a financial basis. It Avill or will not pay,
accordino; to the circumstances under which it is carried on,
and according to the ability of the trader.

Any view which regards a given pursuit as attended with
a fixed rate of remuneration, determined by the nature of that
pursuit, is necessarily false ; for as surely as water seeks its
level, the same amount and quality of labor, whether of brain
or muscle, will in no instance long receive other than the same
pecuniary compensation, wliatever be the industry upon which
such labor is expended.

Is the shop more profitable than the farm, the shop be-
-comes crowded, and many a farmer's boy, who, led on by
greed of gain, is launched upon the manufacturing town, now
out of work, his hopes dashed to the ground, at last, in the
forced calm of weariness and despair, awakes to realize an ir-
reparable loss of health and manly vigor, — a loss more bitter
that the glare of short-lived prosperity by which he was al-
lured has faded and gone forever.

This law of equal compensation for the same amount and
quality of labor, depends upon well-known relations of sup-
ply and demand. It has lately received an excellent illustra-
tion in two of our leading cities. Upon the great fire at Chi-
cago, such was the rush of laborers and artiasns to that city,
in anticipation of a large demand and consequently increased
pay for their services, that not only were their expectations
defeated, but those who from choice or necessity remained be-
hind were the real gainers, from the increased demand that
sprang up at home.

But kind or quality of labor is a more important considera-
tion than mere quantity. The mechanic is paid according to
his skill, the professional man according to his ability; and
that is evidently the highest kind of labor Avhich will em-
ploy the greatest amount and variety of individual capacity.

What does the artisan Avith his brain ? The more practised
his hand, the more mechanically does he perform his round of
tasks ; and the nearer he attains to a mere machine, the more
perfect is his workmanship. But though the hand of the farm
laborer must be intelligently directed, he needs not to study
ceaseless uniformity, but must with judgment constantly de-
termine adaptation of means to ends in changing combinations.

From the more simple phase of industry as represented by
labor, we now pass to the consideration of capital — an ele-
ment which at the outset mio-ht seem to disturb this balance of
pay among different industries. But a closer examination will
serve to show, that none the less securely is the capitalist
bound with certain conditions b}' which his gains are limited

5

to the measure of his energy and skill, and by the nature of
his employment, only so far as it affords less or larger room
for enterprise.

Is the demand for a certain article greater than the amount
of capital engaged in its production can readily supply, the
profit becomes greater than common, and immediately capital
is attracted from other less paying employments, and will con-
tinue to flow in until profits reach the common level. It is
hence readily seen that none of the great industries which are
by nature permanent, and which afford an unlimited field for
the investment of capital, can long remain upon other than
an equal footing.

A striking verification of this law of equal j)rofits is afforded
by the consideration of risk : the more striking that this ele-
ment is the greatest apparent cause of disturbance. Great
risk may be defined as a certainty of small returns in the
aggregate, with an equal certainty of large retm-ns in single
instances ; and it is plain that the only fair basis of such in-
vestment is founded upon large immediate returns. Accord-
ingly it will be found, other tilings being equal, that profit
and risk increase or diminish in a direct ratio. The best ex-
ample of this is seen in the different returns which the money-
lender receives under different conditions of lisk. In the
recent panic, among other causes, the uncertainty of almost
any security contributed to establish in many instances
enormous rates of interest.

It is not to be denied, however, that to this rule of ecpiality
in profits and wages there are exceptions, which, though they
cannot everywhere long continue, are none the less real where
or while they exist ; and these exceptions are found where, as
in very new" or old countries, the relations of capital and labor
are such as unduly to favor the one interest or the other, — a
question partly of population, and partly of the distribution
of industries.

Trusting you will pardon this review of recognized laws of^
political economy, doubtless well known to you all, and to

which I shall constantly refer throughout this essay, I shall
proceed somewhat briefly to argue in support of the positions
already taken with reference to agriculture in general, and to
discuss the subject with special reference to New England.

Were the intelligent observer asked to point out the finan-
cially successful of this country, he would doubtless seek them
among the merchants ; yet statistics show that only two or
three out of every hundred who enter upon a so-called busi-
ness career ever reach the goal. As for the rest, one by one
they become lost to view behind the crowd of new compet-
itors who press to the front, themselves to be displaced in
turn : while thus to the superficial gaze, the on-rolling tide of
humanity seems always the same ; but beneath that wave how
nianv sunken hopes lie hidden I And yet in the face of such
appalling facts as these, no one quits mercantile life because
of its reverses, for the fact is there well recognized, that fail-
ure or success depends upon personal efi^brt.

Even the very circumstances by Avhich the enterprising man
surrounds himself are so balanced as to show him no peculiar
favor. Is the merchant's store in a locality favorable for trade,
his rent is correspondingly high. Is the farm near the market,
and the land therefore valuable, rents, or as the farmer is gen-
erally both landlord and tenant, taxes are greater.

Again, the farmers' risks are less ; for what can be more
secure than land, which is his chief })Ossession. True, risk
may be covered by insurance, but insurance is onh' the price
of estimated risk ; and the very willingness of the merchant
to insure shows how important is this consideration.

There is a vague notion afloat that the devotion of a coun-
try to other pursuits, to the exclusion of agriculture, Avill ulti-
mately destroy that industry ; but the very opposite is shown
to be the case. Twenty years ago the legislative policy of
California was to favor the mining interest nt the expense of
every other. Now agriculture receives more consideration.

The reason is not liard to perceive. As the manufacturing
|)opidation increases, the demand for the produce of husbandry

iuust iucrcaije in an equal degree. Tu the nieasure of city
growth must the resources of the country be developed ; so
that tlie lament, often heard from agriculturists of this section
that the great interests arc here centering in manufactures,
should cliange to tones of gladness at the better opportunities
sure to come ; opjiortunitics, perhaps, even now knocking at
their door, could the Avelcome summons be detected by ears
^trained only to catch sounds of approaching storm.

Again it is said that the opening to tillage of new fields
rich and vast is prejudicial to the interests of all other kinds
of Imsbandry.

Statistics plainly show that the great food-exporting nations
nre not inhabitants of nc^v countries, but of regions where
land is divided into minute portions, subjected to the so-called
high-farming process. The facility witli which trade, foreign
or domestic, is supplied through the medium of market-
centers great and ijumcrous being witliin small areas of im-
mense pioductiveness, the less comparative cost of labor,
owing to the density of the poj)ulation, are among the causes
which gi\e to France and Belgium their agricultural pre-
eminence.

I instance not these cases iu the fulsome adulation not un-
•common to be addressed to countries other than our OAvn.
Their prosperity is of a nation, and often at the expense of
individual comfort and hn[)pLncss. The cheap labor resulting
from a teeming i)()i)ulation is not ours, nor do we envy the
wealth which it may liring to a few. I only instance them to
show that great productiveness has not resulted from the till-
age of lar^e areas bv individuals, for which some of the
reasons are given above, Avhile more are to follow in the com-
parison to be adduced between Eastern and Western farming
in the United States ; for in as niuch as between ourselves
iind these old and densely populated countries, with whose
4igricultural industries \\c could scarcely hope to compete, the
fcroad seas interpose an effectual barrier, our only concern is
with the rival sections of our own countrv.

But first let us consider the question of farm-labor, which,
though it offers problems theoretically most difficult of solu-
tion, yet, as will readily appear, practically settles itself.

In New England, and the older portions of the West, the
manufacturing population is centered in cities ; and the more
remote agricultural districts, in which the fertility of soil even
originally good has been exhausted with but limited power of
renewal, Avill no longer support the natural increase of popu-
lation. . Cajiital, as represented by the value of land, remains
stationary; labor is over abundant, and hence under paid.
But a remedy more than equal to the difficulty is found in a
widely diffused taste for city life, that leads our boys away
from the farm, and makes the time they are compelled to stay
seem almost a hardship ; so" that, as in a similar instance be-
fore cited, it may even happen that those remaining are so
few as to alter the balance in favor of home labor.

To go beyond the mere laborer, let us take the case of the
young man who, Avith little or no capital, but plenty of energy
and })luck, has decided to go where land is rich and abundant.
Such is a common type of the Western pioneer. To go where
land is still to be obtained at government prices, the settler
must go far beyond the region of cities. For an habitation
lie hollows out the earth, roofs the excavation with logs and
thatch, and o\cr all piles earth again. Earth covered and
earth surrounded, the first winter he may be obliged to quit
his burrow for the plains, there to obtain suljsistence by hunt-
ing buffalo. At last he is enabled to procure a few cattle ;
his fortune is begun. Is he prepared so long to endure sep-
aration from all that goes to make life pleasant to a social
being, ultimate success is well nigh certain. This is not an
exajrcerated picture. Manv a stock-farmer who can count his
herds and flocks by the hundred, thus began ; and who will
doubt that such energy and perseverance would win its way
at home.

The grand distinction between the Eastern and Western
bejrinner of farm-life, — :ind I admit its force, — is that the

9

pioneer, having once for all placed himself undfer conditions
of privation and self-denial, is compelled to stav, or suffer the
mortification of a retreat ; while the New Englander must
form and control the drift of circumstance, and from amidst
the temptations and enervating influences of advanced civili-
zation, stand forth strong and earnest in pursuit of a success
only to be earned at the "price of eternal vigilance."

I have said the pioneer must go far ; and this includes the
fact, not everywhere recognized, that the older settled portions-
of the AVest are no longer to be advantageously tilled by the
so-called skimming process. That no soil can long remain in
its natural condition while growing crops, is a self-evident
truth ; and to supply the exhausted elements of fertility, cap-
ital, is necessary. xVnd thus, it is seen that with the one ex-
ception just mentioned, of stock-raising where pasture is
common, agriculture, as much as any other pursuit, is con-
cerned with capital, which here represents not only labor but;
fertilizing power.

The amount of capital that may be profitably employed irk
working a given farm, though not a simple question is yet
roughly determined by the price of land, which depends upon
locality (all of which I shall endeavor to show farther on) ^
and thus agriculture is reduced to the same basis as any other
industry upon which capital is engaged, the pecuniary returns
depending, other things being equal, upon the amount of cap-
ital invested ; which amount is here denoted by the value of
the land employed, together with the cost of working it.

The main difficulty in the comprehension of this question
lies in the fact that a man is apt to think, because a farm is
large, that it ought to pay, no matter how little it is worth.
A small amount of money up in New Hampshire will buy a
large amount of land. Many a farm in New England is not
worth $1,200 ; and the wonder is, how, upon so little capital,
large families are maintained. The small returns of a fjirni
that, never fertile, yet for generations to come, will furnish
an humble support to the husbandman content to receive it as

10

an iiilieritaucc, returns more than commenc«iirate to the slight
value of the land, by no means necessarily discourage invest-
ment ; and to the possessor of a little means, who would be
unencumbered with the cares which attend even a successful
strife for wealth, the farms of Northern New Hampshire offer
a snug retreat.

But not in all parts of Xew England does, this stationary
condition of agriculture exist. Sections such as our own
county represents, from their nearness to large cities, receive
benefit from the very causes that work disadvantage to re-
moter regions. Here, farm-land is constantly rising in value
from the enlargement of city limits, not to mention encroach-
mants upon oui- damaia^ by city wealth in the form of
country houses, or elegant villas for summer residence. Bear-
ing in mind, then, that the small amount of capital v/hich
many of our farms represent is in itself sufficient reason for
small returns, let us consider what, if any, are the real draw-
backs to the pursuit of agriculture in New England.

One of the first questions that suggests itself is, Will not
the South and West pour in upon our markets out of the
abundance of their agricultural resources ?

For a time the very poverty of the frontier settler operates
in his favor. Content with almost anything, in the way of
luxuries which older sections from the variety of their in-
dustries can furnish in exchange for his raw material, he bears
the disadvantage which he cannot overcome, and brings into
play almost as disturbing an element as the cheap labor re-
sulting from the opposite extreme of over population. But as
year after year the tide of emigration pours in upon the
frontier, bringing with it other industries by which the wants
of civilization are suj)})lied and home markets furnished to
the agricultural community, tins source of danger to our in-
terest is lessened.

That the disadvantage under which the distant })rodueer
labors in competition with our home farmer is very great,
might sufficiently ap[)ear from the consideration of the cost

11

incurred, and waste in transportation. But a condition insep-
arable from the cultivation of large areas of cheap land is dis-
tance from local markets ; and this condition becomes doubly
unfavorable when viewed in the light of the fact already men-
tioned, that no soil can long be made to yield even a ftiir re-
turn to mere tillage. For if it is conceded to be an axiom
that a constant renewal of fertility is a necessity of continued
production, it is surely no great leap by which we come to the
conclusion, that, other things being equal, the successful con-
duct of a tillage farm depends upon the cost of manuring the
land. And it is further evident, that where population is
most dense, tliis condition is best fulfilled.

Were I asked to point out the best paying farms of this
countiT, I should seek them not where land is cheap and
agriculture conducted on a vast scale, but upon the outskirts
of some metropolis, — as for instance among the markct-
cardens about lioston, the secret of Avhose success is hidden
only by the shades of niglit, when cart-load upon cart-load,
the waste of city consumption, is conveyed back to the out-
lying farms ; and thus while the world is sleeping, is supplied,
as to a growing boy, such vitalizing gain as more than bal-
ances the daily loss. Nowhere better than in such sections
of city-surrounding country as our own county represents,
can the system of high farming be carried to perfection. The
nearness of the consumer furnishes a ready market for veg-
etable products which from their perishable nature demand
immediate consumption, while unrivaled facilities for obtain-
ing fertilizers leave a margin for profits which can scarcely
be equaled in places more remote. It must not be forgotten,
however, that such favored sections have also their disadvan-
tages. Little is the skill and capital needed profitably to raise
field crops, compared to that which can enter upon market
gardening with reasonable expectations of success.

But a comparatively small number of husbandmen, either
East or West, arc in a position to Avarrant high fiu-ming ; and

12

this brings me directly to the consideration of the question,
* ' What is the proper size of a farm ?"

Many persons are universal advocates of small farms, and
take every opportunity to establish their ease by theory and
example. For authority they arc fond of going back to the
ancient Romans, among whom agriculture was in great es-
teein, ard whose writers invariably held that a small area
thoroughly tilled, possessed every advantage over a larger
tract poorly cultivated ; a precept valuable as applying to the
husbandry of thickly settled districts, such as the region of
Rome then was.

Few would be so unwise, however, as to contend that the
stock-raiser on our Western plains ought, for the better prose-
cution of his calling, to fence in a small tract of land. Rather
let him rancre over that vast common, and watch his increas-
ing herd, paying no attention to bounds or limits. He is the
gainer, and the soil can suffer in nothing ; and herein is con-
tained a suggestion leading to a simple solution of this prob-
lem. AV"e here perceive that the kind of production, and the
amount of land to be employed are mutually dependent. But
there is jet room fjr further deduction, and, presuming same
amounts of capital, it is seen that the size of a farm, and
character as well, are determined by the distance and import-
ance of the nearest commercial centers.

This rule demands further statement and illustration. In
the degree that tillage land is cheap, and markets far, — con-
ditions which commonly co-exist, — should the farm be larger,
and devoted to that interest which calls for less expense in
cultivating. In other words, where land is cheapest, the cost
of working it should be reduced to a minimum ; and this least
cost of working is best represented by the growing of stock,
which by natural means supply their own waste ; while, on
the contrary, where land is very dear, only such an amount
of capital should remain in the land as will leave in the hands
of the possessor working capital sufficient thoroughly to till
that land ; to which an exact parallel is afforded by the mer-

chant, who in a locality favorable for trade, and therefore
commanding high rent, occupies as litt'e room at^ the proper
conduct of his business will permit ; otiierwit^e, a certain part
of his capital would be, as it were, locked uj) and therefore
useless. On the other liand, corresponding lo the stock-
raiser, is the storage dealer, who, in a place where rent is
low, is enabled with profit to furnish accom nodation for goods
at less cost than the seller can keep them on hand, and whose
gain is therefore room.

Between the two extremes represented bv the market gar-
den and the stock-farm lie means infinite in number and mi-
nute in degree; one of which is the milk-^arm, involving, as
properly conducted, the whole science of the soiling of cattle,
and the best methods of breeding for milk ; often carried on
in connection with the raising of roots and vegetables, both
for the market and for consumption upon the farm. Such is
the character of my own estate. Lying half way between
the markets of Lynn and Salem, with facilities for procuring
fertilizers at a moderate cost, I yet find It advantageous to
j)rovide for an additional supply by maintaining live stock
upon the place. For the sake of perspicuity of statement, I
may say that the part of my farm devoted to the })roduction
of milk receives its renewal of fertility from tlie dozen head
of cattle in my barn, aided by the necessary complement of
swine ; Avhile the waste resulting from the growth of market-
able produce is supplied from the stables and barnyards of the
city. In order to preserve the equilibrium of fertility through-
cut the sixty acres of arable land contained in the fiirm, it is
further necessary so to change the location of the vegetable
garden year by year, that in a given length of time the whole
area may have been taken up and relald to grass.

It is thus seen, that, where manure is not to be purchased
to advantage, the introduction of live stock is the only means
of preserving the fertility of the soil. Hence, according as a
farm is devoted more to garden or field crops, is it found
profitable to support a less or a larger number of live stock.

14

The farthest limit which the New Enghmder can attain in
the direction of stock-raising is tlie dairy farm ; and though
up to this point there is absokitely no reason why New En-
gland farming should not pay, and, as I have endeavored to
show, there is every evidence that it does yield a fair return
as gauged by other pursuits, — capital, skill and risk consid-
ered,— yet it is certain that beyond this we cannot go. For
the pure stock-farm, the plains of the Far West offer their
vast extent of common, with climate so mild as often to ren-
der useless the labor of the herdsman in providing winter's
Ibod or shelter. It may prove that under the influence of
those fertile fields and sunny pastures, live stock will degen-
erate,— that the rugged hills and severer climate of New En-
gland are better fitted to maintain the vigor of the j^arent
stock. Be this as it may, the greater price of less fertile
pasture and the long wintering far more than counterbalance
any advantage that could ])ossibly be derived from nearness to
markets ; and the New England farmer has done well to
abandon all effort to make stock-raising generally profitable.

Upon the methods and uses which now obtain in the variq^us
branches of husbandry, it is scarcely the province of a gen-
eral essay to enter ; and especially Avith regard to details of
observation or ex})eriment, such an effort could lead to no
satisfactory result. Indeed, it is chiefly owing to a desire on
the part of many agricultural writers, from the narrow basis
of their own experience, to establish rules for general prac-
tice, that a contemj)t for so called book-farming has sprung
up among practical agriculturalists. Not altogether is the
writer to be blamed. To be carried away with theories which
owe their birth to one's intellectual travail, is the most natural
thing in the world ; and the learner seeking for truth, ought
to take into consideration this enthusiasm of a writer over his
own productions and weigh each statement as gold of sus-
pected coinage. The results of experiments are seldom wil-
fully misstated, no matter how blindly truth and O'ror are
confounded in deduction ; so that an impartial investigation

15

can scarcely fail to afford information of value to the in-
quirer.

It is tlien tlie part of the intelligent farmer to encourage
every honest attempt in the way of agricultural literature ;
and especially ought he to consider the claim to his regard of
its chief author and promulgator, the so-called fancy farmer,
of -whom it is safe to say, that from no class of agriculturalists
are we to look for better thinfjs.

As the history of invention too plainly shows, the greatest
contributors to the progress of the arts and sciences are not
the men who make their calling pay. Here we farmers have
among us nien, for the most part representing wealth, intel-
ligence, and a love for the pursuit, who are continually en-
gaged in experiments, the substantial benefits of which, if any
arise, are sure to be ours. They interfere not with our
markets, they stop for no (Minsiderution of self-interest, save
perhaps the single desire of being appreciated, which desire
we are too slow to gratify.

Let us then listen to no more sneers at the fancy farmer
and his calling. Ilathev, as we pull up the stakes of ignorant
conservatism, and fall into the line which f^reat industries are
continually forming for the march of improvement, let us
gladly accept and duly prize their proffered service, who,
though liable to err in council, are yet faithful and Avilling
guides.

But not beyond the proper scope of this essay, lies the dis-
cussion of facts or principles which are capable of exact
statement, or thorough demonstration as to truth.

Such is not the relative or absolute value of commercial
fertilizers, nor the efficacy of top-dressing; which last, how-
ever, as applied to certain soils, is commonly admitted. Of
the former, though there is no general substitute for the
natural manures, yet where, as in the forcing gardens of Ar-
lington, the cost of any fertilizer is outweighed by the most
trifling advantage secured by its aid, the manures of com-
merce are no doubt successfully employed.

I now pass to a subject, a full consideration of which would
involve the whole science of agriculture, properly so called,
but which is nevertheless in its main points capable of concise
statement. I refer to the rotation of crops. To begin with
the simplest proposition, it is self-evident, that, besides the
elements of growth contained in air and water, a vegetable
substance is made u]) from constituents of the soil. Chem-
htry shows us what these elements are, and in what propor-
tion they occur in different forms of vegetable life. It re-
mains then to ascertain what elements a given soil contains,
and in what proportion, and we are ready to apply our prin-
ciple. Let the elements of fertility contained in a given soil
be represented by the letters A, B, C We plant, for in-
•stance, a vegetable which contains the same elements as arc
represented by C. The original soil contains A, plus B, plus
C. At the end of the year a certain amount of C is appro-
j)riated ; and by the same process repeated a i'cw successive
years C becomes exhausted.

It is evident, as the vegetable produced contains only C,
that A and B still remain in the soil. Then take another
vegetable, the constituents of which are represented by B.
That the })roduct which called for the elements of fertility
denoted by C can no longer be grown is no reason why a croj)
irequiring B will not turn out as well as did the former the
first season. And so we might go on until the sum total of
the fertilizing elements denoted by A, B and C is exhausted,
and the soil is, in common phrase, run out. It is thus seen
that under the conditions here supposed, a succession of equal-
ly good crops is grown upon the same land, without any ad-
dition of fertility.

The vast economy effected in the productiveness of a given
piece of ground, by the observance of this rule, becomes ap-
parent upon the most cursory view. Old time farming saw
the necessity of fallowing where soil had ceased to be produc-
tive of a given crop ; and this constant lying idle of some
part of tlie land is in reality just to what the neglect of the

17

principles of rotation leads to-day, IMany a farmer, year
after year, by preparing the same land for the same crop with
an occasional fallowing, goes on piling up wealth of fertilizing
power, perhaps only to be utilized by his more enlightened

successor.

Simple, however, as is this underlying principle of the ro-
tation of crops, it suggests problems most difficult of solution.
It is easy to say, given the relative amount of fertilizing
agents contained in a certain soil, determine the kind of pro-
duction to which it is adapted ; but it is not so easy to ascer-
tain either the elements contained, or the best combination of
those elements, to forward as well as to insure vegetable
"•rowth. We all know that diiferent forms of food which
contain about the same elements of nutrition, are different in
their effects upon the luuuan system, and the same seems to
•obtain of vegetable life, especially Avith regard to the stimu-
lating qualities of certain manures. And it is upon this
ground alone, as f have before hinted, that the efficacy of the
manures of commerce may be established as affording that
■concentration with which is associated stimulating power.

Again it is found that a stated crop does not follow in ro-
tation, with the same result, all crops to which it bears the
same chemical relation.

But to turn from the complexities which the refinements of
agriculture open to our view, the most mai'ked effects of the
workings of this great principle are to be observed in the
crudest attempts at tilling the soil, and it is to nature herself
that we look to behold the most striking instance of the law,
that when there is no artificial renewal of fertility change
becomes a necessity of long continued growth. Witness the
ever-green forest, which once leveled by the Avoodman's ax,
turns, or may it not be, returns to a deciduous growth.

The estimation in which any pursuit has been held in dif-
ferent countries at diflferent eras, has been founded not neces-
sarily upon its usefulness, nor even upon the kind or quality
of labor or ex^ertaon demaji-ded in its prosecution, but has been
2

18

determinecl by the character of tlie men who hiivc been en-
gaged in it, whether by clioice, or it may be from tlie neces-
sity of the times.

I have said before that agricnhure was held in the highest
repute amongst the ancient Romans, whose writers loved to
tell how great generals, summoned to take command in the
crifses of the nation, Avere to be found at the plougli and in
the simple garb of the husbandman. Cincinnatus called to
the dictatorship, Cato tlie censor, are instances familiar to the
classical reader.

But it is evident that the crude agriculture of the time could
afford little scope for anything but mere physical effort, and
that the dignity of its position was owing to the fact that
o-reat men were accustomed to take ui) the business of hus-
bandry when the management of affairs of state, their true
calling, iio longer required their undivided attention. In ex-
act accordance with the foregoing is the decline of agricul-
ture, when at a later day farms were let out, to a class of
Roman citizens whose condition was but a slight remove
from that of the slave.

Where in the advance of civilization the cultivatii)n of the
arts of peace has become of paramount consideration, though
it is true that the nature of a given pursuit will sooner or
later modify or even mould the character of its devotees, it
nevertheless plainly appears that by the ability devoted to its
interests is measured not only the progress of an industry,
but the estimation in which it is held before the world.

Thus it is that mercantile business in this country has at-
tained a repute hardly equaled by pursuits immeasurably su-
perior in all that pertains to individual manhood. Is that the
hio^hest callins: an exclusive devotion to which tends to make
money won, or money lost, happiness or despair? To what
then is this pre-eminence of mercantile pursuits owing, but to
the fact that our merchants have shown themselves great in
the ability and indomitable energy by which they ha\e acquir-

19

ed wealth for themselved, and for tlieir country a proud name
among nations.

But the lustre which the light of favoring circumstance
lends, time will dim. In this age of acute investigation, no
calling can long stand upon a basis other than its intrinsic
worth ; and it is in the general diffusion of knowledge on sub-
jects such as the relation of a given employment to individual
advancement, that the surest means are found for the removal
of existing misapprehension as to the relative dignity of the
various pursuits.

In an article entitled "The Building of a Brain," lately read
before the National Educational Convention at Detroit, by Dr.
E. H. Clarke, is contained the following: — "Every physiolo-
gist knows that one-sided development is possible, and may
be artificially attained. The athlete may develope his muscle,
the glutton his stomach, and the sensualist his poAver, at the
expense of the brain ; and conversely the brain may be de-
veloped at the expense of muscle, stomach and reproductive
force. And this inharmonious growth may be carried so far,
by dwarfing more or less of the organization, as to produce
what Physiology calls monstrous brains, stomachs, and the
like : that is monstrosities which by a beneficent law of na-
ture cannot perpetuate themselves." It is said also, "Xo per-
fect brain ever crowns an imperfect body. The brain must
be built in connection with the rest of the body, remember-
ing constantly that the imperfections of the latter reflect them-
selves upon the former."

This last appears to me to afford a standard by which the
different pursuits may be justly compared ; and it accordingly
follows that the highest calling is that Avhich leads to the
greatest uniform development of the various faculties both
physical and mental. Without going beyond his proper
sphere, the farmer may possess the scientific knowledge of
the chemist, the business qapacity of the merchant, the prac-
tical hand of the mechanic, and Avithal a fair endowment of

20

.common sense, whereby to turn to practical use the results of
educational training.

Estimated then by the above criterion, what pursuit can
^•ompare with agriculture? and what nobler end can be at-
tained by any calling than the preservation and advancement
of the human race ! For that such ia the true significance of
this uniform development, a glance at our city families will
prove beyond a doubt. It will show that ease and luxury
weaken the bodily powers, and leave each generation fewer
in number, and less vigorous than its predecessor.

But whence the constant tide of life that bears all before it,
and admits no apprehension lest it should recede, and leave
the city stranded? .It comes from the great families of our
sturdy farming community.

In closing, I Avould revert once more to the poverty of New
Enf^land farms situated far from commercial centers. I have
said this state of things is no real drawback to investment,
and that it is rather a matter of surprise that such small
iimounts of capital as they represent, can be made to support
so many people as are found among our hills.

The one way to change all this is to raise up other indus-
tries in our midst, that shall bring markets nearer, and thus
afford increased facilities, both for the production and dis-
posal of crops.

But, my friends, the wealth and pomp of circumstance tliat
would thus become ours, we should dearly purchase. To
Mhat, think you, is the noble character New England's sons
have ever borne, chiefly owing? — their strong principles, their
thrift, their industry, and the unflincliing determination that
overcomes all obstacles and places them in the first rank of
every industrial or professional department, — to Avhat is all
this chiefly owing but to the early training which a life upon
those hills alone can furnish.

AVhat better preparation for the hard onward struggle of
manhood, than the diflSculties Avhich the youth is there taught
^o surmount? Far from the luxuries which enervate, re-

21

moved from the influences which contaminate, rugged from"
strengthening toil, earnest from realities of life, yet softened
by the shelter of home and purified by its love, wdiere can
we hope better to nourish the germ of manhood ?

What wonder that New England farms cannot furnisli
sufficient scope to such, — their sons ! Let then the farmer's
boy go to the city : he will be welcome, as he is needed.
But whatever his prosperity, let him preserve in grateful
recollection the old homestead where were given the early
lessons that formed the ground-work of his success.

But the farmer's boy who stays at home yields to no hard
necessity. His gains, though small, are certain ; and his
life, though uneventful, is like the clear stream which re-
flects upon its placid surface the simple beauty of its course.

And not without deepest import is the quiet routine of
farm life. It is not alone the rushing, surf-capped billow
that forms the ocean. True, it bears the ship, but is itself
borne up from silent depths below. And thus it is behind
the new generations of farm-raised boys ever coming to feed
the eternal fever of city life, that we must look to find the
true well-spring of vigor to the country.

To the farmer's boy who stays at home all honor ! for he is
none other than the future representative and preserver of th<^
old New England stock.

22

THE EXHIBITION.

The Fifty-Fourth Annvial Cattle Show and Exhibition was
"lield at Danvers, September 29th and 30th, 1874.

The show of stock, poultry, &c., was very large, and the
exhibition in the hall, especially of fruits and vegetables, was
never excelled by this Society.

His Honor, Lieut. Gov. Talbot, and other distinguished
gentlemen were present.

The following: entries were made :

Horses and colts.

119

animals.

Cattle — working oxen,

17

yokes.

Town teams.

20

a

Bulls, milch cows, heifers, &c.,

82

animals.

Steers, ....

5

pairs.

Fat cattle.

6

i i

Sheep and Swine,

75

i (

Poultry, ....

117

coops.

Agricultural implements,

10 entries.

Ploughing teams,

19

Carriages,

7

Articles manufactured from leather

7

Bread and honey,

30

Flowers, ....

01

Counterpanes and Rugs,

40

Fancy Avork, &c..

144

Manufactures and general mer-

chandise, . . . .

17

Pears, ....

113

" 410 plates.

Apples, ....

140

" 520 "

Grapes and j)eaches, .

12

" 52 "

Vegetables, . . . .

2G0

CHAS. P

PRESTOX, Secretary.

23

REPORTS, &C.

FAT CATTLE.

The Committee award as follows :

Joseph Kittredge, North Andover, 1st 2)remlum, $12.

C. P. Mighill, Rowley, 2d premium, $10; do. do., 3d
premium, $t3.

Committee — Albert Titcoinb, G. AV. Herrick, Jonathan
Chapman.

BULLS.

The Committee on Bulls woidd report :

The number of Bulls of various breeds Mas quite large and
the quality was very superior. For many years there has not
been so good an exhibition of these animals in the county,
and your committee congratulate the farmers upon the mani-
festly increasing interest in cattle-breeding, and on the wise
policy they have adopted of selecting males of a high standard.
It is nnusual for us to find at our exhibition, a valuable young
Shorthorn, several first class Ayrshires, and numerous excel-
lent Jerseys, all so good as to perplex the committee in their
judgment, as was the case nt this time. It has been no easy
task to award the premiums ; but the committee have carefully
considered the points of the animals submitted to them, their
age, and the length of time during which they might be use-
ful for breeding purposes ; and with regard to the last con-
sideration they have, other things been equal, given the pref-
erence to the younger bulls. The Jersey Bulls, for iustance,

24

of Mr. Henry Saltonstall and ^Mr. T. W. Pierce, were much
admired for their shape and quality. Better animals are rare-
ly seen ; and the committee would commend them highly to
breeders of this stock. It is only on account of their age
that the younger animals were considered to come more
directly within the encouragement of the Society.

The Committee award the following premiums for bulls,
two years old and upwards :

AYRSHIRE S.

To J. D. W. French, of North Andover, for his bull Fitz
James, the first premium, $12.00.

To Nathan P. Proctor, of Danvers, for his bull, the second
premium, $6.00.

.JERSEYS.

To G. W. Russell, of Lawrence, for his bull, the first
premium, $12.00,

To John Swinerton, of Danvers, for his bull, the second
pi'cmium, $6.00.

For Bulls under two years old :

To Henry Saltonstall, of Lynnfield, for his yearling Jersey
Bull, the first premium. $6.00.

To W. J. Dale, Jr., of North Andover, for his yearling
.Jersey Bull, the second premium, $3.00.

SHORTHORNS.

To E. T. Northeud, of Newburyport, for his 3^earling BulU
Essex, the first premium, $6.00.

DEVONS TWO YEARS OLD AM) UPWARDS.

To C. S. Bradley, of West Newbury, for his Devon Bull,
the first premium, $12.00.

To Samuel C. Cook, of Wenham, for his Devon Bull, the
second ])remiuin, $6.00.

DUTCH — TWO VEAi;S OLD AM) Ul'WAUDS.

To Joseph II. Ivnight, of Newburyport, foi- his Dutch Bull,
tlie first premunu, $12.00.

25

To A. Knowlton, of Essex, for his Dutch Bull, the second
premium, $6.00.

For the best thoroughbred bull of any age or breed, with
five calves of his stock, not less than one year old :

To J. D. AV. French, of North Andover, $20.00.

To Volney C. Stone, of Salem, $10.00.

Committee — Geo. B. Loring, chairman ; A. B. Fellows, P.
T. Winkley, William H. Felton, Mark F. HilK

MILCH COWS.

FOREIGN, NATIVE OR GRADE.

H. G. Herrick, Lawrence, first premium, $18.00.
Henry Saltonstall, Peabody, second premium, $12.00.
J. D. W. French, North Andover, third premium, $6.00..

AYRSHIRE.

J. D. W. French, North Andover, first premium, $12.00..
B. P. Ware, Marblehead, second premium, $6.00.

JERSEY.

Henry Saltonstall, Peabody, first premium, $12.00.
G. W. Rogers, Peabody, second premium, $6.00.

NATIVE OR GRADE.

Eben G. Berry, Danvers, first premium, $12.00.
Committee — H. G. Kimball, Elias Andrews, Z. C. Ward-
well, John L. Shorev.

STATEMENT OF II. G. HERRICK.

1 Milch Cow. Grade, Jersey and Shorthorn ; 5 years old;
dropped last calf April 1, 1874; will calve in March, 1875.
Feed, English hay and 2 quarts of meal and 0 quarts of

2G

shorts, or brewers' grains, per day ; April and Mav man-
golds ; parts of June and July at grass.
She gave in April 1388 lbs. milk.
" " May 145o "

'' " June 1440 "

" July 1317
" " Aug. 1175 " Giving in 5 mos. 677(1 lbs.

28 days in Sept. S56 "
1st 10 days in June, 501 lbs.
Ist 10 days in Aug., 371 lbs.
The 5th day of June she gave 57 lbs.

STATE31EXT OF HENRY SALTONSTALL.

HocKWOOD, West Peabody, Sept. 29, 1874.

Charles; P. Preston, Esq., Secretary Essex Agricultural
Society :

Sir : — I enter for premium in the class of " Thoroughbred
Jersey Cows, 4 years old and upwards," my imjjorted Jersey
cows, "Diamond" and "Snowdrop," numbers 570 and 569
in the American Jersey Cattle Club Herd Register.

" Diamond " was 8 years old last July, and has been owned
by me since importation in 1866. She was bred by John P.
Marett, one of the best breeders in tlie Island of Jersey, and
was specially selected and imported for me. She has always
J)een an excellent milker and a good breeder, never having
dropped an ordinary calf. Her time of calving, September
24, 1874, has prevented the record of her milk being kept as
required by the Society, she being dry the last 10 days of
August. Her previous calf was born August 5, 1873, and
the last 10 days of that montli she gave on pasture feed alone
18 quarts of milk a day. The first 10 days of June, 1874,
she gave on pasture fcc<I alone 4 quarts of milk a day. Seven
quarts of her milk will make a pound of butter.

"Snowdrop" will be 6 years old October 17 next. She

27

was sired bv a prize bull in the Island of Jersey. Her last
calf was dropped April 30, 1874, and she is due to calve
again April 30, 1875. Her milk record is as follows, in
pounds :

June 1
2

3
4

Morning
204
19
19
19
20
19
19
18i
18
19

Evening.
20
20
21
23
20i
20
20i
20
22
21

Total.

m

39
40
41

m

39

m

384

40

40

Aug. 25,
26,
27,
28,
29,
30,
31,
1,
2,

Sept

Morning.
15
144
144
14
144
15
144
15
15
144

Evening.
144
144
144
14
14
14
15
Hi
14
15

144

Total.
294
29
29
28
284
29
294
294
29
29i

Totallbs. 191 207 398 1464 144 2904

Her feed in June was grass onl}'. In August and Sep-
tember, the pasture being dry, she had a pint of corn meal
and a quart of shorts twice a day. Taking the mean of the
two trials above for the average of the whole time, her yield
for three months was 34 4-10 pounds, or over 16 quarts a
day. G 1-2 quarts of lier milk will make a pound of butter.
Taking into consideration the quantity and quality of her
milk, on light feed, I offer " Snowdrop " for the premium
"for the best milch cow."

I also offer for exhibition, her age preventing her from
competing for premium, my High Grade Jersey Cow,
"Sibyl," 13-1(3 Jersey, 3-16 Ayrshire, dropped March
16, 1850, now 15 1-2 years old. Her pedigree is as follows :
" Flora " was a very celebrated cow, her yield of milk and
butter being noted in more than one Rej^ort of the Massa-
chusetts State Board of Agriculture.
Colonel — Countess,

IMajor — Flora , Typhoon — Sylph ,

Dick Swiveller, Gipsey,

Sibyl.

Colonel, Countess, Flora and Typhoon, were Jerseys, im-

28

ported by Thomas Motley, Esq. Sylph was a 3-4 Ayrshire.
Sibyl calved June 4, 1874, and is due to calve again May 11,
1875. Her milk record for this year is as follows, in pounds ;

Morn.

Eveii'g.

Total.

Morn.

Even'g.

Total.

June 15,

17

29

37

Aug. 25,

IS

IS

36

16,

17

21

38

26,

18

184

364

17,

17

21

38

27

184

19

374

18,

17i

20

37i

28,

18

19

37

19,

18

20

38

29,

184

19

374

20,

18

m

37i

30,

19

19

38

21,

18

21

30

31.

I'J

19

38

22,

18i

21i

40

Sept. 1,

20

20

40

23,

18i

2U

40

2

20

194

394

24,

18

19i

374

3,

19

194

354

Total lbs.

17Ti

205

3824

188

1904

3784

Her feed in June was grass alone. In August and Sep-
tember, the pasture being dry, she had 1 quart of corn meal
and 1 quart of shorts twice a day.

The above record shows an average yield of 38 pounds, or
nearly 18 quarts of milk a day for 3 months. It has always
been very difficult to dry this cow for a few days at a time
each year, and some years she could not be dried at all. Un-
til after she was 12 years old she could not be fed with any
'>-rain — the increased pressure of milk bringing on inflamma-
tion of the bag in a few days.

In the year 1868, being then 0 years old, she calved April
7. Her milk was regularly weighed from that date to April
7, 1869. The result was a total yield of 13,065 pounds, or
more than 6 1-2 tons, or about 17 1-2 times her own weight

29

of milk in twelve iiKintli^.
lows :

The detailed statement is as fol-

April 7 to June 1, ISd.S,

June, "

July,

August, "

Sept'r, "

Oct'r,

Xov'r, "

Decemb'r, '•

Jan'y, 1869,

Feb'y,

March, "
April 1 to April 7, 186!),

Her greatest yield was 60 pounds a day, for several days,
and the average as 35 8-10 pounds, or say 17 quarts a day,
for the whole 365 da vs.

I>avs.

54
30
31
31

30
31
30
31
31
28
31
7

Ll.

]>fr (lav.

55
4it
41
39
34
32
30
28
27
23
21
20

Total ]U.

2970

1470

1364

1209

1020

992

900

868

837

644

651

140

STATEMENTS OF J. ]). AV. FKEIsCII.

To THE Committee ox ]Milcii Cows :

I enter my Ayrshire cow, "Roxanna," 1816, Ayrshire Herd

Book, (Dam, Rose, 743 — Sire, McDonald, 3d, 263,) for the

premium for the best Ayrshire cow, 4 years old and up"\vards.

Record of milk, feed, &c., will be found on accompanying

• paper.

I have also entered the following Ayrshire cows, which
have been unable to comply Avith the rule, as to the time of
vyeighing milk, on account of their time of calving :

"Dolly," 342. Calved April 13, 1864. 10 years old.
(Sire, Harold, 149 — Dam, Jean Armom*, 91.) She dropped
her last calf July 31. Began to Aveigli her milk August 5,
and in 27 days up to September 1, she gave 934 1-2 pounds
of milk, on pasture, and a little green fodder at night the last

30

of August. She gave last September, after calving, 'ii qts.
j)er day.

"Jennie Gray," 477. Calved February 16, 1867. 7 years
old. (Sire, Duncan, 161 — Dam, Rosa, 186.) She dropped
her last calf August 31.

I enter my Ayrshire cow, "Roxanna, 1816, A. II. B.
Calved April 10, 1870, thus 4 years old last April, and bred
by me, for the premium for the best Milch Cow of any breed,
with satisfectory evidence as to milk, manner of feeding, &c.

"Roxanna" dropped a bull calf (her second calf) Decem-
ber 23, 1873. On the 24th I began to weigh her milk, and
since then have weighed it daily.

RECORD OF MILK,

Dvu-ing

the

remainder

of Decembei

? •

. 259 1-2 lbs.

((

January,

1874,

. . 1047 1-2

i (

((

February,

. 853 1-2

i

i(

]VIarch,

. 891

<(

April,

. 768 3-4

a

:May,

. 765

a

June,

. 787 3-4 <

i <

July,

. 789 1-2 '

((

August,

. 698 1-2 <

6861 lbs.

Taking 2.15 as the standard weight of 1 quart of milk,
6861 lbs.=3191.11 qts., or 12.71 qts. per day for 251 days.
During the first ten days in June she gave 257 1-2 lbs. of
milk. During the last ten days of August, 223 3-4 lbs.
Time of next calving, February 23d, 1875.

During the winter she was fed good hay morning and after-
noon, (with a baiting of poor hay at noon,) 1 quart of meal
and 1 peck of mangolds per day.

After turning out to grass the last of iNIay, she received
nothing in addition to the pasture until the last of August,
when some green fodder was given. Her weight is 830 lbs.

31

STATEMENT OF BENJ. P. WAllE.

I offer for premium my thoroughbred Ayrshire cow, " Mib'*
Mavis, 4th," born August 25, 18G9, whose dam was Miss
Mavis, 3d, grand dam was IMiss Mavis, she imported by
Sanford Howard, Esq., for the Massachusetts Society for tlie
Promotion of Agriculture ; sire Ducet, bred by George B.
Loring, (see lierd book,) he by Johnnie 34, dam Posey 120,
he by Essex 22, dam Star 120.

Her feed during the summer has been grass and corn fod-
der, in the barn in the forenoon, and pasture in the after-
noon,— she has had no grain, or other feed. She calved last
15th of June, and will calve next May 13th.

Slie gave, August 22, Morning 14 lbs. 6 oz. Evening 13 ll).s. 0 oz. Milk.

28,

13

"

6

(•

12 '

' G

24,

1:3

f I

2

'•

12 '

' 2

2,", '

1.",

'•

<;

12 " 6

2(;, '

13

'•

0

'•

14 '

' 2

27,

12

11

2

•'

13 '

' C

28,

13

((

2

u

13 •

< 2

2t).

13

"

0

'•

13 '

' 2

:50, '

13

((

6

13 '

' 0

SI,

' 13

a

2

13 •

' 6

STATEMENT OF

E.

G.

BEKRY,

I present ior premium one grade Dutch and Ayrshire, six
year old cow. Quantity "of milk during first ten days of
June, 184 quarts, and the last ten days of August 153 cpiarts.

Owing to alteration of street the entire length of my farm,
I was obliged to tether her for pasturage. Extra feed, 2 qts.
of meal per day.

HEIFERS.

J. D. AV. French, North Andover, Ayrshire iu milk, 1st
premium, $12.

3'2

J. D. AV. French, North Andover, Ayrshire in niilk, under
^ years old, 1st premium, $o.

J. D. W. French, North Andover, Ayrshire in milk, under
3 years old, 2d premium, $4.

B. P. Ware, Marblehead, Ayrshire calf 4 months old, 1st
premium, $5.

J. D. W. French, North Andover, Ayrshire calf 4 weeks
old, 2d premium, $3.

Francis Dane, Hamilton, Jersey heifer, 1st premium, $G.

Henry Saltonstall, Peabody, Jersey heifer, 2d premium, $4.

Charles S. Bradley, West Newbmy, Devon heifer, 1st
premium, $(>.

Charles S. Bradley West Newbury, Devon heifer, 2d
premium, $4.

E. T. Northend, Newburyport, Short Horn heifer in milk,
1st premium, $12.

E. T. Northend, Newburyport, Short Horn heifer in milk,
2d premium, $G.

Chai'les J. Peabody, Topsfield, Grade heifer in milk, 1st
premium, $12.

Albert W. Dodge, Hamilton, Grade heifer, 1st prem., $G.

Volney C. Stowe, Salem, Grade heifer, 2d premium, $4.

Committee — A. C. Estes, T. K. Allen, Charles Perley, Al-
vin Smith.

STATEMENT OF J. I). W. FKEXCJI.

To THE Committee ox Heifers :

I enter my heifer, " Dolly 3d," for the premium for the best
Ayrshire, under 4 years, in milk. "Dolly 3d" was calved
June 10th, 1871. Dam " Dolly," 342 ; sire "Brewster," 102.
She dropped her first calf October 0th, 1873, and is due to
calve again October 25th, 1874.

For the jiremiums for heifers, 1 year old and upwards, that
have never calved, I enter the following Ayrshires :

1. "Rose McDonald,"— calved September 2Gth, 1872—

33

2 years old. Sire Fltz James, 550 ; Dam Nellie McDonald
2d, 658.

2. "Rhoda,"— calved Jamiary 12th, 1873,-1 year old
Sire Fitz James, 550 ; Dam Koxanna, 1816.

3. " Primala,"— calved May 18th, 1873,-1 year old.
Sire Fitz James, 550; Dam Primrose, 711.

4. "Jennie Gray," — calved September 26th, 1873, — 1
year old. Sire Fitz James, 550 ; Dam Jennie Gray, 477.

5. "Tea Rose," — calved July ISth, 1872. Sire Fitz
James, 550 ; Dam Rose, 743.

CALVES.

I also enter the Ayrshire heifer calf, "Jennie Gray 4th," —
calved August 31^t, — Sire Fitz James, 550 ; Dam Jennie
Gray, 477 — for the j^remium for best lieifer calf, thorough-
bred .

.STATEMEXT OF liKXJ. P. AVARE.

Marblehead, Sept. 29, 1874.
I oifer for premium my thoroughbred Ayrshire calf. Miss
Mavis 5th, born May 30, 1874. Her dam was Miss Mavis
3d, grand dam was Miss Mavis, imported by Sanford How-
ard, Esq., for the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of
Agriculture. Sire, General Red and White, born August 1,
1861, bred by Dr. George B. Loring, his sire, Cabott, 111,
<lam, Jessie, 107. This calf never sucked. Fed with moth-
er's milk for two weeks, then tied out to grass, and fed with
skimmed milk twice per day since.

STATEJVIENT OF FRANCIS DANE.

Hamilton, Sept. 28, 1874.

To COMINUTTEE ON HeIFERS :

Gentlemen: — I enter for premium two Jersey Heifers-
"' Blanche" and "Nora."

34

"Blanche'^ dropped February 14, 1873. Dam Jennie 2tTj.
Sire Prince Albert.

"Nora" dropped Xovember 13, 1873. Dam Minnie 2(1^
Sire Prince Albert.

"For further pedigree, see Herd Eegister for 1871."

8TATE3IENT OF HENRY SALTON8TALL.

IvOCKwooD, West Peabody, }
September 29, 1874. I
Charles P. Preston, Esq., Secretary Es.sex Agricultural
Society ;

Sir: — I enter for premium in tlie class of " Thorouglibre(J
Jersey Heifers, one year old and upwards, that have never
calved," my thoroughbred Jersey Heifer "Sunshine 2d," 2'
years old September 17, Xo. 284G in the American Jersey
Cattle Club Plerd Register, and due to calve February 25,.
1875, by m.y tlioroughbred eJerse}^ Bull "Champion," No.
1109.

This heifer is by my impoi-ted Bull " Jack Plorner," fron»
my Cow "Sunshine," No. 944 ; she from my imported "Dia-
mond," No. 570, by the imported (Prize Bull of the Island
of Jersey) "John Le Bas," No. 318. Sunshine died from
milk fever at the birth of her second calf (Shadow), but 12*
months from the day she dropped her first calf (Sunshine 2d)-
she gave 7 quarts of milk, yielding 23 1-2 per cent, of eream^

This heifer is the picture of her dam, and from her marks
and ancestiy should be as good a cow.

I also enter for premium in the class of " Thoroughbred
Jersey Calves, under one year old," my calf "Shadow," 10
months old September 3d, from " Sunshine," No. 944, above
mentioned, by my imported Jersey Bull "Jack Horner.^
Shadow is entered as No, 3528 in the Herd Register of the
American Jersey Cattle Club.

I also enter for premium in the class of " Grade Heifers,
one year old and upwai-ds, that have never calved," my Higls
Grade Jersey Heifer "Sibyl 2d." 29-32 Jersey, 3-32 Ayr-

;^.3

shire, 15 months old September 7, by my imported Bull
''Jack Horner," from my Cow "Sibyl," whose record, de-
tailed in my report to the Committee on Milch Cows, shows
a yield from June 15 to September 3, 1874, when 15 years
old, of 18 quarts a day ; and for the year from xVpril 7,
18G8, to April 7, 18G5?', of 13,0G5 pounds, (or 6 1-2 tons,)
an average of 17 quarts of milk a day for the whole year.

Sibyl 2d is due to calve May 31, 1875, by my thorough-
bred Jersey Bull, "Champion."

STATEMENT OF C. J. TEABODY.

To THE Committee ox Heifers :

Gentlemen: — I enter for premium my Heifer "Blossy."
She was three years old in May last, is Grade Ayrshire, was
i-aised by me from a Native cow of great milking qualities,
and sired by an Ayrshire bull. She dropped her first calf in
June, 1873 ; calved again May 20, 1874 ; will next calve
April 12, 1875. Her keeping has been good pasture through
the season from the time of calving till June 20, one quart of
meal per day; after August 15, one feed of corn fodder per
day, and since September 1st, one feed of potatoes daily in
addition.

Quantity of milk per day for the first ten days of June,
and last ten days of August, in pounds, as follows :

June

1

, 22 1-2

pounds.

August 22,

19

pounds.

2

, 23

23,

19

( i

3

, 24

n

24,

19

k i

4

24

i

25,

18

i i

5

, 22

^^,

19

'•

i\

25

27,

19

i (

7

25

28,

19

( (

8

25

29,

19

t(

9

24

30,

19

( (

10

20

pou

31,

19

i (

240

nds.

189

pounds.

8G

1 also enter one yearling heifer, " Gipsey." She was one
year old the 22d of April last, is half Jersey, if not more ;
has had no extra keeping whatever.

TorsFiELi), September 28, 1874.

WORKING OXEN.

James M. Perry, Danvers, 1st premium, $15.
Ariel H. Gould, Topsfield, 2d premium, $12.
Dr. Shreve and R. Price, Topsfield, 3d premium, $10.
AVilllam G. Horton, Ipswich, best teamster of oxen, the
Loring premium, $10.

Wm. B. Carlton, Cliairman.

TOWN TEAMS.

The Committee on Town Teams report that they were
much surprised to find that five entries for premium had been
made — two ox teams, and three horse teams. Both ox teams
were promptly on the ground, but owing probably to the
heavy rain, one of the horse teams failed to put in an appear-
ance* The stock in both ox teams was of superior quality,
and each team had points of such excellence that the Com-
mittee found it very difficult to decide Avhich was on the whole
the best.

Exactly the same difliculty was found upon inspection of
the horse teams. Had the day been fine, the display of horse
and ox teams, in point of quality and numbers would have
been probably far the best of any ever witnessed in this Coun-
ty, and hard to be excelled. The Committee think that al-
though but two premiums were offered, each of the four
competing teams deserved one, and that it was a mistake for
the Society to offer but one premium for each class of Town

37

Teams. We suppose, however, this oversight arose from the
fact that heretofore this number of premiums has not been ex-
ceeded by the number of competitors.

The Committee recommend a division of the premiums as
follows :

To the Topsfleld ox team — 18 pairs, $20.

To the North Andover ox team — 10 pairs, |10.

To the Danvers horse team, $20.

To the Essex horse team, $10.

Committee — Jos. S. Howe, Dudley Bradstreet, Sherman
Xelson.

STEERS.

The Committee on Steers have attended to that duty, and
award the following premiums :

For the best pair of 3 year olds, to J. Kittredge, of North
Andover, the 1st premium of $8.

For the best pair of 2 year olds, to Romulus Jaques, of
West Newbury, the 1st premium of $0.

To J. Kittredge, of North Andover, the 2d premium off.").

To Ct. W. Russell, of Lawrence, for his 1 year old Jerseys, -
the 2d premium of $4.

Committee — Aaron Low, A. T. Newhall, C. K. Ordway^
C. J. Peabodv. Wm. Howe Burnhani.

STALLIONS.

The Connnittee on Stallions have awarded the premiums
as follows, viz :

FIRST CLAfS.

O. W. Rogers, Peabody, "Scott," 1st premium, $18.
A. J. Clark, Danvers, "Mambrino Gold Seal,"' 2d premi-
um, $12.

38

Thomas Sawyer, Boxford, "Napoleon," 3d premium, $10.

Under this class S. P. Prescott shows a very fine horse.
The Committee regret very much that there was not a premi-
um they could award him ; would recommend the Society to
award a gratuity.

SECOND CLASS.

J. AV. Ti-ask, Beverly, 1st premium, $10.
C. S. Clark, Salem, 2d premium, $6.

As there was no Stallion with 5 colts of his oet, the Com-
mittee could not award the $30 premium.

Committee — J. A. Savary, S. F. Newman, W. J. Day, Jr.

BROOD marp:s.

The Committee on Brood Mares have attended to that duty,
tuid submit the following report :

The number of entries was 8. We have awarded premi-
ums as follows :

G. W. Rogers, Peabody, "Empress," 1st premium, $18.

John Gibney, Salem, 2d premium, $12.

George B. Martin, Dan vers, 3d premium, $10.

Committee — G. W. Boynton, G. W. Russell, W. J. Dale,
Jr.

FAMILY HORSES.

The Committee on Family Horses would respectfully report ;

Owing to the severe storm it was impossible to make the
examination they desired, and some of the horses were with-
drawn before the Committee could see them. One Roan
Pony, j)resented by Charles Boynton, of Gloucester, although
a very nice Pony, was considered too small to come under tlie

39

head of Family Horses. Of those presented to the Commit-
tee, they award the premiums as follows :

First premium of $18, for Bay Horse entered by Samuel
James, of Gloucester.

Second premium of $12, for Bay Mare, "Topsfield Maid,"
entered by T. W. Peirce, of Topsfield.

Third premium of $10, for Brown Horse, entered by C. C.
Cressey, of Gloucester.

Committee — S. W. Hopkinson, Eben King, Ambrose Moon.

FARM AND DRAFT HORSES.

B. P. Ware, of Marblehead, let premium, $15.

Cornelius GafFney, of Danvers, 2d premium, $12.

Orrin Putnam, of Danvers, 3d premium, $10.

J. F. Dane, of Hamilton, 4th, premium, $6.

E. P. Perley's horses were ruled out on account of being
team horses.

The horses of E. F. Knowlton and A. Knowlton were ruled
out on account of drawing in double teams.

Your Committee would have been glad to award more
premiums had they been allowed to do so, for they were the
best lot of horses we ever saw exhibited at a Cattle Show.

Committee — Moses A. Shackley, AVilliam Thurlow, David
Knowlton.

