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TRANSACTIONS

OF THE

lanipljirc €a. Jgriatltmil ^mdi

DURING THE YEAR

1853. — G

PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY

AMHERST, MASS. :
PRESS OF J. S. & C. ADAMS & CO.

1853.

y''lVERSlTY OF
SSACl-illSETTS

AMHERST, MASS.

4 3O.0(-.
H !1

TO THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE :

TO THE SECRETARY OF THE BOARD:

AND TO THE HAMPSHIRE CO. AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY,

I respectfully dedicate these pages. The high charac-
ter of the State Board is a sufficient guarantee of its suc-
cess. Its recent institution, like the morning star, heralds
the dawn of a new era in the agriculture of Massachusetts, an
era of analysis, e.xperiment and discovery.

To the efficient Secretary of the Board, Charles L. Flint,
Es(i., I am happy to acknowledge my obligations. Your fre-
quent correspondence, judicious distribution of valuable publi-
cations, and your presence at the autumnal exhibition, prove an
earnest devotion to the faithful discharge of your duties, up-
on which the usefulness of the Board is vitally dependent.

To the members of the Hampshire County Agricultural
Society, I have the honor to present the Transactions of this
memorable year. Allow mc, here and now, to bear testimo-

4 DEDICATION.

ny to the noble spirit and enthusiasm, which animated you
at your organization, successively triumphed over each form
of opposition, and, at length, elevated you to the rank and
privileges of a County Society, an almoner of the State
Bounty. You have had and still have your own Hitchcock,
Fowler and Nash, to cheer you onward ; but the useful-
ness of your organization is only just begun. If the same
spirit continues to fire your energies, your catalogue, will
enroll not merely seven hundred but a thousand names,
your exhibitions gather ever-increasing numbers and your
farms, flocks and herds ever improve in productiveness and
value.

Very truly,

Your obliged friend,

JAMES W. BOYDEN.
Amherst. November, 1S53.

iiutxs of t|e iotiag.

President,

ALFRED BAKER, of Amherst.

Vice Presidents,

EDWARD DICKINSON, of Amherst.
LINUS GREEN, of Hadley.
EDMUND SMITH, of South Hadley.
ISRAEL TOWNE, of Belchertown.
N. AUSTIN SMITH, of Sunderland.
SAMUEL "WELLS, of Northampton.

Secretary and Treasurer,

JAMES W. BOYDEN, of Amherst.

Executive Committee,

SIMEON CLARK, of Amherst.
AMOS KELLOGG, of South Hadley.
ALFRED BAKER, of Amherst.
DAVID RICE, ofLeverett.
JAMES W. BOYDEN, of Amherst.
LINUS GREEN, of Hadley.
AVERY D. HUBBARD, of Sunderland.
EZRA INGRAM, of Amherst.
NEHEMIAH W. ALDRICH, of Pclham.

Member of the State Board of Agriculture,

Prof. JOHN A. NASH, of Amherst.

TRANSACTIONS.

Craiisactious.

Eaklt in April, the Executive Committee convened at the office
of the Secretary and prepared a list of premiums, which was posted
in more than two hundred public places, within the limits of the
Society, and was published in the Amherst Express. One of the
Show-bills was sent, for the purpose of exchange, to the Secretary of
every known Agricultural Society, in Massachusetts. The number
and amount of the premiums, as well as the objects for which they
were offered, will appear in the following pages. The duty of award-
ing premiums was assigned to thirty-four committees, composed of
one hundred and sixty-six ladies and gentlemen.

EXAMINING COMMITTEES.

On Essays. President Hitchcock, Chairman. Professor W.
C. Fowler, Alfred Baker.

On Fine Arts. Professor Haven, Chairman. Mrs. Edward
Hitchcock, Mrs. Edward Dickinson, Mrs. James AV. Boyden, Mrs.
C. D. Eaton, Pelham ; Mrs. David Rice, Leverett ; Mrs. George E.
Fisher, Mrs. James L. Merrick, Mrs. J. R. Trumbull, Northampton;
Mrs. G. Morgan Smith, South Hadley.

On Manufactures. Professor Snell, Chairman. Mrs. Thomas
Jones, Mrs. Aaron Warner, Mrs, A. M. Colton, Easthampton ; Mrs.
Porter Cowles, Hadley ; Mrs. Harriet Kellogg, Mrs. William S. Ty-
ler, Mrs. R. B. Hubbard, Sunderland ; Alden C. Field, Leverett ;
Hon. J. B. Woods, Enfield ; G. H. Gilbert, Ware.

On Farms. Moses B. Green, Chairman. Linus Green, Had-
ley ; Horace Lyman, Sunderland.

On Crops. Simeon Clark, Chairman, Charles H. Field, Lev-
erett; Cyrus Stebbins, Granby.

On Fruit. P. Smith Williams, Hadley, Chairman. Mrs.
Simeon Clark, Mrs. Horace Henderson, Sunderland; Mrs. Linus
Green, Hadley; Mrs. Coleman Hobart, Leverett; Mrs. Joseph G.

10 TEANSACTI0N3.

Ward, Pelham ; Mrs. Edmund Smith, South Hadley ; Josiah Ayres,
Levi Boutwell, Leverett ; Ashiir Shepard, Northampton.

On Bread and Flour. Zebina C. Montague, Chairman. Mrs.
Charles Adams, ]\Irs. George Baker, Mrs. Levi Boutwell, Leverett j
Mrs. Ptufus Seott, Hadley ; Mrs. Obed Montague, South Hadley.

On Butter. Leander Wethekeee, Chairman. Mrs, Alfred
Baker, Mrs. J. S. Adams, Mrs. W. P. Dickinson, Hadley > Mrs.
James M. Barton, Granby ; Mrs. Thomas Alden, Belchertown^ Mrs,
Albert Montague, Sunderland.

On Cheese. Rev. George E. Fisher, Chairman. Mrs. Rufus-
Lincoln, Belchertown ; Miss Lydia Dickinson, Mrs. Ransom Dickin-
son, Sunderland ; Mrs. Nehemiah W. Aldrich, Pelham ; Mrs. Wil-
liam W. Dickinson, Mrs. Harrison O. Field, Leverett.

On Maple Sugar. Albert Montague, Sunderland, Chairman.
Mrs. Charles Field, Leverett; Mrs. Jonathan Cowles, Jr., Mrs. M. D.
Lawrence, Belchertown ; Mrs. Ferdinand Robinson.

O71 Fruit and Forest Trees. Professor Fowler, Chairman.
Daniel Cowles, Hadley; N. Austin Smith Sunderland.

On Mechanic Arts. Dr. Rice, Leverett, Chairman. John Mee,
John R. Cushman, Thomas Bufium, Pelham ; Levi Adams, Hadley ;
Oliver Watson, H. T. Filer, Belchertown.

On Vegctahles and Grains. T. G. Huntington, Hadley, Chair-
man. Moses Field, Leverett; Austin Brainard, Jr., South Pladley ;
Timothy Smith.

On Honey. David S. Cowles, Hadley, Chairman. Lyman Kel-
logg, Dexter Ingram, South Hadley ; Cummins Fish.

On Ploiving loith Oxen. Dr. Trow, Sunderland, Chairman.
Amos Kellogg, South Hadley ; Chester Gray, Hadley ; N. W. Aid-
rich, Pelham; Wm. Thayer, Belchertown.

On Plotoing ivith Ho7'ses. Wm. P. Dickinson, Hadley, Chair-
man. Silas Ball, Leverett ; Wm. W. Russell, Sunderland ; Phineas
D. Barton, Granby ; E. Pomeroy Cutler.

On Subsoil Plowing. Russell T. Wheelock, Chairman. Ke-
lita Hubbard, Sunderland ; Lorenzo W. Lyman, South Hadley.

On Meadow Lands. John A. Morton, Hadley, Chairman.
Augustus Clark, Granby; Ira Montague, Sunderland.

On Manures. Samuel Powers, Hadley, Chairman. Asa L.
Field, Leverett ; Harrison Church, South Hadley.

On Stallions and Farm Horses. Dr. Bemis, Shntesbury, Chair-
man. Luke Earl, Greenwich; Ebenezer Wiley, Sunderland; John
W. Nash, Hadley.

EXAMINING COMMITTEES. 11

On Draft Horses. Dr. Fish, Chairman. Timothy Putnam,
Leverett ; Emerson Bates, South Hadley ; James Cook, Hadley ;
Henry Frink, Adolphus Strong, Belchertown.

On Mares loitli Colts. Wm. J. Patkick, Granby, Chairman. A.
S. Howe, Shutesbury ; Ashley Hubbard, Sunderland ; Guy C. Mun-
aell, Barnard Arnold, Belchertoi^rn.

On Colts. Dan Field, Leverett, Chairman. S. "W. Whitney,
Thaddeus Smith, Hadley ; N. W. Bartlett, sVilliamsburgh ; Wait-
still Dickinson.

On Strings of Cattle. Baxter Eastman, Chairman. Stough-
ton D. Crocker, Sunderland ; David Shores, Shutesbury ; Peter Ho-
bart, Leverett ; Henry Fobes, Enfield ; Lemuel PL Newell, Peiham ;
Nelson Smith, Granby ; Moses C. Porter, Hatfield.

On Bulls. Nathaniel Dwight, Jr., Belchertown, Chairman.
Brainard Smith, Sunderland ; Joel L. Preston, Granby ; Elisha Ed-
wards, Southampton.

On Working Oxen. Joseph Smith, Hadley, Chairman. Ansel
A. Rankin, Peiham ; Thomas Alden, Belchertown ; Daniel Paine.

On Steers. Horace Hunt, New Salem, Chairman. Alden Ad-
ams, Leverett; Rodney Ayres, Granby; Elijah Cowles, Hadley;
Ransom Cowles.

On Cattle for the Stall. Parsons West, Hadley, Chairman.
Samuel Dickinson, Granby ; Samuel F. Dudley, Shutesbury ; Oliver
Dickinson.

071 Milch Coios. Paoli Lathrop, South Hadley, Chairman.
Wm. Plunt, Sunderland ; J. B. Hall, Peiham.

On Heifers. Edmund SxMITH, South Hadley, Chairman. Cyrus
Stebbins, Granby ; Roderick Dorman, Belchertown.

On Calves. Elihu Smith, Sunderland, Chairman. George J.
Lyman, South Hadley ; Bela U. Dickinson, Emory Ballou, Peiham.

On Sioine. Samuel Nash, Hadley, Chairman. Benjamin De
Witt, Granby; Cephas Porter, Leverett.

On Sheep. Daniel Cowles, Hadley, Chairman. Park Warner,
Granby ; John Wiley, Sunderland ; Earl Johnson.

On Poultry. G. Morgan Smith, South Hadley, Chairman.
Baxter Hobart, Leverett ; Olney Cook, Peiham.

The ladies and gentlemen, who constituted the examining commit-
tees, met, on the morning of the exhibition, at eight o'clock, in the
parlor of the Amherst House. Their respective badges were distrib-
uted and they proceeded to their posts of duty.

1

ANNUAL EXHIBITION,

AT AMHERST, OCTOBER 26, 1853

The day was one of the finest. A warm October sun, gentle
breezes, and white clouds floating in the firmament, favored this
much-loved festiva:l. Early in the morning, the highways lead-
ing to the place of exhibition, were filled with carriages of all sorts,
hastening to the Cattle Show. A larger collection of the people of
Hampshire County and of adjoining towns in Franklin, gathered,
than at any former exhibition of this Society. The display in all its
departments was an improvement upon its predecessors, and Avould
compare favorably with any exhibition of the kind, ever held in the
State.

The order of exercises, as previously arranged, was faithfully ob-
served. The exact magnitude and extent of the exhibition is indi-
cated by the list of a thousand entries, which we here publish, to-
gether with the residences and names of the competitors for premiums,
showing the breadth of territory, over which the operations of the
Society have rapidly extended.

SHOW OF HORSES.

At nine o'clock, A. m., more than one hundred horses were on the
ground. The number of colts was forty-eight ; draft horses in pairs,
thirty ; mares with colts, sixteen ; farm horses, thirteen ; and stal-
lions, two, of superior excellence. The entries were from the towns
of Amherst, Belchertown, Cummington, Granby, Easthampton, En-
field, Hadley, Hatfield, Northampton, Pelham, Prescott, South Had-
ley and Williamsburgh, in Hampshire County ; and from Deerfield,
Leverett, Shutesbury, and Sunderland, in Franklin County. In the
following list of entries, the names of towns in which competitors re-
side, are arranged in alphabetical order.

ANXUAL EXHIBITION. 13

ENTRIES.

Stallions. Cummington, Orestes Ricliards ; Granby, Milo A.
Taylor.

Colts — three years old. Belcliertown, John Sisson ; Eastliamp-
ton, Julius F. Clark, two ; Hadley, David S. Cowles, Elijah Cowles,
R. Wales Smith ; South Hadley, C. Newton Montague ; Williams-
burgh, Samuel French.

Colts — two years old. Amherst, Cummins Fish, Guy C. Munsell ;
Enfield, Joseph R. Cowles ; Granby, Augustus Clark, William B.
Nash, Nelson Smith ; Hatfield, Theodore Bagg ; Leverett, Stephen
Marvell ; Prescott, Benjamin P. Aiken ; South Hadley, C. Newton
Montague; Sunderland, Kelita Hubbard.

Colts — yearlings. Amherst, John E. Albee, Baxter Eastman,
Samuel T. Hills ; Hadley, Theodore Pasco, Nathan S. Weeks ; Pel-
ham, Abij ah Fales ; Prescott, Benjamin P.Aiken; South Hadley,
C. Newton Montague.

Mares and Colts. Amherst, Timothy C. Belding, William Bolt-
wood, Ransom Cowles, Alonzo Button, Guy C. Munsell, Edward A.
Stanley, George Warner ; Granby, Augustvis Clark, Nelson Smith ;
Northampton, James Clark, Horace Lyman; Prescott, Benjamin P.
Aikin, Christopher Paige ; Shutesbury, Abraham S. Howe ; South
Hadley, C. Newton Montague ; Sunderland, William Miller.

Draft Horses. Amherst, Timothy C. Belding, Levi D. Cowles,
George W. Hobart ; Belcliertown, A. R. &- E. Owen ; Cummington,
A. R. Mitchell ; Deerfield, Josiah Fogg ; Hadley, James Cook, Jr.,
Amos Gray, Z. M. Lyman, John W. Nash ; Hatfield, Theodore Bagg,
Henry S. Porter; Northampton, S. N. Bosworth ; Shutesbury, Sam-
uel F. Dudley ; Sunderland, N. ,& B. Smith.

Farm Horses. Amherst, Levi D. Cowles, Alonzo Dutton, Asahel
Gates, Joseph P. Gray, Leavitt Hallock ; Enfield, Henry M. Potter ;
Granby, Augustus Clark ; Hadley, James Cook, Jr., Edmund Smith ;
Leverett, Abner Gilbert; Pelham, Nehemiah W. Aldrich ; South
Hadley, James L. Preston.

PLOUGHING MATCH.

At half past nine o'clock, this exciting scene occurred on a fine
piece of green-sward, belonging to the estate of the late Thomas

14 IRAN SACTI0X9.

Jones, a few rods from the village. The number of entries was
eleven — five ox-teams and six horse-teams. Each competitor drew
for choice of lots, at the time of entry, before going to the ground.
Each lot was ten rods long and two rods wide, containing one-eighth
of an acre. One Michigan Plow competed and obtained the first
premium. Six of the ploughs were manufactured by Prouty &. Mears
of Boston ; three by Ruggles, Nourse, Mason & Co., of Worcester ;
and two by J. R. Whittemore &- Co., of Chicopee Falls.

ENTRIES.

Ox- Teams. Amherst, Levi D. Cowles, Prouty & Mears' Michi-
gan Sod Plough ; Granby, Erastus Nash, Prouty &. Mears' Eagle
C ; Hadley, Linus Green, Prouty & Mears' No. 36 ; Edmund
Smith (did not plough), J. R. Whittemore & Co.'s ; Sunderland,
Ebenezer P. Dickinson, Prouty &- Mears' Eagle No. 50.

Horse- Teams. Amherst, George W. Hobart, J. R. Whittemore
& Co.'s — William W. Smith, Prouty &, Mears' ; Deerfield, Josiah
Fogg, Ruggles, Nourse, Mason &- Co.'s ; Northampton, Elisha Strong,
two entries, Ruggles, Nourse, Mason & Co.'s No. 66 and No. 73 —
William Strong, Prouty & Mears' No. 5 1-2.

DRAWING MATCH.

At ten o'clock, the trial of working oxen commenced, in the high-
way near the College buildings. The cart was loaded with three
thousand pounds of granite. Twenty-three pairs of cattle were en-
tered. Each pair drew the load up the hill, in front of Rev. Mr.
Dwight's Church, turned it, and was exercised in backing, and other-
wise. The training of the cattle, their match in color and size, and
their performance of the work, were considered by the Committee.
The following list indicates the towns in alphabetical order in which
the competitors reside, their names, also, the ages and, as far as can
be ascertained, the breed and weight of each pair.

ENTRIES.

Amherst, Aretas J. Cadwell, 6 years old, 3500 lbs., native ; Ches-
ter Cowles, 5 years old, 3465 lbs., Durham ; Orrin Johnson, two
pairs, native, one 6 years old, 3250 lbs.; one, 4 years old, 2650 lbs. ;
William Ingram, 4 pairs, two 5 years and two 4 years old ; Horace

ANNUAL EXHIBITION. 15

Kellogg, 6 years old, 3640 lbs., native; Lyman Kellogg, 6 years old,
3180 lbs., native; George A. Pomroy, 4 years old, native. Belcher-
town, Samuel Perry, 4 years old, Durham. Conway, Cephas May,
4 years old, 4380 lbs., native. 'Deerfield, Josiah Fogg, 4 years old,
3400 lbs., Durham; Moses Stebbins, one pair, 5 years old, 4160 lbs.,
native ; one pair, 5 years old, 3685 lbs., Durham. Granby, Nelson
Smith, 6 years old, 3350 lbs., native. Hadley, Chester Gray, 5 years
old, native ; Linus Green, 7 years old, native ; Theodore Pasco, 6
years old, native; R. Wales Smith, 6 years old, native. Pelham,
Asahel Aldrich, 4 years old, 2800 lbs., Durham. South Hadley,
Edmund Smith, 4 years old, 3600 lbs., half Durham, half native.

SHOW OF CATTLE.

This was the principal department of the Fair. More than three
hundred specimens of superior native and grade stock were on exhi-
bition. Two long strings, numbering one hundred and sixty-two
fine oxen, attracted much attention. Forty-six cattle were entered
for the drawing match, in pairs. The count of steers was fifty-
two ; heifers, twenty-one ; calves, eleven ; bulls, nine ; fat oxen,
eight, and milch cows, six- The entries were from Amherst, Belcher-
town, Conway, Deerfield, Granby, Hadley, Leverett, New Salem,
Pelham, Prescott, Shutesbury, South Hadley, and Sunderland.

ENTRIES.

Strings of Cattle. North Amherst, forty-three pairs. Hadley,
thirty-eight pairs.

Steers — three years old. Amherst, William Boltwood, native;
Ransom Cowles, native ; Daniel Dickinson, native ; Ezra Ingram,
one quarter Durham ; Eleazer Kellogg, native ; Emory II. Needham,
native, weighing 2526 lbs. Deerfield, Moses Stebbins, English.
Hadley, Chester Gray, native ; Chester Smith, native. South Had-
ley, Edmund Smith, one-quarter Durham, weighing 2920 lbs.

Steers — two years old. Amherst, Alfred Baker, half Devon ;
Jonathan Cowles, native ; Flavel Gaylord, native ; Emory 11. Need-
ham, native, weighing 2130 lbs. Pelham, Monroe Eaton, part Dev-
on. Shutesbury, Charles Hamilton, twins, native. South Hadley,
Edmund Smith, three-fourths Durham, and weighing 3070 lbs.

16 TEAN S AC T I 0 N S.

Steers — one year old. Amherst, Alonzo Button, native ; Asahel
Gates, Devon and Durham ; Flavel Gaylord, native ; Francis L.
Pomeroy, native. Conway, Cephas May, Durham. Hadley, John
A. Morton, native. New Salem, H6race Hunt, Devon.

Heifers — three years old. Granby, Erastus Nash, native. Tioo
years oJd. Amherst, Alfred Baker, native ; Lucius Boltwood, part
Ayrshire; Joseph Dickinson, native; Ebenezer Gaylord, native;
Guy C. Munsell, seven-eighths Durham. Granhy, Erastus Nash,
three natives. New Salem, Horace Hunt, one Devon and one Dur-
ham. Sunderland, Sylvester Brown, native. One year old. — Am-
herst, Spencer Church, Ayrshire grade ; William W. Dickinson,
Durham grade ; Horace Kellogg, half Devon ; Guy C. Munsell, Dur-
ham. Hadley, Joseph Adams &> Sons, half Devon. New Salem,
Horace Hunt, Devon. Sunderland, William Miller, native.

Calves. Amherst, Henry Smith, 5 months, Durham ; Wm. W.
Dickinson, 10 months, DurixrV/ii grade; Wm. W. Smith, pair of
steers, 8 months, native; Russell '• . Wheelock, pair Devon steers.
Belchertown, Barnard Arnold, 6 months, Durham. Granby, Augus-
tus Clark, 5 months, Durham. Hadley, Theophilus P. Huntington,
one Durham and Ayrshire, 2 months ; pair heifers, Durham and
native, 3 months. Leverett, Cephas Porter, 5 1-2 months, native,
weight 830 lbs. Prescott, Christopher Paige, one, 9 months ; one,
10 months.

Bulls. Amherst, Alfred Baker, 1 year, half Devon ; Horace Kel-
logg, 1 year, half Devon ; and one 17 months, half Devon. Belcher-
town, Barnard Arnold, 6 months, native- Granby, John McMaster,
20 months, seven-eighths Durham. Hadley, Joseph Adams & Sons,
1 year, native. New Salem, Horace Hunt ; Proctor Powers, Devon
grade, 18 months. Prescott, Christopher Paige, Durham, 1 year,
weight 1100 lbs.

Fat Oxen. Amherst, Horace Kellogg, one pair, 4 years old, 3270
lbs. Deerfield, Moses Stebbins, one pair Durhams, 6 years old,
4300 lbs. Josiah Fogg, one pair. Hadley, Chester Smith, one pair,
6 years old, 3600 lbs. New Salem, Archibald Wheeler, one pair, 6
years old.

Milch Cows. Amherst, Wm. W. Dickinson, Durham grade, 10
years ; Asahel Gates, three-fourths Durham, 8 years ; Timothy
Smith, native, 10 years. Hadley, Theodore G. Huntington, native,
8 years ; John A. ISIorton, Durh^im, 8 years. Sunderland, Hubbard
Graves, native, 9 years.

ANKUAL EXHIBITION. l7

SWINE.

Boars. Amherst, Edmund Hobart, 1 1 months, Suffolk and Mac-
kay. Sunderland, Hubbard Graves, 13 months, SuiFolk ; N. & B.
Smith, 13 months, half Mackay ; Ebenezer Wiley, 1 year, Suffolk.
Breeding Sows and Pigs. — Amherst, John Lyman. Sunderland,
Hubbard Graves, Suffolk; N. & B. Smith, Suffolk and Mackay.
Litters of Pigs. — Amherst, John Lyman, six, 4 to 6 months ; Tim-
othy Smith, one, 6 months, Suffolk ; Wm. W. Smith, 6 pigs, quarter
Suffolk, 3 months. Deerfield, Waldo Cleavland, 10 pigs, 5 weeks,
Suffolk. Hadley, R. Wales Smith, 6 pigs, 4 1-2 months, half Mac-
kay. Sunderland, Claudius B. Hubbard, 9 pigs, 3 weeks, quarter
Suffolk.

SHEEI

Bucks. Granby, Augustus Clark, one French Merino, and one,
half Merino. Ewes. — Granby, Augustus Clark, six French Merinos.
Hadley, Linus Green, six South Downs. Pelham, Lemuel H. New-
ell, South Down and native.

POULTRY.

Turkeys. Amherst, E. P. Dickinson. Pelham, Lemuel II. New-
ell. Shutesbury, S. &> N. Adams. Geese. — Granby, Luke M. Clark.
Fowls. — Granby, Augustus Clark, Shanghaes. Hadley, F. Bonney,
Bolton Greys; Theodore G. Huntington, Shanghao and mixed ; Z.
M. Lyman, Chittagongs ; E. P. White, Spangled Hamburghs; Har-
vey White, Bolton Grays.

SHOW IN SWEETSER'S HALL.

This Hall was a centre of attraction, during the day. The exhibi-
tion of fruit was excellent in itself; and, in view of the scarcity of
fruit, the present season, admirable. Three tables were spread with
eighteen hundred nice apples, assorted and arranged on four hundred

3

13 TEANS ACTIONS.

and fifty plates, each plate containing four or more apples. The en-
tries of Fine Arts and Mamifactures, were nearly two hundred. The
walls and pillars of the hall were adorned with numerous well-
executed paintings and drawings. The arrangements reflect the
highest credit on Mr. Josiah Ayres and his assistants.

ENTRIES.

Fetjit. — Apples. Amherst, John S. Adams, 7 varieties ; Nathan
Bartlett, 4 ; David Blodgett, 9 ; Ransom Cowles, 8 ; William W.
Dickinson, 7; Austin Eastman, 10; S. Keyes Eastman, 4 ; Miss
Fay, 1 ; Stephen Johnson, 9. Hadley, Joseph Adams &. Sons, 1
variety ; Linus Green, 5 varieties ; Theodore G. Huntington, 7 ;
George W. Morton, 8 ; Theodore Pasco, 38 plates ; Rufus Scott, 10
varieties. Leverett, Alden C. Field, 4. Montague, A. B. & M. P.
Anderson, 5. New Salem, Horace Hunt, 5. Northampton, Theo-
dore Ptust, 38 varieties from Wisconsin ; Ashur Shepard, Esq., 83
varieties ; James R. Trumhull, editor of the Gazette, 30 varieties
from Michigan. Prescott, Christopher Paige, 20 varieties. Shutes-
bury, Deacon Carver, 5; Col. Dudley, 9; Amos Ray, 12 varieties.
South Hadley, Edmund Smith, 17 varieties. Sunderland, Avery D.
Hubbard, 9 ; Kelita Hubbard, 16; Ransom Dickinson, 14 varieties.
Wendell, Daniel Ballard, 10 varieties.

Cranberries. Amherst, Edward A. Stanley. - Hadley, David S.
Cowles.

Grapes. Amherst, John S. Adams, John Dickinson, Miss Fay,
David Parsons. Sunderland, Ransom Dickinson, Samuel Dunlap.

Peaches. Amherst, Ansel C. Marshall.

Pears. Amherst, John S. Adams, Ansel C. Marshall.

Quinces. Amherst, Aaron Warner, Jr. Hadley, Linus Green.
Leverett, Mrs. S. W. Boutwell. Sunderland, Ransom Dickinson,
N. Austin Smith, N. & B. Smith.

Fine Akts. Amherst, Elizabeth Adams, wrought worsteds-;
Frank Adams, drawings ; M. Adams Allen, slippers ; D. J. Bartlett,
millinery ; W. J. Bassett, door ; Miss A. R. Bentley, lamp-mat ;
Miss C. Chaffee, millinery ; Miss Emily Davis, oil painting and mo-
nochromatic drawing ; Miss Abby J. S. Dickinson, worsted work ;
Miss L. Dickinson, birds ; Miss Sarah T. Dickinson, lamp-mat ; Mrs.
M. H. Dutton, lamp-mat; Miss Emily Fowler, chairs and handker-
chiefs. " J. P. Gould, pen-drawings ; George Graves, graining and
lettering. Miss F. HaUock, napkins ; Mrs. Hartly,. tidies j Mrss

ANNTTALEXHIBITION. 19

Hartt, bed-quilt ; Mrs. Hitchcock, paintings, box of French carving ;
Mrs. Howe, ottomans ; Miss Ellen E. Kellogg, tidies ; Mrs. Linnell,
bed-spread ; J. D. Marsh, drawings ; Miss Amie Nash, pictures ;
Miss Sabra D, Palmer, chair-covering ; Miss Emma Kankin, lamp-
mat; R. Chauncy Russell, case of furnishing goods; Mrs. A, G.
Sears, crayon drawing, oil, polychromatic and water paintings, papier
mache folio-cover ; E. G. Shumway, daguerreotypes ; Miss Electa
Smith, ottomans; Mrs. E. Smith, tidy; Miss T. G. Smith, tidies;
Mrs. Wm. B. Smith, embroidered handkerchief; Miss Mary Snell,
fancy needlework, glove-case, slippers, worsted bag and cushions ;
Miss Martha Snell, chair-seat; Miss Sabra Snell, lamp-mats; Miss
E. Spear, lamp-mats ; Miss E. H. Tourtelotte, wax-flowers ; Aaron
Warner, Jr., paintings ; Mrs. J. R. Warner, tidy ; Miss Mary War-
ner, fancy chairs. Belchertown, Miss O. H. Cowles, lamp-mat ; Mrs.
A. L. Gates, lamp-mat; Miss F. S. Owen, lamp-mat. Granby, Miss
S. C. Clark, shoes ; Miss Fanny Munn, bed-quilt. Greenwich, Mrs.
Abby Earl, pictures. Hadley, Mrs. Bonney, collars, frock, lamp-
mat; Mrs. CD. Dickinson, lamp-mat; Linus Green, pictures ; Mrs.
Susan M. Hubbard, bouquet of flowers ; Mrs. Theodore G. Hunting-
ton, worked handkerchief and sleeves ; Mrs. E. M. Judkins, oil paint-
ings ; Miss H. C. Scott, paintings. Leverett, Mrs. Harriet D. Bout-
well, wreath ; Miss Henrietta Field, worsted work. Montague, Mrs.
Calvin Russell, worsted picture. Northampton, Stoddard &- Lathrop,
boxes of collars, cuff's, pocket handkerchiefs, slippers, tidies. Pelham,
Charles A. Parmenter, monochromatic drawing. Sunderland, E. S.
Fietd, twenty-six oil paintings ; Mrs. Julia Field, crochet bag ; Mrs.
N. Austin Smith, nine table mats ; Mrs. Winslow, bouquet of wax
flowers ; Abram Wright, Chinese mice and house.

Manufactukes. Amherst, Miss L. S. Bangs, rag carpeting ;
Miss Angeline Clark, bed-quilt ; Mrs. Simeon Clark, men's hose ;
Mrs. Enos Dickinson, 2d, skeins of worsted and silk ; Mrs. Fidelia
Dickinson, rag carpet ; Mrs. D. S. Field, rag carpet ; Mrs. Seth Fish,
carpeting ; Mrs. George Graves, bed-quilt ; Mrs. E. Haven, hearth-
rug; Mrs. Horace Kellogg, blanketing; Mrs. William Kellogg, wool-
en yarn and hose; E. S. &, F. A. Pierce, case of shoes; Miss L.
Robinson, bed-quilt ; Mrs. William B. Smith, yarn ; Mrs. Savannah
A. Thayer, hearth-rug, bed-quilts ; Mrs. Tourtelotte, carpeting. Bel-
chertown, Miss Harriet E. Alden, stockings. Greenwich, Mrs. Abby
L. Earl, bed-quilt. Hadley, Mrs. G. M. Lyman, wool carpet. Lev-
erett, Miss Maria Dunklee, counterpane; Mrs. Alden C. Field, bed-
quilt; Field & Hubbard, woolen yarn; Mrs. Moses Field, stair

20 TRANSACTIONS.

carpeting. Pelham, Mrs. Edmund Mirick, rag carpet. Shutesbury,
Mrs. Hemmenway, rag carpet. South Hadley, Mrs. Edmund Smith,
bed quilt, rag carpet. Sunderland, Mrs. C. Crocker, rug ; Mrs.
Samuel Dunlap, carpeting. Mrs. Betsy Hemmenway, table cloths ;
T. E. Monsell, mcking and batting ; Mrs, Albert Montague, frock-
ing and counterpane ; Alonzo Paine, coon-skin robe ; Mrs. Orria
Paine, counterpane, bed-quilt ; Mrs. Eli Sanderson, bed-quilt ; Mrs.
Henry Sanderson, palm-leaf hat; Mrs. N. Austin Smith, hose and
table mats. Also, Mrs. M. Babbitt, bed-quilt ; Mrs. Luther Chapin,
mittens ; Mrs. Susan M. Hubbard, rag carpet ; Mrs. Janes, quilt ;
Mrs, John Smith, bed-quilts; Mrs. N. Smith, carpet.

SHOW IN PHENIX HALL.

This spacious hall was filled with articles appropriate to an agri-
cultural fair. The display of dairy products was of the highest or-
der. Of cheese, not less than three hundred pounds were exhibited.
More than four hundred pounds of butter, in golden lumps, graced
the tables. The green pastures and fine stock of " the happy valley,"
and each " queen of curds and cream," were nobly represented.
There was a fine display of bread, flour, honey, maple sugar and in
the department of the mechanic Arts. It is due to Mr. M. B. Green,
who had charge of this hall, to mention the highly satisfactory man-
ner, in which his duties were performed.

Butter. Amherst, Mrs. Benjamin W. Allen, Mrs. William Bolt-
wood, Mrs. Aretas J. Cadwell, Mrs. Simeon Clark, Mrs. Chester
Cowles, Mrs. Levi I). Cowles, Mrs. Bela U. Dickinson, Mrs. Enos
Dickinson, 2d, Mrs. John Dickinson, Mrs Joseph Dickinson, Mrs.
W^illam Dickinson, 2d, Mrs. William W. Dickinson, Mrs. Ebenezer
Gaylord, Mrs. Thomas Ilastings, Mrs. Samuel T. Hills, Mrs. Ed-
mund Ilobart, Mrs. Horace Kellogg, Mrs. Lyman Kellogg, Mrs.
John Lyman, Mrs. Henrietta H. Mather, Mrs. Walter Newton, Mrs.
Julia A. Potwinc, Mrs. Stephen P. Puffer, Mrs. Asa O. Stoughton.
Belchertown, IMiss B. C. Alden. Granby, Mrs. Luke W. Clark.
Pladlcy, Mrs. Porter Cowles, Mrs. Theodore G. Huntington, Mrs.
Theophilus P. Huntington, Mrs. Almira Nash, Mrs. Royal Wales
Smith. South Hadley, Mrs. Edmund Smith. Sunderland, Mrs.
Salmon Clark, Mrs. Claudius B. Hubbard, Mrs. N. Austin Smith,
Mrs. Nathaniel B. Smith, Mrs. Brainard Smith.

ANNUAL EXHIBITION. 2V

Cheeses. Amherst, Mrs. Simeon Clark, two ; Mrs. Bela U.
Dickinson, two; Mrs. Daniel Dickinson, two; Mrs. Samuel S.
Dickinson, one; Mrs. William B. Godfrey, pine apple ; Mrs. Horace
Kellogg, two ; Mrs. Oren Williams, three. Granby, Mrs. Luke M.
Clark, two. Hadley, Mrs. Levi Russell, sage. Prescott, Mrs. Ben-
jamin P. Aiken, three. Sunderland, Mrs. Adelia Dickinson, two ;
Mrs. Avery D. Hubbard, two ; Mrs. N. Austin Smith, one ; Mrs.
Oliver Williams, one.