VAUiS OF DRAFT HORSES.

Edwaid H. Brown, of Gloucester, 1st premium, $15.
Herbert A. Knowlton, of Essex, 2d premium, $10.
Committee — Bennett Griffin, S. A. ^Merrill, Robert A.
Snaith, Amos Poor-

40

COLTS— FIRST CLASS.

To "Vermont Boy," 4 years old, 1st premium, $12.
.Joseph Tracy, of Salem, do. do., 2d premium, $8.
J. D. W. French, of No. Andover, do. do., 3d pi-emium, |5.
G. W. Rogers, of Peabody, 3 year old, 1st premium, $10.
John Gibney, of Salem, 2d premium, $5.
J. D. W. French, of North Andover, 3d premium, $3.

Samuel C. Oliver, Chairman,

COLTS— SECOND CLASS.

C. F. Pendergast, of Salisbury, 2 year old, 1st premium,
$8.

S. P. Prescott, of Haverhill, do. do., 2d premium, $3.
Emerson Whipple, of Hamilton, yearling, 1st premium, $8.
A. Titcomb, of Rowley, do., 2d premiun , $3.
Committee — J. Bradstreet, A. Rea, T. Southwick.

SWINE.

J. D. W. French, of North Andover, for Essex Boar, 1st
premium, $10.

Robert G. Buxton, of Peabody, for Boar, 2d premium, $G.

Joseph Kittredge, of North Andover, Breeding Sow, 1st
premium, $10.

W. J. Dale, Jr., of North Andover, Breeding Sow, 2d
premium, $G.

Daniel Carlton, of North ^^.ndover, Weaned Pigs, 1st pre-
mium, $G.

Geo. \\ . Rogers, of Peabody, ^^'eaned Pigs, 2d premi-
um, $4.

Committee — I). G. Todd, C. C. Blunt, Ira S. Woodman,,
Franlc Marsli.

41

STATEMENT OF J. 1). W. FRENCH.

To THE Committee on Swine :

Foi' the premium for the best Boar, I enter my Essex Boai^
" Cardiff 2d," farrowed April 19th, 1873. His sire " Cardiff,"
at the age of 9 months, took 2d prize at the Koyal Agricul-
tural Show, England ; also won 1st prize at N. Y. State
Fair in 1872. His dam is descended from Samuel Thome's
stock of Essex Swine.

For the premium for best Sow, I enter my Essex Sows
"Topsy 2d," 2 years old, dam "Topsy " by "Andover," bredi
by me — and "Zapata," 1 year old, dam "Lady Bess" by
"Turk," both bred by Harris, N. Y.

Although under 4 months old, I have entered a litter of 4
Essex Weaned Pigs, farrowed July 2oth. Dam "Topsy 2d"
by "Cardiff 2d."

STATEMENT OF ROBERT G. BUXTON.

To THE Committee on Swine :

Gentlemen : — I offer for premium my pure bred French
Boar, from the importation of John B. Clarke, Esq., Man-
chester, N. H. He is 9 months old. Also my Yorkshire
Sow, with her seven pigs 15 days old. The Sow is 18
months old. These pigs have been fed but twice a day dur-
ing the summer, upon common swill from the house, with
but very little "rain in addition.

statement of .lOSETlI KITTKEDGE.

To THE Committee on Swine :

I enter for premium, 2 Breeding Sows and 1 Boar, all of
the Jacques breed. The Sows are 18 months old, have had
two litters of pigs each, — one litter in March, 1874, the

42

other in August, 1874. Their food has been house waste
and scraps, without grain.

The Boar is 6 months old ; is a pig of one of the Breed-
in"' Sows offered lierewith. His sire is Pure Chester White.

SHEEP.

Daniel Carlton, of Xorth Andover, Buck, 1st premium, |^i,
Francis Dane, of Hamilton, Flock, 1st premium, $10.
Francis Dane, of Hamilton, Lambs, 1st premium, $4.
Committee — F. H. Appleton, jSTathan F. Abbott, Geo. E.
F. Dane, Enoch Merrill, Chas. Corliss.

POULTPvY— FIRST CLASS.
W. M. AYard, Peabody, Light Brahma fowls, 1st prem., $3

Sam'l Newman,

, do

do

do

do

2d

do

2

H. C. Fegan, Groveland

, do

do

chicks,

1st

do

?>

do do

do

do

do

do

2d

do

2

W. I\r. AYard,

Peabody,

Dark

do

fowls,

, 1st

do

o

G. D. Walton,

do '

do

do

do

2d

do

2

W. M. Ward,

do

do

do

chicks.

1st

do

a

do do

do

do

do

do

2d

do

•)

Charles W. Hatch, Danvers, P.

Cochin fowls

, 1st

do

6

G. D. Walton,

Peabody

, do

do

do

2d

do

2

J. H. Poole,

do '

do

do

chicks,

1st

do

'A

G. C. Pvogers,

do

do

do

do

2d

do

2

G. D. Walton,

do

w. c

ochin

fowls.

1st

do

•1

G. C. Rogers,

do

do

do

chicks,

1st

do

li

S. J. Dow,

do

P>lack

do

fowls.

1st

do

3

G. C. Rogers,

do

do

do

chicks.

1st

do

.')

S. J. Dow,

do

do

do

do

2d

do

2

4a

C. Bennett, Peabody, BufF Cochin fowls, 1st prem., $.^
G. D. Walton, do do do do 2d do 2

C. Bennett, do do do chicks, 1st do 3

do do dd do do do 2d do 2

L. B. Hawkes, Ducks, Ist do 3

B. P. AYare, Marblehead, do 2d do 2

L. B. Hawkes, Geese, 1st do 3

S. Newman, Peabody, do 2d do 2

W. M. Ward, Peabody, for best collection of fowls, Diploma.
Committee — Charles P. Bai'rett, Eben P. Savarj, Frank B.
Messer.

POULTRY— SECOND CLASS.

Brown Leghorn fowls, 1st premimn, to S. J. Pettingill, of
Salem, $3.

Brown Leghorn, 2d premium, to George D. AValton, of
Peabody, $2.

Brown Leghorn chicks, 1st and 2d premiums, to C E.
Bradford, of Peabody, $5.

White Leghorn fowls, 1st premium, to S. J. Pettingill, of
Salem, $3.

White Leghorn fowls, 2d premium, to G. D. Walton, of
Peabody, $2.

White Leghorn chicks, 1st and 2d premium, to S. J. Pet-
tingill, of Salem, $5.

Plymouth Rocks, 1st premium, to George H. Perkins, of
Dan vers, $3.

Plymouth Rocks, 2d premium, to C. W. Hatch, of Dan-
versport, $2.

Dominique fowls, 2d premium, to D. Richards, of Dan-
vers, $2.

Silver Hamburgs, 1st and 2d premiums, to W. H. Os-
good, $5,

u

Golden Polands, 1st premium, to Willis Barnard, of Dan-
vers, $3.

Game Bantam fowls, 1st premium, to F. E. Berry, of Pea-
body, $3.

Game Bantam fowls, 2d premium, to D. B. Wallace, $2.

Game Bantam chicks, 1st premium, to F. E. Berry, of Pea-
body, $3.

Game Bantam chicks, 2d premium, to D. B. Wallace, $2.

Dorkings, 1st and 2d premiums, to S. Connolly, of Bev-
erly Farms, $5.

Games, 1st premium, to H. N. Sanford, $3.

Games, 2d premium, to D. B. Wallace, $2.

Black Spanish, 1st premium, to E. C. Spofford, of Pea-
body, $3.

Qommktce — John Swinerton, Jasper Rea, C. A. Beckford,
H. M. Goodrich.

PLOUGHIXG— DOUBLE TEAMS.

There were but two entries, and tiie Committee award the
first premium of $12, to Joseph Horton, of Ipswich.

The second preminni of $10, to Addison Child, of Swamp-
scott.

The Committee feel the result miiiht have been different
had the quality of the land been equal.

Cvmmittec — Horace Ware, E. Francis Holt, Thomas G.
Ordway.

PLOUGHING— SINGLE TEAMS.

The Committee regret that there Avere only two trials of
ploughing with single teams, and hope that the plougliing in-
terest will be more completely represented in the future.

They award the first premium of $10, to Richard T. Jaqucs

45

of Newbury, and the .second preniium of $7, to Charles P.
Preston of Dan vers.

It is an undisputed fact that orood ploughing is one of the
most essential points of good tillage, and, as such, it deserves
the careful attention of the farming community in general.

The fact that there vrere but two entries of single teams
seems to indicate that we are hardly alive to the importance
we should attach to single train ])loughing. Perhaps more
attention has been given to ploughing with double teams, but
it seems to us that the single team is generally to be preferred,
as there are many that keep but one ycke of cattle.

There are, of course, some cases in which a double team is
indispensable, but in the majority of cases the single team will
do the work more satisfactorily, and with much less expense.
If you wish to plough your land to the depth of twelve or
fourteen inches, gauge your ])low for six or seven, according
to the depth required, and then go twice in the same furrow.
Although it requires about twice as long, yet there is a saving
of one pair of cattle and a driver and an improvement in the
quality of the work. Any defect in the first ploughing will
be remedied in the second, and the soil will be more thorough-
ly mixed up and pulverized by separate ploughing, an advan-
tage which was recognized by the inventor of the subsoil plow.

The subsoil plow, though working much the same way,
cannot in practice bring about so perfect a result as can be ob-
tained by the method recommended. That the land should
thus be thoroughly ploughed up is an almost invaluable pre-
requisite, Avhen we are about to set out trees, strawberries,
and other plants or shrubs. Take the Michigan plow, for
instance ; it requires a strong team and is laborious to
hold, and will not do the work so satisfactorily as the com-
mon plow going twice in a furrow, unless the land is smooth
and free from stones.

Perhaps some may think it a difficult matter to make the
plow follow in the same furrow, but I can assure them, after
much experience with this mode of ploughing, that the plow

46

will follow better the second time than the first, and go the
third time if you want to, and so continue ploughing as deep
and thorouglily as we wish. However, I ask none to take
my statement of it, but urge all that are interested in the
matter to give the method a fair trial and judge for them-
selves of its expediency.

It seems as if in ploughing we had caught from tiie
spirit of the age a tendency to rush wildly forward, thinking
more of a few moments of time than of the thorough and
proper performance of our work.

I may say that this is not a fault of the Society as a whole.
No inducement whatever is offered for making this exercise a
trial of speed, and yet I should think it advisable to go
further and impose some restrictions limiting the rate of
speed.

As some members of the Society are very much prejudiced
ao^ainst horse trottino; at our fairs, but still are silent as re-
gards ploughing in urging the teams to their utmost capacity,
it puts me in mind of a passage of Scripture that speaks of a
certain class of persons which strain at a gnat and swallow a
camel. In a word, then, to obtain the best results in plough-
ing, I should recommend a good single team, driven at a
moderate rate of speed, and to plow deep, except among'
trees and some soils it may not be best. Persons must use
their own judgment.

James Flint, for the CommUtee.

PLOUGHING— WITH HORSES.

The Committee appointed by the Society for the purpose of
awarding premiums on ploughing with horses, have attended
to that duty and beg leave to make the following awards.

Teams entered and presented, nine in number. Your Com-
mittee were unanimous in the following: awards :

47

To Sylvestei* Dane, of Hamilton, the 1st premium of $12.

To Orrin Putnam, of Danvei's, the 2d premium of $10.

To Richard S. Bray, of Xewburv, the 3d pi-emium of $8.

To Romulus Jaques, of AVcst Newbury, the 4th premium
of $6.

To G. W. Russell, of Lawrence, the 5th premium of $4.

Your Committee also are unanimous in awarding to Joseph
C Putnam, of Danvers, the Society's premium of $10, for
the best teaming with horses,

Comm'iUee — James P. King, John Keely, Edward K. Lee,
Wm. Goodrich.

PLOUGHING— WITH SWH EL PLOUGH.

The Committee on Ploughing with Swivel Plows, respect-
fully report that there were four entries for premiums. By
careful examination of the ploughs used and the work perform-
ed by them, the Conuiiittee was made to realize, perhaps more
fully than ever befoi'e, that the great want of many farmers,
especially market gardeners, is not yet fully mot: i. e., a
swivel or side-hill plough that will work equally well both ways,
to turn a furrow nearly, or quite, as well as a common plouo-h,
and be of as great durability. This may be asking too mucli
of the plough makers. But farmers want, and continue to
hope for such a plough.

Dr. Joseph Kittredge, of North Andover, used F. F. Hol-
brooks' No. 8 Swivel Plough. It was new, and the mould-
board was rough, having been neither ground nor worn
smooth. The plough had not been gauged, or tried at all.
It could not be made to run to the depth required by the
Society, and it did bad work.

Kittredge & Butterfield, of North Andover, api)eared with
The Ames Plow Co.'s Side-hill Plough No. 2G. This was also
new, but bright. It was with difficulty made to plough deep

48

■enough. However, it made fair work, for which the Com-
mittee awarded the third premium of $8.

Mr. Wm. Foster, of North Andover, used F. F. IIol-
brooks' Side-hill Plough Xo. 7. This plough had been used
considerably and there w'as no difficulty in making it run to the
required depth. It did quite fair Avork, for which the Com-
iuittec felt justified in giving the second jjremium of $10.

Mr. A. H. Gould, of Topsfield, used an old side-hill plough,
"with a much worn point, made by Lufkins, of Concord, N.
H., size No. 2. It appeared to have given long and good
service ; coming much nearer the ideal swivel plough than either
of the others on the field. Its work w^as unusually well done,
and the Committee unanimously awarded him tlie first premi-
um of $12.

In this report on the qualities of the several ploughs and the
work done by them, it might seem that the older and more
worn the plough is, the better the work done. Although ap-
l^arently true in this trial, it doesn't necessarily follow that
much use improves a plough. But sufficient use to get it thor-
oughly smooth, and perfectly gauged and adjusted, is neces-
sary in order that it shall do its best work.

In discussing the' several ploughs, your Committee would
not lose sight of the skill of the jjloughmen ; for an unskillful
jjloughman can't do good work with a perfect plough, nor can
the most expert plough man do his best work with any exce|)t
the best plough.

As it is the object of this Society, in oflTering premiums at
its annual ploughing match, to afford the fjirmers of Essex the
opportunity of carefully observing and comparing the merits
of the several patterns of ploughs, that they may be able to
purchase understandingly, it was gratifying to your Commit-
tee to notice how earnestly the farmers improved their school
day of the year, the Exhibition of the Essex AgricultiH'al
•Society. All of which is very respectfully submitted.

Committee — Benjamin P. Ware, Cyrus K. Ordway, J. F.
Knovvlton, Paul D. Patch.

49
PLOUGHING— BY BOYS.

SPECIAL rREMIUM.

The Committee on Ploughing by Boys, 18 years or under,
award the first premium of $25, to Wm. G. Horton, of Ips-
wich, Avho is 17 years of age.

The second premium of $15, to Willie E. Merrill, of West
Newbury, aged 18 years.

Committee — R. T. Jaques, Eustis Balch.

AGPvICULTUPvAL IMPLEMENTS.

Best Farm Wagon, 1st premium $5, to W. B. Peart, of
Dan vers.

Best Team Harness, 1st premium $5, to Henry Ilobbs, of
Wenham.

Best Hay Cutter, 1st premium $3, Grant Cutter, to Wbit-
temore Bros.

Best Ox Yoke, 1st premium $3, to Ames Plow Company.

Potato Digger, to S. S. Hickok, of Methuen, $5.

Dole & Osgood, of Peabody, for Horse Shoes, $1.
.Best collection of Agricultiu'al Implements, Ames Plow-
Company, of Boston, 1st premium $15, and diploma.

E. E. Lummus & Co., for their iMowing Machine, $5 ; fur
.Seed Sower, $2.

Albert W. Howe, of Danvers, for his Root Shovel, $1.

Hale & Co., of Salem, for Seed Sower, $2.

E. E. Lummus & Co., for Hand Cider Mill, $3.

Hale & Co., of Salem, for collection of Implements, $4.

Charles Frizell, of Boston, for his Step Ladder, $1.

Commitlcc — D. H. Stickney, Jos. O. Procter, John Keely,
Wm. B. Cai'leton.

r)0

CAKRIAGES.

The Committee on (^arriages respectfully siil)i)iit the follow-
ing report :

The first pi-emiiim of $15, is awarded to William Giunii-
t^oii & Co., of South Amesbury, for best Top Buggy.

Wm. B. Peart, of Danvers, best Express Wagon, $10.

H. 11. Pjllsbury, of Danvers, for the best display of Car-
riages, $5.

Dole & Osgood, of Peabody, for best 0]H'n Buggy, «&c. ,
diploma.

Qomm'tltec — Aaron Sawyei-, Da\ id >tik-.>. Saniucl W. Spald-
In<x, T. Ti. T.cacli.

DAim^

First premium, A. F. Ilobbs, W^euhum, $10.
Second premium, Mrs. Farnham Stiles, Aliddletun, $8.
Third premium, G. W. Russell, Xorth Andover, $G.
F^ourth jiremium, Mrs. P. T. Winkley, Newburyport, %\.

IT. G. Herriolc, Chairman.

BHEAD AND HONEY.

The Committee on Bread an<l Honey submit the f<dli)\\ing

report :

Mrs. Charles E. Smith, Danversport, gratuity, $2 iJO

" D. P. Parker, Groveland, " 1 50

" S. G. Sargent, Methuen, " 1 50

" M. II. Patch, Hamilton, - I 50

•* Chas. Tapley, Danvers, " 1 50

Miss R. F. Carleton, No. Andover, " 1 50

Mrs. C. H. Goulding, Peabody, - 1 50

•* C. H. Joye, Danversport, " 1 00

51

Mi«6 C. A. Perley, Dau..:.. ^..aiij.;.

" Mary Shea, " "

" Anna Perloy,
Mrs. E. T. AValdron, -
Messrs. Halo & Davis*, PeaboJy, "

IJONEY,

II. Alley, Wenhani, :^8 boxes, !zratuity,

n. F. Savage, Danvers, 2 hives, "

F. G. P. Kiilam, Manchester, 2 boxes, "

Co i/imit fee— Charles Jnpiils. J. 15. f^wpit. Mi>. ( ". V
ton, Mrs. John Todd.

••^1

(JO

1

0{t

I

00

50

2

00

^2

00

1

00

50

Vi

rei<-

PEARS.

For tlie best 12 specimens of" the f'oJlo\Ying' varieties $ri
eucli :

Bartlett, John llobbs, Jpswich ; Belle Lucrative, James
Lowri?, Danvers ; 13eurre Bosc, B. F. Stanley, Newburyport ;
l>eurre Clair2;eau, Peter AVait, Danvers ; Heurre d' Anjou,
Mrs. Frank Upton, Danvers ; Beurre Superfin, George W.
Taylor, Peabody ; ]iuffum, B. F. Stanley, Newburyport:
Duchesse, A. 11. Gould, Topsfield ; Doyenne Boussock, B. F.
Stanley, Newburyport ; Golden Beurre, Jos. W. Ropes, Dan-
vers ; Howell, Peter AYait, Danvers ; Lawrence, B. P. Ware,
Afarblehead ; Louise Bonne, L. D. Pettingill, Salem ; Mc-
Laughlin, G. W. Taylor, Peabody ; Maria Louise, Peter
Wait, Danvers ; Onondaga, L. D. Pettingill, Salem ; Para-
dise d' Automne, Peter Wait, Danvers ; Seckel, C. R. Ord-
way. West Newbury ; St. INIichael Archange, G. W. Taylor,
Peabody; Sheldon, E. C. Peabody, Groveland ; Urbaniste,
B. P. Ware, Marblehead ; Vicar, Peter Wait, Danvers ;
Winter Nelis, A. J. Hubbard, Peabody.

• For the best collection of 20 varieties, Peter Wait, Dan-
vers, $8.

52

Fur the best collection of 15 varieties, A. J. Hubbard,
Peabodj, $(3.

For the best collection of 10 varieties, B. F. Stanley, Xew-
iburyport, $4.

For the best dish of Pears (12 specimens) T. C. Thurlow,
West Newbury, $G.

Other varieties at $1.50. Noweau Porter, A. Very, Dan-
'vers ; Andrews, B. P. Ware, Marblehead.

GRATUITIES.

D. II. Stickney, Groveland, - - - - - $1 00
Josiah Newhall, Lynnfield, _ _ _ _ 1 00

E. A. Perry, Dan vers, - - - - - -100

G. W. Gage, Methuen, ----- 1 00

A. II. Gould, Topsfield, - - - - - 1 00

Sumner Southwick, Peabody, - - _ _ 2 00

D. ^y. Low, Gloucester. - - - - - 1 00
J. Henry Hill, Amesbury, _ _ _ _ 50

E. W. Green, North Andover, - - - - 50

Jos. Danforth, Danvers, ----- 50

Wm. E. Killam, Boxford, - - . - - 50

Porter Le Gro, Danvers, ----- 50

Thos. E. Green, do (Endicott tree, 240 years old,) 50

•Geo. H. Taylor, Peabody, ----- 50

C. H. Buxton, Salem, ------ 50

Wm. Huff, Xewbaryport, ----- 50

E. F. Webster, Haverhill, - - - - - 1 00

.S. E. Bott, Peabody, - _ - _ - 50

Chas. J. Peabody, Topsfield, ----- 50

E. D. nines, Danvers, ----- 50

C. C. Farwell, Peabody, - . - - - - 1 00

D. B. Ilarker, Groveland, . _ - - 50
Geo. D. Glover, Salem, ----- 50
S. A. Merrill, Danvers, ----- 50
L. P. Whipple, Lynn, - - - - - - 1 00

E. Bradstreet, Danvers, ----- 50

53

Aaron Low, Essex, - - - - - -$100

D. G. Todd, Rowley, _ - - _ _ 50

Farnliain Stiles, Middleton, ----- 50

Stephen Cook, Wenham, ----- 50

Augustus Very, Danvers, ----- 50

C. P. Bomer,"Pcabody, ----- 50

Committee — Andrew Nichols, Thomas C. Thui'low, G. W.-
Gage, D. W, Lowe.

APPLES.

The Committee on Apples awarded as follows :
Best 12 specimens of Paldv\ins, ot \Y. B. Woodman ; Dan-
vers Winter Sweet, E. G. Hyde ; Drap d' Or. B. P. Ware ;
Hubbardston Nonsuch, Samuel A. Merrill ; Ilurlburt, Jnmes
Flint ; Killham Hill, W. B. Richardson ; Ladies' Sweeting,
Henry Very ; Pickman Pippin, B. P. Ware ; Roxbury Rus-
sett, Aaron Low ; Rhode Island Greening, F. W. Lyford ;
Seaver's Sweet, Frederic How; Sweet Baldwin, B. P. A\'arc ;
Williams' Favorite, Joseph Danforth ; Porter, Peter Wait.

Best 20 varieties, James Flint; 15 do., Peter Wait; 10
do., E. G. Hyde.

Best 24 specimens, Capt. J. Ilobbs.
Best Crab Apples, Peter Wait.
For fine collection of Apples, T. C. Thnrlow, W. Newbury, $4.
" ( " " Aaron Low, of Essex, 4.

G. W. Gage, of Methuen, 4.
For line collection superior R. I. Greenings, 1 dish, W.

A. Dane, Hamilton, 1.

For fine collection of Gravenstein, J. 11. Hill, Amesbury, 1.
" Drap d' Or, i\Irs. A. P. Swinerton, of Danvers, 1.
" Otis Nichols, Lynn, 1.

" Porter, Augustus Very, of Danvers, 1.

For best 24 specimens of Crab Apples, Peter AVait, Dan-
vers, n.50.

J. .J. II. Gregory, C/iairman.

54
PEACHES, GRAPES AND ASSOKTED FRUIT.

PEACHES.

Rest Freestone AVbitc Flesli Peaches, Joshua Silvester,

Dan vers, - - - - - - -$2 0(»

Best Yellow Flesh, Thomas Capers, Newburyport, - 2 00

Best Seedling, D II. Stioknej, Groveland, - - 2 00

Best collection Peaches, Thos. Capers, Xewburyport, - 3 0(>

Porter Le Gro, Danvers, gratuity, - - - - 50

Etta Eaton, " " _ . _ ' - - 50

E. F. AVebster, Haverhill " . _ _ _ 50

G. AV. Gage, Methuen, " - - - - 1 0(1

GKAPE.'.'.

Best 4 bunches Concord, G. W. Gage, Methuen, - $3 00
'< 4 " Hartford Prolific, J. W. Ropes, Danvers, 3 00
"4 " Isabella, Ichabod Sawyer, " 3 OO

"4 " Delaware, J. Lowrie, " 3 00

John L. Smart, Danvcrs, Delaware, gratuity, - - 1 00

Best 4 bundles Crc\ cling, Jos. ^\^ Ropes, Danvers, -•*3 00
" 4 " Clinton, G. W. Gage, Methuen,
"4 '' Israella, Franklin Upton, Danvcrs,
"4 " Massasoil, Jos. W.. Ropes, Danvers, -
"4 - No. 4, or Wilder, G. AV. Gage, Me-
thuen, --------

Best 4 bunches Xo. lU, or Mcrrimac, John L. Smart,
Danvers, _______

Best 4 bunches No. 15, or Agawam, J. Q. A. Bacht-
clder, Danvers, ______

Best collection Cold House, Gcorne AV. Rogers, Pea-
body, ________

Best collection 10 varieties, not less than 10 pounds,
Fianklin Upton, Danvers, _ _ _ _

Best Lady Mallard, .Mrs. L. INIallard, Lawrence, gra-
tuity, --------

Best Stickney Seedling, D. II. Stickney, Groveland, - 1 Of)
Charles Tapley, Dan\ers, gratuity, - - - - 1 00

3

Of)

3

00

0(1

3

fM)

3

00

3

0(.)

0

00

7

00

1

00

.')0

Aaron Low, Essex, Cold House, griituity, - - '^1 00

Peter Wait, Danvers, Israella, " - - - 1 00

Farnham Stiles, Middleton, " - - - 1. 00

Best Basket Assorted Fruit, Aaron Loav, Essex, - 4 00

2d " " " Peter Wait, Danvers, - 3 00

H. B. liCarned, Danvers, Plums, gratuity, - - 50

D. II. Stiokncy, Chairman.

AEW WINTER APPLE.

As Cliairnian of the Committee on New AVinter Apples, I
will state that some apples were exhibited, which were claim-
ed to be Seedlings, equal to or better than the Baldwin or
Roxbury Russet. The apple at present is very high toned,
hard flesh and tough skin ; but Mr. Conant, of Ipswich, the
exhibitor, states that as the apple ripens it becomes pleasant,
sprightly and tender, keeping well until May, retaining all its
good qualities. As none of the Committee but myself were
there, no decision was made.

I will say that my opinion is favorable towards the apple,
and would recommend that it be tlioroughly examined another
year,

Peter ^^'ait, for tlic CommUtce.

FLOWERS.

The Committee present tlie following re[)ort :
Best [)air Parlor Bouquets, to Thomas Capers, New-

buryport, $3 00

Best pair Hand Bouquet.-^, tu J. C. Iliuulns. Newbnry-

port, - - . _____ 2 00

Best Floral Design, to ^Nlrs. C. H. Buxton, Salem, - 2 00
Best dish Cut Flowers, to J. C. Iliggins, Newbury])ort, 2 00

Best twelve Dahlias, to Thomas Capers, Xewburyport, $1 00
Best display of Pansies, to Otis Nichols, Lynn, - 1 00
Best twelve Verbanas, to J. C. Higgins, Newbiiryport, 1 00
Best display of Native Flowers, to Mrs. II. M. Col-
cord, Beabody, - - - - - - 1 00

Largest and best display from one individual, to J. J.

H. Gregory, Marblehead, - - - - 4 GO

S. P. Fowler, Danvers, for specimens of Three Petal

Magnolias, Cucumber Tree and Bobartia, gratuity, 1 00
Miss F. M. Porter, for two cases of Ferns, " 1 00
I). AV. Low, Gloucester, for baskets Dalhias and Zin-
nias, __---- gratuity, 1 00

Mrs. C. 11. Perry, Danvers, - - - " 1 00

" Henry Learnard, " - - - " 50

Miss Julia England, " - - - " 50

Mrs. Prime, Rowley, _ _ _ _ " 50

Miss Caroline Lawrence, Danvers, - - " 50

" Jessie Learoyd, " - - " 50

" Etta Ropes, '' - - " 50

Mrs. D. J. Preston, " .- - " 50

Miss Mary D. Stimson, " - - " 50

Mrs. II. L. Eaton, " - - " 50

Mrs. Waldron, " - - " 50

Miss Anna M. Grover, " - - " 50

" JNlary Mudge, " - - " 50

Mrs. D. B. Prime, Rowley, - - _ " 50

" Joshua Sylvester, Danvers, - - " 50

Albert Titcomb, Rowley, _ _ _ '* 50

Miss Sarah Adams, Danvers, - - - " 50

" Ruth Fowler, " - - - " 50

II. E. Pedrick, " for Pot Plant, " 50

Mrs. J. A. Blake, " " " " 50

Miss Etta Learoyd, " wild flowers, •' 50

Mrs. John A. II*»yt, Georgetown, pair bouquets, " 50

" McGill, "-_-*« 50

rlohn II, Scars, l)nn\ers, for wild flt)wers, - " 50

57

The Committee have, as usual, been obliged to overrun the
meagre amount alloAved them wherewith to reward those lov-
ers of flowers, W'ho have so lavishly brought in their treasures
to decorate the Exhibition Hall. That a fine display of Flow-
ers renders the Exhibition dovhhj attractive, none will dispute ;
and it is a matter of regret to the Committee, that each year
hosts of finely arranged bouquets, and carefully prepared ferns
and mosses, have to be passed by, seemingly unnoticed, for
the want of a few more dollars to award ; and so we deem it
expedient to ask for a larger allowance of money in this de-
partment ; not wholl}^ fur gratuities, but in special premiums.
Your Committee to-dav unanimouslv voted, that there should
be two good premiums oflfered for first and second collections
of Ferns, Gladiolas, Asters and Lillies, and an addition made
to the premium now oflTered for the best collection of Native
Plants. Any one Avho tries gathering a large variety of wild
flowers will feel that one dollar is a poor compensation for the
hours spent in gathering these wayside treasures ; and yet who
does not marvel at the delicate -beauty, the wondrous variety
of these wild beauties that blossom alike for all God's chil-
dren? If appropriations cannot be made for new plants, as
they are perfected by the florist and brought to our notice,
why may not some of the old varieties, like the Dahlias for
instance, be set aside for a while, that people may be made
acquainted v.ith rarer pets of the florist? Hoping these sug-
gestions will meet, your approval, and so not pass unheeded,
we are very respectfully yours,

Mrs. N. E. Ladd, for the Committee.

VEGETABLES.

The Committee on Vegetables award premiums as follows

axioxs. .
Best Danvers, D. W. Putnam, Pcabody, $3.
Yellow Flat, S. A. Merrill, Danvers, %?>,

58
Ked, J. J. II. Gie-urv, Marblchead, $6.

IIEETS.

Early Turnip Blood, S. A. Merrill, Dauvers, $3.
Long Smooth Blood, none on exhibition. J. J. H. Gre^-
orv, for largest and best variety, $3.

CARROTS.

Best Short-tup Long Orange, George ^V. lvvi!?!?cll, North
Andover, $3.

Short Horn Orange, to George W. llogers, Peabody, $3.

' MANGEL WUEZELS.

Best six specimens, J. II. Cheever, Manchester, |3.

FLAT TURNIPS.

Best Purple Top, twelve specimens, E. ^l. Twiss, West
Peabody, f/5.

RUTA-BAGAS.

Twelve ^pel•itnens Best Yellow, Jacob P. Goodale, West
Peabody, $3.

Twelve specimens Best ^Miite, George ^V. Parsons, Wen-
!iam, $3.

PARSNIPS.

Twelve s]>ecimens Bct^t, Charles C. Blunt, Andover, $3.

POTATO JLS.

Best Early Hose, J. W. Clieever, Manchester, |3.
I>e.*t Peerless, J. J. II. Gregory, Marblehead, $3.

GARBAGES.

Best Savoj', S. A. Merrill, Danvers, $3.

Second best, Horatio Perry, Danvers, $2.

Best Fotler's Brunswick, M. F. liatclieldcr, Peabody, $3-

Second best, C. R. Anderson, .Peabody, $2.

Best Stone Mason, S. A. Merrill, Danvers, $3.

SecMud l)(\>f. J. .T. TT. Grp<v.),-v. Marbldifad. $2.

59

Best Mammoth Drumhead, S. A. Merrill, Danvers, $3.
Second best, George W. Rogers, Peabodj, $2.

CAULIFLOWERS.

Best, C. R. Anderson, West Boxford, $3.
Second best, E. C. Larrabee, Salem, $2,

CELERY.

George W. Rogers, Peabodj, $2.
FIELD CORN.

Andrew Curtis, Peabody, $S.

Sweet Corn, best early, Andrew Curtis, Peabody, $3.

Best late,'S. A. Merrill, Danvers, $3.

SQUASHES.
Best IMarrow, J. P. Goodale, 13.
Best Turban, James P. King, $3.
Best Hubbard, S. A. Merrill, $3.
Best Marblehead, George W. Rogers, $3.

MELONS.

Best Green Flesh, S. A Merrill, $2.
Best Musk, S. A. Merrill, $2.
Best Water, J. J. II. Gregory, $2.

TOMATOES.

Best Round Flat, Aaron Low, $3.
Best Spherical, S. A. Merrill, $3.
Best Trophy, Thomas Capers, $3.
Greatest variety, J. J. II. Gregory, $3.

CRANBERRIES.

Best peck, Charles C. Blunt, $3.
Second best, II. A. Stiles, $2.
Third best, W K. Cole, West Boxford, $1. '
Best collection of Field and Garden Seeds, J. J. 11. Greg-
.>ry, Marblehead, $8.

Soforul bc^t, AariMi Tjdw. Kssox. f^T).

60

' Special Premium, offered by F. H. Appleton, fur collection
of vegetables raised by one person in Essex County :

First, J. J. H. Gregory, $15 ; second, S. A. Merrill, $10.

GRATUITIES.

To Geo. W. Itogers, for twelve specimens of Egg Plant, $3.

To E. W. Greene, for collection of Potatoes, $2.

To Andrew Curtis, for ten Crooked Neck Squashes, $1.

To M. F. Blake, for string of Onions, $2.

To Fred S. C. Ilerrick, for Long Orange Carrots, $1.

The Committee learn with regret that for want of sufficient
room to exhibit our contributions, Mr. Frank Alley, of Mar-
blehead, felt compelled to send home without unpacking, a
large collection of vegetables, which we had no opportunity
to examine.

Y. G. Hurd, for the Committee.

DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES.

COUNTERPANES, CARPETINGS AND RUGS.

The Committee on Domestic Manufactures have attended to
their duty, and respectfully report as follows :

To Mrs. J. Q. A. Bachelder, of Danvers, 1st premium on
Counterpane, $4.

To Mrs. Carpenter, of Salem, 2d })rcmium on Coun-
terpane, $2.

To Mrs. M. E. Fuller, of Middleton, 1st i)remium on
Hug, 13.

To iNIiss Lizzie Baxter, of Peabody, 2d premium on Bug,
$2.

Gratuities were awarded to the following individuals, viz :
To Miss Augusta Palmer, of Boxford, Bug, . . $1 00

To Miss Henrietta Pushee, of Beverly, " . . 50

To Miss Abbie Pettingill, of Danvers, " . . 1 00

61

To Mie*. J. q. A. Bactheklcr, of Danvens ToweL-,

To Mrs. A, D. Svvinerton, " R„o-^

To Mrs. J. Chceney, of Middleton, "

To Mary Stuart, Salem, a

To M. E. Stiles, MicMleton,

To Mrs. Mary Johnson, Danver.-, Counterpane,

To Mrs. Annie M. Grover, " •'

To Mrs. J. H. Smith, Salem, - [

To Mrs. Mary Peabody, .Aliddleton,

To Mrs. N. E. Stanley, Wenham,

To Mrs. Nathaniel Ham, Beverly, liugs, .

To Mrs. M. F. Tufts, Peabody, " '"^ .

To Mrs. O. E. Sheldon, Salem, " .

To Mrs. Mary Davis, Topsficld, " .

To Mrs. S. C. Pitcher, Dan vers, " .

To Miss Augusta Dodge, " '< .

To Mrs. Putnam Fuller, " " .

To Mrs. Mary A. Wilkins, Marblehead, Pug, .

To Mrs. Horace Ware, Salem, "

To Mrs. Betsy McLoiid, Dan^•ers, "

To Mrs. Augusta Bickford, Danvers, Counterpane,

To Mrs. S. F. Kimball,

To Mrs. Peter E. Smith, Bradford,

To Mrs. I.ydia oS'oyes, Danvers, "

To Miss Emma J. jNIoses, " ««

To :\Irs. Charlotte A. Atwood, Middleton, Rug,

To Mrs. Moses Dow, Lynn, <<

To Mrs. A. C. Merrill, Newburyport, Counterpane,

. $1 00

50

. 1 00

. 1 00

50

. 1 00

. 1 00

. 1 00

50

. 1 00

. 1 00

. 1 00

50

50

50

50

. 1 00

50

. 1 00

50

.. 50

50

. 1 00

50

. 1 00

. 1 00

. 1 00

. 1 00

There were many articles worthy of mention in this depart-
ment, but the funds would not allow gratuities to all con-
tributors.

Commklce—Wm. D. Lamb, chairman; Mrs. G. A. Tap-
ley, Mrs. L. H. Bowdoin, Mrs. Bennett Griffin.

l>2

ARTICLES MANUFACTURED FROM LEATHER.

The Committee appointed upon Articles ^Vranufoctured from
Leather Have attended to their duty, and a^vavd tlie following
gratuities :

One rubber covered, gold lined liuggy J larne.ss, by Henry
S. McCollough, Gloucester, $1.

One pair of Shoes and five pairs of Boots, by Jos. Mor-
rison, Peabodv, $5.

Two Calf Skins, by x. G. Bazin, Danvers, tanned ruul
curried with hair on, were iine specimens, m.

Cork Bottom Boot, by W. H. Buttrick, INIethuen, $2,

One silver mounted Express Harness, by G. T. Hiiwe^.

Beverly, $3.

One rubber, gold lined Buggy Harness, by G. T. Hawes.

Beverly, $2.

Two pairs of Fishing Boots, by D. X. Priuie & bons,

Rowley, $o.

Commmec—Ed^y'^ivd AV. Jacobs, Mllt<ni G. Tenney, Ed-
win Mudge, Zachariah Cole.

MANUFACTURES AND GENERAL IMERCHANDISE.

John F. Roberts, Danvers, Book Case, gratuity, • $1 00

J. H. Prentiss, " Bracket, " • ' , '\^

Beverly Pottery, Beverly, ;}5 articles Pottery, grat., . ^5 00
Beverly Steam"^ Engine Co., Beverly, miniature Steam

Engine, '^''^'fy^ ^

William J. Grant, Flower Stand, " -0^

Dole & Osgood, Peabody, Horse Shoes, " ^ 00

J. L. Stowe, Salem, " " " ^[|

R. B. Fiske, Groveland, Carpet Sweeper, " 1 00

H. M. Bradstrcet, Danvers, caie Neck Ties, " 1 00

Dr. C. Houghton, " " Artificial Teeth " 2 00

(;3

Essex Crliie Co., Peabodj, Glue, (samples,) i>fatuitv, $1. OC

Mrs. TI. J. Gale, Haverhill, culinary steamer, " 1 00

Committee — Stephen 0.<,ii'oot], Allen Ivoo-ers, N. K. I^add.

FANCY WOKK.

The Committee on Fancy \'\^ork report as follows :

For the best specimen of work performed by a child unde:

12 years of age, Clara P. ITrile. Danvers. ]0 years of ape

sofa cushion, fo.

<;i;aj rrm;s.

Mrs. Augustus H. Peny Salem, 2 handkerchiefs.

Miss Etta W. Le Vatte, Danvers, lamp mat.

Miss Ida M. Tibbetts, Danvers, (wax) i(;e creai'z aef.

Miss Lydia A. Gilbert, Newburvport, (wax) harp.

Annie G. Allen, Danvers, tidy,

.Vugusta Allen, Danvers, embroidery,

Annie S. Porter, (9 years) Danvers, toilet set,

Sarah S. Porter, Danvers, tid}'^,

George Stimpson, Danvers, motto,

Amelia J. Mudge, Danvers, tidy,

Lizzie W. Tapley, Danvers, tidy,

Ella T. Porter, Danvers, chair seat.

Frank E. Lord, Danvers, tidy.

Miss M. J. Itobbius, Danver3, book mark.

Miss P. J. Mudge, Danvers, sofa cushion,

Miss Eliza Trask, Danvers, skirt,

Mrs. E. W. Jacobs, Peabody, painting, (landscape) 8 0(t

s\

0(^

50

75

75

.VI

1

10

i .I'

50

50

50

75

I

GO

50

75

50

1

00

64

Mrs. E. W. Jacobs, Peabody, painting " Mary and her

Little Lamb,"
Mrs. E. G. Berry, Danvers, (No. 93) picture,
Mrs. L, D. Batchelder, Danvers, embroidery,
Mrs. C. D. Richards, Danvers, embroidery,
Mrs. Porter Legro, Danvers, hair work,
Mrs. L. N. Putnam, Danvers, worsted cushion,
Frank Warren Bly, Danvers, cusliion,
Capt. Grant Young, Danvers, knife work.
Miss Cora Buckley, Danvers, 11 years okl, cushion,
Mrs. E. P. Nicliols, Danvers, pair shirts,
Mrs. H. C. Hills, Groveland, (73 yrs. old) embroidery,
Mrs. Maria J. Crosby, Georgetown, embroidery,
Ellen T. Dubois, Danvers, 2 cases insects,
Mrs. Grant Young, Danvers, cushion,
Mrs. Grant Young, Danvers, moss basket,
Miss E. F. Wilson, Peabody, (No. 112) picture,
S. S. Learoyd, Danvers, pillow shams,
Etta Learoyd, Danvers, oil painting.
Miss Julia M. Smith, Danvers, infants' socks,
Mrs. T. H. Abbott, Danvers, driving mittens.
Miss Alice E. Kelley, Danvers, feather wreath,
Nellie A Gould, Topsfield, sofo cushion,
I. M. Berry, Peabody, air castle,
Ella C. Derby, Salem, wax work,
Bella A. Waldron, Peabody, wax ilowers,
N. P. Merriam, Danvers, case shirts,
Mrs. Horace C. Ware, Salem, hair work,
Mrs. John Mason, wreath,
Emily W. Allard, Danvers, patch work,
Mrs. S. C. Pitcher, Danvers, afghan,
Miss Augusta Dodge, Danvers, 2 ottomans,
Mrs. H. H. King, (75 years old) wax wreath,
Mrs. Hannah Kimball, Ipswich, (87 yeai's of age) lace,

CommiUet — Mrs. S. J. Wight, Miss Lucy M. Paine, Miss
Georgia Seaverns.

2

00

-J

00

50

1

00

1

00

50

50

1

00

50

50

2

00

1

50

1

50

50

50

1

50

1

50

1

50

50

50

50

50

50

50

50

1

00

1

7.)
00

50

2

00

2

00

1

50

1

50

6o
CORN CROP.

Your Committee on Grain Crops submits the following re-
port :

The applicants for premium were two, — Mr. Oliver P.
Killam, of West Boxford, and Mr. M. F. Hill, of New-
bury, (Byfield). Your Committee visited and examined the
crop of Mr. Killam, Oct. 5th ; found his field, containing
about three acres, in stook. From this one (1) acre was set
off for premium, and the accompanying statement and certi-
ficate give the result.

We would call particular attention to Mr. Killam's method
of cultivating this important and profitable crop. His field
being placed in squares enabled him to do his work with the
cultivator. His field was level ; no hill around the corn ; free
from Aveeds, showing a thoroughness seldom seen among our
farmers. We would also call particular attention to the large
amount of excellent fodder this acre produces, which experi-
ence proves to be nearly equal to English hay. This, with
the amount of corn, one hundred and ten (110) bushels to
the acre, is well worth the attention of our farmers. We
award to Mr. Killam the Society's premium, $10, for the best
crop of corn raised on one acre.

On the 8th of October we visited the field of Mr. M. F.
Hill, of Newbury, (Byfield). This field contained one acre
of corn. This crop followed a crop of onions for previous
year and was in a high state of fertility and favorable for a
good crop. We averaged this field and from this we hand
the statement of Mr. Hill.

Committee — Asa Wade, S. B. Swan.

The Trustees passed the following vote with reference to
crop of Mr. Killam :

Voted, That the Trustees consider that sufficient allowance
has not been made for the shrinkage of the corn, thus over-
5

66

estimating the marketable value ; also, that the value of corn
fodder is somewhat overestimated.

Charles P. Prestox, Scc'y.

statement of oliver p. killam.

Essex Agricultural Society :

Statement concerning a crop of corn, raised by Mr. Oliver
P. Killam, of West Boxford, and entered for premium at the
Society's Fair for 1874.

This field was in grass for 1872 and 1873 ; no manure ap-
plied to it ; soil , a dark gravelly loam 9 inches deep ; on this
was spread 4 cords of long manure from the barn cellar, (for
this crop), then broken 8 inches deep, furrow laid flat and
rolled down ; on this was spread 2 cords of compost manure
and well pulverized in with the harrow. Planted 25th of May
3 1-2 feet apart each way ; 5 quarts of Yellow Eight Kowed
Corn was used to the acre ; cultivated three times each way ;
hoed twice. Harvested September 30th, by cutting up at the
bottom and stooking in the field. November 5th, hauled to
the barn, husked and weighed, giving 8823 pounds of corn
on the cob, weighing 40 pounds to the basket of a bushel,
220 23-40 bushels of ears, giving a fraction over 110 bushels
of shelled corn to the acre.

Expenses on the above :

To luterest and taxes ou laud $7 50

To 6 cords of raauure aud .spreading, &c., i for preseut crop . . 30 00

To ploiigliiiig §5, rolling aud liarrowiug $3 8 00

To seed aud plautiug 4 00

To cultivating aud hoeing 5 00

To harvesting aud husking 8 00

$62 50

Credit by 110 bushels of corn at 81 per bushel $110 00

" " 6 tons corn fodder at §10 per ton GO 00

$170 00

Balance in favor of the crop $107 50

November 9th, 1874.

67

STATEMENT OF MARK F. HILL.

Account of expense of one acre of field corn raised by
Mark F, Hill, oil the Dummer Academy Farm in Byfield,

1874:

Dr.

To seven cords barn manure, one-half to present croi? $35 00

To ploughing once 2 50

To harrowing; once 1 00

To seed 50

To planting 6 00

Hoeing with liorse hoe twice 5 00

To thinning and weeding 4 00

To cut stalks 3 50

To husking in field 4 00

To cut but stalks and hauling 3 00

Interest and tax on land . . . . • 7 00

§71 50
Cr.

By 73i bushels corn at SI. 05 per bushel $77 00

By corn fodder 15 00

$92 00
Cost of cultivation 71 50

Profits $20 50

My corn piece had been planted to onions and cabbages for
the two past years and manured well, and is in good tilth for
a hay crop.

ROOT CROPS.

The Committee on Root Crops having attended their duties,
report three entries of onions and one only of carrots, and
express surprise that here in our root growing county, more
entries of other root crops were not made. Y. G. Hurd, of
Ipswich, enters 439 bushels of onions, grown upon one half
an acre of land, showing uniformity of size and careful culti-
vation.

68

P. D. Adama, of Newbuiyport, enters his entire field of
one acre and seventy -four rods, from which he has gathered
1431 1-2 bushels of fine, first quality onions, being nearly
1000 bushels per acre. Considering the size of his field,
quality of the onions, and enormous crop, the Committee
award to P. D. Adams the premium of $10.

S. A. Merrill, of Danvers, enters a crop of Long Orange
Carrots, grown upon 21,000 square feet of land, from which
he has harvested 527 bushels, or about 13 3-4 tons. While
the Committee do not consider this a large yield, having seen
from 35 1o 40 tons per acre, yet considering the thorough cul
tivation, and uniformity of the crop, they would award to S.
A. Merrill the premium of $10.
For the Committee,

Daniel Buxton, Chairman.

Note. — The Trustees voted not to adopt the Committee's
recommendation of a pi-emium, as above, of $10, to Mr. Mer-
rill, inasmuch as the quantity of land was not sufl!icient to
comply with the rules of the Society.

Charles P. Preston, Sec'y.

STATEMENT OF Y. G. HURD.

To the Committee on Root Crops of the Essex Agricultural
Society :

I enter for premium one half acre of onions raised on the
County land at the House of Correction, Ipswich, this year,
1874.

The land is a heavy loam on clay bottom, under drained.
It was dressed in the spring with barn manure, which had
been hauled out in the fall, at the rate of nine cords to the
acre, as nearly as we could estimate. The land has been in
onions three years. It was ploughed four inches deep and
raked as smooth as possible. Seed was sown May 4th, at the
rate of five pounds to the acre. The seed was Danvers Yel-

69

low, and judging by the crop, was a mixture of the flat and
round. The rows were thirteen inches apart. Four weedings
were necessary. The onions were topped in the field, and the
crop was taken off, from the sixth to the fourteenth of Oc-
tober. As the most accurate mode of measurement, I had
the entire crop weighed at the town scales. Reckoning 52
pounds to the bushel, and dividing the net weight by fifty-
two, I found the number of bushels.

The crop weighed :
Merchantable onions, ----- 433 bushels.
Small and scullions, - - - - - 15 "

Total, ----- 448 bushels.

The crop was sold from the field in bulk, by weight, as fol-
lows :
433 bushels at 75 cents per bushel, - - - $324 75

6 " 60 " " - - - 3 60

Total, ------ $328 35

This leaves a balance of nine bushels on hand, which we
use in soups, &c., for the institution. The labor is all done
by convicts, under charge of an officer. In estimating the
cost of raising half an acre of onions, I can estimate the la-
bor. I think that for a farmer who hires it would be fair to
call the labor for ploughing, sowing, hoeing, weeding and
harvesting one half acre, _ _ _ _

Manure, 4 1-2 cords, at $8 per cord.
Seed, 2 1-2 pounds, at $3.50 per pound,
Use of land, say ------

- $50 00

- 36

00

- 8

75

- 10

00

• $104

75

• 328

35

Total cost, _ _ - -

Income, - - - - -

Net profit, ----- $223 60

You w411 observe that the only estimates in this statement

70

are the manure and cost, and the labor and use of land. The
remaining figures are accurate statements. I design to esti-
mate the labor at a fair amount. If we had barreled the crop
-and stored, there would have been some necessary additions.
J3ut this was not done.
Ipswich, Nov. 4, 1874.

STATEMENT OF P. D. ADAMS.

Having weighed my crop of onions, which I entered for a
premium, I am prepared to make the following report :

First, I enter my iuIloU bed, as I consider this the fair and
proper way to show what can be done. (I could have cut out
a half acre to better advantage.)

Whole bed, one acre and 74 rods.
Acre. Rods.
1 74

Manure, 7 1-2 cords — one-half slaughter-house, and

one-half horse and cow manure,
Ploughing and harrowing, - - - -

Hauling manure, _____

To labor in cultivating, {ntar as I can estimate) ,

Total, ------ $105 27

Credit by number of bushels raised, 1431 1-2 bush.
Seed used, 7 1-2 lbs., - 7 1-2 lbs.

The two previous years, I used one-third part more manure,
full as much as I could well plough in — ploughing about 7
inches deep. This year, I ploughed about 4 or 5 inches
deep, and harrowed heavily with a heavy brush harrow, which
made the manure at once available, and for the whole season.
I got one and a half pounds of seed on more than I intended.
We thinned out enough to have made {^loe think) 50 bushels —
to tlic injury of the crop. They were 7iot so good where we
thinned.

■ $101 00

7 50

9 75

• 76 83

71

The soil, not sandy, but rather a dark, dense, heavy loam.
My description of the soil may not he scientific.

The onions have all been sold to various parties, except 52
bushels in my cellar. The buyers consider the size and qual-
ty unsurpassed.

STATEMENT OF SAMUEL A. MERRILL.

Essex Agricultural Society :

Statement concerning a crop of onions raised by Samuel A.
Merrill, in the town of Danvers, on the Burley Farm. Meas-
urement of land planted, 300 feet long by 70 feet wide.

In 1872 and 1873 the land was planted Avith onions. The
manure used each of these years, as well as the past year,
was a compost of barnyard manure, night-soil manure and
muck, in about equal parts, at the rate of 8 cords to the acre.
Soil is a yellowish loam, with clay pan. In preparing the
land I did not plough it at all, but pulverized it four inches
deep with Nesmith Cultivator — this process was used once be-
fore spreading the manure ; and after the last cultivation I
smoothed the land with a drag. Did not rake ground, it
containing no stone. The cost of preparing the land, ex-
clusive of the manure, was $2.50. The value of the manure
on the land was $40.00. Planted upon the 20th of April,
with the Dan\'ers Sower. Used the Danvers Silverskin seed,
one and a half pounds, at $5.00 a pound.

Cost of planting, $1.00 ; hoeing and weeding four times —
no thinning out was necessary — $12.00. Pulled the onions
September 28th, and after leaving them to dry on the ground
till October 13th, carted them into the barn that day. The
cost of harvesting and topping amounts to $25.00. The on-
ions measured, after topping, 3S)0 bushels. Value in barn,
$1.00 per bushel.

The land was measured by Alonzo Ilurd and myself.

Danvers, Nov. 9, 1874.

72
IMPROVING WET MEADOW AND SWAMP LANDS.

The undersigned, members of the Committee on "Improv-
ing Wet Meadow and Swamp Lands," met at the farm of S.
B. Bodwell, North Andover, September 21, to view a piece
of reclaimed Swamp Land, offered by him for premium.
This piece, of two acres, was covered five years ago with a
thick growth of alders and underbrush, and upon part of it
the water stood throughout tlie whole of every year. It was
of little value, not over $30.00 an acre, and yielded no in-
come.

In the spring of 1S69, as Mr. Bodwell states, he mowed,
cut and burned the bushes, put in one main ditch, and broke
up with four yoke of oxen.

In 1870 he harrowed four or five times in course of the
summer, and fall ploughed with two yoke of oxen, took up
stones and stumps, and put in remainder of drains.

In 1871 he ploughed and harrowed and planted potatoes
and cabbages, manured in the hills. The crop paid expenses
of the year's work. In the fall he ploughed and sowed with
Timothy and Red Top.

In 1872 he cut three tons of hay to the acre, in two cut-
tin >ts. In the fall he top-dressed with four curds of stable
manure to the acre.

In 1873 he sowed Red Clover in the spring, and cut fully
three tons of hay per acre, mostly herd grass, for first crop,
and one ton per acre for second crop.

In 1874 he cut three tons of hay per acre for first crop.
At the time of the Committee's visit about half an acre had
been cut the second time, from which twenty good sized cocks
of hay had been put in. On the balance of the piece the
second crop was standing, which the Connnittee saw, and
Avhich has since proved to be fully one and a half tons of hay
per acre.

In 1868 Mr. Bodwell could keep but one horse all the time,
and another about half the time. Last year he kept three

■ $134

75

- 128

50

8

00

, 94

00

, 32

00

. 30

00

73

cows, two horses all, and one horse half the time, and sold
four tons of hay ; the increased product being largely from
this reclaimed piece of land.

The cost of the improvement has been :

In 1869, for labor and use of oxen.

In 1870, " " " - -

In 1871, (labor paid by crop,) for grass seed,

In 1872, for manure $64, for labor in harvesting $30,

In 1873, for clover seed $2, «' '* " 30,

In 1874, for labor in harvesting, - - -

$427 25

The return has been twenty-three tons of hay in the barn,
at $25 per ton — $575. Thus the improvement has consider-
ably more than paid for itself, without reckoning the differ-
ence in the value of the land, Avhich before draining gave
nothing, and for the last three years has yielded an average
of nearly eight tons of hay a year.

The Committee have carefully examined the details of cost
in the above statement, and are satisfied with its correctness.
Those who had seen the out-turn of hay testified that the yield
had not been overstated.

They give Mr. Bodwell credit for a good deal of pluck in
attacking as hard a piece of land of the kind as could prob-
ably be found in the county, and for energy and good man-
agement in persevering until the work was done ; and looking
at the example and the result they are unanimously of the
opinion that he is entitled to the first premium of $15.

They commend the experiment to the notice of the owners
of the large quantities of Wet ]Meadow and Swamp Land in
the county, believing that when reclaimed under fair condi-
tions and good management, the result never has failed, and
never will fail to be very profitable.

Committee — Henry Saltonstall, William C. Sleeper, A. M.
Bodwell, William Berry.

74
SMALL FRUITS.

Mr. Chas. p. Prestox, Secretary of Essex Agricul-
tural Society :

Sir : — I received notice from the Chairman of the Commit-
tee on Small Fruits that I had been appointed a member of
that Committee, and was requested to meet with the members
at the farm of Mr. Wm. Huff, of Newburyport, July 15th,
to examine a crop of currants. I accordingly Avent to the
place designated, but found none of the Committee there.
^Ir. Huff showed me his bushes and also about his farm,
which I found to be in good order and very clean and free
from weeds. He informed me that he had entered his crop
of currants for the Society's premium, and desired me to
make a statement of how I found it.

The variety he seems to make a specialty of is the Mays
Victoria, and these are about all the currants he raises.

There were about thirty rods of ground set with the bushes,
perhaps more than this ; a part were ten years old, and the re-
mainder some four or six years. The old bushes were very
heavily laden with fruit and seemed to be well under the con-
trol of the cultivator. Those bushes of younger growth were
not so full of fruit aa the older ones, yet the crop was very
large, and the berries hung in long clusters, which were just
coloring and getting ripe.

In my opinion JNIr. Huff's crop of currants is much above
the average, and that he is deserving of a premium.

The Mays Victoria currant is a good variety to cultivate ;
it is a profuse bearer and the fruit is of a fine flavor, not quite
so acid as the Ped Dutch or La Versaliese ; the bushes are
5ilso healthy, and the least apt to sucker of any sort with
which I am acquainted.

Mr. Huff has set his bushes in a pear orchard, between the
trees and about four feet apart in the row. Some of them
have attained a very large size and will ripen this year from
fourteen to sixteen quarts of fruit each. There are no weeds

75

allowed to jjrow anion"; the rows or under the bushes. The
soil is kept loose and fine by frequent hoeings.

The currant worm had made its appearance among the
bushes, and some of the leaves had been eaten ; but the lot
taken together were in better condition than any I have seen
this year.

Mr. Huff informed me that he had kept down the currant
worm by the use of a liberal showering of copperas water, two
or three times during the season. The receipt he gave me for
its manufacture is as follows :

To 12 gallons of water add 1 pound of copperas ; mix in a
tub or barrel, or any other vessel convenient, and apply to the
bushes with a common gardener's watering-pot. About three
applications, when the bushes are growing, will generally suf-
fice to rid them of the pest. The liquid is applied directly to
the foliage ; no bad effects are produced by its coming in con-
tact with the tender leaves or shoots.

Geo. W. Taylor, jor the Committee.

Peabody, Sept. 25th, 1874.

Note. — The Trustees voted to award to Mr. Huff the
premium of Ten Dollars.

Chas. p. Preston, Sec'v.

TREADWELL FARM.

The Committee on the Tread well Farm rcsj:)ectfully report,
that the farm has been leased to Mr. T. W. Pierce, of Tops-
field, for a term of seven years — the conditions of the lease
being, that the lessee shall pay $500 rent per year ; keep the
fences in repair ; manage the farm in a good husbandlike
manner; conduct, at his expense, such experiments, on not
more than two acres of land per year, as the Committee may
■direct ; and to apply fifty cords of good merchantable manure

76

per year, provided that for a quarter part of said manure an
equal value of approved (by the Committee) fertilizer may be
substituted at the option of the lessee. The lessor is to keep
the buildings in good repair.

In accordance with said lease the Committee have had the
ell part of the house newly shingled and silled, and the shed
and sheep barn shingled. The buildings are now in good re-
pair.

A three year's experiment on two acres of land has been
instituted for the purpose of showing the comparative value of
manure and two commercial fertilizers, and the durability of
their effects. A lot of two acres, as nearly similar in quality
and condition as possible, was selected, and divided into four
equal parts. After ploughing, part No. 1 was dressed with
1000 pounds of Russell Coe's superphosphate, part No. 2
with 1200 pounds of the Brighton Abattoir fertilizer, part No.
3 with four cords of good barnyard manure, and part No. 4
was left without any manure whatevei*. The whole was tlien
sowed with barley and grass seed. The effect of the Abattoir
fertilizer was very remarkable. There immediately sprung up
on part No. 2 charlock, or wild mustard, that grew so rapidly
and thickly as to com})letely choke and kill the barley and
grass. Tiie charlock was finally mowed aud burned upon the
ground, and the land ploughed and resowed with grass seed.
The whole of the two acres is now covered witli grass.

It is not to be supposed that the fertilizer caused the char-
lock in this particular lot, for the charlock came up on the
other parts of the land just as thickly, but not until after the
barley had got a sufficient start to keep it under. It is fair to
conclude, however, that the Abattoir fertilizer has an especial
tendency to promote the growth of charlock, and it seems to
your Committee at least to hint that it may be adapted to
promote the growth of flat turnips, as the two plants seem to-
be nearly allied.

The products of the other parts were as follows :

77

No. 1, Russell Coe's superphosphate yielded 1510 lbs. barley.
No. 3, Barnyard manure, " 1890 '* *'

No. 4, No manure, " 1310 " '<

It was intended to have the same cash value of fertilizer or
manure applied to each of the three parts manuied.

This experiment has been conducted by Mr. Philbiook, who
takes charge of Mr. Pierce's farming operations in Topsfield.
The Committee are, so far, pleased with his apparent faithful-
ness in its management.

The other crops on the farm have been quite satisfactory.
The hay crop was good, especially on the meadows. A large
crop of mangolds was also raised. More than an acre of car-
rots was planted, of which those that came up made a great
growth, but from some unexplained cause they were so thin
that the crop' was very much impaired.

Committee — Benjamin P. Ware, Geo. B. Loring, Chas. P.
Preston, Wm. Sutton.

MEETING OF THE TRUSTEES.

At a meeting of the Trustees of the Society, November
20th, the following business was transacted :

The Committees on Grain and Root Crops, Improving
Swamp and Waste Lands, Small Fruits, and the Treadwell
Farm, reported and the reports were accepted.

The report of Mr. E. H. Pay son, Treasurer, was read by
him, accepted, and he was chosen Treasurer for the year en-
suing.

Voted, To grant a scholarship of $50 to Geo. R. Dodge,
in the Massachusetts Agricultural College, for the ensuing
year.

78

Voted, *That the Committees on Ploughing and Drawing
with Oxen and Horses, be required to call the contestants to-
gether and read to them the rule, "that all teams must be en-
tered in the names of their owners," and require that this rule
be strictly complied with.

Voted, That all stock shall be fed during the Exhibition ;
and longer if it is of necessity prevented from leaving.

Numerous amendments were made to the premium list, as
will appear when published.

Voted, That an exhibition and trial of agricultural imple-
ments, mowers, horse rakes, tedders, and other machines, be
held in June next, under the direction of the Trustees ; and
the sum of One Hundred Dollars be appropriated for that
purpose, and that the President and Secretary appoint a time
and place for holding the meeting.

Voted, To liold the next Cattle Show and Exhibition at
Dan vers.

Voted, That the President appoint a committee of seven,
to present to the Trustees, at tlieir meeting in June next, a
list of Committees for the next Show.

The following gentlemen were appointed : — Geo. B. Lor-
ing, J. D. W. French, Bennett Griffin, A. B. Fellows, Jos.
S. How, J. B. Swett and Paul T. Winkley.

Voted, To appropriate the sum of fifty dollars toward a
memorial to be erected to commemorate the life and services
of the late Alexander Agassiz.

Voted, That the Secretary be authorized to appoint an
assistant at his discretion.

Voted, That a committee of five persons be chosen to re-
port to the Trustees in June as to the expediency of providing
covered pens for animals at the Show, estimating the expense,
&c.

*NoTE. This vote was passed ou account of information that parties
had hired or borrowed cattle and horses of others to compete for the
premiums the present year.

79

The committee are — Willirtm Sutton, George B. Loring,
Benj. P. Ware, J. D. W. French and Chas. P^ Preston.

Dr. Loring offered resolutions of respect to the memory of
John Keeley, one of the Vice Presidents recently deceased,
which are published herewith.

Chas. P. Preston, Secretary.

JOSHUA L. XEWHALL.

At a meeting of the Trustees held at Salem, June 23d,
1874, Hon. Allen W. Dodge offered the following resolutions
on the death of Joshua L. Newhall, Esq., one of the Vice
Presidents of the Society, which were unanimously adopted :

Resolved, That we have heard with a deep sense of our
loss, of the death of one of our Vice Presidents, Joshua L.
Newhall, who through so many years manifested the great-
est interest, intelligence and activity in the affairs of this So-
ciety.

Resolved, That we cherish with high regard the memory
of his well directed and persevering efforts to exemplify what
may be accomplished by farming in his own County.

Resolved, That we sympathize with the family of the de-
ceased in their bereavement, and that the Secretary send them
a copy of these resolutions.

Mr. Dodge, in addressing the meeting, said, that next tO'
yourself, Mr. President, our deceased friend was probably the
largest land holder in the County. In saying this, I mean,
said Mr. Dodge, owner of the largest acreage of productive
land lying together in Essex County. His farm lying on
Turkey Hill in Newburyport consisted of five hundred acres
in one compact body that he had bought from time to time,
and from an impoverished condition brought to a high state of

80

cultivation. This he had done, not by a lavish expenditure of
money in commercial fertilizers, but by an economical hus-
banding all the manurial resources at his command from
the farm and the city, so v\^isely applied as to yield the best
results. He understood the value of manure as a top-dress-
ing, and his own land told the story of the use of that knowl-
edae. I think I have nowhere seen field after field of thicker
clover and herds grass than it was my privilege to see on Mr.
Newhall's farm a few years since early in June. It was a
w^onder to me, a new revelation, and I asked how it had been
done. He then and there narrated in a plain and modest way
the methods of his success. It was the very best field lecture
I ever listened to.

But I remembered that our deceased friend was a son of
one of the very best of our Essex County farmers, Asa Tar-
bell Xewhall — himself also gone to his rest ; and I ceased to
marvel. I will mention but one thing more which contribut-
ed, as it seems to me, to the success of that son in his farm-
ing. He attended personally to his business. He knew every
cow in his herd of sixty, and whether she was giving a profit
on the keeping. If not, that cow was turned to beef or
otherwise disposed of. He went daily to market with the
milk and other products of his farm. I will venture to say
that he made but few, if any, bad debts. I am sure he lost
nothing by market men, for he employed none. He was
strong where many a farmer is weak. He knew when, and
where and how to sell. Hence he was as he desired to be, a
successful farmer. But I will not enlarge on this point, and
will only add that his interest in our Society was unabated to
the last, marked as it was by the same energy, and sagacity,
that characterized his farming. Pie had faith in the Society
as keeping alive an interest in the cultivation of the soil, es-
pecially the cultivation of the soil of Essex County, which in
his opinion was the safest and best investment that could pos-
sibly be made.

81

JOHN KEELEY.

At a meeting of the Trustees, held at Salem November
20th, 1874, Hon. George B. Loring made the following re-
marks on the death of John Keeley, Esq., of Haverhill,
one of the Vice Presidents of this Society, and offered resolu-
tions Avhieh, after further remarks by Messrs. Berj. P. Ware
and Josiah Newhall, were unanimously adopted :

Mr. Presiderit : — I rise to make a painful and unexpected
announcement, and to discharge a duty which we as a Society
owe to a respected and esteemed, departed friend. Within a
few days Mr. JoHX Keeley, of Haverhill, one of our most
efficient members, long a Trustee, and lately one of our Vice
Presidents, has suddenly been summoned to another world.
This loss we all, I am sure, deeply deplore, conscious as we
must be that the vacancy created by the death of Mr. Keeley
cannot easily be filled. He was one of the best of our Essex
County yeomen, a careful and accurate farmer, a conscientious
observer, a prudent manager, a useful citizen. At a time
when the glittering temptations of more active business in-
duced so many of our young men to leave the occupation of
their fathers, and expose themselves to the risks, for the sake
of securing the possible rewards of the busy world, he chose
to discharge quietly and faithfully the duty which devolved
upon him in the community and occupation to which he was
born. His success may well encourage the young men of our
County to follow his example ; and the respect and esteem in
which his memory Avill be held by all who knew him should
teach them the value of honest and unassuming endeavor to
discharge well the duties of life. There is no legacy more
valuable than this. The glories which attend exalted position,
bedimned as they often are by the trials and conflicts which
surround them, can never outshine the mild and cheerful light
which stefidily illumines the path of simple and faithful duty.
To perpetuate the memory of a life thus wrought out, and to
pay a tribute of respect to a man thus animated, is a duty and
6

82

a true consolation. Not to ourselves alone, his friends and
associates, but to this County and this community do we owe
it that the example of Mr. Keeley should not be forgotten.
As an expression, therefore, of our high esteem for his char-
acter and services, of our respect for his memory, of our sor-
row over his departure, and of our sympathy with his family
iu their trial and affliction, I offer these resolutions, and move
their adoption as the sense of this body :

Resola'ED, That the Trustees of the Essex Agricultural
Society learn with profound sorrow the death of their asso-
ciate, Joiix Keeley, Esq., one of the Vice Presidents of
the Society, a useful, efficient, and devoted member, and a
citizen who enjoyed through a long life the respect and esteem
of the community in whichthe lived.

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Society communicate
this expression of our regard and respect to the family of Mr.
Keeley.

ESSAYS AND REPORTS OF COINIMITTEES.

The Committee on "Essays and Reports of Committees"
report that one Essay and five Reports were submitted to us
for examination.

For the Reports we award as follows :

To Benj. P. Ware, for "Report on Ploughing with Swivel
Ploughs," first premium, $10.00.

To Henry Saltonstall, for Report on "Improving Wet
Meadow and Swamp Land," second premium, $8.00.

To James Flint, for Report on " Ploughing with Single
Teams,' third premium, $6.00.

In regard to the Essay we were somewhat in doubt, but
while it gave evidence of care and labor it did not appear to
us to possess such merit as an agricultural paper as to entitle
it to a premium.

Daniel E. Safford, Chalrtnan of Committee.

Salem, Nov. 30, 1874.

84

c

5

o

Cl

CO

Q

CI

1.0 CI

,_,

o

o

t-

CO

o

rt(

t~ r-l

Tt<

l^

o

^^

o

t--

l.O

h- CO

CI

::::

lO

o

>o

Cl

1.0

CO Ci

Ci

CO

CI

l-

^

•<*<

r1

«f

u
5

o

o

o

CI

o

o

o

'^

)-5

CO

CI

^

r-

o

iX

CI

t>.

m

§

■o

o

o

CI

u

c

•*^

o

]m

_c

ra

oT

o

t>J

L.

^

o

Q

5

u

3

9
1

C

_

.2

'3

HH

a
o

a

a
o

_a

o
o

1.0

"^

-S"

"5

d

'-kJ

.n

a

CI

zc

5

o

so

if

«;

O
^

|3

o
o

o

CO

a

CI,

Pi

3

a

a

3

o

£

S

o

C5

a
a

a

a

3

H
2

d

a
.2

a,

■jQ

o

IS

aj
a

05

1-7
a

a

o

CJ

cS

s

Ol

o

o

a

t-l

OJ

r3

"3

K

f^

M

H

<ai

o

z

"rt

(^

c:

CQ

o

&I

u

CK

ci

^

t>>

t-5

»5

>!

>i

>i

•>.

>. >j

«

K

p;

w

P

K

«■

m

K

<D

. a
f2 S

-t

00 "g_

5

1^

a

d)

o

CU

c3

CO

o

Q

t^

o

o

TO

:j^.

o ^_^

.

, ,

^7"

,

^^7"

^_^

T— *

i-

CI

<o

Cl

o o

o

o

'-0

o

o

o

o o

■*

,^

o

.^

-H

O lO

CI

,_^

^

o

y-<

o

CI CI

CI

CI

t-

O

O C)

l—

c:)

CI

C5

CI

C3 CO

CJ

CO

■*

CI

CI

o

)-0

J.-:!

^

^

CO

s

s"

<s

m

C/3

a

5

a

X3

a"
_o

in

a

a

C3

'a

O
o

O

a
.2

a
o
o

«

12;

«■

a,
O

o

a'

«!

a

rt

;h

.ti

X

a

"S

P3

ki

to

fM

a

o

a*

^

5

"3

a

1-,

"3

ci
o

"5

o

a

a

c

: a

^ o

a

o

S-l

-3

a

a

p

'^

1

>-<

o

'>

o

DO

3
'S

tl

c3

c

a

o

'^

o

H

^

a

o

s

a
cs

a

a

a.

•2

S
^

a

o
a.

a

Ol

a
o
a.

"o

+3

S
^

,0

tS

t>

p<

£«

r

3

'>

a

ri

'>

a

a

a)

<o

n

P?

Tf.

fi

^

o
o

«

"^

o

<D

P

, ^

o

o

o

o

C

o

o

o

o

o

o

O

o

o

H

H

H

H

E-

H

H

E-.

H

H

H

H

H

H

M

bri

li

>>

a

•^

cs

^

a

a
C

CO a

0)

3

a

a.

"5

1

OJ

o

Q

-<

i-s

rt

,

85

oc

o

•4-1

3

•s

o

!4

'53
u

<4-l

o

£3

'3

a

o

o

a

3

<i

a

o

_fl

i-i

s

C3

^s

i-j

o
o

n

S

o

<

o

ic

<

o

fcfl

a

O

1^

"o

"rt

c«

p

I— 1

13

«

CO

.a

o

-a

o
o

!>

c

2i

2

u

43

o

03

S

M

^

c:

Oi

CfH

£

a)

■o

QO

o

C3

rP

Ui

'^.

■2

_o

'«

o

^

^1

a

bO

13

P

g

5

s

p

ca

o

fc-

o

'Sc

13

lU

GO

Q

^

s

3

rt

s

^

a

cc

2

^

C"!

w

O

^

to

r^

ta^

,2

13

^

■^

H

a

P

'^

m

•t^

O

o

""o"

""o"

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

c

c^

ta

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

1— 1

03

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

(^

(— )

o

c

) CO

^

"e

-r

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

CO

c

CO

O'

ri

■^

i-*

o

o

lO

o

t-

lO

t-

t:

c/^

Ps

c^

o
^

C-1

CI

T-l

I-l

CI

£

&»

o

o

o

t-

o

o

o

o

lO

o

o

o

c

o

CI 1^ H

O

O

■*
o

CI

o

o

o

'tl

o

to

Ci

CI

r-l

o
o

o
o

c

:o
o

r-l 1-1

t~

t^

00

o

CI

00

00

o

CO

o

c

CI

O

<^

<=

lo

-fl

CO

lO

00

C5

CI

1-1

CI

o

w

t-

o_

O >!■

. o

* CO

O

<»

.<

E

'"'

T-l

tH

'"'

CI

>o"

-1^- ^

^

•

«^

>-|

CS

<1

p.

u^

^

1^1

c.

E

a

ll>

K

CO

a"

02

"3

CO

<u

s

Q

>
C

r^

p

05

<3

a

Q

J:)"

cc

rt

tt

^"

a
a

p
.2

^

ri

a
.2

p

n
2

a

P

£

o

<i>

s

o

a
03

P

a
o

p

n

a
.2

a
a

a,

S

CO

13

p

o

5.

-

O

00

a
£

a
0

s

o

CO

6

'3
a
.2
Is
"A

fl

.2

r2

P

o

on

p

4)

a

CO

C3

o
a

0)

CO

o

Ph

c

n

c:

-

CO

t-
oc

" W

a

a;

CO

to

to

m

an

«

m

«

<K

to

to

<D

c

H

h-i

o

o

o

<u

CJ

o

<"

Sj

V

<D

0)

c

t".

;-<

t-

;^

t^

^

l-i

^-

ti

t-

K

C

K

c5

rt

rt

rt

2

«

rt

a

03

rt

ci

•^

^

x:

rO

^

^

,c

^

/^

,i;

^

-^

^

-i;

w

o

en

32

00

to

00

m
CI

IS
CO

CI

00

t-

J

C

C

CO

iH

iH

I-l

CI

■*

«fe

86

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY.

FOR lSy4-5.

PRESIDENT.

WILLIAM SUTTON, of Peabody.

VICE PRESIDENTS.

GEORGE B. LOEING, of Salem.
PAUL T. WINKLEY, of Newburyport.
*JOHN KEELEY, of HaveihilL
BENJAMIN P. WARE, of Marblehead.

TREASURER.

EDWARD H. PAYSON, of Salem.

SECRETARY.

CHARLES P. PRESTON, of Danvers.

HONORARY TRUSTEES.

*JOHN W. PROCTOR, of Peabody.
ALLEN W. DODGE, of Hamilton.
JOSEPH HOW, of Metlmen.

*Decea8ed.

87

TRUSTEES.

Charles C. Blunt, Andover ;
G. W. Boynton, Georgetown ;
Eben G. Berry, Danvers ;
Thomas J. Clark, Salisbury ;
-J. H. Cheever, Manchester ;
Francis Dane, Hamilton ;
ILevi Emery, Lawrence ;
Henry W. Foster, Beverly ;
Alonzo B. Fellows, Ipswich ;
J. D. W. French, N. Andover ;
James Flint, Middleton ;
Bennett Griffin, Gloucester ;
-J. J. H. Gregory, Marbleh'd ;
Ariel H. Gould, Topsfield ;
•Joseph S. Howe, Methuen ;
Henry Hobbs, Wenham ;
JTames P. King, Peabody ;

W. E. Kimball, Bradford :
Joshua N. Kent, Newbury ;
E. K. Lee, Essex ;
Josiah Newhall, Lynnfield ;

C. K. Ordway, W. Newbury
Wm. H. Patch, Rockport ;
Charles Perley, Boxford ;

E. P. Robinson, Saugus ;
Allen Powe, Swampscott ;
J. B. Swett, Haverhill ;

D. H. Stickney, Groveland ;
John L. Shorey, Lynn ;

P. A. Smith, Newburyport ;
Geo. W. Simmons, Nahant ;
Aaron Sawyer, Amesbury ;
Daniel J. Hale, Rowley.

NEW MEMBERS— 1874.

Henry C. Allen, Danvers ;
Nathan F. Abbott, Andover ;
Albert Berry, No. Andover ;
•J. Q. A. Batchelder, Danvers ;
N. J. Clark, Danvers ;
Jlufus Choate, Essex ;
Chas. L. Carter, Andover ;
Eorest C. Dodge, Beverly ;
John H. Flint, Andover ;
Cornelius GafFney, Danvers ;
A. Griswold, Beverly ;
E. W. Greene, No. Andover ;
Geo. H. Gibney, Salem ;
Jacob O. Goodale, Peabody,

Edward P. Kimball, Essex;
A. E. Lufkin, Essex ;
John C. P. Legro, Danvers ;
Francis "W. Lyford, Danvers ;
Augustus Mudge, Danvers ;
Fred. Marsh, Peabody ;
Sidney A. Mcrriam, Topsfield ;
Walter S. ^lerrill, Danvers ;
Asa T. Newhall, Lynn ;
George Pratt, Danvers ;
S. J. Pettingill, Salem ;
L. D. Pettingill, Salem ;
Joseph C. Putnam, Danvers ;
Joshua Roberts, Danvers ;

8S

Henry Hale, Salem ;
Henry A. Hale, Salem ;
EHas Ham, Danvers ;
W. G. Hatch, Danvers ;
Francis H. Johnson, Andover ;
Wm. F. Kimball, Lawrence ;
Joel Kimball, Jr.. Danvers ;

Joseph Knight, Xewburyport ;
Mrs. F. Stiles, Middleton ;
Jos. B. Smith, Newburyport ;
E. L. Smith, Newburyport ;
Benjamin F. Tufts, Danvers ;
Joseph Tracy, Danvers ;
Geo. W. Taylor, Peabody.

^}::;^Any citizen in the County may become a member by
paying the sum of three dollars to increase the permanent
funds of the Society, and he will receive a certificate of his
membership from the Secretary. No fines or assessments are
ever imposed. Members are entitled to the free use of the
Library, and a copy of the Transactions each year. All or-
dained Ministers of the Gospel residing in the County, and
editors of newspapers, published therein, are entitled to the
privileges of the Library.

89

LIST OF PREMIUMS, &C.

FAT CATTLE.

Josej)h Kittredge, North Anclover, 1st premium, $12.00

C. P. Migliill, RoAvley, for near ox, 2d premium, 10.00

C. P. Mighill, Rowley, for off ox, 3d premium, 6.00

BULLS TWO YEARS OLD, OR UPWARDS.

J. D. ^y. French, No. Andover, Ayrshire, 1st prem., 12.00

Nathan P. Proctor, Danvers, Ayrshire, 2d premium, 6.00

G. W. Russell, Lawrence, Jersey, 1st premium, 12.00

John Swinerton, Danvers, Jersey, 2d premium, 6.00

BULLS — UNDER TWO YEARS OLD.

Henry Saltonstall, Peabody, yearling Jersey, 1st prem., 6.00
W. J. Dale, Jr., No. Andover, do 2d prem., 3.00

E. T. Northend, Newburyport, do., short horn, 1st " 6.00

DEVONS — TWO YEARS OLD, AND UPWARDS.

C. S. Bradley, West Newbury, Devon, 1st gremium, 12.00
Samuel C. Cook, "VYenham, do., 2d premium, 6.00

DUTCH — TWO YEARS OLD, AND UPWARDS.

Jos. Knight, Newburyport, Dutch, 1st premium, 12.00

A. Knowlton, Essex, do., 2d premium, 6.00

Best Thoroughbred Bull — of any age or breed, with
five calves of his stock not less than one year old :
J. D. W. French, North Andover, $20.C0

Volney C. Stowe, Salem, 10.00

MILCH COWS.

H. G. Herrick, Lawrence, 1st premium, $18.00

Henry Saltonstall, Peabody, 2d premium, 12.00

J. D. AV. French, North Andover, 3d premium, 6.00

90

THOROUGHBRED AYRSHIRE.

J. D. W. French, North Andover, 1st premium, 12.00

B. P. Ware, Marblehead, 2d premium, 6.00

THOROUGHBRED JERSEY.

Henry Saltonstall, Peabody, Istjpremium, 12.00

G. W. Rogers, Peabody, 2d premium, 6.00

GRADES.

E. G. Berry, Danvers, 1st pi-emium, 12.00

HEIFERS.

J. D. W. French, No. Andover, Ayrshire in milk, 1st

premium, 12.00

J. D. W. French, North Andover, Ayrshire under 3

years old, 1st premium, 6.00

J. D. W. French, North Andover, Ayrshire under 3

years old, 2d premium, 4.00

B. P. Ware, Marblehead, Ayrshire calf 4 months old,

1st premium, 5.00
J. D. W. French, North Andover, Ayrshire calf 4

weeks old, 2d premium, 3.00

Francis Dane, Hamilton, Jersey Heifer, 1st premium, 6.00

Henry Saltonstall, Peabody, Jersey Heifer, 2d " 4.00

C. S. Bradley, W. Newbury, Devon " 1st " 6.00
C. S. Bradley, " " " ♦' 2d " 4.00
E. T. Northend, Newburyport, short horn heifer in

milk, 1st premium, 12.00

E. T. Northend, Newburyport, short horn heifer in

milk, 2d premium, 6.00

C. J. Peabody, Topsfield, grade heifer in milk, 1st

premium, 12.00

Albert W. Dodge, Hamilton, grade heifer not in milk,

1st premium, 6.00

Volney C. Stowe, Salem, grade heifer not in milk, 2d

premium, 4.00

91

WORKING OXEN.

James M. Perry, Danvers, 1st premium, $15.00

Ariel H. Gould, Topsfielcl, 2d premium, 12.00

Dr. Shreve and R. Price, Topsfield, 3d premium, 10.00

BEST TEAMSTER OF OXEN.

Wm. G. Horton, Ipswich, Loring premium, 10.00

TOWTSr TEAM.

Topsfield ox team, 18 pairs, 20.00

North Andover ox team, 16 pairs, 10.00

Danvers horse team, 20.00

Essex horse team, 10.00

STEERS.

Jos. Kittredge, No. Andover, 3 years old, 1st prem., 8.00

Eomulus Jaques, W. Nevsrbury, 2 " " 1st «< 6.00

Jos. Kittredge, No. Andover, 2 " " 2d " 5.00

G. W. Russell, Lawrence, yearlings, 2d *' 4.00

STALLIONS FIRST CLASS.

G. W. Rogers. Peabody, 1st premium, 18.00

N. J. Clark, Danvers, 2d premium, 12.00

Thomas Sawyer, Boxford, 3d premium, 10.00

STALLIONS SECOND CLASS.

J. W. Trask, Beverly, Ist premium, 10.00

C. S. Clark, Salem, 2d premium, 6.00

BROOD MARES.

G. W. Rogers, Peabody, 1st premium, 18.00

John Gibney, Salem, 2d premium, 12.00

George B. Martin, Danvers, 3d premium, 10.00

FAMILY HORSES.

Samuel James, Gloucester, 1st premium, 18.00

Thomas W. Pierce, Topsfield, 2d premium, 12.00

C. C. Cressy, Gloucester, 3d premium, 10.00

92

FARM AND DRAFT HORSES.

B. P. Ware, Marblehead, 1st premium,
Cornelius Gaffney, Danvers, 2d premium,
Orrin Putnam, Danvers, 3d premium,
J. F. Dane, Hamilton, 4th premium,

FAIRS OF DRAFT HORSES.

Edward H. Brown, Gloucester, 1st premium,
Herbert A. KnoAvlton, Essex, 2d premium,

COLTS — FIRST CLASS.

For the best mare or gelding, four year old colt,
1st premium to Vermont Boy,

2d premium to Jos. Tracey, Salem, for "Queen
Bess,"

3d premium, to J. D. W. French, of Xorth An-
dover, for "Duke,"

For the best three year old colt, — 1st premium to
G. W. Rogers, Salem, for "Defiance, Jr.,"

2d premium to John Gibney, Salem, for "Queen
Bess,"

3rd premium, to J. D. W. French, of North An-
dover, for "Cato."

COLTS SECOND CLASS.

$15.00

12.00

10.00

6.00

15.00

10.00

$12.00
8.00
5.00
10.00
5.00
3.00

C. F. Pendergast, Salisbury, 2 year old colt, 1st prem., 8.00

S. P. Prescott, Haverhill, 2 " " 2d " 3.00

Emerson Whipple, Hamilton, yearling, 1st premium., 8.00

A. Titcomb, Rowley, 2d premium, 3.00

SWINE.

J. D. W. French, North Andover, for boar, 1st prem., 10.00

Robert G. Buxton, Peabody, 2d premium, 0.00

Jos. Kittredge No. Andover, breeding sow, 1st prem., 10.00

W. J. Dale, Jr., North Andover, 2d premium, 6.00

Daniel Carlton, No. Andover, weaned pigs, 1st prem., 6.00

G. W. Rogers, Peabody, 2d premium, 4.00

93

SHEFP,

Dcaniel Carleton, North Andover, buck, 1st premium, $8.00
Francis Dane, Hamilton, flock, Ist premium, 10.00

Francis Dane, Hamilton, lambs, 1st premiuirj, 4.00

PLOUGHIXG D0U15LE TEAMS.

Joseph Horton, Ipswich, 1st premium, $12.00

Addison Child, Swampscott, 2d preuiium, 10.00

PLOUGHING SINGLE TEAMS.

Kichard T. Jaques, Xcwbury, 1st premium, 10.00

Charles P. Preston, Danvers, 2d premium, 7.00

PLOUGHING — HOUSES.

Silvester Dane, Hamilton, 1st premium, 12.00

Orrin Putnam, Danvers, 2d premium, 10.00

E. S. Bray, Newbury, 3d premium, 8.00

Romulus Jaques, West Newbury, 4th premium, 6.00

G. W. Russell, Lawrence, 5th premium, 4.00

BEST TEAMSTER OF HORSES.

Joseph C. Putnam, Danvers, premium, 10.00

PLOUGHING SWIVEL PLOUGH.

A. H. Gould, Topsfield, 1st premium, 12.00

Wm. Foster, North Andover, 2d premium, 10.00

Joseph Kittredge, North Andover, 3d premium, 8.00

PDOUGHING — BY BOYS — SUTTON PREMIUM.

Wm. G. Hortori, Ipswich, 17 years old, 1st premium, 25.00

Willie E. Merrill, W. Newbury, 18 yrs. old, 2d prem., 15.00

94

AGRICULTUEAL IMPLEMENTS.

Ames Plow Co., Boston, best collection, 1st premium,

diploma, and $15.00

W. B. Peart, Dan vers, best form wagon, 5.00

Henry Hobbs, Wenliam, best team harness, 5.00

Whittemore & Bros., Boston, best hay cutter, 3.00

Ames Plow Co., Boston, best ox yoke, 3.00

S. S. Hickok, Methuen, potato diggers, 5.00

Dole & Osgood, Peabody, horse shoes, 1.00
E. E. Lummus & Co., Boston, mowing machine and

seed sower, 7.00

Albert W. Howe, Danvers, root shovel, 1.00

Hale & Co., Salem, seed sower, 2.00

E. E. Lummus & Co., Boston, cider mill, 3.00

Hale & Co., Salem, collection of implements, 4,00

Charles Frizell, Boston, step ladder, 1.00

CARRIAGES.

William Gunnison, & Co., Amesbury, top buggy, 1st

premium, 15.00

W. B. Peart, Danvers, express wagon, 1st premium, 10.00

H. H. Pillsbury, Danvers, best display, gratuity, 5.00
Dole & Osgood, Peabody, open buggy, diploma.

DAIRY.

Amos F. Hobbs, Wenham, butter, 1st premium, 10.00

Mrs. Farnham Stiles, Middleton, butter, 2d premium, 8.00

G. W. Russell, Lawrence, butter, 3d j)remium, 6.00

Mrs. P. T. Winkley, Newburyport, butter, 4th prem., 4.00

GRAIN CROPS.

Oliver P. Killam, Boxford, corn crop, 1st premium, 10.00

ROOT CROPS.

P. D. Adams, Newbury, onion crop, 1st premium, 10.00

95

RECLAIMING LANDS.

S. B. Boclwel], North Andover, reclaiming land, 1st

premium, $15.00

SMALL FRUITS.

William Huff, Newbmyport, currant croj^, Ist prem., 10.00

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.

B. P. Ware, Marblehead, 1st premium, 10.00

Henry Saltonstall, Peabody, 2d premium, 8.00

James Flint, Middleton, 3d premium, 6.00

Awarded by Committee on Poultry, $122.00

" " " " Bread and Honey, 27.00

" " " Fruits, 230.00

" " " " Flowers, 32.00

" " " " Vegetables and Seeds, 161.00

" " " " Counterpanes, &c., 36.00

" " " " Leather, 19.00

'* " " " Manufactures, &c., 16.00

" " " " Fancy Work, &c., 53.00

$1840.00

RECAPITULATION.

FARMS.

Amount awarded to Ploughing, $159.00

" " Farm Implements

and Carriages, 85.00

FARM STOCK.

Amount awarded to Fat Cattle,

$28.00

Bulls,

117.00

$244.00

Amount carried forward,

$145.00 $244.00

96

Amoimt hr

02ight forward.

$145.00

Amount awai-ded to INlilch Cows,

84.00

(( ((

Heifers,

90.00

a a

A'Vorking Oxen

and

teamsters.

47.00

(( ((

Town Teams,

60.00

<( ((

Steers,

23.00

(( ((

Stallions,

56.00

(( c<

Brood Mares,

40.00

«< ((

Family Horses,

40.00

« ( ( (

Farm and Draft

Horses,

43.00

*i a

Pairs Draft Horses,

25.00

(« ((

Colts,

65.00

(( ((

Swine,

42.00

(( a

Sheep,

22.00

4( ((

Poultry,

122.00

$244.00

$904.00

FARM PRODUCE, ETC.

Amount awarded to Vegetables and seeds, $161.00

Fruits, 230.00

Flowers, 32.00

Dairy, 28.00

Bread, &c., 27.00

Eoot Crops, 10.00

Grain Crops, 10.00

Eeclaiming Land, 15.00

Small Fruits, 10.00

Reports of Committess,? 24.00

All other objects, 146.00

*69^ 00

$1840.00

97

CONSTITUTION

OF THE

ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Article i. There shall be a President, four Vice Presi-
dents, a Secretary and a Treasurer, who shall be Trustees,
■€X~oficio ; in addition to these, thirty (originally twelve) other
Trustees shall be cliosen from the members at large, all of
whom shall continue in office until others are elected in their
stead.

Article ii. There shall be an Annual Meeting of the
Society, at such time as the Trustees shall determine ; at
which all officers shall be elected. Twenty members at least
shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction
of business.

Art. III. If at any meeting of the Society, or the Trus-
tees, the President and Vice Presidents shall be absent, the
members present may appoint one from among them to pre-
side at such meeting.

Art. IV. The President, or in case of his absence, either
of the Vice Presidents, with the advice of the Trustees, may
call a special meeting of the Society ; or whenever a written

98

-application, with the reasons assigned therefor, shall be made
'by any twelve members of the Society, to the President and
Trustees, they shall call such meeting.

Art. v. The meetings of the Trustees shall be held at
such time and place as they shall from time to time agree
upon ; seven of Avhom with the presiding officer shall make a
quorum.

Art. VI. The Trustees shall regulate all the concerns of
the Society, during the intervals of its meetings ; propose
such objects of improvement to the attention of the public,
publish such comnuuiications, and offer premiums in such
form and value as they think proper, (provided the premiums
offered do not exceed the funds of the Society :) and shall lay
before the Society, at each of its meetings, a statement of
tlie'w proceedings and of the communications made to them.

Art. VII. The Secretary shall take minutes of all the
votes and proceedings of the Society and of the Trustees,
and enter them in separate books ; and shall record all such
communications as the Trustees shall direct. He shall write
and answer all letters relating to the business of the Society.

Art. VIII. The Treasurer shall receive all moneys due or
payable to the Society, and all donations that may be made
to it ; for which he shall give duplicate receipts, one of Avhich
shall be lodged with the Secretary, who shall make a fiiir
record thereof. The Treasurer shall from time to time pay
out such moneys as he shall have orders for from the Trus-
tees ; and shall annually, and whenever thereto required,
render a fair account of all his receipts and payments to the
Society or a committee thereof. He shall give bonds for the
faithful discharge of his duty, dn such sum as the Trustees
^hall direct, and with such «ureties-.

99

Art. IX. A committee shall be appointed annually by the-
Trustees to audit the Treasurer's accounts, who shall report tO'
the Society ; and the same being accepted shall be entered by
the Secretary in his books.

Art. X. In case of the death, resignation, incapacity, or
removal out of the county of the Secretary or of the Treas-
urer, the Trustees shall take charge of the official books, pa-
pers, and other effects, belonging to the office that may be
vacated, and give receipts for the same; -which books, papers,
etc., they may deliver to some person whom they may appoint
to fill the office until the next meeting of the Society, at which.
time there shall be a new choice.

Art. XI. Any citizen of the county may become a mem-
ber of the Society, by paying the sum of three dollars to
increase the permanent fund of the institution.

Art. XII. A Committee shall be raised from time to time,
to solicit and receive subscriptions for raising a fund for en-
couraging the noblest of pursuits, the Agricultiu-e of our
country ; the same to be sacredly appropriated to that pur-
pose.

Art. XIII. All ordained ministers of the Gospel who re
side within the county, shall be admitted honorary members of,,
the Society.

Art. XIV. In addition to the usual number of Trustees-
annually elected, the past Presidents of the Society shall bej
honorary members of the Board of Trustees.

100

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION-
ADOPTED SEPT. 29th, 1863.

Article i. The officers of the Society shall consist of a
President, four Vice Presidents, a Treasurer, Secretary, and
thirty Trustees.^

Art. II. A Committee of one from each city and town in
the county, represented in the Society, shall be appointed at
each annual meeting, by nomination from the floor, to report
a list of officers, (with the exception of Treasurer,) at the
next succeeding annual meeting, which report shall be acted
on, and the officers elected at said meeting by the ballots*of
the members present.

Art. III. The Treasurer shall be elected annually by the
Trustees, at their meeting in November.

Art. IV. The Committee on nomination shall hold its
meeting prior to the first day of July each year ; and its re-
port shall be immediately placed in the hands of the Secre-
tary, for the examination of any member of the Society ; and
the Secretary shall cause ballots to be jirepared in conformity
■with said report, for the use of the members, and presented at
the annual meeting.

Art. v. The first election under these amendments to be
had at the annual meeting in 1864, and they shall only apply
to the Trustees so fast as they go out of office under the
present tenure of election.

101

AMENDMENT ADOPTED SEPT. 24Tn, 1867.

Trustees of the Society shall not be eligible to act upon the
nominating committee ; and members of the nominating com-
mittee shall not be eligible as candidates for Trustees.

AMENDMENT ADOPTED SEPT. 29th, 1868.

Each member of the Committee for the nomiuation of of-
ficers shall be empowered to appoint a substitute in case he
declines serving.

AMENDMENT ADOPTED SEPT. 23d, 1873.

Article Ist amended so as to provide that one Trustee from
each town in the county, in which there are members of the
Society, shall be chosen from the members at large.

/

X02

LIBRABY.

The Library is established at the Pkimmer Hall, Essex
Street, Salem, where members can obtain books under the-
following I

KEGULATIONS :

1. Each member shall be entitled to take from the Library
TWO VOLUMES, On signing a receipt for the same, and agree-
ing: to be accountable therefor.

2. No member shall keep any book more than two weeks,
after being notified (by the Librarian) that the same is want-
ed by another member.

3. All books belonging to the Library shall be returned
on or before the 15th of November in each year ; that the
same may be examined and the condition of the Library re-
ported to the Trustees.

4. Any member who shall neglect or refuse to conform to^
these Regulations shall tJiereby forfeit the privilege of taking,
books from the Library.

103

CONTENTS

PAGE.

Address of John L, Sliorey, Esq., 3

The Exhibition, 22

Report on Fat Cattle, ^23

Bulls, 23

Milch Cows, 25

Heifers, 32

Working Oxen, 36

Town Teams, 36

Steers, 37

Stallions, 37

Brood Mares, 38

Family Horses, 38

Farm and Draft Horses, 39

Pairs of Draft Horses, 39

Colts, . ; 40

Sheep, 42

Poultry, 43

Ploughing — Double Teams, 44

Ploughing — Single Teams, 44

Ploughing — with Horses, 45

Ploughing — Swivel Plough, 47

Ploughing — by Boys, 49

Agricultural Implements, 49

Carriages, 50

Dairy, 50

Bread and Honey, 50

104

Report on Pears, 51

Apples, 53

Peaches, Grapes and Assorted Fruit, 54

New Winter Apple, 55

Flowers, 55

Vegetables, 57

Domestic Manufactures, 60

Articles Manufactured from Leather, . 62

Manufactures and General Merchandise, 62

Fancy Work, 63

Corn Crop, 65

Root Crops, 67

Improving Wet Meadow and Swamp Lands, . . 72

Small Fruits, 74

Treadwell Farm, 75

Meeting of the Trustees, 77

Joshua L. Newhall, 79

John Keeley, 81

Essays and Reports of Committees, 82

Treasurer's Report, 84

Officers of the Society, 86

New Members, , 87

List of Premiums, 89

Constitution of the Essex Agricultural Society 97

Library Regulations, 102

TRAN S ACTIONS

OF TME

ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY,

IN MASSACHUSETTS,
For the Year 1875,

WITH THE

FIFTY-THIRD ANNUAL ADDRESS,

BY

Rev. E: C. Bolles.

Published by order of the Society.

DAN VERS, MASS:

Putnam & Barnes, Printers.

1875.

ADDRESS

Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Essex Agticultural
Society : —

It would seem that the half-century of this Society's existence
should have given it greater wisdom in the choice of a speaker
for to-day. There is probably no one in this assembly less fa-
miliar with practical agriculture than myself. My one experi-
ment in this department was with beans. The poles attained
their full height in a single day ; the beans I never saw again
till I dug for them ; when they were discovered, alike untouched
by germination or decay. Many of them must still remain in
the same ground, to reward some future explorer with unchange-
able proof of my veracity. But the experience yielded a crop
of wisdom, in my determination to adhere to my own occupation
and leave beans to those who knew them better than I.

Nor would even the compliment of your invitation have led
me to yield so sensible and fixed a purpose, had I not remem-
bered that compliance with your wishes might help me to the
partial quittance of a debt long since incurred to the agricultu-
ral world. In my boyhood, holidays were few. It is easy to re-
call the scenery lit by their passing gleams of liberty so long

ago. Not a sight or sound is there that will not return at mem-
ory's voice. Now, thirty years ago, the Agricultural Fair and
Cattle Show was the crowning pleasure of the year. Then the
old "South Green" was covered with its cattle pens, and impris-
oned swine, and closely cooped fowls. Choice knots of farmers,
each the centre of an admiring crowd, gathered here and there
before some favorite animal to discuss his poims or bulk. Com-
mittee-men, stirring and be-ribboned, went from place to place
with a long following of boys and rustics, an impromptu court
to ratify or criticise their verdict. Watchful sentinels stood be-
fore the cages of the more delicate stock, ready and anxious to
rap the knuckles of every intruding hand. And what Arcadian
rambles there were in the ancient and musty "City Hall" with
its corridors and ante-rooms overflowing with the tide of har-
vest ! There were the big pumpkins and potatoes, the bed-quilts
fluttering from the galleries with the names of their workers or
knitters — dames of an impossible old age — , pats of competing
butter, bushels of gorgeous fruit. It will be only an act of tar-
dy justice if I can bring you anything worth your hearing now.

I shall put what I have to say under the general theme of
Science in its relation to Agriculture. Much has been said and
done to unite the two. It would be useless to assume that all
the promises of the one had been kept or the expectations of the
other answered. It would be as stupid to pronounce their union
undesirable, and divorce the tillage of the soil from that system-
atic study of nature which has so marvellously quickened every
other human industry. At least it is my wish to offer a few
thoughts tending toward that conclusion.

The farmer, in the common language of the day, is chief
among the producers of the world. The wealth of cities, the
revenues of states, the might of kingdoms are most of all his
work. But he originates no force. He harvests and stores up
force l:;y wisely directing the great currents of power that flow

5

around him. For him the sunlight builds its golden bridge to
earth, for him the subtle elements of the soil are shaken from
their combinations in the rock. For him the clouds are gath-
ered and the dews distil. Among these powers, from the frosts
of March to the stiffening ground of November, he has to guide
the growth of what he cultivates. He is almost invisible among
these vast natural forces like the steersman on a steamer's deck;
yet it is the part of his skill to coi trol them all.

I called the farmer a harvester of force. His chief ally is
vegetable life. This life he scatters dormant in the seed, itself
the concentration of a culture which has gone before. A seed,
like a grain of corn or vv^heat, is a wonder to the thoughtful mind.
It is the cradle of a plant whose first leaves, wrapped around its
tiny form, are charged with nourishment for its first growth.
Buried in the ground, and starting with ambitious haste for an
existence in the light, it becomes Nature's darling ; for sun and
showers, heat and electric thrills, the universal ministries, become
its servants. They will all give of their wealth, all' will be rep-
resented in the gram whose fulness makes the Autumn glad.

It is not too much to say that the history of a single spike of
corn or wheat-ear involves as much profound and patient science
before it can be fully told as the physical history of a man. So
numerous and complicated are the forces and their relations, so
curious is their modification by what we call the principle of life,
that the comparison is fair. What is as yet understood is but a
splinter from the tree. The Physiology of Plants is a great sci-
ence and widening like a rushing tide, but its mysteries outnum-
ber its revelations. How to renew or prepare soils has been a
subject for the profound and numberless experiments of Chem-
istry, but Nature, the best chemist, works as yet with locked
doors. The weather like the wind bloweth where it listeth, in spite
of all human attempts to compel its secrets. Still it seems plain
that in the future, among the keener agricultural competitions or

the teeming population of an older world, success will lie in the
more thorough knowledge of the laws which govern and the el-
ements which feed all vegetable growth.

It is not to be implied from this that the farmer is to be what
the world denominates a man of science. Perhaps he has more
real science now than he might see his way clear to admit, as
Moliere's man had all his life been talking prose without so un-
derstanding it. Perhaps he will remain to the end the plain and
simple man of experience and practice. But what it is right to
expect from the farmer, if he shall not remain a hopeless con-
servative, as the stand-still East yet scratches its fields with the
wooden plough of two thousand years ago, is mental hospitality.
By this I mean a willingness to learn what may profit his own
vocation, at the hands of those who explore with analysis or mi-
croscope the laws of the universe in which his lot is cast. It is
a shame that an unfair suspicion of science has been awakened
in his mind by the impostures and knaveries of designing men.
His gains are too hardly won from the acres to which his toil is
given to lie at the mercy of the charlatans who invade the coun-
try with specifics or patents, too loudly heralded and impudently
pushed to be worth the purchase. Science, half-understood and
crudely applied by men who are ambitious for riches at the farm-
er's expense, may well excite his indignation and scorn. His in-
heritance of common-sense is not for nothing here. Yet the
same principle will tell him that all truth must have its practical
application. What was a scientific toy thirty years ago, to-day
records in instant signals the markets of the distant West or
England upon which hang the prices of his crop. What was
counted a madman's dream in Elizabeth's time, now urges the
steamer, deep with grain or flour, across the Atlantic waves. The
intimate knowledge of a single cereal or tuber or root may sup-
ply to him the key to an improved subsistence and a brighter
home. The plea is then for an intelligent hospitality of mind,

contributing by its hearty sympathy to the sustaining or develop-
ment of that scientific culture which may in the future be in-
voked for such material aid.

Nor is this plea disposed of by the wit which aims its jests at
the "fancy farming" of the day. A rich man may toy with farm-
ing as he might with manufactures or with trade. There is in
all of us a love of the soil, a pleasure in seeing the growth of
things which our own hands have planted ; and it is not surpris-
ing that this feeling finds an expression in the case of many who
suppose that wealth and theory and science will answer for all.
Perhaps also that other trait not unknown in human nature comes
into play, where one fancies that he can best do that for which
nature has expressly disqualified him. At any rate, these ferti-
lizers costly as gold duston the soil, these potatoes absorbing every
one the value of an able bodied man's long day, these cattle fed
upon the fat of the land and making beef too great a luxury for
even a millionare's table, are worth laughing at, if we remember
that a "fancy" manufacturer or tradesman might be as absurd a
sight without destroying the dependence of both trade and man-
ufactures for their best attainments on the classified results of
progressive knowledge. One thing is certain — a farmer must be
made upon the soil. He must learn his business there, not
among crucibles and books. But every agricultural journal with
which he solaces his leisure, every glimpse of improved methods
which he catches at the neighborhood store or the County Fair,
appeals to his intelligence to see how science gathers the materi-
als for future success out of even the humiliating failures of "fan-
cy" farming to pay its way. Even if he goes as ages before his
predecessors went to the barn-yard for his only means of renew-
ing the vigor of his land, he may learn that it is the very prov-
ince of a chemistry, itself more refined and savory than its or-
ganic subject, to teach him the only or the best way to preserve
or apply the full value of his stable product to the ground.

8

Wilson Flag'g, whose books should be among- the choice read-
ing of every intelligent New Englander, has embodied in his
sketches of the Woods and By-ways of Massachusetts, the most
tender and delicate love for the beauty of our familiar country-
side. But he takes issue with scientific farming as that agricul-
ture organized for gain alone which drives the muses from every
haunt and gives a prosaic and uninspiring character to life. He
shudders at the prospect of the day when the farm shall be only
as the cotton-mill, spiritless, busy, cold. But it is not scientific
farming after all, which he denounces as destroying every way-
side covert for the smaller birds, grubbing up every forest on the
slopes of the hills, and setting mechanical fingers only at work
in the rural industries of the land. For perhaps the highest
sweep of agricultural science will be in detecting and explaining
the balance of the forces among which the farmer works — the
wild spontaneous lives of nature and the other lives over which
human effort broods. Science, like Providence, will note a spar-
row's fall, and will judge the value of a tree for other things than
timber or fuel. Where half-science sees but one method of ac-
tion and unsettles and disturbs, a later and fuller knowledge will
set itself the task to readjust the harmonies which have been
broken in its own name.

I shall ask your attention to several specific illustrations of my
leading thought thus outlined. To begin at a point not often
touched, it must be in the power of Science to render substantial
benefit to Agriculture because Agriculture enters nature as in
some sense a disturbing force. The cultivation of a country is
the destruction of its old balance of conditions, the harmony es-
tablished, it may be, by uncounted centuries.

When our forefathers first sailed into sight of these familiar
shores, Nahant was a wooded promontory ; and the Salem hills,
which are so bleak and bare to-day, were rounded with the deep
verdure of their ancient trees. Where dry pasture is, the damp

forest mosses carpeted the ground ; and streams, long since \an-
ished or dwindled to a thread, sought the sea. The climate was
less capricious ; the beautiful Indian Summer flung its week f)f
misty gold into November's lap ; and even the Winter snows
were true to their appointment of advent or departure. The pi-
oneer's axe opened the soil to the sun, and his plough prepared
the way among the stumps for tlie grasses and grains of the old
world. It was inevitable that all should change, as it had done
in Europe and Asia so long before. The farmer here, as every-
where, was to pursue his toil in the face of difficulties of his own
creating. Thoreau, in his rough Walden bean-field, expressed
the general fact of Agriculture: "This was my curious labor all
summer — to make this portion of the earth's surface, which had
yielded only cinque-foil, blackberries, johnswort and the like be-
fore, sweet wild fruits and pleasant flowers, produce instead this
pulse, — to make the earth say beans instead of grass." This
struggle was complicated for our predecessors and for us by the
unsparing drafts which nature had to meet.

No science can give back the past. That would be to surrend-
er the land to be the Indian's hunting-grounds again. But it can
and it must improve our agriculture by reviving such of the old
conditions as will put nature more in alliance with the farmer's
work. New England husbandry will never be exactly the same
as that of the rich plains behind the dykes of Holland or that
whose leaves are dewy with the warm vapors of an English sky.
But it will be the husbandry of a soil less sterile and more hos-
pitable in just the proportion that the farm goes to school to sci-
ence, and learns that even after years of neglect, nature may
still be recovered as a friend. A wise combination of intelli'
gence, under the direction of only what is certainly established
by science now, for the purpose of recovering some of the lost
values of climate and growth, would make any district — even
your own, so proud of its advanced culture — v'astly more pro-
B

lO

ductive as well as beautiful. Economy would follow in the track
of wealth and grace. The age of labor-saving machines would
come to understand that the best of these are natural influences
themselves.

You can see from the special turn I give this theme that I do
not believe that the destiny of New England is to cede the hands
that guide the plough to manufactures, and to reckon, in another
century, her agriculture as a lost art. I love the joy of her coun-
try side too much ; I honor too profoundly her moral and politi-
cal strength in her rural communities, to think approvingly of
such a change. I prefer to look for an age when sweeter com-
pensations of rustic life shall surround the feverish excitement
of our cities ; when stronger attractions shall retain our youth
upon the soil ; when, amid richer acres and fairer homes, our
farmers, who have most of all given pledges to lo)'alty by joining
their fortunes to their mother earth, shall hold with stronger
hand the traditions of liberty ; but I only dare to speak of this as
possible through that wide culture in which science bears its part.
Again, I specify the help which science renders to the farmer
by enabling him t(^ meet successfully the pests and scourges let
loose by the animal or vegetable world upon his crops.

The husbandman has indeed many races to run with the hosts
of nature in harv^esting his season's work. A myriad of unbid-
den guests are hungry for it ; green or dry, in the bud or fruit, it
never comes amiss to their ravenous jaws. Insect armies mi-
grate across a continent, leaving a desert as they go. The air
is dusty with disease to the growing grain, as sometimes with
pestilence to men. Ever since the day when sacred prophecy
interpreted the locust swarms as the wrath of God, agriculture
has had to fight for its own. And it is here that the eager curi-
osity which loves to explore the forms and laws of every life,
though that life may only be a microscopic pcnnt, or a noxious
and loathsome thing, does good service to the cultivator of the

1 1

<i;rouncl. It teaches him to crush the e\il in the cradle or the
e;^g'. It puts it in his power to pit one enemy against another,
fighting fire with fire. It hangs upon some slender thread of
habit in the movements of a depredator the foil to his attack.
Some of the classics of science, like the well known volume of
Dr. Harris here in Massachusetts, have been written in the in-
terests of agricultural success.