Bread and Flour. — Wheat Bread. Amherst, Mrs. Simeon
Clark, Mrs. Levi D. Cowles, Mrs. Tempo Linnell, Mrs. John Ly-
man, Mrs. Emory H. Needham, Mrs, Julia A. Potwine, Mrs. Frank-
lin C. Willis. Hadley, Mrs. Levi Adams. Leverett, Mrs. Harriet
D. Boutwell. Shutesbury, Mrs Nathaniel D. Adams. Sunderland,
Mrs. Oliver Williams. Rye Bread. — Amherst, Mrs. Alfred Baker,
Mrs. Aretas J. Cadwell, Mrs. Simeon Claik, Mrs. Levi D. Cowles,
Mrs. Bela U. Dickinson, Mrs. Edmund Hobart. Hadley, Mrs. J.
Adams. Shutesbury, Mrs. Nathaniel D. Adams. South Hadley,
Mrs. Edmund Smith. Sunderland, Mrs. Claudius B. Hubbard,
Mrs. Albert Montague, Mrs. Oliver Williams. Ri/c and Indian
Bread. — Amheist, Mrs. Leavitt Hallock, Mrs. Tempe Linnell.
Belchertown, Mrs. B. C. Alden. Leverett, Mrs. Orus Ball, Mrs.
Asa L. Field. Sunderland, Mrs. Claudius B. Hubbard, Mrs. Oren
Williams. Wheat Flour. — Amherst, John Lyman. Hadley, Joseph
Adams &/ Sons, George Dickinson. Sunderland, Avery D. Hub-
bard. Rye Flour. — Amherst, Alfred Baker. Hadley, George Dick-
inson. Sunderland, Albert Montague. Biscuit. — Hadley, Mrs. J.
Adams.

Maple Sugar. Sunderland, Peter Spaulding, Jr., two boxes.

Honey. Amherst, Ebenezer Gaylord, Henry P. Kellogg. Had-
ley, David S, Cowles. Sunderland, Stoughton D. Crocker.

Mechanic Arts. Amherst, Charles H. Bangs, cheese press ; E.
&:- J. Cushman, straw board paper ; Porter Dickinson, patent corn-
sheller , Field & Strickland, elegant cabinet furniture ; Lucius C.
Ingram, dovetail block ; H. A. Keith, improved empire state stove ;
H. C. Kellogg, boots and shoes; E. S. & F. A. Pierce, side of
tanned leather; Worthing &- Whcelock, horse shoes. Boston,
Leonard Streeter, lightning rod. Hadley, Levi Adams, churn ; Jo-
seph Adams & Sons, bent rims and saw bucks ; David S. Cowles,
bee hive. Leverett, Charles H. Field, child's cabs ; Graves &
Hatch, hoes ; Montague, L. G. Rice, mclodcons. Northampton,

22

TKANSACTIONS.

Allen &L Meekins, case of dentistry ; Bridgman & Wetherbee, cir-
cular saw mill. Pelham, John Q. Braley, saw handles. Sunder-
land, Avery D. Hubbard, brooms ; Abram Wright, Putnam's patent
spring bedstead. Wendell, Daniel Ballard, apple-corer. Williams-
burgh, Caleb Carver, Dawson, Warren &. Hyde's gold pens.

ORDER OF EXERCISES AT THE COLLEGE CHAPEL.

VOLUNTARY BY THE CHOIll. PRAYER BY PRESIDENT HITCHCOCK.

HAEVEST HYMN.-Tiine, Uastike.
Composed for this occasion % Edward Burns Oi^cott, of Amherst College.

1 3

Father of all, our voice we raise O may our thoughts and actions be,

To Thee, -n-ith love and humble praise, Such as are pleasing. Lord, to Thee,

And thanks, for what thy bomitcous And may we to Thy throne draw

hand near.

Has scattered o'er oiur smiling land. "With holy love and humble fear.

Our fields, which wave with golden And when, our harvests o'er, to death,

grain. We yield our last expiring breath,

Oui- orchards, spreading o'er the plain, Then, O, our Guardian, Father,
Our flocks, our herds we owe to Thee ; Friend,

Loud, therefore, let our praises be. Heceive us at our journey's end.

ADDRESS

BY REV. P. D. HUNTINGTON, OF BOSTON.

HARVEST ODE.-Tune, Harko.
Written for this anniversary by Norman A. Prentiss, of Amherst College. \

1

The God of harvest praise.
The God that rules above ;
In loud thanksgiving raise
The grateful song of love.
To Him whose hand directs our way,
"Whose mercies cro-rni each shiuinj
day.

He makes our Vants his care,
And gives his children bread ;
The songsters of the air
Are by his bounty fed.
lie hears the ravens when they cry,
And fi-om His fulness doth sup-
ply.

TKANSACTIOKS. 23

He makes the fields rejoice; Tliis year has told apace,

Valleys and mountains sing, As swift its moments sped.

With one united voice, His goodness and His grace.

The praises of our King. Our footsteps safe He's led.
The Earth and Seas with one accord The earth enriched by fruitful rains,

Take up the strain, and praise the Yields a rich harvest o'er her

Lord. plains.

5

The God of harvest, praise,
Who rides upon the storm ;
Tune, tune your highest lays,
And lift the joyful sound.
Loud hallelujahs to His name.
His truth and mercy still the same.

Benediction hy Rev. A. M. Colton of Easthampton.

THE DINNER.

The procession, was again formed and marched to Howe's Hall,
which was tastefully trimmed with evergreens and presented a beau-
tiful appearance. Three hundred plates were laid and all were occu-
pied. The president, Alfred Bakek, Esq., presided, assisted by
Hon. Edward Dickinson, one of the vice presidents. After the
clatter of knives and forks, Mr. Dickinson made an appropriate
opening address — giving a brief historical sketch of the Society,
and closed with the following sentiment :

The Massachusetts Board of Agriculture : We welcome its Secre-
tary, C. L. Flint, Esq.

Mr. Flint paid a well deserved compliment to Dr. Hitchcock, who,
he said, enjoyed a more enviable reputation, at home and abroad,
than any other man in Massachusetts, and after an eloquent speech,
gave this sentiment : The progress of Agriculture — may the enthu-
siasm never be less than it is to-day.

The next regular sentiment was Rev. Dr. Hitchcock — The Ad-
vocate of Agricultural Colleges and Schools. The Dr., as usual,
made a very pleasant, practical and profitable response.

The next sentiment was — The Orator of the day : He has given
•as a lesson worthy of the study of a life time.

24 TEANSACTIONS.

E,ev. Mr. Huntington responded in a remarkably happy and face-
tious manner. He concluded with ;—

These Industrial Arts — which adorn our life with beauty, com-
fort it with protection, if cherished in a faithful spirit, stand in per-
fect harmony with zeal for humanity and devotion to the glory of
God.

The next sentiment was : Pfof. Fowler — Abroad and at home,
the friend of the union of science and practical Agriculture.

Prof. Fowler spoke briefly, and gave the following sentiment :

English Improved Agriculture — a light to guide the American
farmer, when the circumstances are the same in the two countries, or
a beacon to warn, Avhen they are different.

The next regular sentiment was : The Agricultural Press — we
are happy to see the Editor of the Boston Cultivator.

It being late, Mr. Howard made a few remarks, and concluded
with the following sentiment :

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

The State Board of Agriculture -was represented by Secretary Flint,
President Hitchcock, Mr. Brewer and Hon. Joseph Smith. The
Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin Society was represented by its
President, Paoli Lathrop, Esq., — and the Hampden Society by its
President, Francis Brewer, Esq., and Secretary, Mr. A. A. Allen,
of Springfield.

The announcment of premiums, a vote of thanks to the Orator for
his address, and a complimentary vote to the South Hadley Band
and IMontague Glee Club, concluded the dinner exercises.

ADDRESS.

Mr. President and Gentlemen :

When the farmers throw down the trophies of their
twelvemonth's pacific campaign before the pubhc, and so
put their husbandry on exhibition, they virtually challenge
a public criticism. Leaving, then, for a day, the natural
privacy of their profession, they make confession of larger
relationships. They acknowledge amenableness to those
common standards of judgment that try the whole man-
hood. It will be only according to the liberties, if not
indeed the rights, of the jubilee, therefore, if we hold
their calling up into the light of those catholic claims
imposed by the thinking and the policy, the conscience
and the aftections of humanity, in these times. Perhaps I
may find an intimation that you prefer what suggestions
are to be offered here should follow this liberal course, in
the fact that you have invited a voice from outside your
own regular ranks — shall I say the voice of a deserter,
or an exile, or an admiring ally 1 — to address you.

To aid my purpose, let us take the farmer on his own
domain. Let us go back and meet him on the farm.
Suppose that, standing there in some interval of his work,
he looks up and about him : he will very likely notice four
familiar objects in his scenery — because they are the
common monuments of our Puritan inheritance, and the
universal signals of our republican and New England
order of life. I mean the School-house, the Town Hall,
4

26 TRANSACTIONS.

the Church, and the Homestead. Let me take these four
structures as the visible symbols of four great classes of
his relations to the world, which I wish to bring under
your survey ; and thus they shall fix the method and the
limits of my address. AVithout threatening you either
with a scientific dissertation, or a political treatise, or a
sermon of theology, or a domestic lecture, I wish to repre-
sent, if I can, under these convenient types, something of
the dignity of your freehold, as farmers, in our modern,
American heritage of free thought, free industry, free
worship, and free affections.

I. As towards the School-house just as it stands, with
its various equipments for the intellectual discipline and
furnishing of youth, I take it for granted every Massachu-
setts farmer will follow the most careful and most generous
treatment. He will be its eager and unflagging patron.
He will rob his own children of no portion of their right-
ful bounty in its sphere of noble study, by calling them off
to help out the meagre force of labor at home, thus starving
their brains while he fattens his mutton ; inverting nature,
by growing lordly sheep and sheepish boys. He will
grudge no taxation that provides the best teacher that the
most thorough committee can hire. He will see to it, that
in its architecture, its order, its surrounding beauty, and
all its apparatus and appointments of instruction, this
little Smithsonian Institute of his district represents the
best genius of the neighborhood, and reflects the educa-
tional wisdom of the day.

But beyond this ordinary fealty to good learning, I take
the School-house as signifying also that whole contribution
of science to agriculture, which is now one of the acknowl-
edged and prime requisites of your vocation. And here
my subject opens into a somewhat wider scope.

There is a rather irregular and unorganized, but on the
whole progressive, body of information^ which is called, by
courtesy, the Science of Agriculture. It is gradually
taking the shape and proportions, under your intelligent
authors and periodicals, of other and exacter sciences. If
we seize this body of knowledge precisely in its present

ADDRESS. 2T

position, and speak to its present exigency, M^e shall find,
I suspect, that it has passed through its first stage, viz.,
its era of general discovery, and is now waiting for the
patient hand of detailed experiment, and the organizing
effects of a comprehensive induction.

I said it has passed through its first sta<;e, or era of
general discovery. The fact is, it passed through that
stage so long ago, and stood still so long after, that it
might reasonably have been doubted whether it ever meant
to go on. If there is anything amazing in human history,
I suppose it is the stationary attitude assumed by this
radical employment of man, from the period of its origin
in Syria, wiiich must have been somewhere near Adam's
time, down to about the present century. Consider that
the race of proper ploughs — the only ploughs we should
recognize as worthy the name — the basis implement of
the whole business — is only about eighty years old.
One apology offered for this protracted state of catalepsy,
is an alleged double misfortune agriculture has had to
suffer from climate — both extremes entering into a con-
spiracy to put it back ; since the tropics ripened everything
for it without the trouble of cultivation, while the frozen
regions made it so much trouble to cultivate that it would
not try. This explanation would answer pretty well, if
nature had not happened to spread out a belt of territory
round the globe, which is neither arctic nor torrid, but
temperate, of very respectable dimensions, and admirably
fitted for any progressive demonstrations, had our enter-
prising forefathers been so inclined. The simple truth
may as well be confessed at once : Our progenitors liked
fighting one another better than fighting stumps and
swamps. That was the world's boyhood, and, like the
few boys left in our day, who are not oldish little men in
short clothes, those swift and supple sinews chose the bow
and spear, with the big wrestling-ground of barbarian
tribes, before the civilizing but rather fatiguing pickaxe
and shovel. A better excuse, I am inclined to think,
though far from a sufficient one, will be found in the
paradoxical circumstance, that the great advantage of

28 TRANSACTIONS.

agricultural pursuits has been their great hindrance. I
mean the general independence they allow, as providing
in themselves the necessities of living. This supersedes
commerce, removes competition, and so tends to quench
enterprise.

In affirming agricultural science to have passed through
its epoch of general discovery, however, I referred not so
much to the rude and slow advances it made for thousands
of years earlier, as to the more recent period when it took
a sudden start forward, and may be said to have first risen
into the dignity of an intellectual concern. These dis-
coveries moved in two directions, chemical and mechanical.
Chemistry applied analysis to the Avhole material of agri-
culture, plants and animals and all products, as well as
soils ; whereas the stupidity of ages had been taking it for
granted that, since all earth is earth, it matters nothing
what its elements are, so the seed be under ground. Mech-
anism stretched out its hand, and gave the husbandman
a new set of tools — a branch of the general turn for
mechanical invention and elaboration that has marked the
mental movement of the last hundred years. By both
these agencies, not only was a new principle introduced
into the action of agriculture, but at the same time accrued
an enlargement of its spirit and motive.

Of course, at the first, chemistry did very little with her
crucible, and mechanism comparatively little with its smith-
eries and factories. Both have, probably, only begun
their magical economics yet. But it is none the less true,
that in the simple discovery of the fact^ that chemistry,
along Avith geology and physiology, has relations to farm-
ing, and could he made to help it, in the bare establishing
of that fact^ was a grander crisis in the history of this
business than is likely ever to come again. So in the
demonstrated feasibility of labor-saving machinery, after
the wooden ploughshare and the live-stock threshing-ap-
paratus of centuries, there was the turning of a corner,
the opening of a new page, the sudden light that always
breaks in with the sunrise of a fresh principle, which did
more for you than perhaps can be done again. So that if

ADDRESS. 29

it is modest ever to predicate such a thing of any interest,
in a day so pregnant with wonders as ours, we might
venture to declare, that the grandeurs of reformation,
the cardinal revolutions, and the Lutheran age, in agricul-
ture, are passed.

What, at any rate, is the precise direction of the efforts
wanted now, and demanded of you, as farmers who, in
cultivating the earth, mean to cultivate yourselves 1 It
will be found, I suspect, that the answer to this question
is as practical a theme, and as well worth your study, as
any that the proprieties of to-day could possibly suggest.
We hear much vaguely said of the need of enlightened
farming — it has been the topic of repeated occasions like
this: it is worth inquiring, where, precisely, at just this
time, that light should be made to fall in.

In the first place, the posture of New England farmers
as they are, exposes the need of rousing still further what
may be called the spirit of the profession. It has its
own rights, privileges, duties, and titles to homage. I
remember, of course, how the very Festival that calls
us together, the wide departments of your annual dis-
play, with similar gatherings enlivening other counties
and states in this part of the year, are proofs that this
process of quickening has already begun, and goes on.
But then I remember, as well, how large a numerical
majority of those who are called farmers of Hampshire
fail altogether to represent themselves at the Fair ; how
many others are present, not as competitors in the
arena, but only as gazers at a brilliant but distant and
uninstructive pageant ; and how inconsiderable, if I may
say so, is the number that carry away such vital impulses,
or such solid ideas, as will tell on the direct management
of their own acres, and their next year's seed, and crops,
and stock. This living and ardent interest which turns
every item in the spectacle, every colt and cow, pig and
parsnip, heifer and hen, rug and rareripe, to a stimulating
value, and nerves a more resolute purpose to make the
most of each man's, or woman's, personal chance, — this
is the sort of ambition that pushes your pursuit forward,

30 TRANSACTIOXS.

converting it from a servile drudgery to one of the elegant
arts, and winning for it heights of excellence and honor.
I am afraid it must be acknowledged that intellectual
apathy has been the drowsy curse that has so long som-
nambulized agriculture ; and if it will serve to soften the
accusation from an outside party, I will put the pulpit in
with the plough ; though who knows but if there were
less dull planting, the wholesome contagion would run up
the pulpit stairs, and there would be less dull preaching ?
Or, if it seems ungracious to press this charge just when
the sleepers are waking up, I remind you, on the other
hand, that these occasional signs of animation only cast
the adjacent obstinacy into a more palpable disgrace. It
is not that cheering signals of invigorated intelligence are
not stirring the air ; but that these better notions are not
made to work their way out, and settle down on the actual
fields, and regenerate your daily operations. Hence, I
say, what you want is, by the help of the School, some
systematic means of pushing every improvement out into
the mass that have not yet arisen to come in search of it.

If you will allow me to ask questions. Are there no
tokens to be found among you, that some of the primary
maxims of the improved husbandry are as completely
disregarded as the bulletins of the Chinese rebellion ?
Are there no fields lying in Hampshire, this fall, whose
dwarfish crops proclaim as dismally as language could,
that it has not yet been found out by their owners that
potatoes and turnips crave potash, that clover and peas
want lime, that wheat and oats hunger for silex and phos-
phoric acid, just as voraciously as the Irishman in the
kitchen wants the potatoes, horses the clover, or children
late home from school the wheat ?

Are there not certain triangular stains smirching the
sides of barns under the stable-windows, left there by ma-
nure-heaps that took all weathers with no roof, which tell
every passer-by that these prodigal feeders, though they
locked the barn doors every night, and set traps for foxes,
and sent constables after the thief that stole their apples,
forgot that the atmosphere has a sly way of turning

ADDRESS.

di

robber, as well as giver, — that the sun and rain filch as
well as fertilize, — and so did not shelter nor fasten down,
by boards and muck and forest leaves and plaster, those
volatile salts and gases which these noiseless marauders
were snatching up into the sky, — so much gold out of their
pockets '? You would hardly applaud the thrift of a man-
ufacturer that throws away a quarter of his raw material.
Are there no specimens of stock, in the yards and pas-
tures of these towns, rawboned and diseased, and lean as
the leanest kine of Pharaoh, — walking illustrations of
the " anatomy of melancholy," — which seem to show that
the problem in their keeping has been reduction to the
lowest terms, — and the multiplying of exceedingly vulgar
fractions of beasts, — or finding the equation between^ the
minimum of attention and the maximum of emaciation 1
Is there none of this stock usurping the place, and consum-
ino- the fodder, which of right belong to cattle, that should be
here in Amherst taking premiums, — stock that has been
badly selected, badly crossed, badly reared, — incarnated or
rather inskeletoned libels on the whole law of reproduc-
tion '?

On the other hand, have you all discovered the real phil-
osophy and economy there is in feeding your cattle on
pine boards ^ in other words, discovered that if you put
them into a warm stable, instead of letting them shiver on
the north side of it, all the drizzly and frosty weather of
winter, you thereby provide fuel for their vital sustenance
which the furnace in their lungs would otherwise have to
borrow from their stomachs, to keep up the temperature, at
the cost of a fifth more in quantity of meal or hay ^ Have
you acted on the false presumption that young cattle will
eat up the third-rate stufi", like stalks and straw, with a better
appetite, if they are not allowed anything else, — whereas
the truth of their dietetics is, that they will swallow this
inferior food far more easily at noon, if you lubricate
their throats with a little more epicurean catering for
breakfast 1

Are there no dilapidated buildings, filthy front yards,
staggering fences, broken tools scattered over haymows

32 TRANSACTIONS.

and cornbins and woodpiles, instead of hanging cleansed
and polished in a tool-room, — all vile witnesses how it is
forgotten that prosperity never takes the arm of a sloven 1

Now these neglects seem to show that, over and above the
attainments of a few scholarly persons, or rather between
their science and the practical work of the multitude,
there is needed a connecting link, — something to kindle
in Messrs. Smith, Jones and Brown, out on the lots, an
appreciative concern for the writings and deductions of
Messrs. Liebig and Norton, Hitchcock, Jackson and Har-
ris, in their studies and laboratories. An exhibition is
opened to some purpose, if an emulation is provoked by it
that sends every man home from cattle-show, determined
that he will be a master on his acres, and not a plantation
slave driven by the whip of necessity, — an orighial creator
by his mind, and not the mere manual drudge of habit.

But something else is needed besides this wakening of
ambition. It cannot be denied that the large accessions
recently made to agricultural knowledge, fail sometimes
to secure confidence and adoption among ^Hactical men,
from a cause more legitimate and a little more reputable
then sheer stupidity. A distrust has been created towards
the recommendations of professedly scientific authorities
by a plain contradiction between the theory and the trial.
You are told, perhaps, with an air of dogmatic assurance,
by some book or lecturer, that by a certain tillage you may
be sure of gathering eighty bushels of Indian corn, from
an acre of your ground. You comply with the conditions,
but gather only forty bushels of the corn. Your weekly
agricultural paper extols poudrette, and advertises for
the dealer. You send the money, and get the article,
but not the expected profit. A theory advises you that if
you will j)ut in a subsoil plough, you will double your
harvest. You try it, and harvest less than last year. The
Agricultural Society recommends a new mowing-machine ;
you pay for it ; it does not work, and lies rusting, an ugly
eyesore, in the shed. These are very common experiences
in all parts of the country. In each case, there is partial
information, which is one form of falsehood. The dressing

ADDRESS.

33

was applied to the wrong soil ; the subsoiling was tried in
the wrong place ; the machine was handled in the Avrong
way, or had some loose screw. The pupil is deceived,
either by superficial instruction, charlatanry, or his own
haste; and so book-farming falls into contempt. Both are
wronn-, the instruction and the contempt. Let us see

why.

the main oversight of the recent efforts at improvement
has been a too hasty generalization, and a deficiency in
patient, painstaking, accurate records of experiment. A
few brilliant announcements have dazzled our eyes ; san-
guine lips have trumpeted abroad spurious maxims ; and
the o-olden age of great profits and easy times has been
heai^ knocking at the doors. Following the explosion of
this sophistry is apt to come a reaction of discouragement,
as unreasonable as the flattery. What the interests ^ of
your profession seem to me to be imperatively demanding
just now, therefore, will be two things : 1. The most rigid
and thorough experiment, as to every detail and particular
of every mode of tillage, eni'iching and renewing of lands,
breeding of stock, and new implements, taking into ac-
count all the most minute and variable conditions, data,
circumstances, attending that experiment : and 2. A faith-
ful, exact, and systematized registration of every such
experiment, including specific statements as to all the par-
ticulars alluded to. This is that second stage, following
the era of general discovery, which agricultural imi)rove-
ment has next to pass through ; a period of thorough
experiment, and scrupulous registration. Till we have
the tests and tables only thus 'to be furnished, we have
no rational induction, and of course no development of
principles that will give us a proper science. The more
extensive and diversified these experiments on a given
question are, throughout the country, the sounder your
basis for an induction. Then let these records, bearing
the stamp of more precision than is common in county
reports hitherto, duly and responsibly authenticated, be
brought together and collated by competent hands, —
and vou have got a body not of theories but of facts, —
5

34 TRANSACTIONS.

facts that will justify a broad and impregnable general-
ization, fit to be published, and constituting a noble con-
tribution to substantial science.

One prime difficulty that will attend these processes
will be an inadequate sense of the liability to deception.
If you would meet those enemies to real advancement from
which the farmer has already suffered so much, — careless
statements and half-established conclusions, — you must
bring into tlie field exact weights and measures, exact ob-
servations of climate and weather, exact attention to every
element that may influence the result. Such credulous rules
of evidence as suffice for tea-table gossip, or stories of table-
rappings, will not answer. There must be a search for
disturbing causes, not on one side only, but all sides. If
the case is one pertaining to an out-door crop, like wheat for
instance, consider the variety of elements you have got to
watch and include in your report. There is, first, the
quality, species and pedigree of the seed sown ; there is
the time of sowing ; there is not only the composition of
the soil, but its mechanical preparation, its comminution
by plough and harrow, its situation as regards exposure
to the sun, latitude, springs of water, and the antecedent
crops taken from it; then there is the whole subject of
manures, as to ingredients, condition, amount, and mode
and time of application ; then the direct treatment of the
crop on the ground ; the cost of labor ; then the subtle
and fugitive meteorological changes ; then the relation of
the growth to diseases ; still further, there is the harvest-
ing, threshing, and winnowing, — for it has lately been
ascertained that wheat subjected to one of the new ma-
chines, though fair in appearance, loses somehow a portion
of its germinating, or reproductive power ; and finally,
not only the measurement but the weight of the yield, —
for, as you know, wheat of the same apparent plumpness
ranges over a difference of five or ten pounds' weight to
the bushel. Now, it is not till you have brought into
your registration each of these twenty-three specifications
that you can be said to have furnished returns of this crop
of wheat. There is not one of them, which a thorough-

ADDRESS. 35

bred scientific manipulator, if the case were transferred to
the laboratory, would not despise himself for leaving out.

The same necessity "for thoroughness exists in all other
branches of the business. When you take up a lump of
premium butter, you have hold of what seems to be a very
simple, home-made fact, and a very pleasant one. But
this fact has an antecedent biography, — and before the
oily cake has slipped through your fingers, or elsewhere,
if you are a good farmer, and a good Yankee, you have
at least a dozen questions to ask about it, — how the fact
has come to be, — all the way from the cow and the cow's
mother, and grandparents, on to the toast. You want a
written natural history of this lump, ab ovo usque ad ma-
lum.

Nor is farming singular, in this respect, among the
sciences. Look at the nicety of astronomical calculations.
Look at the minute mixtures of the chemist. Look at the
hair-balances, and tests of exquisite delicacy, in every phi-
losophical apparatus. Observe the almost awful precision
exacted in clinical surgery. Furnish a Herschell's dis-
coveries without the achromatic lens and infallible mount-
ings of his telescope and siderial clock, with the horizontal
and vertical adjustments of transit instruments, air-bubble
and spider-lines ; conceive of a Bergman's or Faraday's
analyses, without atomic weights and unimpeachable tables
and mathematical proportions, and you may expect a
perfectly intelligent agriculture, without this sharp in-
spection, and these unquestionable statistics. Why should
you desire exemption from them"? They are what invest
your calling with its lasting interest, — its intellectual
charm. They furnish the sort of fascination that is likely
to pique and attract the curiosity of bright young men.
I can even imagine a man's having his sleep broken, his
pulse accelerated, and his nerves in tension, while he
watches for the impending result of one of these elaborate
and exciting experiments, like the issue of some well-
matched game.

I have spoken of the need of these tentative processes.
I appeal to your own experience. There are few of that

36 TRANSACTIONS.

more progressive class of farmers that form societies, and
arrange exhibitions, like this, who have not some time
been victims of crude statements. Indeed, it is quite ex-
traordinary how many of what are now the prominent
subjects, most interesting and most discussed, relating to
practical husbandry, remain from year to year open and un-
decided questions, with about as much said on one side as
the other ; when nothing is wanted but trials enough and
attention enough, to settle them peremptorily. In Mas-
sachusetts alone, there are farmers enough at work, if
they would continue their observations, to determine any of
them in two seasons. Make what allowance you will for
that wide margin of uncertainty that always hangs about
a business so dependent on seasons and weather, still, I
say, Nature, reverentially and resolutely studied, never
cheats her disciples. Find her laws, and, rely upon it,
they never will miscarry. You have only to talk with
your neighbors, or turn over the files of any agricultural
journal, to find examples of what I refer to. What uni-
versal rules have been established, for instance, as to the
mode of applying manures ? Yet why should there not
be rules, for all cases, as much as for the silversmith in
mingling metals, or the apothecary drugs ? Subsoiling
has been preached for some five years past, both here and
in England, as the Columbus discovery of modern tillage,
revealing to every farmer a new territory underneath his
cultivated one ; you are pointed to Lord John Russell's
turnips, and the Rackheath wheat. But does the practice
actually apply as well to New England as Old ? Is there
an oifset to its benefits in later crops and more exposure to
frost ] AVhat are its relations to under-drainage 1 Does it
relieve wet lands, or render them more hopelessly soaked
and spongy 1 Is it equally good for a dry, friable soil on a
sand-hill, as I have seen to be true in one case, or is it any
better than the common deep ploughing as they practise it
in Surrey and some parts of Yorkshire"? Now what I
affirm is, that each of these queries ought to have one,
definite, indisputable, experimental answer, recorded where
it can be got at ; an answer put beyond the region of con-
jecture, and rooted in authenticated facts.

ADDRESS. 37

Again, of the application of lime, the preconceptions of
chemical theory would seem to promise that it belongs only
to non-calcareous soils ; yet does not experience show
instances where a calcareous soil has been specially fer-
tilized by carbonate of lime 1 And if so, what are the con-
ditions that generate the anomalous result '?

Again, within two months, I have seen in a single number
of a popular agricultural periodical, tAVO communications,
both in a very positive tone, taking precisely opposite
grounds on the question whether, in salting hay, the salt
may be thrown on the top of the mow and left to inter-
penetrate the mass, or must be cast into each separate
forkful, or layer, as the hay is pitched from the cart.

Again, the Deerfield farmers, in this State, close by the
celebrated residence of Henry Colman too, dispute one
another to this day as to the value of the " old tore " to a
grass crop, some of them insisting that it helps the next
yield, and others that it is better to keep the sward close.

Or, once more, what is the right law of producing fer-
tilizing agents "? Must we continue the old fashion of
spending the winter in feeding out all that we spend the
summer in gathering in, copying the circle of the snake
that swallows his tail, or is there some better way 1 And
will more be gained by following the famous aphorism of
the Earl of Leicester, " The more meat a ploughing ftirmer
sends to Smithfield, the more corn he may sell at Mark
Lane," or by raising young cattle ?

Now what may be asserted of each of these mooted
points is, not that every one of you may not have an opinion
upon it, and be very sure he is right ; but that his next
door neighbor is likely to have an opposite opinion ;
whereas, both being reducible by experiment to fact, there
ought to be, not opinions, but knowledge. The condi-
tions of a given result ought to be as clearly determined
as the oxidation in electro-magnetic machinery, combus-
tion under a steam engine, or the proportions of chlorine
and hydrogen in thirty-seven pounds of muriatic acid. In
looking over the several reports of the county societies
for the last year, I see complaints on half the pages of

38 TRAXSACTIOXS.

non-compliance with the rules of the committees in refer-
ence to accurate returns. One reason, I suppose, is, that
a farmer begins the season with no idea of competing, and
therefore keeps no record ; but unexpectedly finding
Nature has favored him with a remarkable product, he
takes it to exhibition, hoping his blunder will not forfeit
his chance. This suggests whether it would not be well
worth while, not only to withhold the premium on ac-
count of the omission, but to establish a separate prize for
the best method and most accurate specimen, in reporting
the whole internal history and transactions of the hus-
bandry of the year.

What the school house is saying to the farmer, there-
fore, as the voice of the age in behalf of his science, is :
While you are never to be afraid to think, and never to
stop that study which is both the pabulum and gymna-
sium of the thinking faculty, — be specially true to this
second stage of agricultural advancement, — the stage of
patient, various experiment, and exact registration. Hold
up steady lights over your own path, and your children's.
Remember the distinction between theory and science.
Theory infers from a single fact, or a few facts, and fills
out the deficit with a guess. Science requires a broader
base for its induction, and facts enough to justify the af-
firmation of a law. What we want to come at, in Nature,
are her laws, not stopping with sporadic and fragmentary
phenomena. What we want of the separate phenomena,
is to marshal and compare them, and so make them ancil-
lary to conclusions. Interrogate Nature, then. Besiege
her with all manner of curiosity. Pound, and push, and
caress, and entreat, and importune her, till you wrench
her secret from her bosom. It is to incite our faculties,
that obscurity veils so many of her treasures.

To this end, that he may be his own professor, scholar,
secretary, and reporter, let every farmer have as complete
an apparatus as he can afibrd, for conducting his examina-
tions, and nice admeasurements. Then let him enter his
daily record, with special respect for arithmetic. Let him
keep a running debt and credit account with every acre of

ADDRESS. 39

his land, as much as with his blacksmith and grocer, and
post his books. This will sharpen liis wits, double his
relish, and shed a steady mtellectual irradiation through
his whole employment. •

Then, in addition, there ought to be some national pub-
lication, emanating from an agricultural department in the
government, where nothing should be included but reliable
results, collected from the entire survey of facts, somewhat
like the Philosophical Transactions of a lloyal Academy,
only made up more directly from the sources of practical
life.

I must not leave speaking of the relation of the farmer
to the School-house without asking why agriculture, besides
making the most of all existing forms of education from
the primary school to the college, — and there certainly
ought to be no further delay, it seems to me, in introducing
into the higher classes of our rural district schools some
succinct and lucid text-book, like that of Professor Nash,
for example, — but, besides that, why agriculture may not
have a larger school-house, i. e., a college, of its own. It
will be a striking case of forbearance, or something worse,
gentlemen, if the grand staple business and fundamental oc-
cupation of this country is content much longer, without
endowed and furnished institutions for training young men
up to the highest pitch of agricultural accomplishment
possible to the age. When it can be shown how the art
of destroying men's lives is nobler than the art that saves
them, or havoc and slaughter are better than peaceful
production, then the government may be able to apologize
for not giving agriculture a West Point, as well as war,
and for not representing the soil in the Cabinet. The
national policy of maintaining a Central Bureau for the
army and navy, with none for husbandry, is much like a
man's expending so much on a choice collection of pistols
and poisons, that he has nothing left for good meat and
flour.

Of the question, whether a thorough agricultural edu-
cation can be got to the best advantage on a private farm,
or at some pubhc seminary, there is undoubtedly much to

40 TRANSACTIONS.

be said on both sides. Probably the true method will be
very much like the usual preparation for the professions
of law and medicine, where a part of the course is taken
among the lectures, and libraries, and cabinets of a uni-
versity, and the remainder among the usages of the office.
For mastering the science proper, the student will need
such resources as few private citizens can afford ; but he
must also handle the tools. Without the first, he will be
an empiric ; without the last, an awkward visionary. In
the former case, his hands may be brown, and his face
crimson ; but in the latter, his fingers will be white, and
his whole management of a decided green.

Whatever great achievements have been reached in any
field of thought have owed their finest impulses to an
educated class, minds trained by special opportunities,
some " sacred band," whose learning has quickened the
ambition of the mass, and raised the intellectual tone to
their own level. In the air that circulates through New
England, no man's position is so humble as to forbid his
aspiring to be one of that order of nobility. It is for the
common interest, at least, to provide means to multiply it.
If the inherent passion for excellence in what you under-
take, if a love of perfection for its OAvn beautiful sake, if
an honorable professional pride, will not compel these
energetic reforms, then let that lower motive, which insti-
gates you to take off from each acre, every year, more
dollars than you put on.

This lightening labor, or increasing the proceeds of
labor, which amounts to the same thing, is not the attempt
of idlers to shirk their task. It has a better justification.
Take facts as they stand. Why do your young men run,
as by some universal instinct, from the farm, where they
were born, to the city, where they so often learn to wish
they had not been born anywhere ? Chiefly — whatever
explanation they may put forward as having a handsomer
look — chiefly because on the farm there is supposed to be
an inevitable doom to hard, monotonous, wearing bodily toil,
from daylight to sundown, life through, with no room for
mental expansion, or generous tastes, or social recreation ;

ADDRESS. 41

and, secondly, because, after all this labor, the farmer
makes too little money. Nor will my faith in young
men's natures suffer me to believe this is always a sordid
calculation with them. For, in thinking of money, they
think of it oftener as a means than an end. They want it
for what it brings. On the farm, very frequently, are
rooms without books, walls without pictures, manners
without grace, clothes without fitness, and grounds with-
out shaping or decoration. On the contrary, the city
merchant buys a library and works of art, sends his
children to schools where they learn to move with elegance
as well as to cipher and parse, gets garments that are
finer and fit, and is not so exhausted physically at night-
fall as to prefer sleep to any company or book. He comes
back into the country, and lays out a beautiful estate,
sometimes with statelier animals, and selector fruits, and
tidier fences and hedges, and more blooming gardens on
it, than his neighbor, who has all the while been staying
there and making farming the business of his life. Now,
it would be a hard task in persuasion to convince most
young men that these things are not good, not desirable,
and that the dollars which command them are not of the
nature of an advantage. I confess 1 should be a bad
subject for such persuasion myself. Besides, these things
are all of the nature of picture-work ; the boy cannot help
seeing them ; they work upon him while he stops on his
way from pasture under the fragrant shrubbery, or peeps
through the pickets at the mellow peaches and pears.

I know perfectly how apt his sanguine blood, and his
ignorance of the ninety-odd failures in a city for every
single success, are to put a fallacy into his plans and cheat
his choice. But none the less is it true, what he goes to
the city for is a chance, though but a chance, for certain
means of refinement, liberality, and width in the whole
style of life, such as scarcely a mere farmer about him, in
the old way of farming, has displayed. Who ever knew a
confident and chivalrous youth to doubt he should be one
of the five that succeed, though five hundred fail 1 And,
moreover, many young men at that aspiring period of life,
6

42 TRAKSACTIONS.

before the charm and glory of early ideals have faded off,
thh'st honestly for more stimulus to mental action, more
enlarging ministries to thought, than they have found in
rural places. This they dream of finding in the pressure
of crowds and the sharp collisions of traffic. Perhaps
they dream delusions ; but this is the feeling. Depend
upon it, if you would hold your sons and brothers back
from roaming away into the perilous centres, you must
steadily make three attempts — to abate the taskwork of
farming, to raise maximum crops and profits, and to sur-
round your work with the exhilarations of intellectual
progress. You must elevate the whole spirit of your
vocation, for your vocation's sake, till no other can outstrip
it in what most adorns and strengthens a civilized state.

II. I have intentionally used so much space for the
scholarly aspects of your profession, gentlemen, that I have
left very little for the other three objects in the farmer's
outlook, — the Town-hall, the Church, and the Homestead.
I shall only touch each briefly, in the way of suggestion.
The Town-hall I take as the symbol of your relations to
the social compact, the body politic, or by whatever other
name you may choose to describe the powers and functions
of civil government. And when we have gone to the
bottom of the matter, whether by the way of philosophy
or Christianity, we shall find that the fundamental idea of
politics is mutual protection and friendly intercourse. I
do not say of feudal, or partisan, or aristocratic, or im-
perial politics, — for the law of their life has too manifestly
been mutual repulsion and aggression ; but of the true,
ultimate, divine politics. Not to hold each other back,
and pull each other down, and rob, and stab, but to con-
federate for the common good, and to complete an economy
of universal growth, by means of equal labor, whereof all
shall take the benefit, — this is the real and providential
office, whether of separate empires or of the several inter-
ests under the same administration. Hence it follows
that you serve the cause of good government when you do
two things, — when you perfect your own business as one
of the great productive forces which feed and cover hu-

APDUKSS- 43

manity, — and when you bring that calling hito amity and
reciprocity with other callings. Unless God fails to fur-
nish a law for his children in his own love, the right po-
litical state for mankind is the state of brotherhood. The
same law holds of trades, handicrafts, professions, as of
persons. These pursuits enter into their " holy alliance,"
when they harmonize the two aims, to improve themselves
and help one another. The commonwealth is not
served, till the different branches of industry merge
their jealousies in good- will. You read this law in
the beautiful balancings, and musical accord, in which
the Divine Spirit has attuned his creation. The very
lands you daily traverse and handle, preach the right
doctrine of politics. Animal, vegetable, mineral king-
doms support one another. Sun and water, vapor and vege-
tation, earth and clouds, are ever friendly and hospitable ;
they are perpetually running on some missionary errand
in each other's behalf; their bureau of benevolence is
older than the Holy College. And so it happens that no
class of men are so well fitted as you, to re-stamp this
divine intention on civil institutions and public laws. If
there is any order that can be looked to, to pull off dis-
guises from selfish demagogues, — voting greediness and
falsehood out of office, and single-hearted patriotism in, —
it must be your own order, — the order of Christian chiv-
alry, whose knights errant are the men that " conquer all
hard weather," whose martial music is the rustle of corn,
and the stroke of flails, — who give you, instead of coats
of arms, arms with the coats thrown off, and for banners
sheaves of grain.

Never turn your backs, farmers, on the Town-hall.
Never lose a vote. Take a lesson from your own craft.
Try a political candidate by his back-bone. Give the
crafty and supple dodger the outside row. Treat the
drones as the bees do. Understand the men that are set
up for office, and if they are not true men who can show
you an honest eye, and a brave conscience, take care to set
them gently down again. See that agriculture gets as
much honor from legislatures as institutions that are more

44 TRANSACTIONS.

showy and talkative. Read state papers and public de-
bates. Avoid that wasteful economy which shortens the
post-office bill, to lengthen the lawyer's. In these times,
an agricultural people may know public men, and the
true bearings of public events, as well as the busy throngs
that trample pavements. There is no genuine reform
that is not on the farmer's side, and he is bound to be a
reformer of the constructive kind. Respect for law is in-
stilled into him by the benignant regularity of seed-time
and harvest. Reserve your destructive enginery for
the weeds and caterpillars. He is exhorted to temper-
ance by all the intimacy of his habits with nature.
Commerce is his common carrier, and asks his protec-
tion. Manufactures and metropolis are his market ; the
jealousy that would cripple them wrongs himself And
all his life, the free winds and open sky over his head
nurse in him that vigorous loyalty to republican liberty,
that sympathy for the struggles of freedom everywhere,
and that intense and rooted abhorrence of all slavery and
despotism, which are the birthright of his blood, the in-
stinct of his calling, and the inspiration of his soul.

III. By this public spirit, by disinterested patriotism,
and a faithful conscience towards human welfare, the farm-
er will already have begun to feel holier ties attracting
him to citizenship in the kingdom of heaven. It is by
divine right that the church spire overtops all the struc-
tures that men's hands build, and hallows the landscape
with its aspiration. Handling God's workmanship every
hour, and treading his solemn temple-floor at every step,
an unbelieving farmer is in some manner guilty of per-
petual sacrilege. If any man's daily task puts him close
to the eternal secrets of the universe, and into communion
with the awful hiding-places of Almighty power, it is his.
If any man is instructed in a creed that is at once devout
and charitable, a piety at once reverential Christ-ward and
generous man-ward, it is he. The deeper shame to all his
manly sense, if he is not touched with the religiousness of
his august surroundings, and if he does not blend worship
with his work. Nature may not reverse her order, nor

ADDRESS. 46

unbar her everlasting ordinations, to dispel the illusions of
his unrighteous prosperity with a miracle ; but none the
less does she carry the scourge in her hand, and keep her
eye on him till his time.

Christianity is the patron of his labor, ar.d ever has
been. While she was shut up in monasteries, it is true
she had no chance to breathe on him her benediction.
But the moment she was let free from the bondages of
that false guardianship, and walked forth in the immortal
beauty of her freedom and love, she spoke graciously to
the toilsman, and exalted labor. Again the common
people heard the Master gladly. The Protestant refor-
mation was the charter of emancipated handicrafts as well
as the Pentecost of a free church. It stretched its hand
over the tilled fields of Northern Europe, and industry
woke to a new and nobler life. Thenceforth Christian
literature spoke in honor of agriculture, not with the ef-
feminate sentiment, the dainty rhetoric, and patronizing
pastorals of Pagan classics. Virgil and Theocritus did not
know how to glorify work in its influence on character.
It was only under Revelation, that the dignity which
heathendom had accorded to hands red with human blood
began to be transferred to hands stained with the soil.
But ever since the ladder of light sprang from beside the
Patriarch's head in the stony pasture of Bethel, the Bible
has striven to show the husbandman that all his fields
open upward into heaven.

Our believing ancestry knew what the corner-ston,e of
civilization is. Learn from them, that your acres will lie
in the light of the Father s smile, only as they lie un-
profaned in the light of Sabbath mornings, only as the
church bell rings over their still glebe and resting " cattle
on a thousand hills," only as you and your children go
reverently up from them to the confessions of the sanctuary.
Your waving grain, and ripening corn, and growing herds,
will never wear such beauty, as when you pass them on
your grateful way to the courts of praise. Make the
growing wealth of your better industry to adorn and en-
large the outward temples of the Living God. The temple

46 TRANSACTIONS.

will react with thousand-fold benefactions on your hus-
bandry and your heart. Let your devotions take sincerity
from your earnest life. Let your creed take largeness
from the catholicity of your out-door and heaven-arched
employments. The school-house, the farm-house, the town-
house, may well bend in homage to the meeting-house.
For learning without faith is but ambitious discontent;
and government without Christianity is power without
principle ; and home without the beatitudes is only an
animal's stall and bed, with no sacred joy and no spiritual
peace. Besides, are there not acres among all your fields,
where the only growths are gravestones and mounds, and
the flowers planted by mourning love ; where the only
seed-time is that ordained by the sad necessity, " That
which thou sowest is not quickened except it die ; " and
whose only " harvest is at the end of the world 1 " At that
gate of the valley you will want a warmer and surer faith
than Nature and her unpitying skies reveal; another
promise of immortality than the poor prophesying of the
worm and the chrysalis. You will want a Gospel, a Naza-
reth, a Calvary. And so you will go forth from your home,
and pass the school-house and the town-house by, and
enter in with grateful hope at the church door, on the
village green, and bend towards the altar.

IV. If now, finally, we go back with him from all these
exterior liabilities to his own premises again, we shall
hardly need, by this time, to memorialize the farmer of
what is required of him in his house. If the school has
disciplined his thinking faculty and refined his taste, if the
town-meeting has waked in him the exalting sense of citi-
zenship, if the church has lifted his heart into communion
with the Father of all families, and inspired his conscience
by the prophecy of life eternal, he will scarcely be content
to live a drivelling dullard at home, to play the selfish
tyrant in the little political economy of kitchen and ])arlor,
or to be worse than an infidel by providing not for his
own. By derivation, the significance of your common
title, husband-ni^.n, holds you to something. Husband-
men, I suppose, are not bachelor-men. Our agricultural

ADDRESS. 47

college, when it is established, will have to find some more
consistent style for its diploma than Bachelor of Hushandry.
Now, as Nature has done her part towards furnishing a
husbandman, by making you a man, she seems to presume
you will finish the business by making yourself a husband.
And when you have done that initial duty, it will remain
for you to take off the edge of two satires I have
heard flung at married people, doubtless by some malig-
nant critic, who, on being asked what matrimony was like,
said it was "going home by daylight, after courtship's
masquerade," — and then, what married life was, that it
was " matrimony doing penance." Give him the lie.
Husband is house-hand^ or organizer of household life.
Organize it not only by the sterling, homebred, domestic
moralities, but by the binding charm of those thousand
amenities that distinguish a cultured home from a bar-
barian's hut. The delicate angel of the beautiful knocks
at your doors, and begs admission, as well as the strong
angel of the useful. Is there the fine eloquence of order,
is there the disposing touch of taste, is there the simple
and just adorning of nature, round all your doorstones, in
all your front lawns, on the walls, and tables, and furnish-
ing of your dwellings I How many hours of a spring
morning would it take to embower your windows with all
that is graceful in green foliage, and winning in floral
splendor ? Plant trees before you purchase Venetian blinds
and painted pickets. You will carry a tenderer and there-
fore a manlier heart in your breast all day, if you pass out
of a genial circle, through the fragrance of lilies, and roses,
and honeysuckles. See that the sons and daughters are
interlaced by bands more spiritual than gregarious bipeds.
Let the harmonies of evening music weave their souls into
some gentle and lofty sympathies, — gaining the boys over
from ruder pleasures and doubtful companionships by the
pre-occupying satisfactions of a cheerful, and courteous,
and hospitable fireside. Starve your palate, if need ever
were for such denial, to stock the library. Raise the tone
of farm-house table-talk, if you can, — and let the ladies
help, — above stale gossip, commonplaces of the day's work,

48 TRANSACTIONS.

and scandalous tattle. Hang the proceeds of your premiums
at cattle-show on the walls, not in battle scenes or daubed
millinery, but in the shadings of some pleading picture
that reflects a glorious idea, or a heroic sacrifice. House-
hold life is not to unfold into grace and moral loveliness
by accident, any more than the wealth of your orchard and
garden. It must be cultivated. And I take it Christianity
speaks of that higher kind of economy, as much as of
butcher s meat and breadstufFs, when it pronounces him
that pro vide th not for his own worse than an infidel.

Gentlemen, your patience has let me lead you through
this round of your relations, to school-house, town-hall,
church and homestead, — in unworthy fulfihnent of my
humble part in this day's varied and cheerful entertain-
ments. When I could not show you illustrious oxen, nor
aristocratic poultry, nor even an astonishing cheese, you
have kindly condescended to let me try in another way,
and do as I could by showing what is in my heart
towards your work. If I have seemed to judge your call-
ing by too strict a standard, I insist that I thus pay it only
the profounder compliment. By my love for it, I am jealous
that it realize its inherent and providential grandeur. To
brave natures, nothing is so exhilarating as an aim that
strains the sinews. Everything, in these times, demands
that our manhood, trained in whatever school, be made up on
a scale of magnanimous proportions. Everything threatens
and scorns a contracted culture, a stationary policy, and
an inactive brain. But beyond the common appeal uttered
to all modern men alike, it is for you to build up a character
that is distinctively professional. Show the world examples
that will bear inspection, — let who will be the judges, — of
the agricultural type of manhood. Boast nothing, but be
so much that boasting shall be excluded. If it be true,
that your class is now on the eve of vaster achievements than
have ever marked its progress yet, these furtherances are
to come only through the intellectual wakefulness, the
moral sincerity, the domestic virtue, the religious whole-
heartedness of you, its most favored members.

€ssM)s mx)i |Uprts.

AN ESSAY

ON THE ECONOMY OF AGRICULTURE.

BY L. W E T H E K E I, L.

The word Economy, at the present day, has a great vaiiety of ap-
plications. The ancient Greeks used it only with reference to domes-
tic affairs — never applying it to Agriculture, as now employed, but
used the word Geoponics, whenever speaking of what related to the
tillage of the earth. From the word husband which means a farmer,
or cultivator of the soil, is derived husbandry which signifies the busi-
ness of a farmer, or one engaged in Agriculture ; so that all that is
contained in the expression "Economy of Agriculture," is embodied,
or nearly so, in that good old Saxon household word, "husbandry,"
which is perfectly familiar to all, whose mother-tongue is the Anglo-
Saxon.

•'■ Puhlic Eco7io7ny,'" says Colton, "t« the application of knotoledge
derived from experience to a given position, to given interests and
to given institutions of an independent state or nation for the in^
crease of 2)uMic and private wealth^

Knowledge gives power to those who enter into partnership with Na-
ture for the purpose of multiplying those products upon which man must
subsist while a denizen of earth. Such knowledge as is derived from
experience and observation, is unlike that which is obtained from the-
ory predicated of hypothesis, founded upon speculation. Theory is
only valuable when founded on inferences drawn from principles estab-
lished upon facts derived from experience and careful observation in the
Laboratory of Nature. Theory in this sense, is true science, which
is to know, — or in a more general sense, certain knowledge, compre-
hending such facts and truths as will enable even a novice to practice
'Ij-; /'tt with a good dcgrc-,- '»f >-i.-,-p<;~ ^h^nrv. -'ti ;v.-v othor s^n-^-.

50 TKAN8ACTI0NS.

is science, falsely so called. Thousands, after having seen the end
and folly of hypothetical theories, are led to denounce all theory ;
which is about as wise as it would be to refuse all coin because of the
equally well known fact, that there is counterfeit coin in circulation.
Such show greater weakness in this case, than they did by suffering
themselves to be imposed upon by a mere charlatan at the outset.

The "application of knowledge derived from experience," is as
essential to the agricultor, as to the lawyer, the physician, the clergy-
man, the statesman, or those engaged in any other vocation where
these elements are considered requisite and necessary to prosperity
and success. Knowledge derived from tradition, it will be admitted,
has had and is still having too much influence in most of the arts and
professions. Do not eschew knowledge because it comes to you
through the medium of tradition, neither receive it because it claims
experience as its endorser ; for, in either case, you. may be deceived.
The Baconian, or inductive system as it is popularly denominated, is
almost as fruitful of imposture, as now hold and practiced, as the old
system of philosojahy which it supplanted. The rapid generalizations
and hasty conclusions denominated " knowledge derived from experi-
ence," constitute one of the great evils of the present age — and no
vocation, or profession, perhaps, is more infested with pseudodoxical
experimentists, or self-styled inductive teachers, than that of hus-
bandry.

Agriculture as an Art, has always been found in the highest state
of perfection where the greatest advancement in civilization and en-
lightenment have been made. In tracing the history of civilization in
connection with agriculture, it is found to consist of four distinct
periods, viz., that of the hunter, the shepherd, the farmer and the
gardener. Hunting, in the first period", was practiced for the purpose
of procuring the means of subsistence. The comforts and pleasures,
and luxuries of life are almost unknown in this state of society.
Caves and caverns in northern latitudes, are to the people as houses,
to protect them from the inclemency of the weather, and the peltings
of the storm. Lot dwelt in a cave, he and his daughters. From the
Savage life to that of the Shepherd or pastoral, the benefits or advan-
tages over the former, are of a positive kind. A home, a more cer-
tain subsistence, and more leisure for intellectual pursuits, are en-
joyed. The life of the shepherd is less the life of a wanderer than
that of the savage, and without mental culture, tends to indolence.
The prescriptive right of the shepherd tended to bring about the per-
manent division of land into farms, and to establish the right every

AG RICULTURAL ECON OMY . 51

individual has to the fruit of his own labor. Thus dawned upon the
pastoral, or shepherd life, the agricultural, which was soon succeeded
\>y the Horticultural pesiod, which is the highest state of terra-cul-
ture, and with it, is generally found associated moral and intellectual
culture, and, necessarily, a highly enlightened and advanced state of
civilization.

Hence, it may be inferred, that, whether a knowledge of Agricul-
ture and Horticulture was originally imparted to man by his Creator,
and partially lost by the fall and the barbarism which succeeded, or,
whether it is man's discovery, its introduction among savages, has a
tendency to produce civilization.

The conquests of Caesar introduced agriculture into Gaul — and
converted her woods and marshes into fertile and fruitful fields. Thus
have war and conquest on both continents, been succeeded by a higher
state of civilization, and so has been partially realized, the fulfilment
of the prophesy, that the sword and the spear shall be converted
into implements of husbandry.

It was the boast of Pliny, the historian, that the arts introduced
"by the Roman conquests, had diffused happiness over the earth.
Modern testimony tends to confirm this statement. Visit the islands
of the sea, and where you find the people skilled in the art and prac-
tice of Agriculture, they will be found subordinate, docile and gentle.

This art, which has had so powerful an influence in the civilization
of man, lies at the very foundation of both individual and national
growth and prosperity. The Economy of such an art, is, truly, worthy
of consideration — for, whatever tends to increase the pi-oductivcness of
Agriculture, communicates happiness to individuals and energy to the
State.

A complete knowledge of "The Economy of Agriculture," is a de-
sideratum that has been long and diligently sought, but, like the
philosopher's stone, still remains hidden in the dark recesses of Na-
ture. It is true, that some progress has been made in the art of cul-
tivating the soil, yet, it is equally true, that much remains to be known
before the most economical mode of changing inorganic bodies into
organic, can be successfully practiced, — or in other words, before the
shortest and best way of changing earth into gold, is attained.

No specific science has done more to reveal the hidden mysteries of
both the organic and inorganic kingdoms, than that of Chemistry.
But Chemistry, even Avith all its power of analysis, fails to gain
access to the penetralia of Nature's hidden mysteries, concealed where
neither the eye nor human reason can ever penetrate, how eager
soever they may be in their toils and analyses.

52 TEANSACTIOXS.

The " Economy of Agriculture," if duly studied, will guide a man
in the^ investment of money, or credit, in the purchase of land which
it is proposed to work — in the locating and constructing of the build-
ings thereon, or if they are already erected, in rendering them con-
venient and suitable in every respect to compass the end for which
they were built — in fencing — in stocking, if a grazing farm, whether
with sheep, or some other animals — if cows, in selecting with reference
both to the quantity and quality of milk produced ; so of sheep, with
reference to the fleece — if a grain farm, in the selection of all the farm
implements, — teams for work, whether horses or oxen — grain to be
used for seed, — the right time to plough, the depth, the number of
times, what manures, or other stimulants, shall be employed, how
much, when, and how, — when to sow, how to cultivate and shield
and preserve from the destructive ravages of insects, — when to har-
vest, as well as how, — when to market, as well as where, by whom
and to whom; — so, also, with regard to the products of the dairy, if a
dairy farm — or the fruit, if raised in abundance, — and so of every
thing, whether bought or sold — be able to nick the time, and never
have occasion to say, had this, that, or the other thing been known, a
better crop might have been produced, — -or a better breed of cattle
purchased, for stock raising, — or a better method of fattening animals
employed, — or, when fattened, a better time for selling for the sham-
bles, selected. These are a few of the ntimerous topics of which the
" Economy of Agriculture " should take cognizance.

By it a man should determine whether, in the selection of a farm, it
will be better for him to purchase a grain farm, or a grass farm. If,
in the light of Economy, he shall determine on a grazing farm, some
of the inquiries which immediately present themselves, are, How to
produce the greatest and best amount of grass — How to obtain such
cows as shall, from the consumption of a given amount of grass, pro-
duce the greatest and best quantity of milk for butter, or cheese, —
whether it is better to sell the milk, or convert it into butter, or
cheese, — or whether it be better to do all at different periods during
the season, — the end in view, always being to secure the greatest div-
idend for the money and labor invested — whether it will be better to
soil the cows, or turn them into the lot to feed upon the grass them-
selves— whether it will be better to raise the calves, or send them to
the butcher as soon as they are old enough for the market.

Every farmer needs to know, in order to derive the greatest gain
from keeping stock of any kind he may choose, how to select with

AGRICULTUEALECOXOMY. 53

reference to the end in view. If he keeps sheep, he needs to know
how to select that variety which shall convert the feed consumed into
the greatest return, whether of wool, or mutton — if cattle for the
•stall, how to select such as shall convert their feed into the greatest
amount of muscle and tallow with the least waste, — how the feed shall
be prepared for the animals in order to do this ; reference is to be
had, also, to the temperature and ventilation of the stable where the
animals are kept during the days of fattening. Experience, obser-
vation and the fruit of right experiment, can approximate very near
the truth in all these matters. With reference to the breed of cattle,
the great inquiry is, not, necessarily, which will grow the largest, but
■which will, without reference to size, convert grass and grain into gold
fastest — for what else is an animal in the all-comprehensive view of
Economy, but a machine to be employed for this very purpose ? All
else is mere fancy.

In order to reach the highest perfection in the Economy of Agri-
culture, it is necessary that the tiller of the soil should be the pro-
prietor of the same. Man labors more intensely when working for
himself and those directly, and rightfully dependent upon him, than
under any other conceivable circumstances.

The great improvement in the art of tilling and reclaiming the
soil in Flanders, is owing chiefly to Peasant Proprietorship. The
Flemish people have practiced, for centuries, rotation of crops and
economy of saving and making manures, that are introduced as mod-
ern discoveries in English ftirming, about which so much is said and
written at the present day. It is conceded by English writers, even,
that Flemish agriculture is now superior to that practiced in England.
The English do not hesitate to say, that the cultivation of a poor,
light soil, is superior in Flanders to that of the most improved farms
of a similar kind in Britain. We surpass the Flemish farmer, say
they, greatly in capital, in implements of tillage, in the choice and
breeding of domestic animals generally, though it is conceded that
the Flemish excel in cows. The British farmer is better educated
than the Flemish ; but in the minute attention to the qualities of the
soil, in the management and application of manures of different kinds,
in the judicious succession of crops and especially in the economy of
land, so that every part shall be in a constant state of production, we
have still something to learn from the Flemings — not from an instruc-
ted and enterprising peasant here and there, but from the great mass
of the workers of the soil.

The most highly cultivated portions of the country, consist chiefly

54 TRANSACTIONS,

of farms owned and cultivated by peasant proprietors. Spade hus-
bandry is either wholly, or in part employed by them. Whether the
land is cultivated by the spade, or plough, all the members of the
family engage in it ; — children doing the lighter work, such as weed-
ing, hoeing, fesding the cows and such like. Suppose the farm to
consist of six acres, which is a common area for a farm in Flan-
ders. One man and his family can manage it. If he has a wife and
three young children, all of whom are considered equal to three and
a half grown up men, the family, according to the authority quoted,
will reqiiire thirty-nine bushels of grain, forty-nine bushels of pota-
toes, a fat hog, and the milk and butter of one cow : an acre and a
half of land will jjroduce the grain and potatoes, and allow some corn
to finish off the fattening of the hog, kept on the extra butter-milk,
&,c.; — another acre in clover, carrots, and potatoes, with the stubble
turnips, will more than keep another cow. Two and a half acres of
land thus suffice to furnish this family with food, while the produce
of the remaining three and a half acres, may be sold to pay the in-
terest of the purchase money invested, — wear and tear of implements,
extra manure, clothing for the family, &c. Thus it is seen how a
family can live and thrive on a farm of six acres of moderate land.

This is a brief detail of one six-acre farm in Flanders, given, in
order to show M^hat peasant proprietorship is doing and demonstrat-
ing on the side of Economy in Agriculture — more especially, where
the soil tilled, is owned. Give a man the ownership with a title deed
of a flat rock, and he will convert it into a fruitful field — but give
him a ten-years' lease of a Avell cultivated farm, and nine chances to
one, he will convert it into a fruitless waste. Wherever ownership
vests in the soil in Europe, it has stimulated the poor man, or the la-
borer, rather, to work it even to the conveying of earth in baskets
upon the back, far up the mountain side, where Nature had denied a
fioil, in order to render it fertile and productive of the substantials of
animal nutrition.

Circumstances, which will suggest themselves to the reader, make
a, difference, it is true, between proprietorship in the soil, here, and in
Flanders. These, however, do not essentially vary the economic
(bearing of the facts quoted.

Perhaps there is no department of the Economy of Agriculture,
"where farmers and gardeners suffer so much direct loss, as that which
pertains to animal excrements and urine. There are very few farms
in any country, that will produce good crops for any length of time,
■without the application of manure. The farmer in New England, is

AOniCULTURA-DECONOMY. 55

ready to admit, that he has no reason to exiiect a plentiful harvest
where he has not made a plentiful use of manure. This being grant-
ed, all animal excretions are, or should be, regarded as being of too
great value to the husbandman, to be suffered to be lost, wasted, or
improperly employed. After having made such arrangements with
reference to saving them that nothing be lost, the next important con-
sideration is, how to use them, various and unlike, as they are in
their qualities, so as to derive the greatest returns in crops for their
expenditures.

This knowledge can only be obtained by experience, the great
teacher in terra-culture. In experimenting, the intelligent manipula-
tor may derive some aid from the science and art of chemistry, as
well as from direct experiment and observation. If the farmer can
know what the elements of animal excretion are, when he knows how
the animal has been fed, much is gained — that he can acquire this
knowledge from chemical analysis, very nearly, will be generally ad-
mitted. Analytical tables, to which farmers have access, have been
made, exhibiting the elements of the excretions of different animals.
The urine is said to befarricher in nitrogen, alkalies and alkaline salts,
than the solid excrements — yet, how few of the farmers save it in such
a Avay as to be able to use it on their soil as a fertilizer. The humus-
forming substances abound much more plentifully in the solid excre-
ments than in the liquid. It is the remark of a modern writer and
chemist, that "The solid excrements of herbivorous animals are rich
in humus-forming, (organic) and seed-forming substances, (phos-
phoric acid, lime, and magnesia,) but poor in forcing, and leaf-forming
substances ; and that the urine of the same animals, is rich in sub-
stances, forming stalks and leaves, (nitrogen, potash, and soda), but
deficient in the seed-forming mineral nutrients," and is better adapt-
ed for forcing purposes. The quantity, and quality, and the condi-
tion of the food, whether cooked or not, as well as the tending, treat-
ment, and employment of animals — all have an influence upon the ex-
crements which are to be employed as stimulants for the soil.

Every farmer should have a tank, or tanks, conveniently located,
for the immediate reception and preservation of all urine, until re-
quired for use. This is one kind of economy that has been almost
entirely overlooked by farmers. Facts will justify the assertion, that
the best of our agriculturists lose nearly half the fertilizing elements
of the animal excremcntitious substances, before employing them upon
the soil. To show the importance of urine, read the following state-
ment concerning it :

56 TRANSACTIONS.

If the urine of a cow, for a year, were collected, it would furnish
about 672 lbs. of solid extract, which contains as much nitrogen, alone,
as 560 lbs. of the best guano, and so large a quantity of potash, that,
by combustion, it will yield about 170 lbs. of potash, worth, in com-
merce, from $20 to §25. In view of these facts, the annual urine of
a cow is taxed at three guineas, or about $15, in Flanders, where ag-
riculture has reached its highest perfection. A celebrated English
farmer states, that in manuring meadow land, he has obtained far
greater effect from 175 lbs. of sewer water from the City of Edin-
burgh, consisting, for the most part, of urine, than from 336 lbs. of
stable manure, and the same quantity of guano, as stable manure,
with which he manured three equal parcels of land.

In view of such facts, every reflecting farmer must concede, that he
loses, annually, a large amount of fertilizing elements, in not saving
all the urine of his establishm.ent. In addition to this, much that is
poured into the drain at the " back-door," to putrefy, would, if poured
into a tank and saved, furnish, in the course of a year, a large amount
of valuable liquid manure.

Stable manure, by being kept in pits prepared for the purpose,
would be worth far more than when exposed, as it too often is, to
sun, wind and rain. Under-ground stables protect it somewhat —
but those are objectionable. The fumes rising from the accumulated
and accumulating droppings, lying beneath the floor, constantly dif-
fuse themselves throughout the stable where the cattle are kept,, and,
thus, make the stable-air exceedingly bad — rendering it impossible to
give the animals anything lilie a healthful atmosphere. Another ob-
jection is, having the cattle stand so far from the ground. Pits for
the reception of the solid excrements, and tanks for the liquids
should be provided, so that all can be saved in such a way as not to
be off"ensive, either to man or beast — for the cultivated fields need
them.

AVhen all the animal excrements are saved to the best advantage — ■
and sufficient knowledge derived from experience is gained,so as to
use them in the way that shall render them inthe highest degree pro-
ductive in the return of crops, it will be found that farmers still need
more. What shall be done ? They must next resort to artificial
manures, as auxiliaries to gain the end desired, to wit, the maximum
production of every cultivated rod of ground that they till. A Saxon
agriculturist of much practical experience on this subject, says, "The
more extended employment of artificial manures is an advance in
farming that has already opened a new era. By this means the busi-

A G R I C U L T U R A L E C 0 N O M Y . 57

ncss of a former is becoming more closely approximated, than for-
merly, to that of a manufacturer. For whilst, formerly, our farming
arrangements were conducted in the manner which the quality of
manure produced on the farm itself prescribed, we are, now, free to
cultivate, as may seem most profitable, every plant which is suited
to the soil. Yea, still more ; we can produce, as it were, with a sin-
gle effort, fine harvests from worn out fields ; — we can in such a
case secure, in two or three years, the same results for which formerly
ten or twelve years were required."

Every farmer should in addition to the animal excretions which he
possesses, be in the way of employing such artificial manure as he
can most readily and cheaply furnish himself with. The following,
by way of suggestion, is copied from an English farm journal.
Guano, Urate from the London poudrette manufactory. Bone-dust,
Superphosphate of lime, Humus, Rape-cake, Woolen-rags, Sulphate
and Muriate of ammonia. Saltpetre, Boast's mineral manure, Alkaline
manure. Soda, Soap-boilers' ashes. Gypsum, Chloride of lime, &c.
&c. Here the intelligent tiller of the soil has a fruitful theme for
reflection and experiment : to wit, to learn the effect of these several
manures upon his soils and how to supply them in producing his
various crops — so as to learn which, of all these varieties, with oth-
ers not named here, he shall, in the light of economy, procure.