Endowments from a state or nation to promote such studies, —
the work of individual investigators or agricultural departments,
— are all liable to a double misapprehension. Upon one side it
seems so absurd to pension Entomology ! a science which may
be fascinating to a few har;nless zealots, with net in hand to cap-
ture, and Latin and Greek lexicons within reach to name, their
victims ; but which even more than any other pursuit impairs the
popular respect for a person's sanity. It is so easy to ridicule
such things, and wail for money wasted on this sand. It is not
here alone that men are blind to the enlargements of their own
interests. Within the last dozen years, a prominent member of
our American Congress, mentioned more than once for the high-
est office in the people's gift, labored in his place to oppose our
national Coast-Survey — because he was a western representative
and Illinois and Minnesota were out of hearing of Atlantic
waves. As if the great west had any other highway for the ex-
portation of her products than the sea, whose gates were watch-
ed and guarded by the very instution which he scorned ! Mean-
while the grasshopper devours a dozen agricultural departments
every month, and the beetle asserts the honor of the striped uni-
form by spreading terror from Colorado to Massachusetts. Sure-
ly science is worth a larger endowment than she has ever dared
to beg, if she can help us here.

Another misconception comes from the old impatience of the
world at the tardiness of results. To borrow a figure of a vig-
orous writer, we are too fond of digging up our hopes to see if

12

thev ^row. We expect tcio much, and that too soon, from our
few experhnents in the cultivation of economic science. Such
expectations are apt to end in the putting foward of ill consider-
ed theories and hasty suggestions, alike dishonorable to science
and injurious to the popular verdict upon its worth.

By a publication made in h^ngland while this address was in
preparation, I can illustrate this branch of my subject by a note-
worthy instance of a most delicate and abstruse method of research
in Botany yielding the practical results which have long been
sought for in the agriculture of two continents. The microscope in
its most modern and powerful form, is now in constant use for
the minute examination of the invisible structure of animals and
plants. Many things which live, and are powerful by their num-
bers, are individually only to be recognized or described under
the lens. Their germs, which are smaller still, contain in their
structure and development the secret of their bane or blessing
to the world. It is a chamber most obscure and far removed
from practical life, as your first thought might say, which is here
unlocked by the optician's art. \'et the microscope has just
achieved an honorable fame from the value of one of its revela-
tions.

The potato murrain, as English authors call it, has for some
time been a most dreaded pest in Europe and America. Dark
spots upon the leaves, foliage and stems blackening and decay-
ing, the tuber corrupted by the same hidden cause and dissolv-
ing in a fetid slime, these are the well known symtoms of the
disease. The evil has been found to be a delicate white mould —
whose threads mine and exhaust the plant. Such moulds are
among the worst precursors of pestilence or famine. They are
more fearful than the devouring fire, They belong to a class of
l^lants called Eungi, jjarasitic destroyers all, the scavengers of
the vegetable world. It is such a mould as you may see in Au-
tumn, at once the murderer and shroud of the flies dead upon

13

the window pane. Other fungi, not indeed of the special forms
of mould, are the "rust" or smut of cereal crops. The remain-
ing difficulty, after the discovery of the potato-mould, the Pe-
ronospora, was to understand the full process of its reproduction.
Winter, on theory fatal to the life of any ordinary form or germ
of the potato-fungus, only laid the chill of a brief interruption
on its devastatmg work. There must be, so botanists said, some
secret retreat of vitality, some conserving organ or seed, out of
which the Spring called the evil powers into activity again. The
riddle has just been read by Mr Smith, an English botanist of
some repute.

In the stems and corrupting fragments of blighted potato
plants, and under the dissolving influence of the Autumn rains,
very small brown grains or spheres have been found, developed
on the mould-threads just as these are ready to die by frost.
This is the preparation of the parasite for Winter. Everything
else perishes. The mould and its dead host, the potato, crum-
ble away. The little spheres, only the thousandth of an inch in
diameter survive, waiting patiently in the frozen ground. In the
spring they thaw and sprout, taking possession of other plants
in the same soil. The microscopist I have named is the first to
detect and expose this wonderful resource of the short lived but
destructive mould. It now becomes possible intelligently to
press to extermination this pest, as others, like the vine mould
and the wheat rust have had their ravages curbed before.

This instance may stand for many, all teaching the same les-
son. Even the most refined investigations of science may have
their practical value. The steel-maker has found a help in the
"bright lines" of the spectroscope, and a jury searching for blood-
stains have learned to interpret its "absorption bands." So the
farmer of the future will, in common with all earth's workers,
subsidize science for protection and defence.

I 14

Your patient attention to what I have said deserves its re-
ward in the termination of these remarks. I observe, in the last
place, that science promises to agriculture benefits in the devel-
opment of the noblest crop which any soil produces, — the man-
hood upon which the state builds its best, and on vv'hich in our
own land the intelligent preservation of our liberties depends,

You do not care, 1 presume, to listen to any extravagant eulo-
gies of the farmer's place in the social world. Your work is
hard, your gains slow, in comparison with other occupations.
whose charms, often delusive, keep the tide from country to city
ever on the flow. Some of you have felt a vague discontent
with fortune, which has bound you to the homestead acres. Ah
well ! there are many more, and successful ones too, as the world
goes, who envy you the narrow compass of your cares, the cool
er and serenerair in which you toil. But aside from feeling, it is a
solid fact the state has learned to expect much of you. For
common-sense to balance mad theorists, for economy to rebuke
luxur}' and extravagance, for the wise conservatism of property
in land as the needed counterpoise to reckless revolutionaries
you are held responsible. The simple institutions which lie at
the foundations of the fathers' government sun'ive best among
you. More earnestly perhaps than any other class you discuss
and settle for yourselves, with no lack of independence, the great
questions of the day. More than the vagrant dwellers in cities,
you urged to its decision the national verdict against social
wrong, and when the call came you filled the army's ranks.
Strong, liberty-loving men it is your duty, as your tendency to
be. It is not likely that the youngest child of to-day will ever
see the time when the republic will not totter to its fall if you
are less than this.

It seems equally certain that the education of the coming age
will be largely scientific. This influence will reach the agricul-

15

tiiral world in many ways. Through the common school, through
the modification of farm implements and methods, through the
public press. It will act, wdth its unsettling power, here good,
here evil, on forms and institutions. The intelligence wdiich it
will devoloj) may not ahvays be a blessing — it may even strike
savagely at the very restraints which are needed to make it a
blessing. Our hope must lie in great part with you, — with the
agricultural communities which invest the great centers of in-
dustry with the verdure of fertile soil and the homes of cheerful
labor. Science will aid you who come nearest to nature to come
nearer still. A wholesome pride in your profession, a more thor-
ough knowledge of the laws among which it works, continually
increasing skill to alleviate its hardships and increase its com-
forts, ail this you may expect it to give. In short, it will give
more power of being independent, happy, wise. You will not
be the dwindling estate of the realm, whose golden age is over,
but treasury, bench, executive will more and more respect and
honor you. It is only necessary that you cherish that self re-
spect which is ever ready to incorporate wMth the elements of dai-
ly life all that ijicreasing knowledge shall suggest to make it
better.

I cannot end without the word of commendation which it
would be both unjust and discourteous to withhold. You show
us that our old historic country is touched by no barrenness or
neglect. Skill multiplies her productive forces and brings from
her liarvest fields their lavish wealth. It is still certain that her
rustic homes are rich in graceful and housewifely art. Could we
\isit them, we should find them wise with the old thrift and
more beautiful with the new grace. But your Fair Grounds and
Hall indicate more than this. They show that you are growing
more and more into the acceptance of the profession of a-Ticnl-

i6

ture as a permanent, excellent, exalted art. In this it would
seem that in you are answered the hopes of those who won
and opened these fields at first. They have come to you as the
long inheritance of peace, — You are to do your life-work upon
them, — there is some green corner among their flowers where at
last you will be laid to sleep.

<7

THE CATTLE SHOW AND FAIR.

The Fifty-F"ifth Annual Cattle Show and Exhibition was held
at Danvers, September 28tl) and 29th, 1875.

REPORTS, &C.

FAT CATTLE.

The Committee on Fat Cattle beg leave to report that there
were six Fat Oxen offered for premium, all of good quality, and
but three premiums at our disposal to satisfy their demands.
Had not the rules of the Society stared us in the face, we should
have awarded a premium to each pair and thereby rendered
equal justice to all. But to obey the rule, which we were bound
to do, we were obliged to award two premiums to one pair and
thereby leave one pair out in the cold which were really deserv-
ing a better fate.

Hoping that the Trustees will change the rule, so far as Fat
Cattle are concerned, we postpone further suggestions for the
pre.'^ent and tender the result of our deliberations.

Henry Gardner, Peabody, for best Ox, first premium, $ 12 ;
William A. Russell, No. Andover, second premium, $10; Hen-

IS

ry Gardner, Peabody, third premium, S6. We would also rec-
ommend a gratuity of $5 to S. & N. Longfellow of West New-
bury for their pair of oxen.

Committee — J. Longfellow, J. P. King, H, C. Harnden, G. K.
F. Dane, Jas. T. Carlton.

BULLS.

There were, in all, 14 entries in this class. The premiums
have been awarded as follows : —

Two-years-old and upward, thorough-bred Ayrshire, T. O.
Wardwell, No. Andover, first premium, $12, for Sir Thomas
Moore, 1469. Calved July, 1870. Bred by J. N. Fleming,
Knockdon, Scotland, and imported by Wm. Rodden, Montreal.

N. P. Proctor, Danvers, second premium, $6, for Punch, 1391
Sire, Chief, 474. Dam, Cowslip, 1022, imported.

Two-years-old and upwards, thorough-bred Jerseys, J. Longfel-
low, Newbury, first premium, $12, for Little Micawber, Sire, Mr,
Micawber, imported by Thomas Motley. Dam, Snowdrop, import-
ed by Thomas Motley.

Two-years-old and upwards, thorough-bred Short-Horns, Shat'
tuck Brothers, Lawrence, first premium. $12, for Merrimac,
weight, 2008 lbs. Calved June, 1871. Got by Amateur.
Dam, Elizabeth Poole, by Butterfly, 3d.
G " Lilly, by P^ortune, 1 1487
G G " Sophia, by Napoleon, 1905.
G G G " Dolly, imported by Jonas Whittaker in 1837.

Amateur was bred by J. O. Sheldon, Geneva, N. Y. Got by
7th Duke of Airdrie, 23718.

Dam, Juliet, by Duke of Airdrie, 12730.
G " Jubilee 3d, by E. C. Hakin, 2813.
G G " Jidiilee ist, by Lycargus, 7180, and so on for eight
generations of ancestors besides those mentioned.

TwO'Vears-old and upwards, thorough-bred Holstelns, William
A. Russell, No. Andov^er, first premium $12, for "dictator."

Under two-years old, William A. Russell, No. Andover, first
premium, $6. for 'First Consul." Second premium, $4, to same
for bull calf "Fritz Clifden."

"Dictator," 82, "First Consul," 100 and "Fritz Clifden," I03
were imported by Mr. Russell from North Holland in 1874.

The Committee are sorry to report that they were unable to
give premiums to a number of Bulls, which were disqualified on
account of defective pedigrees.

The State Board of Agriculture has declared that no Agricul-
tural Society shall recieve the state bounty where premiums are
given to other than thorough bred bulls, and the President and
Secretary are obliged to hand in a sworn statement to that effect
before the money is paid into its treasury.

Now, if the l^oard would go a step farther and define a thor-
ough-bred bull, they would confer a favor on all judges in this
class and would relieve the consciences of the officers of the So-
ciety in swearing, often unwittingly, to false statements — for the
reason that some judges are ignorant of what a thorough-bred
animal is. If the board will not do this, then the Societies ought
to establish some rule for the guidance of their Committees.

What is a thorough-bred animal } That is a question more
easily asked than answered, but for all that there is nothing to
prevent a Society from adopting some regulation on this point
and then asking the Board for its approval. There are certain
Herd Books of the different breeds, which are considered by
high-toned, honest breeders as authority in all matters of pedi-
gree.

Shall the Society declare that only such bulls as trace their
pedigree to these books shall be eligible to a premium, or shall it
adopt the principle of the English Short-Horn breeders that

20

five crosses of thorough-bred lilood for a bull, and four for a cow
are sufficient to place them in the ranks of thorough-bred stock ?

If neither of these plans should meet tlie aj^probation of our
Society, will it not publish, in the next Schedule of Premiums,
some definition of a thorougli-bred animal ? only let it be so
clear that no judge hereafter will have any excuse for giving the
premium to other than a thorough-bred bull, on any plea of ig-
norance.

In judging of the bulls entered for premiums this year, your
Committee were governed in their decisions by the authority of
standard Herd Books, or by the knowledge of direct importa-
tion, as in the case of the Holsteins.

Sir John Sinclair, in his "Code of Agriculture," says "the art
of improved breeding consists in making a careful selection of
males and females for the purpose of producing a stock with few-
er defects and with greater perfections than their parents : in
which their mutual properties shall be combined and their mu-
tual faults corrected.

The objects of improved breeding, therefore, are to obviate de-
fects and to acquire and to perpetuate desirable properties ;
hence, when a race of animals have posessed in a great degree,
through several generations, the properties which it is our object
to obtain, and any tendency to produce unwished for properties
has been extirpated, their progeny may be said to be well bred,
and their stock relied on.

Wise words these though written more than fifty years ago ;
but as much to the purpose as if spoken for the first time to-
day.

The object of improved breeding is not merely the coupling
of a cow with a bull, but the making a careful selection for the
purpose of perpetuating good qualities and eradicating defects.
The art of breeding is the understanding how to do this.

21

How many men before deciding the important question of se-
lecting a bull for breeding, considerthe virtues and faults of their
own cows ? Do their cows need a hardier constitution ? Are they
too lank and leggy ? Do they need increase in size of body ? Do
their udders need developement in certain directions where they
are now deficient ? Are such questions asked and weighed de-
liberately ?

We fear that less care and judgement is used in these matters
than in many others of less importance.

Sinclair uses the term well bred. Now it seems to us that
there is some distinction between a well bred and a thorough-
bred animal. Every thorough-bred animal is not a well a bred one.
Other things being equal, we would always select the animal
with the longest pedigree, becau.se we believe in pedigrees, which
are the result of judicious breeding, but to say that the beast
with the longest pedigree is the best, is as sensible as to say that
the longest tail is a sure guide for selection.

Before purchasing a bull, one should know something more
than the mere fact of his having a pedigree — we should know
that it is a good one, that is, tracing to a line of ancestors hav-
ing such qualities and characteristics as we wish to introduce in

to our herds.

si-
Different families of the same breed often vary materially in
quality — for pure-bred cattle may be improved or deteriorated ac-
cording to the judgement of the breeder — therefore we say be
careful in choosing animals for breeding purposes that they are
not only pure bred but well bred.

Mr. Pringle, Editor of the "Irish Farmers' Gazette," remarks
that "It much to be regretted that careful selection, especially
in case of the males, is not so closely attended to by many breed-
ers of the present day as it ought to be. Bull calves are not un-

22

frequently kept for breeding purposes, chiefly because they have
fashionable pedigrees, rather than their merits, considered mere-
ly as breeding stock. Of course such bulls sell, for the pedi'
gree sells them : but however important a pedigree ib — and it is
a most important point — still a fashiona'ole pedigree will not
make up for decided want of merit in a bull."

This does not prove that pedigree is not an important point to
be taken into consideration \n the selection of breeding stock ;
it merely proves that occasionally, and in spite of a long line of
good blood, an animal will crop up, which does not posess suffi-
cient merit to render it desirable to retain that animal for breed-
ing purposes. From this we see that an animal should not only
be of good blood, but should have sufficient merit of its own to
warrant us in purchasing for breeding purposes.

Notwithstanding Sinclair's statement that the stock of well
bred animals may be relied on, it is not invariably true, as the
occasional cropping up of worthless specimens shows.

As I have said before, a thorough-bred animal is not necessari-
ly a well-bred one, so likewise a well-bred animal is not always a
meritorious one.

Sometimes a farmer buys a thorough-bred bull because he hap-
pens to be cheap. He may be a "weed," which the breeder was
only too glad to dispose of, or he may per chance be a good ani-
mal. He is taken home, half starved, allowed to do service not
only for the farmer's cows but for all others in the neighborhood.
His calves, when they come, are fed just enough to keep them
alive and consequently grow up looking very scraggily. The
farmer, not seeing the expected improvement, begins to cry
down pure-bred animals as humbugs. Now, in the first place,
it was a chance if he got a decent bull — provided the animal was
good, he did not care for him properly. In the second place,
the cows may have been such a kind and in such a condition

that no foetal improvement could take place, and. thirdly the
calves did not have a fair chance after they were dropped. Un-
der these circumstances should a reasonable person look for im"
provement.

On the other hand, a man may buy simpiy on account of a
long pedigree, tracing pcrhaj^s directly to importation, and pay
enough to get a good bull, but has not attempted, or has not been
able, to ascertain the qualities and characteristics of the ani-
mal's ancestors. His herd is well fed and well cared for ; but
still the results are not as good as anticipated, because a bull
had not been selected for the purpose of "obviating defects and
perpetuating desirable properties."

Mr. Carr, in writing of Thomas Booth, says he "appears to
have proceeded on the principle that whilst the general simili-
tude and mingled qualities of both parents descent to the off-
spring, the external conformation — subject of course to some
modification by the other parent — is mainly imparted by the
male and the vital and nutrrative organs by the female.

Having judiciously selected the best animals procurable of
both sexes, Mr. B. was careful to pair such, and such only of the
produce of these unions as presented in a satisfactory degree the
desired characteristics with animals posessing them in equal or
greater measure, and unsparingly to reject, especially from his
male stock, all such as were not up to the required standard.

Mr. Bates and others followed the same system in perpetuat-
ing characteristics which they considered desirable. Guided by
this rule, Mr. Booth, one of the most celebrated breeders of
Short-Horns in the world, built up his magnificent herd.

In the first place, he selected the best animals that could be
procured ; but he was not satisfied with this alone. In the
second place, he used the greatest care that onlv such animals as

presented the desired characteristics should be coupled, and,
thirdly, he rejected unsparingly, especially from among the males,
all animals that did not come up to his high standard. Lord
Rivers, a successful breeder of greyhounds, attributed his suc-
cess to his rule of "breeding many and hanging many," and
with cattle, though not in the same degree, there will always be
some animals which are only fit for the butcher. It is upon ihis
important point of knowiiig when it is necessary, and then dar-
ing to use the kniic that the success of a breeder in a great
measure depends.

In selecting a bull for breeding purposes we have said that he
should not only be thorough-bred but well-bred, and moreover he
should have merits of hi;; own.

Let us see what some of those merits should be in a dairy
breed. Thaer, in speaking of the choice of males, says that
"most breeders are too much guided by certain conventional
beauty of form, which in many cases is not really the most de-
sirable characteristic," and again, "that a broad front is much
valued by some persons ; for my own part, I prefer that the an-
imal's hind quarters should be in good proportion to the front.
First, that when he leaps the cow, he may be able to keep him-
self up without pressing too heavily upon her, and secondly, be-
cause a strong croup appears to favor a large secretion of milk
— I likewise prefer a bull wilh a long and fine head and thin tail
but my chief care is to select one that is the offspring of a good
milch cow.

This last sentence shows that he considered it of greater im-
portance than anything else that a bull should be descended
from good milking stock — that is well-bred — but among the
characteristics, he places a strong croup most prominently

Some of the points, as laid down by the Royal Jersey Agri"
cultural Society, for a bull, would be applicable to any dairy

25

breed, and we give them as follows : —

"Horns smooth, not too thick at the base ; ears small and thin
and of a deep orange color within ; eye full and lively ; neck
arched, powerful, but not too coarse and heavy ; chest broad and
deep ; back straight from the withers to the top of the hip, and
straight from the top of the hip to the setting on of the tail ;
the tail at right angles with the back, fine and hanging down to
the hocks ; hide mellow and moveable, but not too loose, covered
with fine, soft hair; fore legs short and. straight ; fore arm large
and powerful, swelling and full above the knee and fine below it ;
hind legs short and straight (below the hocks) and bones rather
fine ; the hind legs must be squarely placed and not too closely
together when viewed from behind nor to cross in walking. "
Moreover the pelvis should be long, broad and straight ; hook-
bones wide apart, that is a good croup. A proper regard should
also be paid to a well developed escutcheon and the indication
of teats is also desirable."

We do not believe that a bull should have a decidedly femi-
nine appearance ; but should show sufficiently that masculine
character which is inseperable from a strong and vigorous con-
stitution.

J. D. W. FRENCH, Chairman.
No. Andover, Oct. ii, 1875,

MILCH COWS.
The Committee on Milch Cows report as follows : —

BEST MILCH COW.

George B. Dodge, Hamilton, fiirst premium, $25 ; E. Swazey,
Danvers, second premium, S12 ; Frederick Burnham, Manches-
ter, third premium, $5.
D

26

AYRSHIRE.

Benj. p. Ware, Marblehead, first premium, $12, for "Rose, 2d ;"
Thomas Cass, Topsfield, second premium, $6, for "Susie."

JERSEY.

George W Russell, No. Andover, first premium, Si 2, for "Nel-
lie Blen, 2d ;" J. Bardwell, Beverly, second premium, $6, for
"Daisy."

DUTCH OR HOLSTEIN.

Wm. A. Russell, No. Andovet, firsr premium, $12, for "Lady
Clifden;" Wm. A. Russell, No Andover, second premium, $6,
for "Lady Clay."

NATIVE OR GRADE.

S. F. Crossman, Swampscott, first premium, $12; George W.
Frazier, Lynn, second premium, ^6.

STATEMENT OF GEORGE B. DODGE.

Hamilton, Sept. 2y, 1875.
To THE Committee on Milch Cows: — I enter for premium
for best Milch Cow^, my Grade Ayrshire cow, "Star," calved
March, 1867. She dropped her last calf Feb. 6, 1875, and is
due to calve again December 31, 1875. Her feed, until turned
to pasture, was the best of English hay and rowen, with two
quarts of Indian meal and about a peck of roots per day ; since
the 20th of May, good pasturage. Commenced August ist feed-
ing one armfull of cornf odder in the evening and one quart of
Indian meal in the morning. Commenced March ist weighing
her milk and weighed it until Sept ist. her average during March
was 38.8 pounds ; for April was 40.2 pounds ; for May was 38.2
pounds ; for July was 34.1 pounds. Her record for the months
of June and August, as required by the rules of the Society, is
as follows ; —

JUNE.

Date.

Morning.

Evening.

Total.

I

17

1-2

22 1-2

40

2

i8

23

41

3

i8

1-2

22 1-2

41

4

i8

1-2

22

40 1.2

5

17

1-2

21 1-2

39

6

IQ

21

40

7

17

1-2

21

38 1-2

8

i6

1-2

22 1-2

39

9

19

23

42

lO

18

23 1-2

41 1-3

180 222 1-2 402 1-2

Average Weight in Pound.s 40.25.

Date. Morning. Evening. Total.

31

30

24 14 15 1-2 29 1-2

25 14 16 30

26 14 15 29

2"] 14 1-2 17 31 1-2

2^ 13 1-2 16 I 2 30

29 14 1-2 15 1-2 30

30 15 15 30
I 14. 14 1-2 28 1-2

AUCi

;usT.

Morning.

Evening

14 1-2

16 1-2

14

16

14

15 1-2

14

16

14

15

14 1-2

17

13 1-2

16 I 2

14 1-2

15 1-2

15

15

14

14 1-2

142 157 1-2 299 1-2

Average Weight in Pounds 29.95.
statement of benj. p. ware.
I offer for premium m}' thorough-bred Ayrshire cow, "Rose,"
2d, born March 5th, 1870, whose dam was "Rose," grand-dam
"Marjary," imported by Joseph S. Cabot, Marjary was bred by
John Kilgore of Notmine, Scotland, g. g. dam Lillias, bred by
Mr. Kilgore, g. g. g. dam was bred by Captain Martin. Marja-
ry's sire was Jamie, bred by Alex Arnold of Aucheneimie, the
sire of Rose 2d was bred by E. S. Poor from a bull imported by

ATE.

Morning.

Evening.

22

19]

[-2

20

23

20 1

[-2

20

1-2

24

19 1

[-2

20

1-2

25

20

20

1-2

26

19]

[-2

21

27

19 ]

[-2

18

1-2

28

20

19

1-2

29

19 ]

■ -1

19

1-2

30

19 ]

:-2

20

31

20

21

1-2

28

him. Ro.se 2d dropped her calf June 2d, therefore could not ac-
count for her milk the first ten days of June. The weight of
her milk for the last ten days of August is as follows : —

Total.

39 1-2
41
40

40 1-2

40 1-2
38

39 1-2
39
39 J-2

41 1-2

399
Allowing 2.15 lbs as the standard weight of one quart of milk,
the yield would equal 185.12 quarts, averaging 18.5 quarts per
day. Her feed has been as much green corn fodder as she would
eat in the forenoon and turned out to pasture and water in the
afternoon, with two quarts of shorts and one quart of meal morn-
ing and evening. Her milk, by the Lactometer, shows eleven
and one-half per-cent cream.

STATEMENTS OF WILLIAM A. RUSSELL

"Lady Clifden" is six years old ; Dutch or Holstein ; imported ;
calved Jan. 28th, 1875 and is due to calve March loth, 1876. Fed
on three quarts meal and four quarts shorts with good hay. Af-
ter June 1st, pasture and two quarts meal.
Averages for February. 61 7-13 lbs per day, or 29 3-40 quarts.

Averages

5 for

March.

(^7 7-13 "

"

" 32

Last ten

days

in

April.
May.

59 4-5 "
52 27-31"

..

" 28 12-25 "
" 25 9-50 "

K ((

"

June.

503-10 "

<<

" 24

" «

"

August.

42 19-100

"

" 20 9-100 "

"Lady Clay" is seven years old ; Dutch or Holstein ; imported

29

calved March 15th, 1875, and is due to calve April 8lh 1876.
F'ed on three quarts meal and four quarts shorts with good hay.
After June ist, pasture and two quarts meal.

Last ten days in March. 6^, 3-95 lbs per day or 30 3-5 quarts.

April 57 1-5 " " 276-25 "

May. 45 23-31 " " 21 39-50 "

June. 379-32 " " 187-10 "

" August. 309.16 " " 147-10 "

STATEMExNT OF GEORGE W. RUSSELL.

I enter my Jersey COW, "Nellie Blen, 2d," 1148, A. H. B.,
calved August 17, 1870, making her five years of age, and bred
by me ; for the premium for the best milch cow of any breed,
with satisfactory evidence as to her milk, manner of feeding &c.
Nellie Ijlen, 2d, dropped heifer calf December 22d, 1874. Jan-
uary 1st, 1875, commenced to measure her milk and have mea-
sured it daily up to Sept ist, 1875. During the winter she was
fed on good hay with one quart corn meal and one quart cotton
seed meal twice a day until the 20th of May, after which she had
nothing but pasture feed until August ist, 1875, since then two
quarts meal daily. Due to calve Nov. 6th, 1875.

Record of her Milk.
Gave in January, 627 quarts-20 1-4 quarts per day-1348 1-4 lbs.

Feb.

532 "

19

I 143 4-5 "

March,

558 '•

18

1 199 7-10 "

April,

480 "

16

1032

May,

465 "

15

999 3-4 "

June,

450 "

15

967 1-2 "

July.

379 3-4

12

1-4

817

August,

274
3765 3-4

9

589 l-IO "
80873

The

above record shows

a yield

of

15.50 quarts daily for

eight months.

•30

STATRMF.XT OF S. F. GROSSMAN.

I enter my ii^rade milch cow for premium. She was five years
old in the Spring of 1S75. Breed part Jersey and part Durham.
Dropped her last calf in the middle of November, 1874, and then
gave from eighteen to twenty quarts of milk. In June, 1875,
she gave fourteen to fifteen cfuarts, in August nine to eleven,
and at the present time, about four weeks previous to her drop-
ping her next calf, she gives from eight to nine quarts. Since
May, 1875, her feed has been ordinary pasturage and seven lbs
of ground oats per day.

The Committee, in submitting thefr report, desire to say that
the foregoing statements, with one exception, are all that came
to their hands giving any information on which to base any judg-
ment or to make any award. When the attention of exhibitors
was called to the Society's rule, the reply was that they had not
seen the book containing the rule and knew nothing about it.

Your Committee have awarded premiums in three or four in-
stances where the statements were mainly verbal ones, but in
which they were satisfied of their truth, and that the exhibitors
were really ignorant of the requirement of a full written state-
ment. They recommend that hereafter more effort be made to
give information that every exhibitor for a premium must com-
ply with the rule requiring a full, but concise, written statement
as to the following facts, viz : — age, breed, time of dropping last
calf, when will next calve, kind, quality and quantity of food
during the season and the weight or measure of milk during the
evening and morning of the first ten days of June and the last
ten days of August, or of a like period in some other months if
the cow is not in milk in June and August, and that Committees
ibe instructed not to award any premium unless such rule is com-
plied with.

31

Commitec — John L. Shorey, H. G. Herrick, Wm. B. Carleton,
John D. Cross.

HERD OF MILCH COWS.

The Committee on Herds of Milch Cows report that there
were but two herds entered for premium — one consisting of six-
cows by Benj. P. Ware of Marblehead, and one of three cows
by J. Bardwell of Beverly. Mr Bardwell exhibited three very
fine looking Jerseys, but as the rules of the Society require the
exhibition of of at least five head to enable the owner to com-
pete successfully for a premium, Mr. Ware was actually the only
competitor. In Mr. Ware's herd were some excellent specimens
of milch cows, and to him the Committee recommend the award
of the first premium of Si 8.

We suppose there is a two-fold object in offering this premi-
um. First — to induce owners of good herds to exhibit their
stock and thus add to the interest of our annual show, and, sec-
ond— to elicit by the required statements reliable information
respecting she manner and cost of keeping, and the income ob-
tained. We think the latter a matter of v^ery great importance.
Therp has been much written of late regarding the profit of this
branch of farming and this question is frequently discussed
among farmers. It is pretty generally conceded by practical
farmers in this region, that the margin of profit in the dairy is
small, although a person is occasionally found who thinks the
production of milk for the market a money making business.
We do not propose to discuss this question, but would call atten-
tion to the need of more definite and exact information respect-
ing this branch of farming. Very few persons really knozv how

32

much value their cows produce in a year, or how much value in
food and labor is expended on them.

The dairy forms one part of the farm operations, and they
may perhaps be able to tell at the end of the year, whether on
the whole they have gained anything from the farm, but they
cannot tell whether or not it would have paid better to have sold
the produce consumed by the cows and bought a quantity of ma-
nure equal in value to that produced by the cows. Every farmer
who keeps a herd of cows, or who thinks of doing it, would like to
know how much money return he can reasonably expect to re-
ceive from such a herd of cows as is practicable for him to ob-
tain. If our milk producers, who make this one of the means of
living, would take the trouble to keep an exact account for a year
or two of the yield of their herds, the amount received for dairy
products and the manner and cost of keeping, it would be of the
greatest value to many young farmers and not a little benefit to
themselves. The vast difference in the income of different cows,
without any perceptible difference in cost of keeping, would sur-
prise us, and the result of careful observation would very likely
show that in a herd of twenty cows a large portion do not pay
expenses while the remainder yield a good profit.

It may be objected that keeping an exact account of the prod-
uction of each individual in a large herd, would involv^e such an
amount of labor as to be practically impossible. But we think
not. Let the milk of each cow be measured or weighed one day
in each week for a year, and the amount produced by each one
in that time could be very easily calculated. The knowledge
gained by trying this experiment is worth to the person trying
it all the trouble it costs.

It would doubtless be found that a large proportion of cows
do not pay expenses. But is not the first step to pecuniary suc-
cess in dairy farming to ascertain how much a cow must yield to

33

pay a fair profit, and the next to find out which individuals of
the st-<ck are not doin^; it.

We want information too, respecting- the income farmers of
good judgment in the selection of stock actually do receive from
such cattle as they can obtain, for it is utterly impracticable for a
milk producer to buy a herd of cows which will all prove io be ex-
tra. And then the farmer, in deciding whether or not it is profita-
ble for him to continue in this branch of his business, must extend
his observations over a term of years. He must buy his cows
and sell them before he can tell exactly how the account stands.
If he buys extra stock for milk he must pay for that quality in
the cow, and when her usefulness is ended he must expect to sell
her for the sum she is worth for beef. If he has a large stock,
he must must expect to lose an animal occasionally, and must
constantly expect more or less loss from swelled udder or "gar-
get," and hemust bear in mind that a large milker is more liable,
to diseases of this nature than a cow yielding a moderate quantity.

Another point on which more definite knowledge is wanted is
the feeding. Milk producers are not agreed as to the food best
calculated for making milk. It is agreed that something must
be fed besides hay, but whether shorts, fine feed, cotton seed,
oil-cake, corn meal or roots is by no means settled. The com-
parative value of these different kinds of food for the production
of milk is a matter on which few farmers have a well grounded
opinion. It is claimed on good authority that cows can be kept
much more economically, with equally good results, by giving
"chopped feed," instead of feeding the same kinds of provender
dry. We know farmers practicing this mode of feeding who
think one fourth of the hay can be saved in this wa}', and the
cows kept equally well. If this is true it is a fact well worth
knowing and practising. On all these points farmers need more
definite and precise knowledge which can only be obtained by
careful experiment. The sum of it all is that in this, as in a!l other
E

34

operations of the farmer, it may not be very easy to ascertain
exact financial results. But such a knowledge is essential to
success especially in a business where the margin of profit can-
not be large.

For the Connnittce, JOS. S. HOWE, Chairman.

STATEMENT OF BENJ. P. WARE.

I offer for premium my herd of six cows. They were fed
through the winter with English hay and rowen with one-third
bushel roots each per day. They all gave milk to within two or
three weeks of calving, and calved between March ist and June
2d. Their feed during the summer has been pasture, and since
July 1st corn fodder in the barn in the forenoon, and in the af-
ternoon turned into a small pasture with water and a feed of two
quarts shorts and one quart Indian meal each morning and
evening. Since the first of June they have averaged a little over
thirteen quarts of milk per day each, ascertained by weighing
their milk at different times and averaging it.

HEIFERS.

The Committee on Heifers have awarded the following premi-
ums —

SHORT HORNS,

Ben Perlcy Poore, West Newbury, first premium, $6, for heifer
"Lilly." Ben Perley Poore, West Newbury, first premium, $4,
for calf "Daisy."

AYRSHIRE.

Benj. P. Ware, Marblehead, first premium, $6, for yearling

35

heifer "Miss Morris." Jas. Manning, Topsfield, second premi-
um, $4.

JERSEY.

Geo. W. Russell, No. Andover, first premium, $6, for heifer
"Hattie." • Jas, S. Green, Hamilton, second premium, $4. for
heifer "Daisy." Geo, W. Russell, No. Andover, first premium,
S5, for Jersey calf. J. H. Cheever, Manchester, second premi-
um, $3.

DUTCH OR HOLSTEIN. ( IN MILK. )

W. A. Russell, No. Andover, first premium, $\2, for "Lady
Elswout." W. A. Russell, No. Andover, second premium,. $6,
for "Anna Paulowna."

DUTCH CALVES.

W, A. Russell, first premium, $5, for "Belle Marion." Sec-
ond premium, $3 to same for "Jenny Clifford."

GRADE HEIFERS. (iN MILK.)

Albert W. Dodge, Hamilton, first premium, $12. E. Swazey,
Danvers, second premium, $6.

GRADE HEIFERS. (NOT IN MILK.)

Peter Lynn, Danvers, first premium, $6. J. H. Cheever, Man-
chester, second premium, $4.

GRADE CALVES.

S. A. Merrill, Danvers, first premium, $5. Theron Johnson,
No. Andover, second premium, $3.

Your Committee would also recommend a gratuity of $3 to J.
W. Scidmore of Peabody for his twin heifer calves, and also
would make honorable mention of the heifers of E. G. Berry, of

36

Danvers, Theron Johnson, of No. Andover, Albert W. Dodge,
of Hamilton, and another heifer supposed to belong to Mr. Gus-
tin of Danvers.

Commitee — Herman Phelps, A. M. Bodwell, H. F. LongfelloW'
Z. C. Wardwell. J. F. Knowlton.

STATEMENT OF BENJ. P. WARE.

I offer for premium my thorough-bred heifer, Miss Morris, 5th,
born May 30, 1874. Her dam was Miss Morris, 3d, grand dam
Miss Morris, imported by Sanford Howard Esq. for the Mass.
Society for the promotion of Agriculture. Sire, General, bred by
'Dr. Geo. B. Loring, he by Cabot 3d, Dam, Jessie. 107. Her feed
last winter was English hay and roots. This summer, corn fod-
der in the forenoon and pasture in the afternoon.

STATEMENT OF JAS. B. GREEN.

Heifer, Daisy. Dropped March 20, 1874. Dam, H. B. M.
Consul, imported by T. Louisada. Sire, Prince Albert, H. B.

STATEMENT OF GEORGE W, RUSSELL.

I enter my yearling heifer, Hattie, squirrel gray — nearly solid.
Dam, Sultana, 403. Sire, Bruno, 307. Dropped May 22, 1874.

STATEMENT OF ALBERT W. OOUGE.

I enter for the premium, given for the best milch heifer, my
Jersey grade heifer, Tabby. She was calved in May, 1873, and
dropped her first calf May 10, 1875, and is due to calve April
30, 1876. Her keeping has been good pasturage through the
season. August ist commenced feeding one quart corn meal in
the morning, and August 20th commenced giving one quart
shorts in addition. Her extra feed, since September ist, has
been potatoes once a day.

37

Record of her Milk, (in Pounds.)

June,

date. morning. evening.

1 13 1-2 14

2 13 14

3 «3 15

4 13 15

5 13 H 1-2

6 13 1-2 14

7 12 1-2 14

8 12 1-2 14 1-2

9 12 1-2 15
10 II 1-2 15

128

145

A

UGUST.

9

I I

9

II

10

I I

10

12

10

I I 1-2

10

12

10

12

10

I I 1-2

10

12

10

I I

TOTAL.

27

1-2

27

28

28

27

1-2

27

1-2

26

1-2

27

27

1-2

26

1-2

^n

22 9 II 20

23 9 II 20

24 10 II 21

25 10 12 22

26 10 II 1-2 21 1-2

27 10 12 22

28 10 12 22

29 10 II 1-2 21 1-2

30 10 12 22

31 10 II 21

98 115 213

STATEMENT OF \V. A. RUSSELL.

Description of the 4 Heifers and 2 Calves entered by W. A
Russell,

Maid Marion; 3 years old. Imported in October, 1874, calved
for the first time Jan. 28th, 1875, is due to calve July ist, 1876.
Feed from February to June two quarts meal, four quarts shorts
and good hay. After June ist, pasture only.

38

February,

19 Quarts.

March,

19 19-100 "

April,

1731-50 "

May,

16 27-100 "

June,

16 2-3

July,

1541-50 "

August,

14

Lady Paulowna ; 3 years old. Imported in October, 1874
was giving milk and continued milking up to calving. Calved
July 2 1st, second calf. Average milk for August, 16 quarts,
for September, 14 1-2 quarts. Feed, pasture only.

No. 160, Lady Elswout, H. H. B., Vol. 2. Black with white
points. Calved October. 20th, 1872. Bred by and the property
of W. Russell, Lawrence, Mass. Sire Elswout, 94, imported
from North Holland by T. E. Whiten in 1871. Dam Midwoud,
5th, 28, by Zuyder-Zee, 2d, 57, grand dam Midwoud, 4th, 26, by
Hollander, 19; great grand dam, Lady Midwoud, 17, imported
from North Holland by Winthrop W. Chenery, Esq., in 1861.
Calved July 22d, 1874, is to calve June 14th, 1876.

Average milk per day for August, 11 1-2 Quarts.

" " " December, 9 "

April, 71-2

August, 61-2

Berenice; 2 years old. Imported in October, 1874, calved
March 12th, 1875, is to calve April 10, 1876. Feed two quarts
meal and four quarts shorts up to June, after that, pasture only.

Average milk per day for April, 12 Quarts.

June, 91-5

August, 8

39

Calf, Belle Marion, No. 96, H. H. B., Vol. 2. Black with white
marks. Calved Jan. 28th, 1875. Imported in heifer, Maid Mar-
ion, 181, from Benningbrock, North Holland, in 1874, by and
th e property of W. A. Ru.ssell, Lawrence, Mass.

Calf, Jenny Clifden, No. 151 : black and white. Calved Feb.
1st, 1875. Imported in cow. Lady Clifden, 159, from Midwoud,
North Holland, by and the property of W. A. Russell.

WORKING OXEN AND STEERS.

The Committee on Working Oxen and Steers report that there
were 19 pairs Oxen and 4 pairs Steers entered for trial, the
largest number we think which has been on exhibition for many
years, and generally of large size, good shape and well matched.
But there was a deficiency in their training. If we could see
one-tenth of the interest in training steers and oxen that there
is in training fast horses, we might conclude that the use of oxen
on the farm was not yet going out of date. It is a question of
serious consideration for the farmers of New England whether
it is for their interest to dispense with the use of oxen for that
of horses.

The Committee award, for Working Oxen, to A. H. Gould,
Topsfield, first premium, $15 ; W. A. Russell, No. Andover, sec-
ond premium, $12 ; Charles P. Preston, Danvers, third premium,
$10. Steers ; Asa T. Newhall, Newburyport, first premium, $10
H. C. Ware, Salem, second premium, $6.

Comviitee — Paul T. Winkley, Alden C. Estes, D. Bradstreet,
P. W. Ricker.

40

TOWN TEAMS.

The Committee on Town Teams report 22 pairs of Oxen on
team of the Town of Danvers, 20 pairs Oxen on team of the
Town of Topsfield, 13 pairs Oxen, including i pair of Bulls, on
team of the Town of Andover.

Also, an 8 Horse team and a 16 Horse team of Danvers.

The Committee award premiums as follows : —
To the Danvers Ox Team, (22 pairs) first premium, $30.00

To the Topsfield Ox Team, (20 pairs) second premium 15.00

The Andover Ox Team had some fine cattle, wish we had a
premium for them.

HORSES.

To the Danvers 8 Horse Team, first premium, $ 30.00

To the Danvers 16 Horse Team, second premium, 15.00

Cojfiviitec — Thos. P. Gentlee, David Knovvlton, Benj. E. Em-
ery.

STEERS.

The Committee on Steers report the following awards : —
Three-years-old, Romulus Jaques, West Newbury, first premi-
um, $8 ; S. & N. Longfellow, Groveland, second premium, $6.

Two-years-old, George E. Mason, Andover, first premium, $6 ;
J. Erank Eoster, North Andover, second premium, $5.

Coinniitee — Abel Stickney, Wilbur E. Proctor, S. E. New-
man.

STALLIONS.
The Committee on Stallions present the following report

41

In the class of four-years-old and upwards there were eight
entries, as follows : —

Charles S. Clark, Salem, four-years-old ; N. H. Boardman,
Danvers, seven-years-old ; S. B. Gregory, Hamilton, six-years-old ;
Byron Perkins, Georgetown, five-years-old ; A. T. Nevvhall, New-
buryport, six-years-old ; Jas. M. Knights, Salem, four-years-old ;
Thomas Sawyer, Boxford, five-years-old ; John I. Downing, An-
dover, five years old.

In the three-years-old class there were six entries as follows : —
George W. Rogers, Peabody; Thomas W. Pierce, Topsfield.
presented two, each three years of age. Samuel P. Prescott,
Haverhill ; George W. Russell, North Andover ; Nathan J. Clark,
Danvers. The fine, young stallion, "Winchester," presented for
exhibition only, by Mr Franklin Alley of Marblehead, elicited
the admiration of the Committee.

The awards were as follows : —

In the four-years-old and upward class — Charles S. Clark, Sa
lem, first premium, $i8; James M. Knights, Salem, second pre-
mium, $12 ; S. B, Gregory, Hamilton, third premium, $io.

In the three-years old — Thos VV. Pierce, Topsfield, first pre-
mium, $io; George W. Rogers, Peabody, second premium, $6.

There were no entries for the "best Stallion of any age and
five of his colts."

The Committee regret the almost total absence of a complete
pedigree, and they urge, as of great importance to the breeders
of the county, to ensure for them not only purity of blood, but
freedom from hereditary unsoundness, that the Society
oblige eVery one making his entry to hand in pedigrees of his
stock. It is one thing to say that "my horse is a Messenger, or
Morgan, or Hamiltonian ;" another thing to verify the state-
ment. What the Committee ought to have, and what the Soci-
F

42

ety should insits on their having", is a written or printed authen-
tic pedigree which, if necessary, could be vouched for and traced
to the SUid Books, so that a man having a choice mare among
us would not inquire into and insist upon having, before secur-
ing the services of a stallion, his antecedents. It may not be of
any importance to those who do not care, and we hope this num-
ber is few, as long as they have a colt born, from what parents
he comes, whether through unsound ones or not. But your
Committee can hardly think, in this day of fine horses and fine
breeding, that there are many in the old county of Essex who
are so foolish as to neglect a matter of so much importance, and
we urge this upon the Society as one of their most imperitive
regulations.

Another valuable suggestion came as forcibly to this Commit-
tee as it has to others who have served upon this class of stock
and have written upon it often, and that is classificatio?t. There
is a great difference between a Percheron or Clysdale Stallion
and a Hamiltonian or a Goldust, and they should be entirely
separated in their class. No man in his senses would breed a
mare to either of the former two classes with the expectaton of
getting a colt which duriag his life would be worth anything for
a road horse, and yet, he would be invaluable perhaps for heavy
farm work, and none of us would expect a colt sired by Bysdike
Hamiltonian, or a Winchester, or a Dorsey Goldust to be valua-
ble except for rapid work on the road. The science of breeding
proves this without a doubt. Would any man of sense expect a
horse of fourteen hundred or fifteen hundred lbs to be able to
move ten or twelve miles an hour for two or three consecutive
hours and be alive or sound the next day ; or would any one im-
agine that the place for Smuggler or Thomas Jefferson was be-
fore a drag .-* Therefore your Committee speak earnestly of the
propriety of dividing the premiums and of making two distinct

43

classes ; fc instance, an amount of money for Stallions suitable
for draft purposes or heavy farm work, and one for Stallions
suitable for lighter and faster work, and we cannot see the least
difficulty or impropriety in such a classification. The breeder of'
either of these classes will be well paid for his labor if he insists
upon sound stock, and that where pedigree goes back through
nothing but the purest blood. We as a people appreciate a fine
horse, whether we need him for our farm work or for pleasure,
on the road and large prices will be paid for such horses. We
shall always find poor horses enough and stupid people enough
to raise them. It is the duty of all of us to urge the rearing
of high priced horses, for just as long as there is a demand for
them, and it is increasing yearly, he is anything but a pro-
gressive farmer who ignores this fact, and we doubt not that he
who has raised a first class horse has derived just as much bene-
fit pecuniarily if sold, as from a load of hay or a bushel of pota-
toes, there can be no question under circumstances ordinarily
favorable that the breeding and raising of good horses is a profit-
able business. They are always in demand at prices which
abundantly pay for the raising, no matter if the breeders atten-
tion be in the direction of producing horses adapted for the road
or draft, it pays to breed only the best of its kind. The differ-
ence in value between good and poor horses is very much great-
er than that which exists in any other live stock. Hogs or cattle
are raised mainly for the value of the carcase and bought and
sold by weight, with only a slight variation as to price in regard
to quality. Not so with the horse ; his form, style and color,
his strength, the sparkle of his eye, the cut of his head, the qual-
ity of the bone, carriage of his tail, shape of each individual
part which goes to make up the whole, his gait as well as his
size and mental characteristics are all taken carefully into ac-
count in estimating the value of the animal. Havdng carefully
chosen the sire, never breed to a "come by chance," and with a

44

good dam, success is reasonably certain and the business a prof-
itable one. The ordinary fanner can scarcely invest in any busi-
ness that will give such sure and large returns as the purchase
of one or two good brood mares provided as we have already
hinted, that he breed them with good judgment.

We hope to see, another year, a much finer display than the
one just past (this was a good one) and feel sure that the inter-
est of the Society will be largely benefitted by proper classifica-
tion and insisting upon authenticated pedigrees.

JOHN HOBBS, Chairman.

BROOD MARBS.

The Committee on Brood Mares with foal performed their du-
ty with as much satisfaction to the owners probably as to them-
selves.

We were unanimous in giving the first premium of $l8 to T,
W. Pierce, of Topsfield, for his mare "Kitty," colt three months
old ; second premium oi $12 was awarded to Reuben Alley, of
Marblchead, for his black mare and foal four months old; the
third premium of $io we awarded to C. J. Norwood of Hamilton,
for his Godfrey Patchen mare and foal three months old.

There being an unusually large number of brood mares con
testing for premium the present year, you will perceive at once
that it was a hard matter to decide upon.

Committee — Charles M. Lunt, George W. Boynton, E. F. Lit-
tle.

45
FAMILY HORSES.

The Committee on Family Horses report as follows : —

Charles H. Gould, Danvers, first premium, $i8 ; William A.
Dane, Hamilton, second premium, $12; Moses C. Reynolds, Sa-
third premium, $10.

Several very fine horses were entered which in the judgment
of the Committee do not come strictly under the class of family
horses. We would suggest that the Society offer premiums for
another class to be designated as Gentlenicii s Road Hofses. To
such a class properly belongs a fine colt entered by K. B, Wildes
of Ipswich, and a very valuable mare entered by George W.
Rogers of Peabody, and several others.

The Committee have endeavored to adhere strictly to the qual-
ities of family horses, regarding speed as secondary, and have
given premiums accordingly.

Commitee—Y. G. Hurd, W. P. Bailey, J. G. Munsey, A. T.
Newhall.

FARM AND DRAP^^ HORSES.

Your Committee on Farm and Draft Horses would submit the
following report : —

The number of entries make was eighteen. We felt very
much gratified at the large number of entries made and were still
more pleased to see so nice a lot of horses, which for good looks
and likewise as workers we think we have never seen equalled at
any show. They seemed with scarce an exception to have been
trained to know their business, as they certainly performed it in

46

a very satisfactory manner. We could but notice the improve-
ment in this class of horses in the last few years. They seem to
be indispensable on the farm, and any one can but notice how
much more they are brought into use now than formerly. The
farmer that twenty years ago kept but one horse through the
Summer, and that one perhaps turned out to pasture a large part
of the time, now keeps two, and quite likely four, in the stable
to be ready at all times for whatever place they can be put to
lighten the labor of the farm. We hope the interest in this class
of horses will still continue as we think there is no animal on
ihe farm that acts so important a part.

After considerable discussion we decided to award the first
premium of $15 to A. T. Newhall, of Newburyport ; the second
of $12 to E. T. Knowlton, of Essex; the third of $10 to H. L.
Tenney, of Newbury ; the fourth of $6 to Joshua Roberts of
Gloucester.

We would likewise mention the horse entered by Abijah P.
Fuller, and also one entered by M. H Poor as splendid workers
and were sorry that it was not our privilege to award them a pre-
mium.

Commitcc — Edward H. Little, J. A. Wellman, Hugh Hill,
Phineas E. Davis.

PAIRS OF DRAFT HORSES.

The Committee on Pairs of Draft Horses have attended to
to their duty and would respectfully submit the following re-
port : —

47

Edward P. Perley, Dan vers, first premium, $15 ; David Knowl-
ton, Essex, second premium, $10.

Committee — Henry Hobbs, Alonzo B. Fellows, S. A. Merrill,
B. N. Dodge, E. H. Little, Jr.

COLTS, FIRST CLASS.

The Committee on First Class Colts report as follows: —
They have examined eleven colts, and some of them they would

be very glad to give a premium to, but in their judgment they

did not come within the rules of the Society.

FOUR YEARS OLD.

J. W. Trask, Beverly, first premium, $12 ; C. W. Wilkins, Pea
body, second premium, $8 ; John Gibney, Salem, third premium,

THREE YEARS OLD.

John Gibney, Salem, first premium, $10 ; H. A. Hardy, Dan-
vers, second premium, §5.

Committee — C. H. Ordway, M. C. Andrews, T. T. Paine, Z.
Cole.

COLTS, SECOND CLASS.

The Committee on Colts, second class, would most respectful-
ly report as follows : —

TWO YEARS OLD.

Asa T. Newhall, Newburyport, first premium, $8 ; R. P. Cnsh-
man, Haverhill, second premium, $3.

48

YEARLINGS.

Wm. H. Brown, Peabody, first premium, $8 ; George W. Rog-
ers, Peabody, second premium, $3.

The Committee would say that had there been more premi-
ums their work would have been easier, as they find that dividing
two premiums among twenty colts was a pretty hard example in
arithmetic.

Committee — R. S. Bray, John Brown, Wm. E. Kimball.

SWINE.

The Committee on Swine report as follows : —

LARGE BREEDS

David W. Low, Gloucester, first premium, $10 for Chester
White Boar ; Joseph Kittredge, No. Andover, second premium,
jS6 for Columbia County Boar.

BREEDING SOWS.

Benjamin p. Ware, Marblehead, first premium, $10; W. J.
Dale, Jr., No. Andover, second premium, $6 for Yorkshire Sow.

LITTER WEANED PIGS.

Daniel Carlton, No. Andover, first premium, $6.

SMALL BREEDS.

R. G. Buxton, Peabody, Boar, first premium, $10; W. J. Dale,
Jr., Berkshire Boar, second premium, $6.

49

BREEDING SOWS.

T. O. VVardwell, No. Andover, Essex Sow, first premium, $io;
T O. Wardwell, North Andover, Berkshire Sow, second premi-
um, $6.

It is evident that a new interest has been awakened in regard
to the keeping of swine by the farmers of Essex County, not
only in numbers which you see at the Fair, but also in the im-
proved breeds. Among the entries are Columbia County, Ches-
ter Whites, Yorkshire, French, Berkshire and Essex, many of
them of them of superior merit, probably the largest show of
swine that has ever been exhibited at the Essex County Fair, at
least for a number of years.

And it was with some difficulty that your Committee come at
any unanimity of opinion in making the awards. Some object-
ing to the Columbia County and Chester breeds because they
looked so large and coarse ; the Yorkshire, too lank and no
bristles, while others disliked the Berkshire and Essex because
so small and black. No doubt each one of the Committee would
relish a good cooked ham from either breed, or what is better in
regard to the pigs, agree with Charles Lamb, who in one of his
essays declares "of all the delicacies of the whole mundane edi-
bles, roast pig to be the most delicate."

But whatever difference of opinion your Committee may have
had, they good naturedly agreed that the majority should rule.

In regard to the profit of keeping swine there is a wide differ-
ence of opinion. I am satisfied in my own mind that there is a
profit, whether the object be the raising of pigs, store hogs or
pork. Spring pigs almost always bring a good price, and as a
rule I believe fat hogs do. One of the exhibitors at the present
Fair sold his weaned pigs for fifteen dollars apiece, and good fat
hogs are selling for twelve and one-half cents per pound. Sure-
G

50

ly these prices ought to be satisfactory when we consider the
low prices of almost all other farm produce. When we consid-
er the treatment a large portion of farmers give their swine, feed-
ing the refuse of the kitchen a large part of the year, who would-
n't squeal ? Is it any wonder that you hear some farmers say
that it don't pay to keep swine. Let the swine receive the same
care and attention the other animals of the farm receive, and
who doubts but they will pay as well as any other product of the
farm.

Conuninittce — Charles C. Blunt, Albert Titcomb, Ira S. Wood-
man, Joseph Akerman, Frank Marsh.

STATEMENT OF DAVID W. LOW.

Thorough-bred Chester White Boar, "Fitz Eustace," farrow-
ed at Massachusetts Agricultural College Farm, March 20, 1874.

Thorough-bred Chester White Breeding Sow, "Lady Clare,"
farrowed at same time and place as the Boar.

Pedigree of Chester White Pigs, Fitz Eustace and Lady
Clare : — Sire Bismark, 3d ; dam, Blanche by Marmion, bred by
Dr. Cutter and awarded first premium wherever shown. Grand
dam, Dolly, also bred by Dr. Cutter.

Bismark, 3d, bred by N. Guilbert, Gwynedd, Pa., sire, Bismark,
2d, grand sire, Bismark, ist. Bismark ist and 2d took first pre-
miums wherever exhibited. Dam, Julie of Benjamin Werdner's
stock.

Marmion's live weight at age of 2 years, 11 mos, 1020 lbs.
Dolly's live weight at the age of i year and 8 mos was 437 lbs.
dressed weight, 385 lbs.

The above information was furnished by Mr. Dillon, superin-
tendent of farm of Massachusetts Agricultural College, of whom
I had the pigs as soon as weaned.