The great end to be reached by the use of manures, is such a
stimulation of the soil under cultivation, as to obtain from any given
area the greatest possible amount of produce, adapted to the feeding
of man and beast ; both being alike dependent for nutrition on the veg-
etable kingdom. The art of feeding animals, like that of plants, is but
poorly understood, even by the best agriculturists, at the present day.
"Knowledge derived from experience"' has been kept in the back ground
by prejudice and superstition — guides of a stumbling and perverse peo-
ple. There seems to be very little more known to-day on these sub-
jects, notwithstanding the boast of progress in these latter times, than
was known to Abraham, Job and Jacob. Yet it would seem that many
of these great problems that lie at the very foundation of agricultural
Economy, might be solved in one generation, and even in less time, by
experiment — just such as the most common farmer can make. The
speculations of the man of science in the laboratory can never do it,
else a Liebig would have attained unto it ore this. — The chemist has
done something, it is true, by way of analysis, but very little by way
of didactic teaching. Such knowledge as the farmer needs and must
have, in order to advance the art of agriculture and perfect its econo-

58 T KAX S ACT I 0 N S.

my, can only be obtained by careful observation and experience in
the great laboratory in whicb Nature works — and works to some
useful purpose — where her exjjeriments are synthetical, rather than
analytical — where she produces something when supplied with the
right elements, that gladdens and enriches him who engages in part-
nership with her. He who, by observation and experience, has
learned how to raise the maximum number of bushels of wheat, or
corn, or any other grain upon an acre — and can so employ his knowl-
edge as to produce the given result, whenever he has the opportunity,
knows what is of infinitely greater value to the world when imparted,
than to be able to analyze a berry of wheat, and tell the staring
crowd of what chemical elements it is composed. As an aid, every
intelligent man welcomes chemistry, but let no one be misled by her
claims as set forth by some theoretical pretender, who is ignorant of
the very first rudiments of good farming. Nature abounds in mys-
teries which no science can ever fathom — yet, forget not that science
will aid you in experimenting in the art of plant culture. What the
farmer needs to know beyond a wherefore, is, how to furnish manures
containing just those elements which the seeds, planted or sown,
after germination, shall need to nourish and supply them until ma-
tured and ready for the harvest. This knowledge can be gained by
experiment. So, again, when the crop is harvested, how he shall
feed it — ^if to be given to brute animals, so as to derive the greatest
possible profit from such an expenditure — for both the plants and ani-
mals, thrive best, when supplied ^vith such nutrition as is best adapted
to their own peculiar wants. Nature, both in animals and plants,
discovers wonderful powers of adaptation to circumstances. A plant
grown in pursuit of proper nutrition, under difficulties, will be but a
poor specimen from Nature's work-shop. Hence, it is reasonable to
infer that all medium crops, as well as those below this standard, are
specimens of this kind of production. The proposition then, that
medium farming does not pay, will need no argument to establish its
truth. No man can long aff'ord to be a medium farmer. No man
would long be contented with 3 per cent, interest on stocks, or m.on-
ey loaned, when he could just as well have 6 per cent, and a better
security. Good agricultural economy is that which ends in maximum
harvests, from minimum expenditures, and nothing short. It boasts
not of its great number of acres under cultivation, but of the quan-
tity produced per acre. Quantity and quality relative to the area,
are its pride, rather than the great number of acres tilled. No man
can afford to raise f.eventy-five bushe^.s of carrots per acre,when the same

AGKICULTURALECONOMY. 59

area, if well tilled, would produce one thousand ; — or three bushels of
Tye per acre, when forty should be produced on the same surface ; — nor
•one-half a ton of hay per acre, when four can be produced — nor wheat
at ten bushels per acre, when sixty may be produced under right cul-
ture— nor corn at fifteen bushels per acre, when the best culture pro-
duces one hundred and^fifty.

There are numerous other kindred topics, that might be presented
for consideration in connection with agricultural economy — such as
labor, whether performed by man, or by beasts, trained for the pur-
pose— or by some other agent of power, as steam — the planting and
cultivating of orchards — draining and irrigating — liquid manures as
a substitute for those in common use — the employment of lime, how,
when and where — the rotation of crops — subsoil-ploughing — the
■number of times a field should be stirred with the plough before
planting or sowing the seed, — whether fall ploughing shall be aban-
doned,— the mode of tilling with the hoe or cultivator, or both — the
surest method of destroying noxious weeds, — the best way and time
of harvesting corn, and other grains — when to cut grass to be made
into hay — and how to make it, so as to render it the most nutritious
— the cooking of food for swine and other domestic animals— and in
fine, Geognosy, Geoscopy, Meteorology, Botany, Zoology, Ornithol-
ogy and Entomology, so far as these relate to the Economy of Agri-
culture, But instead of an Essay, these topics would furnish matter,
if rightly discussed, to wit, in the light of "knowledge derived from
experience," sufficient to make volumes. They are all, it will be
admitted, intimately related to the topic under consideration. And
the completion of the science and the perfecting of the art of the
Economy of Agriculture, will never be reached, until these relations,
as aforesaid, are all studied and learned in Nature's great Laboratory.

An attempt has been made in this brief Essay, to awaken the at-
tention of farmers and others to the importance of the Economy of
Agriculture — the Economy of an art that has done, and is doing
more for the advancement of civilization and the perfection of man
as a social being, than any other of the great family of Industrial
Arts, — an art which in ancient times engaged the attention and occu-
pied the time of patriarchs and prophets, — men who lived in close
communion with God— and from which Jesus, both the Example and
Savior of man, drew his most striking and instructive parabolic les-
sons of infinite wisdom — an art that has had attractions for a Xeno-
phon, a Virgil, a Cato, Cicero, Cincinnatus, and a long line of names
DOWN to our own ever honored Washington and Webstek — all

60 TRANSACTIONS.

men who esteemed agriculture most worthy of their patronage, and
felt honored by it — as the most ancient, as it is the most noble and
honorable of Earth's vocations. The perfecting of the Science and
Economy of such an art is worthy of engaging the attention of the
best intellects of the race, — for the time of universal peace on Earth
and good will among men will not be enjoyed until the perfection of
that art, which underlies all real prosperity in every other, be at-
tained. This is to be reached, if at all, by knowledge derived from
experience and observation in the Laboratory of Nature, rather than
that of the chemist. Hence the importance of every farmer's keep-
ing an exact record of all his doings, thus accumulating facts from
experience and observation, such as will aid in the completion of the
science and art of husbandry and of Rural Economy.

AN ESSAY

ON ROTATION OF CROPS.

BY T. G. HUNTINGTON.

I PROPOSE to offer a few observations on that part of the science
and practice of Agriculture, usually imderstood and embraced by the
term. Rotation of Crops. This is a branch of the profession, in regard
to the details of which, there is a great variety of opinion ; and, if
possible, a still greater variety of practice ; although about the thing
itself, there is not much room for dispute. It will be as well, there-
fore, to preface my remarks with a definition of terms.

Rotation of crops, in general, may be defined the producing upon
a given piece of land, a scries of crops in successive years, without
much regard to the nature of the soil, or to the intervals, at Avhich
the coiirse is to be repeated. This definition describes well enough
our common practice, Avhich Ave believe, in most instances, to be defi-
cient in method, pernicious in its operation, and unprofitable in its
results. A much better definition Avould be — the art of raising, upon
a given lot of land, such a scries of crops in successive years and at
such intervals, that it shall yield the greatest profit to the producer
with the least exhaustion of the soil. It requires, for its most sue-

ROTATIONOF CROPS. 61

cessful application, a knowledge of the soils to be operated upon, a
mature experience, sound judgment, and a skilful appliance of means.
A judicious rotation of crops, therefore, lies at the very foundation of
good field husbandry, and no farmer should be satisfied with himself,
until he has put into practice a system, suitable to his land and re-
munerative to his purse. No -where, ]3robably, has this branch of
Agriculture been carried to such perfection as in England, Scotland,
and perhaps some of the continental states. A full persuasion of the
necessity of improvement in this respect, among our Massachusetts
farmers, must be my apology for this essay. I have remarked that
our common practice is deficient in method, pernicious in its opera-
tion, and unsatisfactory in its results. These are grave charges, it
must be confessed. Perhaps, before proceeding further, it may be
well to examine them. For one, I believe a careful investigation of
the facts of the case would clearly sustain them. In regard to the
first, for instance — a want of method. If we go through the town
or county and inquire of the farmers whether they have adopted a
regular system of rotation ; one, that they are confident is best
adapted to the soil ; or, that varies, so as to accommodate itself to
the diff'erent kinds of soil the farm may contain — how many of them
would answer in the affirmative ? Judging from personal observa-
tion, and from other sources, I venture to say, not one-fourth part.
Many of us are altogether too much infljaenced by the fluctuations in
the price of any article, we are accustomed to raise. If, this year, it
brings a good price — farewell to all our resolutions to be more me-
thodical, if we have ever formed them. Next year money must be
made, and every spare rod of ground, that will produce it, is devoted
to the profitable crop.

So common is this feeling, that it is matter of every-day observa-
tion, that any unusual rise in the price of a staj)le product, is almost
sure to be followed in the course of a year or two by as unnatural
a depression ; and it afibrds a most striking proof of our want of
method.

Again, if some men are fortunate enough to raise a crop, which
has more than answered their expectations ; instead of endeavoring
to ascertain the causes that produced so favorable a result, in order
that it may be applied to other fields, they will require the same land
to produce the like again, and so, from year to year, until the re-
sources of the soil are exhausted.

This is one kind of method, it is true. It is methodical severity, v
and methodical ruin, but it is no economical method. The very

62 TRAXSACTIOKS.

stones, if they had a voice, would cry out for a more generous treat-
ment than this.

I should be willing to admit, that the two classes of farmers, of
whom I have spoken, are intelligent and thoughtful enough to have
some general plan ; although they are often swayed by circumstances
to depart from it. There is another class, however, quite as large,
probably, as either of the others, who have no plan whatever ; or
change their plans as soon almost as they make them ; who break
up, or seed down, plant or sow, as the humor strikes them. If their
fields are a faithful transcript of their brains, it might puzzle even a
phrenologist to locate the bumps of such a tangled intellect.

Thus, it would seem that our system of rotation is no system at all ;
or nothing that deserves the name ; and, moreover, it is pernicious in
its operation. Here, again, the appeal must be made to facts, for
the truth of the observation. It promotes the growth of one of the
most pernicious weeds, that infest our soils. "We refer to the com-
mon sorrel. By far the larger portion of lands laid down to grass,
for the first year, instead of filling the eye with the beauty, and the
air with the fragrance of a luxuriant crop of clover, exhibit nothing
but the dull red hue of the blossoms of this unsightly and useless
plant. The enormous production, yearly, of its seeds, — which go
directly into the hay and thence into the manure heap and to the
field again, — should be enough for the entire condemnation of our
present practice, unless the evil should be proved to be without
remedy.

And, then, such a course can but be unsatisfactory in its results,
for there is the unsightly field, there is the almost total loss of one
crop ; and, in its stead, a full harvest of a deadly weed. What but
disappointment and loss can follow.

But, to proceed. Our subject naturally divides itself into two
parts ; viz., the kinds of crops to be cultivated, and the order in
which they should follow each other, together with the time which
should be allotted to the course.

In regard to the first point, general and long continued usage has
decided what crops come within the range of most successful cultiva-
tion ; and, among these, first on the list stands grass. By universal
consent. New England is a grass, rather* than a grain growing coun-
try. That this is our great staple, any one will acknowledge, after
having observed how large a proportion of the land is devoted to this
crop. He who has what is called a good grass farm, is considered as
possessing one of the first requisites to successful farming, and justly

nOTATIONOFCKOPa. 63

BO. For, while the cultivation of the cereals is attended with much
labor and some uncertainty, — the grass crop, when the ground is
properly prepared, is almost always sure, and the cost of securing it
is comparatively light. A very good test of its importance may be
observed in the general anxiety felt, when there is danger of failure
of even a part of this most important production. It is plain, then,
that in our rotation of crops, great care should be taken to fit the
ground to jiroduce grass abundantly, a point on which many of us
are too negligent.

Next to grass, comes Indian corn. As a hoed crop, it undoubt-
edly stands at the head of the list, and should occupy a prominent
place in our system. Next follow potatoes, oats, rye, wheat, barley,
and broom-corn where the nature of the soil admits. Perhaps no
course would include all of these. Experience and observation must
decide which can be grown to the most advantage. Doubtless there
are other crops, especially of the root kind, which should engage a
due share of attention. I have only named some of the most impor-
tant. Of tobacco I have nothing to say ; for though it is thought to
be an excellent preparation for some other crops, and, in many in-
stances, vastly profitable, it is my firm belief that the blessings
attending its general cultivation, cannot outweigh or compare, even,
with its curses, considered either in a moral or economical point of
view.

We come, then, to the method of procedure. How shall wo con-
duct our series to the best advantage ? Before answering this ques-
tion in detail, it may be well to name three general principles, which
should always be kept in view. First, our rotation must be, as much
as possible, suited to the character of the soil. Second, there must
be reference to the fitting the land for a good yield of grass. Third,
each crop must occupy that place in the course, which will be likely
to insure the greatest success in raising it.

To the first of these, we cheerfully acknowledge that due regard is
generally paid. We rarely see farmers persist in their attempts to
raise crops, to which their lands are not naturally suited. The error
is, rather, in the other direction. Many times, they think it impos-
sible to do that, which a little more perseverance and skill would
enable them to achieve. I might cite, for example, the growing of
wheat ; which, in this region, not many years since, was thought to
be next to impossible ; but which is now becoming quite a common
crop. The principle embraces both sides of the question ; for, we
ought certainly to be as ready to adopt a profitable crop, which our

64 TRANSACTIONS.

ground will produce, as we are careful to avoid those which are un-
suitable.

In regard to the preparation of the soil for grass, the common
practice is much more faulty. Indeed, I am persuaded that herein
lies our chief defect. Our rotation hardly ever comprises more than
two cultivated crops ; unless an exception is made, in favor of the
meadows, which are often kept up for a much longer time. These
two crops are, generally, corn or potatoes, followed by rye, oats or
wheat, wdth grass seeds. Now, if the object is, as it should be, to
induce a good growth of grass, I contend that the means are inade-
quate to the end. Grass seeds, in order to take well, require a finely
pulverized surface, made light and warm with manure ; and the old
sod should be entirely decomposed or buried. This, it is quite im-
possible to do on ordinary soils, in one year and with only two plow-
ings. The second plowing brings up the old turf — an inert, sour
mass ; w^hich, at that particular stage of decomposition of all others,
is the most unfit to afford the nourishment, that the plants need.
Without making any pretence to actual knowledge, never having had
analyzed a piece of sod in this half-rotted condition, I have adopted
the following theory, which has at least the merit of agreeing with
the facts in the case. All vegetable matter goes through three stages
of fermentation ; similar to what in liquids are called the vinous, the
acetous and the putrid. When a sod is inverted, as by the plow in
the first season, it passes through the vinous fermentation. During
this period, it throws off some gases, which are beneficial to the
growing crop. Cold weather arrests the progress of decomposition
and it passes into the acetous state. It now very much resembles, in
its general character, the muck fresh from thp swamp. It A\-ill grow
most luxuriant crops of sorrel, wild Avormwood or smart weed ; but,
as for grass, you might about as well expect to raise it upon an Afri-
can desert, as iipon land in such a condition. Our cultivated grasses
are remarkably sweet. How, then, can we expect these to grow upon
a sour or bitter soil ? No wonder that we are doomed to disappoint-
ment, if we will thus persist in our attempts to contravene the laws
of nature. If you ask what is the remedy for the evil, I answer,
prolong the course of your rotation, until the vegetable matter in the
soil has passed into a putrid, or dissolving state. Then, it v.'ill be
easily taken up and used by the minute songcolcs of the grass roots
and so assimilate itself with the plants. But more of this hereafter.

A third general principle mentioned above was, that due regard
should be had to the place that each crop occupies in the course.

BOTASION OF CROPS. 65

This is a point of some importance. For instance, it has been ob-
served that oats rarely do well, coming the next year after the turf
is broken, being liable to blast ; probably, owing to the peculiar con-
dition of the soil at the time. Corn hardly ever produces well after
buckwheat ; while, on the other hand, it is well known, that potatoes
and broom-corn are excellent preparatives for wheat and rye.

I am now prepared to state, affirmatively, what I should consider
the proper course to be pursued, with a reasonable prospect of suc-
cess; making no claims, however, to infallibility, but bespeaking a
candid consideration. Actual experiment, it may be truly said, is
the only sure test of the views presented, and to that ordeal I am
willing they should be submitted. Our situation in the valley of the
Connecticut, occasioning as it does some peculiarities in our agricul-
tural practice, will lead me to speak of three different systems of rota-
tion, applicable to different soils and localities. I shall begin with
meadow lands, meaning by this, of cours3, arable meadows, or those
that are seldom or never flooded. Probably no one crop occupies so
much of these lands, as broom-corn. This is an important staple
with us. The brush generally finds a ready market at a remuner-
ating price, while the seed constitutes a valuable provender, and the
crop is not an exhausting one. Its natural home seems to be upon
alluvial flats ; and here, accordingly, we find it in its greatest per-
fection. Evidently, then, it must occupy a large space in these local-
ities. At any rate, owing to the natural fertility of the soil and to
the ease with which they are tilled, hoed crops of some kind will always
occupy the larger proportion of our lands. Thus much I am willing
to concede ;' but I maintain, notwithstanding, that there is injury
often done in keeping these lands up too long. I have in mind one
marked instance, in which a lot had been kept so long under the
plow, that a heavy dressing of manure failed to produce what might
be considered an ordinary yield ; and this, too, upon land, naturally
very favorable to the crop. Five or six years are as many, as ought
to be devoted to hoed crops. Then, let wheat, rye or oats follow
with grass seeds. After remaining in grass, say three years, it will
be again in good condition for the plow. Here is a nine years'
course, viz., five in broom-corn, or other hoed crops ; one in rye and
three in grass. Let us compare it with nine years of broom-corn
alone. I will suppose five hundred fifty pounds to be an average
yield with six loads of manure dropped in the hill. This, for nine
years, will amount to four thousand nine hundred fifty pounds ;
which, at six cents per pound, is two hundred ninety-seven dollars.
9

66 TRANSACTIONS.

Estimating seed at fifty-five bushels per acre, we have for nine years
four hundred ninety-five bushels. This, at twenty-five cents, amounts
to one hundred twenty-three dollars, seventy-five cents ; which, add-
ed to the price of the brush, makes four hundred twenty dollars sev-
enty-five cents. Deduct for tillage and interest, twenty dollars a
year for nine years, and we have as a result, two hundred forty dol-
lars, seventy-five cents. Now, if we apply fifty-four loads of manure
in five years, instead of nine, we may reasonably calculate upon an
increase of at least two hundred pounds per acre. Seven hundred
and fifty pounds for five years, amount to three thousand seven hun-
dred and fifty pounds. This, at six cents, amounts to two hundred
twenty-five dollars. Estimating seed at seventy-five bushels, we
have, for the five years, three hundred seventy-five bushels, which,
at twenty-five cents, would be ninety-three dollars, twenty-five cents.
This, added to the price of the brush, as before, makes three hundred
eighteen dollars, ninety-five cents. Deduct one hundred dollars for
tillage and interest and there remains two hundred eighteen dollars,
seventy-five cents; only twenty-two dollars less, than would be ob-
tained by the other method, and which a good crop of wheat or rye
would of itself cover, leaving the three years of grass, as clear gain.
Having thus given my views in regard to a rotation of crops upon
lands naturally favorable to cultivation, it may be as well to speak of
a kind, the very opposite of this, viz., those lands, which, owing to
their distance from the homestead, their inaccessibility, or their un-
friendliness to cultivation, it is desirable to keep most of the time in
grass. Here, our course will not admit of more than one hoed crop,
which should be followed by oats, barley or spring wheat. It should
be recollected, that in this course, the great object is to secure a good
growth of grass. In order to this, there should be but one plow-
ing and that should be thoroughly done. The manure should be
composted, spread upon the surface and harrowed in. The next
spring after the first crop has been taken off ; if it has been in corn,
the stubbs should be cut off close to the ground, with a bog hoe.
Then, go over the ground with a heavy ox cultivator, until the hills
are torn up and the whole well pulverized. The ground is now ready
for the grain and grass seeds; and, if the cultivation has been what
it ought, there will be a reasonable prospect of success in the under-
taking. Care should be taken throughout, not to disturb the old
sod, as the object is to create a fine tilth u^ion the surface. The
other course of which I am to speak, occupies a middle ground be-
tween the two already discussed. This course extends through eight

ROTATION OF CKOrS. 67'

years ; four in grass and four In cultivated crops. The first crop, on
breaking up the sod, may be either Indian or broom-corn, according
to the character of the soil ; the next, rye or wheat. Oats are not as
good, unless they are cut before they are ripe and used as hay ; for,
they are very liable to blast, when sown upon the partially rotted
turf. An excellent plan — when it can be readily carried out — is to
turn under the stubble, from which the grain is taljen, near the latter
part of July ; and, then, to sow turnip seed in drills, putting fine
compost into the drills ; or, when this is not to be had, ashes or
guano may be strewed upon the top of the hills before the plants are
up, which gives them a vigorous start. Turnips, if they are kept
clean, will leave the land in fine condition for the succeeding crop,
which may be roots ; or, if these are not cultivated, corn again. I
have known corn to do remarkably well, coming as a third crop ; in
one instance, producing fifty bushels per acre ; and this, on land nat-
urally not at all favorable to its production. By the end of this
year, if there has been proper cultivation, the land will be ready
for grass seed, which may be sown, the next spring, in connection
with oats or barley.

In all that has been said, thus far, I suppose a liberal supply of
manure. No good farmer will think of conducting his operations
without it; but a few words in closing, on its proper application,
may not be inappropriate. In the last course of which I have been
speaking, it is supposed that manure is applied to both of the hoed
crops ; that is to say, in the first and third year. In* both instances,
it should be plowed in ; because, in the first year, if so applied, it
helps materially in the decomposition of the sod, and so promotes
the growth of the crop ; and, in the third year, if it is buried with,
the plow, it will be brought to the surface again the next spring,
well fitted to be used by the grass seeds. Much of our land pays
well for manuring in the hill, in addition to Avhat is plowed in. All
cold lands, especially, need this, in order to give the corn a vigorous
start. Ashes and plaster answer well for this purpose, used upon an
inverted sward; but if corn is grown as a third crop, it is better to
use the compost. In laying down lands to grass, great good would
result from the use of ashes, plaster, and perhaps lime.

I close, here, not because the subject is exhausted. My object
has been to excite inquiry and improvement in this branch of our
profession.

lUprts d €amnitkts.

I

REPORT ON FARMS.

BY M. B. GEEEN.

Agricultuke is not excelled in importance, not equalled even,
by any other art. When it flourishes, every other branch of busi-
ness thrives. More than three fourths of our population are employed
in cultivating the earth. If crops are abundant, and find ready mar-
kets and remunerating prices, producers become liberal in their ex-
penditures. Merchants, in consequence, make large sales, and man-
ufacturers readily dispose of goods. Mechanics are employed in the
erection of buildings, or in making the numerous articles of comfort,
or convenience, suited to gratify the love of the ornamental and
beautiful. On the other hand, if, through lack of science or indus-
try, or of the timely rain and sunshine, the earth fails to " yield her
increase," — this great national bank ceases to discount. The farmer
will buy only what he absolutely needs. Provisions rise in price as
the supply diminishes. Traders have fewer sales. All classes curtail
their expenses.

The cultivation of the earth is the prominent business of our peo-
ple, and the leading pursuit of our nation. It employs more men
and more capital, than all other trades and professions. It produces
a greater amount and variety of articles, desirable and necessary, for
our subsistence, our comfort and happiness. It gives to the largest
class of our population that kind of employment, which develops the
physical and moral powers, and allows of quite as much time for the
cultivation of the mind, as any other occupation. It is cheering,
therefore, to see, that so many of the leading men of our country are
disposed to encourage agriculture ; that our government is toiling to
aid ; that many of our educated men of all professions are endeavor-
ing to make it an exact science. We conlidently hope the time is

FARMS. 69

not far distant, when there will be facilities for a true agricultural
education, a knowledge of principles and practice, obtained by ac-
tual observation and experiment. Then, of agriculture we shall say
" It is a science, as well as an art." It is pleasing to notice the im-
provement, that has already been made ; to observe the change, that
tas taken place in the public estimation of this business, and of the
men engaged in it. Farmers are now better known, more respected,
and have more influence in society, than at any former periods. The
clergyman, or the physician, or the lawyer, is not now the only man
qualified to preside at town meetings, and make a record of the
transactions. The learned professions do not now furnish all those,
who represent the people in the halls of legislation.

While it is admitted, however, that there has been improvement in
the knowledge and practice of this most important art, it must be
acknowledged that the improvement in this pursuit has not kept pace
with progress in other trades and professions, and with the great in-
crease of our population. Relatively, there has been a falling off ;
and, alsoluiely, there has been a diminution in the production of
bread stuffs in our State.

Why should this great pursuit retrograde, even relatively ? Why
not progress as rapidly and continuously as commerce, manufactures
and the mechanic arts ? No good and sufficient reason can be given.
Many desire to become rich fi^ster, than to advance by the slow, but
sure process of digging their treasures from the earth. Their anxi-
ety to become affluent at once, and consequently above the toil and
drudgery of tilling the ground, leads them away from home, to seek
other more popular and lucrative employments, at the peril of health,
and morals, and even life. Many who are engaged in this most nec-
essary, healthful and interesting occupation, feel very little interest
in their employment. They pursue it, not from choice, but from
force of circumstances. Having failed to obtain other businesss, or
having been unfortunate in their chosen vocation, they fall back to
tilling the ground. Many cultivate their lands for immediate profit,
rather than ultimate improvement. These make as little outlay as
possible in the management of their farms ; and, instead of investing
their increase of capital, from time to time, in their legitimate busi-
ness, as do those who are engaged in commerce and navigation, mer-
chandize and manufactures ; they invest in Rail Road or other stocks.
Some give almost exclusive attention to one field or one particular
crop, instead of studying to improve their whole farm, by adapting
the crop to its peculiar soil. How easy to enrich one field and pro-

70 TRANS AUCTIONS.

duce one large crop, by making every other part of the farm pay trib-
ute to this one. These errors we hope to see corrected, — at least not
to see them so common. We hope this important branch of busi-
ness will hereafter receive more and more encouragement from gov-
ernment, from agricultural societies, and from men of science.

The good influence of associations, annual exhibitions, addresses,
reports and statements, is perceptible in the improvement of build-
ings and fences, in the clearing of unseemly hedges, in the removal
of stumps and bogs, and in the general appearance of comfort and
thrift. One neighbor stimulates another ; one learns from the exam-
ple and practice of another ; and each becomes more interested in his
work by seeing and hearing of the successful or unsuccessful experi-
ments of others.

The number of farms entered for premium was five, all of which
were visited by the committee in June and September.

For a description of the farms which received premiums, and the
manner in which they have been managed, we refer to the statements
below.

STATEMENT OF MOSES STEBBINS.

The form, which I enter, for premium, contains forty-one acres,
situated near the Connecticut river, in South Dcerfield. When I
came in possession, in 1831, ten acres of it consisted of a poor, worn
out, buckwheat field. In 1838, I resolved to have a better farm. I
hauled on clay, at the rate of fifty loads per acre. Then, I spread
twenty-five loads of manure to the acre ; sowed two hundred pounds
of plaster ; plowed all in together ; planted corn, and obtained a fair
crop. At the outset, I tried but three acres, by way of experiment;
and, after witnessing the result, I continued until I had treated the
ten acres alike. After corn, I planted oats, and stocked down to
clover.

By use of clay and manure, I have made all my land, as good as
the best, and increased my pastures one hundred per cent., in quan-
tity and quality of feed. I have practiced plowing deep and do so
now, but in a different way from my former practice. I now plow in
manure foiir or five inches deep ; then, subsoil as deep as I can run
a subsoil plow. I prefer this to running deep, in order to turn up
the subsoil. I commonly plant my land two years in succession ;
thereby mixing soil and manure, and pulverizing the soil for grass.
Instead of oats, I raise barley, which I deem far more profitable to
the farmer. Where we made one hundred loads of manure in 1838,
we now make three hundred and fifty loads. I haul from seventy-
five to one hundred loads of earth into my barn and hog yards, annu-

FARMS.

Tfc

ally, to absorb the liquid manures, which I consider as valuable as
the solid. I think much of hogs for the manufacture of compost
manure. I have used salt with good results, on both grass and
wheat. For old worn out pastures, I recommend the free use of
plaster, and for fruit trees, I apply salt and lime, freely, and wash
often with white lye.

My iiirm has been divided, the present year, as follows ; twenty-
three acres of mowing ; thirteen acres in corn and potatoes ; three in
barley and two in wheat. My stock consists of three pairs of oxen ;
three steers three years old ; five cows ; seven two years' old ; three
yearlings ; one hundred fifty sheep and twenty-five hogs.

PRODUCTS.

Corn, 7.50 bushels at 90 cents,
Hay, 55 tons at |10,
Pork sold, .....
Corn-fodder, 35 tons at $5, . . ''

Barley, 100 bushels at 85 cents,
Cash received for labor.
Wheat, 40 bushels at ^1.50,
Potatoes, 75 bushels at 50 cents,
Corn-fodder sold, 2 1-4 tons at $15,
Straw, 4 tons at $6,

EXPENSES.

Labor, ......

Corn, 200 bushels at 87 1-2 cents, .

Oats, 100 do. at 50 cents.

Ashes, 300 do. at 14 cents.

Plaster, 2 tons at 89, .

Clover seed, 60 lbs. at 12 1-2 cents,

Corn-fodder, 5 tons at $5,

Straw, 2 tons at $7,

Interest on land, valued $3200,

Taxes, .•,...

$675.00

550.00

250.00

150.00

85,00

75.00

60.00

37.50

33.75

24.00

•81940.25

$300.00

175.00

50.00

42.00

18.00

7.50

25.00

14.00

192.00

25.00

$848 50

Net profit, .
Deerficld, November, 1853.

$1091.75

Moses Stebeixs.

STATEMENT OF AUSTIN SMITH & SONS.

The farm, which we enter for premium, contains seventy-three
acres, situated in Sunderland. It has been our aim to increase,
economically, the productiveness of the whole farm, and to raise use-
ful, and remunerating crops. This, we have endeavored to do, by

73

TBAN 8AOTION8.

the making, saving, and proper application of manures, and by thor-
ough cultivation of the soil.

It is our practice in raising Indian corn, to plow, or harrow in
manure, at the rate of twelve or fifteen loads to the acre, and to ap-
ply a handful of ashes, in the hill, at planting. We hoe four times,
and usually seed the land with clover, red-top, and timothy, for the
next year's mowing.

We have put compost manure for broom-corn, in the hills, at the
rate of sixteen loads to the acre, until the present year ; when we
have applied it, as on our Indian corn land, at the rate of twelve
loads to the acre. We added half a spoonful of superphosphate of
lime and plaster in the hill. We planted our broom-corn with
Woodard's corn-planter, and we have never known our land, so well,
and uniformly stocked, as the present year.

We prefer, for a wheat field, to turn over a rich and warm clover
sward. Oats, we have nearly done raising. We plow from six to
nine inches deep, and loosen the soil a little deeper each succeeding
year. We usually make about three hundred and fifty loads of ma-
nure, every season.

During the present season, our farm has been divided, as follows :
twenty-seven acres in mowing — ten, in Indian corn — fourteen, in
broom-corn — five, in rye — two, in wheat — one, in oats — one, in car-
rots and sowed corn — thirteen, in pasture.

The following table correctly exhibits the products, expenditures
and net profit of our farm, the present year :

52

do.

115

do.

45

do.

50

do.

50

do.

16

do.

PRODUCTS.

580 bushels of corn, at 92 cents, . . . $533.60

11,900 pounds of broom-corn, at 5 1-2 cents, . 654.50

980 bushels of broom-corn seed, at 40 cents, . 392.00

wheat, at -^1.50, . . . 78.00

rye, at 87 1-2 cents, . . 100.05

oats, at 50 cents, . . . 22.50

potatoes, at 40 cents, . . 20.00

carrots, at 33 1-3 cents, . . 20 00

turnips,. at 25 cents, . . 4.00

40 tons of hay, at -f 12, 480.00

23 do. corn-fodder, at $6, . . . . 138.00

2 1-2 do. wheat and oat straw, at $6, . . 15.00

3 1-2 do. rye straw, at $5, .... 17. 50
624 pounds of butter, at 16 2-3 cents, . . 104.00
350 loads of manure, at $1, .... 350.00
Improvement of farm, ..... 100.00

^

EXPENDITUIIES.

Our own labor, 452 days, at .$1, . . . $452.00

First hired man, 8 months 5 days, at $20, . 170.00

Second do. 8 months, at $19, . . 152.00

Third do. 7 months 13 days, at $18, . 136.00

)29.15

FAKM 8.

73

Grass seed,

2 bushels of seed corn, at $1, '.

3 do. oats, at 50 cents,

4 1-2 do. rye, at 80 cents, .
8 do. wheat, at $1.50, .
3 1-2 do. potatoes, at 50 cents, .
2 do. broom-corn, at 75 cents,
150 do. ashes, at 16 2-3 cents,
11-2 tons of plaster, at $10, .
Superphosphate of lime, salt, and oyster-shell 1
350 loads of manure, at $1,
Interest on tillage land at $100 per acre,
Interest on pasturage at
Taxes on the same,

me,

10.00

2.00

1.50

3.60

4 50

1.75

1.50

25.00

15.00

40.00

350.00

360.00

31.20

32.60

-$1788.65

Net profit, on seventy-three acres, . . $1240.50

AusTijr Smith & Sons.
Sunderland, Oct. 4, 1853.

STATEMENT OF SAMUEL POWERS.

My farm is in Hadley and contains eighty-seven acfes. Fifty-four
acres lie, almost in one body, within half a mile from my dwelling.
Twenty-one acres of pasture and twelve acres of v/oodland, are near
Fort river.

I purchased, several years since, a number of acres, of very trifling
value, so filled with water, as to be unproductive. Bat, by draining,
plowing, and subduing, this land is now as beautiful in appearance
and as productive, as any in this region. It has paid for all the im-
provements. I have, also, taken large quantities of muck or peat
from my swamp, and spread it on lands, at a little distance back.
This has increased both the crops and value of the land, fifty per
cent or more. My pasture, consisting of twenty-one acres, is situated
on Fort river ; and, in consequence of being yearly overflowed, is
very productive, and capable of keeping in good condition from eight
to ten cows.

During the present year, I have cultivated fifty-two acres, as fol-
lows : twenty-seven acres in grass ; seven, in corn ; five, in broom-
corn ; five, in rye ; two, in wheat ; two, in tobacco : two, in potatoes ;
and two, in oats. The labor has been performed by myself and a
hired man. In hay time, I employed another hand; but, during the
season, I worked enough for others, to pay for him.

TKODUCTS.

40 tons of hay, at $10, .
1 1-2 do. of tobacco, at $250,
420 bushels of corn, at 87 1-2 cents,
10

$400.00
375.00
367.50

74

TBAN BACTI0N8,

11-2 tons of broom-corn, at $110, .

1 ton of pork, .....

150 loads of manure, at $1, .

300 bushels of broom-corn seed, at 33 cents,

100 do. of rye, at 87 1-2 cents, .
40 do. of wheat, at $1.25,
80 do. of oats, at 50 cents,
75 do. of potatoes at 42 cents.

EXPENSES.

Labor, .....
Grass seed, ....
5 bushels of rye, at 75 cents, .
4 do. of wheat, at $1.50, .
4 do. of oats, at 50 cents, .
10 do. of potatoes, at 1 7 cents,
Seed corn, ....
8000 tobacco plants,
150 loads of manure.
Interest on 54 acres, worth $5400,
Interest on 21 do., worth $1050,
Town and county taxes, .

Net profit, .
Hadley, Nov. 25, 1853.

165.00
160.00
150.00
99.00
87.50
50.00
40.00
31.50

-$1925.50

$170.62
4.00
3.75
6.00
2.00
1.70
1.18
4.00
150.00
324.00
63.00
30.00
$760.25

$1165.25
Samuel Poweks.

A REPORT

ON RECLAIMED MEADOW LAND.

BY L. W E T H E B E X X.