51

My pigs have taken flesh faster than I wished them to, and
could have been made to weigh a great deal more had I fed
them more liberally with grain. Their united weight at time of
Fair, i year, 6 mos old, was 970 lbs, which shows that they have
not deteriorated from original stock.

STATEMENT OF R. G. BUXTON.

I offer for premium my French Boar, bred from the importa-
tion of John B. Clarke, Esq., Manchester, N. H. Said boar is
two years old and has served eighty seven sows since the last
Fair. I also offer for premium my full-blood Yorkshire Boar,
four months old, bred from the stock of that celebrated breeder,
Charles C. Chase, Manchester, N. H.

SHEEP.

The Committee on Sheep report as follows :: —

FLOCK.

E. W. Jacobs, Peabody, first premium, $ro; Joseph Kittredge,
No. Andover, second premium, $6.

LAMBS.

E. W. Jacobs, Peabody, first premium, $4.

BUCK.

Willie G. Horton, Ipswich, first premium, $8.

CojHinittee — A. H. Gould, T. G. Ordway, J. Z. Gordon, R.
Jaques, A. Mansfield.

52

POULTRY, FIRST CLASS.

The Committee on Poultry respectfully report that the num-
ber of entries was not as large as it has been at some of our An-
nual Shows, but the quality of the birds, taken as a whole, sur-
passes any of our preceding exhibitions. For many years there
has been a steady improvement in this feature of our Shows, and
your Committee congratulate the farmers of Essex County upon
the manifestly increasing interest in poultry breeding and in the
wise policy they have adopted of selecting thorough-bred fowls
of a high standard to fill the place of the little mongrels which
were almost exclusively bred by them a few years ago.

The Gallinaceous Division was very large. The Light and
Dark Brahmas, exhibited by W. M. Ward, were very fine birds
and were much admired for their enormous size and fine plumage.
Better chickens, in their class, are seldom seen at any of our reg-
ular State poultry exhibitions. There were some very fine Leg-
horns, exhibited by P. Osborne, which attracted considerable at-
tention, and there were also some splendid Dominiques which in
the opinion of your Committee is one of the most profitable
breeds that a farmer can keep..

The Columbarium Division was quite large for a county show,
and your Committee awarded some gratuities \yhich was all that
they could do, as there are no premiums offered by the Society
for Pigeons. Next came the Aquatic Division which was well
represented, and the Ducks and Geese entered by Hobert Bux-
ton were exceeingly well bred. Your Committee regret exceed-
ingly that there are not more premiums offered for this class,
and would recommend that a premium be offered in the future
for each variety of Ducks and Geese. Hoping these few sug-
gestions will meet your approval, we make the following
awards : —

53

BEST COLLECTION.

Geo. D. Walton, Peabody, Diploma ; second to W. M. Ward,
Peabody, "Harris' Insects ;" third to Philip Osborn, lY-abody.
"Harris' Insects."

LrCHT BRAHMAS.

W. M. Ward, Peabody, first premium, - $ 3.00

second " - 2.00

LIGHT BRAHMA CHICK.S.

W. M. Ward, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

" " second " - 2.00

DARK BRAHMAS.

W. M. Ward, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

second " - 2.00

DARK BRAHMA CHICKS.

W. M. Ward, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

second " - 2.00

PARTRIDGE COCHINS

Horace Southwick, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

Benjamin Millett, Danvers, second premium, - 2.00

PARTRIDGE COCHIN CHICKS.

Horace Southwick, Peabody, first premium, - 3-00

second " - 2.00

BLACK COCHINS.

S. Dow, Peabody, first premium, - - 3-00

(reorge H. Perkins, Danvers, second premium, - 2.00

BLACK COCHIN CHICKS.

George H. Perkins, Danvers, first premium, - 3.00

54

BUFF COCHINS,

Arthur Elliott, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

Geo. D. Walton, " second " - 2.00

WHITE COCHINS.

Geo. D. Walton, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

Geo. D. Hill, Peabody, collection of Pigeons, gratuity, i.oo

H. N. Berry, " " " " i.oo

M. C. Andrews, Andover, " " " i.co

DUCKS.

R. G. Buxton, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

O. Gowen, West Newbury, second premium, - 2.00

GEESE.

R. G. Buxton, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

George D. Walton, Peabody, second premium 2.00

TURKEYS.

George B. Dodge, Hamilton, first premium, - 3.00
Committee — John Swinerton, F. B. Messer, Jasper Rea.

POULTRY— SECOND CLASS.

The Committee on Poultry, Second Class, respectfully report :

PLYMOUTH ROCK.

George D. Walton, Peabody, first premium, - $ 3.00

" " " second premium, - 2.00

Proctor & Fisk, Dan vers, gratuity, - - i.oo

55

PLYMOUTH ROCK CHICKS.

Chas. W. Hatch, Danvers, first premium, - 3.00

" " " second premium, - 2.00

B. M. Hills, Danvers, gratuity, - - - i-OO

DOMINIQUE CHICKS.

John Swinerton, Danvers, first premium, - 3.00

" " " second premium, - 2.00

WHITE LEGHORNS.

Philip L. Osborne, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

George D. Walton, Peabody, second premium, - 2.00

WHITE LEGHORN CHICKS.

Philip L. Osborne, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

" " " second premium, - 2.00

George J. Johnson, Rowley, gratuity, - i.oo

W. F. Osgood, Salem, gratuity, - i.oo

BROWN LEGHORN FOWLS.

Allen Lee, M.mchester, first premium, - 3.00

Geo. D. Walton, Peabody, second premium, 2.00

CHICKS.

Geo. J. Johnson, Rowley, first premium, - 3.00

Allen Lee, Manchester, second premium, - 2.00

BLACK SPANISH FOWLS.

Geo. D. Walton, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

W. H. Allen, Manchester, second premium, - 2.00

CHICKS.

W. H. Allen, Manchester, fiirst premium, - 3.00

POLAND FOWLS.

Willie Barnard, Danvers, first premium, - 3.00

Geo. H. Perkins, Danvers, second premium, 2.00

56

CHICKS GOLDEN.

Willie Barnard, Danvers, second premium. - 2.00

(Silver) - 2.00

DORKINGS.

George D. Walton, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

BANTAMS.

W M. Ward, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

BANTAM CHICKS.

H. A. Southwick, Peabody, first premium, - 3.00

H. M. Berry, Peabody, second premium, - 2.00

Willie Potter, Peabody, gratuity, - - i.oo

Coiumittee — Nathaniel Shatsvvell, George N. Ordvvay, Eben
R. Savary.

PLOUGHING— DOUBLE TEAMS.
The Committee report as follows : —

R. T. Jaques & R. S. Bray, Newbury, first premium, $12; Ja-
cob L. Farnam, North Andover, second premium, ;^io; Jacob
E. Spring, Danvers, third premium, $9 ; Joseph Horton, Ipswich,
fourth premium, $8.

Commitce — D. Bradstreet, Robert A. Smith, Joshua N. Kent,
Israel A. Roarers.

PLOUGHING— SINGLE TP:AMS.

The Committee on Ploughing with Single Teams report that
there were four entries for premium, but only three competitors

57

appeared upon the ground, as follows : — Chas. P. Preston, Dan-
vers, Hussey, No. 2 ; John P. Palmer, Swampscott, Lion, No. 61 ;
A. T. Nevvhall, Newbury port, Hussey, No. 16.

The work performed was of such extraordinary excellence
that the Committee found it difficult to decide upon the relative
merits of the contestants, and the time occupied in doing it was
almost exactly the same.

They unanimously recommend the following award of premi-
ums ; —

A. T. Newhall, Newburyport, first premium, $10; J. P. Palm-
er, Swampscott, second premium, $7; Chas. P. Preston, Dan-
vers, third premium, $5.

Committee — William Berry, Elb ridge Merrill, Jos. S. Howe,
Wm. Howe Burnham.

PLOUGHING— WITH HORSES.

The Committee on Ploughing with Horses would respectfully
report : —

Cavanagh Brothers, Wenham, first premium, $12 ; A. T. New-
hall, Newburyport, second premium, $10; R. S, Bray, Newbury,
third premium, $8 ; Edward P. Perley, Danvers, fourth premi-
um, $6 ; G. W. Russell, No. Andover, fifth premium, $4. Best
Teamster, William Noble, Saugus, $10.

Committee — A. B. Fellows, W. H. Felton, Andrew Lane, J.
O. Winkley.

PLOUGHING WITH SWIVEL PLOUGH.

Foster & Russell, North Andover, Double Ox Team, first pre-
mium, $12; Albert Titcomb, Rowley, Single Ox Team, second
H

58

premium, 5iio ; Sylvester Dane, Hamilton, Two Horse Team,
third premium, S8 ; A. H. Gould, Topsfield, Double Ox Team,
fourth premium, $5.

Committee — D. G. Todd, Nathaniel Gage, Henry Cloutman,
Adoniram Porter, David Smith.

PLOUGHING BY BOYS.

By the liberality of Gen. Sutton, President of the Society,
fifty dollars were placed at the disposal of the Committee to be
awarded in three premiums for the best ploughing by Boys of
eighteen years or under. There were four entries as follows : —

Charles S. Smith, Hamilton, 16; Walter F. Dodge, Beverly,
16; Willie G. Horton, Ipswich, 15; Aaron Winslow, Swamp-
scott, 16.

The boys quietly and deliberately attended to their work and
the ploughing was very creditably done. The Committee unan-
imously award the premiums as follows —

Aaron Winslow, Swampscott, first premium, $25 ; Walter F.
Dodge, Beverly, second premium, $15; Charles S. Smith, Ham-
ilton, third premium, 5^ 10.

Committee — Josiah Newhall, Wm. J. Dale, Jr., Alden C. Es-
tes, Henry E. Smith, Thomas G. Ordway.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.

Ames Plough Company, Boston, best collection,

Diploma and $ 15.00

59

W'hittemore Bros., Boston, collection Agricultural Tools, lo.oo
S. A. Merrill, Dan vers, Buckeye Mower, 5.00

S. A. Merrill, Danvers, Nye Bay State Rake, 5.C0

S. Frank Ayers, Boxford, Best Ox Yoke, 3.00

Andrew Dowbridge & Co., Salem, Patent Roofing, gratuity, 3.00
George W. Rogers, Peabody, Double Mould Board

Plow, gratuity, 3.00

S. S. Hickok, Methuen, Potato Digger, gratuity, 10.00

S. S. Hickok, Methuen, Castor, gratuity, 1.00

Committee — Bennett Griffln, E. K. Lee, Warren Ordway.

CARRIAGES.

The Committee on Carriages report as follows : —
Sawyer & Chase, Lynn, Extension Top Carryall and

Piano Top Buggy, Diploma and $ 15.00

William B. Peart, Danvers, 2 Express Wagons, 10.00

William H. Brown, Danvers, Farm Wagon, 5.00

H. H. Pillsbury, Danvers, largest display of Carriages, 10.00

Committee — Aaron Sawyer, Joseph O. Proctor, L. G. Holt, T.
K. Leach, F. S. C. Herrick.

DAIRY.

G. W. Russell, North Andover, for butter, first premium, $10 ;
W. H. Allen, Manchester, do. second premium, $8 ; Mrs. J. R.
Bailey, Bradford, do. third premium, 36.

Committee — S. G. Sargent, Nathaniel Lambert, Israel Her-
rick.

6o

STATEMENT OF G. W. RUSSELL.

I enter for premium one box of Butter of fifteen pounds, a
part of a churning made from my herd of eight Jersey Cows,
thorough-bred.

My cows are tied in the stable and milked there every night the
year round, and the milk carried directly to the milk cellar under
the house, and strained into milk pans, about three quarts into
each pan. The milk is skimmed every morning and the cream
put into tin jars holding ten quarts and churned every second
day in summer and twice a week in winter, churned in Blanch-
ard's churn which takes from fifteen to fortv minutes, then the
butter is taken out and worked by hand until the buUern-ilk is
nearly worked out, and then salted down and allowed to stand un-
til next morning when it is finished by being worked over and
then stamped or moulded for market, use salt at the rate of four-
teen ounces to twenty pounds of butter that being about as salt
as my customers like it. Delivered to my customers once a
week the year round at fifty cents a pound.

BREAD AND HONEY.

The Committee on Bread and Honey award the following gra-
tuities : —

Miss J. M. Smith, Danvers, S3 ; Mrs. Mary Cromins, Dan-
vers, $2 ; Mrs. N. T. Davison, Lynn, Si ; Mrs. C. H. Joy, Mrs.
Henry Very, Mrs. \Vm. Long, Mrs. E. R. Knapp, Mrs. J. Black-
ie, Danvers, Miss Rebecca Carlton, North Andover, Mrs. S. M.
Bailey, Bradford, 50 cents each; Miss M. W. French, Danvers,
Graham, $1 ; Messrs. Hale & Davis, Peabody, Assorted, $1.

6i

Several specimens of bread were entered of more or less mer-
it for which no gratuities were awarded as no process of making
was given.

HONEY.

Elias E. Porter, Danvers, $3 ; Dean A. Perley, Danvers, $2 ;
C. N. Ingalls, Danvers, $1.

CANNED FRUIT AND PRESERVES.

Mrs. R. K. Sears, Danvers, Variety, $1 ; Mrs. Holt, Andover,
Mrs. C. E. Smith, Danvers, Mrs. Alphonso Mason, Beverly,
Mrs. E. T. Waldron, Danvers, 50 cents each.

Committee — J. B. Swett, Henry Alley, Mrs. W. H. Burnham,
Mrs. J. D. Philbrick, Mrs. Charles Perley.

PEARS.

The Committe required to sit in judgment on the merits of
Pears, respectfully report that our attention has been duly called
to three hundred and seventy-four plates, ninety-three exhibitors
from twenty-four cities and towns. The limited time for our
work rendered it difficult to do justice. If in any case we have
failed, we hope that contributors and all interested will believe
that it was not through lack of good intentions.

We award the following premiums and gratuities : —
P^or the best twelve specimens of the following varieties, a
premium of $3 : — J. S. Ives, Salem., Bartlett ; Isaac Hardy, Pea-
body, Belle Lucrative ; J. Henry Hill, Amesbury, Beurre Bosc ;
Peter Wait, Danvers, Beurre Clairgeau ; John V. Stevens, Pea-
body, Beurre d'Angou ; Thomas Capers, Newburyport, Beurre
Superfin ; W. B. Peart, Danvers, Buffum ; Solomon Fuller, Dan-

62

vers, Duchess d'x^ngoulenie ; S. Southwick, Peabody, Dana's
Hovey ; T. C. Thurlow, West Newbury, Doyenne Boussock ;
George Pettengill, Salem, Golden Beurre of Bilboa ; \Vm. W.
Perkins, Newbury, Howell ; Thomas Capers, Newburyport, Law-
rence ; Alfred Kittredge, Haverhill, Louis Bonne d'Jersey ; E.
Berry, Danvers, Maria Louise ; E. Bradstreet, Danvers, Onon-
daga ; John V. Stevens, Peabody, Paradise d'Automne; George
J. Johnson, Rowley, Seckel ; Isaac Hardy, Peabody, Urbaniste ;
Peter Wait, Danvers, Vicar of Winkfield ; Thomas Capers, New-
buryport, Winter Nelis ; George Pettengill, Salem, St. Michael
Archange ; M. G. Lambert, Rowley, Sheldon.

J. Henry Hill, Amesbury, $6, for the best collection of fifteen
varieties ; E. F. Webster, Haverhill, $4, for the best ten varie-
ties. T. C. Thurlow, West Newbury, collection, $3 ; B. P. Ware,
Marblehead, collection, $3. W. E. Killam, Boxford, one dish
Flemish Beauties, $1.50; Wm. Black, Danvers, gratuity, $1.50;
Thomas Capers, Newburypjrt, Pound Pear, $i.

Gratuities of $1 each to A. H. Gould, Topsfield ; George Pet-
tengill, Salem ; Thomas Capers, Newburyport, for Clapp's P'a-
vorite ; J. Henry Hill, Amesbury, for Dana's Hovey; Isaac Har-
dy, Peabody, for Louis Pjonne de Jersey ; George W. Taylor,
Peabody; J. A. Learoyd, Danvers; D. Pettengill, Danvers; C.
H. Boynton, Salem ; S. A. Merrill, Danvers

Committee — G. W. Gage, Henry Saltonstall, John M. Ives,
Wm. Huff, Robert Manning, J. E. Buswell.

APPLES.

The Committee would award the following premiums and gra-
tuities, viz : —

63

For the best twelve specimens of the following varieties a
premium of S3 each — Miss i.izzie Greig, Danvers, Baldwin ; K.
Braclstreet, Danvers, Danvers Winter Sweet ; Benjamin P. Ware,
Marblehead, Drap d'Or, Pickman Pippin, and Sweet Baldwin ;
James Flint, Middleton, Hurlbut and Ladies' Sweet ; J. Henry
Hill, Amesbury, Hubbardston Nonsuch ; R. C. Bassett, Salem,
Killam Hill; W. W. Perkins, Newbury, Porter; W. H. Allen,
Manchester, Roxbury Russet ; Peter Wait, Danvers, R. I.
Greening; Fred'k Howe, Danvers, Seaver's Sweet; Winthrop
Andrews, Gravestein ; Abram Patch, Jr., Danvers, Hunt's Rus-
set

For the best twelve of other varieties, $1.50 each — Wm. Huff,
Newburyport, Northern Spy ; Nettie A. Greig, Danvers, Minis-
ter; J. Henry Hill, Amesbury, King of Tompkins Co; D. W.
Low, Gloucester, Honey Sweet ; Nathan Bushby, Peabody, P'a-
meuse ; Austin J. Peasley, Peabody, Lyscom ; M. Collins, Dan-
vers, Fall Harvey ; Winthrop Andrews, Danvers, Yellow Belle-
fleur ; S. P. Fowler, Danvers, Jonathan ; Peter Wait, Danvers,
Garden Apple; Wm. W, Perkins, Newbury, Moody Apple; W.
B. Woodman, Danvers, N. Y. Pippin ; A. M. Putnam, Danvers.
Swaar.

B. P. Ware, Marblehead, $8, best collection of 20 varieties.
Wm. W. Perkins, Newbury, 6, " " 15 "

Peter Wait, Danvers, 4, " " 10 *'

For the best 24 specimens, (Porter) $6, T. C. Thurlow, West
Newbury.

For Crab Apples, a premium of $1.50 each to W. B. Rich-,
ards. Peabody ; S. G. Jones, Salem ; S. Fuller, Peter Wait, S.
Knights and Mrs. A. P. Swinerton, Danvers.

Gratuities of $1.50 each to Miss Mary Lambert, Rowley, A.
J. Hubbard and Joseph Moore, Peabody ; J. H, Jones, Jr., Mrs.
G . H. Perkins and W. B. Woodman, Danvers.

64

Gratuities of $i.oo each to C. H- Buxton and W. B. Richards,
Salem ; A. P. Blake, Peabody ; A. H. Gould and J. Waters,
Topsfield ; S. A. Merrill, J. W. Porter, J. W. Ropes, J. L. Smart,
S. D. Spaulding, M. Welch, E. Bradstreet, Horatio Perry and
H. G. Hyde, Danvers; W. H. Patch, Rockport.

There were upon the tables 334 plates of apples from 122 con-
tributors, and it would be singular if some that were worthy of
notice had not been overlooked. Your Committee do not claim
to be perfect, and any oversight in these awards we trust will be
pardoned.

The most noticeable apple u})on the table was the Porter, of
which there were many fine specimens, and it is a singular fact
that this, one of the best of fall apples, is a regular odd year
bearer ; So it has been for several years past, and it is worthy of
note too, that nearly all of our best and most profitable apples
had their origin in this immediate vicinity. This is true of the
Baldwin, Hubbardston, Nonsuch, Roxbury Russet, Porter,
Hunt's Russet &c.; we were pleased to see more and better
specimens of this last than we have ever before seen at any ex-
hibition. This certainly is a step in advance, as the cjuality of
this apple is hardly surpassed by any other winter fruit. W^e
would like to see another apple of the very best quality more
extensively cultivated, viz — the Garden Royal, which during its
season (September) is surpassed by none. We cannot too
strongly recommend that quality instead of quantity be more
sought after in the selection of varieties. Such kinds as Wil-
liam's Favorite, Sweet Bough, Gravestein, Garden Royal and
Hunt's Russet are very far in advance of Alexander, Drap d'Or,
Gloria Mundi and several others of this sort wliich figured con-
spicuously upon our tables.

As this is not the "apple year" it was not to be expected that
the tal)les would be loaded with the finest specimens, free from

65

ev^ery blemish — but we were happily disappointed in finding so
many and so good, and are free to say that in our opinion this
exhibition of apfslcs in old Essex County would do credit to any
county or even state society in the country ; and we note this
fact with all the more pleasure, because the apple has of late
years received so much abuse among us, and the planting and
care of apple trees been ridiculed by those even who would be
our teachers.

'Even the subject of the "permanent decline of the apple or-
chards of New England" has been suggested by the highest au-
thority in our land, and it becomes us all (all at least who intend
to raise our own apples and follow it as a profitable business) to
look into these things and see if they are really so.

Our own opinion is simply this ; that there is a "permanent
decline" in many and most of the apple orchards in this part of
New England, and that it arises from sheer neglect or an un-
due zeal in the wrong direction. Wlio that has travelled through
any of the towns in this county, during the last summer, has not
noticed with sadness and humiliation the effects of the tent cat-
erpillar .'' or seen the trees "burnt as with fire" by the persistent
canker worm, tlius marring the beauty of our otherwise beautiful
scenery ? can trees in such a condition be reasonably expected
to bear regular crops of gttod marketable fruit .'' or if left wholly
to the ravages of these and other insects for five, ten or fifteen
years, is it a wonder that many of our orchards should show
symptoms of a "permanent decline .''"

We notice in the Transactions of the Mass. Horticultural So-
ciety for 1874 that the subject of "Legislative enactments to
prevent the multiplication of injurious insects in neglected or-
chards" was fully discussed, and a bill to that effect strongly
urged by some of the members. In fact such a bill was present-
ed some si\' years ago to the Agricultural Committee of the
H

m

Legislature, but for some unexplained reason was nev^er report-
ed. Your Committee, in behalf of the Essex Society, would go
heart aid hand for such a law, provided it could be passed and
carried into successful operation.

At present, in lieu of such a law by the Legislature, your
Committee cannot too strongly urge upon agriculturalists and
fruit growers everywhere, to cut down old and neglected apple
trees, not only in pastures and by road sides but in fields and
gardens, those that your good judgment and com.mon sense
would lead you to think are past recovery or not worth protect-
ing we would say emphatically ait down. The same would ap-
ply to tlie wild cherry tree, which is a pest and a nuisance every-
where. Those of our apple trees which are worth anything we
would 'Ad.y protect and cultivate as for any other farm crop, which
treatment we have found both by obsen'ation and experience
will recover the trees, causing them to make a strong vigorous
growth and bear abundant crops of fruit, thus in themselves rid-,
iculing the idea of a "permanent decline."

This Society has for several years past offered very liberal
premiums for the "best conducted experiment for preventing the
ravages of the canker worm," and although experiments have
been made and patents applied for, and in one or two instances
premiums awarded, we regret to say that in many sections of
this county the canker worms still have it pretty much their own
way. Probably if carefully attended to, these new fashioned
troughs for oil or coal tar would be effectual ; but how often do
we see them neglected for a whole season. How often do we
see the oil overflowing or oozing out and covering a large portion
of the trunk below, thus injuring the tree as much as the worms
themselves. These troughs are expensive and ought to be at-
tended to when applied, and for a few trees in garden or orchard
are probabl}'- the best thing, but, without treading on any one's

^7

toes, we believe the whole thing to be a failure, and that the old
method of applying printer's ink still the best. One member of
your Committee protects a thousand trees every year with this
"grub ink" so effectually that only worms enough are left to keep
the seed good, and at an expense, reckoning both labor and ma-
terial, of only about four cents to a tree annually. This pro-
tection would be still more effectual were it not that many of the
orchards in the immediate neighborhood are not protected at all.
The best method is to commence in good season in the fall, •
about October first, and tack tightly narrow strips of tarred pa-
per, some five or six inches wide, around the tree just below the
limbs ; upon this apply the ink (when warm in the middle of the
day) a good coat at first, afterwards a mere touching" will answer;
apply once or twice a week till cold weather sets in, and should
there be a long continued warm spell in winter, an application or
two might be well. Commence in the spring as soon as the
frost is out four or five inches, and continue as long as the grubs
run, generally about a month. Remove the bandages every
spring. Procure a good article and follow it up carefully for one
or two years and ver}^ few worms v/ill be left.

For destroying the caterpillar, commence when they are quite
small ; take them when they are 'at home, generally early in the
morning, or by ten or eleven o'clock in the forenoon. The
"handiest" way to kill them is the best, though a stiff, conical
brush attatched to a pole is very convenient. If all would take
hold in earnest, these pests might easily be got rid of, as they
are nmch more controlable than the canker worm. The apple
tree borer at times is troublesome, but can easily be destroyed.
The curculio appears at times as though determined to destroy
al! our fruit ; but one thing is certain, they are not more plenty
than they were twenty years ago, and with the destruction of
cur plums and many of our sweet cherries they appear to be par

68

tially satisfied, and with nothing left but the apple and pear to
prey upon, they will probably diminish rather than increase.

We certainly congratulate our friends of Essex County, that
with all these hindrances and discouragements, so many apples
continue to be raised, and that so much of enthusiasm prevails
as shoul 1 prompt one hundred and twenty-two contribitors to
bring up here their treasures, fit offering to Pomona. We bid
you God-speed, fully believing that the worst is past and that we
shall yet have the apple, that best and most precious of all fruits,
in its former glory and abundance, we will labor together for
this good end.

Connnittcc — T. C. Thurlow, D H. Stickney, John W. Mar-
shal, Joseph Smith.

PEACHES, GRAPES AND ASSORTED FRUITS.

The Committee on Peaches, Grapes and Assorted Fruits re-
port 27 entries of Peaches, consisting of 60 plates and i branch ;
33 entries of Grapes of 115 plates; 2 entries of baskets of As-
sorted Fruits ; 2 entries of 2 plates of Plums, arid 3 entries of 3
plates of Quinces in this department of the Fruit exhibition, and
have awarded the following prendums and gratuities: —

PEACHES.

Solomon Fuller, Danvers, best 9 specimens of White Flesh,
for Early York, (free-stone) premium, $2 ; Thomas Capers, New-
bury port, best 9 specimens of Yellow Flesh, for Susquehanna,
premium, $2; also for the best Essex County Seedling, premi-
um. $2, for seedling of that name ; T. C. Thurlow, West New-
bury, for best collection of Peaches, (standard varieties) premium,

69

$3 ; Geoi'f^e W. Gage, Methuen, and Thomas Capers, Newbury-
port. for fine collections, gratuities, $1.50 eacli ; John S. Ives,
Salem, Blood, (preserving) gratuity, $1.50; S. H. Putnam, Dan-
vers, White Flesh free-stone seedling, J. Silvester, do., do., and
George W. Gage, Methuen, seedling, and Daniel Richards, Dan-
vers, seedling, $1 each; Peter Wait, Danvers, white seedling, H.
M. Osborne Peabody, seedling, A. Kittredge, Haverhill, cling-
stone seedling, 50 cents each ; E. F. Webster, Haverhill, Honest
John's, Solomon Fuller, Danvers, best Early Crawford, George
Pettengill, Danvers, Salways, ;^i each.

GRAPES.

K. P. Richardson, Lawrence, best four bunches Concord,
Clinton, Adirondack, Rogers' No. 19 or Merrimac, Rogers' No.
22, or Salem, premiums, $3 for each ; George W. Gage, Methuen,
best four bunches of Hartford Prolific, Israella, Rogers' No. 3,
or Massasoit, premiums, $3 for each; George Pettengill, Salem,
best four bunches of Isabella, premium, $3 ; James Lowrie, Dan-
vers, best four bunches Delaware and lona, premiums, $3 for
each ; Franklin Upton, Danvers, best four bunches of Creveling,
Allen's Hybrid, Eumelan, and Rogers' No. 15, or Agawam, pre-
miums, S3 for each; George W. Taylor, Peabody, best four
bunches of Rogers' No. 39. premium $3 ; George W. Rogers,
Salem, best collection of Cold House Grapes, first premium, $6,
(only collection exhibited.) J. W. Ropes, Danvers, best 10 vari-
eties of not less than i pound each, premium, $7 ; D. H. Stick-
ney, Groveland, seedling, gratuity, $1 ; Franklin Upton, Dan-
vers, Rebecca, Walters and Israella, gratuities, $1 for each; Ru-
fus Goodwin, Haverhill, for excellent Delawares and Concords
from two years old vines, gratuities, $1 for each ; M. W. Pope,
Danvers, plate of assorted grapes, gratuity, $1.50 ; D. H. Stick-
ney, Groveland, extra Concords, gratuity, $1 ; Peter Wait, Dan-
vers, Israella, Josiah Trask, Danvers, Diana, Mrs. D. J. Preston

70

Danvers, Concord, gratuities, 50 cents each. Joseph S. Chase,
Maiden, deserves honorable mention for exhibiting some choice
Concords.

ASSORTED FRUITS.

Peter Wait, Danvers," basket of Assorted Fruits, istprem. S4-00
A. H. Gould, Topsfield, " " " 2d " 3.00

H. B. Leonard, Danvers, Plums, gratuity, - i.oo

Peter Wait, " " " - 50

Peter Wait. " Quinces, " - i.oo

The display in this department, especially in Peaches, excelled
any previous exhibition, at least for a number of years. Nu-
merous seedling peaches were exhibited, their qualities being
tested and merits discussed by your Committee, and the ones
for which premiums and gratuities were awarded are really choice,
so juicy and with a peachy flavor that you seldom find outside of
New England, if outside of our county. Such varieties should
be preserved and increased by budding from them, which a part
if not all of the owners are willing to have done.

The Susquehanna is an extra large peach and an extra fine
one. Mr. Capers says that it has been a shy bearer, has he
thought that a little too much gravel might have been the cause
of that .'' at any rate we do not know of any one who wouldn't
wait for them even if they are shy. His Essex County seedling
is delicious. Many other seedlings were exhibited that were of
good size and color, but were not in a condition to test, being
later, some of which are no doubt excellent when ripe.

Of Grapes the show was good, extra good for Essex County
in out door grapes, and if Mr. Richardson is a "novice in fruit
culture," as he says, we wish there were more of them in the
county. Our chairman thought he was one, but if "by their fruit
ye shall know them," he concludes that he is a know nothing.

71

Mr. Stickney exhibited some Concords, the fruit being so mon-
strous in size, that it was the general impression that it was un-
natural. His statement shows how it was done. His seedling
was tried by the C.^mmittee who were agreeably surprised at its
quality. One of our Committee, Mr. Hill of Amesbury, exhib-
ited the finest Allen's Hybrid on the table, which were not in-
cluded in the entries.

Of Assorted Fruits the lavish displays in baskets of Messrs
Wait and Gould caused many a mouth to water for them.

The show of Plums and Quinces was very slim, only two
plates of plums, but they were nice ones. We would recom-
mend to the Society the importance of fostering the cultivation
of plums by the offer of liberal premiums for their exhibition,
and a special liberal premium for the cure of the black wart on
the trees, for we cannot but believe that a fruit that was so
abundant and fine in Essex County twenty years ago, can be re-
deemed from its present curse by steady, persistent effort which
should be encouraged. Quinces also should have a premium of-
fered for the best plate of each kind.

Looking back upon the record of our Society, as published,
in the reports of Committees on Fruit, we find year after year
awarded premiums and gratuities for choice fruit that was a grat-
ificaticn to those interested and a pleasing sight to the looker on
at the hall. But what lasting information to the Society was
gained by it } None. If Mr. A. had better fruit than Mr. B., and
Mr. C. had unhealthy and unproductive trees and vines so that
he could not exhibit at all, how was he to get information to help
him unless he visited or wrote to ]\Ir. A. to know how he did it,
which he would not be likely to get in as good a way as from the
report of a committee who passes judgment on the merits of the
fruits exhibited and who are entitled by the rules of our Society,
to receive such information, and which if not furnished should be

72

sought after for their own information and the information of
hundreds, aye, thousands who read the Annual report of the So-
ciety's doings, many of whom arc unable to attend the Exhibi-
tion.

Feeling such a lack of information on a subject which deeply
interests a great many, and finding myself, much to my surprise
from my imperfect knowledge of the subject, Chairman of this
Committee, I felt that this year, at least, the Committee ought
to take a new departure from the old rut, and therefore, to do it,
called upon the principal exhibitors to put their shoulders to the
wheels and help them out by answering the following questions :
How were your vines started, by single eye, cuttings or layers ?
how old are they ? how old were th :y when planted ? what was
the soil ? how enriched since and when ? what exposure have
your vines ? how trained ? how trimmed and when ? do your
grapes ripen well every year ? how many vines have you
and the kinds ? what kinds do you recommend as best adapt-
ed for Essex County soil, freest of disease and surest of ripen-
ing?

How many peach trees have you and the kinds ? how old are
they? how old when set out for bearing? what was your soil ?
how and when enriched since ? how trimmed ? what kinds do
you recommend for cultivation in Essex County for eating ? for
preserving ?

Have your grape vines or peach trees had any disease, if so
what have you done for it and the effect ? Give any other infor-
mation relating to grapes or peaches and their culture that you
think might benefit our Society.

The response has been such that it has taken us clean out of
the old rut with a good push ahead, and will be found in the
shape of statements appended to this report, which to myself
have proved interesting and instructixe, and I feel assured will

73

To James H. Laver, of Gloucester, crayon, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Sarah B, Saville, of Gloucester, painting, wild flow-
ers, 50 cents.

To Clara F. Bracl^ett, of Gloucester, tidy, 50 cents.

To Mrs. S. F. Small, of Gloucester, fancy sewing, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Ellen Lufkin, of Gloucester, laundry work, 50 cents.

To Mrs. Laura E. Elwell, of Gloucester, embroidered skirt,
50 cents.

To George Douglass, of Gloucester, pen "work, 50 cents.

To. Mrs. John F. Wonson, of Gloucester, 2 pictures, 50 cents.

Whole number of contributors, 156.

Number awarded gratuities, 65.

Amount at disposal of Committee, $55.

Amount awarded by Committee, $44'.50.

For the Committee — Andrew Nichols.

POULTRY.

A few, still remain in our county, who either from prejudice
against all improvements, or some other cause are still satisfied
with the barn-yard fowl, so called, a fowl bred hap hazard
since the settlement of our country ; but the number is small,
and growing beautifully less compared with the rapidly in-
creasing number of those who are not at all satisfied with the
above, but want a more sliowy and profitable bird. This, some
find in the Light Brahma, w"ith its snow white fcatbei'S, in
beautiful contrast to the black tail and penciled neck, which
with its lofty carriage and contented appearance, admits it to
the class of the most attractive : while its hardiness and dis-
position to make returns for all expense and trouble bestowed
upon it make it the best of the winter layers. About the
same may be said of the Dark Brahma as it differs but little
from the Light except in plumage. Others find their beauties
and great egg producers among the different varieties of Cochins
all of which are beautiful when purely bred. A rapidly in-

10

74

creasing number find in tlic Plymouth Eoek, a new variety, all
thoy desire in poultry ; beauty, and utility. Again, some favor
the French varieties, while a large number, which is fast ap-
proacliing a majority of all poultry admirers give precedence
to the LegJiorn, a breed of which there are three varieties, viz. :
Brown, Dominique and white^the Brown at the present time,
standing on"thc top-most round. Thus we see that each variety
of each breed has its admirers, and therefore, to interest and
reach the poclccts of all, no variety can be discarded.

It is the aim and object of the Essex Agricultural Society to
promote the interests, not only of agriculturists, but of all pro-
ducers, and the poultry breeder can only be benefited by creat-
ing more interest and enthusiasm in poultry raising ; but, say
many, the hen fever is high now, — admitted, but it is not
high enough, or ever will be, until perfect birds of each variety
become the rule instead of the exception.

The merchant, tailor, grocer, <fec., &c., each and all put their
hands in the producer's pocket, and so must he put his hand in
their pockets, and how can he better do it than by producing
perfect bird.s to sell, for many do keep, who cannot breed fowls.
Then, the poultry interest is one which the Society should fos-
ter and increase to tlie utmost. How shall it be done? As a
starting point we respectfully offer the following suggestions.

Provide a tent or some shelter for the poultry when on exhi-
bition, and again bring into the arena Essex Co'"s most exi)eri-
enced and, therefore, best breeders, who retired from the
contest because they found neither profit or pleasm'e in expos-
ing their birds whicli had been carefully housed at home, to
the inclemency of the weather, unless it was in the colds and
subsequent roup caused by such exposure.

Offer more premiums. A fir.st and second^for fowls and
chickens of each variety of each breed ^recognized by the
Society, whether it be one, as the Plymouth Rock, or three, as
the Leghorn, and thereby, increase the interest and number of
exhibitors. Increase the interest and pleasure of visitors by
proper ari'angement ; that is require each class, each breed,
and each variety of each breed, to be placed contiguously, so

that the lover of any particular variety caii examine those of
his choice without going the entire length of the line of coops,
and so that your committee can do its duty better and easier.
Give no premiums when birds arc not properly mated in tlie
coops, or when they do not figure a certain number of points,
the number to be fixed by the society.

The above suggestions are derived from the Massachusetts
Poultry Association's rules at its exhibitions, and may be
worthy of your consideration.

By adopting the foregoing rules, or better ones, as from time
to time they suggest themselves to the society, we see no reason
why the poultry exhibition, at the Essex Agricultural Society's
annual fairs may not become equal to any in the state or nation.

(Jhairman — J. C. Underhill.

GRAIN CROPS.

A. P. Noyes, of Middleton, entered a crop of rye.

Two of the Committee viewed it on the second of July. It
was nearly five feet high, remarkably even, free from rust, but
apparently suffering from the unusually early drought. They
would recommend awarding to him the diploma and premium
of ten dollars.

It will be seen by the accompanying statement that the yield
was thirty-three bushels per acre. The crop last year was
corn. He makes no mention of the straw, which has been
nearly as high in Boston market the past year as the best of
English hay. The raising of grain in this county at the pres-
ent time is up-hill work, and few, if any, would grow it, if
they could get their land into grass without it. To some
extent this can be done. The Early Rose potatoes ripen early
enough so that they can be harvested and the land sown with
grass seed soon enough for it to get well rooted before winter.

We get but little information from Mr. Noyes's statement in
regard to the cost of growing a crop of rye. When rye is

76

worth one dollar per bushel, and labor costs twentv-flvc cents
per liour, to cut with the cradle and bind and thresii with the
flail, as we must do to save the straw, it will take a Urge part
of the grain to paj for harvesting and threshing ; if there is
anv margin above the cost, it must be upon the straw. Al-
though rye may be grown \ipon comparatively poor soil, yet
when the grain and straw are both sold from the farm it must
be an exhausting crop.

We had no entry for wheat, oats or barley, and but one for
Indian corn.

Lafayette Day, of Bradford, entered a crop of corn. The
chairman was alone in his examination of this crop, but will
take the responsibility of recommending the award of the
premium of $10 and diploma to Mr. Day.

This field is near the Mcrrimac Kiver ; the soil appeared to
be a sort of alluvial deposit, where corn can be grown as
cheaply as in any part of the county.

From his statement we find the cost of growing the corn per
acre, for manure, thirty-two dollars, - - - -|32 00

Ploughing, $G, harrowing, $3, seed, .70, planting, $6, 1.5 70
Cultivating, f 16, cutting stalks, 7, harvesting, 26, - 48 00

Cost, $'G3 70

83 bushels of corn, entire stock, - - 68 40

Value of fodder, thirty dollars, - - 30 00 98 40

Total profit, $34 70

For the Committee — Wm. R. Putnam.

STATEMENT OF LAFAYETTE DAY.

Bradford, M.^sr., Nov. 7th, 1873.
Mk. Pbeston :

Deab Sir . — The Committee on grain crop.s have visited my
premises and requested me to hand the report to you. I will
now make a statement concerning the land. It is one acre
and a half in size, the soil is loamy. In 1871, it produced a
grass crop, in ]872 a corn crop. The dressing I used was
twenty oxcart loads of barn-cellar manure per acre.

77

Treatment of 1878 — This year 1 \)\.\i on the same amount of
manure, of which, four-fifths J. ploughed in and the rest put in
the hill. The cost of the manure was forty-five dollars. In
addition to this I put on twenty bushels of ashes after the corn
was up. Their value was tlirec dollars and a half.

I ploughed it May 1st, eight to nine inches deep, at a cost
of six dollars. It was harrowed twice, at a cost of three
dollars. It was planted May 20th, three feet and nine inches
apart each way, and from live to six kernels in a hill, which
was about ten quarts per acre. The seed was that which was
formerly known as the Mitchell corn, eight rowed yellow corn
with a red cob. The cost of the seed was seventy cents ;
planting, six dollars.

It was cultivated three times, weeded once, and cultivated
twice. The cost of cultivating, includiiig weeding, was fifteen
dollars. I cut and tied the stalks Sept. 1. The cost of cutting
was seven dollars. The bulk was equal to three tons of English
hay. It was harvested October 25th ; cost of harvesting, in-
cluding husking, was twenty-sis dollars. The corn when
sliellod and weighed amounted to eighty-three busliels per acre.
The bulk of the butt-stalks was about two tons.

ROOT cRors.

The Committee on Root Crops respectfully report the follow-
ing :—

The number of entries are few, and indicate a decreasing
interest in the cultivation of many varieties of roots.

There were but three entries made this season. Two of on-
ions ; one by Mr. Albert 'I'itcomb of Rowley, and one by Mr.
George N. Ordway of West Newbury ; and a crop of Cabbages
by Mr, Albert E. Lufkin of Essex.

One statement came to the Committee In a very imperfect
manner. The papers which have been laid before them are
herewith submitted, and premiums awarded to those who have
complied strictly with the rules of the society. ' ..

78

We award to Albert Titcomb of Rowley, for best crop of
Daiivers Onions, tlie 1st premium of Diploma and |10.

To Albert E. Lufkin of Essex, Diploma and -f 10, for liis crop
of Stone Mason Cabbages.

Committee — A. B. Fellows, James F. King, Joseph S. Howe,
Aaron Low.

STATEMENT OE ALBERT TITCOMB.

Statement concerning a crop of onions, raised by Albert
Titcomb in the town of Rowley, 1873.

In 1871 the crop was onions. Cattle manure from barn
cellar, about thirty loads to acre was used.

The crop of 1872 was onions, and about the same kind and
quantity of manure was used as in '71. A strong, floury soil
with clay bottom.

For the crop of 1873, ploughed once the previous autumn,
about five inches deep; after ploughing wc applied thirty loads
of thirty bushels each, barn cellar manure on the top. In the
spring the laiid was thoroughly pulverized with wheel, tooth
and brush htirrows. The manure was applied in a green state,
and became hard and crusty ; fearing that it was not fertile
enough for plant food in the early season, 1 spread on the top
and harrowed in six hundred pounds of Cumberland Super-
phosphate to three fourths of an acre. Wc then raked the
land smooth, and on the IBth of May sowed, with seed sower,
Yellow Danvers Onion seed, at the rate of five pounds to the
acre. Half the seed was new and half one year old. I think
the new seed did the best. We hoed and weeded the bed four
times, and weeded once when the onions were large. The crop
was harvested in this manner : — Wc pulled four rows, threw
them on the bed, then hoed the space and raked the weeds
clean ; we pulled four rows more and threw thera on the clean
space ; hoed and raked as before, and so on through the whole
bed.

Part of tlie onions were topped on the bed, the remainder
carted to barn to be topped in unfavorable weather. Tlia top-
ping can be done much quicker on the bed if the weather is
favorable.

79

Cost of rauing crop on half an acre.
15 loads manure at (J'2 50, - - - .
300 lbs. Ouinberlaiid Superphosphate at 3 cents,

Ploughing,

Harrowing, --.--..
Raking, _ . _ - .

Sowing seed,

Hoeing and weeding, ...

Pulling and top{)ing,

Carting to barn, - - . -

Barrels,

Barrelling,

Carting to station, - - - -
Use of land, - . _ .

Storing, -

$168 GO
Amount of crop 423 bushels to half acre or 147 bbls.

at $3 50, - - 614 50

$37

50

9 00

2

50

2 50

2

00

1

50

25

00

- 18

00

8

00

- 35

00

6

00

6

00

10

00

5

00

Net profit,

$346 50

The above statement is made by estimation, except the
amount of crop which was measured by David J. Woodman.

STATEMENT OF ALBERT E. LUFKIN.

The land, on which the cabbages I enter for premium were
raised is a har(i clay soil ; it had been in grass for fifteen years
(or more) with very little manure during the time ; and the
crop for two or three years was very light.

Plowed in spring of '72; applied about three cords manure,
mostly spread on ; and planted with corn and potatoes; and
had a v^rj good crop.

Plowed this year May 19tli. Spread on two cords manure
and one cord rock-weed. Manured in the hill with one cord
composted fish manure, and planted May 28th with Stone Ma-
son cabbage ; re-set about one-half the plants from the 18th to
20th of July.

•. 80

Tbc lot, as measured by the committee, contains 85 rods ;
and I have harvested from it 2,020 marketable cabbages, esti-
mated to weigh 10 pounds each.

Dr.
To 3 cords manure, -----

" Rockwced,

" 3 days labor, - - - -

" seed, -

" cidtiyating, ...--.

" 7 days lioeing,

" 2 days setting plants, -----
" harvesting and marketing, - - -

Cr.
By 168 dozen cabbages at 75 cents,

Net profit, - - - - - - . - 46 25

This is to certify that I have helped harvest the above crop
and consider this a correct statement.

Samuel Lufkin.

■ %n 00

3 00

5 25

2 00

2 50

14 00

4 00

25 00

$79 75

$126 00

CHANBERIUES.

The Committee on the cultivation of the cranberry liuve
attended to their duty and respectfully submit the following
report :

Mr. Hiram A. Stiles, of Middlcton, is the only person who
claims a premium, under the rules of the Society, for liis
experiment in the cultivation of the cranberry. With this .
report will be found his statement of his method of cultivating
that luxui'ious and healthful fruit. On the 12th of September,
1873, the Committee visited Mr. Stiles and viewed the grounds
on which his experiments have been made. Tlicre we found a

8i

recently added to my collection a few trees of the "Wild Goose
Plum" which is said to resist all attacks of the curculio, if so it
will prove a valuable acquisition. Light and well drained soil is
best adapted for the plum.

STATEMENT OF THOS. CAPERS, NEWBURYPORT.

As regards peaches, we have a very favorable place for a few
trees being sheltered from the north and north-west. We have
in all twelve trees some of wdiich are over twenty years old. I
find the best way is to plant out one or two every year to keep
up the stock.

Our trees suffer more from over-cropping and September gales
than any disease, we have lost several large trees within a few
years from that cause. Trees one year from the bud are better
for transplanting than larger ones. Light, sandy soil or gravel-
ly is better than damp, heavy soil as the trees do not make so
much growth and the wood ripens better and produces more
fruit buds. Prune away half their growth every spring.

I have not manured at all since they were planted. The Sus-
quehenna. exhibited at the Fair, is planted in a narrow fiower
bed about eighteen inches wide with a gravel walk ten feet in
width by the side of it, so that it is most all gravel. I planted
the Susquehanna and Hale's Early in 1869, up to this year the
former has been a very shy bearer, this year a full crop. Hale's
Ear!y has fruited every year full since planted, only one year did
the rot affect them which is common to that variety.

I should recommend Hale's Early, Early Crawford, Stump of
the World, Early York, Yellow Rareripe and Susquehanna as
best for Essex County, there may be others, but those I have
proved to be first class.

The seedling exhibited (Essex County) was raised from stones
sent from South America five years ago. I have two others but
not so good neither in size or quality. The Early Crawfords

J

82

which I exhibited was planted in 1873, one year from the bvd.
Some spceimens I measured were nine and three-fourths inches
in circumference.

Of grape vines we have about a dozen, comprising Hartforil
Prolific, Concord, Adirondac, Diana and Isabella. The Hart-
ford I consider the best early grape, The Concord for general
cultivation. I have two vmes of Concord which are trained on
a trellis over a steep bank facing the south-west, which a great
many gardners think is different from all others they have tast-
ed but I believe it is owing to its favorable situation which ripens
them better. The Diana is a favorite variety with me only it is
rather late. My grape vines are raised from layers, spur pruned
part and part renewal. Last year my grapes were badly dis-
eased, as were all in this part, this year no sign of any. Good
drainage and high culture is very essential for grape vines, wood
ashes is good. I cover the border every fall with six inches or
more of manure and dig it in in the spring.

STATEMENT OF SOLOMON FULLER, DANVERS,

I would say that my vines were started from cuttings, about
four years set. Soil of a light, sandy nature and manured most-
ly with leaf mould and stable manure, with some ashes, put
around as a protection through the winter and worked in around
them in the spring. My vines are protected by fences and trees
very well. Think I have not had so good success in ripening as
I should have had if their covering had been removed earlier in
the spring. They are trained with two arms, cutting back pretty
close after they shed their leaves. I have fruited them only two
years and have had the best success with the Dracut Amber.
Coneord and Israella. I have about three dozen vines, ten vari.-
eties, more of the Concord than any other.

Of peach trees I have twenty-five trees in all of Early and
Late Crawford, Early and Late York, Early Hale and the Old

83

Mixon, set out three years last spring the second year from the
bud, taking care to keep them well mulched in summer when
dry, as they are on very light sandy soil about 8 feet apart. I
have taken great care to cover the ground under them after freez-
ing, and not removing until the buds were safe from frost in the
spring. When set I neglected to take off the tag and conse-
quently the main stalks were cut with the wire, causing them to
branch very low, some of the peaches were almost on the ground,
bearing this year for the first time about six bushels. I enrich-
ed the soil the same as for grapes. The Early Hale is a very
nice peach for eating and very early, the Early York and Old
Mixon are later and very nice. My Early York were somewhat
shaded, causing the flesh to look very delicate and white. For
preserving, I have found the Crawfords and York very desirable.
The peach trees have been troubled with borers and 1 have found
lime-water a good remedy,

STATEMENT OF D. H. STICKNEY, GROVELAND.

I wish I could answer your questions in relation to the culti-
vation of the grape in a manner at all satisfactory to myself, for-
I have had abundant crops some years and nearly failures upon
other years with the same treatment — indeed perhaps I ought
not to use the word treatment for I have never followed any par-
ticular mode or method.

I have perhaps one hundred and fifty vines, mostly from lay-
ers. They are upon a variety of soil and were I to give an opin-
ion I'should say that my best success had been upon the poor-
est soil, I am of the opinion that land can be made so rich that
you get a monstrous growth of wood at the expense of the fruit,
I have also noticed that the best fruit has always been found up-
on vines from two to four years old. I can account for this in
no other way other than the top has been allowed to make all the

84

wood that desired to grow, and, as sometimes is the case, (he
vine will start out with a heavy crop and every prospect of sii -
cess, till the grape gets about its full size when it remains and
hangs upon the vines until the leaves are all off, and never comes
to anything at all. I know of no remedy unless it be to thin or
reduce the crop one-half, or even more, and this we are loth to
do, for if done at all it must be done in June or July when we
are not sure but the conditions will be favorable for a full crop.

You ask what kinds I recommend. 1 hardly know what to
say for I have had failures some years of all the varieties, still I
would not part with any of them. I am quite sure the Concord
will perfect its fruit more years in ten than any other variety
now known.

I am also well satisfied that a high, dry, sandy soil, or a soil
full of cobble-stones is the most desirable for the grape. Such
a soil Mr. Gage of Methuen has, which enabled him to show a
number of kinds of ripe fruit at the New England Show at Man-
chester. N. H. upon the first of September. I have to-day many
bushels of grapes of full size hanging upon the vines, trying to
'color, which will be worthless. I think had my soil been sim-
ilar to the above I should have had half as much wood, half as
full crop which I think would have matured and been gone two
weeks ago and been of the first quality.

My seedling I hope much from, it is a sure bearer, perfectly
hardy and early enough to avoid frosts. My large Concord
grapes were obtained by selecting the most vigorous canes early
in the spring, allowing only one bunch of blooms to remain on
each, and constantly heading in as fast as wood was inclined to
make.

I am fully aware you will say I have not answered your ques-
tions, or given you any information at all, but I think this mat-
ter of grapes is something one must learn by experience, for it

85

is a tact to be denied that we are not in a section of the roun-
try that will produce a crop only once in a while, and this I am
not sure should not be called a chance crop.

STATEMENT OF DANIEL RICHARDS, DANVERS.

My seedling peach came up under my bed-room window four
years ago last spring, the third year it fruited two peaches, this
season it had fifty, even sized. Ripens from 20th to 30th of
September. Tree a vigorous grower, smooth bark, no gum, no
yellow or curled leaf. Soil hard gravel, all the fertilizer put
around it was coal ashes. I think the only way to get peaches
is to plant the stone and use coal ashes, the fruit will average as
good as budded trees. The exposure of my tree is north and
east, cold. I have trimmed back one or two feet every fall, shall
trim again in a few days. I have no objections if you want some
buds when the time comes to use them.

STATEMENT OF JAMES LOWRIE, DANVERS.

My vines are from nine to twelve years old. When planted,
one year old layers, they have a south-east exposure, are trained
with horizontal arms spreading four feet each side. I trim from
the fall of the leaf till the end of March, I perceive no difference
to the vine by trimming any time during that period.

My grapes ripen well every year. I have in my garden 29
vines : — Delaware 14, lonas 7. I never fruited a Concord until
this summer, had them ripen up about eight days before Dela-
wore, pulp within the berry well dissolved Had one plate in
the fair but not very large, have larger next year, they are free
of disease. Vine of Hartford Prolific is subject to consumption,
had one nine years in bearing but died under my treatment, I
have none now nor want it. Grapes mildewed somewhat, sul-
phured for it, result good. lona I am going to plant more of.

86

To be honest on the point each grape vine has a different con-
stitution from another, therefore I have studied the habits of but
two, Delaware and lona, but now I am going at the Concord and
try to get sweet grapes such as grow south of Mason and Dix-
on's line. I have fruited a number of seedlings but Iiad poor
luck and destroyed them all except one which showed good prom-
ise, it ripened up its fruit, three bunches, in 1873 the eighteenth
of August, berry smaller than the Delaware ; ten bunches in
1874, first of September berry as large as the Delaware ; in 1875
on one arm six feet long with twelve upright canes, had thirty
bunches one size larger than the Delav/are, ripe first of Septem-
ber. Leaf very much like Delaware, nothing wild in it but still
it has its faults with stamens and pistils. Tlie subject is too
lengthy to go into here. I had Mr. Upton, who exhibited in
the last Fair, come into my garden to see a trellis of 7-ipe grapes
the first of September.

STATEMENT OF GEORGE VV. TAYLOR, PEABODY.

Your communication asking me to give you my experience re-
garding the culture of the grape is received, and although I have
not achieved much success, perhaps a recital of my experience
may be of some use to those who are about to commence the
business of grape growing. At the start let me say to any one
who expects to make the cultivation of the grape in Essex Coun-
ty a paying business, that it will be a vain attempt and will end
in mortification and disgust.

Those who think that by buying up and storing their minds
with the various treatises on the grape, they can go on and
succeed where others less learned in the science of grape
growing fail, and by a thorough knowledge of the pruning and

87

pinching, drenching and training and various other mysteries
which are laid down so minutely as a guide for the amateur cul-
tivator, can succeed in producing specimens rivaling those
which we so often see exhibited in the book of paintings of fruits
which the vendor of nursery stock uses to allure the innocent
and unwary to invest in some newly brought out variety, and
who expect to do this, sad defeat and disaster will surely
overtake. Most of the books and writings on grape culture are
put out as advertisements and as allurements to the eager seek-
ers after something new to induce them to invest in the so called
new and superior varieties which are ever being brought into no-
tice and sold at high figures ; when the trial of them proves that
we have as good and even better kinds. And then the puny lit-
tle plant which we parted with a five dollar bill to obtain, is cast
aside for some of the tried and well know^i varieties which can
be bought for about twenty-five cents per plant.

The grape when fully ripened is truly one of the most lus-
cious of fruits and as such will ever be sought by the public, and
it is a lamentable fact that our northern home is not the home of
the vine, where the mild rays of the summer sun love to linger
and the genial breezes of the tropics with the deep and warm
soils incident to the "sunny south." There is her home and
there will she give forth the rich harvests so delightful to man.

If we do succeed here in raising a few of inferior quality it is
only by constant care and toilsome labor. A man would make
more money raising potatoes at fifty cents a bushel than grapes
at ten cents a pound which is about as much as one can obtain for
the first clusters we are able to get into market. Long before our
earliest ones are ripe, our markets are filled with grapes from
the South, and the people have had their fill, or at least the time
of high prices has passed and ours have to be sold at lower
rates. I have been trying to raise grapes for the past twenty

88

years and have not as yet produced anything very satisfactory.
Either my berries or bunches are small, or, if I highly manure
the ground, the vines make such rampant growth that the wood
ripens poorly, and the grapes seldom become fit for use.

In starting the vines I have used single eyes, cuttings and al-
so layers, I have never had much trouble with either method, but
think that I should prefer layers of one year's growth to either
of the other methods. In my experience I have found that a
good, strong one year old vine is the best to set, surest to grow
and is at just the right age to tr un in any manner preferred by
the cultivator. Some of my vines are twenty years old and
others have been set only a year. I have set out vines more or
less every year except the four years of the rebJlion when I
was away from home.

My location is one which I consider to be the best for this cli-
mate— a southern slope with ledges and pine trees in the rear to
break off the cold northern winds and also the disagreeable
blasts that come from the east. The rays of the Septe.nber
sun striking on the ledges heat them up and thus prol jng the
warmth far into the night, and consequently th a frosts )f early au-
tumn are less liable to nip the foliage and thus retard the ripen-
ing. My soil is a gravelly loam mixed with broken fragments of
stone, and is in and of itself rather poor ; so rough and inacces-
sible that I cannot cultivate much with a team, and as I cannot
raise cultivated crops there, I have planted grapes. If anything
is done to my vines after well setting out, and an occasional top
dressing of tan ashes, it is a light hoeing and top covering or
mulch of old meadow hay, weeds or wood-wax.

As it is customary to cut and prune the vine I used to follow
in the beaten track marked out by theorists. Of late years I
have not used the knife so freely, and am well assured that I
have been more successful as to good, well ripened wood and al-

89

so fruit. My vines are trained in various methods, some are on
cedar pole trellisses, others are trained to wires stretehed to
stout locust posts set firmly in the ground while some arc allow-
ed to run over an old stone wall just as nature taught them.

The way that most of mv vines are managed is in the follow-
ing manner : — I cut red cetlar jjosts about ten feet long and cut
off the branches from six inches to three feet from the main
stem, these posts I set from two and a half to three feet into the
ground, and about six by ten feet apart. To each post I set one
vine. I have learn xl that vines trained in this way are less
trouble to manage and seem to do better in every way, being-
less liable to mildew and disease, the air circulates freely amcmg
them and the sun's rays will strike nearly every part. The con-

sec]uence is that better fruit and larger clusters are obtained.

If I do trim my vines I generally do the most of it in the fall,
sometime at the last of October or November, but I always cut
off any offending branch when I feel disposed at any season of
the year, and have never seen any bad effects from bleeding af-
ter severing a branch.

There are some two hundred vines on my premises and as
fast as one dies out or is pulled up I generall}' set out another,
usually a year old layer. I have now in bearing condition the
Concord, Ives' seedling, lona, Dracut Amber, Clinton, Hartford
Prolific, Delaware, Taylor's Bullet, Elsingburg, Black Hawk, Al-
len's Hybrid, and the following of Rogers' Hybrids No's i, 3, 9,
^3> ^S> ^9> 22, 39, 41, 43, 44, 33, besides several seedlings of na-
tive grapes which are rather poor and foxy, having only the de-
sirable qualities of early ripening and the hardiness and vigor of
of an oak.

It is hard to decide which of the varieties are best suited for
our climate ; some years one kind will lead all others, while in
other years it will fall far in the rear. Generally speaking those
K

go

varieties which are the harliest in wood and best to ripen up the
biuls early in the fall, and the fruit also, have this fatal habit of
giv^ing' only very poor flavored berries, while those of the rich
perfume and sugary flavor are apt to be tender in wood and liable .
to be attacked by mildew and are so late in ripening their fruit
that it is almost impossible to get any fit for the table.

Rogers' seedlings are, I am sorry to say, rather too tender for
our County, and are so subject to mildev/ and disease that only
a few should be attempted. It is a pity that such splendid fruit
should be hampered with a parent stem so weak and liable to
disease. Of all the grapes ever grown on my grounds I should
prefer Rogers' seedlings if they were earlier and more hardy,
particularly No's 3, 9, 15, 19, 22, 30, 39. Persons who plant
Rogers' vines should never neglect to cover them in the fall, for
if they are left without protection through the winter they are
almost sure to be killed.

For all locations and all soils I should prefer the Concord
above all others. This is taking all its points into consideration.
While I know there are many that are far its superior in flavor
and richness of fruit, it has no rival in hardiness or productive-
ness under all circumstances and in all localities,

A few vines of the lona, Delaware, Hartford and Creveling
should be planted and if one has a warm, sunny nook near his
buildings, let him plant the Allen's Hybrids, or if he prefers it
the Rebecca. Both are white grapes and excellent in flavor.

Of all the diseases to which the vine is subject mildew seems
to be the most fatal ; vines that are attacked soon lose their foli-
age and the berries stop growing and never ripen, but hang, an
unsightly spectacle in the vineyard. Flour of sulphur is the
best known remedy for mildew. It is applied to the parts at-
tacked as soon as the disease makes its appearance and is best put
on while the vines are wet with dew. Some use bellows to apply

91

it, but I think a good sizetl pepper box about the best thing to use
while doctoring the plant. Constant care and watching is neces-
sary, for the disease must not be allowed to spread. If it is to
be checked at all one must begin early to combat it, if allowed
to have its course the result will be no crop of grapes for that
year.

Rose Bugs sometimes come in myriads and destroy both fruit
and foliage. I know of no way except to kill as many as possi-
ble by hand picking. I have tried tobacco-water, whale-oil soap,
and lime, all to no purp(jse. the bugs seem to be proof against
all the poisons usually adopted to destroy insects.

After twenty years of study and labor among trees and plants
I would not recommend any one to set out a vineyard in Essex
County in the hope of ever making it a remunerative employ-
ment, much less would I suggest the possibility of ever procuring
a first class grape bv planting the seeds of any of our wild na-
tive sorts. While they have hardiness and earliness, they are
all of them foxy and lack nearly all the essential qualities ac-
corded good fruit, besides out of a hundred seedlings perhaps
not more than two or three will ever bear at all and these seldom
come up to a higher standard than the parent. Let every man
who has a few rods of spare room in his garden set out a few
vines of those varieties best suited to his taste. Don't try to
get every new sort you see advertised and don't place too much
credit in the high sounding story told by the printed circulars
you will from time to time receive just as soon as you commence
to plant grapes and your name becomes known to the vendors of
nursery stock. Set out a Concord or two for your stand by or
right bower, and you may put in as many of Rogers' Hybrids as
you have time and patience to take care of. Never forget to
cover all of your Rogers' vines every winter. I throw mine
down on the ground and cover with hay or earth about three or

92

four inches deep and remove before the vines start in the spring.
Vines should be uncovered and tied up to the stakes before the
buds swell as they are very tender and are easily broken off in

liandling.

In conclusion let me add that it has been of much pleasure to
me to be among my vines, and if I have not made it pay in dol-
lars, I have had enough fruit for my family and some for my
friends, and besides there is a solid satisfaction in gathering the
fruit that has been produced by the labor of one's own hands.
If it does require constant care it takes up the spare moments
that are usually lost, or spent in some other employment that
amounts to no more in the end than growing grapes.

STATEMENT OF GEORGE W. GAGE, METHUEN.

My vineyard is located on a southern slope about one-third
the way up and one hundred feet from the valley below. The
soil is friable with gravelly bottom naturally drained. It con-
tains three hundred vines, the oldest of which is fifteen years,
the youngest live years. My first planting was fifty vines on
a patch from which I had taken two crops of apple trees (one
too many) the residue of the vines on nursery ground, from
which one crop of trees had been taken. Fertilized at planting
with animal manure, afterwards an annual dressing with ashes
or potash and bone.

I sometimes start with cuttings and layers, but the best meth-
od is with single eyes. After several years of slip-shod training
I believe the following to be the best. Commence with one or
two year old vines, cut down to two eyes, allowing them to grow
about as they will, except training them to stakes. In Novem-
ber cut down to two eyes. Second year train same as first.
Third year erect a trellis about like those recommended by Mr.

93

Fuller, Dr. Fisher and other worthies — with posts eight feet long
set two and one-half feet into the groued, the end post to be at
tlie first vine, the next post nine feet therefrom and the otliers
six feet apart, bracing the outside post. Rows eight feet apart,
vines six feet apart in tlie rows. Stretch No. 15 or 16 of galva-
nized wire upon these posts, the lower wire twenty inches from
the ground, the next wire fifteen inches above the first, the third
fourteen inches above the second, and the fourth fifteen inches
above the third, ending the trellis with the fourth wire. Begin-
ning with the third year, allow one shoot to grow from each vine.
The end vine of the row train to and along the third wire, the
arm turning from the post. Next vine carry to the first wire,
the next to the third and so on alternately through the row, all
the vines turning the same way. As they grow, nip the laterals
at second leaf, when the shoots have grown six feet nip the ends
off. The autumn pruning consists in cutting off the laterals and
cutting back the main shoot to good, strong wood.

At the fourth year as buds push a shoot each, if two rub out
one, and show their clusters of grape buds, and have made two or
three leaves beyond the last cluster, the end of these shoots
should be nipped ofi. as soon as they have made sufificient
growth and are strong enough not to break, tie them to the sec-
ond or fourth wire as the case may be. As laterals start on the
upright shoots, pinch in at second leaf and continue to do this
the entire season. Now the question comes, how much fruit
shall I let remain on the vines ? Shall I allow each shoot to
start with three or four clusters and at the close of the season
have a very large crop of half grown, unripe grapes with which
to crowd the market with Concords at one dollar per bush-
el, as has been the case the present year, or shall I aim for a
harvest of large, well ripened berries, upon clusters weighing
from half a pound to one pound each, selling at remunerative

94

prices the purchasers saying these grapes did not grow out of
doors, how is it that you grow better grapes than any one else ? I
can show you a man to whom a dealer has witliin a month offer-
ed twenty cents a pound for Concord grapes. Quality rules.
At the same time we are caring for this year's crop we must
have a good look out for the next one. Upon the vines where a
strong bud starts, the shoot from it should be trained up and
along the wire in an opposite direction from the bearing arm ex-
cept the vine planted at the end of the row. This vine's fruit-
ing arm as also its arm for next year's fruiting is to be turned
the same way, take good care of the young arms for from them
comes your next year's crop. Pinch out the laterals at second
leaf, and if they start again repeat the operation, stop the shoot
when six feet in length.

The fifth year we do as we did the fourth, excepting the first
vine in the row, the bearing arms grow one way and the grow-
ing arms the other, thus the vines are renewed year by year.

A vineyard pi-'operly cared for is surely good for this genera-
tion and the next, and I believe for a longer period.

The varieties I should recommend for Essex County are Con-
cord, a few Delawares, try Worden's seedling and John B.
Moore's Early Black when he will let you have them.

A word about Peach culture. My soil is same as for grapes,
fertilizing also same as for grapes substituting salt for bone. I
have about one hundred and fifty trees in bearing planted eight
years ago. In 1872 I had fifty bushels of good fruit, in 1874 one
hundred and thirty bushels of first rate fruit. In 1873, in an or-
chard of about one hundred trees, the yellows appeared and are
spreading through the orchard. The rule should be if a tree is af-
fected by it immediately remove and destroy it root and branch.
A liberal use of salt and unleached ashes may be a preventative,

95

FLOWERS.

The Committee are happy to record a very fine display which
surpasses previous years. We were glad to welcome the old
friends, Messrs. Higgins and Capers of Newburyport, but we
missed this year the familiar face and fine exposition of Mr
Gregory of Marblehead. A new name however is added to our
list of contributors, that of Mrs. L. P. Weston of Danvers to
whom the Committee unanimously voted the first premium for
general display. The variety and the perfect taste shown in the
arrangement of this collection we have never seen excelled, we
hope to welcome Mrs. Weston every year in this department of
our exhibition.

Among other contributions that call for a special word were
the Dahlias from J. Henry Hill of Amesbury, the Pansies from
Charles R. Anderson of West Boxford, and the unsurpassed col-
lection of wild flowers from Mrs. W. S. Horner of Georgetown.
The collections of pot plants from Harmony Grove Cemetery at
Salem were extensive and fine.

The Committee would suggest a little competition in parlor
and hand bouqets, also in floral designs. Where there are but
one pair of each of the above bouqets and only one design, it
makes the duties of the Committee too easy.

We would again urge upon the Trustees the importance of
a special premium for Gladiolas, Asters and Lilies, a fine collec-
tion of which were offered this year for which your Committee
could only award Gratuities. This is not as it should be, there-
fore we would recommend and urge the offering of premiums
next year.

For the Committee,

J. F. WEST.

96

PREMIUMS.

Thomas Capers, Newburyport, best pair Parlor Bouquets, $ 3.00
John C. Higgins, Newburyport, best Hand Bouquets, 2.00

Mrs. C. H. Buxton, Salem, best floral design, 2.00

Mrs. James M. Perry, Danvers, best dish cut flowers. 2.00

J. Henry Hill, Amesbury, best 12 dahlias ; Mrs. L. P. Weston,
Danvers, best 12 petunias ; Charles R. Anderson, West Boxford,
best display of pansies ; Mrs. Joseph Hadley, Gloucester, best
12 phlox ; Miss S. P. Towne, Middleton, best 12 verbenas ; Mrs.
W. S. Horner, Georgetown, best dish native flowers. Si. 00 each.
Mrs. L. P. Weston, Danvers, largest and best display from one
individual, $4.00.

GRATUITIES.

Harmony Grove Greenhouse, finest display of pot plants, $ 4.00
Thomas Capers, Newburyport, general display of flowers, 2.00
John C. Higgins, Newburyport, general display of flowers 2.00
David Haskell, Georgetown, 3 ferneries ; Peter Wait, Danvers,
2 vases asters ; Mrs. C. H. Buxton, Salem, i stand dahlias and
one dish flowers ; Mrs. S. L. Hammond, Danvers, Cuban Wax
plant, $1.00 each. E. F. Hill, Peabody, 2 dishes pansies ; J. H.
Sears, Danvers, vase fringed gentian and pitcher plant ; Miss M.
Louisa Walton, Mrs. L. A. Mudge, Mrs. S. Fuller, Mrs. J. W.
Tapley, Miss Etta Ropes, Miss S. B. Cross, Master Frank E.
Lord, Mrs. E. M. Lowe, T. Hawkes, C. Hammond, Miss Helen
Bacon, Mrs. G. W. Kenney, Mrs. Geo. W. Hood, Master Char
lie A. Spofford, Danvers, Miss Abby F. Wilson, Peabody, bou-
quets ; Mrs. John Colcord. Peabody, David Mighill, Georgetown,
George B. Dodge, Hamilton, bouquets of wild flowers ; Mr.s.
Mary E. Fuller, Middleton, 51 kinds of wild flowers ; Mrs. John
A. Hoyt, Georgetown, bouquet,50 cents each. J. Henry Hill,
Amesbury, lilies and gladiolas, jSi.oo. Mrs. Hannah P. Towne,

97

Danvers, Pansies, ; Miss Mary E. Porter, Danvers, 2 fuschia
plants ; Dea. S, P. Fowler, Danvers, i magnolia plant ; Miss
Mary B. Mudge, basket of flowers; Mrs. E. T; Waldron, vase do.
Mary D. Stimpson, basket of dahlias ; Master Geo. R. Mayhew,
basket of flowers ; Mary C. Tapley, dish of wild flowers ; Mrs.
P. J. Wait, bunch of wild flowers; Lizzie Hood, Pansies; Mrs.
L. A. Mudge, handsome pinks ; Mrs. John Swinerton, Danvers,
dish of flowers ; Mrs. W. P Barker. Peabody, house plants ; Mrs.
Matilda Webster, Peabody, bouquet ; Mrs. David W. Low, Glou-
cester, basket of flowers ; Mrs. Charles Perley, Boxford, dish of
verbenas ; Mrs. B. F. Sylvester, Danvers, bunch and basket of
asters ; Mrs. Martha A. Esty, Middleton, rubber plant ; Mrs. A.
B. Rundlett, Danvers, boquet ; Mrs. Rufus Hart, Danvers, fern
case; Mrs. W. S. Horner, Georgetown, bunch of wild flowers;
Frank C. Clough, Peabody, Jerusalem cherry tree ; Mrs. J. B.
Marston, Danvers, Jerusalem cherry tree ; Mrs. E. T. Waldron,
Danvers, wreath of wild flowers ; 50 cents each.

VEGETABLES.

There were eighty-five different lots of vegetables in the exhi-
bition of this year. Most of these embraced several varieties,
one as many as fifty-two, and another sixty-three kinds. The
onions and squashes were exceptionally fine. It is to be regret-
ted that the diameter of from three to four inches required by
the regulations deprived of their chances of taking the premi-
ums several of the smaller sized lots of onions which were really
finer specirnens than the lots which received the awards. I would
therefore suggest that the diameter required be changed from
three to four inches to from two and one-half to three inches.
L

98

While on this subject I would farther suggest the following ad-
dition to the regulations :— "no competitor for premiums to ex'
hibit either more or less number of specimens of any vegetable
than the premiums are offered for." At present some exhibit
three times the number for which the premium is offered, others
just the number, as a consequence the tables are unnecessarily
burdened, while the exhibitor of the larger numbers has a pro-
portionate larger number of chances for the premium in his fa-
vor which, as the Committee in such cases naturally select the
very best of each lot, when considering the matter. It is very
obvious that there must be some limit to the number of speci-
mens on exhibition, and as experience has decided that the num-
ber selected by the Trustees is sufficient to enable the public to
determine the standard, why not have that number the limit ?
This plan of ours of limiting the size of premium specimens to
what experience has proved to be the correct standard, is working
admirably, as any one must perceive who has in mind the med-
ley variety in size of the same vegetables which were to be
found at our exhibitions of a dozen years ago.

What is a Sugar Beet ? By the agricultural public, and even
by the agricultural papers which profess to be teachers of the
public, the term Sugar Beet is almost always misapplied. One
of our agricultural papers recenly in a long editorial, written
with the avowed object of making clear to the uninstructed
mind the difference between a beet and a mangold wurtzel, as-
ed that the sugar beet grew to the length of about fifteen inch-
es ! The term Sugar Beet is an unfortunate one, as the word
Sugar had already been appropriated to express the sweet flavor
of the varieties of beets raised for table use, while the word
Beet is strictly a misnomer, the vegetable sugar beet being in re-
ality a mangold wurtzel. A generation ago our fathers used the
term Sugar as a familiar designation for any sweet variety of
beet raised for table use, and at the present time by the great

99

majority of the public the term is still so used. As the new in-
dustry of manufacturing sugar from the beet grew on the conti-
nent of Europe, seedsmen were called upon to supply for com-
merce seed of the best vari\;ty for this purpose. It was neces-
sary that this variety should be as free as possible from all col-
oring substance as all this would as a matter of course give a
stain to the juice, and impose on the manufacturer the labor of
purifying it. The one at first selected was the long, white man-
gold wurtzel and this was called the sugar beet in commercial
parlance. This white mangold was not entirely white, the por-
tion of it that grew above ground being usually colored a light
green by exposure to the sun's rays. It became therefore an
object for the manufacturer to still improve on this mangold to
the end that all the coloring matter in the root should be elimi-
nated. The intelligence and enterprise of the seedsmen of Eu-
rope responded to this want, and in the course of a few years
two prominent varieties of mangold were produced that have
nearly completely satisfied it — one of these was sent out by the
estimable house of Vilmorin Andrews & Co., of Paris, and is
named "Vilmorin's hew Improved White," and the other "White
Imperial Extra" by the distinguished German house of Ernest
Benary.

These improved sugar beets of commerce grow nearly entire-
ly under ground. They are called beets but are so only in a
generic sense, just as the green fleshed melons are included in
the word muskmelon when that word is used in a generic sense,
though at the same time we know that by the muskmelon in the
familiar language of the family we mean only the mealy, yellow
fleshed variety. When grown these beets define themselves to
be the mangold variety by the coarser structure of the root, the
stouter ribs of the leaves and the. greater coarseness of the
'leaves, which spring in larger masses directly from the crown
than is the case with the beets for the table.

lOO

The moral of all this for my for my farmer friend is that if
you want a beet for table use do not order seed of the sugar beet
or you will be very likely to find a mangold growing in your gar-
den, a return but not a recompense for the sweat and toil uf the
husbandman.

The following awards were made : —

J. J. H. Gregory, Marblehead, early turnip beet, $3 ; rose po-
tatoes, ^3 ; late sweet corn, $3 ; Hubbard squash, $3 ; green flesh-
ed melon, $2 ; musk melon, $2 ; spherical tomato, $3 ; dish of
tomatoes, $3 ; greatest variety, $3. S. A. Merrill, Danvers
large sweet blood beet, $3 ; red onion, $3 ; Cauliflowers, $2 ;
early sweet corn, $3 ; round tomatoes, $3, M. F. Batchelder,
Peabody, long orange carrot, $3 ; parsnips, $3 ; marrow squash-
es, $T)\ Butman squashes, $\ ; drumhead cabbage, $1 ; vegeta-
ble Qgg, $\ ; sweet herbs, $1. Thomas E. Green, short horn
carrot, $3 ; C. O. Putnam, Danvers, mangold, $3 ; Savoy cab-
bage, $3 ; Turban squashes, $3. Hiram A. Stiles, Middleton,
sweet long turnip, $3 ; cranberries, $3. J. P. Goodale, Peabody,
yellow ruta baga, $3 ; Marblehead squash, 33. R. T. Jaques,
Newbury, Danvers onion, $3. R. Jaques, yellow flat, $3. Hen-
ry Bushby, Peabody, peerless potatoes, 33 ; Fotler cabbage, $3.
Charles R, Anderson, Boxford, Fotler cabbage, $2 ; cauliflowers,
$3. G. W. Rogers, Peabody, celery, $2. James M. Perry, Dan-
vers, field corn, ^3. David W. Low, Gloucester, water melon,
$2 ; cranberries, $1. W. K. Cole, Boxford, cranberries, $3. An-
drew Curtis, Peabody, crookneck squashes, $2 ; lot of oats, ^i ;
sweet corn, $2. Horatio Perry, Danvers, Savoy cabbage $\ ; C.
S. Potatoes, $1. S. F. Potter, early rose potatoes, $1. G. H.
Wood, Danvers, pumpkins, $2. A. G. Blake, onions, $2. H.
G. Abott, onions, $1. T. E. Green, mangolds, $1. J. P. King,
Peabody, turban squash ; David WentzcU, Salem, mammoth
squash ; Charles R. Anderson, Boxford, S. M. peppers ; Charles

lOI

R. Anderson, l-5oxford, sweet corn ; Samuel Hawkes, Saugus,
cranberries ; Alden C. Estes, Rockport, cranberries ; Nathan
Bushby, Peabody, corn ; W. H. Fuller, Middleton, crookneck
squash ; Aaron Low, Essex, sweet corn. Si each. A. P. Noyes,
Middleton, soap, $2. J. J. H. Gregory, Marblehead, collection
of garden seeds, first premium, $8 ; Clarence Brown, collection
of garden seeds, second premium, $5. Aaron Low, Essex, col-
lection of garden seeds, gratuity, $2.
For the Committee,

J. J. H. GREGORY, Chairman.

SPFXIAL PREMIUMS BY F. H. APPLETON.

The Committee on Collections award the first premium of
$15.00 to S. A Merrill, Danvers ; second premium of $10.00 to
J. J. H. Gregory of Marblehead.

Committee — D. H. Stickney, E. G. Berry, W. A. Durant,
Eben King;.

COUNTERPANES.

The Committee on Counterpanes, Carpetings and Rugs con-
sisted of Mrs. G. A. Tapley of Danvers, Mrs. E. P. Robinson of
Saugus, Mrs. Aaron Low of Essex and Miss Mary Lambert of
Rowley. There were eighty varieties submitted to the Com-
mittee which they examined with much care, and after consulta-
tion unanimously awarded to Mrs. A. B. Jenness, Danvers, first
premium, $4 ; Mrs. H. Smith, Salem, second premium, $2 ; and
gratuities of ^ i each to Mrs. J. O. A. Batchelder, Danvers ;
Mrs. John Perley, Bradford ; Mrs. Wm, F. Shepard, Hamilton ;
Mrs. J. C. Stanley, Beverly ; Lizzie M. Wilson, Danvers. Fifty

I02

cents each to Mrs. Mary L. Lee, Beverly ; Mrs. M. L. Putnam,
Danvers ; Mrs. Joseph Currier, Danvers ; A. F. Lyford, Dan-
vers; M. Waite, Danvers; Joseph H. Ober, Beverly; Joseph
Bushby, Peabody, for Counterpanes.

For the best Rug, Mrs. Elnathan Dodge, Danvers, first pre-
mium, $3 ; Mrs. Charles P. Lefavour, Beverly, second premium,
$2. Gratuities of $i each to Mrs. Charles Annable, Salem ; Le-
nora Moore, (aged 15) Salem ; Mrs. H. P. White, Danvers ; Mrs.
Samuel Legro, Peabody ; Mrs. W. E. Dodge, Wenham ; Phebe
A. Cross, Danvers ; Ruth M. Jacobs, Peabody ; Ella P. Perry,
Danvers; H. T. Anderson, West Boxford ; Jessie Fowler, (11
years.) Gratuities of fifty cents each to Hattie L. flill, Salem ;
Mrs. John Berry, Danvers ; Mrs. Levi Fish, Danvers ; Mrs. Jas.
Pike, Danvers ; Mrs. Betsey Loud, Danvers ; Mary E. Davis,
Topsfield ; E. G. Hadley, Danvers ; Mrs. Porter Cheever, Dan'
vers ; Marianna M. Blanchard, Lawrence ; J. P. King, Peabody ;
Carrie W. Trask, Beverly ; Abbie Dodge, Beverly ; M. A. & E.
Cressey, Salem.

There were no specimens of carpetings submitted to the Com.
mittee.

For the Committee,

ALFRED KITTREDGE.

ARTICLES MANUFACTURED FROM LEATHER.

The Committee award to A. C. Saunders of Haverhill the
first premium of $10, for three canes manufactured from leather.
Also a gratuity of $5 to Samuel G. Bazin of Danvers, for two
calf skins tanned with the hair on.

lO-

The Committee regret the small show of articles under th's
head, and would recommend that an effort be made to have this
department of the S^how better represented in succeeding years,

Coniviittcc — Thomas J. Clark, Milton G, Tcnney, Joseph
Knowlton, John I. Ladd.

MANUFACTURES AND GENERAL MERCHANDISE.

The Committee on Manufacturers and General Merchandise
most respectfully recommend the award of the following gratu-
ities, viz :—

James M. Bruce, West Townsend, street lanterns ; A. P.
Noyes, Middleton, soaps ; A. A. Pearsons, Woburn, magic and
electric threaders, $2 each. C. Houghton, Danvers, case of den-
istry, $1.50. W. S. Gray, Danvers, Sorrento carvings; J. H.
Carlton, Haverhill, folding table ; Anna L. Roche, handkerchief
box ; N. P. Merriam, Danvers, case of shirts, $1 each. Frank
B. Trask, Danvers, Matress ; Jasper B. Pope, Danvers, watch
case etc. ; Miss H. (jray, Beverly, pottery ; George Pratt, Dan-
vers, brackett ; George F. Priest, Danvers, book rack and carv-
ings ; Frank Mack, Georgetown, bracket ; Willie A. Shirley,
Danvers, book rack ; Charles E. Kelley, Danvers, cigar stand,
etc. ; Woodman & Co., Danvers, paper boxes ; Harvey Galucia,
Peabody, rustic baskets ; A. C. Saunders, Haverhill, jewel box ;
John Learoyd, Jr., Danvers, bracket ; 50 cents each.

The mechanical invention of the folding table exhibited by J.
H. Carlton, of Haverhill ; the vesper street lantern by J. M.
Bruce of West Townsend and the electric and magic threaders
by A. A. Pearsons of Woburn are ingenious and useful inven-

104

tions, and are worthy of special recommendation for the uses for
which they are designed.

Committee—] djn^s, V. Smiley, H. F. Ladd, Charles Ingalls.

FANCY ARTICLES.

For the best work performed by a child under twelve years of
age, we award the first premium of $3 to Hattie Bell of Dan-
vers ; Gracie H. Putnam, Danvers, second premium, $2 ; M. M.
Blanchard, Lawrence, gratuity, $1.

Gratuities of $2 each to Mary H. Weston, Danvers, paint-
ings ; C. H. Masury, Danvers, plaster tablet. S1.50 each to
Mrs. E. G. Berry, Danvers, oil paintings ; M. P. Needham, Pea-
body, do.; Frank E. Lord, Danvers, motto and sofa pillow. $1.00
each to Sally T Mason, Lynn, wreaths of fish bones and feath-
ers ; Nellie A. Magoun, Danvers, picture ; Evelyn A. Fellows,
Danvers, 2 pictures ; Clara P. Hale, Danvers, motto ; Charlotte
Turner, Danvers, picture ; Mrs. A. H. Sylvester, Danvers, em-
broidered blanket ; Augusta Lamson, Beverly, embroidered cush-
ion ; Fannie P. Mudge, Danvers, tidy ; S. S. Learoyd, Danvers,
embroidered sack ; C. A. Perley, Danvers, pictures ; Rosie Grey,
Danvers, cushion and mat ; Sally Chase, Newburyport, pair knit
hose ; Lizzie G. Boardman, Danvers, toilet cushion. Seventy-
five cents each to Ella M. Bradstreet, Danvers, pair of pillow
shams ; Eliza Trask, Danvers, embroidered skirt. Fifty cents
each to Martha O. Barrett, Peabody, pen marking ; Laura M.
Driver, Lynn, ottoman ; Bel Tapley, Danvers, tidy . Eleanor R.
Putnam, Danvers, toilet mats ; Mrs. Porter Legro, Danvers,
skeleton wreath ; Lester H. Couch, Danvers, worsted work ; An-

I05

nie D. Hall, Danvers, tidy ; R. T. Wyatt, Danvevs, sofa pillow ;
Hattie Tapley, pincushion ; Mrs. S. B. Hunt, ottoman cover ;
Lillic Ferry, cushion ; J^lary C. Tapley, toilet work ; Mrs. John
Preston, 2 pairs woolen hose ; Helen P. Tapley, cushion ; Emma
F. Tapley, picture frames; Mrs'. L. E. McLoud, sofa pillow; H.
A. Learoyd. embroidery; Miss S. S. Learoyd, pillow shams ; M.
J. Crosby, Georgetown, pillow shams ; Jay O. Richards, Dan-
vers, motto ; Bertie C. Richards, Danvers, motto ; Rhoda A.
Risk, Groveland, skeleton leaves ; Annie S. Porter, Danvers,
cushion and cornucopia ; Annie E. Shirley, doll's quilt ; Mrs. A.
M. Eaton, tidy ; Ella M. Perley, tidy; Mrs.. Alfred Fellows, em-
broidered skirts ; Isabel Gould, Middleton, stuffed birds ; Sarah
Gould, wax flowers ; Cara Buckley, Danvers, pith cross ; Mary
A. Conlon, Middleton, ottoman ; Mrs. D. J. Preston, Danvers,
seed bag ; Fred B. Oakes, motto; Mrs. A. Viles, pair pillow
shams ; Nellie Kelley, motto ; Bell A. Waldron, Wenham, tidy ;
Miss H. C. Goodhue, Danvers, ottoman cover ; Martha Barrett,
Peabody, oil painting on tin ; Etta P. Ropes, Danvers, foot rest ;
C. B. Johnson, ottoman and chair ; A. A. Learoyd, ottoman J
Julia England, ottoman cover ; M. W. Putnam, ottoman cover ;
Susie W. Higgins, Middleton, ottoman cover; Ada A. Putnam,
Beverly, carriage robe; Putnam and Barnes, Danvers, speci-
mens of printing ; Fannie F. Putnam, lamp mat ; Master George
O. Stimpson, wax flowers ; Mrs. Mary Stimpson, paper wreath ;
Abbie Pettengill, braid work ; Andrew Nichols, Jr., box of silk
cocoons ; E. F. Wilson, Peabody, embroidery and frames ; Emi-
ly Witham, Danvers, motto ; Abbie Radcliff, tidy ; Abbie J. Ba-
zin, tidy ; Annie N. Bushby, Peabody, tidy.

We would also mention a fine display of sea shells by Mr. J.
H. Smith of Newburyport ; a cushion by Mr. Wm. E. Gary of
Danvers, and a parlor mat by Mrs. Albert Gould of Peabody.

Covwiittee — Andrew Nichols, S. J. Wight, A. F. Low.
M

io6

IMPROVING WET MEADOW AND SWAMP LANDS,

The undersigned, members of the Committee, met July 5th
to view a piece of meadow or swamp land entered by Mr. Sam-
uel Dane of Hamilton. The piece, containing about six acres
in all, is divided by an open ditch into two lots, measuring re-
spectively about four and one-half and one and one-half acres.
The land before being improved was a wet, soft muck ten to fif-
teen feet deep, about one-half wooded with old maple and pine
stumps, the remainder covered with bushes and brambles. It
emitted an offensive and Iniasmatic odor and was entirely worth-
less. The main ditch througli the piece above spoken of was
dug before Mr. Dane bought the place, as well as some other
ditches leading into it; but these ditches were rendered almost
useless by obstructions at the outlet — subsequently removed by
a change in the adjoining highway.

On the small piece Mr. Dane commenced work in 1869, by
cutting down the hassocks and digging cross ditches to the main
drain at intervals of twenty-five feet. Having thus leveled and
drained the surface, he covered it with gravel from the adjoining
high lands to the depth of three- or four inches, and sowed grass
seed. With only this treatment and no manure of any kind, the
crop is stated to have been two tons per acre for each of the
last five years. The crop- of this year was standing, and was es-
timated by the Committee to come fully up to this standard.
Mr. Dane gives the cost of ditching, leveling etc. as $25 ; the
cost cost of gravelling as $45 ; cost of seed $4, and of cutting
and saving the hay as $5 per ton, or ^75-a total cost of $149.00

A crop of two tons per acre an one and one-half acres
for five years would be fifteen tons in all, which at
twenty-five dollars per ton amounts to - • 375-00

Leaving a profit of - - - - - 226.00

I07

Work on the large piece was commenced in 1870 and has been
continued to the present time as opportunit}' offered. The deep,
wet footing-, the ahnost impervious bramble thickets, and the
size and toughness of the stumps and buried logs made the
task as difficult as could be found anywhere. Ditches were to
be dug, bushes and brambles cut out and destroyed, hassocks
leveled, stumps and tree trunks to be uncovered, cut to pieces,
raised and hauled off, and the piece converted from a nasty
jungle to a productive field. This has taken time and money,
and is not yet completed — the four and one-half acres being in
all stages from w^ork just begun on one side to the growing crops
on the other. Much of the wood and roots had to be burned
with the brush, but a good deal has been saved and sold or used.

On the side of the piece first cleared, gravel from the bank
near by was carted on to the depth of three or four inches, over
the space of about one acre, a small quantity of fish compost
spread and harrowed in, and grass seed sown. Mr. Dane states
the produce of this acre to have fully equalled for the past five
years what it was when the Committee saw it, and estimated it
to be two and one-half tons of hay, some of the stalks being
over five feet in height. Grass seed has been sown on other
parts of the piece, which have been drained, cleared and leveled
but not graveled or manured, but the crop is sickly and of small
value. Corn and vegetables have also been cultivated, but with-
out much success. The soil of such a place is too sour and
cold to grow crops without the application of some amendment.

Mr. Dane gives his outlay and returns on this four and one
half acres as follows : —

Labor of ditching, getting off wood and stumps, grub-
bing up and gravelling, harrowing and seeding, - $230.00
Cost of Seed, .... . 9.00
Compost and labor of applying, - - - 8.50

T08

Cutting and harvesting Hay, - - - 75-00

Total, - - 322.50

Value of Maple Wood at $6.00 per cord, - 200.00

" Pine " 3.00 " - - 50.00

12 1-2 Tons Hay at $25.00 per ton, - - 312.50

Total, - -. $562.50

Net Profit, $240.00.

Total Net Profit on the Six Acres, - $466.00

The Committee saw enough to enable them to judge that the
crops were not over estimated ; but for the amount of work
which must have been done they think Mr. Dane's estimate of
cost is too low. Mr. Dane kept no account at the time, not ex-
pecting to enter his land for premium, and he depends much on
memory for the details. He states however that a large part of
the labor was done in the winter, and at very cheap rates. But
the excess of profit shown by the above statement is large
enough to cover a much higher estimate of cost, and even if we
should allow the expenses to be as great as the return, which
cannot possibly be the case, the increased value of the land, and
the removal of the former offensive and unwholesome exhala-
tions are sufficient to make the work remunerative.

The Committee however cannot withold their belief that open
ditches, such as Mr. Dane has dug, are the poorest way of drain-
ing wet lands. They soon become obstructed by the caving in
of the soil and the accumulation of vegetable matter, so as to
prevent the free passage of the water, and the work has to be
done over again, or the land and crops relapse into the poor and
valueless condition from which they were temporarily reclaimed.
Good, permanent work is almost always the cheapest in the end,
and a drain of tile or stones properly laid will far outlast the
open ditches, be more effective, allow the passage of teams,

log

make cultivation easier, and be finally the most economical.

Already parts of the ditches on this meadow are so choked as
to be unequal to the work they ought to do, and in such places
the cultivated grass is giving way to the coarse and reedy herb-
a<^e natural to wet localities. Still, so far as it has been comple-
ted the Committee judge Mr. Dane's experiment in great mea-
sure a success, and an encouragement and example to otliers in
the County who possess such lands, and they have no hesitation
in awarding him the first premium of $15.00.

Committee — Henry Saltonstall, Daniel J. Hale, Amos Poor.

IMPROVING PASTURES AND WASTE LANDS.

The Committee on Improving Pastures and Waste Lands re-
spectfully submit the following report : —

The Committee were invited to visit but one farm, that of Jo-
seph Horton of Ipswich, whose statement accompanies this re-
port. They recommend the award to him of the first premium
of $15.00. Ov.^ing to an unusual delay in the receipt of the no-
tice, your Committee did not see the crop growing, but are of
the opinion, after examination of the hay and ground, that he
has not over-estimated either the amount or quality of the crop.
His method of preparing the soil commended itself to your
Committee from the fact, that by the aid of a steel plough and
a yoke of oxen, he has accomplished more and in a shorter space
of time than could have been accomplished by six oxen and as
many men by the old method. This lot compares favorably
with the average Ipswich fields, that is smooth enough, every
rod of it being readily mown with Wood's machine. The ashes

no

were probably worth more than a ton of any commercial fertili-
zer of the present day, judging by results. Immediately adjoin-
ing this lot, Mr. Horton has a piece of about two acres, al-
though not entered for a premium, deserves a passing notice, as
less than a year ago it was covered with bushes and brakes, and
now it is in an excellent condition to seed down. Also, two
acres more in different stages of improvement, on which the fu-
neral piles were burning and smoking.

Committee — Geo. W. Cha Iwick, Wm. A. Brown.

STATEMENT OF JOSEPH HORTON.

In competing for the Society's premium offered for the best
conducted experiment in renovating and improving waste lands
so as to add to their agricultural value, I offer for your consider-
ation the following statement : —

The land upon which I operated was about two acres of old
pasture. The surface was raised into ridges and hillocks, and
for the most part covered with bushes. Treatment — by plough-
ing I leveled the ridges, and tore up the bushes, getting out '
what roots I could. I then carted the whole into a pile and
started a fire, which I kept going until all were consumed. The
field was then ploughed again and seeded to grass, nine cart
loads of ashes, the amount obtained from the fire, being applied
for dressing.

By this way of treating, I have been enabled to get one ton
per acre of No. i hay from land that was nearly worthless for
pasturing. This. method has decided merit over all others that
I have tried, as it thoroughly and at once clears the land from
all noxious growths, works the soil, leaves it in such a condition
that it can be treated readily and in a first class manner and, as
it supplies its own manure, comparatively cheap. In regard to
the chemical properties or value of these ashes I can give no in-

II I

formation, I simply know that the land upon which they were
used does well and as yet shows no sign of running out.

EXPENSE OF IMPROVING PER ACRE.

Ploughing off sods and bushes, $ 3.00

Carting " " " 10.00

Ploughing again and preparing for seed, 7.00

Seed, .... - 1.50 $21.50

UNDERDRAINING LAND.

The Committee on Underdraining report, that there is but one
entry, and they award the first premium, $15 and Diploma, to J,
J. H. Gregory, of Marblehead.

The Committee take pleasure in calling the attention of the
Society to the annexed statement of Mr. Gregory, and they sug-
gest that the farmers of the County might learn much, by a visit
to his farm, which cannot readily be put into this report or state-
ment. Although the work of underdraining is necessarily a
buried work, still its effects are plainly visible on the surface, and
must be seen to be fully appreciated.

The Committee visited Mr. Gregory's farm on the nth of Oc-
tober, after heavy rains, when they found the low muck lands so
well drained, that they were in good condition for any treatment
— some of this land with crops of cabbages still standing, and
other parts covered with lately pulled onions left to be dried, where
probably, without drainage, they would be flooded.

As will be seen by his statement, Mr, Gregory did not enter
a single piece of land of uniform character, but the entire til-
lage land on the farm, which comprises nearly every variety of
sod, the most of which he has underdrained with nearly equal

I 12

benefit to all,

Underdraining may be classified as follows :

1. Thorough drainage.

2. Partial drainage.

3. Sufficient drainage.

The first as the word implies, affects equally every part of the
land, — has no open ditches and but one " outlet." It usually
requires the ser\dces of an engineer, and is a very nice and
somewhat expensive piece of work, — as for instance a large field
of clay land, whether lying low or not, and without regard to its
condition as to wetness from springs, may be more profitably
treated by thorough drainage than by any other system. The
rule usually prescribed for this kind of drainage is, tile laid not
more than thirty-three feet apart and as nearly three feet deep
as the nature of the ground and the drop of the outlet will ad-
mit. Its cost at prices of labor since the war is not far from
i^ioo per acre.

2. "Partial Drainage" is such as only partly or imperfectly
secures the object aimed at, although it often docs much good,
as when one drain is placed through the middle of a piece of
land, leaving parts on either side that may be full of springs — or
where no sufficient fall can be had to secure a proper outlet.
This kind is to be tolerated only when the exigences of the case
permit of nothing better.

3. "Sufficient Drainage," may be described as that which com-
pletely secures the object without any unnecessary expense. For
example — a field of sandy loam, upon a subsoil of gravel, would
ordinarily be considered as sufficiently drained by nature, and
yet it may be kept too wet by a spring of water in its higher part.
To tap this spring and draw its water in the most direct line
to the nearest available outlet would be sufficient. Sufficient
drainage is the kind which Mr. Gregory has applied with admir-
able judgment and complete success.

113

As for the kind of tile to lie used, the Committee are of opin-
ion that round tile with collars are preferable to those used by
Mr. Gregory. The first cost of these tiles is but little more
and much less expense for labor and materials is required to fix
them in place and hold them in line. The collars serve the
double purpose of holding the joints immovably in line and pro-
tecting them against the passage of sand or other matter. These
points are of the greatest importance in work which is to be
buried from sight, and which is intended to endure for many

years.

D. F. APPLETON, Chairman.

STATEMENT OF J. J. H. GREGORY.

The underdrained land I enter is located on the Glover
farm, Marblehead, near the junction of the roads to Salem
and Lynn. The portions drained embrace several tracts, viz : —
gravelly loam underlaid by hardpan, muck meadow underlaid
by clay ; and a strong clay soil increasing in stiffness until at a
depth of about three feet a good brick clay is reached. An open
ditch runs through the middle of the farm and the various drains
open into this. The draining has been done almost wholly by
tile, a part the horse shoe, but mostly the sole tile, as those hav"
ing a bottom are called. These have been laid at depths from
the surface varying from three to^ four feet. In draining the
gravelly portion near the barn, I began about three hundred feet
above the lowest place, opening my drains about thirty-two feet
apart, and laying two inch tile, which emptied at right angles into
five inch, the latter into the main ditch, with this one exception
all the tile opened directly into the main ditch. The entire
length of tile laid was about four miles. Following directions
given by theoretical writers, who drain more on paper than on
soil, I procured a lot of English draining implements which
proved utterly worthless in our hard pan, however well they
might be made to work in the clays of England. I found one of

114

the greatest wastes of labor, which greatly augmented the cost,
in the habit my men had acquired of digging wide ditches. The
ditches having been excavated at the required depth, a half of a
hard brick was firmly set where the ditch ended, and against
this one end of the tile was closely set to prevent the soil work-
ing in with the water. The tile (those well baked having been
carefully selected) were placed end to end as closely fitted as
possible, until the open ditch was reached. Small stones were
firmly wedged between each side of each tile and the side of the
ditch to keep them in line, and a forkfull of eel grass, which is
almost indestructible, dropped over each joint. When the quan-
tity of water to be carried off was very large, small stones to the
depth of three or four inches were carefully placed over the tile,
and these were covered with eel grass. The soil was put on
with great care to prevent any breaking of the tile and so conse-
quently destroying the drain. In putting on this first layer of
soil I had a man stand in the ditch and taking the earth from the
sides carefully place it. On the muck-meadow, where the bot-
tom of the ditch did not reach the clay, I laid hemlock boards
about six inches in width. The ditches on the clay soil were
dug to a depth of over three feet ; I am satisfied that this was a
mistake, and if they had been dug to a depth of two feet and a
half, and been put as near agairl together, they really would have
been more satisfactory. In reclaiming some of the tracts I found
that ditches conveying the water from the springs which drain-
ed them directly into the main open ditch was all that was nec-
essary. Some acres of muck-meadow were by this means drain-
ed sufficiently dry without the systematic placing of tiles every
two rods. In one instance where a ditch came near a wall where
plenty of small, loose stones had accumulated in the course of
many years dumping, I had the experiment tried of using these
in place of tile, with reference to determining the comparative
cost. The result was decidedly in favor of the tile ; the great

lis

deal of handling of the stone made necessary in collecting them
and selecting the smaller ones for the water course, and the slow
care necessary in placing and covering these, required extra time
the value was far more than an offset for the cost of the tile.

The general result of this extension tile draining has been to
bring under successful cultivation many acres that had never be-
fore been cultivated, and to so drain drowned areas of their su-
perfluous water that some of the best tillage land now on the
farm embraces tracts that previously could not be relied upon
for a crop oftener than one year in two. To sum up briefly the
whole matter — it brought into excellent tillage condition a farm
previously notoriously wet and cold. I close with a suggestion
to my brother farmers — don't expect too much from your under-
draining the first one or two years, it will take that time for
most of the water in the saturated earth to find routes to the
tile, and so complete the underground system of drainage.

MANURES.

The papers tell a very readable anecdote of an indulgent old
father, who prided himself on always having his commands
obeyed. When wearied with ordering bis careless son to exe-
cute his commands, he was accustomed to wind up with "well,
then I will go do it myself, for I will be obeyed !" So the chair-
man of this Committee having waited with all patience in vain
for some member of the Society ( and where can be found a
more intelligent body ? ) to hand in the results of his experiments
on manures, and having looked to the right and to the left for a
"report," rather than have his department dishonored and so re-
spectable a subject go by default, has resolved to "do it himself"

ii6

— hence a leaf from my personal experience in the preparation
and application of manures.

There is an idea, very generally prevalent in the community,
that, though other substitutes may do for an emergency, yet to
keep up the fertility of the farm through a long series of years
barn yard manure, by which is specially meant that of horses
and neat stock, is, after all the only reliance. I believe that this
sweeping assertion can \)C shown to belong to the popular class
of errors, though countenanced very generally by the agricultu-
ral press, and by the agricultural writers of the popular type.
To demonstrate that the agriculture of the farmers of an entire
community is carried on and that most successfully too, with
but little dependence on the manure of the barn yard as a ferti-
lizer, I will instance the practice of the farmers of Marblehead
extending over a period of more than twenty years. Their crops
are mostly early potatoes, cabbages, squashes and onions, vegeta-
bles which require the very highest feeding to give first class
crops, and these enterprising tillers of the soil are well known to
fame as a class who are contented with nothing less than first
class crops, and when they fail in growing these the cases are
exceptional. As a body, beyond one or perhaps two cows for
family use they keep almost no stock in addition to that needed
to carry on the work of the farm. These consist of from two
to four horses, or in the place of two of the horses, a yoke of
oxen. From such resources it will be seen that there can aver-
age but about half a dozen cords of home made, barn manure an-
nually. Of barn vard manure from other sources some of them
on an average purchase three or four cords a year, while half of
■ them do not purchase any at all. Now these farmers will aver-
age as many as five acres each in vegetable crops, and their av-
erage application of manure is certainly as high as from eight to
ten cords to the acre.

It will be seen, then, that while the average use of barn yard

117

manure is less than ten cords each by the farmers of MarWe-
head, the av^erage quantity of manure used by them is fort/
cords or more. We find here, then, a community who, in refuta-
tion of the old axiom that barn yard manure lies at the basis of
successful agriculture, have for twenty years kept their soil in
the highest state of fertility with but little dependence upon it,
while they are known by their crops far and wide as successful
market farmers. How they have accomplished this, what plant
food they use as a substitute and hov\^ they prepare it for the
soil does not come within the sphere of my article, and I will
therefore pass on to giv i a single illustration from my own ex-
perience how a large crop of cabbages were successfully raised
without any help from barn manure.

In the spring of 1874 I broke up in an old pasture, wherever
I could find sufficient depth of soil among the ledges, about
three acres of rough hill-top and sides. As the road up the hill
was very steep, making ^he teaming of common compost a very
difficult matter, while six hundred cords on various fields of til-
lage had about exhausted all resources in that direction, I was
more than half compelled to use concentrated fertilizer as a sub-
stitute. I chose hen manure, ground bone, and German potash
salts. The hen manure was collected in town at a dollar a bar-
rel, the bone was a part of about thirty tons of bones that had
laid together until about rotten and were then ground in a bark
mill, which I purchased at from twenty to twenty-five dollars per
ton. These had been offered in neighboring towns in large or
small lots and yet there were found but two purchasers suffici-
ently intelligent or enterprising to invest in them at this low fig-
ure ! I am happy to say that our Vice President, Dr. Loring,
was one of these, the name of the other gentleman I have for-
gotten. The condition of the bones was so coarse that probably
the word crushed would best define it. The potash salts used
were of the cheapest variety, known by the name of Kanite

Ii8

which contained but a minimum of potash to a maximum of
chloride of sodium, or common salt ; a subsequent analysis prov-
ing that the composition as given was incorrect, the proportion
of potash present being not nearly so great as the original analy-
sis set forth. Thanks to our agricultural college with its agri-
cultural professors, this deception was duly detected and duly
exposed, so that the public is not so likely again to pay for a good
article and get a poor one. In these three articles were the three
substances which make up about all that vegetation needs, viz: —
nitrogen, phosphate of lime and potash. The hen manure and
bone were each rich in nitrogen and phosphates, while the kanite
gave the potash. The hen manure was especially rich in nitro-
gen and the bone in phosphates. To manure the three acres I
used twenty-five barrels of hen manure, twelve barrels of bone
and three of kanite. These were composted with about an
equal quantity of fine loam — a square heap being made by
spreading layer on layer of each to a height of about three feet.
The mass was allowed to remain for three days, until well heat-
ed by fermentation, when it was pitched over and very thorough-
ly mixed together and allowed to stand about twenty-four hours
longer when heat having again been developed it was again pitch-
ed over, and the process was a third time repeated. The entire
mass had now become very thoroughly mixed together and was
mechanically in very fine condition. The ground having been
thoroughly prepared, about a quart of this compost was applied
to each hill, covered with soil, and the seed planted upon it.
The result showed that the kanite was too strong of common salt,
for but few of the seed vegetated. The trouble could not have
arisen from the hen manure being too concentrated, for I have
often used it as strong and even stronger and yet had no dif-
ficulty in getting healthy plants. The result was, we were com-
pelled to transplant into many vacant hills. The crop received
the usual cultivation, and, though a part of the growing season

119

was very dry and this crop on a high, steep hill, yet ultimately I
had one of the finest crops of Essex, Wakefield, Winegstadt,
VVyman and Schweinfurt Quintal cabbages it was ever my good
fortune to raise, indeed of the Schweinfurt I think in the many
years I have raised them I never had so fine a crop.

The cost of the manure was as follows : —
25 Barrels Hen Manure at $1.00 per bbl. $25.00

12 Barrels Bone, I8olbs each at $22.50 per ton, 24.30
Kanite, about .... 12.00

Expense of Composting, - - - 5.00

Cost of teaming Manure, - - - 5.00 $71.30

It will be seen that the cost of the manure on the ground and
mixed, was about twenty-four dollars for each acre of cabbage.
As any farmer of experience knows, as a rule, to insure a first
rate crop of each of these varieties of cabbage, at least six cords
of good stable manure to the acre would be required ; and as
every farmer of experience also knows, such manure landed in
the field costs on the average ten dollars to the cord, which would
make the cost for each acre of cabbages $60.00, on the side of
barn manure, and for the three acres $180.00, against $71.30 on
the side of the mixture.

But the common farmer may say that the six cords will leave
residue in the ground which the grass crop will find when the
land is laid down. True, but so will the mixture leave consider-
able of phosphate of lime, potash and salt behind it. But rais-
ing cabbages on such a scale belongs to market farming rather
than to common farming, and those who follow it only at long
intervals lay land down ( grass is the poorest return they get )
and meanwhile for many years every acre receives just about as
much manure one year as another but little or no account being
taken of what might be left in the soil by the preceeding crop. .

JAMES J. H. GREGORY.

I20

GRAIN CROPS.

The chairman of your committee en Grain Cro;)s submits the
following report : —

The 19th of July I received a notice from the Secretary of the
entry of a crop of rye for premium by Mr. Jos. Whitehead of
Saugus. The Committee were notified to visit Mr. Whitehead
the 23d, but none appeared except the chairman, who found a
\ery good piece of rye which I\Ir. Whitehead delayed cutting
somewhat to his disadvantage that the committee might see it
standing, but as nothing has been heard from in since there can
be no report made of it, or award given.

October 29th, the chairman received a letter from Mr. Oliver
P. Killam of West Boxford saying that the first of the month he
had made application to the Secretary for premium on a crop of
corn, and requesting immediate attention. The chairman know-
ing the full committee could not be notified in time to meet till
the last of the following week took the responsibility of viewing
the field alone. He found Mr. K. had a field of four acres of
very fine corn, about two and one-half acres of which was already
harvested, an acre of the remainder in the stock he proposed for
premium, a statement of which, is herewith annexed as is also a
statement of the whole field, which was requested, as your chair-
man regards the whole crop a remarkable one for this County.
The corn was thoroughly ripened, and very handsome, being
long, eight rowed ears, with small cob and large kernel, and while
the cost of culture given may be a little small, as the labor was
probably premium labor, being performed chiefly by Mr. Killam,
the statement of the amount of the crop is proportionally small,
for while he allows eighty lbs. of ears for a bushel of corn,
probably most purchasers would be satisfied with seventy-two lbs.
giving one hundred bushels of shelled corn to one acre, and an
average of ninety bushels to the four acres. Mr. K.'s field is

121

favorably located beinsj protected by hills from cold winds, and
sloping towards the southeast, and a portion of it where the
heaviest corn grew has been mucli improved by imderdraining.
Mr. Killam is evidently an expert in the cultivation of corn and
would probably succeed where many would fail.

The undersigned regards him entitled to the Society's pre-
mium of $10.00, for crop of corn.

WM. B. CARLTON, for the Committee.

STATEMENT OF OLIVER P. KILLAM.