The word meadow, in its first sense, signifies flat, depressed land,
generally lying upon the banks of a brook, or river ; as for example,
the meadows on the banks of the Connecticut river, or upon Muddy,
Flat or Beaver brooks in the eastern part of this county. Meadow
land does not, necessarily, imply wet land, neither does it exclude
such, as those will admit, who have observed the grounds situated
near the streams here named. Meadow is sometimes, though impro-
perly, used as a synonym of the word swamp, signifying low, spongy

EECLAIMED MEADOWS. VS

ground, soft in consequence of the water's being suffered to remain,
where draining has not been employed to remove it. These are usu-
ally seen interspersed among the hills of the four western counties of
this state. The term swale is used among the farmers in the same
sense, as the word swamp, as here defined. Such land, as is indi-
cated by the words, swamp and swale, has been regarded, as more or
less valuable, according to the quantity and quality of the grass pro-
duced. It not unfrequently holds the water that falls upon it, as
well as that which runs in from the surrounding hills, bringing down,
often, the choicest mineral elements of the soil, which sink beneath
the water, and are thus rendered nearly worthless until the water is
drained off.

The more solid matter, found in a swamp, when drained, is, some-
times, peat; a substance of vegetable origin, more or less saturated
with water, consisting of roots and fibres in almost every stage of
decomposition, from the natural woody substance to the almost per-
fect black vegetable mould. Mr. Shipman's reclaimed swamp, in
Hadley, furnishes one of the best specimens of this quality, that has
come under the observation of the Committee.

Mud, such as is found in some of these swamps, is a moist, soft
earth, diff"ering essentially from peat. Swale mud is more thoroughly
decomposed, than peat, and resembles it, less than it does muck, a
decomposition of vegetable matter — more completely disorganized
than peat. It is not so easy to draw a dividing line betAveen swamp
mud and muck, as it is to use the two words. The difference be-
tween them and peat, is very distinct and marked. Mud and muck
seem, generally, to be so entirely disorganized, as to leave scarce a
trace of vegetable substance, and, in some cases, none whatever.
The mud in the lowest parts of the land bordering upon the brooks,
in the eastern part of this county, is of this kind — and is so deep that
a hay-pole, twelve feet in length, may be pressed into it, without
touching bottom.

Whether these mud swamps will ever be drained, it will be, prob-
ably, for some future generation to determine. If the work is ever
accomplished, it will be done by great expenditure of money and
labor. When drained, they will furnish most valuable lands for till-
age— which, in their unreclaimed state, are nearly valueless, except
as a dwelling place for toads, frogs, snakes, moles, snipes, woodcock
and blackbirds. Alas, for this numerous hoard of swamp aborigines,
when these low lands shall be reclaimed from the dominion of water,
and turned into rich fields of the very best tillage land, of which

76 TKAXSACTIONS.

New England can boast. This is no groundless speculation. Mr.
Shipman's reclaimed land, in Hadley, is, this very day, worth more
per acre, than the very best meadow land in the world-renowned
Connecticut valley, for the reason, that a given amount of labor and
manure, will produce more tobacco — more Indian corn — or broom-
corn — or potatoes, than the same expenditure will yield on the best
alluvial on the river of pines. Such a fact should cause every man
who owns a peat swamp, to smile in view of his treasure. For, when
drained, it may be rendered not only very productive — but will fur-
nish, also, material to reclaim worn-out old fields. Many are begin-
ning to believe, that these lands, that have been deemed worthless
swamps, are the most desirable for improvement.

The day is not far distant, when a good farmer will be ashamed of
his neighbor, whose unreclaimed swamp furnishes a dwelling place,
through the warm season, for croaking frogs, toads and peepers.
The time is at hand, it is hoped, when all the swamps and swales of
Massachusetts will be drained and tilled, and thus rendered produc-
tive. Many acres in this county have already been reclaimed, and
made to bear much produce. There are more, however, that remain
unreclaimed, and unproductive.

Four entries, of what were called reclaimed meadows, were made.
The Committee viewed them all. Only two pieces came within
their province, to wit, those entered by Messrs. Montague and Smith.

STATEMENT OF ALBERT MONTAGUE,

I offer three acres of reclaimed meadow in Sunderland. I can give an
accurate statement of the method and expense of reclaiming only one
acre, and of the amount of produce obtained therefrom. The entire
piece lies in a swamp of about ten acres, which has been partially
drained, from time to time, since 1833. By draining at considerable
expense, and overcoming opposition of neighbors, Avho were not
willing, at first, that I should cut a drain through their lands — although
their lands became twice as valuable, in consequence of the drain —
this whole swamp has been very much improved, and yields much
good feed, as well as much that is sour. My lot of three acres, to
which I invite your sj^ecial attention, lies near the south end of this
swamp, being as low as any part of it. I mowed it for a series of
years previous to 1852, and obtained a little coarse bog hay, bardy
sufficient to pay for my labor.

In August 1851, immediately after mowing, I commenced draining,
more faithfully, and bogging it evenly, to fit it for the plow, as

KECLAIMED MEADOWS. 77

most of the stumps bad already been removed. I tlion plowed, about
seven inches deep, taking pains to have it well turned, and the
furrows lie nearly flat. I turned up some two or three inches of
muck, which lay until May 1852, and being, then, well pulverised
with a harrow, I was enabled to cultivate it without much expense.

I planted on the 22d of May, spread a light coat of manure, com-
posted of barnyard manure and sand, in equal proportions, using at
the rate of eight loads of compost to the acre. I added twelve
bushels of ashes to the acre, putting them in the hill. I planted
indian corn, hoed three times, and cultivated between the rows.
Just before the last hoeing, I sowed grass seed at the rate of one peck
of herds grass, four quarts of red top, and five pounds of clover to
the acre, and mixed in a little turnip seed. I cut my corn Sept. 18th,
and husked, about the middle of October, one hundred fifty-seven
bushels of good ears of corn, on one acre, and about three tons of
corn fodder. The weight of the fodder was obtained by weighing
one stack, and multiplying it by the number of stacks. I finished
pulling my turnips the 20th of November, and had one hundred
twenty-five bushels, on one acre. In July last, I cut a fair crop of
good hay, estimated by competent judges, at two tons to the acre. I
think I should have had a greater crop, had the season been favorable.
The muck was dry enough to burn well, a long time before the grass
Avas cut. The land is now in good condition. The grass thickens
so well, that I expect a heavier crop of hay next season. I have
computed the expense of reclaiming one acre from its condition — in
August, 1851 — when it was drained and the stumps removed.

PKODUCE.

78 bushels of corn, at 83 1-3 cents, - - $65.00

3 tons corn fodder at .^6, - . _ . 18.00

125 bushels turnips at 12 1-2 cents, - - 15.62

2 tons hay at ^7 per ton, - - . . 14.00

$112.62

EXPENSES.

Bogging and removing bogs, • - - - $6.00

Draining, - 3.00

Plowing and harrowing, - - . - - 6.00

Manures, compost and ashes, ... 10.00

Planting and hoeing three times, ... 5. 00

Grass seed, ---._.. 1.50

C'orn, 6.00

Turnips, 3. 00

Hay seed, 2.50

843.00

Net gain on one acre. - - - - $09.62

To this might be added the value of the land or nearly so ; for be-
fore I commenced in August 1851, there was no net increase from it
— the bog hay barely paid the labor of getting it,

Albert Montague.

TEAN8A0TI0 NS.

STATEMENT OF EDMUND SMITH.

^ The piece of meadow which I offer for premium, contains about
three acres, in Hadley. It is the centre of a lot of ninete3n acres and
a half, which I bought in 1840, and was then worth five dollars per
acre. There was some wood on the north side — the south side was
higher, and part had been plowed. In 1842, I mowed the brush to
see if I could make a piece of swamp-mowing ; but it proved worth-
less, in consequence of the water flowing from a large tract of swamp
on the north side. It was so wet, that nothing grew of any value.
I had cut a ditch, west of this piece of land, running north and south
across the lot, which took off some of the water. The season was
very dry in August, 1845, and I thought I would try the experiment
of plowing. I dug the stumps and put them into a fence^^ — used
a large plow, drawn by four yoke of oxen, and had a man with a bog
hoe to relieve the plow whenever it clogged or stopped. We were
eight days plowing three acres, ten inches deep, beds four rods wide.
The^furrows drained off the water into the ditch on the west side.
The next spring I sowed oats and hay seed, at the rate of eight quarts
of herdsgrass, three pounds of clover, and four quarts of red top seed
to the acre. The crop of oats was better than I expected. The hay
seed came up well. For four or five years after it was seeded, I think
there was at the rate of one and a half tons of hay to the acre, worth
six dollars per ton, standing. The north land — about three fourths
of an acre — I plowed and planted in the summer of 1850 with pota-
toes and broom corn, manuring in the hill. The next spring, I sow-
ed oats and hay seed — had a good crop of oats — the hay seed came up
well. I cut from this piece, the past two seasons, at the rate of two
tons of good hay to the acre, and have never manured it, except
in 1846. The remainder of the three acres, I plowed last fall, about
eight inches deep. It was planted in May and manured in the hill
with oyster shell lime and plaster. I think the crop equal to fifty
bushels or more of shelled corn to the acre. The land, since it was
first planted, has yielded a yearly income of six dollars per acre; but,
the last two years, the income has been greater.

RESULT.

Present Value of the land, $50 per acre, - - $150.00

EXPENSES.

First cost, at $5 per acre, - _ - - $15.00

Clearing brush and stumps, - - - - 20.00

Plowing, 30.00

$65.00

Net profit, $85.00

Edmund Smiiii.

PLOWING.

79

REPORT ON PLOWING.

BY. K. G. mow, M. D.

"Was the plow used by Adam? "And the Lord God planted a
garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had
formed."— Gen. ii: 8. After planting, we find that " The Lord God
took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it, and
to keep it." — Gen. ii : 15.

Let us, for a moment, contemplate the man, created by divine wis-
dom for agricultural pursuits. In his physical nature, he was a fin-
ished production of infinite skill. Intellectually, as a perfect model,
he must have stood at a height, that none of his descendants can
hope to reach ; while, upon his moral nature no blighting stain had
fallen. The lineaments of an endless life were his.

For such a man, the cultivation of the ground was deemed by the
Creator, a suitable employment. But we are not informed in regard
to the manner in which Adam carried on his farming operations. We
are not told, whether he used a spade or plow, rake or harrow, hoe
or corn-planter. We feel quite sure, however, that in the absence of
the sons of the " Emerald Isle," he could not have relied exclusively
on the spade, in preparation of the soil, even before the thorns and
briers came. It will not at all surprise us, if at some future day, a
Layard should exhume from the garden of Eden the original pat-
tern of the genuine Michigan plow.

To the successful prosecution of agricultural pursuits, a thorough
preparation of the soil for the reception of seed, is essential. One of
the most, if not, indeed, the most, essential implement for the accom-
plishment of this object, is the plow. The office of a plow is to stir
and turn over the soil from a suitable depth, leaving it in a light and
thoroughly pulverized condition. It is not enough that the ground
is simply turned upside down. A plow may be capable of domg
this in the most perfect manner, and still be very imperfect ; for, it is
easy to see that, so far as it fails to pulverize and render the furrow
light, a necessity is created for the additional labor of the harroAV.

It is proper, also, in forming our estimate of the true value of a
plow, to consider the strength of team necessary, and the ease with
which it can be managed.

In regard to the question so much agitated at the present tune

80 TEANSACTIOKS.

whether the plow shall run deep or shallow, we say, as a general rule,
let the plow run deep, or else follow it with the subsoil. We believe
that, in this conclusion, we are sustained by reason and experience.
A given quantity of soil may not occupy a larger space, after having
been thoroughly stirred, than it did in its natural state; still, its new
condition is more favorable to the growth of the plant, whose roots
are to penetrate and draw their sustenance from it.

To any one who has observed the great depth to which the delicate
fibres penetrate, it is perfectly obvious, that every obstacle should be
removed, which might hinder their progress. Still farther, other
things being equal, we suppose it to be a point which experience has
fairly settled, that the ability of a plant to sustain itself during a
drought, will correspond Avith the depth to which the soil has been
stirred, and it would seem strange, if in a section so liable to suffer
in this way as our own, any farmer should fail to avail himself of
deep plowing.

REPOET ON MANURES.

BY SAMUEL POAVEES.

Every farmer has on his own farm, taluable materials for com-
post manure. The modes of manufacture and of application are well
known. Let the good farmers of old Hampshire awake to the im-
portance of making compost by hundreds of loads, and spreading
it hroadcast on the lands to which it is best adapted. You will
double your crops and enhance the value of your lands in like projjo-
rtion. Mr. Rankin's method is worthy of imitation.

We recommend the turning in of green crops, as a fertilizer of the
soil. Mr. Kelita Hubbard, of North Sunderland, has been success-
ful, as appears by his statement of the benefits derived from actual
trial, the past two years. As he has abundance of muck in his pos-
session, we hope he will dig it out and apply it to his land, to which
it is well adapted, spreading it without measure, and be rewarded ac-
cordingly.

The valuable experiments of Mr. Albert Montague, of Sunderland,

M A N u n E s . 81

are worthy attentive consideration. Every farmer would do well to
make similar trials, and he will soon know what are his most profit-
able fertilizers. Mr. Montague's experiments show that super-phos-
phate of lime, whatever may be its intrinsic value and its usefulness
on other soils, is not profitable for farmers whose lands are low, wet
and cold. Providence has given him a muck swamp — ho has no oc-
casion for super-phosphate, at $5 a bag.

STATEMENT OF ANSEL A. RANKIN.

In making my statement, perhaps it may be well to give the con-
struction of my barn cellar, in which I make my manure. My cellar
is sixty feet by forty. My barn points or is open on the west side ;
my stables for neat cattle are on the east side, and under them is my
hog-stye. Into this stye, the excrements and urine of the cattle pass.
My cattle are stabled every night during the summer, as well as
winter. I clear out the whole of the manure in the spring, and then
before erecting the pens, I cart in as much loam, as is practicable.
This is done easily, as the cellar is sufficiently deep to admit of
dumping the cart. I then erect the pens and let my swine commence
their operations. As fast as occasion requires, I add fresh loam, and
spread the excrement from the cattle, if the swine do not root it suf-
ficiently. By this method, I have made from six S^vine, one horse,
two oxen, and four cows, one hundred forty cart loads af first rate
manure. I consider the urine of as much value as the solid part of
the excrement.

Ansel A. Rankin.

Peiham, October 2G, 1853.

STATEMENT OF KELITA HUBBARD.

I have practiced turning in rye as manure, for several years, with
good success. I plow my land, as soon as convenient after the crop
is taken off. The feed in the fall will pay for plowing and seed.
I turn the crop in the Spring, where the soil is light. I think it is
equal to five loads of manure to the acre. It destroys the weeds,
pulverizes the land, and thus saves much labor in the cultivation of
the next year. Nearly seed enough scatters, if the crop is dry, when
gathered. It can be plowed when the team has but little to do, and
can get their living in the pasture.

Kelita Hubbard.

Sunderland, October 27, 1853.
11

82 TRANSACTIONS.

EXPERIMENTS OF ALBERT MONTAGUE.

In these days of progress, when every one wishes to be profiting "by
his neighbor's experience, we are liable to do as our neighbor has'
done, without considering Avhether it will be for our benefit. We
are apt to think what has produced great crops for him, will certain-
ly fill our barns and granaries. Do we not need a little of the con-
servative, as well as much of the progressive. I am led to these re-
flections from the fact of having in a small way, during the past
season, experimented faithfully with foreign manures, but have not
received the anticipated benefit. I propose to state these experiments
with their cost and profit. My farm lies in Sunderland, The soil is
sandy loam, with a trifle of marl. It is rather low, so much so, that
in cold or wet seasons, coin is liable to be bitten by frost, before
fully ripe, unless it gets an early start. I have usually, for this rea-
son, put part of the manure, applied to my corn land, in the hill.
Last spring, I purchased two bags of Prof. Mapes' Improved Super
Phosphate of Lime, and used it upon several different pieces, in the
following manner :

Piece No. 1 was grass land which had been top di-essed for four
or five years. Upon thirty square rods I spread thirty-seven and a
half pounds of Improved Phosphate, Avhich, when applied, cost one
dollar, twenty-five cents. Upon a piece adjoining of like soil, in
same condition, I applied the same value of rotted manure and ob-
tained one-fourth more hay from the manured ground.

Piece No. 2 was grass land which had been top dressed with well
rotted manure. I sowed thirty-seven and a half pounds of Improv-
ed Phosphate upon thirty rods — which cost, when applied, one dollar
and twenty-five cents. I cut about three hundred pounds more of
hay from these thirty rods, than from an adjoining thirty rods treated
in the same manner, except that Phosphate was not applied.

Piece No. 3 was Broom-corn. Upon two rods I put five pounds
of Improved Phosphate. I manured two other rods with manure
from my hog-pen, at the rate of ten loads to the acre, which was of
about the same value as the Super Phosphate. I applied both ma-
nure and Phosphate in the hill. The result was, that the two rods
planted with Improved Phosphate produced about half as much
Broom-corn, as the two rods, fertilized only Avitli hog manure.

Piece No. 4 was manured in the hill, just before planting, -vnth
Imjn-oved Super Phosphate of Lime, put upon alternate rows. The
rows where it was applied were much the largest and best colored,
during the second and third hoeings — the earliest in ripening — and I
think will yield fifty pounds more of brush.

Piece No. 5 was one-fourth of an acre of Indian Corn, on which I
applied forty pounds of Improved Phosphate, dropped on manure in
the hill. The result Avas about two and one half bushels of corn
more, than on an equal quantity of ground, of similar soil, treated in
like manner, except that the Improved Phosphate was not applied.

KANURES. S9

This finished one bag of the Phosphate — the expense of it applied,
"was $5, and the extra amount received from its use was about $10,
and my net gain $5.

I experimented, in like manner, upon other pieces of Broom-corn
and Indian corn, both before and after planting, and during the first
and second hoeings — but could see no effects whatever from it.

I also purchased twenty bushels of oyster-shell lime, and applied
it for corn — some in the hill, and some broadcast — some with, and
some without manure — but, if there is any goodness in it for my soil,
it is yet to be seen.

I also purchased salt to assist me in my labors to make corn grow.
I put some in the hill, sowed some at the rate of five bushels, and
some at the rate of one bushel to the acre. The corn all grew alike,
and the worms eat it without reference to the salt.

Another experiment was successful. In Aug. 1853, 1 made amuck
lieap from the swamp, and let it lie exposed to frosts and air, until
■about the middle of April. Then I carted it to my lot, designed for
corn, and, there, mixing three loads of it with one load of stable
manure, and one bushel of ashes to a load — which caused it to heat
powerfully — I made a compost, which I applied in the hill, side by
side with manure not so composted. The corn upon the compost
was larger, of better color in June and July, and was heavier when
harvested. The land upon which I put it, is rather poor — not my
best corn land. I think the yield will be thirty-five to forty bushels
to the acre. I used three loads of manure, and nine loads of muck
to the acre — valued at six dollars. Others may receive great benefit
from artificialmanures, but some may, with me, think that so long as
nature has provided, in our swamps, vast stores of that which will
cause corn to grow, and the " wilderness to bud and blossom as the
rose," it is best to draw upon the swamps.

Albert Moxtague.

Sunderland, Oct. 20, 1853.

REPORT ON CROPS.

BY SIMEOX CEARK.

The importance of the cultivation of the cereals, for food and rev-
enue, is generally appreciated, with the exception of the wheat crop,
to which our farmers, for several years, have paid very little atten-
tion. Fifteen or twenty years ago, considerable interest was felt, in
consequence of a bounty off"ered for its production by the State Leg-
islature. Large quantities of wheat were then raised, sufficient for

84 TEANSACTIOXS.

the consumption of the farmers themselves. Since the bounty was
withdrawn, very little wheat has been raised. The business has
fallen into disrepute with farmers, and the opinion is entertained, that
it cannot be raised as ti remunerating crop, except on new land. This
opinion is believed to be erroneous. It is, indeed, a mooted ques-
tion, but the time has come, when it may be settled, as its impor-
tance demands. Wheat, in its various forms, constitutes the largest
portion of our diet. The increasing price of the article, and conse-
quent drain upon the pockets of the farmers, should awaken their
attention. There is e'hcouragement for renewed efforts to cultivate
wheat, in the fact, that some of the enemies with which farmers have
had to contend in its cultivation, have disappeared. Insects, for ex-
ample, to some extent, and prejudice, we trust, to a much greater
extent. Science has begun to shed her light, and we have learned,
or begun to learn, the constituents of the plant or grain. The ele-
ments of the plant are derived from the soil and it will not flourish
where these elements are wanting. Chemistry here steps in to aid
the farmer, by analysis of the plant, tells him what these elements
are, and, by an analysis of the soil, which of these elements are
wanting in the soil. All that is necessary to solve the problem,
whethor wheat can be raised here as a remunerating crop, is a well
conducted experiment on seienti.^c principles. Let the farmer get
the soil of a certain field analyzed, and ascertain what particular in-
gredients are wanting to furnish food for the plant, supply that defi-
ciency, and tell us the result. Till this is done, we shall still hold
to the opinion, that wheat can be raised here with profit.

We suggest to the officers of the Hampshihe Agkicultural
Society, the propriety of ofiering a liberal premium for the best ex-
periment in raising wheat, conducted in the manner suggested in the
preceding remarks.

We are happy to state, that increasing attention is now given to
this subject, as the increasing number of competitors for premiums
on wheat crops, will testify. Four entries were made, accompanied
by satisfactory statements in relation to the manner of cultivation,
and expense of the crop. To these statements the attention of the
members of this society is invited, and, also, to the statements of
successful competitors for premiums on other crops. These experi-
ments are very interesting and instructive.

CROPS.

COEN CROPS,

STATEMENT OF N. & B. SMITH.

The piece of corn we offer for premium, contains one acre and five
rods. It was mowed three years previous to 1853, and not manured
during that time. In December, 1852, it was plowed with the Mich-
igan plow, eight inches deep. A compost was made upon the lot —
containing about twenty loads of clear manure and thirty bushels of
oyster-shell lime, slacked in a brine, made from two bushels of salt.
This compost was spread upon the furrows and harrowed in. The
corn was planted by acorn-planter, on the 14th of May. Ten bushels
of shell lime and ashes were dropped by a machine. The corn was
hoed three times and grass seed was sowed at the third hoeing. On
the tenth of September, we harvested the crop.

VALUE OF CKOP.

98 bushels, 22 quarts, at 92 cents,

4 baskets soft corn, ....

3 tons of fodder, at $5,

EXPENSES.

20 loads of manure, ....
30 bushels of lime and 2 of salt, .
Plowing, hauling manure, &c., .
Spreading manure and harrowing.
Planting and seed.
Hoeing and cultivating,
Cutting and stacking.
Carting and husking.
Interest on land,

$90.80

1.00

15.00

-$106.80

^20.00
3.75
8.00
2.00
1.00
10.00
3.00
8.00
6.00

$61.75

Net gain,
Sunderland, Nov. 15, 1853.

$45.05
N. & B. Smith.

STATEMENT OF R. T. WHEELOCK.

The acre, on which my crop of Indian corn was raised, is part of a
field of three and three-fourths acres, in Amherst. This field is a
hard, stiff, loamy soil resting on a subsoil of gravel, with a sprink-
ling of cobble-stones. It has been pastured. About six years pre-
vious to my laying it down to pasture, it had been apparently ex-
hausted, by cropping, of every particle of food, capable of nourishing
plants. In 1841-2, I attempted to cultivate this lot, and the result

86

TRAXSACTIONS.

was nearly a total failure. So lifeless was the soil, after turning it
with the plow, that neither sunshine, rain, nor good cultivation,
seemed to pulverize it, or to render it capable of sustaining a poor
crop. Two methods of procedure suggested themselves to my mind ;
either to manure liberally and continue to cultivate, or to stock it
down to pasture for a few years. The latter course I adopted. I
sowed it with rye and stocked it down. The seed took remarkably
well, and, judging from the appearance of the pasture from year to
year, I thought it gave unmistakable signs of improvement. Last
spring, I concluded to make one more trial. About the first of May,
I commenced plowing it from six to seven inches deep ; and, to my
surprise, I found a thick, rich, heavy turf. On working this, it pul-
verized immediately after coming in contact with the atmosphere. I
harrowed the land twice, manured in the hill, at the rate of eight
loads to the acre, using a compost, one-half from the barnyard, the
other half from the slaughter-house. I hoed three times, and ashed
one-half of the field after the first hoeing. The corn was cut and
stacked, about the middle of September, and husked, the last of Oc-
tober. The yield was one hundred and twenty-five bushels of ears,
equal to sixty-two and one-half bushels of shelled corn. The whole
field yielded three hundred and seventy-one bushels of ears. I think
there was a loss of from five to eight bushels per acre, in consequence
of an east wind, about the last of July, which prostrated it flat upon
the ground.

VALUE OF CROP.

62 1-2 bushels, at 83 cents.

, ,

,

. $51.87

1 1-2 tons of corn fodder, at $5,

7.50

$59.37

EXPENSES.

Plowing, .

.

$3.75

Manure and spreading it,

9.00

Planting, .

1.50

Hoeing,

3.00

Seed,

.25

Cutting and stacking.

2.00

Husking, .

3.75

Drawing to the barn.

1.00

Interest on land,

4 50

Ashes and ashing,

1.00

$29.75

Net gain,

.

$29.62

R. T. Wheelock.

Amherst, Nov. 17, 1853.

CROPS. 87

STATEMENT OF GEORGE DICKINSON.

The piece of land on which this crop of corn was raised, is first-
rate alluvial meadow, in Hadley, and contains, according to the sur-
veyor's report, four acres and ninety-eight rods. For seven years
previous to the spring of 1852, three acres of it were mown, and two
crops were produced, nearly every year without manure. The re-
mainder was planted with broom-corn, four years previous to the
spring of 1852. The land was plowed about the first of May, 1852,
manured in the hill, and planted with broom-corn. The yield was
about eight hundred pounds to the acre. I plowed, the second week
in May, spread forty-eight loads of manure, harrowed it in, and
planted, the last of the month, in hills about three feet by three feet
four inches. I cultivated with a horse, hoed three times, and cut
over again in August. The crop was cut and stacked, the third week
in September, and husked in October. The yield was five hundred
and one baskets — nineteen quarts to the basket — weighing thirty-
three pounds each, and amounting to two hundred ninety-five bushels
and 12-32ds, at fifly-six pounds to the bushel. I would here state,
that the crows hooked, as it was thought, about a quarter of an acre.

VALUE OF CKOr.

295 bushels, at 80 cents, .... $236.00

Corn fodder, by estimate, .... 27.00

-$263.00

EXPENSES.

Interest on land, at |200 per acre, . . . $54.00
48 loads of manure, at $1.25, .... 62.00

Labor, 77.50

-$193.50

Net profit on 4 acres, 98 rods, . . . $09,50

George Dickinson.
Hadley, Nov. 24, 1853.

WHEAT CROPS.
STATEMENT OF WASHINGTON MILLER.

I off'cr for premium a crop of wheat, raised on one acre, in Sun-
derland. From this acre I took a fine crop of potatoes, last fall.
The year previous, the land was a piece of old meadow. I harrowed
and manured in the hill, putting a small shovelful of compost, and a
handful of lime and ashes in each hill. About the middle of Sep-
tember, I plowed and sowed a bushel and a half of pure seed wheat,
selected from the largest heads in the bundles of my previous crops.

TRANSACTIONS,

In October, I sowed three bushels of stone lime, wliicli had been
soaked in brine ; and, last spring, I added eight bushels of oyster
shell lime, that had been brine slacked. I reaped, about the 12th of
July, thirty three bushels and three pecks, Aveight measure.

VALUE OF CROP.

33 3-4 bushels, at $1.50,
Straw sold,

Seed,

Plowing and harrowing.

Lime,

Harvesting and threshing,

Interest on land,

EXPENSES.

Net gain.

150.50
5.00

■155.50

^2.25
3.00
2.69
5.56
6.50

$20.00

$35.50
"Washington Miller.

STATEMENT OF N. & B. SMITH.

The quantity of land, on which our crop of wheat was raised, was
one acre and seven rods, in. Sunderland. In 1851, manure was
spread upon the land, and a crop of Indian corn taken off; grass seed
was sowed, at the third hoeing. In June 1852, a crop of clover and
herds-grass was cut, yielding about one and a half tons. We har-
rowed Avith a seed harrow, plowed deep, and rolled before sowing
wheat. The quantity of seed used, was a bushel and twenty-two
quarts. W^e sowed and harrowed, Sept. 3d, 1852, and harvested
July 12th and 13th, 1853. In the spring we applied five bushels of
oyster-shell lime, slacked in the brine from a bushel of salt ; also
live bushels of ashes. This dressing appeared to increase the crop,
and to strengthen the straw, so much that a very small part of it
lodged.

VALUE OF CROP.

35 3-4 bushels wheat,
2300 pounds of straw,

EXPENSES.

Seed,

Plowing, harrowing, rolling and soAving,
Harvesting and threshing,

$53.62
7.00

.$60.62

§2.58
3.75
7.00

C BOP 9

Lime, ashes and salt — preparing and applying the same, 3.00
Interest on land, ...... 7.00

$23.33

Net gain $37.29

N. &. B. SaiiTK.

RYE CROPS.

STATEMENT OF GEORGE DICKINSON.

The land on Avhich this crop Avas raised, contains three acres and
thirty-six rods of second quality meadow land. In 1852, it was
planted in corn, and manured at the rate of ten loads to the acre,
spread on and harrowed in. After the corn had been cut and stacked,
the rye was sown, at the rate of one bushel and one peck to the acre.
I harvested in July, threshed in August, and the yield was one hun-
dred thirty bushels and eight quarts, — averaging forty bushels and
ten quarts per acre, at fifty-six jjounds to the bushel.

VALUE OF CROP.

130 1-4 bushels, at 80 cents, . . . $104.20

3 1-7 tons straw, at $0, .... 18.86

-$123.06

EXPENSES.

Interest on land, at $100 per acre, . . . $19.50

Labor, 20.75

Team, 8.00

4 bushels seed, at 75 cents, .... 3.00

$51.2

o

Net profit, $71.81

Geoege Dickinson.
Hadley, November 24, 1853.

STATEMENT OF N. &. B. SMITH.

Xhc land on which our rye was raised, contains one acre, seven and
a half rods. A crop of wheat was taken off in 1852, yielding about
twelve bushels per acre. No manure was applied, after the Spring
of 1851, and then it was put in the hill for broom-corn. The rye
was sowed on the 8th of September, at the rate of one bushel to the
acre, and harvested on the loth of July. The land was plowed
deep, and thoroughly harrowed.
12

90

TBA.N8ACTI01C
YALTJE OP CROP.

33 1-2 bushels rye at $1, -

2900 pounds of straw at $6 per ton,

EXPENSES.

Seed, -.----

Plowing, harrowing, and sowing,
Harvesting, - - - - -

Threshing, _ _ - - -

Interest on land, - - - -

Net profit,
Sunderland, Oct. 22, 1853.

$33.50
8.70

.$42.20

SI. 00
2.00
2.50
2.00
6.00

$13.50

$28.70
N. &, B. Smtih.

B B 0 0 M-C 0 B N .

STATEMENT OF GEORGE DICKINSON.

The land on which this crop was produced, comprises four acres
and seventy rods of my home lot in Hadley. I have planted near-
ly ten acres of it, for the past four or five years. The remainder
has been in mowing, and a part, perhaps, was never before plowed.
The turf was plowed in the fall of 1852, and the remainder in the
spring of 1853. I applied fifty eight loads of manure, harrowed in,
and planted the last of May. In consequence of a failure of the
seed, on a part of it, — I planted over, the 6th of June. I cultivated
with a horse and hoed three times. The broom bru.sh was cut, and
housed the first and second weeks in October, As I have been, as
yet, unable to scrape it all, I cannot state certainly the full amount
of the crop, but can estimate it very nearly.

VALUE OF CROP.

4448 pounds brush, at 5 cents,
13259 pounds seed at one cent.

^222.40
132.59

-$354.99

EXPENSES.

Interest on 4 1-2 acres, at $200 per acre,
58 loads manure, at $1.25, - - -
Labor, ----_.

Team, ------

Net profit,

$54.00
72.00
93.25
18.00

^237.25

$117.74
George Dickinson.

C BOP 8. "SH

CABBOTS.
STATEMENT OF O. & F. H. WILLIAMS.

The half acre of carrots which we enter for premium, is a sandy
loam. Part of it was in carrots last year, and the remainder has
been in grass, for twenty years. We plowed with a Michigan plow,
eight inches deep, and planted in rows from eighteen to twenty inches
apart.

VALUE OF CEOP.

348 bushels, at 25 cents, $87 00

expenses:

Plowing, 11 25

Harrowing, ----__- 75

Manure, 10 loads, 10 00

Carting and spreading, - - - - - 2 00

Planting with corn-planter, in drills, - - - 75

Three-fourths of a pound of seed, - - - - 75

Plowing with small cast-steel plow weighing 25 lbs.,

and thinning, - - - - - - - 5 00

Second time Avith plow, - - - - - 2 00

Harvesting, - - - - - - - 6 00

$28 50

Net profit, $58 50

0. &. F. H. Williams.
Sunderland, Oct. 26, 1853.

TUENIPS.

STATEMENT OF O. &, F. H. WILLIAMS.

The half acre of turnips, which we . enter for premium, is a sandy
loam. The land has been in grass for the last three years. We turned
the sward under, the 5th of July, after taking off a crop of grass, and
cutting the furrows from seven to eight inches deep.

VALUE OF CKOP.

250 bushels, at 20 cents, $50 00

EXPENSES.

Plowing, - - - - - - - -$125

Harrowing, - 75

Eight loads of compost, - - - - - 6 00

.

2 00

.

50

-

34

-

3 GO

.ing 25 lbs.,

1 75

.

4 00

^1 0 'iQ

.

$30 41

0. &. F. H.

Williams.

92 TRAN8A0TIONS.

Carting and spreading,

Sowing with corn-planter, in drills,

Half a pound ef seed, - - -

Hoeing and thinning, - - -

Plomng with light cast-steel plow weighing 25 lbs..

Harvesting, . - - _

Net profit,
Sunderland, Nov. 5, 1853.

HERDSGRASS SEED.

STATEMENT OF GEORGE DICKINSON.

The land on which this seed grew, lies in Hadley. It is a stiff
clay loam, and measures two acres, sixty-nine rods. A crop of oata
was taken off, in 1852. In August, the land was plowed and sub-
soiled to the depth of twelve inches, and sown with two bushels of
seed, harrowed in. The grass was thin, the present season. A part
of it was mowed, the first week in August, and the remainder I cra-
dled and scraped, the second week. The yield of seed Avas three
bushels and thirty-one quarts. A sample of it was exhibited at the
Fair.

TALUE OF CROP.

3 bushels 31 quarts of seed, at $3.50 per bushel, - $13 89
1 1-2 tons of hay, at $8, 12 00

-$25 89

EXPENSES.

Interest on land, at $40 per acre, - - - $6 00

Labor, 9 00

Team, _--_____ 5 25

Bushel of grass seed, - - - - - - 350

$23 75

Net profit, $2 04

George Dickinson.
Hadley, Nov. 24, 1853.

FETJITTREES. 93

REPORT ON FRUIT TREES.

BY WILLIAM C. FOWLER.

The culture of Fruit trees has always received the attention of the
inhabitants of Massachusetts, as a matter of high importance in its
relations to beauty and vitility. While the soil was new, it contained
all the elements necessary for their growth ; so that a crop of apple
trees was raised with as much certainty as a crop of wheat. But
afterwards, when some of the elements were exhausted from the soil,
the orchards planted failed in vigor of growth and in perfection of
fruit. The trees were smaller and shorter-lived, and the fruit was
inferior in size and number. Their enemies, too, of the insect tribe,
— if not from increase of number, at least from diminished power of
resistance in their victims, — were more successful in their attacks.
As cider became less in demand for the table and for the distillery,
and the orchards became thinner and less productive from the axe or
from natural decay, — while the population of the state increased, —
the supply of fruit becahie less, while the demand for the table or for
culinary purposes became greater.

What then shall be done to supply the increased and increasing
demand ? The answer is, — Increase the numbek of growing
TREES ; IMPROVE THE MODES OF cuLTivATiox. As nature in the
diminished fertility of the soil does less ; art reinforcing nature, must
do more. By studying the laws of vegetable life, by the application
of appropriate manures, in short, by proper cultivation, fertility can
be communicated to the soil, vigor to the growth of the tree, and im-
proved flavor and increased size to the fruit.

It is the object of the Committee, in making their report, to throw
together a few brief remarks for the benefit solely of the young and
inexperienced cultivator, in the shape of Rules, without accompany-
ing them with a statement of the principles on which the rules are
founded. Those who seek for the foundations of these rules in the
conclusions of science, can find them elsewhere.

1. Plant a Nursery. Let your nursery consist chiefly of
apple trees. But let it also contain pear trees, cherry trees, peach
trees, plum trees, and grape vines. Let them all be seedlings, ob-
tained from good seed ; unless the quince and the grape form excep-
tions. Lot the nursery be planted in a deep, rich soil, and be kept

94 TBAN8ACTION8.

in a rapidly gro\ving condition by the free use of manure and the hoe.
Let trees which you remove to the orchard or the garden, be replaced
by other trees, in order to meet your future wants. Let the trees in
the nursery be so far distant from each other, as to leave full space
for the roots and for the sun, and for the removal of the trees without
injury to other trees. It may be best to purchase some trees at first,
which may come into bearing sooner than those from your own nur-
sery. But, for the most part, in the course of your fife, depend upon
your own nursery. First, because it is more economical; secondly,
because it will make you acquainted with the laws of vegetable life
and with the habitudes of trees, and thus better able to take care of
them in their advanced stages ; thirdly, it will serve to interest you
in trees, by keeping them before you from their infancy up to matu-
rity ; fourthly, it may be a source of revenue.

II. Select the ground fok youb, orchakd ob rExriT gae-
DEN, CAREFULLY. It is not every soil or every exposure, that is
adapted to your purpose, though judicious cultivation may do much
in removing the disability of a poor soil and unfavorable exposure.
What is the best soil and the best exposure your observation of the
experiments of others in the vicinity, whether successful or not, can
teach you. As a general rule, a deep loam is better than a stiff clay,
or a loose sand. Which is the best exposure, — a north or south, an
east or west, — will, in different localities, depend on the season, on
the proximity of the sea or a marsh, of a mountain or a forest. As a
general rule, when you have your choice, you had better try both
sides of a hill, and one or the other will prove preferable. It has
been found, on trial, that peach trees bear best, sometimes on the
sunny side and sometimes on the shady side of a building, according
to the season ; it is safe, therefore, to try both sides, and then you
have a double chance for success. The fruit buds, swollen by the
sun and then checked by the frost, on the south side, may be safe on
the north side ; or the fruits destroyed by severe cold on the north
side, may be safe on the south side. For your encouragement, how-
ever, it should be remembered that the best exposure and the best
soil are not essential to success, provided you bestow the appropriate
culture.

III. Prepare tour groukd, carefully. Fruit trees delight
in a deep soil, made mellow, in which the roots can move freely in
search of pasture. The soil should be prepared as carefully by the
plow for a crop of trees, as for a crop of wheat. If it is your purpose
to plant an orchard of apple trees, plow your land deep, according to

PRUITTREE3. 95

the nature of the soil. Apply manure generously. Raise a crop of
corn or potatoes on green sward. The next season, manure again, if
necessary, and sow the ground with oats. Just after your oats are
sowed, plant your trees in the soil thus rendered mellow and enriched
by manure, in which, the roots can move freely and find nourishment.
The oats will protect the trees against the great heat of the sun, and
the roots dying will afford them nourishment. The soil formed of
turf is appropriate to the nourishment of the roots of the trees.

IV. Plant tour trees cakefueey. In taking them up, see
to it, that the spade does its office by digging a circular trench around
each tree, near the end of the roots, which radiate from the trunk or
stem. Dig under the ends of the roots towards the trunk or body,
without wounding them. Raise each, successively, commencing at
the extremity, and the whole gently Avithout tearing them. Keep
the roots moist until they are transferred to their new habitation.
Dig the hole so large that the roots will not be cramped. If there is
any difference between the surface soil and that at the bottom of the
hole, let the two be kept separate. Lay the surface soil next to the
roots and the soil taken from the bottom, on the surface. Some cul-
tivators apply a stratum of well-rotted manure between the two kinds
of soil ; but not in contact with the roots. Apply water to the roots
after the surface soil is placed on them. The time for doing this in
our country and climate is generally best in the spring, just after the
buds have begun to swell, rather than in the autumn, though some
kinds of trees succeed well Avhen planted in the latter season, if
proper care be taken in transplanting them.

V. Tend your trees carefuley. For the first few years it
is advantageous to keep the ground in cultivation, at least occasion-
ally. Trim judiciously, not severely, unless the grape is an exception
to the rule. The small branches can be taken off at any time of the
year. The large branches seem more readily to harden and to be
kept from decay until grown over, when trimmed in the winter. A
strong soap suds or a very weak solution of potash applied to the
body of certain trees, like the apple and pear, is recommended for
giving them a smooth bark. Keep cattle away, but let in pigs and
poultry, when it can conveniently be done, as it may sometimes.
Our limits will not allow us to point out the various modes of de-
fending them from their insect enemies. We will venture to suggest
a repetition of a series of experiments, tried by one of our number,
ten or fifteen years since, which appeared to be eminently efficacious
in destroying insect life. Sulphur intimately mingled with quick-

96 TRANSACTIONS.

lime or with saleratus, appeared to be efficacious in destroying the
worm in the root of peach trees and the grubs and worms in garden
beds. Would not these mixtures, thrown in powder upon trees, be
a preservative against insects like the curculio, and the caterpillar,
and canker-worm ? The experiment is worth trying. If this should
not succeed, are there not certain mineral poisons which might be
proved by experiment to be efficacious in protecting vegetable life
from insects ? As the enemies to fruit increase, let your vigilance
increase.

The motives for the cultivation of fruit may be found in its relation
to beauty, health, comfort and profit. Fruit trees in leaf, in flower,
and in fruit, are eminently beautiful. Some of them are shapely and
graceful in their forms. Certain pear trees and cherry trees are
almost as regular and symmetrical as the evergreens. Besides being
ornamental, they, like other trees, protect the house from the intense
heat of summer and the intense cold of winter, by their shade or by
breaking the force of the winds. Fruit is wholesome. Bonaparte,
on a certain occasion, cured his army of the dysentery by sending
them into the vineyards to eat ripe grapes. Moreover, the cultiva-
tion of fruit can be made profitable, even when conducted on a great
scale. Witness the peach orchards of New Jersey and the ajDple
orchards of New York. Fruit trees make home attractive, and long-
remembered. It makes it like Eden, of which it is said that out of
the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to
the sight and good for food. Imitate your creator, on your own
grounds, and some of the happiness of Eden shall be yours.

SECLAIMING OLD ORCHARDS.

STATEMENT OF DAVID RICE.

An individual may often own, or come into possession of a farm,
on which stands an old orchard, that has ceased, from excessive age,
neglect, and improper management, to jiroduce fruit, excejjt in sparing
quantities, and of the poorest quality, — unfit for eating, and hardly
worth gathering. There may be no young orchard on the place, or
it may not be old enough to produce fruit. The owner desires to be
supplied with fruit, while his young orchard is maturing, and must
either purchase fruit, or recruit the old orchard. The principle of
economy is consulted, and he finds that it will be economical to re-
claim the old orchard. And if the trees are not too aged, if they

PHUITTREES. 97

have not lost too much of their vitality, and if they formerly bore
good, fais, palatable fruit, the chances for success are altogether in
his favor. The trouble and expense of reclaiming an old orchard is
small ; and if the owner succeeds, he is repaid more than ten times
over for his labor and expenses. In addition to this, the general ap-
pearance (and appearances go a great ways,) of his estate is improv-
ed and beautified.

About eight years ago, I came into possession of the place on which
I now live. On it was standing an old orchard, that had almost
ceased to bear, and was, as it then existed, almost worthless. A part
of the trees were beyond any hope of cure, " i« articuJo mortis,'" as
the doctors say, and fit only for firewood. The remainder I consid-
ered to be in an improvable condition. There was also on the prem-
ises a number of young grafted trees, not yet in a bearing condition.
Under the then existing state of things, I was obliged to purchase
nearly all my fruit, or go without any. The thought occurred, that
I might do something to improve the productiveness of my old trees,
both in quality and quantit)', so as to be supplied with fruit, while
my young trees were maturing, and getting old enough to bear well.
Accordingly, in the fall of 1845, I set myself about the task. I
selected twenty-five or thirty of the most promising trees, had them
well and faithfully trimmed of all dead, dying, unpromising and use-
less limbs ; being particular to leave the most thriving and vigorous
ones, that grew from the centre of the tree. With a hoo, I scraped
off the old loose bark, and moss from the trunk and limbs, and re-
moved the grassy turf from around the body of the trees, for a dis-
tance of two or three feet. I then applied from one-half to a bushel
(according to the size of the tree) of unleached wood ashes around
the trunk, from whence I had removed the turf, being careful not to
have the ashes approach within four or five inches of the bark. Over
the ashes I replaced the turf, with the grassy side down. The fol-
lowing spring I noticed that the trees put forth new shoots in abun-
dance, and large, luxuriant leaves of a dark green color, and were
well filled with blossoms. I gathered, the succeeding autumn, from
them and from a few young trees, just beginning to bear, nearly two
hundred bushels of apples. Fifty bushels of these AVcrc fit for the
fruitery or for winter use, and the others were as good as second rate
apples commonly are. I have since continued to apply the ashes and
my trees are yet in an excellent bearing condition for an old orchard.
My young trees are now beginning to bear a few apples. Last fall I
gathered two hundred and fifty bushels in all Two-thirds of these
were from my old trees, and chiefly from those treated as above de-
scribed. About seventy-five bushels of these were excellent winter
apples.

I would not recommend plowing among apple trees, especially old
trees, at any time, nor under any circumstances. They need all their
roots to sustain life and vigor. The plow always breaks and bruises
more or less of the roots, if run ever so shallow. Some endeavor to
avoid this, by leaving a space untouched under and around the tree,

13

90 TEAN8ACTION3.

for a distance fifteen or twenty feet in diameter. But the evil is not
avoided in this way. The smaller roots, which are the most impor-
tant, are certain to be broken, and the tree will sustain an irreparable
injury. The addition of some ferruginous substance to the ashes, if
the soil is not well supplied with iron, would do well. A quantity
of cinders from the blacksmith's shop, such as fly from the hot iron
when beaten, (oxyde of iron) has been suggested by Prof. Nash.
The soil in which my orchard stands is well supplied with iron, and
for that reason 1 applied none. The application of compost manure,
to be spread under the trees, as far as their roots extend, is also
necessary on sandy, gravelly soils, that do not contain much organic
matter or loam. A compost of equal parts of chip, barn and hog-
yard manures, will make one of the best applications of the kind. 1
would also recommend the grafting of those trees, that send up new
and vigorous limbs, and which do not already bear good varieties of
fruit. I have grafted several and they are in a flourishing condition,
although the scions are not yet old enough to produce much.

David Rice.
Leverett, September 27, 1853.

FEACH OBCHABD.
STATEMENT OF J. E. & A. C. MARSHALL.

Our peach orchard consists of eighty-five trees, and contains thirty
varieties. Nearly all of the trees bore fruit the present season. A
part of the land is a rich gravelly soil, and the remainder, loamy. It
was plowed and planted, two years in succession ; then sowed with
oats, and seeded, previous to 1847, when we commenced setting our
trees. We have continued to add new varieties. When we set our
trees, we put three or four shovelsful of well rotted compost manure
into each hole, and mixed well with the soil. We have not since
used manure around the trees or upon the land ; but we hoe, the first
season, and keep the ground clean and free from grass, for a sj^ace
of two and a half feet in diameter. We have put some lime and
ashes mixed together, around the trees, once or twice. We have lost
no trees by the borers, nor have Ave been troubled with them at all.
Our hens and chickens have had free access, which we think may
have been a preventive. We have cultivated five hundred nursery
trees between the standard trees, on a part of the land. The remain-
der has been mowed, and two crops of hay taken off, annually. We
estimate the entire cost of setting and taking care of the trees at
twenty-five dollars. We have raised fruit enough in past years to
pay nearly that amount. The fruit raised the present season was not
all measured, but we estimated it at sixty bushels, worth one dollar
per bushel.

J. E. & A. C. Makshall.

Amherst, Oct. 26, 1853.

GR A IXSAND VEGETABLES. 99

REPORT

ON GRAINS AND VEGETABLES.

BY T. O. HUNTINGTOX.

The whole number of entries was seventy-six. The number of en-
tries of grain and grass seeds was eighteen. Of these, eleven were of
seed corn, three of wheat, two of grass seed, and one each of broom-
corn and rye. Joseph Adams & Sons, of Hadley, entered two varie-
ties of wheat and two of seed corn, of superior quality. Lyman Sa-
bin, of Belchertown, exhibited some fine clover seed ; George Dick-
inson, of Hadley, very good herdsgrass seed ; John W. Nash, of
Hadley, excellent rye ; J. R. Robinson, of Sunderland, two varieties
of corn ; and Wm. Boltwood, of Amherst, buckwheat.

Of vegetables there was a very full exhibition; and, generally, of a
superior quality. The whole number of entries was fifty-eight. Of
these, Mr. David S. Cowles, of Hadley, made six entries, containing
seventeen varieties, all fine specimens of their kinds. President
Hitchcock, of Amherst, exhibited six varieties, among which were
specimens of English peas and beans, the seed of which came origin-
ally from Amboyne, one of the Spice Islands, and which appear
worthy of cultivation in this country. Prof. Havem, ef Amherst, en-
tered three fine varieties of squashes and a good specimen of potatoes ;
Wm. Boltwood, of Amherst, displayed nineteen varieties of beans ;
Wm. W. Dickinson, of Amherst, four specimens of vegetables ; Ran-
som Cowles, of Amherst, best half a dozen carrots ; Oliver Williams^
of Sunderland, excellent turnips ; George Baker, of Amherst, fine
specimens of Norfolk turnips ; Edward Hart, of Amherst, squashes ;
Wright D. Kellogg, of Amherst, a box of beets ; and Mrs. Emerson,
of Amherst, a fine basket of beets.

The introduction of new varieties of peas and beans from other
countries, by President Hitchcock, is highly creditable to him.
We learn that Prof. Fowler brought with him from Europe some
varieties of grass seeds, which may prove of great value. The lapse
of a few years will give opportunity to settle the question by actual
trial. The importance of the best varieties and of the most careful
attention to selection of seeds for our fields and gardens, cannot bo
over estimated.

100 TKANSACTI0N3.

REPORT ON BEES AND HONEY.

BY DAVID S. COWLES.

The exhibition of honey, this year, indicates that more interest is
felt in this subject than formerly. The productions of the honey bee
are beginning to be appreciated, both as a source of pleasure and of
profit. To make bees profitable, the keeper must study their habits
and consult their tastes. The times have changed since a swarm of
bees found a home in the carcass of a lion. In our day, neatness
and order are essential to the prosperity of bees. The hives should
be well ventilated. For the purposes of ventilation, ease of manage-
ment, and convenient removal of honey at the pleasure of the keeper,
the hive patented by Phelps, of Ohio, and exhibited at the Fair, this
year, is one of the best ever invented. The best book on bees is that
of Mr. Langstroth, of Greenfield, whose apiary is worthy of admira-
tion and examination.

REPORT ON SWINE.

BY SAMUEL NASH.

It may be proper to say, at the commencement, that an exhibition
of wit and humor is not proposed in this report. Such exhibitions
have been so frequently made, that there appears to be somewhat of
a general expectation, at the anniversaries of our agricultural socie-
ties, that the committ'^e on swine should enliven the occasion with a
humorous report. The object aimed at is amusement, rather than
usefulness ; — an object not easily attained, and the attempt, perhaps,
on account of the peculiar talent required, quite as often results in
failure, as success. We have no inclination to attempt such difficult
ground, but prefer, rather, making a few remarks naturally suggested
by the exhibition. The only attempt at wit we propose, is not to
make an attempt to be witty.

The show as a whole has been a very good one. The several va-
rieties of swine, for which a premium was offered by the Society, have

SWINE. 101

been well represented, as h:ive also the different breeds most esteem-
ed in this region. Some specimens, hoAvever, appeared to be of such
a mixture of breeds, that it would puzzle a farmer, and probably any
body else, to trace their genealogy, or to call them any thing but
hogs.

The best and cheapest mode of producing the best pork, is a sub-
ject of very general interest. Probably, more families within the
limits of our Society participate in the production of pork, than of
any other variety of meat. And the same remark is doubtless true,
in regard to most country towns in New England, and throughout
the United States. Every step of progress, therefore, in the selection
and improvement of breeds, in determining the most suitable food,
the best and most economical mode of its preparation, and the best
general treatment of swine, is an advantage shared directly by large
numbers. And it becomes us, in this part of the United States,
especially, to look well to this matter, that it may be profitable for us
to produce pork for market. The quality and mode of producing it
must he superior, or our western brethren will supply our markets,
and even our next-door neighbors The farmer who lives a thousand
miles from Boston, and produces his corn (doubtless the best food for
fattening swine) on the cheap and fertile soil of the AVest, at a cost
varying from sixpence to fifty cents a bushel, can now, in many cases,
by the aid of railroads, transport his pork to that city for about the
same sum, that it used to cost our fathers twenty or thirty years ago,
to take it to the same market.

It is quite certain that these causes arc producing the efi"ects, that
might naturally be expected. By the sixth United States census,
taken in 1840, it appears that the number of swine raised in Massa-
chusetts was 143,221. In our State census of 184.5, the number re-
turned was 104,740; being a reduction of 38,481 in five years. In
the last United States census, taken in 1850, the number is 81,119,
which shows a reduction of nearly one-half, in the brief period of ten
years. And during this same period of ten years, the population of
our state increased from 737,699 in 1840, to 994,271 in 1850.

Notwithstanding the odds against us, pork has been, and will pro-
bably continue to be produced among us at a profit. But it can be
done only by good management, and by the production of a superior
article. The circumstances surrounding the Massachusetts farmer —
whose corn is worth a dollar a bushel, and who expects to rear and
fatten his pork in a pen of moderate size, with a small yard connect-
ed, and to feed them with the refuse of the dairy and kitchen, and

102 TEi.NSACTIONS,

with a variety of other food, raw and cooked — are quite different
from those of his western brother, who rears his pigs on the prairies
or oak-openings, and fattens by turning them into his corn-fields.
What would be wisdom in one case, might be folly in the other.
The breed of swine, for instance, that would be profitable for one,
might be poorly adapted to the purposes of the other. This may be
illustrated by reference to the last agricultural report of the United
States Commissioner of Patents. Before preparing the report, the
Commissioner had sent a circular to various parts of the United
States, in which he proposed this question, among others, " what are
the best breeds of hogs ?"

New Hampshire answers, " the Suffolk ;" Connecticut, " a mixture
of ' old fashioned hogs ' with Berkshire and the China breed, gener-
ally does very well ;" New York, by three of her citizens, separately,
" Berkshires and Leicesters ;" New Jersey, " a cross with the Berk-
shires ;" Pennsylvania, " a cross of the Berkshires and Chester coun-
ty;'' Virginia, "Irish grazier and mixed Berkshires are our common
stock ;" Georgia, " the best breeds for the climate are the "Woburn
and Grazier ;" Mississippi, " the best hogs I have tried are the Berk-
shires ;" Texas, " Irish Grazier ;" Tennessee, " the common old Gra-
zier mixed with Hindoo breed ;" Kentucky, " Woburn ;" Ohio,
" Leicester, Bedford, Chinese and Calcutta ;" Michigan, " the Berk-
shires are too small, and are nsarly extinct. "We have the Byfield
and Leicester;" Indiana, " Berkshires, Russia and China;" Missouri,
" Berkshires, or a cross between the black Berkshire and white Irish ;"'
lojva, " China and Byfield. Berkshires aie not much esteemed of
late ;" Florida, " for the range, or shift-for-yourself system, the long-
nosed Pike stands A No. 1. For a system of 2:)artial feeding, the
Corbet, grass, and a cross with the China hog are preferred."

It is doubtless true that, in some cases, a knowledge of the differ-
ent breeds would have led to different answers. But it is quite as
true and evident, that no one breed is best adapted to all locations
and circumstances.

The same report may also be cited to show the different results
obtained by various individuals, as to the weight of pork produced
by a given quantity of food. A question proposed in the circular
was, " how viany pounds of meal will one hundred 2^ounds of corn
yield- ?" Comparatively few of the responses definitely answer this
particular question. But those given vary from eight to forty
pounds. Now if there be, in fact, so wide a difference as these an-
swers indicate, it appears to us that it must be, in a great measure.

FLOXJB AND BREAD, 103

owing to the causes before suggested ; such as adaptation of the
breed to the circumstances of the farmer, and the modes of rearing
and fattening. The Commissioner, in a note appended to the 301st
page of the report, expresses his own opinion, that " one hundred
pounds of corn-meal ought to produce twenty-five pounds of pork,"
and he adds, that " three and a half pounds of meal gave Mr. Ells-
worth, former Commissioner of Patents, a pound of pork." This
last would be twenty-eight and four-sevenths pounds of pork to one
hundred pounds of meal. If the farmers of Hampshire county can
attain to Commissioner. Ellsworth's success, we need not fear, that
pork cannot be produced at a profit, in the Connecticut valley.

KEPOllT ON FLOUE AND BREAD.

BY ZEBIXA C. MONTAGUE.

Many specimens of both wheat and rye Flour were submitted to
the commhtee. Standing among the bags which Avere labelled wheat
four, was a large pail of flour on which there was no card Avith the
number and kind, it probably having fallen off in the confusion
attending the examination. Several cards belonging to flour, bread,
and even butter and cheese, were lying near it on the table, and the
committees were often at a loss to determine wliicli belonged to
which. This specimen, not being fully understood, was in a mea-
sure overlooked in the examination. Subsequently, however, we dis-
covered it to be a specimen of superior rye Flour (No. 3), presented
by Alfred Baker, President of the Society ; though, owing to the
confused state of the numbers and labels, its kind was not discover-
ed until after the committee had concluded their examination and
agreed on the awards. It should be some compensation to him for
its failing to be noticed in its true place among the specimens of
rye, that from its position on the table it Avas supposed to be tvheat,
and the committee Avere some moments in doubt whether the second
premium on wheat flour should be aAvarded to the sample in the pail
(Mr. Baker's rye), or to the specimen of Avhcat Avhich eventually did
receive that joremium. This statement is due to Mr. Baker's excel-
lent specimen of rye, Avhich came so near receiving the second pre-

104 TRANSACTIONS.

mium on wheat. We speak of it also to protest against such
careless attaching of the numbers and labels to the specimens, and
the mingling together of the different kinds of articles, by those in
charge of the halls, as necessarily leading to much confusion and
numberless errors in the examining committees. We hope* the evil
complained of will be carefully corrected, hereafter, for the benefit of
all future committees, whose business is in the halls. A small box
of wheat Jlour (No. 32) was submitted by Messrs. J. Adams & Sons,
of Hadley ; unaccompanied by any statement, and the quantity was
too small to allow it to come into competition for a premium, un-
der the rules which limited the committee ; — this is to be regretted,
as the small quantity exhibited was deemed by the committee, fully
equal, if not superior in quality, to either of the specimens which did
receive the premiums ; it having that peculiar comjmct fineness and
faint rosy tint, which used to distinguish the best " Rochester Flour,''
in the early days of " flour barrels." We would take this opportu-
nity to inquire of the Messrs. A., in regard to the growth and manu-
facture of that specimen, and whether they have any quantity of the
same lot?

Of Bread, there was a large number of loaves submitted, compris-
ing all the various kinds, and one specimen of hiscidt. The com-
mittee deem it no " faint praise" to say, that not a loaf of the whole
display but looked " good enough to cat." But not content to rely on
sight alone, in so important a matter, we procured a knife, and,
though unsuccessful in effecting a coalition with the committees on
butter and cheese (probably conscientiously opposed to " coalition-
ism"), every loaf was subjected to extensive multisection, and we
thoroughly examined them, both by the taste and the other tests
which the experienced ladies of our board knew so well how to ap-
ply. Though we failed in obtaining, as stated above, from neighbor-
ing committees a fair exchange of commodities to make it " go down
more smoothly," we were unanimous in the awards which have been
heretofore announced. A lady-member of the committee, prevented
by her position on the committee from her usual off'ering of Iread for
competition, has, at the special reqviest of the chairman, submitted
some Bread-rhymes, which may be called Rye-and-Indian. We
oiFer them below, though, unfortunately for future aspirants, no
statement accompanied the production, and we are utterly unable to
state the exact kind or proportion of the ingredients, — how long it
was permitted to "rise," — how long to "bake," etc.; and — sad to
say^ — the quantity was too small to allow it, under the rules, to come

BUTTER. 105

into competition for a premium ; wo are assured, however, that it was
entirely domestic-made, and that no macliine of any kind was em-
ployed in its manufacture ; — "raised" with salt only, with a trifle of
spice added:

\ Written hy special reqxiest oftlie Chairman.^

Your committee on Bread applied every test
To aid in deciding which was good, better, best ;
We taxed all our senses — taste we much requir'd,
That we might judge right ; — a point the most desired.

Many nice loaves we found, by maid or matron sent ;
Our premiums were few-^we gave to the extent ;
And one gratuity, for the best that we could see
13y any Miss who sent a loaf (Jfrs. she should be).

'Twas the opinion of the worthy dames of yore,

When girls could make 2Judding, they might marry — not before ;

Good bread be our standard of fitness for a wife ;

Girls who this art despise should lead a single life !

REPORT ON BUTTER.

UY L. WETIIEKELL.

The display of butter at the last Hampshire Agricultural Fair was
the finest ever seen in the Connecticut valley. There were thirty-
eight entries, making an aggregate of four hundred and ten pounds.
The committee were fully convinced, immediately after commencing
their labor, of the difficult duty they had to perform, viz., to select
eight parcels, deemed the best, for which the Society had offered as
many different premiums, the highest being four dollars and the low-
est, fifty cents. The committee spent nearly half-a-day in tasting,
and re-tasting, comparing and re-comparing, in order to do justice,
according to their best judgment, to all the competitors who had
complied with the rules of the Society. Where all was so nice, it
was no easy matter to do justice to all, Avith the limited number of
premiums to be awarded.

Instead of publishing the statements furnished by the competitors
and exhibitors, the chairman of the committee decided that it would
14

106 TRANSACTIONS.

be more acceptable to butter-makers and members of the Society
generally, to have some facts and suggestions presented— such as ex-
perience and observation have developed and recorded.

First, then, as to cows. The different breeders and dealers in
stock are far from being agreed as to which variety of all, is the best.
Some prefer the Durham cow — others, the Yorkshire — the Devon —
the Ayrshire — the Staffordshire — the Kerry of Ireland, and the Ald-
erney. The latter is universally admitted to produce the richest milk
in quality. The Alderneys or improved Gurnseys, have been known
to give twenty-six quarts of milk apiece, per day — the cream of which
has produced fourteen pounds of butter per week.

A full-bred Durham has been known to produce twenty-eight
quarts a day, and eighteen pounds and six ounces of butter per week.
A test was made at Liverpool, a few years since, of the qualities of
milk, Avith the following results :

Yorkshire and common cows, . . 8 per cent of cream.

Ayrshire, . . . . . .15 " "

Alderney, 23i^' " "

There are some who prefer the native cow, because more easily kept.
Much depends, however, upon the treatment of the animal. If the
keeping be poor, the less one has to do with fancy stock, the better.
If it be good, then will native stock soon become fancy, or highly
improved stock. jSIuch might be said on this subject, but the want
of space forbids further remark.

Secondly. With regard to keeping, or the effect which pasturage
has upon the quality of butter. It is a common remark, that certain
localities produce better butter than others. Much less, however, it
is thought, depends upon pasturage, than upon the dairy-maid. In
every district, says Dr. Anderson, an English agricultural writer,
where good butter is made, it is universally attributed to the richness
of the pastures, though it is a well known fact, that take a skilful
dairy-maid from that district into another, where no good butter is
made, and Avhere, of course, the pastures are deemed very unfavora-
ble, she will make good butter, as good as she used to do ; and bring
one from the last district into the other, and she will find that she
cannot make better butter there, than she did before, unless she takes
lessons from the servants, or others whom she finds there. — I have
frequently, says he, known iiistances of this kind.

M. Tessier, of the French National Institute, remarks, that the
particular quality of Bretagnc butter, whose color, flavor, and con-
sistence, are so much prized, depends neither on the pasture nor the

BUTTEK. 107

particular variety of cow, but on the mode of making. This butter
is of a superior quality, because they make it of the richest cream,
and in large quantities at a time. As soon as it is made and washed,
they sprinkle it with sweet milk, spread it out in flatted cakes, larger
or smaller, but rarely containing less than six pounds, and lay it on a
kind of pan placed on hot cinders, and covered with a copper lid, on
which are put cinders, also. It remains there some minutes, more or
less, according to the bulk of the cakes. This mode requires skill
and practice, in order to succeed.

Thirdly. With regard to the care and treatment of cows. They
should be kept clean — washed, if need be, and curried. The follow-
ing statement is copied from one in Ireland, who stated that he had
an actual profit of £331 6s. on keeping a single cow, in house, eight
years — during which she yielded 38,855 quarts of milk. In the sum-
mer he fed his cow on clover, rye-grass, lucerne, and carrots four
times a day, feeding at noon about four gallons of grains and two of
bran, mixed — giving her no more than she would cat up cleanly.
The feed in the winter was the same ; — feeding five or six times a
day ; — supplied her with food while milking ; — keeping the manger
clean — never tied her — being particularly careful to milk her cleanly
— milch cows being often spoiled for want of patience in the milker.
This neglect frequently causes suppuration and blindness in the teats
— the want of milk. The result of one year, the cow then being
eleven years old, is here detailed : She calved on the third of April,
and on the fifth of June the calves — twins — being nine weeks old,
were sold for £12 12s. From the sixth of June to the third of July,
four weeks, she gave twenty-four quarts daily, equal to six hundred
and seventy-two quarts, yielding seventeen pounds of butter per
v/eek, or sixty-eight pounds per month. From the fourth of July
to the eighteenth of September, eleven weeks, she gave twenty-two
quarts daily, equal to sixteen hundred and ninety-four quarts, yielding
sixteen pounds of butter per week, or one hundred and seventy-six
pounds for the whole time. From the nineteenth of September to
the thirteenth of November, eight weeks, she gave eighteen quarts,
dail^, equal to one thousand and eight quarts, yielding fourteen
pouinds of butter per week, equal to one hundred and twelve pounds,
&c. Total, for fortj'-eight weeks, averaging about fourteen quarts
per day, equalling five thousand three hundred and sixty quarts,
yielding five hundred and ninety-four pounds of butter. This, at
twenty cents a pound, would equal one hundred eighteen dollars,

108 TEANSACTIONS.

eighty cents. The rent of a cow, per year, in Ireland and Scotland,
varies from, seven to twelve pounds sterling.

Lastly. The dairy-room. This should be of equable temperature,
say about forty-five degrees — with a northern exposure — well venti-
lated— no inside communication with any other building — free from
smoke — and perfectly clean. So of every utensil used. Cast-iron
pans, tinned on the inside, are the best coolers ; these, and the pails,
&-C-, should all be exposed daily to the sun. Milk but twice a day,
and be sure that you strip perfectly clean. Allow no harsh, rough,
cross-grained milker to approach your cows any sooner than you
would a slut or snuff-taker, to enter the dairy-room. With regard to
churning, the cream should be of the temperature of about fifty-three
degrees. This is declared to be the very best temperature for churn-
ing, if you would make butter of the finest quality. If you desire
to obtain the greatest quantity, churn at fifty-six degrees. When
the churning is done, place the butter in pure cold spring water, with
some salt in it, preparatory to freeing it from every particle of milk.
Butter should be salted at the rate of about one pound of the finest
and purest salt that can be obtained, to every fourteen pounds of
butter.

The process of obtaining the cream, to an extent hitherto unattain-
able, has been eff'ected by Mr. Carter, an Englishman, who details
his experiment, in a paper presented to the Society of Arts, as fol-
lows :

"A peculiar process of extracting cream from milk, by which a superior rich-
ness is produced in the cream, has long been known and practiced in Devon-
shire ; this produce of the dairies of that county being well known to every one
by the name of ' clotted ' or ' clouted cream.' As there is no peculiarity in the
milk from which this fluid is extracted, it has been freciuently a matter of sur-
prise that the process has not been adojjted in other places of the kingdom. A
four-sided vessel is formed of zinc-plates, 12 inches long, 8 inches wide, and 6
inches deep, TOth a false bottom at one-half of the depth. The only commu-
nication with the lower compartment is by the lip, through which it may be
filled or emptied. Haviiag first jjlaced at the bottom of the upper compartment
a plate of perforated zinc, the area of which is equal to that of the false bottom,
a gallon (or any given quantity) of milk is poured (immediately when drawn
from the cow) into it, and must remain there at rest for twelve hours ; an equal
quantity of boiling water must then be poured into the lower compartment
through the lip ; it is then permitted to stand twelve hours more (i. e. twenty-
four hours altogether), when the cream will be found perfect, and of such con-
sistence that the whole may be lifted oft" with the linger and thumb. It is,
however, more effectually removed by gently raising the plate of perforated
zinc ixovo. the bottom by the ringed handles, by which means the whole of the

CHEESE. 109

cream is lifted off in n sheet, without remixing finy part -with the milk below.
With this api^aratus I have instituted a series of experiments, and as a mean of
twelve successive ones, I obtained the following results: — 4. gallons of milk,
treated as above, produced, in 24 hours, 4 1-2 pints of clotted cream, which,
after churning only fifteen minutes, gave 40 ounces of butter ; 4 gallons of milk
treated in the common mode in earthenwai-e pans, and standing 48 hours, pro-
duced 4 pints of cream, which, after churning 19 minutes, gave 36 ounces of
butter. The increase in the quantity of cream, therefore, is 12 1-2 per cent,
and of butter upwards of 11 per cent. The experimental farmer will instantly
perceive the advantages accruing from its adoption, and probably his attention
to the subject may produce greater results. I shall feel riclily rewarded if, by
excitmg an interest on the subject, I can produce any, the slightest improve-
ment, in the quality or mode of producing an article which may properly be
deemed one of the necessaries of life."