The crop of 1873 was English grass, that of 1874 Indian
corn. Twenty-one cords of long manure from the barn cellar
was used on 4 1-2 acres, as nearly equal as could be. The soil
is a dark, gravelly loam. The ground was ploughed once eight
inches deep and afterwards harrowed and furrowed 3 1-2 feet
apart each way. The cost of harrowing and furrowing was $2.50
per acre, cost of ploughing $3.50 per acre. Fifteen loads of
manure were used on each acre, three loads being equal to one
cord. The value of the manure on the ground was $9.00 per
cord. Three hundred pounds of Cumberland Superphosphate
was used at a cost of $7.50 per acre, planted from 15th to 20th of
May, 3 1-2 feet apart each way, using about six quarts of eight
rowed corn to the acre. Cost of seed and planting, $5.00 per
acre. The crop was cultivated three times each way and hoed
well once, and after harrowing the weeds were thoroughly cleaned
out. The cost of cultivating, hoeing and thinning was $5.00 per
acre. The corn was cut close to the ground the last week of
September, four hills laid together and six bunches put in each
stook, using a stooking horse and birch withes drawn around
each one to hold it together. The corn was drawn to the barn
from the 15 th of October to the 8th of November and husked,
the fodder bound in bundles and set butts up to cure. The cost
o

I 22

of harvesting, husking and storing was $12.50 per acre. There
were on four acres, 626 1-4 bushels of sound corn, averaging 40
pounds to the bushel. The amount on one acre, 176 1-4 bushels
of sound ears, 40 pounds to the bushel; also eight bushels of
green corn, half of which would be fair corn when dry. After
carefully weighing a portion of the fodder, my estimate of the
amount is not far from six tons per acre at the time of husking,
when thoroughly dry it would weigh much less. I consider the
fodder twenty-four tons and worth $8.00 per ton. I sold at home
about eight bushels of the corn after it was husked $1.40 per
bushel, 75 pounds to the bushel. About thirty bushels of green
corn in all, worth about half-price. Twelve hundred of Cum-
berland superphosphate was used on the four acres which cost
$30.00.

ESSEX SS. Nov. 10, 1875. Personally appeared Oliver P.
Killam, above named, and made oath that the above statement
by him subscribed is true.

Before me, JOHN^ F. KIMBALL, Justice of the Peace.

RO(3T CROPS.

There were nine entries this season, three of Onions, by
Messrs. Merrill of Danvcrs, Burnham of Essex, and Gregory of
Marblehead.

Two of Ruta l^agas, by Messrs. Merrill of Danvcrs, and Man-
ning of Topsfield One of Cabbages, and one of Carrots, by Mr.
Merrill of Danvcrs.

One of Squashes, and one of Beets, by Mr. Gregory of Marble-
head.

12'

We much regret that one entry came to hand too late for your
Committee to give the same attention, We would recommend
those intending making entries in future to be more prompt.

After carefully examining the several crops and statements
submitted to us, we make the following awards : —

For the best conducted experiment in raising a crop of Car-
rots, premium of $1000 to Samuel A. Merrill, Danvers. For
the best conducted experiment in Danvers Onions, premium of
$10.00 to Ira F. Burnham, Essex. For best conducted experi-
ment in Turban squashes, premium of $10.00 to James J. H.
Gregory, Marblehead. For the best conducted experiment in
Brunswick Cabbages, premium of $10.00 to Samuel A. Merrill,
Danvers. For the best conducted experiment in Ruta Bagas,
premium of $10.00 to James Manning of Topsfield. For the
best conducted experiment in early Red Globe Onions, premium
of $10.00, to James J. H. Gregory of Marblehead. For the best
conducted experiment in four varieties of table Beets, premium
$10.00 to James J. H. Gregory of Marblehead. The committee
would recommend a gratuity of $8.00 be awarded to Samuel A.
Merrill for his excellent crop of Ruta Bagas. And a gratuity of
$10.00 for his superior crop of Onions.*

In taking into account the number of bushels of Onions grown
by Messers. Merrill of Danvers, and Burnham of Essex, upon
half acre, after examining the statements of each, we would be
led to think Mr. Merrill entitled to the premium. Although the
crops of both parties were very excellent, we cannot but give
Mr. Burnham's Onions the preference being more uniform in
size, and perfect in quality ; we seldom see a crop better ma-
tured, or that would show more perfect onions, or better ripened
for winter use.

Mr. Burnham appears by his statements very fortunate in ef-

* Note. — The Trustees voted not to adopt the recommendation of gratuities
made by the committee.

124

fecting a sale of his entire crop at seventy-five cents per bushel.
It appears Mr. Merrill has placed the value of his crop grown
on half an acre at a much lower figure, sixty cents per bushel.
And as the cost or whole expense in raising the two crops varies
but two dollars, it leaves for Mr. Burnham nearly forty dollars
more income than Mr. Merrill will receive providing he effects
a sale at the price the statement presents.

Mr. Merrill applied to his half acre four cords manure, com-
posed of night-soil, meadow muck, and barn yard manure val-
ued at $40.00. Mr. Burnham applied to his half acre four cords
common barn manure at time of sowing. In June, after the
crop had started, applied two barrels of Brighton Blood Fer-
tilizer at a cost of $10. Value of barn manure, $28, making a
difference of only $2 in value of manure used by both parties.

The Committee have taken the liberty to award to Mr. Greg-
ory a premium for his excellent crop of onions of quite a differ-
ent variety, and would suggest that in the future the Society of-
fer a premium oa several different varieties as we do on different
breeds of cattle, We think a premium ought not to be witheld
from any one who will undertake the laborious task of growing
a root crop, and furnishing to the Society a written statement of
his mode and manner of growing the same, providing his crop
merits it. And as the statements are generally published in the
Transactions, we think the same cannot be otherwise than valu-
able to many for future use.

The Ruta Baga crops entered by Messers Merrill of Danvers
and Manning of Topsfield, differed but little in quality, although
some in quanity, Mr. Manning's were of the London Swede
variety, very uniform in size, solid and having little top, growing
mostly underground. The mode of cultivation by the two parties
differ not a little, Mr. Manning harvested from his ground a
crop of English hay about the 22nd. of June or previous to
plowing for his crop, but his statement does not mention that

125

fact. The value of manure used and cost of cultivation comes
far under the cost of Mr. Merrill's ; we must differ with Mr.
Manning ; should not want to contract to prepare Lmd, furnish
seed, and cultivate one half acre for the small sum of eight dol-
lars and seventy-five cents. In his statement which he presents
to us he has failed to charge any thing for harvesting his crop,
and when that amount is added most of the difference
between the two crops would be in the manure applied. Mr.
Merrill applied equal parts ashes, meadow muck, and horse
manure, three cords valued at $25.00. Mr, Manning applied
three cords barn yard manure and muck valued at $12'00 Mr.
Merrill's crop of 350 bushels at the value placed on them at 42
cents per bushel amounts to $147,000. Cost growing crop as
by statement $51.00, leaving a profit of $96.00. Mr. Manning's
crop of 300 bushels value placed at 45 cents per bushel amounts
to $135.00. Cost of growing crop by statement, 320.75 leaving
a profit of $114.25. Possibly Mr. Manning intended to offset
crop of hay against labor not allowed.

The crops of Samuel A. Merrill of Danvers, consisting of
Onions, Cabbages, Ruta Bagas and Carrots, were visited by the
Committee on Sept, ist. Mr. Merrill as a vegetable grower,
and for his prominent activity, energetic and skillful manner in
which his two farms are conducted, deserves much praise. Mr.
M. is particularly fortunate in leasing the well-known "Burley
Farm" containing three hundred and fifty acres, for the purpose
of bringing into execution and perfecting his many original
ideas of market gardening ; although the farm is mostly under
the supervision of his sons, who gave us valuable information in
relation to the farm and crops. The land upon most parts of
the farm appeared in good condition and very productive. Se-
cluded as it is by trees and growing wood upon all sides protect-
ing the land and crops from the cold blast andblighting winds, so
often injurious to growing plants, and fruit trees, now and then

120

Studded with stately Oal-is, large, and to all apj)earances very
ancient, one of which measures around its trunk at the base
twenty-one feet, some of its branches extending thirty-five feet.
The land upon which the crops of Mr. Merrill grew (except his
Onions) was a worn out pasture three years since, with a light
gravelly soil well adapted to the growing of most kinds of roots.

The crop of Carrots grown on half acre, long orange variety,
common barn yard manure was used at the rate of six cords per
acre with a yield of twenty-four tons per acre, and a crop of Bruns-
wick Cabbages on half acre with three cords common barn yard
manure produced twenty-five hundred merchantable heads. Mr.
Merrill in making up his statement of cost on several crops would
appear to some to use exceedingly small figures, but owing to the
character of the soil, and taking advantage of horse power, we
are quite aware the labor has been done at the low figures the
accompanying statements present.

The crop of Onions entered by Mr. Merrill growing in a dis-
tant field containing five acres, was an excellent crop of seven
hundred bushels to the acre, and no doubt the yield would have
been exceeded had not the maggot destroyed many of the young
plants in the early part of the season. It was grown on land in
good condition, and quite well adapted to such a crop.

The Committee were invited to visit the farm, or farms, of
James J. H. Gregory at Marblehead, October i8th. The crops
presented for our particular inspection, consisted of Turban
Squashes, Red Globe Onions, and Beets four varieties, Pearly
Blood Turnip, Simon's Early, Early Dewing, and Egyptian.
The crops of Mr. Gregory, and the manner in which they are
grown will pay any one interested in agricultural pursuits a long
journey to see ; we much regretted that time would not permit of
our giving them more than a bird's eye view in the few short
hours allotted us ; one would need as many days. We consider-
ed ourselves exceedingly fortunate in having Mr. Gregory's val-

12/

uahle information and intcllii^'ent opinion in relation to liis nu-
merous and valuable crops. Mr. Gregory at the present time is
worlcing no less than si.x; farms, all of which are used for grow-
ing vegetables and seed. One could ask for no better school
where to store our mind with a thorough knowledge of agricul-
ture than to havj the ))rivilcge of the valuable instruction he
would gain upon those farms, in watching the various experi-
ments cent nually going on. As Mr. Gregory's crops are all, or
nearly all grown for seed, they are allowed to remain in the
ground until well matured or fully developed.

We were much pleased with his crop of Turban Squashes of
about eleven tons per acre, which were stored at his squash
house, were very superior, with little or no mixture, uniform in
size, and apparently excellent in quality. His enormous crop of
eighty tons, composed of several different varieties, was certain-
ly a delightful sight to look upon. The Butman Squash, a new
variety, grown quite extensivelv this season by Mr Gregory*
who informed us is the only variety known to have originated in
the United States. His very excellent crop of Beets, entered
for premium, we found growing in the field were uniform in size,
grown at equal distances with good space for them to develop,
and showing good and careful cultivation. His Onion crop of
several thousand bushels of different varieties, a part of which
were grown on a reclaimed bog or muck meadow, were worth
going many miles to see. The meadow upon which a part of
the Onions grew producing a crop at the rate of seven hundred
and ten bushels to the acre, was a few years since a useless bog
hole, nearly covered with scum and stagnant water ; a main ditch
was opened, after which drain tile was laid, Mr. G. informing
u.s he had laid over four miles in one field.

There appears to be a great advantage in tilling land of like
quality in having no wet in spring, or weeds in autum. The
Cabbage crop mostly growing upon his farms in Middleton, we

128

(lid not ]ia\e time to visit, at that time it was not fully matured,
consequently he declined entering the same for premium. We
are informed that since then they have rapidly developed or
enough so had there been time, to warrant a premium. Hi.s
Cabbage crop embraces ten or twelve acres, which he intends to
cover for spring setting. All the imperfect cabbages, squashes
and other vegetables that cattle will eat are fed daily to his herd
of noble grade Ayrshire Cows which do not belie their keeping,

Mr. Gregory is very fortunate in occupying land situated on
the borders of the ocean which enables him to collect a large
amount of sea manure valuable as a fertilizer, when composted
with glue waste, night soil and barn manure. Unlike most
vegetable farms, when all crops grown are market^:d for con-
sumption, he has double work to perform, not only in resetting
n spring, of his great variety of vegetables, but the harvesting
of the seed and preparing for market ; employing in the growing
season, forty men, and in the winter season, nearly as many
young women in his spacious seed establishment.

After completing our inspection of the numerous croph',
the mode and manner of cultivation , before taking leave, by the
politeness of Mr. Gregory we were invited to visit his beautiful
and spacious mansion, nearly completed, situated ui)on a delight-
ful elevation on the sea shore, combining architectural beauty,
convenience and comfort. We are quite sure the English mean-
ing is truly applied to that richest of words, "Home."

We have no doubt that the princi]:)al object in offering a Soci-
ety premium for the best conducted experiment in growing root
crops is to stimulate and encourage the farmers of the County
to renewed endeavors in the raising of so valuable and indispen-
sible a crop, both as an article of diet and also for our cattle.
The number of vegetables that come under the head of root
crops in these modern times are numerous indeed, and require
careful thought, study, and much experimenting in order toascer-

129

tain those varieties that are not only most desirable for ourselves
and our cattle, but those that will return to us the greatest
amount of profit annually.

We were somewhat surprised that no entries were made of
that very valuable and almost indispensible vegetable, the pda-
to ; not only as an article of diet, but one of the most remuner-
ative crops that can be grown in the County. The potato plant
is a native of Peru and has been known in Europe about two
hundred and fifty \ ears. Like most other important discoveries
it made but little progress tor many years. The potato will thrive in
every soil, and seldom suffers from an inclemency of seasons.
It is calculated that a far greater quantity of farinacious food can
be raised on an acre of ground planted with potatoes, than many
kinds of grain. They are not considered so hearty a food as
corn, but no man will perish with hunger who can have plenty
of potatoes. The analysis by some shows that potatoes and
water alone will nourish man completely. And whenever a
good crop of potatoes are grown we need have no fear of famine.
Since the introduction into this country of the nearly wild plant
much improvement has been made both in quanity as well as
quality.

Not many years since a crop of six bushels was raised upon
one of our large farms in Essex County ; it was looked upon with
wonder and astonishment, the same farm at this late day would
produce as many hundred. Scarcely any cultivated crop can be
grown with less hand labor than the potato, now that we .have
both the planters and the diggers operating by horse power, the
planter will not only slice and drop uniformly, but will apply
any kind of fine dry fertilizing material, and at the same time
furrow and cover the potatoes ; with the Chandler hoe, and a
suitable kind of soil, properly prepared, in a favorable season the
potato can be grown at a profit for less than fifty cents per
bushel delivered at the farm. It may be worthy of remark tliat
P

130

no nation can be very populous, which cIiks not draw a great
portion of its food from underground.

Although the potato crop the present season will not be as
remunerative, as in former years, it should not discourage the
planting of them in future. According to the statistics in 1873,
the entire potato crop of that year in the United States was
106,037,000 bushels.

Perhaps next in importance comes the turnip, both as a crop
for market, and food for ourselves and our cattle. No farmer
owning cattle can afford to dispense with their use, of all the
varieties grown the Ruta Baga is considered the most profit-
able, the yield oftentimes reaching as high as thirty-five tons
per acre ; in Essex County an average yield is about twenty
tons. In England and Scotland in the great sheep growing
districts no farmer would attempt to raise a flock of sheep with-
out the cultivation of turnips.

The turnip will grow on all the varieties of soil, some varieties
succeed best on sandy soil, but th^ Ruta Baga best on a soil
more heavy, Of the many varieties, after some experience, we
would give the London Swede the preference. After some ex-
perience in the growing and feeding of the Swedish turnip, I
would give them the preference for feeding to Sheep, Colts and
Horses. The horse will do much better fed with them and
come out looking better in spring than when fed with Carrots.

Turnips, Cabbages, Potatoes and many other kinds of vege-
tables were unknown to man until within the sixteenth century,
while the Onion was a great favorite in Egypt four thousand
years ago. The number of different varieties of root crops is
so numerous one hardly knows which to recommend for culture
as a profitable crop. It is natural for most farmers to grow
those varieties that will return to them the greatest amount of
profit in dollars and cents, regardless of the use made of them.
In the Connecticut valley many farmers who a few years since

131

were growing vegetables have now turned their attention to cul-
tivation of tobacco, from the fact that it returns to them a
greater amount of money, according to the amount of time and
labor expended. Perhaps it should be the aim of every farmer
to ascertain the chemical nature of the materials required by
various plants and the best methods of obtaining these materials
with reference to stimulating plant life. According to the sev-
eral statements which have been submitted to the Committee
with cost of growing crops and income received, we judge the
raising of roots to be a profitable business. The much lamented
A. J. Downing has well said "To be happy in any business or oc-
cupation (and country life on a farm is a matter of business) we
must have some kind of success in it, and there is no success
without profit and no profit with without practical knowledge of
farming."

Committee — Alonzo B. Fellows, Bennett Grif^n. Joseph S.
Howe, James P. King, Aaron Lowe.

ONIONS.

STATEMENT OF J. J. H. GREGORY.

The lot of onions offered for premium are of the early Red
Globe variety, and were grown on a piece of reclaimed meadow
land. This land after having been suitably drained, was covered
with sand and gravelly loam at the rate of about a hundred two
horse loads per acre. The land on which the onions grew, had
onions also the year previous and the year before that, we cul-
tivated it to cabbages and potatoes. The manure used --this
season was mostly a compost of well rotted glue manure and
muck, which had absorbed the drainings from a manure pile of
the same material located on a slope above. It was applied at
a rate of about nine cords to the acre. The land was brushed and
planted in rows fourteen inches apart at the rate of four pounds

132

of seed to the acre, great care being taken to get the seed at a
uniform depth. Throughout the season the ground was kept
clear of weeds, receiving in short first rate care. The crop ri-
pened down very early. Tlie piece selected contained exactly
lialf an acre and the crop weighed 18,484- pounds, which at the
legal weight- of 52 pounds to the bushel would make 355 bush-
els. The following statement shows the cost of the crop: —
Manure and spreading on half an acre, $ 45.00

Ploughing half an acre, - - - 2.50

Harrowing, Raking and Planting, - - 6.00

Seed, . - . _ . 10.00

Three Slidings, - - - 4.00

Three VVeedings, - . . . 12.00

Pulling and Turning, - - - 5.50

Harvesting, - - - - 8.00

Topping, - - - - - 9.50

Use of Land, .... 6.00 $108.50

Onions raised on reclaimed meadow cost less per acre than
on upland, the difference being felt mostly in the preparing of
the ground and the weeding. As I use a large prorortion of
each of the crops entered by me, viz — onions, squashes and
beets, as seed stock, I make no estimate of market value.

STATEMENT OF IRA F. BURNHAM.

The land on which my onions grew, as measured by your
Committee, contains one-half acre, In the spring of 1874 it
was dressed with three cords of barn manure and planted with a
variety of vegetables for family use. Last spring I plowed in
four cords of barn yard manure harrowed it till fine and sowed
on the 26th of April 2 lbs. of Danvers Onion seed, in rows 14
inches apart. Seed came up very even. In June I sowed on
2 bbls. of the Brighton Blood Fertilizer which had a very marked
effect the young plants growing very rapidly. The following is

the cost of the crop : —

Ploughing and preparing land, - - $ 4-00

Seed, ----- lo.oo

Manure 4 cords, - - - - 28.00

Weeding 3 times, - - - - 24.00

l\vo bbls. Brighton Fertilizer, - - 10.00

Harvesting, .... 10.00 $ 86.00
By 330 bushels of nice well ripened onions at 75 cents per

bushel. $ 247.50.

TURNIPS.

STATEMENT OF JAMES MANNING.

To the Committee on Root Crops,

Gentlemen : — The following statement shows the cost of cul-
tivating one half acre of ground for Ruta Baga Turnips : —
Ploughing" and Harrowing, - - $ 5-00

Three cords Manure and Muck, - - 12.00

Planting and Cultivating, - - - 3.00

Seed, .... - .75 ^20.75

The above named ground has been used for English grass
crops for the last eight years. There were three hundred bush-
els of Ruta Bagas raised on this half acre, which are worth forty-
five cents per bushel. Weight sixty pounds per bushel, or nine
tons in all. The ground was ploughed eight inches deep, and
planted on the twenty-fourth of last June.

SQUASHES.

STATEMENT OF J. J. H. GREGORY.

My crop of Turbans were raised on our good strong Marble-
head soil, which seems to have a particular affinity for squashes
both in the quantity of the yield and the quality of the crop.
The ground was thoroughly ploughed and the manure applied at

134

the surface and worked in by the Neiswitz harrow. This manure
was a compost of muck, night soil and barn manure, the appHca-
tion being at the rate of nine or ten cords to the acre. Seed was
planted in spaces of 9 by 10 feet into which a handful of super-
phosphate and rotten bone dust had been previously stirred and
ultimately two plants were left standing in each space. I pur-
posely ommitted the use of the term hill, because in common
practice this means a spot excavated, filled with manure and
then covered with soil, whereas for many years past in my an-
nual planting of an average of eight or more acres, I have not
excavated a hill, my practice being to drop on the surface where
the seed are to be planted whatever manure is to go there and turn
this under with a fork, keeping it as near the surface as possible
and being particularly careful to stir it well into the soil should
it be a concentrated fertilizer. The seed was planted about the
twenty-fifth of May. The crop was well tended, being kept very
clear of weeds and the ground kept light and fine by frequent
cultivating, special care being taken to cultivate very thorough-
ly just before the runners began to cover the ground, that at the
time the roots were very freely pushing for food they might as
far as practicable have every obstacle removed in the way of
finding it.

The area on which this crop was grown contained 24,660 feet.
The weight of the squashes, as per memoranda enclosed, was
1 1,695 pounds, which is at the rate of -about ten and one quarter
tons to the acre.

Load No. I. Load No. 2. Load No. 3. Load No. 4.
4085 4390 4430 4490

Tare, 1425 1425 1425 1425

Total, 2660 2965 3005 3065

The following shows the cost of the crop : —
Manure and Spreading, - - $35.00

Ploughing and Harrowing, - - 3.50

OD

Seed and Planting, _ . - 4.00

Cultivating three times, - - - 4.50

Hoeing twice, . . . . 3.00

Harvesting, _ . . . 8.00

Use of Land, ... - 6.00 $64.00

BEETS.

STATEMENT OF J. J. H. GREGORY.

The soil on which these beets grew is a strong loam, this was
manured with an admixture of sea, barn and glue manure at the
rate of five cords to the acre. This was thoroughly mixed with
the soil and after harrowing and raking, the seed was planted at
intervals between the i8th of June and the 3d of July, in rows
sixteen inches apart. In the plot were four varieties of the tur-
nip beet, viz — Early Blood, Simon's Early, Dewing and Egyp-
tian. The beets were thinned to six inches apart in the rows,
given clean cultivation, and were pulled and topped from Octo-
ber 15th to October 25th when of an average diameter of about
three and one-half inches, a good size for table use. The area
of the plot was 22.346 feet, and the number of pounds of the
yield was 19,754, a little short of ten tons, which at sixty pounds
to the bushel would make 329 bushels. As will be seen the
crop is not presented as a crop for fodder purposes, for in that
case they would have been planted as early as frost left the
ground, and have been thinned to a distance of eight or ten
inches apart in the rows. By planting them very early on a
rich soil, I have grown the early blood turnip beet to weigh from
ten to twenty pounds and reach the size of a half bushel mea-
sure. This crop is presented as an excellent yield for beets of
a size suitable for table use. The following shows the cost : —
Manure and spreading, - - $ 25.00

Ploughing, Harrowing and Raking, - 8.50

136

Seed and Planting. - - - 3.00

Three Slidings, - . . _ 4,00

Three Weedings, - - . . 14.00

Pulling and Topping, - - - 10.00

Harvesting, .... 2.50

Use of Land, . . . . 3.00 $ 70.00

CABBAGES.

STATEMENT OF S. A. MERRILL.

I enter for premium one lot of Brunswick Cabbages, contain-
ing one half acre. The land had been planted with potatoes for
two years, and before ploughing, three years ago was a piece of
old, worn out pasture. The soil is a gravelly loam with hard
pan. Have generally dressed with green barn manure about six
cords to the acre with three hundred pounds of Peruvian guano,
put in the drills after broadcasting the green manure and cultivt-
ing it in with the Neswitz harrow. I prepared this half acre
about the first of May with three cords of green barn manure,
cultivated in, and then sowed the cabbage seed in drills three
feet apart. Sowed the seed with Holbrook's seed sower. I
hoed and thinned in June, leaving the plants about 2 1-2 feet
apart in the drills. I raised twenty-five hundred heads of cab-
bage on this half acre which were worth, in the market about
six cents per head. The expense of the crop is as follows : —
Ploughing, - - - $ 1.50

Harrowing and cultivating, - - 1.50

Value of manure, - - - 18.00

Broadcasting and cultivating, - - 8.00

Seed, - - - - _ .^o

Land rent, . . _ _ ^.00

Marketing, . . . _ 25.00 $59.50

Value of crop $150.00. Land measured by Patrick Murphy.

137
CARROTS. .

STATEMENT OF S, A. MERRILL.

I enter for premium one half acre of Carrots. The land on
which they were grown was an old, worn out pasture three years
ago. It was ploughed and planted one year ago with potatoes,
with green barn manure .spread broadcast and cultivated in drills
using 300 lbs of guano to the acre. Last year it was planted
with Carrots, using about six cords of waste manure to the acre.
This year I ploughed and planted about the middle of June,
using six cords of manure to the acre. I think this time the
best for planting carrots for two reasons. In the first place we
save one weeding ; secondly, I consider carrots keep much better
in the winter that are not too ripe, and they grow better in the
autumn than they do in the hot weather, I raised from this half
acre, twelve tons of good, marketable carrots of the long orange
variety, worth more for marketing in the spring than the medi-
um or short horn carrot, at least this has been my experience for
several years. The cost of this crop is as follows.
Plowing, - - - - - ^[.50

Harrowing and cultivating, - - - 1.50

Value of manure, .... 25.00

Applying manure, - ;. - - 5 00

Seed. . - ... .50

Hoeing and weeding, ... 8.00

Harvesting, - . . . ^7.00

Land rent, - - - - - 10.00^58.50

Value of crop, 12 tons, $120.00. Land measured by Patrick
Murphy.

138
ESSAY.

BY FRAN'CIS H. APPLETON.
REFORM.

Where is it needed and how shall it be brought about ? I
think that I can safely say that there only a comparitively small
number of the members of our Essex Agricultural Society that
do not need to reform in their actions as members.

According to the By-laws a committee is appointed at the an-
nual meeting, by nomination from the floor, consisting of one
member from each city or town, whose duty it is to meet before
the first of the following July and nominate a list of officers and
Trustees to be voted for at the next annual meeting. Each
member of the Society should therefore take the greatest care
to have a public spirited man of unquestionable character rep-
resent their home on this Committee.

With a Committee thus carefully appointed, none but the best
officers could be nominated and it would be better for us to thus
always vote the Society's regular ticket,

It must be remembered that the Trustees have power to do
what they please with the funds of the Society ; so it will be at
once seen that should an incompetent or selfishly disposed board
of Trustees at any time be elected, they could immediately
squander the Society's funds in whatever way they chose. Thus
the present excellent financial condition of the Society, which is
the result of years of care, might be destroyed in an hour.

It is fashionable at the present time to cry reform. While
reform is unquestionably much needed in the Country at large,
it might also be advantageously applied to some customs of our
Society ; but it is of the utmost importance to be sure that the
people who cry for reform are honest in their intentions and
that they are not at the same time aiming to gain some selfish

f39

purpose for themselves or their friends at the expense of the
pLiblir. There exists too many persons of this kind, just at pres-
ent, and the eves of unsuspecting- people should be opened to
them. Our County has not lon,^ since overthrown a notable
example of this in political life.

It is not well to always trust to the opinions of the loudest and
most fiucnt talkers. It is much better to study and form one's
own opinions from what we can read and hear.

Do not let personal animosities or predjudices influence you,
for often a personal enemy may be one who could best serve you
in an official capacity.

Many members take no pains to attend the annual election
and so with-hold their council in appointing the nominating
Committee. Every member should make such arrangements
as will enable him to attend the Annual meeting and then we
should have all parts of the County well represented, which,
while it would add greatly to the usefulness of the meeting,
would add much to the pleasure of the day.

The most needed improvement at our Shows seems to be
covered pens for the unfortunate animals that now favor the
Shows with their presence and have been exposed to the severe
storms that have at times taken place. Farmers cannot readily
find outside shelter in case of rain or cold, and more often would
not care to be put to that expense, consequently many valuable
animals are not exhibited which would afford excellent instruc-
tion to our farmers. Ayrshires, Shorthorns, Jerseys, etc. will
only be exhibited in small numbers until their owners shall be
assured that proper protection from the weather will be provided.

I am convinced that the Society ought not to locate. To lo-
cate would be simply suicidal. I would urge all members who
have its best interests at heart to strongly oppose all attempts to
locate.

140

It IS ImiJOJisibb for the Society to own portable covered pens
or the lumber necessary to make them, on account of the ex-
pense of transporting them.

The New York State Society has. until the last four or five
years, held its Shows at different places each year and has had
pens built by contract of rough boards which were sold after
the show. The boards were but little cut or injured and the
Society sustained only a small loss on them. The labor and
nails were the chief expense. I do not however think it would
be advisable for our Society to adopt this plan.

The New York Society having attained an ex client financial
condition, knowing that their Annual Show brought many bene-
fits to the city or town where it was held, and desiring better
covered pens, and buildings of their own planning, decided to
visit certain places regularly every few years where the inhabi-
tants should erect suitable buildings.

These buildings have already been erected in several places,
so situated, that they are easily accessible from the country
around them, and that by visiting them in turn the good influ-
ence of the Society is scattered all over the state,

I believe that some such plan might be tried to advantage in
this county and I would respectfully suggest that it be carefully
considered at on early meeting of the Trustees, in order that
their views may be again declared for the benefit of the mem-
bers. I think that three places could be selected for holding
the Annual Shows each of which would be central to a third of
the County and at the same time easily reached from any part

of it.

Would it be an advisable plan for the Society to propose to

the City and Town authorities of Lawrence, Newburyport and

Danvers to visit in rotation said places, provided the citizens

would agree to furnish covered pens for all live-stock exhibited,

in addition to such arrangements as are now made. Both Law-

T4I

rence and Danvers have their their parks where the Society
would find excellent accommodation, with the addition of cover-
ed pens, and I doubt not that Newburyport could provide equal-
ly p;ood accommodation should they be willing to attempt it.

Another matter of great importance was brought prominently
to my notice this year when serving on tlie Committee on Bulls*
All County Societies, recieving the State bounty of S6oo, are
compelled to award premiums only to thoroughbred bulls. I
found that few of the owners of cattle know rightly what a thor-
oughbred animal is. Several grade bulls were entered this year
as thoroughbreds, their owners confidentialy believing them to be
such. I know of cases where our Committee in the past, have
awarded prizes to grade animals in the thoroughbred classes.
Such cases should not occur and our Committee should be in-
structed, in accordance with printed authority from the State
Board of Agriculture, exactly how it shall be ascertained whether

an animal is thoroughbred.

When all the ancesters of an animal can be proved to have

been imported from Ayrshire, or to be descended from animals
imported Ayrshire, said animal is a thoroughbred Ayrshire.
When in this case an ancestor cannot be proved to be a thor-
oughbred said animal is a grade. The same rule applies to all
important breeds of cattle.

Imported stock has been of the greatest value to this Country
the Massachusetts State Board ot Agriculture, as I have said,
encourage the use of thoroughbred bulls only and it is best that
only such should be used, that their ancestry may be readily
traceable and that the quality of their descendants be assured.

The only thoroughbred stock that we have in this Country is
all imported from abroad. The imported breeds should be kept
pure ; but must we always be advised by the highest Agricul-
tural authority in the State to use none but thoroughbred bulls
from imported stock ?

142

Can they not recommend some rarefully matured plan by
which we can "gradually arrive at a breed of cattle, which shall
combine, for example, the richer milk of the Jersey and the
sjreater quantity of the Ayrshire and at the same time be purely
Massachusetts, or New England, in its origin.

Why then should we not some day in the future be able to ex-
port to England a breed that shall prove invaluable there and be
an improvement on their home breeds, thus doing better by them
in return for having done well by us.

It would take time to accomplish thi.s, and as all such results
must have a beginning, the longer that begining is postponed so
much farther off is the time when success would crown our ef-
forts.

The importance of that noble and companionable animal, the
horse, should be kept prominently before the managers of our
Society and every possible opportunity should be afforded for
showinsr his abilities to the best advantage. He should not be
allowed to be degraded or cruelly treated, so far as this Society
has influence to prevent it.

Horse racing should never be allowed at the Shows of this
Society, and the Society should never meddle in any way with it.
When properly conducted, horse racing is a sport entirely sepa-
rate and distinct from Agricultural Shows and in no sense a
branch of Agriculture. If any member of this Society interest
themselves in horse racing let them get all the profit and pleas-
ure they can from it at the proper time and place. Let them
select those horses that are sufihciently sound to compete for
our prizes, and we shall be only to glad to have them entered for
competition at our Shows.

Our enterprising farmers, with others, should take such nec-
essary action as will allow this county to be properly represent-
ed in the Agricultural Department of the coming Centennial
ICxhibition at Philadelphia. They must remember that

U3

Essex County, although a small portion of the vast territory of
this Republic, occupies a place of no small importance in the af-
fairs of this Commonwealth, and should be made to hold its
proper position before the eyes of the visitors from all parts of
the world. Let thi visitors from the more Eastern Nations, in
viewing the show at Philadelphia, see in as many classes as pos-
sible that Essex County, with which they traded much in the
days of their Fathers and Grandfathers, is a thriving place and
able to be largely represented. Many articles that may seem
trivial to us at home might be of great interest to foreigners
from remote countries, and this fact should be clearly borne in
mind. Large quantities of any one article should be avoided,
like the huge monument of quack medicine bottles such as was
exhibited at Vienna in 1873, but many articles of different kinds
are wanted.

Before coming to a close, I want to say a word about Herd
Books. Because an animal is entered in a Herd Book, is that
animal necessarily a thoroughbred ? No. The fact of being
entered gives the purchaser of the animal a chance of ascertain-
ing whether the pedigree proves the animal in question to be
thoroughbred.

Some recognized authority like the State Board of Agricul-
ture should declare whai Herd Books they recommend as being
good and reliable, and all such should be within the reach of all
farmers. Every County Agricultural Society should own them
and then, knowing what constitutes a thoroughbred animal,
€very one would always be able to ascertain the truth for them-
selves before buying, provided the animal had a Herd Book
number. The value of an animal is increased by being entered
in a reliable Book.

144
TRIAL OF MOWKRS AND HAYING IMPLEMENTS.

At a competitive trial of Haying Implements held at Dan-
vers, June 22cl, 1875, the Committee appointed by the Trustees
of this Society to act as judges of Mowing Machines respectful-
ly submit the following report :—

Every precaution was taken to have the award of the premi-
ums as fair and unpredjudiced as possible; requiring the same
tests of every machine and giving to each competitor an equal
chance to show the qualities of his machine. The trial was con-
ducted under the following rules : —

1. Each manufacturer, or his authorized agent, may enter
one Two Horse and one One Elorse Mower.

2. Each Machine shall mow one-fourth of an acre.

3. The draft of each machine shall be tested by the Dynan-
ometer.

4. Each Machine must make one round at a slow walk, one
round may be made at a quick pace, the rest of the lot shall be
mowed at the ordinary gait of the horses, used without urging.
Time will not be taken,

5. Each Machine shall be obstructed by dry rowen and a
green willow stick, one inch in diameter or more.

6. Every Machine will be required to be stopped and started
in the grass one or more times without backing up.

There were five manufacturing companies represented at the
trial by one Two Horse and one One Hose Mower each. The
Ames Plough Co., Boston, entered the Garfiield Two Horse
Mower, cutting bar 4 feet 6 inches, draft, as indicated by the Dy
nanometer, 205 lbs., also one One Horse Machine, cutting bar
3 feet 6 inches Whittemore Bros., Boston, entered the Wood's
Iron Gold Prize Two Horse Mower, cutting bar 4 feet 6 inches,
draft 210 lbs., also Wood's Iron, Gold Prize One Horse Mower,
cutting bar 3 feet 6 inches. The Buckeye Manufacturing Co.,

145

Fitchburg, by A. C. Barnard, one Buckeye Two Horse Mower,
cutting bar 4 feet 6 inches, draft 190 lbs., also one Buckeye One
Horse Mower, cutting bar 3 feet 6 inches. Henry Hale & Co.,
Salem, entered one Wm. Anson Wood New Eagle Mower, cutting
bar 4 feet 3 inches, draft as usually run 125 lbs., and with the bar
rollers off the ground, 175 lbs., also one One Horse Machine,
cutting bar 3 feet 6 inches. Warrior Mower Co., Little Falls,
N. Y., entered one Warrior Two Horse Machine, cutting bar 4
feet 3 inches, draft 175 lbs., also one Warrior One Horse Ma-
chine, cutting bar 3 feet 6 inches.

All of these machines performed their work in a very satis-
factory manner, and stood the tests to which they were subject-
ed, except the Garfield Mower which failed in some particulars.
This machine seemed to the Committee to be too light to bear
the somewhat rough usage which our New England farms re-
quire.

The Buckeye, and Wood's Iron Gold Prize Mowers are too
well known to require any especial mention descriptive of either
the acknowledged strength and durability of their construction,
or the excellent quality of their work.

The Warrior Mower, apparently very simple in construction
and having fewer parts, to the casual observer might seem to
lack strength, but in fact, owing to a stump and a tree being in
the lot which was assigned to be mowed by it, the operator vol-
unteered some tests unusual of its strength, without injury, which
surprised some members of the Committee at least.

The Wm. Anson Wood New Eagle Mower is a machine recently
introduced, and possesses some advantages and improvements pe-
culiar to itself. The castor wheel at the base of the cutter bar
seemed to the Committee an improvement on any other machine.
It was well constructed in all its parts, did excellent work and
must take its rank as a first class machine. It was also remark-
able for lightness of draft which was less than that of any other

146

machine.

The Committee are gratified to find the mowing machine so
nearly perfected, and feel sure that no farmer can make a mis-
take in purchasing either of the last four mentioned machines.

They award the first premium of the Society's Diploma to the
Buckeye Two Horse Mower ; second premium, $25.00, to Wood's
Iron, Gold Prize Two Horse Mower; third premium, $10, to the
Warrior Two Horse Mower. First premium. Society's Diploma,
to Wood's Iron, Gold Prize One Horse Mower ; second premium,
Si 5, to the Buckeye One Horse Mower.

Committee — Benjamin P. Ware, Josiah Newhall, Joshua N.
Kent, A. H. Gould, James P. King.

ESSAYS AND REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.

The Committee have made the following awards : —
To Francis W. Appleton of Peabody for best Essay, ist pre-
mium, $15.00.

REPORTS.

To J. D. W. French of No. Andover for report on Bulls ist
premium, $10.00. To T. C. Thurlow of West Newbury for re-
port on Apples, 2nd premium $8.00 To J. J. H. Gregory of
Marblehead for report on Manure, 3rd premium $6.00.

D. E. SAFFORD, for the Committee.

TREADWELL FARM.

The Committee on the Treadwell Farm respectfully report
that the conditions of the lease of the farm to Mr. T. W. Pierce

H7

have been more than complied with, inasmuch as he has applied

to the farm, according to the statement of Mr. Philbrook, who

has managed the farm, ninety-eight cords of good barn yard

manure, and one hundred and eleven bushels of wood ashes

from a lime kiln. The products of the farm the last season were

15 tons of English Hay,

20 tons of Meadow Hay,

2 acres of onions produced 150 barrells of ist quality, besides a

large quantity of a poor quality,

4 acres of potatoes yielded 600 bushels of very nice quality.

I acre and 30 rods of carrots yielded 700 bushels.

I acre of ruta baga yielded 275 bushels.

200 bushels flat turnips were grown among the onions where

they were badly eaten by the cut worm and maggot. 220,000

pickle cucumbers, a quantity of beets, squashes and 25 barrels of

apples were also grown upon the farm.

The result of the second year of the experiment began last
year, (for particulars see report in last years transactions) is as
follows : —

Lot No. I produced 400 lbs of hay.

2

((

1200 "

<<

ii

and 460 lbs of rowen.

3

ii

1300 "

<(

ii

„ ^^Q a a

4

i<

382 "

n

ii

By this statement it will be seen that the effect upon the
second year's crop from 1000 lbs, of Russell Coe's superphosphate
on one half acre of land produces 18 lbs. of hay; and of 1200 lbs.
of Brighton Abattoir fertilizer on one half acre of land is 1278
lbs. of hay; and of four cords of barn yard manure on one half
acre is 1448 lbs of hay.

The object of the committee in applying these quantities of
fertilizers the first year was in the first place to manure one half
acre with a good liberal dressing of barnyard manure, and
the other two lots with the same value in money of commercial

148

fertilizers, with that of barn yard manure so that farmers could
judo^e what advantage if anyis to be derived from the use of such
fertilizers over that of barn yard manure at the present prices of
"each.

BENJAMIN ?. WARE, for the Committee.

JOHN W. PROCTOR.

At a meeting of the Trustees of the Essex Agricultural Soci-
ety at Dan vers, June 2d, Hon. George B. Loring introduced
with the following remarks, resolutions on the death of Hon.
John W. Proctor, which were unanimously adopted.

"Before proceeding to the business of this meeting I desire to
call the attention of the Trustees of the Essex Agricultural
Society to the departure of one of the oldest and for many years
most influential members of their body, who since we met has
left his work in this world. I refer as you have all undoubtedly
anticipated, to the death of the Hon. John W. Proctor. Mr.
Proctor was one of the founders of our Society. He was inti-
mate with and a great admirer of Timothy Pickering ; and when
that remarkable man organized this association, it was Mr.
Procter then comparatively young who joined most heartily in
the enterprise. For many years he performed the services of
Secretary, was long time President, and was during a large por-
tion of his life one of our most useful and efficient members. He
had a natural love of agriculture to which occupation he was
born; and he never forgot their tastes, nor that experience which he
acquired while yet a boy on his father's farm. His opinions on
agricultural matters were well founded and decided, and he had

149

great influence in this Society at a time when the strong men of
the County were interested in its welfare and took part in its
deliberations. And his communications to the agricultural lit-
erature of his time were numerous and valuable.

Mr. Proctor commenced life as a lawyer and he devoted him-
self to his profession with assiduity and skill. The profession
which he chose was by no means a popular one, and many a
young man who set forth in life with him has left on record the
trials and troubles through which he passed in his endeavors to
establish a good reputation and a good standing. But he adhered
resolutely to his work. Perhaps at times somewhat imperious,
he earnestly and powerfully pursued his profession, and took his
stand among the able lawyers of the County. He never l^.esitated
to express his opinion freely and fearlessly; and in doing this
he often sacrificed associations which it might have been advan-
tageous to him to retain. But he always insisted on an honest
expression of his views and was ready at all times to sustain his
opinions by vigorous argument.

The death of Mr. Proctor not only removes his own form from
among us, but leads us to realize that a generation of able and
influential men, his associates and friends in early life, have now
nearly all left us. Around his name gather those of Pickering,
Saltonstall, Newell and King, men who did honor to their day
and generation, and who left us an example worthy of all imita-
tion. The departure of these men imposes upon us who remain
an increased burden and responsibility ; and I trust we who are
associated together for the purpose of developing the great art
which they loved so well and which we are pledged to protect and
cherish as their successors and heirs of their duties and obliga-
tions as a mark of respect to Mr. Proctor I offer the following
resolutions.

Resolved. That we learn with deep regret the death of one of
the founders of the Society, long time President and Secretary,

ISO

the Hon. John W. Proctor ; and that we recall his long career of
usefulness with a feeling of pride, and remember with peculiar
pleasure his association with the distinguished men who guided
our counsels in the beginning.

Resolved. That the Secretary of the Society extend to the
family and friends of the deceased this mark of the respect
which we owe him as one of our most useful and well known as-
sociates.

FRANCIS DANE.

On the first day of the meeting of the Society, Allen W.
Dodge, of Hamilton, made the following remarks on the death
of Francis Dane : —

It seemed to him, said Mr. Dodge, most fitting and proper to
pause a few moments and pay a passing tribute to the memory
of his townsman so recently deceased, Francis Dane, one of the
Trustees of this Society. To-day we sadly miss him from our
annual gathering. He was always with us, so full of life and
spirits, and taking such an active interest in our proceedings and
in the different departments of our Exhibitions. He had a thor-
ough love of the soil and of everything pertaining to it. Born
and bred on a farm in Hamilton, but drawn from it to the city
where he shortly achieved a fortune, his heart seemed bound up
in his early home attachments. These and the need of recrea-
tion led to the ownership of the old homestead acres, which he
largely added to from the adj(;ining lands, and improved and
beautified with no stinted expenditure of money. To cultivate
his broad acres and to carry out his plans of improvement, gaVe

151

employment to a large number of laborers, probably imequalled
on any farm in the County. To the question once put to him
by the speaker "whether his farming paid ?" Mr. Dane replied
that if he should strike a balance, he should take largely into ac-
count both the pleasure and health his farming had yielded him.
He had found it necessary, and was so advised by his physician,
to relieve his mind from the constant strain of business pur-
suits, and he preferred to indulge thus extensively in farming
rather than go abroad and travel. His well kept grounds, his
highly cultivated fields, his groups of buildings for different
farm purposes, his flocks and herds with the numerous teams
constantly at work, gave ample proof of the earnestness and lib-
erality with which his operations were pushed. One of the last
of his outlays was the setting out by the roadside on -the border
of one of his farms in Hamilton, a row of a hundred or more
sugar maples, all of which are in a flourishing condition and will
stand for years to come as a living testimonial to his memory.

Mr. Dane was one of the largest contributors to our Cattle
Shows, and one of the most successful competitors for the Soci-
ety's premiums. It had sometimes been said, indeed, that he
carried off nearly all the large prizes. That for a period of eight
years, covering his active membership, the yearly average of the
premiums awarded him amounted to fifty dollars or more, is
strictly true, but it will be found by an examination of the
Treasurer's books that he had left unclaimed the whole amount
to the credit of the Society.

Mr. Dane was eminently a business man of large views with
a thorough grasp of details, giving to the prosecution of his en-
terprises that personal attention that insured success. Some
men are born to fortune and some men achieve it ; Mr. Dane
not only achieved his fortune but he dispensed with a liberal
hand, leaving a signal illustration of the possibilities within the
reach of the young men of our County.

152

Mr. Dodge then read the following resolutions and moved
their acceptance and adoption. This motion being seconded,
with remarks, by Paul D. Patch of Haverhill, formerly of Ham-
ilton, was unanimously passed.

Resolved. That the members of this Society have learned,
with deep regret of the recent and sudden death of their dis-
tinguished associate Francis Dane, and would hereby record the
expression of their profound sorrow at the great loss which they
in common with the community at large, have sustained.

Resolved. That we shall ever retain a lively recollection of
his many admirable traits of character, his genial manner, his
public spirit and his active interest in every thing pertaining to
farmers and the farm, and especially of his inspiring presence at
our annual gatherings and his numerous and notable contribu-
tions to our public exhibitions.

Resolved. That a copy of these resolutions be communicated
to the family of our deceased associate.

15.

c c, ti,

t5 • K 8 -S

i^j-^ £i ^

m » K

~ -p iJ rt

^3 y p -p

S W 5

E in C &, ^
5 .5i "" en =

ox: a •- <u

rt :i o > ^

-q'O ;:^ Q »

J! 'G ^ (^ .n" <"'
>, tn J-, — K-; jj^

M p: fL, ,- .H

3 § ^

r- U '1

r-

c

n

a»

rt

r;

^3

Uh

Uh

o

rt

rt

^

O

iJ

;-|

x:

u

•.-

3
O

fi

c

o.

o

W)

c

C

a,

<

a: a

o o

^ 5 rt tn
£ O ^ "
O cj O "
u ^ 'X: •" • »
u ^-^ • -• C

o-= P
o 1,^ O

? -^ ^ u , .

°.2: tn 5 t: o
o -t; t; > o -^
^ .B* - J^
5 — '3 rt (u ii

" r: (u '^ ^

HHH

TOO

►^ d so

O u

> !i

r- 5

o*

c ^ (11 tr

rt O 5 C

O o o o

o o o o o n
o q j <"! o J q o

C\ "1 I r-^ O 1 ri n

d .

« ^ _a>

P> >■

o

D _

o o

o =>

o 2 <u
•x: 5 S

^: cy <u c^-

"o 5 V

U^ = -

o, - O O

-s ^ a

CO

CO - 2

PC4

o ."^ ^ ~

!54

s

o

CD

w

O
H

O

o
2;

o

w

en
Q

0

„-

i^

<

r:

rt

-. 0

J

feO

>-, _c;

"o

<

to

a

C C

^— <

c/: ^

S

0

1J

a -a

>>

0

H

C/3

'^

■J

0

w

'C

-

£C PI
= 0

u

0

0

0

3
u

0

5

-2 M-,

J2 °

co"

tn

U

^

CJ

ai

^ !A

^
^

is

5 "^

rt

>>

QJ

.2

OJ _S

0
0

nj

1 ^

-5

3

0

_

*-•-" *^

-o

rt

CS

0 —

c5

■"^

0)

i2

-a

14

H

'5
0

•->

5 rt

3
0
>

<

r.

'_

0 0

0

0

0

0 0

0

0

0 0

0

ri

«-)

z

w

0 0

0

0

0

0 0

0

0

0 0

0

0

q

w

D

9 <!

d

d

0

d d

d

d

d -y-;

d

0

r^

u

^

kJ

0 "->

0

0

10

•o tr>

:/;

i->

0 'jO

0

Cn

i-i P-* Cl

C 2

o ;j 'A -

o

■^ -^ "^

rt rt

'JO c

E C C

c ^ -^

O 2 bO = S .2 C rt

J5 c:

C/D

60-

0

ri

00

1-^

-

fi

^

P

0

rt

'/)

X

0

^

0

'o

8

ri
0

rt

0
rt

'A

0

000

H

0 0 'S-

J5

-j- 0 to

"t lO tfi:

0

■/3

><

<

Ck

rt — ..-

rt 115

;:^ ^

*/it -, /2U

w

•n .ii u

Q

^ Q

w o ;J<^

rt

rt
J?

to

;^

es Warr
eabody, cc
s Nationa
alcm, par,
es Mcrcai

alcm, cost
es NIerch
alem, cost
s South D:

"3

to

0

'33

4->

a)

0

rt

shai

P

hare

shar

■■^- S ^' ii

11

u

rt

u

rt

rt

r:

J=

—

rt -H ^ rt

to X ^ O iT

^ o

- - CO "

ro< -J

l^ J

■55

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY

FOR 1875-76,

PRESIDENT,

BENJAMIN p. WARE, of Marblehead.

VICE PRESIDENTS,

GEORGE B. LORING, of Salem.
PAUL T. WINKLEY, of Newburyport.
WARREN ORDWAY, of Bradford.
JAMES J. H. GREGORY, of Marblehead,

SECRETARY,

CHARLES H. PRESTON, of Danvers.

TREASURER,

EDWARD P. PAYSON, of Salem.

HONORARY TRUSTEES.

JOSEPH HOW of Methuen.
ALLEN W. DODGE, of Hamilton.
WILLIAM SUTTON, of Peabody,

iS6

TRUSTEES.

Joseph Akerman, Newburyportjoseph Z. Gordon, W't Newb'y
Charles C. Blunt, Andover ; Joseph S. Howe, Methuen ;
George W. Boynton, Georget'n ;James P. Khig, Peabody ;
George B. Blodgett, Rowley ; Joshua N. Kent, Newbury ;
J. H. Cheever, Manchester ; E. K. Lee, Essex ;
Caleb Childs, Marblehead ; Nathaniel E. Ladd, Groveland ;

George Cogswell, Bradford ; Josiah Newhall, Lynnfield ;
Daniel Carlton, No. Andover ; Francis P. Putnam, Danvers ;
Thomas J. Clark, Salisbury ; William H. Patch, Rockport ;

George B. Dodge, Hamilton ;
George A. Dodge, Wenham ;
Levi Emery, Lawrence ;
Henry W. Foster, Beverly ;
Alonzo B, Fellows, Ipswich ;
James Flint, Middleton ;
Bennett Griffin, Gloucester ;
Ariel H. Gould, Topsfield ;

Charles Perley, Boxford ;
E. P, Robinson Saugus ;
Allen Rowe, Swampscott ;
Jackson B. Swctt, Haverhill;
John L. Shorey, Lynn ;
George W. Simmons, Nahant ;
Aaron Sawyer, Amesbury ;
Horace C. Ware, Salem ;

NEW MEMBERS— 1S75.

Wm. H. Allen, Manchester ;
Amos P. Alley, Marblehead ;
Reuben Alley, Marblehead ;
James E. Alley, Marblehead ;
Nathaniel Abbott, Salem ;
P. D, Adams, Newburyp't ;
James F. Almy, Salem ;
L. L. Abbott, Danvers ;

C. R. Anderson, Boxford ;
S. B, Bodwell, Lawrence ;
Wm, P. Bailey, W Newbury ;
C. S. Bradley, West Newbury
Elijah Bradstreet, Danvers ;
C. H. Beckford, Salem ;
John A. Blake, Danvers ;
Wm. H. Brown. Danvers ;

'57

Willis Barnard, Danvers ;
Chas. S. Clark, Salem ;
Addison Childs, Marblehcad ;
S. F. Crosman, Swampscott ;
John Dennis, Marblehead ;
Albert W. Dodge, Hamilton ;
VVnlter F. Dodge, Beverly ;
John J. Downing, Andover;
Winslow VV. Eaton, Danvers ;

C. F. Emerton, Peabody ;
Israel Fellows, Salem ;
Franklin Fisher, Danvers ;
George Faxon, Danvers ;
James T. Fields, Manchester ;
Ira Foster, Peabody;
Samuel F. Gooking, Danvers ;
Oscar Gowen, West Newbury ;

D. B. Gardner, Salem ;

John O. Goodwin, N. Andover;
John Gibney, Salem ;
Henry Gardner, Peabody ;
Rufus Goodwin, Haverhill;
Edward L. Hill, Danvers ;
R. B. Hood. Danvers ;
Joseph E. Hood, Danvers ;
Edward Hutchinson, Danvers ;
C. R. Hutchinson, Peabody ;
Albert G. Ham, Danvers ;
N. A. Horton, Salem ,
Lewis G. Holt, Lawrence ;
Eben Jackson, Salem ;
J. T. Johnson, No. Andover;
Conrad Juul, Danvers ;

Arthur Kemble, Salem ;
Otis L. Kent, Newbury ;
Albert S. Kent, Newbury ;
Edward Kent, Newbury ;
Herbert A. Knowlton, Essex ;
G. Augustus King, Peabody ;
J. M. Knight, Salem;
J. Kavanagh, Wenham ;

C. A. Lawrence, Beverly ;
John Linehan, Peabody;
Simuel W. Lewis, Danvers;
Alexander Lewis, Danvers ;
Andrew Mansfield, Lynnfield ;
Patrick Murphy, Danvers ;
Beverly S. Moulton, Danvers ;
Ransom F. McCrillis, Danvers
Walter T. Martin, Danvers;
E. H. Merrill, Danvers ;
Orlando F. Newhall, Peabody ;
Joseph Newhall, Saugus ;
Benj. E. Newhall, Danvers ;
George A. Needham, Peabody ;
William Noble, Saugus:
Samuel W. Nourse, Danvers ;
Philip L. Osborne, Peabody ;
George H Peabody, Danvers ;
John W. Porter, Danvers ;
George W. Pepper, Peabody ;
Abraham Patch, Jr., Danvers ;
William Pickering, Jr., Salem ;

D. B. Prime, Rowley ;
Benjamin Pickering, Salem ;
Henry A. Perkins, Danvers ;

158

John G. Parje, Salem ; Russell Sturgis, Jr., Manchester;

Edward P. Perley, Danvers ; Shattuck, Lawrence ;

Daniel P. Pope, Danvers ; J. A. J. Sawyer, Lynn ;

Wm. B. Reynolds, N. Andover; A. C. Saunders, Haverhill ;
Chas. B. Rice, Danvers ; James W. Trask, Danvers ;

James Richardson, Danvers ; William Treadwell, Ipswich ;
Moses E. Reynolds, Salem ; Josiah B. Thomas, Peabody ;
Henry E. Reynolds, Salem ; Frank White, Salem ;
George W Russell, Lawrence ; David P. Waters, Salem ;
George D. Richards, Danvers ; Joseph Whitehead, Saugus ;
Chauncey S. Richards, Danvers; Louis Wiel, No. Andover ;
John C. Ropes, Salem ; E. A. Whipple, Hamilton ;

Julius F. Rabardy, Manchester; Aaron Winslow, Swampscott ;
O. B. Shreve, Salem ; Henry B. Winslow, Middleton ;

John L. Smart, Danvers ; E. T. Waldron, Danvers ;

E. Swazey, Danvers ; T. O. Wardwell, No. Andover.

M^^ Any citizen in the County may become a member by
paying the sum of three dollars to increase the permanent funds
of the Society, and he will receive a certificate of his member-
ship from the Secretary. No fines or assessments are ever im-
posed. Members are entitled to the free use of the Library,
which is kept in Plummer Hall, Salem, and a copy of the Tran-
sactions each year. All ordained Ministers of the Gospel re-
siding in the County, and editors of newspapers, published there-
in, are entitled to the privileges of the Library.