REPORT ON CHEESE.

BY GEOr.GE E. FISHER.

That your Committee might be the better qualified to discharge
the duty assigned them, they were led to a brief examination of the
article of cheese.

I. Etymologicalhj. They found the occurrence of the word
" cheese," in at least eleven different languages. They found, more-
over, that the primary signification of the term is to curdle or congeal,
from collecting, drawing, or driving. Cheese, therefore, is the more
thick or coagulable part of milk, called curd, separated from the more
thin or watery part, called whey, by a process of which the sequel
will speak, and pressed into a hoop or mould.

II. We looked into the subject, liistorically . And we found that
cheese is " nothing new under the sun ;" that it has a history, and a
history, too, that carries us back to the days when the world was
young. David, the son of Jesse, carried ten cheeses to the captain of
his brethren, when he, a mere stripling, went out, single-handed, to
fight the great Philistine, and lay his pride in the dust. More than
three thousand years ago, Job said, " Hast thou not poured me out
like milk, and curdled me like cheese ?" — indicating, thus, his knowl-
edge of the article as then existing. Frequent mention is also made
of it in old Latin authors. In coming to their work, your Committee

110 TEAXSACTIOXS.

felt, therefore, tliat tlicy had to do with that which is venerable in-
deed, having descended to us from generations far away and buried,
and through the lapse of centuries long gone, and they tried to feel
something of the reverence that became them in the presence of the
survivor of so many buried generations and centuries.

III. We made inquiry into the chemistry of cheese. In answer
to our inquiries, our most worthy friend, " The Progressive Farmer,"
gave us all needed information, as he has done on most other matters
connected with "practical agriculture." We learned from him that
about four per cent, of milk is sugar ; that if the milk be kept for
some time in a warm place, its coagulable part acts upon the sugar,
and changes some portion of it into what is termed lactic acid, and
that the soda, which is one of the substances contained in milk, and
whose office it is to hold the curd in solution, is acted upon by the
acid above mentioned, so that its alkaline power is neutralized, where-
upon the curd immediately appears in the form of curdled milk, which,
when pressed, forms a kind of cheese. As this process of cheese-
making would, however, be slow and inconvenient ; and, withal,
would not secure cheese of a good quality, it is common to make use
of some other acid than that generated in the milk, in order to neu-
tralize the soda, and destroy its power. For this purpose, an animal
acid is used, called rennet. This is taken from the stomach of the
sucking calf, where its office is the same as that to which the cheese-
maker puts it, viz., to curdle the milk taken from the cow. The
milk thus curdled is more digestible. For any further information,
we refer to our friend, the " Farmer," of Avhom, we trust, all other
farmers and farmers' wives will be constant and diligent learners.

IV. We proceeded to our work, experimentally. While engaged
in this part of our examination, we could but rccal the old proverb,
so often quoted, " de gustibus non disputandum est," which is, being
interpreted, " there is no accounting for the tastes."

MECHANIC ARTS. ill

REPORT ON MECHANIC ARTS,

INCLUDING AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.

BY DAVID EICE^ M. D.

Inyentiye genius is progressive. It never ceases in its constant
and untiring eflbrts. Its motto is "Excelsior," and its aim, perfec-
tion. Onward and upward, ever has been, and ever will be, its tri-
umphant march. No obstacle, however difficult, seems to impede its
course, — no eminence is too high for it to surmount. Like a mighty
river, wdde and deep, that flows fearlessly over rocks and through
mountain defiles, to the sea ; the genius of invention moves on with
irresistible power. At the present day, the creations of mechanical
genius rise up around us in so many multiplied and surprising forms,
that we are astonished and awed. While we survey with delight and
admiration, one of her recent combinations, another, and still another
appears, more w^onderful and pleasing still. Our wives, whose mo-
thers and grandmothers w^ere obliged to card, spin, w^eave and knit
nearly every wearing fabric in use, are relieved of such drudgery, by
the invention of the power-loom. Machinery accomplishes the work,
in a hundredth part of the time, and, I was about to say, with a hun-
dredth part of the expense. Our wives and daughters can now de-
vote their time to other employments, quite as useful as spinning or
weaving, and far less laborious and irksome. The old-fashioned
hand-cards, spinning-wheel, and loom, are curiosities, at the present
day. I well remember the monotonous hum of the spinning-wheel,
and the delight I took in seeing my good old mother warp and weave ;
but little thought how tedious and severe was the labor. Thanks to
the " Mechanic Arts," for the safe package of the whole paraphernalia
in some dark corner of the garret !

All trades have received a new impulse, and are carried on with
comparative ease and despatch. We may cite the splitting and shav-
ing of shingles ; the manufacture of wheel-spokes and felloes ; the
shaving and shaping of axe, hoe, and broom handles ; of barrel heads
and staves, — all which processes were formerly done by hand ; but
are now performed by ingenious and much-admired machines, con-
trived by American genius. Among the improved tools, we may
name the axe, saw, chisel, plane and all kinds of carpenter's tools.

Il2 TBAX8ACTI0NS.

wliicli arc less clumsy, of better material, and of higher finish. "While
examining, not long ago, some beautiful bench tools, manufactured
by our own mechanics, we could not but revert to the " pod augur
days" of yore, — the contrast was so striking, between the olden and
modern implements. A pod augur ! Did you ever see one ? And
could you ever solve the problem satisfactorily to your own mind,
how any mechanic, though a Hercules in strength, could penetrate
twelve inches into seasoned oak timber with a square-ended gouge
yclept a pod augur ? As for us, the hardest problem of Euclid were
an easy task to it.

In the olden time, travelling was done principally on horseback.
It was not uncommon for a gentleman and lady to ride upon the
same animal, at the same time ; the gentleman upon the saddle, and
the lady, behind, upon a pillion. Wagons were next contrived, but
of very rude character, as many of us well remember ; consisting of
four wheels, — two very large, and two in front very small, with
wooden axletrecs, and a canoe-shaped body perched directly upon the
axletrees. Add to this a high-backed w^ooden seat, upon a pair of
wooden sj^rings, and you have the pleasure and business carriage,
common among us, forty ijcars ago. A little later, came the chaise
and the thorough-braced wagon, hung upon straps of leather ; and
at length, within a few years, the elegant four-wheeled, steel-sjiringed
carriages, of varied form, so convenient, beautiful, and easy, let the
highways be ever so rough or smooth. There are those living, who
have journied both in the ancient, and modern vehicle; and whose
rheumatic joints, if they could speak, would bless the modern carriage
makers.

But, we m.ust not omit the improved implements of husbandry.
In no art has there been a more marked advance. New tools have
been invented, and old ones improved, until farming has become com-
paratively an easy task. Look at the plow of to-day ; and, then, at
the uncouth, Avooden, iron-sided thing, bearing that name, of thirty
years ago. What was it ? A heavy wooden beam, with a wooden
mould-board, plated with straps of wrought iron, to which was fast-
ened a wrought-iron nose of clumsy construction. It was a heavy,
cloggy thing to manage, both for man and beast, and did its work
badly. Compare this implement with the cast-iron plow of the pres-
ent day and comment is unnecessary. Hoes, too, have received the
finishing touch of the mechanic. Those presented by Messrs. Graves
&/ Hatch, of North Leverett, w^ere the most beautiful and perfect
articles of the kind> we ever saw. Formerly, a hoe was a flat, thick,

MECHANIC ARTS. 113

square piece of iron, with a ferrule welded upon one side, into which
was fastened a handle ; an unwieldy, tiresome tool, heavily taxing
the muscles of the laborer. Now, a hoe is just what it should be ; a
well formed, polished steel plate, rightly proportioned and tempered,
lithe, light, and flexible ; with a well formed socket for the handle,
and, when finished, it is an ornament. About the same difference
may be observed between other agricultural implements of old and
modern times. The pitch-fork and manure-fork, formerly, were huge
misshapen things, of very clumsy construction, and resembling the
fork of " Old Nick," or the trident of Neptune in the picture books.
Now, a fork, whether for pitching hay or manure, is as light and pli-
able as a willow stem, yet strong and not easily broken. Formerly,
all kinds of grain were cut with the sickle and cradle. Now, the
I'eaping-machine does the work, in a twentieth part of the time. It
was threshed out with the flail, with a great deal of hard, dirty labor,
and winnowed with a hand fan, an implement resembling a coal-box
with one of its sides knocked out. Now, the threshing-machine and
winnowing-mill prepare the grain with much ease and nicety for the
granary, with much less cost and labor. By means of better scythes,
and the horse-rake, at least one-half the expense of making hay is
saved. The cultivator and seed-planter save a vast amount of labor
formerly done with the hoe.

The whole number of specimens of mechanical skill, including im-
plements of husbandry, on exhibition, was twenty-seven. To each,
your committee awarded a gratuity in money or a copy of the U. S.
Patent Oflice Mechanical Report. We have space to notice only a
few of the articles.

Mr. Porter Dickinson, of Amherst, exhibited a corn-sheller of
original design, patented by himself. We think it the best ever pre-
sented to the farmers of Massachusetts. Years ago, corn was shelled
by hand. With a basket of ears before him, an ear of corn in one
hand and a cob in the other, the fanner sat by his kitchen fire and
shelled corn the long winter evening, making a fire with the cobs.
Now, with a good corn-sheller, twenty bushels can be shelled as fast
as one by hand. Mr. Charles H. Bangs, of Amherst, entered a new
style of cheese-press, which we think very superior. Mr. Levi Ad-
ams, of Hadlcy, displayed an ingenious churn, with a double action
of centrifugal and centripetal forces, which w# think will do its work
with despatch. Mr. Daniel Ballard, of Wendell, entered an apple-
corer, which should be introduced into every family. Graves &
Hatch, of Leverett, a lot of elegant hoes ; Mr. David S. Cowles, of

15

114 TKANSACIIONS.

Hadley, a fine bee-lilve, filled with honey and bees ; E. & J. Cush-
nian, of Amherst, board paper, manufactured by them from broom-
corn stalks ; Mr. Charles Field, of Leverett, a superior child's spring-
cab. Mr. Leonard Streeter, of Boston, 'exhibited Otis' patent insu-
lated lightning-conductor. This rod is so constructed, as to be per-
fectly continuous ; the joints being secured with great firmness. The
glass insulators are fitted into wood sockets, so that they may be
easily and securely fastened. It has, also, numerous points, at short
intervals, for dissipating into the atmosphere any excess of electricity
which might not be disposed of at either end of the rod. "VVe should
think it to be constructed on very scientific principles.

The American farmer has great reason to be proud of the inventive
genius of his countrymen. Ours is cemparatively a new country, and
WANT, Avhich is always a prominent feature in a new country, sets
genius to work. American ingenuity has not only equalled in its
developments the mother country, but outstripped her, for our wants,
and consequently our efi^orts, have been greater. The peculiarity of
American genius is its highly inventive character. Kor is it exactly
like that of any other country. It picks their locks ; it invents and
fashions a vessel, that outsails on their own waters, before their own
eyes, all their boats, brigs, schooners and yachts, and leaves them
tugging behind, like a school of tired porpoises. They look amazed,
and are ready to burst with vexation, to see Jonathan behave so.
"We have shown to the world the most ingenious machine, ever made
in any country, for cutting grain. We could cut over some of the
small kingdoms of Europe with that machine, about as soon as any
of the inhabitants could reap half a dozen acres with a sickle. We
make the best plows and scythes ; India-rubber goods, and the sweet-
est toned musical instruments. We invent the queerest machinery
for saving manual labor, and contrive to have the best wives and the
prettiest daughters, found in any country.

FINE ARTS. 115

REPOET ON FINE ARTS-

BY JOSEPH HAVEN.

^01 the least attractive part of the exhibition this year, was the
display of those nicer specimens of workmanship, whether of the
needle or the pencil, which fall under the general department of the
Fine Arts, and in which the ingenuity and skill, no less than the in-
dustry and practice of the fair artists, are conspicuously displayed.
It is a pleasant thing, among the manifold productions of the farm,
the dairy, &.C., to find some place for the handiwork of the gentler
ones, Avho neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, but who in
their way are as industrious within doors, as we of the rougher sort
are without, and who are at once the ornament and the delight of
every true home. Among the choicest treasures of the Agricultural
Association at its recent fair, were those delicate specimens of needle
work, drawing, painting, &c., the productions of the wives and
daughters of Hampshire, vieing with each other to adorn the halls
filled with the humbler products of the farmer and the loom. May
the more productive industry of the farmer and the loom, never be
dissociated from a taste for the fine arts, and the love of the beauti-
ful.

The collection of specimens in this department was quite large, and
of very superior quality. The whole number of entries on the
books was something over one hundred, and of the entire number, it
would have been much more difficult to find those not deserving of a
premium, than to select those that richly merited one. It will be
impossible, in this brief notice, to make mention of any considerable
part of the rich collection — only a few articles can be specified.

The most conspicuous object, as the observer entered the hall and
glanced at its contents, was the large collection of oil paintings,
twenty-six in number, which adorned the walls — the work of Mr.
E. S. Field, of Sunderland. Most of these have been on exhibition
before, and we need not therefore particularly describe them. Many
of them are large and costly paintings, and they certainly do credit
to the ingenuity and industry of the artist. With better opportuni-
ties for artistic education and study, we doubt not Mr. Field would
show himself a superior workman.

Among the great number of paintings that covered the walls, we
noticed with peculiar pleasure some flowers in water colors, by Mrs.

116 TRANSACTIONS.

A. G. Sears, very delicately and beautifully executed — as fine speci-
mens of the kind, as we remember ever to have seen. A chromatic
painting by the same hand, was also very well done. Several oil
paintings, by Mrs. Hitchcock, of Amherst, were well worthy a place
in this or any similar exhibition. We noticed, also, fi-om the same
source, a picture frame, and a box in the new style of carving and
ornamental leaf work, which were very beautiful. A Papier-Mache
Portfolio, by Mrs. Sears, was not inferior to many of the most costly
foreign productions of the kind.

Of embroidered lace work, finer specimens, we venture to say, have
seldom been on exhibition, than some that very quietly and modestly
adorned our tables. Crotchet collars, wrought handkerchiefs, knit
tidies, slippers, children's frocks, Valencia lace collars, &bc. &c., quite
beyond our present powers of enumeration and description. A large
number of those we noticed, were from the ladies of Hadley.

Some very fine articles of fancy needle work were presented by
Miss Snell, of Amherst, — a glove case handsomely embroidered, a
worsted bag, and a pair of slippers, to which no gentleman of taste
or sensibility could possibly object.

Two magnificent bouquets of wax flowers, one by Mrs. Winslow,
of Sunderland, the other by Miss Tourtelotte, of Amherst, attracted
much attention.

Very elegant fancy chairs, or chair seats, by Miss Fowler and Miss
Warner, also of Amherst, richly deserved much higher prizes than
they took.

A case of millinery, by D. J. Bartlett, and another by Miss C.
Chaffee, of Amherst, contained very nice and beautiful specimens of
fancy work.

Among the ottomans, we noticed two of very rich apppearance, en-
tered by Mrs. A. P. Howe, of Amherst.

Perhaps the most elegant pieces of fancy work on exhibition, how-
ever, were some superb lamp mats, in raised flower Avork, one by
Mrs. A. L. Gates, another by Miss O. H. Cowles, both of Belcher-
town, and a third by Mrs. C. D. Perkins, of North Hadley. We
have never seen anything of the kind superior.

We have eniimerated scarce a tithe of the objects of interest in
this department, on exhibition at the recent festival. The collection,
as a whole, would compare favorably with any similar exhibition
\^hicli we have at any time seen elsewhere ; and our only regret is,
that it was not in our power, as a committee, to bestow rewards,
more worthy of the work and the fair hands that wrought it.

fist d IJrtiniirms

AWARDED BV THE

HAMPSHIRE AGEICULTUEAL SOCIETY,

13S3.

AGRICULTURAL ESSAY.
L. Wetherell, Amherst,
FARMS.
Moses Stebbins, Deerfield,
Austin Smith & Sons, Sunderland,
Samuel Powers, Hadley,

RECLAIMED MEADOW LAN
Albert Monta^^iie, Sunderland,
Edmund Smith, Hadley,

PLOWING WITH OXEN.
Levi D. Cowlcs, Amherst,
Linus Green, Hadley,
E. Porter Dickinson, Sunderland,
Erastus Nash, Granbv,

PLOWING WITH HORSES.
William Strong, Northampton,
Elisha Strong, Northampton,
Josiah Fogg, Deerlield,
George W. Hobart, Amherst,

MANURES.
Ansel A. Rankin, Pelhara,
Kelita Hubbard, Sunderland,
Albert Montague, Sunderland,

GRAIN CROPS.
CORN.
N. & B. Smith, Sunderland,
R. T. Whcelock, Amherst,
George Dickinson, Hadley,

WHEAT. "
Washington Miller, Sunderland,
N. & B. Smith, Sunderland,

RYE.
George Dickinson, Hadley,
N. & B. Smith, Sunderland,
BROOM-CORN.
George Dickinson, Hadley,

HERDSGRASS SEED.
George Dickmson, Hadlej',

ROOT CROPS.

CARROTS.
O. & F. U. Williams, Sunderland,

I TURNIPS.

$10 O. & F. H. Williams, Sunderland,

I FRUITTREES.

$20] APPLE ORCHARDS.

1^ Kelita Hubbard, Sunderland,

10

D.

Avery D. Hubbard, Sunderland,

$8

56'

PEACH ORCHARDS.

g J. E. & A. C. Marshall, Amherst, $3

|W. E. & S. S. Dickinson, Amherst, 2

NURSERIES.

^ William Hunt, Sunderland, $3

4 RECLxVIMING OLD ORCHARD.

3 David Rice, Levcrett, $2
1 APPLES.

0 David Blodgett, Enfield, $2

4 Rufus Scott, Hadley, 1.75
3 Austin Eastman, Amherst, 1,50
2' Horace Hunt, New Salem, 1.25

I Christopher Paige, Prescott, 1 00

$8 Ransom Dickinson, Sunderland, .75

5 Edmund Smith, South Hadley, ■ .50
3 Ashur Shepard, Northampton, 2.00

[Theodore Rust, Northampton, 1.00

]J. R. Trumbull, Northampton, .50

^ Daniel Ballard, Wendell, .50

* J Theodore Pasco, Hadley, 1.00

3' PEARS AND PEACHES.

Ansel C. Marshall, Amherst, $1.00

54' QUINCES.

3 N. Austin Smitli, Sunderland, .75
iN. & B. Smith, Sunderland, .50

$5! GRAPES.

4 Ransom Dickinson, Sunderland, .75
jMrs. Fay, Amherst, .50

*3'John Dickinson, Amherst, .60
I CRANBERRIES.

$3 EdM-ard A. Stanley, Amherst, .25

David S. Cowlcs, Hadley, .25
MAPLE SUGAR.

$3^Pcter Spaulding, Jr., Sunderland, $1.00

118

T R AN S A C T I 0 N 9.

\^GETABLES AXD GRAINS.

David S. Cowles, Hadley, $2,00

Edward Hitchcock, Amherst, 1 50

Joseph Haven, Amherst, 1.00

AVilliam Boltwood, Amherst, .75

Ransom Cowles, Amherst, .25

Oliver Williams, Sunderland, .25

George Baker, Amherst, .25

Edward Hartt, Amherst, .25

Wright D. Kellogg, Amherst, .25

Mrs. Emerson, Amherst, .25

Joseph Adams & 8ons, Hadley, 1.50
Austin Smith, Sunderland, 1.00

"^Vm. W. Dickinson, Amherst, .50

Lpuan Sabin, Belcherto-wn, .50

George Dickinson, Hadley, .25

John W. Nash, Hadley, .25

J. R. Robinson, Sunderland, .25

Ransom Dickinson, Sunderland, .25
FAEM STOCK.
BULLS.
Proctor Powers, New Salem, $3

Christopher Paige, Prescott, 2

John McMaster, Granbv, 1

WORKING OXEN.
Hadley Team, 38 pairs, $20

North Amherst, 42 pairs (gratuity), 20
R. Wales Smith, Hadley, 5

Aretas J. Cadwell, Amherst, 4

Zaccheus C. Ingram, Amherst, 3

Edmund Smith, South Hadley, 2

Chester Cowles, Amherst, U.S. Ag. Rp
Nelson Smith, Granbv, U.S. Ag. Rep't.j
THREE YEARS' OLD STEERS. |
Chester Gray, Hadley, $4

Edmund Smith, South Hadley, 3

Daniel Dickinson, Amherst, 2

TWO YEARS' OLD STEERS.
Edmund Smith, .'^outh Hadley, $3

Emory H. Needham, Amherst, 2

Jonathan Cowles, Jr., Amherst, 1

C. Hamilton, Shutesbui-y, U.S. Ag. Rp.
Monroe Eaton, Pcllian^, U.S. Ag. Rep't.

YEARLING STEERS.
Cephas ISIay, Conway, $2

Asahel Gates, Amherst, 1

faT cattle.

Josiah Fogg, Decrlleld, $5

Moses Steljbins, Deerfield, 4

Chester Smith, Hadley, 3

Moses Stebbins, Deerfield, gr., 5

MILCH COWS.

T. G. Huntington, Hadley, $5
Wm. W. Dickinson, Amherst, gr., 3
Hubbard Graves, Sunderland, gr, 3

John A. Morton, Hadlev, gr., 1

HEIFERS.

Lucius Boltwood, Amherst, $3

Horace Hunt, New Salem, 2

Spencer Chtu-ch, Amherst, 2

Guy C, Munsell, Amherst, 2

CAL^^S.

Cephas Porter, Leverett, $3

T. P. Huntington, Hadley, U.S. Ag. Rp.

B. Arnold, BelchertowTi, 2
Christopher Paige, Prescott, 2

STALLIONS.
Orestes Richards, Cummington, $5
Milo A. Tavlor, Granby, 4

DRAFT HORSES.
Henry S Porter, Hatfield, $4

A. R." & E. Owen, Belcherto^Ti, 3

FARM HORSES.
Henry M. Potter, Enfield, $3

Abner Gilbert, Leverett, 2

Leavitt Hallock, Amherst, 1

MARES AND COLTS.
Guy C. Munsell, Amherst, $4

Ransom Cowles, Amherst, 3

Benjamin P. Aikin, Prescott, 2

Nelson Smith, Granbv, U.S. Ag. Rep't.
W. Miller, Sunderland, U.S. Ag. Rep't,

THREE Y'EARS' OLD COLTS.
Samuel French, Williamsburgh, $3
Julius F. Clark, Easthampton, 2

D. S. Cowles, Hadlev, U.S. Ag. Report.

TWO YEARS' OLD COLTS.
Guy C. Munsell, Amherst, $2

Nelson Smith, Granby, 1

YEARLING COLTS.
Baxter Eastman, Amherst, $1

N. S. Weeks, Hadlev, Report and 1

BOARS.
Edmund Hobart, Amherst, $3

Hubbard Graves, Sunderland, 2

SOWS AND PIGS.
John Lyman, Amherst, $3

N. & B. Smith, Sunderland, 2

Hubbard Graves, Sunderland, U. S.
Agricultural Rei^ort.

LITTERS OF PIGS.
John Lyman, Amherst, $2

C. B. Hubbaid, Sunderland, 1

BUCKS.
Augustus Clark, Granby, $3

EWES.

Augustus Clark, Granby, $3

Lemuel H. NcAvell, Pelham, 2

Leavitt Hallock, Amherst, 1

POULTRY.

E. Porter Dickinson, Sunderland, $2
Lemuel H. Newell, Pelham, 1

F. Bonney, Hadley, 2
Harvey White, Hadley, 1
S. & N. Adams, Shutesbury, U. S.

Agricultural Report,
Luther M. Clark, Granby, U.S. Ag. Rp.

WHEAT FLOUR.
Avery D. Hubbard, Sunderland, $1.00
George Dickinson, Hadlev, '*■ .50

RYE FLOUR.
Albert Montague, Sunderland, $1.00

LIST OF PREMIUMS

119

George Dickinson, Hadley,

WHEAT BKEAD.
Mrs. Levi Adams, Hadley, $1.

Mrs. Tempe Linnell, Amherst, 1
Mrs. F. C. Willis, Amherst,
KYE BREAD.
Mrs. N. D. Adams, Shutesbury, $1.
Mrs. Levi D. Cowles, Amherst, 1.
Mrs. Joseph Adams, Hadlov,

RYE AND INDL\N BREAD.
Mrs. Orus Ball, Lcverett, $1

Mrs. C. B. Hubbard, Sunderland,

BUTTER.
Mrs. R. Wales Smith, Hadley, $4
Mrs. N. A. Smith, Sunderland, 3
Mrs. Edmund Hobart, Amherst, 3
Mrs. Simeon Clark, Amherst, 2

Mrs. B. W. Allen, Amherst, 2

Mrs. Horace Kellogg, Amherst, 1
Jlrs. S. P. Puffer, Amherst, 1

Mrs. Levi D. Cowles, Amherst,

CHEESE.
Mrs. B. U. Dickinson, Amherst, $1
Mrs. Oren Williams, Amherst, 1
Mrs. S. S. Dickinson, Amherst, 1
Mrs. Horace Kellogg, Amherst,

HONEY.
Ebenezer Gaylord, Amherst, $1
S. D. Crocker, Sunderland,
FINE ARTS.
E. S. Field, Sunderland, $2

Mrs. E. M. Judkins, Hadley, 1

Mrs. A. G. Sears, Amherst, 1

Miss C. Chaffee, Amherst, 1

D. J. Bartlett, Amherst, 1
Miss E. Fowler, Amherst,
Miss M. Warner, Amherst,
Miss M. Snell, Amherst,
Mrs. T. G. Huntington, Hadley,
Miss Mary Snell, Amherst,
Mrs. Winslow, Sunderland,
Miss E. H. Tourtelotte, Amherst,
Miss S. D. Palmer, Amherst,

E. G. Shumway, Amherst,
Mrs. E. Hitchcock, Amherst,
Mrs. A. L. Gates, Belchertown,
Miss. O. H. Cowles, Belchertow^l,
Miss F. S. Owen, Belchertown,
Mrs. A. P. Howe, Amherst,
Stoddard & Lathrop, Northampton,
Mrs. Bonney, Hadley,
Miss Amic Nash, Amherst,
Miss Scott, Hadley,
J. D. Marsh, Amherst,
Miss Sarah Snell, .Amherst,
Miss Fanny Hallock, Amherst,
Mrs. N. A. Smith, Sunderland,
Miss Emily Davis, Amherst,

SOjMiss A. R. Bently, Amherst, .25

1 Aaron AVarncr, Jr„ Amherst, .25

50 Abram AVright, Sunderland, .25

00 Miss Julia Field, Sunderland, .25

50 Miss T. G. Smith, Sunderland, .25

IMrs. C. D. Dickinson, Hadley, .25

50 Mrs. Hartly, Amherst, .25

OOJ MANLFACTURES.

50;Mrs. A. Montague, Sunderland,

jMrs. Z. M. Lyman, Hadley,
,00 Mrs. Moses Field, Leverett,
,50 Mrs. S. M. Hubbard, Sunderland, 2.00

Mrs. Elizabeth Haven, Amherst, 2.00
,00 Miss L. Robinson, Amherst,
,50 Mrs. Wm. Kellogg, Amherst,
,00 Mrs. C. Paine, Siinderland,
,50 Field & Hubbard, Leverett,
.00 Mrs. A. Montague, Sunderland,
,50 Mrs. Edmund Smith, S. Hadley,
.00 Mrs. H. E Alden, Belchertown,
,50 Mrs. Horace Kellogg, Amherst,

IMrs. S. D. Crocker, Sunderland,
.50 Mrs. Alden C. Field, Lcverett,
.25 Mrs. S. A. Thayer, Amherst,
• OO'Mrs. Sanderson, Sunderland,
,75iAlonzo Pame, Sunderland,

$3.00
2.00
2.00

2.00
2.00
2.00
1.50
1.50
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Mrs. Samuel Dimlap, Sunderland, 1.00
.00 Miss T. E. Munsell, Sunderland, .75
75jMrs. Enos Dickinson, 2d, Amher,st, .50
{Mrs. Luther Chapin, Amherst, .50

5o!Mrs. B. Flemmenway, Sunderland, .50
.00 Mrs. N. A. Smith, Simderland, .50

.OOJ MECHANIC ARTS.

.OOXeonard Streeter, Bo.ston, $2 00

Oo|Porter Dickinson, Amherst, 2.00

.75iAIlen & Meekins, Northampton, 1.50
.75 X G. Pace, Montague, 1.00

.75'Field & Strickland, Amher.st, U. S.
.75] Agricultural Report and 1.00

.50 Abram Wright, Sunderland, 1.00

.50 Levi Adams, Hadley, 1.00

.50 D. S. Cowles, Hadley, Report and .50
.50 John Q. Brailey, Pel'ham, .50

.50 A. D. Hubbard, Sunderland, .50

.50 Worthing & Wheelock, Amherst, .60
.50 E.S.& F.A.Pierce.Amhcrst, Rp. and .50
.50 C. H. Field, Leverett, Report and .50
.50 C. Carver, Shutesbury, .50

.50iH. A. Keith, Amherst, .60

.37'L. C. Ingram, Amherst, .50

.37 Daniel Ballard, Wendell, .50

.37J C.H. Bangs, Amherst, U.S Mech. Rep't.
.37|Bridgman & Wctherbee, Nhampton, do.
.37lGraves & Hatch, Leverett, do,

.25 [Henry C. Kellogg, Amherst, do*

.25 Joseph Adams Hi Sons, Hadley, do.
.25 IE. & J. Cushman, Amherst, do.

yifc Mcmhts

OF THE

HAMPSHIEE AGRICULTUIUL SOCIETY.

AMHERST.

Adams, Charles
Adams, Charles Mrs*
Adams, John S.
Adams, John S. Mrs.
Ainsworth, Forrester
Allen, Benjamin W.
*Allen, Hiram H.
Allen, Hiram H. Mrs.
Allen, Martha L.
Allen, Nathaniel
*Ames, Edwin
Ayres, Elijah
Ayres, Elijah Mrs.
Ayres, Josiah
Baker, Alfred
Baker, Alfred Mrs.
Baker, Enos
Baker, George
Baker, George Mrs.
Baker, Joel
Bangs, Charles H.
Bangs, Danforth K.
Bangs, Danforth K. Mrs.
Barnard, Alvan
Barnard, Alvan Mrs.
Bartlett, David
Bartlett, David Mrs.
Belden, Aaron
Belden, Horace
Belden, Timothy C.
*Blodgett, Henry
Bogue, Elisha
Bogue, Elisha Mrs.
Boltwood, Lucius
Boltwood, William
Boltwood, William Mrs.
Boy den, James W.

Boyden, James W. Mrs.
Bridgman, Guilford
Bridgman, Henry A.
••"Bridgman, Jonathan
Bridgman, Mary S.
Briggs, Ebenezer
Briggs, Ebenezer Mrs.
Burnham, George Jr.
Burnham, George Jr. Mrs.
Cadwell, Aretas J.
Cadwell, Aretas J. Mrs.
Carter, Samuel C.
Carter, Samuel C. Mrs.
Chandler, Aaron M
Church, Elihu S.
Church, Klihu S. Mrs.
Church, Spencer
Clark, Simeon
Clark, Simeon Mrs.
Clark, VV. S. Prof.
Clark, W. S. Mrs.
Cobb, Henry
Conkey, Ithamar
Conkey, Ithamar F.
Conkey, Ithamar F. Mrs.
Converse, Daniel
Converse, Daniel Mrs.
Cooke, David S.
Cooke, David S. Mrs.
Cook, Enos F.
Cooley, Alden
Coolcy, Moses D.
Cowles, Chester
Cowles, Chester Mrs.
Cowles, Clinton J.
Cowles, Clinton J. Mrs.
Cowles, Enoch

LIFE MEMBEKS,

12!

Cowles, Enoch Mrs.
Cowles, Erastns
Cowles, Erastus Mrs.
Cowles, James
Cowles, James Mrs.
Cowles, Jonathan
Cowles, Jonathan Mrs.
Cowles, Jonathan Jr.
Cowles, Jonathan Jr. Mrs.
Cowles, Julia B.
Cowles, Levi D.
Cowles, Levi D. Mrs.
Cowles, Moses
Cowles, Moses Mrs.
*Cowles, Oliver
Cowles, Ransom
Cowles, Ransom Mrs.
Cowles, Submit ]Mrs.
Cummins, E. A. Rev.
Cummins, E. A. Mrs.
Curtis, Oliver H.
Curtis, Oliver H. Mrs.
Cushman, John R.
Cushman, John R. Mrs.
Cutler, Esther
Cutler, Elisha P.
Cutler, George
Cutler, George Mrs.
Cutler, Robert
Cutler, Robert Mrs.
Cutler, Samuel F.
Cutler, William
Cutler, William Mrs.
Dana, Joseph
Darling, Benjamin R.
Dexter, David
Dexter, David Mrs.
Dickinson, Asa &- Noble
Dickinson, Bela U.
Dickinson, Bela U. Mrs.
Dickinson, Charlotte Miss
Dickinson, Daniel
Dickinson, Daniel Mrs.
Dickinson, Daniel A.
Dickinson, Emily E. Miss
Dickinson, Edward
Dickinson, Edward Mrs.
Dickinson, Enos,
Dickinson, Enos Mrs.
Dickinson, Enos 2d

16

Dickinson, Enos 2d Mrs.
Dickinson, John
Dickinson, John Mrs.
Dickinson, Joseph
Dickinson, Josiah
Dickinson, Lavinia A. Miss
Dickinson, Lydia E. Miss
Dickinson, Lovina Miss
Dickinson, Lucius
Dickinson, Marquis F.
Dickinson, Marquis F. Mrs.
Dickinson, Moses B.
Dickinson, Moses B. Mrs.
Dickinson, Oliver
Dickinson, Oliver Mrs.
Dickinson, Sarah M. Miss
Dickinson, Samuel S.
Dickinson, Samuel S. Mrs.
Dickinson, Waitstill
Dickinson, Waitstill Mrs.
Dickinson, William
Dickinson, William 2d
Dickinson, William Austin
Dickinson, William E.
Dickinson, William W.
Draper, Lewis L.
Dutton, Alonzo
Dutton, Alonzo Mrs.
Eastman, Austin
Eastman, Austin Mrs.
Eastman, Baxter
Eastman, Baxter Mrs.
Eastman, Solomon K.
*Eastman, Solomon K. Mrs.
Edwards, Simeon
Ferry, Sarah P. Miss
Field, D'Estaing Mrs.
Fish, Cummins
Fish, Seth
Fish, Seth Mrs.
Fisher, George E. Rev.
Fitch, Newton
Fitch, Newton Mrs.
Fowler, Emily
Fowler, William C.
French, Mary F.
Frink, Henry
Frink, Henry Mrs.
Fuller, Walter
Gaylord, Flavel

122

LIFE MEMBEBS.