'59

LIST OF PREMIUMS, &C

FAT CATTLE.

Henry Gardiner, Peabody, ist premium, $ 12.00

William A. Russell, No. Andover, 2d premium, 10.00

Henry Gardiner, Peabody, 3d premium, 6 00

S. & N. Longfellow, West Newbury, 4lh premium 5-00

BULLS, TWO YEARS OLD AND UPWARDS.

T. O. Wardwell, No. Andover, Ayrshire, ist premium, 12.00

Nathan P. Proctor, Dan vers, Ayrshire, 2d premium, 6.00

J. Longfellow, Newbury, Jersey, ist premium, 12.00

W. A. Russell, No. Andover, Dutch, ist premium, 12.00

Shattuck Bros., Lawrence, Short Horns, 1st premium, 12.00

BULLS, UNDER TWO YEARS.

W. A. Russell, No, Andover, ist premium, 6.00

W. A. Russell, No. Andover, 2d premium, 4-00

MILCH cow^s.

George B. Dodge, Hamilton, ist premium, 25.00

E. Swazey, Danvers, 2d premium, 1 2.00

Frederick Burnham, Manchester, 3d premium, 5-00

AYRSHIRE.

Benj. P. Ware, Marblehcad, ist premium, 12.00

Thomas Cass, Topsfield, 2d premium, 6.00

JERSEY.

George W. Russell, No Andover, ist premium, 12.00

J. Bardwell, Beverly, 2d premium, 6.00

i6o

DUTCH OR HOLSTEIN.

William A. Russell, No. Anclovcr, ist premium, 12. co

William A. Russell, No. Andover, 2d premium, 6.00

NATIVE OR GRADE.

S. F. Grossman, Swampscott, ist premium, 12.00

George W. Frazier, Lynn, second premium, 6.00

HERD OF MILCH COWS.

Benjamin P. Ware, Marblehead, ist premium, 18.00

HEIFERS.

Ben Perley Poore, W. Newbury, Short Horns, ist premium, 6.00
Ben Perley Poore, W. Newbury, Short Horns, 2d premium, 4.00
Benjamin P. Ware, Marblehead, Ayrshire, ist premium, 6.00
Jam.es Manning, Topsfield, Ayrshire, 2d premium, 4.00

George W. Russell, No. Andover, Jerseys, ist premium, 6.00
James S. Green, Hamilton, Jerseys, 2d premium, 4.00

W. A. Russell, No. Andover, Dutch, (in milk) ist premium, 12.00
W. A. Russell, No. Andover, Dutch, (in milk) 2d premium, 6.00
Albert W. Dodge, Hamilton, Grade, (in milk) ist premium, 12.00
E. Swazey, Danvers, Grade, (in milk) 2d premium, 6.00

Peter Lynn, Danvers, Grade, (not in milk) first premium, 6.00
J. H. Cheever, agent for Mr. Lathrop, Manchester,

Grade, (not in milk) 2d premium, 4.00

Geo. W. Russell, No. Andover, Jersey Calf, ist premium, 5.00
J. H. Cheever, agent Manchester, Jersey Calf,

2d premium, 3.00

W. A. Russell, No. Andover, Dutch Calves, ist premium, 5.00
W. A. Russell, No. Andover, Dutch Calves, 2d premium, 3.C0
S. A. Merrill, Danvers, Grade Calves, ist premium, 5.00

Theron Johnson, No. Andover, Grade Calves, 2d premium, 3.00
J. W. Scidmore, Peabody, Twin Calves, gratuity, 3.00

i6i

WORKING OXEN AND STEERS.

A. H. Gould, Topsfield, ist premium, 15.00

William A. Russell, North Andover, 2d premium, 12.00

Charles P, Preston, Danvers, 3d premium, 10.00

Asa T. Newhall, Newburyport, Steers, ist premium, so.oo

Horace C. Ware, Salem, 2d premkim, • 6,00

STEERS.

Romulus Jaques. VV. Newbury, 3 years old, ist premium, 8.00

S. & N, Longfellow, Groveiand, 2d premium, 6.00

George F Mason, Andover, 2 years old, ist premium, 6.00

J, Frank Foster, North Andover, 2d premium, 5.00

TOWN TEAMS.

Town of Danvers, 22 pair O.xen, ist premium, 30.00

Town of Topsfield, 20 pairs Oxen, 2d premium, 15.00

Danvers Horse Team, 8 Horses, rst premium, 30.00

Danvers Horse Team, 16 Horses, 2d premium, 15.00

STALLIONS,

Charles S. Clark, Salem, 4 years old, ist premium, »;8.oo

James M. Knight, Salem, 2d premium, 12.00

S. B. Gregory, Hamilton, 3d premium, to.oo
Thomas W. Pierce, Topsfield, 3 years old, ist premium, 10.00

George VV, Rogers, Peabody, 2d premium, 6.00

BROOD MARES.

T. W. Pierce, Topsfield, ist premium, 18.00

Reuben Alley, Marblehead, 2d premium, 12.00

C, J, Norwood, Hamilton, 3d premium, 10.00

FAMILY HORSES.

Charles H. Gould Danvers, ist premium, 18.00

William A. Dane, Hamilton, 2d premium, 12.00

Moses C. Reynolds, Salem, 3d premium, 10.00

l62

FARM AND DRAFT HORSES.

Asa T. Newhall, Nevvburyport, ist premium, 15. 00

E, F, Knowlton, Essex, 2cl premium, 12.00

H. L. Tenney, Newbury, ^d premium, 10.00

Joshua Roberts, Gloucester, 4th premium, 6.00

PAIRS OF DRAFT HORSES.

Edward P. Perley, Danvers, ist premium, i5-00

David Knowlton, Essex, 2d premium, 10.00
William Noble, Saugus, best Teamster of Horses,

1st premium, 10.00'

COLTS — FIRST CLASS,

J. '^V. Trask, Beverly, 4 years old, ist premium, 12.00

Cyrus W. VVilkins, Peabody, 2d premium, H.oo

John Gibney, Salem, 3d premium, 5,00

John Gibney, Salem, 3 years old, ist premium, 10.00

Henry A. Hardy, Danvers, 2d premium, 5,00

COLTS SECOND CLASS.

Asa T. NewhaJ], Newburyport, 2 years old, ist premium, 8.oo'

R. P. Cushman, Haverhill, 2d premium, 3-00

William H. Brown, Peabody, yearlings, ist premium, 8.00

George W. Rogers, Peabody, 2d premium, 3.00

SWINE — LARGE BREEDS.

David W. Low, Gloucester, Chester Boar, 1st premium, 10.00
Joseph Kittredge, North Andover, Columbia County Boar,

2d premium, 6.00
Benjamin P. Ware, Marblehead, breeding sow,

1st premium, 10.00
W. J. Dale, Jr., No. Andover, Yorkshire sow,

2d premium, 6.00
Daniel Carlton, No- Andover, litter weaned pigs,

1st premium, 6.00

1 63

SWINE SMALL BREEDS.

R. G. Buxton, Peabody, boar, ist premium, ' lo.co
W. J. Dale, Jr., No. Andover, Berkshire Boar, 2d premium, 6.00
T. O. Ward well, No. Andover, Essex sow, ist premium, 10.00
T, O. Wardwell, No. Andover, Berkshire sow, 2d premium, 6.00

SHEEP.

E. W. Jacobs, Peabody, flock, ist premium, lO.co

Joseph Kittredge, No. Andover, flock, 2d premium, 6.00

E. VV. Jacobs, Peabody, lambs, ist premium, 4.00

Willie G. Horton, Ipswich, buck, ist premium, 8.C0

PLOUGHING — DOUBLE TEAMS.

R. T. Jaques and R. S. Bray, Newbury, ist premium, 12.00

Jacob L. Farnum, North Andover, 2d premium, 10.00

Jacob E. Spring, Danvers, 3d premium, 9.00

Joseph Horton, Ipswich, 4th premium, 8.00

PLOUGHING SINGLE TEAMS.

Asa T. Newhall, Newburyport, ist premium, 10.00

J. P. Palmer, Swampscott, 2d premium, 7.C0

Chas. P. Preston, Danvers, 3d ;jremium, 5.00

PLOUGHING HORSES.

. Kavanagh Bros. Wenham, ist premium 12.00

A. T. Newhall, Newburyport. 2d premium, 10.00

R. S. Bray. Newbury; 3d premium, 8.00

Edward P. Perley, Danvers, 4th premium, 6.00

G. W. Russell, North Andover, 5th premium, 4.00

PLOUGHING WITH SWIVEL PLOUGH.

Foster & Russell, North Andover, ist premium, 12.00

Albert Titcomb, Rowley, 2d premium, 10.00

Sylvester Dane, Hamilton, 3d premium, 8.00

A. H. Gould, Topsfield, 4th premium, 5.00

t64

PLOUGHING — DY BOYS.

Aaron Winslow, Swampscott, ist premium, 25.00

Walter F. Dodge, Beverly, 2d prcraiiim^ i5-00

Chas, S, Smith. Hamilton, 3d premium, lo.oa

AGRICULTUKAL IMPLEMEXTS.

Ames Plow Co., Boston, collection of implements, grat'y, 15 00

VVhittemore Bros., " " " " "• 1000

S. A. Merrill, Danvers, Buckeye mower, 5.00

S. A. Merrill, " Nye Bay State rake, 5.00

S. Frank Ayers, Boxford, ox yoke, 3.00

Andrew Dowbridge & Co., Salem, patent roofing, 3.00

Geo. W. Rogers, Peabody, double mould board plow, 3.00

S. S. Hickok, Methuen, potato digger, to.oo

S. S. Hickok, " castor, i.oo

CARRIAGES,

Sawyer & Chase, Lynn, carriages, diploma and 15.00

Wm. B. Peart, Danvers, express wagons, giatuity, to.oo

W. H. Brown, Danver.s, farm wagons, 5.00

H. H. Pillsbury, " display of carriages, 10.00

OAIRY.

G. W. Russell, North A.ndov^er, butter, ist premium. jo.oo

W. H. Allen, Manchester, 2d premium, 8,00

Mrs. J. R. Bailey, Bradford, 3d premium, 6.00

IMPROVING WET MEADOWS, &C.

Samuel Dane, Hamilton, 1st premium, (5.00

IMPROVING PASTURES, &C.

Joseph Horton, Ipswich, ist premium, (5.00

UNDEKDRAINING LAND.

J. ]. H. Gregory, Marblehead, 1st premium, 15.00

i6s

GRAIN CROPS.

Oliver P. Killam, Boxford, Corn, ist premium, lo.oo

ROOT CROPS.

S. A. Merrill, Danvers, Carrots, ist premium, lo.oo

S. A. Merrill, Danvers, Cabbages, ist premium, lo.oo

J. J. H. Gregory, Marblehead, Beets, ist premium, lo.oo

J. J. H. Gregory, Marblehead, Squashes, ist premium, lo.oo

J. J. H. Gregory, Marblehead, Onions, ist premium, lo.oo

James Manning, Topsfield, Ruta Bagas, ist premium, lo.oo

Ira F. Burnham, Essex, Onions, ist premium, lo.oo

ESSAYS AND REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.

Francis H. Appleton, Peabody, Essay, ist premium, 15.00

J. D. W. French, No. Andover, Report, ist premium, 10.00

T. C. Thurlow, West Newbury, Report, 2d premium, 8.00

J. J. H. Gregory, Marblehead, Report, 3d premium, 6.00

Awarded by Committee on Mowing Match, 95 -OO

" " Poultry, I33-O0

" " " Vegetables and Seeds, 145 .00

" " " Fruits, 337-00

" " " Flowers, 54-50

" " " Counterpanes, Rugs, &c., 36.00

" " " Fancy Articles, 55-50

" " " General Merchandise, i7-50

" " " Bread and Honey, 20.50
" " " Articles manf'd from Leather, 15.00

$ 2,252.00
RECAPITULATION,

FARMS.

Amount awarded to Ploughing, $186.00

" '* Improving Wet Meadow &c. 15.00

i66

Amount

awardec

i to improvnig Pasture,

15.00

«

<i

Underdraining,

FARM STOCK

15.00 $231.00

Amount awarded to Fat Cattle,

- 33-00

11

<(

Bulls

64.00

«

«

Milch Cows

132.00

(1

«

Heifers

103.00

«

((

Working Oxen

5300

((

«

Steers

25.00

«

«

Town Teams

90.00

«

(<

Stallions

56.00

<<

((

Brood Mares

40.00

«

((

Family Horses

40.00

«

((

Farm and Draft Horses

43.00

((

«

Pairs of Draft Horses

35.00

((

«

Colts,

62.00

«

«

Swine

70.00

((

«

Sheep

28.00

«(

«

Poultry

FARM PRODUCTS, &C.

133.00 $1007.00

Amount awarded to Dairy

24.00

((

('

Fruit

337.CO

«

((

Flowers

5475

«

«(

Vegetables

14500

((

«

Grain Crops

10.00

(1

<(

Root Crops

70.00

u

It

All other objects

373.25 $1014.00

$ 2252.00

167

List of Members

OF THE

Essex Agricultural Society.

Note — Those marked with a * deceased since 1 869 ; with f
removed from the county. For names of members deceased pre-
vious to 1869, refer to list published that year.

Bailey, O. S.
*Bailey, Thomas
Binney, William C.
Cole, Augustus K.
Currier, J. M.
Evans, John
Goodwin, A. E.
Gunnison, William
Haskell, William H.

Abbott, Nathan F.
Abbott, Asa A.
Abbott, George A.
Abbott, Hartwell B.
Abbott, John B.
*Abbott, Johnathan
Abbott, Moody B.
Abbott, Stephen D.
*Abbott, Sylvester
Andrews. Moses C.
*Ballard, Joshua
Bardwell, Simeon

AMESBURY.

Hill, J. Henry
Huntington, B. F.
Jones, Philip
Loud, C. H.
fMoore, Appleton
Morse, Daniel L.
*Morse, John S.
Nichols, Charles H.
*Nichols, Stephen Jr.

ANDOVER.

Blunt, Charles C.
Blunt, Milton J.
fBodwell, Henry A.
*'Bond, William
Callahan, Robert
Carter, Charles F.
Carruth, Isaac
fChamberlain, N. Jr.
*Chandler Joseph
Cheever, James O.
Chickering, William
fChipman, Degrass

Patten, T. B.
Ouimby, Thomas W.
Sargent, J. B.
•Sargent, Orlando
Sargent, Patten
Sargent, Willis
Sawyer, Aaron
Sawyer, Thomas C.
, Tukesbury, D. M.

*Clark, Hobart
Cummings, C. O.
Downing, J. J.
fFarnham, John C.
fFlagg, Wilson
*Flint, John
Foster, George
Foster, George W.
Foster, Moses, Jr.
*Foster, Thomas C.
Flint, John H.
f French, Charles

1 68

fFrench, George H.
*Gray, David
Harnden, Henry C.
Hazen, Nathan VV.
Hidden, David I. C.
Holt, Dean
Holt, E. F.
fHolt, Herman
*Holt, H. P.
Holt, Joseph S.

Jenkins. John B.
Jenkins, Kendall
Johnson, Francis H.
Kimball, Walter H.
Mar, on, George F.
*Merrill, William
Morton, Marcus
*Needham, Samuel
*Pettingill, Merrill

Abbot, Jos. D.
Appleton, Isaac
Avery, Mark B.
Baker, John I,
Baker, Stephens
]5ell, John
Chase, Samuel
Cole, Zachariah
Conelly, Stephen
Cressy, Joseph
Dodge, Aaron
Dodge, Andrew
Dodge, Benjamin N,
Dodge, Benjamin S.
Dodge, Joshua S.
Dodge, Richard
Dodge, George F.
Dodge, Forest C.
Dodge, Walter F.
* Dodge, William E.
Edwards, Ephriam A
Edwards, Israel O.

BEVERLY.

Foster, Henry W.
^Friend, Seth
Friend Seth
Griswold, A.
Gdes, Benjamin V.
Gould, Thomas
* Hathaway, John
Haven, Franklin
Herrick, Joseph H.
Hill, Hugh
Larcom, David
'*Lord, Abraham,
Lord, Cyrus W.
Lawrence, C. A.
Lovett, John H.
Lovett, Francis S.
Lummus, E. E.
"^Marshall, Timothy
Mason, Alfred A.
Mason, Alphonso
.Mason, George

Phelps, Herman
t Pierce, William
Pillsbury, Paid P.
Raymond, Samuel
Rea, Jasper
Rogers, Fitzwilliam
Smith, Peter
Upton, Edward C.
*VVhittier, Nathaniel

Mason, Lyman
McDonald, Daniel
Meacom, John
Mitchell, Charles
Munsey, John G.
Paine, Charles C.
Pitman, Mark
Porter, Adoniram
*Porter, John
f Porter, Robert
fSafford, Nathan'l T,
^Sheldon, Jesse
Standley, Sam'l D. G,
Scott, Benjamin
Stephens, Augustus
f.Stone, Edwin M.
Trask, James W.
Walker., Lawson
Waters, Richard P.
t Waters, William C.
W^ilson, Joseph

Anderson, Cha's R.
Andrew, Isaac W.
Barnes, B. S.
Chadwick, Geo. W.

BOXFORD.

Cleveland, James P.
*Cleveland, Wm. N.
Cole, David M.
Cole, John K.

Curtis, Francis
Day, John
*Day, Joshua T.
fGouId, Jacob

169

*Hale, Isaac Kimball, Samuel Perley, Charles

Hale, John f Palmer, Chas. Lane Sawyer, Thomas

Harriman, Daniel F. Palmer, F. H. Wood, Enoch

Herrick, Lsrael Peabody, Steplien Wood, John T.

Killam, Oliver P. Pearl, John M.

BRADFORD.

Carlton, James T.
Chadwick, Henry M.
Cogswell, George
Cogswell, William
Day, Albert J.
Day, Hiram
Day, Lafayette
Day, Royal
Elliot, William
Ellis, John A.
Emerson, Charles B.
Haseltine, Thomas
Haseltine, William
Hopkinson, Sam'l W

Johnson, A. P. Merrill, John F,

*Johnson, Charles G.Morse, C. E.
Johnson, Laburton Ordway, Alfred
Kimball, Albert * Ordway, Enoch F.

Kimball, A. Laburton Ordway, G. W.
*KimbaIl, David Ordway, Warren

Kimball, Henry G. Peabody, Frank
Kimball, Leverett Peabody, Daniel
* Kimball, Seth Perley. John

*Kimball, Sylvester Perry, Samuel B.
Kimball, William B. Sawyer, Samuel C.
Kimball, W. Eustace Tcwksbury, John B.
Little, M. P. Mrs. Thornton, William
.*Locke, Oliver Webster, Charles E.

DANVERS.

Abbott, L. L.
Allen, Henry C.
t Adams, Marshall C.
Bartlett, James A.
Berry, Allen A.
Berry, Eben G.
Batchelder, J. O. A.
Bradstreet, Elijah
Blake, John A.
Brown, William H.
Barnard. Willis
Black, William
Boardman, L P.
Brown, Amos
Brown, Charles W.
Butler, J. C.

Clark, N. J.
*Cummings, Sam'l P.
fDevereux, Geo. F.
Derasey, L. P.
Dodge, Elnathan
Dodge, Francis
*Dodge, William, Jr.
Eaton, Winslow W.
Fellows, Alfred
P^isher, Franklin W.
Faxon, George
Fowler, Augustus
Fowler, Samuel P.
* French, George W.
Gaffny, Cornelius
Gookin, Samuel F.

Gould, Charles H.
Grosvenor, David A.
fHolden, Seth
Hyde, Elisha G.
Hill, Edward L.
Ham, Elias
Hood, R. B.
Hatch, VV. G.
Hood, Joseph E.
Hutchinson, Edward
Ham, Albert G.
Juul, Conrad
Kimball, Joel, Jr.
Lane, Benjamin T.
Langley, J. R.
Learoyd, A. P.

I/O

Legro, Edmund
Legro, John C. P.
Lewis, Samuel VV.
Lewis, Alcxander
Lyford, Francis W.
Martin, George B.
*Massev, S. D.
Martin,' Walter F.
MCrillis, Ransom F.
*Merrill, Ernest S.
Merrill, Levi
Merrill, Samuel A.
Merrill. Walter S.
Merrill, E. H.
Moulton, Beverly S.
Mudge, Edwin
Mudge, Augustus
Murphy, Patrick
Nichols, Andrew
Newhal], Benj. E.
Nourse, Samuel W.
Page, Nathan, Jr.
Patch, Abraham, Jr.
Peart. William B.
Perley, A. P.
Perley, Frederick
Perkins, Henry A.
Perley, Edward P.
Perry, James M.
Pettingill, David A.

Peabody, George H.
Pope, Ira P.
Porter, Bdnjamin F.
Pratt, Amos
Preston Charles P.
Preston, John
* Preston, John S.
Preston, Samuel
Prince, Amos
Putnam, Charles O.
*Putnam, Eben
Putnam, Edwin F.
Putnam, Francis P.
Putnam, Israel H.
Putnam, Joseph C.
Putnam, J. A.
Put 11 am, Joel
Putnam, Orrin
Putnam, Otis V.
^Putnam, Rufus
Pratt, George
Porter, John W.
Pope Daniel P.
Richardson, J. B.
Richardson, James
Richards, Daniel
Richards, C. S.
Richards, Geo. D.
Roberts, Joshua

Ropes, Joseph W.
Rice, Charles B.
Sears, John A.
Silvester, Joshua
Spaulding, Sam'l W,
Swan, Sylvanus B.
Swinerton, John
Smart, John L.
Swazey, E.
Spring, Jacob E.
Tapley, Charles
Tapley, George
Tapley, Gilbert
Tapley, Gilbert A.
*Tapley, Nathan
Tufts, Benjamin V.
Tracy, Joseph
Upton, Franklin W,
VVaite, Peter
Walcott, W^m. H.
Wallis, Samuel
Warren, Aaron W.
Warren, Jonas
Weston, Wm. L.
White, Amos A.
White, Henry A.
nVilkins, Joel
Wood is, A Id en B.
W^aldron, E. T.

ESSEX.

Andrews, Elias Cogswell, Chas. B.

Andrews, Klihu Dodge, Grover

Andrews, Jose])h Haskell, David L.
Andrews, Miles S. Haskell, George
Burnham, D. BrainardKnowlton, Aaron
Burnham, Washing'nKnowlton, David
Burnham, Wm. HoweKnowlton, Moses
*Choate, David Knowlton Herbert A.

Choate, Rufus

Lee, Edward K.
Low, Aaron
Low, Josiah
Lufkin, A. E.
Mears, Wm. H.
Perkins, John
Story, Andrew
Story, Ephriam

171

*Adams, George E.
Bateman, A. P.
Boynton, George W.
Butler, Oliver S.
Chapman, Jonathan
Dole, Aloody S.
Dole, Richmond
Harriman, Hiram N,
Hoyt, John A.
Jewett, Jacob F.
*Jewett, Robert
Lambert, Nathaniel

GEORGETOWN.

Little, Samuel
Love ring, John H.
Moulton, Daniel E.
*Nel.son, Charles
Nelson, Sherman
Nelson, Solomon
Nelson, William
Osgood, Stephen
Pettingill, Henry
Pillsbury, J.
Poor, Samuel T,
Preston, John

*Sanborn, George W.
Spofford, Sumner P.
Tenney, George J. •
Tenney, Gorham D.
Tenney, Milton G.
Tenney, Moses
Tenney, Orlando B.
Tenney, Richard
Wheeler, William S.
* Wildes, Green
Wilson, Isaac

Atvvood, Daniel
Atwood, Moses P.
Balch, Eustis
Balch, Thomas H.
Burbank, John
Clark, Elijah
Curtis, Edwin T.
Day, Isaac C.
Fegan, Henry C.
Hardy, Ira
Harrington, Edward

Atkinson, John
Babson, Daniel T.
Babson. Fitz J.
fBabson, Gustavus Jr
Babson, Horatio
Babson, John J.
Barrett, Charles P.
Boynton, Charles
Bradford, George R.
Bray, Aaron W.
Brown, Pxlward, H.
Burnham, A. M.

GROVELAND.

Hopkinson, W. H,
Kimball, Charles
Ladd, John I.
Ladd, Nathaniel E.
Longfellow, Samuel
Ordway, Leverett S.
Ordway, Moody
* Parker, Benjamin
Parker, Eldred S.
Pemberton, L. K
Savary, Charles G.

GLOUCESTER.

Burnham, H. A.
Burnham, S. A.
Butler, Benjamin F.
.Calef, John C.
Campbell, C. H.
Carter, John S.
Carter, Sherman J.
Clark, John
Cole, Israel H.
Conant, Thomas
Cook, Benjamin F.
Corliss, Benjamin H.

Savary, Charles P.
Spofford, Jeremiah
Spofford, Morris
Stickney, Abel
Stickney, Daniel H.
Stiles, Charles F.
Wales, Herbert E.
Walker, George S.
Wardwell, Z. C.
Woodman, Ira S.

Corliss, John
Cressy, Curtis C.
Cronin, John,
Dale, Eben Jr.
Davis, James
Davis William P.
Day, Abraham
Dennin, George
Dennison, C. W.
Dodd, Stephen,
Dolliver, John H.
Dolliver, William C.

\72

Dollivcr, William P.
Dyer, J, Franklin
Emanuel, Henry
1^'ears, Robert
Fears, Robert R.
Foster, Jeremiah
Friend, Elbridge G,
Garland, Joseph
Gilbert, Addison
Griffin, Bennett
Giover, Charles E.
lladley, William
Harvey, Alonzo F,
Haskell, H. C. L.

* Haskell, Thomas
Haskell, William H.
Herrick, Gardner W.

* Hough, Benjamin K
Hoyt, Edward C.
James, George
James, Samuel
Jones, William
Knowles, Thomas J.
Lane, Andrew
Lane, George
Lancester, T. S.
Lawrence, R. C.

*Lindberg, A. F.
Loring, Francis M.
Low, David W.
Low, Gorham P.
Marr, Chester, Jr.
Mayo, Israel C.
Mayo, Josiah, Jr.
McFarland, L.
Merchant, E. W.
Norwood, George
Parsons, William, 2d.
Parsons, W'. P^rank
Patch, Isaac
Pattillo, Alexander
'"^Pearce, Edward PI.
Perrin, Henry S.
*Perrin, William H.
.Pew, William A.
Phillips, N. PL
Plummer, David
Presson, David S.
Price, Augustus E.
Proctor, Joseph O.
Proctor, Wilbur F.
Ricker, Richard W.
Rogers, Allan

Rogers, John S.
Rogers John S. E.
Rust, William P.
Sanford, H. G.
Sawyer, Samuel P^.
Shepard, Joseph C.
Smith, Benjamin H.
Somes, John E.
Stacey, Eli P\
Stacey, John H.
Stanwood, Barnard
Staten, Edward
*Stevens, Zachariah
Story, Cyrus
Thompson, Chas. P.
Tibbetts, Robert A.
Todd, John
Webster, Nathaniel
Wethereli, M. L.
Wilson, John J.
Witham, Addison
Wonson, August's H,
W'onson, F. G.
Wonson, George M.
Wonson, J. W.
York, Nathaniel S.

Abbott, Joseph B.
Allen, P'rancis R,
*Brown, Jacob
Brown, W^illiam A.
Dane, Ephriam A.
*Dane, P'rancis
Dane, George
Dane, George' E. F.
Dane, Samuel
Dane, William A,
Dane, Sylvester
Dodge, Albert W.

HAMILTON.

Dodge, Allen W^
Dodge, Emerson P.
Dodge, George B.
Dunnels, Ira A.
Gregory, Sma'l. B,
Kimball, Isaac W.
Knovvlton, Isaac
Knowlton, Isaac F.
Knowlton, Joseph
Lamson, Jarvis
* Morgan, Luther S.

Norris, George
Patch, Mrs. Oliver
Porter, Dudley H.
Porter, Oliver
Rankin, Eli C.
Rankin, George C.
Safford, Daniel E.
Smith, Alvin
Smith, John
*Whittredgc, John
Whipple, Em. O.

173
HAVERHILL.

Barry, J. M.
*BarlIctt, James A.
Pod well, Stephen
Brickett, Barnard
Brickett, Daniel
Brickett, Daniel H.
Brickett, Franklin
Butters, Charles
Caldwell, William
*Carlton, John
Carlton, Samuel
Carlton, William B.
Chase, Abel W.
Carlton, Nathaniel
Chase, C. W.
C heaver, H. W.
Clark, William P.
fCoburn, A. M.
Coffin, George
Cook, Justin T.
Corliss, Charles
Cummings, Henry
Currier, Samuel M.
Cushman, R. P.
Davis, George W.
Davis, Phineas E.
Dewhurst, James
*Dunbar, Charles H.
Duncan, George W.
Eaton, Llarrison
Elliott, Samuel
Elliott, Samuel H.
Emerson, Albert
Emery, Benjamin E.
Emery, Moses G. J,
Farnsworth, J. H.
f Farrar, Joseph E.
Fellows, Samuel
Fitts, D. F.

Flanders, Daniel D.
t Fletcher, Edmund
Frothingham, E. G.
Gage, Edmund
Gale, James E.
Gardner, John
Goodwin, Rufus

* George, M. D.
Gile, James F.
Gilman, John P.
Goodrich, T. J.
Grieves, J.
Hale, Samuel
*Harding, Thomas

* Harm on, David P.
Haseltine, Amos Jr.
*Haseltine, Hazen
Holt, Charles
fHooke, Daniel
How, Moses
Howe, Nathaniel S.
*Hoyt, George H.
*Hoyt, Humphrey
Ingalls, E, T.
Jefiers, William
*Keely, John
Kittredge, Alfred
Lackey, Andrew

I Lee, George W.
f Little, Edmund B,
Little, J. G. S.
Marsh, John J.
Merrill, William
Mitchell, E.
Moody, H. L.
Mitchell, Seth K.
Morse, John
Morse, S. E.

Nichols, James R.
fNiehols, John A.
Nichols, John B.
"*Noyes, James
Noyes, Johnson
tOberton, W. W. S
Ordway, Joshua H.
Patch, Paul D.
*Plummcr, Hiram
Porter, Dudley,
*Porter, Ebenezer
Putnam, Moses W.
Piandall, John P.
Richards, William B.
Richardson, John B,
Rigdway, Joseph N.
Roberts, Stephen
Robinson, Edwin
Savary, Robert
Sleeper, Sherburne C.
*Slocum, Rufus
Smiley James V.
Smith, Jesse
Saunders, A. C.
Saunders, Thomas
Spiller, J. B.
Stewart, John
Swett, Jackson B.
Taylor, Levi
Taylor, Martin
Taylor, Oliver
Titcomb, Benaiah
*Tompkins, Christ'r
Towle, Samuel K.
fTurner, James
Wadleigh, Levi C.
*Webster, David
Webster, Ebenezer
Webster. E. F,

174

*Webster, Nathan
Webster, Richard
fWelch, Ezra B.
West, H. K.
West, James F.

* Andrews, David
Andrews, Theodore
Appleton, B. D.
Appleton, Daniel F.
Baker, S. N. Jr.
Bond, James W.
Bray, Frederick
Brown, Aaron F.
Brown, John
Brown, Manasseh
Brown, William G.
Caldwell, Abraham
Clark, Erastus
Cogswell, Ebenezer
*Cogswell, William
Conant. Gilbert

* Dodge, Richard T.
Fall, Tristam B.

t Farley, Alfred M.

* Farley, Joseph

t Farley, Robert Jr.

Ambrose, Nathaniel
Bod well, S. B.
Bodwell, Asa M.
f Bryant, Oliver
Cabot, George D.
Currier, Eben B.
Currier, J. Merrill
*-Dccker J. M.
Durant, Adolphus
Durant, W. A.
Emery, Levi
French, A. J.
Gile, W- F.

West, Thomas
Wheeler, Allison
White, James D.
Whittier, Alvah

IPSWICH.

Fellows. Alonzo B.

Gould, John J.

* Grant, John

Grant, Joshua B.

Green, George H.

Haskell, George

Hobbs, John

Hodgdon, George

Hodgkins, AugustineShatswell, Nathaniel

*Whittier, Leonard
Whittier, Warner R.
Winchell, James H.
*Wingate, Moses

Marshall, Joseph
t Merrill, Ezekiel O.
Mitchell, Frederick
Perkins, J. E. B.
Perley, David T.
Potter Asa T.
Rogers, Isaiah A.
Ross, Joseph

Horton, Joseph
Hunt, Samuel
Hurd, Y. G.
Jewett, Israel K.
Jordan, Robert Mrs.
Kimball, Charles
Kimball. Daniel
Kinsman, Joseph F,

Smith, Webster
Stone, Augustine
Story, Alden
Tappan, Amos
Treadwell, William
Underbill, J. C.
Wade, Asa
fVVade, William F.

Kinsman, William H.Waite, Abraham D.
•j-Locke, Cal*-in Whittier, Maynard

Low, Thomas * Worcester, Ira

LAWRENCE.

Harmon, Nathan W.
Herrick, H. G.
Herrick, James D.
Hills, George W.
Hood, Gilbert E.
Howard, J. B.
Hubbard, Leavitt
Holt, Lewis G.
Kimball, Wm. F.
fKimball, Josiah
i-Kimball, Wm. M.
Lamb, William D.
*■ Mallard, L. Mrs.

Merrill, George S.
Page, E. F.
Page, Edward
Rollins. John R.
Russell, W A.
Russell, George W.
Saunders, Daniel
Stevens, William
Shattuck,
Warren. Albert
*Webster, Charles
Wilder, G. W.
Wright, W. H. P.

* Allen, Jacob A.
Faker, B^zra
Batchelder, John
Elack, James D.
Ereed, Andrews
EreeJ, Henry A.

* Breed, N eh cm: ah
Brown, Ira P.
Chase, Nathan D.
Chamberlain, Wm.
tCoo;geshall, J. H.
*Collin5, Ezra
Davis, Edward S.
Emery, George E.

175

LYNN.

Fay, William P.

Graves, Samuel

Harris, N. S.

Hawkes, Nathan M.

Healy, Mark

Hovey, Rufus P.
Jr.*Keene, George W.

Kimball, Rufus

Merritt, Charles
D.Newhall, Hiram L.

Newhall, Asa T.

NorfKs, George Jr.

*Nye, James M.

*Osborn, William
f Osborn, William H.
Potter, Edward P.
Putnam, F. W.
Rankin, John D.
Rhoades, Jacob
Roney, Simon J.
*SauT5derson, Jos. N.
Shorey, John L.
Spinney, William N.
Sawyer, J. A. J.
Usher, Roland G.
fWyman, Isaac

LYNNFIELD.

Brown, Jo.<;eph Herrick, George E,

Danforth, John Mansfield, Andrew

Emerson, D. P. Newhall, Josiah

Emerson, Hubbard, Perkins, John
Hawkes, George L.

f Perkins, John H.
* Richardson, Chas.
Smith, Henry E.
fSmith, Joseph
Symonds, George W.

Allen, Luther
Allen, Wm. H.
Burnham, F'rederick
t Chase, Joseph S.
Cheever, John H.
Cheever, William M.
F'ields, James T.
Fitz, William F.
F'riend, Daniel W.

Alley, Amos P.
Alley, James E.
Alley, Reuben

MANCHESTER.

*Gentlee, Thomas P.
Hildreth, John D.
Jewett, Alfred W.
Knight, Henry
Knight, John Jr.
Lee, Allen,
Lee, John
Moon, Ambrose

Price, John
Rabardy, Julius F.
Smith, A. W.
Sturgis, Russell Jr.
Tap^jan, Benjamin
*Tappan, Ebenezer
Tappan, Israel F.
Tappan, Lewis N.

MARBLEHEAD.

Alley, Franklin
Appleton, Thomas
Childs, Addison

Child, Caleb
Cloutman, Henry
Dennis, John

lyG

Gregory, J. J. H. Paine, Thomas T. Warren, David
Hathaway. Joseph B. Rol)inson, Frederick VVinslow, George W.
Hathaway, Seth VV. *Stone, John Winslow, Aaron

jMillett, Joseph Ware, Benjamin P. fvVyman, Israel

Nutting, John Ware, Horace f "^^'V^^^^'^' Luke

methup:n.

* Barker, J. B.
*Barker, Stephen
Bradley, Leverett
Butters, George W.
Currier, Daniel
Davis, John
Dow, Lorenzo
Emerson, Jacob Jr.
Frederic, John VV.
Gage, George W.

Goss, Charles E.
Herrick, Fred S. C.
Hicok, S; S.
How, Christopher
How, Joseph
How, Joseph S.
Ingalls, Charles
Ingalls, Joseph F.
*Low, John
Morrison, D. T.

Morse, Jonathan
Nevins, David
Patterson, D. H .
Phippen, G. S.
Rollins, Amos C.
*Russ, John
Sargent, S. C.
Sleeper, William C.
Tozier, C. L.
fWelch, John

MIDDLETON.

Berry, Jonathan
Berry, William
Currier, George A.
Flint, James
Hutchinson, J. A.

Noyes, A. P.
Phelps, William A.
Stiles, David
Stiles, Farnham

.Stiles, Farnham Mrs.
Stiles, Hiram A.
Wellman, John R.
Winslow, Henry B.

Goodale, Byron

NAHANT.

NEWBURY.

Adams, Charles
Adams, Charles W.
*Adams, John C.
*Adams, John J.
Bray, Richard S.
Caldwell, David S.
Colman, Moses
Goodrich, Wm. F,

Howard, Horatio M.
Illsley, Paul M.
Jaques, Richard
Jaques, Richard T.
Jaques, William
Kent, John N.
Kent, Joshua N.
Knight, Joseph

Kent, Otis L.
Kent, PIdward
Kent, Albert S,
Langlcy, William C.
Littie, E. C.
Little, E. ¥.
Little, Edward H.
Little, Joseph

177

Little, Nathaniel
Little, Silas
Little, Stephen W.
*Little, Tristram
Little, William
Longfellow, H. F.
Longfellow, J
Longfellow, J. M rs.
Lucy, Gideon R.
Lunt, Charles M.

Adams, Paul D.
Adams, J. Ouincy
Adams, Rufus
*Akerman, John
Akerman, Joseph
Ashby, William
Balch, John H.
Ballou, C. N.
Bartlett, T. H.
Batchelder, Daniel C.
Battell, Elbridge
Boardman Isaac H.
Brewster, William H
Bricher, William
Brown, David F.
Canney, Hiram
Capers, Thomas
Coffin, Frederic J.
Colby, George J. L.
Colby, George W.
Colman, Daniel T.
Colman, James C.
Colman, William T.
Currier, Warren
Cushing, Caleb
Cutter, Eben P.
*Davis, Benjamin
Delinf), Otis
Dyer, J. R.
*Frinch. Curtis
Gale, Stephen M.

Lunt, J. Austin
*Lunt, Joseph
Moody, N. W
Newman, Sidney F.
Noyes, James
Noyes, Luther
Noyes, Moses H.
Perkins, Charles L.
Perkins, W. W.

NEWBURYPORT.

George, George,
Griffin, Eliphalet
*Hale, Isaac, Jr.
Male, Joshua
*Hale, Josiah L.
Hamlet, Daniel
Hart, James S.
*Horton, Daniel
Huff, William
.Huse, William H.
Ireland, Charles H.
Jackman, George W.
.*Johnson, William P
Kelley, E. G.
Little, John G.
Little, Moses S.
Lunt, Charles
*Lunt, Micajah
*Marston,Steph'nW,
Merrill, Enoch
Merrill, Samuel, Jr.
Morrison, Daniel T.
Morse, James M.
Morss; Joseph B.
Moseley, Eel ward A.
Moseley, Edward S.
Moulton, Henry W.
Moulton, Joseph
Newhall Asa T.
*Newhall, Joshua L.
Nothend, E. T.

Plummer, Daniel, Jr.
Plummer, G. H.
Plummer, Greenleaf,
Poole, B. P. Mrs.
Randall, G. A.
Rogers, Abial
Rolfe, Joseph N.
Tenney, H. L.
Woods, C. W.
Young, Hiram

Noyes, William Jr.
Ordway, Paisons
*Page, John T.
Pearson, J. P.
Parley. R. M.
*Pettingell, Moses
Plummer, Moses A.
Plummer, Wm. C.
*Remick, John E.
* Robinson, J. D.
Shoof, Henry
Smith, David
Smith, Edmund
Smith, Joseph B.
Smith, Eunice L.
Smith, Robert A.
Stanley, B. F.
Stanley, J. C.
.fStearns, Edwin
*Stone, Jacob
Sumner, John
Tappan, Samuel B.
Tilton, Enoch
Tozer, Hiram
Thurlow, William
Titcomb, Paul
Toppan, Edw.ird S.
*VVilliams, Robert
Winkley, J. Otis
Winkley, Paul T.
Wood, David

178

NORTH AN DOVER.

fAppleton, S. F.
Bailey, Charles P.
*Berry, Jacob
Berry, Albert,
Blake, J. P.
Butterfield Chas. A.
Carlton, Daniel
Carlton, Joseph
Crosby, Josiah
Cheever, William J.
Davis, George G.
Davis, George L.
Dale, William J.
Dale, William J. Jr.
Farnham, B. H.
Farnham, Jacob
Farnham, J. L.
Foster, J. Frank
Foster, John P.
fFoster, J. Prescott
Foster, William

Foster, Samuel
Foster, Orrin
French, George
French, J. D. W.
Fuller, Abijah P.
Gage, John C.
Goodhue, Hiram P.
jGreen, Arthur M.
Gardner, D. F.
Greene, E. W.
Goodwin, John O.
Hill, Samuel B.
tjaquith, Chris'r P.
Jenkins, Benjamin F
Jenkins, Milon B,
Johnson, Theron
Johnson, James T.
Kittredge, Joseph
Loring, George B. Jr.
Manning John
Montgomery, Jas. A.

Nason, James
Osgood, Isaac F,
Peters, Nathaniel
Peters, William
Phelps, W. W.
Phelps, H. L.
Poor, James
■*Poore, Matthew
Reynolds, James H.
Reynolds, Wm. B.
fSlade, Jarvis
*Spaulding, Amos
Stevens, Moses T.
,*Shattuck, Thos. C,
Sutton, Eben
Symonds, Frederick
fWardwell, Orin
*Weed, Dan
Wilson, Abiel
Wiel, Louis
Ward well, T. O.

Abbott, Alfred A.
Allen, Lewis
Appleton, Francis H
Ayer, Hazen
Bancroft, Sidne y C.
Barrett, E. P.
*Basford, P. R.
Batchelder, Mal'hi F,
Blaney, Stephen
Bodge, Horatio
Buxton, Daniel, Jr,
Buxton, Joshua
Buxton, Robert G.
Clement, John B,
Colcord, J. L.

PEABODY.

*Cook, Henry
Curtis, Andrew
.*Davis, Mark
Emerton, C. F.
Fairfield, Joseph
Felton, William H.
Foster, Ira
Gardner, Henry
Goodale, Jacob O,
Goodale, J. P.
fGunnison, Elisha
Hardy, Isaac
Hills, Benjamin M.
fHoyt, Joseph
* Hubbard, John L.

Huntington, Ben.
Hutchinson, Samuel
Hutchinson, C R.
Jacobs, Edward W.
*King, Amos
King, Eben
King, Henry A.
King, G. Augustus
King, James P.
King, Jonathan
King, Perley
Linehan, John
Little, William H.
tLow, Caleb
Marsh, Fred

179

Marsh, Frank
Marsh, James
*Marsh, John
*Marsh, Philip
*Merrill, Wingate
Messer, F. B.
Needham, George A.
Needham, Joseph S.
Newhall, Orlando F.
Osborn, Philip L.
Osborne, Abraham C
Osborne, David
*Osborne, Kendall
Osgood, Joseph
Pepper, George W.

*Peirson, A. L.
■*Poole, P'itch
*Poor, Ebcn S.
Poor, Henry
Potter, William
Preston, Moses
Proctor, Abel
* Proctor, John W.
*Proctor, Thorndike
Richardson, W, B.
.Saltonstall, Henry
*Sanger, Abner
Sawyer, Asa
Shackley, Moses A.

Southwick, Sumner.
Stevens, John V.
Sutton, William
Sweet, Samuel
Taylor, George W.
Thomas, Josiah B.
*Upton, Eben, S.
Upton, Stephen
Viles, Bowman
Walcott, John G.
Wallis, David B.
Walton, George D.
Ward, Winsor M.
*Wheeler Benjamin
Wheeler, Benjamin S.

Blatchford, Eben
Estes, Alden C.
Haskell, Benjamin
Hodgkins, John B.
Lane, Andrew

ROCKPORT.

Manning, James
Manning, John J.
Manning, William
Marshall, John W.
Mills, Richard P.

Lowe, Mrs. Martha J. Patch, William H.
Lowe, William

Pool, Ebenezer
*Row, Ebenezer
N.Rowe, Jabez
Smith, Allen
Smith, Allen Jr.
Smith, Beman C.
Smith, David

ROWLEY.

Blodgette, George B.
Cressy, John S.
Dole, Charles
Dummer, Nath'l N.
Foss, Joshua
Hale, Clara A.
Hale, Daniel J.

Hale, Joseph Prime, Daniel B.

Hale, Thomas Potter, Edward H.

Lambert, Mary G. * Proctor, George

Mighill, Charles P. Smith, George J.
Nelson, David, O. Jr.Titcomb, All^ert

Payson, Moses P. Todd, Daniel G.

Pike, John Todd, John F.

SALEM.

Andrews, Randal Brookhousc, Rob'tJr.Collins, William
Andrews, Samuel P. Beckford, C. H. Cressy, Josiah P.

Chamberlain, James Cross, John D.

Chase, Stephen A. Daland, John

Curwen, Samuel H. Endicott, William C.

Clark, Charles S. Endicott, William P.

Almy, James F
Abbott, Nathaniel
Barton, Gardner
* Barton, William C

'Bowdoin, Willard L.Chase, William

Felt, John

i8o

Fellows, Israel
*Fergurson, Jos. B.
Fiske, Joseph E.
Foote, Caleb
Foster, Joseph C.
Foster, William H.
Foster, William J.
Goodhue, William P
Gray, Benjamin A.
Gil3ney, George H.
Gibney, John
Gardner, D. B.
Hathaway, John
*Huntington Asahel
Hale, Henry
Hale, Henry A.
Horton, N. A.
Ives, John M.
Ives, John S.
Ives, William.
Jones, Samuel G.
Jackson, Eben
Kimball, James
Kinsman, John
Kemble, Arthur
Knight, J. M.
Lee, John C.
Lord William
Loring, George B.
Lander, Wm. A.

Mack, William
Maloon, William
Manning, Robert
Merritt, David
Mcsservey Wm. S.

Pickering, Benjamin
Page, John G.
Roberts, William
fRobinson, J. A.
Rogers, A. D.

*Metcalf, Benjamin G Rogers, George W.
*Pvlilton, T. Payson *Rogers, Richard S.
Morse, Ebenezer H. *Russell, John L.
Newhall Benjamin S.Reynolds, Moses C.
Newcomb, Caleb Reynolds, Henry E.
fNichols, George, Jr. Ropes, John C.
Northend, William D.Saunders, Robert J.

Noyes, E. K.
Oliver, H. K,
Oliver, Samuel C.
O'Shea, M.
Peabody, John P.
*Peirson, Edward B.
Perkins, E. R.
Perkins, J. C.
Phillips, Willard P.
Phippen, George D.
Pickering, John
Potter, Daniel
* Proctor, William
Pulsifer, Joseph
Pettingill, L. D.
Pcttingill, S. J.
Pickering, Wm. Ir.

Saunders, William
Smith, Andrew
*Smith, Caleb
Shreve, O. B.
Stimpson, James C.
Story, Augustus
Stowe, Volney C.
Streeter, Gilbert L.
Ware, Horace
Ware, Horace C.
Wentzell, David
Wheatland, Henry
Winkley, P^noch
fWyman, Rufus
White, Frank
Waters, David P.

SALISBURY.

* ^ yer, James H. B. Currier, W. H. B.
Clark, Thomas J. Evans, Benjamin
Currier, Jacob

SAUGUS.

*French, Moses
Gale, Josiah B.
Pray, Rufus

Hatch, Anthony Newhall, Joseph Robinson, E. P.

Houghton, T. O. W. Noble, William *Swcetscr, George H.

Hawkes, Samuel Penney, George H* Whitehead, Joseph
Newhall, Herbert B.

I«I

Crosman, S. F.
Holclen. Philander
Mudge, E. R.

*Adams, B. P.
*Balch, Abraham
Batchelder, Ezra
Bradstreet, Dudley
Clark, David
*Cleveland, John
*Elliott, Israel D.
Emerson, Thomas P.
Gould, Ariel H.

Alley, Henry
*Batcheler, Joseph
Bodge, Richard F.
Dodge, Andrew
*Dodge, Ezra
Dodge, George A.
*Dodge, Rufus A.
Edwards, Francis R.

Bailey, William P.
Bradley, C. S.
*Bailey, Uriah
Boynton, Eben W.
Brown, Hayden
Brown, Osgood
Brown, Robert L.
Carr, George W.
Carr, James
*Carr, Moses
Carr, Samuel
Chase, Samuel S.
Follansbee, B. A.
Goodridge, David L.
Goodridge, H. M.

SWAMPSCOTT.
Palmer, John P.
Phillips, J. B.
Pitman, Samuel C.

TOPSFIELD.

Herrick, Charles
Hood, S. D.
*Hubbard. William
Lamson, J. Arthur
Leach, Thomas K.
Manning, James
Munday, William
Mernam, Sidney A.

WENHAM.
Fiske, Alfred R.
Gould, Amos
Hadley, Franklin
Hobbs, A. F.
Hobbs, Henry
Kavanagh, J.
Morgan, William B.
Peabody, George W.

Rowe, Allen
Stetson, Charles A.
Washburn, John

Peabody, Charles J.
Perkins, Moses B.
Pierce, T. W.
Poole, Benjamin
*Rea, John Jr.
Ward, Richard
Wildes, Moses
Wilson, James
Woodbury, Isaac M.

Parsons, George W.
Patch, Henry
Pingree. William G.
Porter, William
Peakins, Nathaniel P.
Robinson, John L,
Tilton, George H.
Waters, Robert H.

WEST NEWBURY.

Goodridge, Joseph
*Goodwin, Thos. C.
Gordon, Joseph Z.
Gowen, Oscar
Gowen, Ezekiel
Griffin, B. F. S.
Hosam, George
Jaques, Romulus
Little, Edmund
Little, Otis
Merrill, El bridge
Merrill, William
Merrill, William E.
Moody, Samuel, Jr.
Moore, Alfred L.
*Mo3sly, Charles C.

Moulton, Daniel
Nelson, Daniel P.
Newell, Joseph
Noyes, Anson W.
Noyes, Stephen E.
Ordway, Cyrus K.
Ordway, George N.
Ordway, Cyrus D.
Ordway, Thomas G.
Ordway, Hanson
*Pillsbury, Daniel
Poor, Moses H,
Poore, Amos
Poore, Ben: Perley
Poore, George H.
Ridgway, M. Moses

l82

Ridgway, M. M. Jr.
Rogers, Calvin
*Rogers, Charles
Rogers, George C.
Rogers, Hiram

Ridgeway Sarah L.
Smith, Amos
Smith, David
Smith, James
Smith, Moses

Stanwood, Moses P.
Thurlow, George
Thurlow, Stephen C.
Thurlow, Thomas C.
Titcomb, Silas M.

NON-RESIDENTS.

Balch, William H., Maiden ; Lake, Chas. H., Churchill, Md ;
Bodwell, Jos. R., Hallowell, Me.;Low, Sidney, Groton ;
Brackett, H. Clark, Virginia ; Maynard, Lambert, Boston ;
Brocklebank, S Rumney, N. H. Merriam, Arthur M., Colorado ;
Burnham, Choate Boston ; Norwood, Gorham, Gorham, Me;

Clark, Jos. F., Boston ; Nichols, Albert, Chicago ;

Currier, Wm. A., Boston ; Nichols, D. P. Boston ;

Chapin, W. C, Providence, R. L;Ordway, G. W., Manchester;
Cleaveland, N., Jersey City, N. JOliver, John E., Lynn;
Cleaveland, H. W. S., Chicago, IParker, James M., Boston ;
Colby, Chas, A., New York ; Putnam, Benj. C, Chelsea ;

Payson, T. E., Providence, R. L;

Page, Adino, Metamora, 111.;

Porter, Wm. F., Cambridge ;

Chase, Jos. S., Maiden ;
Carey, James, Ouincy ;
Caldwell, L., Jacksonville, F
Carey, James. New York ;
Dole, Francis F., Chicopee ;
Dodge, John S., Chicopee ;

Poor, Henry, New York City ;
Payson, Sam'l F., New York ;
Patch, Ash'l H., Clarkville, Term

Eaton, Thomas, Harristown, Ill.;Putnam, Wm. R., Red Wing, M.
Flint, Chas. L., Boston ; Phillips, Samuel, Brighton ;

Fowler, W. W., Plymouth ; Phillips, A. P. Medfield ;

Fernald, Henry, B. Washington;Rogers, William, Illinois ;
Farrar, Joseph E., Boston ; Rogers, Benjamin, Maiden ;

Foster, James B., Melrose
Flint, Thomas, Boston ;
Flint, Horace P., Boston
Gannett, ^'V. W., Boston ;
Green, John A., New York ;

Raymond, John W., Florida;
Snow, Jesse W., Boston ;
Sargent, G. P., Philadelphia ;
Stickney, Niles T., Oskosh, Wis;
Stanley, Sam'l S., Charlestown ;

Hubbard, J. G., Hampstead N.HShattuck, L. P., Boston ;
Hill, Moses, Revere; Spofford, Farnham, Washingt'n;

Hayes, J. F. C. Iowa ; Titcomb, Chas. A. Boston ;

Hutchinson, C. H., Rhinebeck ; Whittcmore, Chas. W., Boston;
Hill, Mark F., Derry, N. H. ; Ware, Darwin E., Boston ;
Kimball, Jonathan, Boston ; Whittcmore, J. R., Chicopee ;
King, D. Webster, Boston ; Wheeler, H. T., W^orcester;
Knight, S. Leverett, Clinton la. Webb, Michael Jr., Cambridge ;
Lyford, Geo. H., New York ; Walker, Dexter M., Boston.

i83

CONTENTS,

Page.

Address of Rev. E. C. Bolles, - - - 3

The Cattle Show and Fair, - - - - 17

Report on Fat Cattle, - - - > - 17

Bulls, - - - - - 18

Milch Cows, - - - - - 25

Herd of Milch Cows, - - - 3 1

Heifers, - - ~ - - 34

Working Oxen and Steers, - - - 39

Town Teams, - - - - 40

Steers, - - - - - 40

Stallions - - - - -40

Brood Mares, - - - - •■44

Family Horses, - - - - 45

Farm and Draft Horses, - - - 45

Pairs of Draft Horses, - - . 46

Colts, ... - . - 47

Swine, - - - - 48

Sheep, - - - - - $1

Poultry, - - - - - $2

Ploughing — Double Teams, - - - 56

Ploughing — Single Teams, - - - 56

Ploughing with Horses, - - - 57

Ploughing — Swivel Plough - - - $7

Ploughing — by Boys, - - - 5^

i84

Report on Agricultural Implements, - - 58

Carriages, - - - - - 59

Dairy, - - . . . - 59

Bread and Honey, - - - - 60

Pears, - - - - - - 61

Apples, - - - - - 62

Peaches, Grapes and assorted Fruits, - 68

Flowers, - - - - - 95

Vegetables, - - - - - 97

Counterpanes, - - - - loi

Articles manufactured from Leather. - 102

Manufactures and General Merchandise, - 103

Fanry Articles, - - - - 104

Improving Wet Meadows etc., - - 106

Improving Pastures etc., - - - IC9

Underdraining, - - - -in

Manures - - - - -115

Grain Crops, - - - - - 120

Root Crops - - - - - 122

Essay by F. H. Appleton, - - - - 138

Trial of Mowers, &c., ----- 144

Report on Essays, &c., - - - - - 146

Tread well Farm, - - - - 146

John W. Proctor, . . . . 148

Francis Dane, - - - - - 150

Treasurer's Report, - - - - I53 and 154

Officers of the Society - - ■ - - - 155

New Members, - - - - - 156

List of Premiums, &c., - - - - - ^^59

List of Members, - - - - - 167

M, • ^

^>, ,A

<t^

.Sft« ^

i

^^■^ *^y^%.

-■A»«

-«>^

.;,, A' ••