Gaylord, Ebenezer
Gaylord, Ebenezer Mrs.
Gaylord, Eleazer
Gaylord, William
Gaylord, William Mrs.
Godfrey, William B.
Goodell, Noble T.
Goodell, Rufus
Goodell, Rufus Mrs.
Gray, Joseph P.
Gray, Joseph P. Mrs.
*Green, Eunice
*Gridley, Timothy J. Dr.
Grout, Austin
Gunn, Lyman
Gunn, William F.
Hallock, Leavitt
Hallock, Leavitt Mrs
Hammond, Salem
Hammond, Salem Mrs.
Harlow, Nathaniel L.
Hastings, Edmund
Hastings, Edmund Mrs.
Hastings, Joseph C.
Hastings, Joseph C. Mrs.
Hasting?, Thomas
Hastings, Thomas Mrs.
Haven, Joseph Prof.
Haven, Joseph Mrs.
Hawley, Charles M.
Hawley, Harrison
Hawley, Justin
Hayward, Charles F.
Hay ward, Charles F. Mrs.
Henderson, Timothy
Hills, Leonard M.
Hills, Leonard M. Mrs.
Hills, Liberty
Hills, Liberty Mrs.
Hills, Samuel
Hills, Samuel T.
Hitchcock, Edward
Hitchcock, Edward Mrs,
Hobart, Edmund
Hobart, Edmund Mrs.
Hobart, George W.
Hobart, George W. Mrs.
Hobart, Jeremiah W.
Hobart, Joshua
Hobart, Stillmait

Hobart, Stillman Mrs.
Howard, H. C. & M. W.
Howard, M. W. Mrs.
Howe, Albin P.
Howe, Albin P. Mrs.
Howland, Warren S.
Howland, Warren S. Mrs.
Hubbard, Ethan D.
Hubbard, Ethan D. Mrs.
Hubbard, Orton
Ingram, Ezra
Ingram, Harrison
Ingram, Harrison Mrs.
Ingram, Rufus
Ingram, Zaccheus C.
Ingram, Zaccheus C. Mrs.
Jackson, Henry.
Jewett, George B. Prof.
Johnson, Earl
Johnson, Earl Mrs.
Johnson, Orren
*Jones, Thomas
Jones, Thomas Mrs.
Kellogg, H. C.
Kellogg, Eleazer
Kellogg, Horace
Kellogg, Horace Jr.
Kellogg, James
Kellogg, Lyman
Kellogg, Lyman Mrs.
Kellogg, Wells Sanford
Kellogg, WiUard M.
Kellogg, Willard M. Mrs.
Kellogg, William
Kellogg, William Mrs.
Kellogg, William Jr.
Kingman, Cyrus
Leland, John
Leland, John Mrs.
Loomis, Austin
Loomis, Milton
Lyman, John
Mack, David
Mack, David Mrs.
Marshall, Ansel C.
Marshall, Joseph E.
INIather, William E.
Mather, William E. Mrs.
Mc Master, Charles
McMaster, Charles Mrs.

LIFE MEMBERS.

123

Merrick, James E.
Merrick, James E. Mrs.
Merrick, James L. Rev.
Merrick, James L. Mrs.
*Merrick, William
Merrill, Calvin
Merrill, Calvin Mrs.
Merrill, Harriet O. Miss
Moore, Phcebe Mrs.
Munsell, Guy C.
Nash, Charles
Nash, Charles Mrs.
Nash, J, A. Rev.
Nash, J. A. Mrs.
Nash, Luther
Needham, Emory H.
Needham, Emory H. Mrs.
Nelson, Julia C.
Newton, Walter
Palmer, Frederick A.
Palmer, Frederick A. Mrs.
Pierce, E. S. & F. A.
Pierce, Francis A. Mrs.
Pomeroy, David
*Pomeroy, David Mrs.
Potwine, Thomas
Prince, Samuel
Putnam, Rufus
Putnam, Rufus Mrs.
Rankin, John
Reed, Thomas
Reed Thomas Mrs.
Rice, Alpheus
Roberts, Fanny H.
Robins, Alva
Robins, Z. W.
Robins, Z. W. Mrs.
Robinson, Ferdinand Mrs.
Robinson & Ainsworth
Russell, Chauncy R.
Russell, Emerson
Russell, Emerson Mrs.
Russell, Francis H.
Sanford, John Rev.
Sanford, John Mrs.
Segraves, Horatio
Shepherd, Charles U.
Slate, Jonathan S.
Smith, B. F. Dr.
Smith, B. F. Mrs.

Smith, Charles
Smith, Charles Mrs.
Smith, Cotton
Smith, Newman W. Dr.
Smith, Newman W. Mrs.
Smith, Timothy
Smith, Timothy Mrs.
Smith, William B.
Smith, William W.
Snell, E, S. Prof.
Snell, E. S: Mrs.
Spaulding, Philip D.
Spear, Ebenezer P.
Spear, Lyscom
Spear, Lyscom Mrs.
Spear, Myrick N.
Stanley, Edward A.
Stratton, Chester
Stratton, Chester Mrs.
Strickland, William G.
Strickland, William G. Mrs.
Sweetser, Hannah
Sweetser, Luke
Sweetser, Luke Mrs.
Tapley, George W.
Taylor, Israel H. Dr.
Taylor, Israel H. Mrs.
Taylor, Stillman
Thayer, Jason
Thayer, Jason Mrs.
Thayer, Jonathan
Thayer, Jonathan Mrs.
Thayer, Reuben
Thayer, Savannah A.
Thayer, Savannah A. Mra.
Turner, Rodolphus
Tyler, William S. Prof.
Tyler, William S. Mrs.
Warner, Aaron Prof.
Warner, Aaron Mrs.
Warner, David S.
Warner, George
Watson, Oliver
Watson, Oliver Mrs.
Wetherell, Leander
Wheelock, Dana
Wheelock, Russell T.
*Whipple, David
Whipple, George A.
Whitney, Simon W.

124

LIFE MEMBERS,

Williams, Ebenezer
Williams, Enos D.
Williams, Frederick
Williams, Orin
Williams, Orin Mrs.
Winter, Jonas H,
Woodman, George S. Dr.
Woodman, George S. Mrs.
AVoodworth, C. L. Rev.
*Woodworth, C. L. Mrs.
Wright, Sylvanus M.
Wright, Sylvanus M. Mrs.

BAIiSTON, N. Y.

Crapo, Azubah Mrs.

BALTIMORE, MD.
Brown, Smith

BELCHERTOWN.

Alden, Thomas
Arnold, Barnard
Barrett, Leonard
Chandler, George
Doi-man, Roderic
Dunbar, Charles T.
Dwight, Nathaniel Jr.
Gilbert, Wareham C.
Goodeli, Asahel
*Hannum, Gamaliel
H annum, Lyman W.
Holland, Luther
^Lawrence, Myron
*Longley, Joshua
Montague, Ephraim
Sabin, Lyman
Sisson, John
Thayer, Hezekiah
Thayer, Rufus
Thayer, William
*Towne, Israel
Wilson, Asa

CHESTER.

Brewster, John M. Dr.
CHICOPEE.

Mossman, Abner G.

CONWAY.

May, Cephas

COVINGTON, KY.

Payson, Joseph R.

DEERFIELD.

Fogg, Josiah
Stebbins, Evander G.
Stebbins, Moses
Stebbins, Moses Mrs.

EASTHAMPTON.

Colton, A. M. Rev.
Colton, A. M. Mrs.

ENFIELD.

Fobes, Henry
Smith, Alvan
Woods, Josiah B.

GRANBY.

Ayres, Rodney
Ayres, Samuel
Barton, James M.
Barton, Phineas D.
Chapin, Philo
Clark, Augustus
Clark, Luke M.
Dickinson, Samuel D.
Ferry, Charles S.
Ferry, Lucius
Patrick, William J.
Preston, John H. D.
Smith, Jared C.
Smith, Nelson
Smith, William A.
Stebbins, Cyrus
Taylor, Milo A.
Warner, Alonzo
Warner, Park
Witt, Benjamin
Witt, Horace
Woodward. William H.

GREENFIELD.

Smith, Samuel D.

GREENWICH.

Douglass, Stephen
Earl, Luke

tlFE MEMBEES,

125

HADLEY.

Adams, Benjamin

Adams, Benjamin Mrs.

Adams, Joseph

Adams, Levi

Adams, Levi Mrs.

Baker, Esek

Carter, Benjamin T.

Comins, Simon F.

*Cowles, Asa

Cowles, Daniel

Cowles, Daniel Mrs.

Cowles, David S.

Cowles, David S. Mrs.

Cowles, Elijah

Cowles, Elijah Mrs.

Cowles, Lewis

*Cowles, Lewis Mrs.

Dickinson, Dexter C.

Dickinson, Elihu S.

Dickinson, George

Dickinson, Samuel Jr.

Dickinson, William P.

Dickinson, William P. Mrs.

Oranger, Lorenzo N.

Granger, Lorenzo N. Mrs.

Gray, Amos

Gray, Chester

Green, Dorus

Green, Dorus Mrs.

Green, Henry

Green, Linus

Green, Linus Mrs,

Hayward, E. E.

Hibbard, Albert

Hibbard, E.

Hill, Roderic B.

Hooker, Benjamin

Huntington, Theodore G.

Huntington, Theophilus P.

Huntington, Theophilus P. Mrs.

Kellogg, Martin

Kellogg, Martin Mrs.

Kellogg, Stillman

Kellogg, Stillman Mrs.

Lamson, Charles E.

Marsh, Timothy S.

Morton, John A.

Morton, John A. Mrs.

Nash, John W.

Nash, Samuel
Nash, Samuel Mrs.
Osborn, John
Pasco, Theodore
Pasco, Theodore Mrs;
Porter, Eleazer
Porter, Edwards J.
^Porter, Edwards J. Mrs.
Powers, Alfred
Powers, Alfred Mrs.
Powers, Samuel
Powers, Samuel Mrs.
Russell, Horace
Russell, Horace Mrs.
Russell, John
Russell, John Mrs.
Russell, Levi
Russell, Levi Mrs.
Sabin, Sherman
Sabin, Sherman Mrs,
Scott, Rufus
Scott, Rufus Mrs.
Shipman, John
Shipman, John Jr.
Smith, Chester
Smith, Cotton
Smith, Cotton Mrs.
Smith, Edmund
Smith, Erastus
Smith, Giles E.
Smith, Horace
Smith, Jeriah S.
Smith, Joseph
Smith, Joseph Mrs.
Smith, R. Wales
Smith, R. Wales Mrs.
Smith, Thaddeus
Smith, Thaddeus Mrs.
Stockbridge, Levi
Tower, Samuel
Wallis, Addi
West, Parsons
West, Parsons Mrs.
White, Samuel S.
Williams, P. Smith

HATFIELD.

Hubbard, George W.

HOIiTOKX:.

Cooke, Edwin F.

126

LIFE MEMBERS.

KEEVE, IV. H.

Sprague, Joseph G.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.

Cooke, George Rev.
Cooke, George Mrs.

liEVERETT.

Adams, Alden
Ashley, Marvin
Ashley, Marvin Mrs.
Ball, Orus
Ball, Orus Mrs.
Ball, Silas
Bangs, Howard
Boutwell, Levi
Boutwell, Harriot D. Mrs.
Cutler, Seneca Mrs.
Eastman, David Kev.
Eastman, David Mrs.
Field, Alden C.
Field, Alden C. Mrs.
Field, Asa L.
Field, Asa L. Mrs.
Field, Charles H.
Field, Charles H. Mrs.
Field, Harrison
Field, Harrison O.
Field, Harrison O. Mrs.
Field, Moses
Field, Moses Mrs.
Field, Zebina
Fitts, Elijah B.
Fitts, Nathan H.
Frary, Francis
Graves, Kellogg
Graves, Levi M.
Hobart, Baxter R.
Hobart, Charles D.
Hobart, Peter
Hobart, Spencer
Hubbard, Roswell
Ingram, Elijah M.
Matthews, Horace
Nutting, Lucius
Nutting, Ransom
Porter, Cephas
Putnam, Timothy
Putnam, Timothy Mrs.

Rice, David Dr.
Smith, William H.
Whi taker, Augustus G.
Wood, Seth
Woodbury, Jason H.

MARIiBOaorGH, js.n.

Downs, Almeron S.

MONTAGUE.

Paine, Orrin Mrs.

Russell, Calvin
Russell, Calvin Mrs.

MOUNT MORRIS, N. Y.

Sears, Simon

NEW SALEM.

Hunt, Horace

NEW YORK, N. Y.

Colton, Joseph
Harrington, Samuel
Harrington, Samuel Mrs.
Smith, Henry B. Prof.

NORTHAMPTON.

Arnold, W. A.
Baker, Osmyn
Clapp, D. M.
Clark, William Jr.
Clark, William
Dickinson, George P.
Hawks, Charles K.
Hinckley, Samuel L.
Hillyer, Winthrop
Kirkland, Harvey
Parsons, Samuel L.
Shepard, Ashur
Shepard, Henry
Smith, S. M.
Strong, Elisha
Strong, William
Thayer, Justin
Trumbull, James R.
Trumbull, James R. Mrs.
Washburn, Luther L
Wells Samuel
West, Joseph L

LIFE MEMBERS

127

WUson, J. W.
Wright, Ansel

OLEAN, N. Y.

Nutting, Truman
Nutting, Truman Mrs.

OSKOSH, Wise.

Kellogg, Ansel W.

PELHAM.

Aldrich, Asahel
Aldrich, Nehemiah W.
Ballou, Emory
Ballou, Hiram
Barrows, Isaac
Bufium, Thomas
Carter, John
Cook, Olney
Tales, Abijah
Hall, John B.
Newell, Lemuel H.
Rankin, Ansel A.
Russell, John
Ward, Joseph G.

PRESCOTT,

Aikin, Benjamin P.
Paige, Christopher

PROVIDENCE, R. I.

Leonard, Dexter M.

SHTJTESBTJRY.

Adams, N. Dickinson
Adams, S. Ward
Dudley, Samuel F.
Fitts, Edward
Howe, Abraham S.
Shores, David

SOUTHAMPTOIT-

Edwards, Elisha

SOUTH HADLEY.

Allen, Levi W.
Alvord, Hervey
Bates, Emerson
Burnett, Nelson W.
Clark, Marcellus

Gaylord, Lorenzo
Kellogg, Amos
Lathrop, Paoli
Lyman, George J.
Lyman, Lorenzo W.
Montague, C. Newton
Moody, Hovey
Nash, Thomas M.
Smith, Edmund
Smith, Edmund Mrs.
Smith, Gilbert A.
Smith, Jason
Snow, Sheldon Mrs.

SPRINGFIELD.

Montague, Isaac W.

SUNDERLAND.

Clark, Sereno D. Rev.
Clark, Sereno D. Mrs.
Cooley, Charles
Crocker, Stoughton D.
Dickinson, Ebenezer P.
Dickinson, Ransom
Dickinson, Ransom Mrs.
Dunlap, Samuel
Gaylord, William
Graves, Alden
Graves, George W.
Graves, Hubbard
Graves, Timothy
Grover, Josiah
Hcmmenway, Betsy C. Mrs.
Henderson, Horace
Henderson, Horace Mrs.
Hubbard, Alanson
Hubbard, Alanson Mrs.
Hubbard, Ashley
Hubbard, Ashley Mrs.
Hubbard, Avery D.
Hubbard, Claudius B.
Hubbard, Kclita
Hubbard, Martin L.
Hubbard, Rodolphus B.
Hunt, James
Hunt, William
Ludden, Parmenas
Lyman, Horace
Miller, Washiagtoa

128

LIFE MEMBERS.

Montague, Albert
]\Iontague, Albert Mrs.
Russell, William W.
Russell, William W. Mrs.
Sanderson, Eli
Sanderson, Henry F. Mrs.
Smith, Austin
Smith, Austin Mrs.
Smith, Elihu
Smith, John M.
Smith, N. Austin
Smith, N. Austin Mrs,
Smith, N. & B.
Trow, Nathaniel G. Dr.
Warner, James R.

* Deceased.

Wiley, Dolly F. Miss
Wiley, Ebenezer
Wiley, Ebenezer Mrs.
Wiley, John
Williams, Oliver
Wright, Abrara

•WESTBOEOUGH.

Smith, Charles H.
White, Samuel N.
White, Samuel N. Mrs.

WILLIAMSBTJUGH.

Bartlett, Newman W.

LIFE MEMBERS.

RECAPITULATIOX.

Amherst,

_

385

Leverett,

_

- 46

Balston, N. Y.

-

1

Marlborough, N,

H.

1

Baltimore, Md.

-

1

M ontague,

-

3

Belchertown,

-

22

Mount Morris, N

. Y.

1

Chester, - -

-

1

New Salem,

-

1

Chicopee,

-

1

New York, N. Y.

-

- 4

Conway,

-

1

Northampton,

-

- 22

Covington, Ky.

-

1

Olean, N. Y. -

-

- 2

Deerfield,

-

4

Oskosh, Wise.

-

1

Easthampton,

-

2

Pelham,

-

- 14

Enfield,

-

3

Prescott,

-

- 2

Granby,

-

22

Providence, R. I.

-

1

Greenfield,

-

1

Shutesbury,

-

6

Greenwich, -

-

2

Southampton, -

-

- 1

Hadley,

-

93

South. Hadley,

-

- 18

Hatfield,

-

1

Springfield,

-

- 1

Holyoke,

-

1

Sunderland,

-

- 51

Keene, N. 11.

-

1

Westborough,

-

3

Knoxville, Tenn. -

-

2

Williamsburgh,

-

- 1

Whole number of Life Members,

734

TIUNSACTIONS

OF THE

pampljire l^gnmlteral ^md^,

DURING THE YEAR

1854.

PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY.

AMHERST, MASS.:
PRINTED BY J. S. & C. ADAMS,

1854.

Officers a( ilje ^ncictu.

1854.

President,
ALFRED BAKER, of Amiierst.

Vice Fl-esidents.

JOHN A. MORTON, of Hadley.
MOSES STEBBINS, of Decrfield.
GILBERT A. SMITH, of South Hadley.
ALBERT MONTAGUE, of Sunderland.
WAREHAM C. GILBERT, of Belchertown.
GEORGE W. HUBBARD, of Hatfield.

Secretary and Treasurer,

JAMES W. BOYDEN, of Amherst.

Execulive Committee.

SIMEON CLARK, of Amherst.
AVERY D. HUBBARD, of Sunderland.
DAVID RICE, of Leverctt.
RODNEY AYRES, of Granby.
AUSTIN EASTMAN, of Amherst.
GEORGE DICKINSON, of Hadley.
ANSEL A. RANKIN, of Pclham.

Delegate to the State Boaril of Agriculture,

PiiOF. JOHN A. NASH, of Amherst.

Crjtnsacliijjts.

The Executive Committee met in April, at the Secretary's office,
and prepared a list of premiums, which amounted to more than six
hundred dollars. The Annual Show Bill was posted in more than
two hundred public places, within the limits of the Society, and
printed in the Amherst Express. The responsible and delicate duty
of awarding premiums was assigned to forty Committees, composed
of two hundred and twenty-one ladies and gentlemen.

EXAMINING COMMITTEES.

On Farms. J. A. Nash, Amherst, Chairman. Leander Wether-
ell ; Moses Stebbins, South Deerfield.

On Fruit Trees. Leander Wethekeli,, Amherst, Chairman.
Levi Boutwell, Leverett ; Alfred Baker, Amherst.

On Crops. Samuel Powers, Hadley, Chairman. N. Austin
Smith, Sunderland ; Cyrus Stebbins, Granby.

On Manures. John A. Nash, Amherst, Chairman. Ansel A.
Rankin, Pelham ; Wm. H. Smith, Leverett.

On Subsoil Plowing. R. T. Wheelock, Amherst, Chairman.
Kelita Hubbard, Sunderland ; Lorenzo W. Lyman, South Hadley.

On declaimed Swamp Land. Hon. Joseph Smith, Hadley,
Chairman. Edmund Hobart, Amherst ; Spencer Clark, Granby.

On Strings of Cattle. Capt. Elijah Ingram, Leverett, Chair-
man. Augustus Eastman, Granby; I. B. Barrows, Pelham; A. C.
Marshall, Amherst; W. C. Gilbert, Belchertown ; L. P. Warner,
Sunderland ; Theodore Pasco, Hadley.

On Bulls. T. P. Huntington, Hadley, Chairman. Samuel
Prince, Amherst ; Harrison Field, Leverett ; John McMaster, Granby.

On Steers. Edmund Smith, South Hadley, Chairman. Jona-
than Cowles, Jr., Amherst; Olney Cook, Pelham; Chester Gray,
Hadley ; L. W. Hannum, Belchertown.

On Cattle for the Stall. Zecina Field, Leverett, Chairman.

EXAMINING COMMITTEES. 6

Chester Smith, Hadley'; S. L. Strong, Northampton; E.D.Will-
iams, Amherst.

On Milch Cows. Parsons West, Hadley, Chairman. Baxter
Hobart, Leverett ; R. R. Eastman, Granby.

On Heifers. G. C Munsell, Amherst, Chairman. John Rus-
sell, Pelham ; Washington Miller, Sunderland.

On Calves. Maecellus Clark, South Hadley, Chairman. Bar-
nard Arnold, Belchertown ; Simon Comings, Hadley ; Cephas Por-
ter, Leverett.

On Swine. Henry C. Nash, Amherst, Chairman. Hubbard
Graves, Sunderland ; Samuel Tower, Hadley ; John Lyman, Amherst.

On Sheep. Leavitt Hallock, Amherst, Chairman. liinus
Green, Hadley ; G. W. Graves, Sunderland.

On Poultry. Dr. Trow, Sunderland, Chairman. L. H. Newell,
Pelham ; N. D. Adams, Shutesbury ; Nathan Fitts, Leverett.

On Working Oxen Five Years Old. J. A. Morton, Hadley,
Chairman. J. M, Barton, Granby; Abijah Fales, Pelham; E. P.
Dickinson, Sunderland; Wm. W. Dickinson, Amherst.

On Working Oxen Four Years Old. Horace Kellogg, Am-
herst, Chairman. Asahel Aldrich, Pelham ; Nelson Smith, Granby ;
David Shores, Shutesbury ; M. F. Dickinson, Amherst.

On Plowing with Ox-Teams. David Rice, Leverett, Chairman.
Thomas Buffum, Pelham ; Eleazer Kellogg, Amherst ; Alonzo War-
ner, Granby ; Nathaniel Smith, Sunderland ; Daniel Cowles, Had-
ley ; E. A. Stanley, Henry Cobb, Amherst.

On Plowing with Horse-Teams. Leonard Barrett, Belcher-
town, Chairman. Josiah Rice, Leverett ; Lorenzo Gaylord, South
Hadley ; L. N. Granger, Hadley ; Ezra Ingram, Amherst.

On Plowing with Double Plows. Levi Stockbridge, Hadley,
Chairman. C. C. Paige, Prcscott; Moses Montague, South Hadley;
J. B. Hall, Pelham ; P. D. Barton, Granby.

On Forest Trees. Leander Wetherell, Amherst, Chairman.
Moses Field, Leverett ; AVm. Hunt, Sunderland ; Joseph Adams,
Hadley ; Charles Stetson, Amherst.

On Wheat Bread and Flour. Rev. G. E. Fisher, Amherst,
Chairman. Mrs. L. D. Cowles, Amherst; Mrs. Seneca Cutter, Lev-
erett ; Mrs. F. A. Palmer, Amherst ; Mrs. Ransom Dickinson, Sun-
derland ; Mrs. J. B, Hall, Pelham ; Miss Harriet Merrill, Amherst.

On Rye Bread and Flour. Rev. David Eastman, Leverett,
Chairman. Miss S. P. Ferry, Amherst ; Mrs. C. B. Hubbard, Sun-

6 T K A X R A C T I 0 N S .

derland ; Mrs. Dcavid Rice, Lcverctt ; Mrs. S. B. Dickinson, Granby ;
Mrs. Francis Frary, Lcverctt.

On Rye, and Indian Bread. Ecv. Mr. Bea:max, Hadlcy, Chair-
man. Mrs. Moses Field, Levcrett ; Mrs. Orrin Paine, Montague ;
Mrs. B. U. Dickinson, Amlierst ; Mis. Thomas Bufi'um, Pclham ;
Miss Sophia Dickinson, Amherst.

On Butler. T. G. Huxtingtox, Hadley, Chairman. Mrs. Ne-
hemiah Aldrich, Pelham ; Mrs. S. C. Stebbins, Granby ; Mrs. Cotton
Smith, Amherst ; Mrs. Wm. W. Dickinson, do. ; Mrs. N. A. Smith,
Sunderland; Mrs. Lyman Sabins, Belchertown ; Mrs. L. M. Hills,
Amherst.

On Cheese. Eev. S. D. Clakk:, Sunderland, Chairman. Miss
Lydia Dickinson, Amherst ; Mrs. Daniel Dickinson, do. ; Mrs. Ches-
ter Ayres, Granby; Mrs. A. C. Field, Lcverctt; Mrs. Oliver Will-
iams, Sunderland; Mrs. J. S. Adams, Amherst; Mrs. Alfred Ba-
ker, do.

On Maj)h Sugar. Dr. F. H. Rice, Shutcsbury, Chairman. Mrs.
Peter Spaulding, Montague ; Mrs. Ashley Hubbard, Sunderland ;
Mrs. Timothy Putnam, Leverett ; Mrs, A. P. Howe, Amherst.

On Honey. Rev. C. L. WooinvoRTii, Amherst, Chairman. Mrs.
David Cowles, Hadley; Mrs. Lj^man Kellogg, Amherst; Mrs. James
M. Barton, Granby; Mrs. R. S.Lincoln, Amherst; Gamaliel Collins,
Palmer.

On Mechanic Arts and Agricultural Iniplemcnts. C. H. Field,
Leverett, Chairman. Benjamin Adams, Hadley; Lucius Ferry,
Granby ; G. W. Hobart, Amherst ; Albert Montague, Sunderland ;
Emory Ballou, Pelham ; Joel Packard, Belchertown ; Nathaniel Al-
len, Amherst.

On Vegeiahles and Grains. Bexjajiix DeWitt, Granby, Chair-
man. Elihu Smith, Sunderland ; Oren Williams, Amherst; Daniel
Cowles, Hadley ; Timothy Smith, Amherst.

On Fine Arts and Fancy Articles. M. B. Green, Amherst,
Chairman. Mrs. S. M. Hubbard, Sunderland ; Mrs. David Eastman,
Levcrett; Mrs. Luke Sweetscr, Amherst; Mrs. Wm. P. Dickinson,
Hadley; Mrs. G. A. Smith, South Hadley; Mrs. E. S. Dwight, Am-
herst; Mrs. C. S. Ferry, Granby; Mrs. G. B. Jewettj Amherst; Mrs.
Calvin Russell, Montague ; Mrs. N. D. Adams, Shutcsbury ; Mrs. J.
W. Boyden, Amherst ; Mrs. David Pratt, do. ; Mrs. Prof. Field, do.
On Domestic Manufactures. Francis Frary, Leverett, Chair-
man. Mrs. E. S. Snell, Amherst ; C. F. Hayward, do. ; Mrs. Al-

E X A 51 I K I K G C O M M I T T E E S . 7

bcrt Montague, Sunderland; Mrs. E. D. Hubbard, Amherst ; Mrs.
Abijah Tales, Pelham ; Mrs. S. F.Dudley, Shutesbury ; Mrs. A. L.
Field, Levcrett; G. A. Smith, South Hadlcy; Mrs. Lyman Gunn,
Amherst ; Mrs. Cyrus Ball, Leverett ; Mrs. Hartly, Amherst ; Mrs.
Park Warner, Granby ; Mrs. J. A. Nash, Amherst ; Mrs. O. M.
Clapp, do. ; Oliver Watson, do.

On Fruit. Daniel Dickinsox, Amherst, Chairman. Wm. P.
Dickinson, Hadley ; G. E. Downs, Amherst ; Josiah Ayrcs, do. ;
Mrs. E. F. Cook, do. ; Cotton Smith, do. ; C. S. Ferry, Granby ;
Mrs. J. M. Smith, Sunderland; Mrs. Emory Ballou, Pelham; Mrs.
Ephraim Montague, Belchcrtown.

On Stallions. J. M. Emersox, Amherst, Chairman. A. S.
Howe, Shutesbury ; Orestes Richards, Cummington ; Ebenezer Wi-
ley, Sunderland ; Benson Aldrich, Belchertown.

On Draft Horses. Aloxzo Wakxek, Granby, Chairman. Em-
ory H. Needham, Amherst ; N. W. Aldrich, Pelham ; Henry Shep-
ard, Northampton ; Austin Eastman, Amherst.

On Far?n Horses. Wm. J. Patrick, Granby, Chairman. Tim-
othy Putnam, Leverett; William Gaylord, Sunderland; S. F. Dud-
ley, Shutesbury ; E. F. Cook, Amherst,

On Breeding Mares and Colts. Samuel Nash, Hadley, Chair-
man. H. A. "Longley, Belchertown ; Alden Graves, Sunderland ;
Kansora Nutting, Leverett ; E. P. Whitney, Amherst ; J. G. Ward,
Pelham.

On Colts. George Dickinson, Hadley, Chairman. John Sis-
son, Belchertown ; J. R. Cushman, Amherst ; Seth Wood, Leverett ;
Thomas Reed, C. Fish, Amherst.

On Essays. Dayid Rice, Leverett^ Chairman. Albert Monta-
gue, Sunderland ; J. A. Nash, Amherst.

FIFTH ANNUAL EXHIBITION,

.A.'T .^L.3VE3ECJ:Jlrfi.@»'Z",

Wednesday asd Thursday, October ISlh and lOtli, 1854.

The Exhibition occupied two days, in pursuance of the vote of
the Society, at its last annual meeting. This change was very gen-
erally desired and has given universal satisfaction to competitors,
committees, and to all persons interested in the prosperity of the in-
stitution. The exhibition in some respects was superior to any of its
predecessors. Not less than six hundred persons competed for the
Society's premiums, and they were from Amherst, Belchertown,
Chester, Conway, Deerfield, Erving, Granby, Hadley, Hatfield, Lev-
erett, Montague, New Salem, Northampton, Pelham, Prescott, Shutes-
bury. South Hadley, Springfield, Sunderland and Whately.

In the enumeration of entries in each department of the exhibition,
the towns and the competitors from each town, are, arranged in the
alphabetical order of their names.

SWEETSER'S HALL.

This Hall was open on both days. There were three tables cov-
ered with the choicest fruit. Three hundred and forty-seven plates
were filled with superior apples. Many fine quinces and grapes, and
a few peaches and pears were on exhibition. The display of Paint-
ings and Drawings was extensive, and some specimens were in admir-
able taste. The departments of Fancy Articles and of Domestic
Manufactures v»'Cie attractive, as usual.

A. X X U A L K X H I C I T I O X .

Frttit. — Appier, 347 plates. Amhcrsl — Alfrod Baker, .5 varie-
ties; Lucius ]5oltwo )cl, 9 ; Lucy Carter. 3 ; E. F. Cook, 8 ; Edward
l)ickint;on, 9: GeorL,^c Dickinson, 9; M. S. Dickirson, 12; Samuel
S. Dickinson, 16; Austin Eastman, IG; Stillman Ilobart, 8; Orrin
Johnson, 1 ; Henry C. Kellogg, 6; William W. Smith, 16; Jona-
than Thayer. HadJcij — Linus Green, 8 varieties; Ilufus Scott,
19. Montague — Alonzo Paine, 1 variety. ]Sorthnmj)ton — Ashur
Shepard, G4 varieties. Prescott — Benjamin P. Aiken, 10 varieties;
Christopher Paige, 14. Sunderland — Ransom Dickinson, 13 varie-
ties; Timothy Graves, 1 variety; Avery D. Hubbard; N. Austin
Smith, 20 ; Levi P. Warner, 8.

Qui::^CEs, 13 entries. Amherst — William Boltwood, Alonzo Dut-
ton, Austin Eastman, Edward S. Field, Joseph E. Marshall, William
W. Smith. Jonathai Thayer, Puinc as Warner. Hadlcy — Linus' Green,
Cotton Suiith. Sunderland — Ransom Dickinson, Brainard Smith,
Elihu Smith.

Gk.vpes, 3 entries. Aynlierst — Charles Adams, Catawba; Joha
Dickinson, do. Sunderland — Ransom Dickinson, Lsabella.
Peaches. Montague — Alonzo Paine.
Pears. Sunderland — N. Austin Smith.

MiscELLAXEous. Hadky — Mrs. C. D. Dickinson, tomato figs.
Sunderland — N. A. Smith, mock oranges.

Domestic Manufactukes, 26 entries. Amlicrst — Mrs. Clinton
J. Cowles, rag-carpet ; Miss Nancy Cowtes, bed-quilt; Mrs. E. A.
Cummings, rag-carpet ; Miss Abby J. S. Dickinson, bed-quilt ; Miss
Mary E. W. Dickinson, bed-qviilt ; Mrs. Austin Eastman, stocking''^
table-spread ; Mrs. Rufus Goodell, cushion, stockings ; Mrs. William
F. Gunn, bed-quilt ; Mrs. Stillman Hobart, rag-carpet ; Mrs. Elea-
zer Kellogg, rag-carpet; Mrs. William Kellogg, stockings and yarn.
Bclchertoum — Mrs. J. Bartlett, rag-carjwt ; Mrs. Gilmore, bed-quilt.
Granhi/ — Mrs. Rodney Ayres, rugs ; Ayres &- Aldrich, satinets.
Hadleij — Mrs. Linus Green, hearth-rug ; Mrs. Z. M. Lyman, stair-
carpet, woolen shoes. Leverctt — Miss Sibil B. Fitts, tidy; Mrs. P.
Hobart, rag-carpet. Montague — Mrs. Orrin Paine, bed-quilt. So.
Hadleij — Mrs. P. Smith, counterpane. Sunderland — Miss S. Brown,
palm-leaf hats ; Mrs. Eliphalet Clark, two rag-carpets ; Mrs. Grover,
palm-leaf hats; Mrs. Alanson Hubbard, bed-quilt; T. E. Munsel, a
sack of cotton wicking ; Mrs.' N. A. Smith, hose, wool blankets.

10 T R A X S A C T I 0 X S .

Fixe Arts, 14 entries. Amherst — Miss Julia M. Ball, painting
in water colors ; Miss Marietta Cowles, two paintings in oil; Mrs.
E. A. Cummings, five paintings in oil, and wax frait; Miss M. J.
Green, monochrome, pencil drawings and embossed work ; ISIrs. Ed-
ward Hitchcock, three Grecian paintings and waiter ; Miss Eliza A.
Hobart, ornamental leather work ; Miss Isabella Hobart, pastel paint-
ing ; Miss M. Pt. Nims, two paintings in oil, tAvo monochromes ;
Miss Pierce, crayon, vase paper flowers ; E. G. Shumway, daguerreo-
types. Montague — Miss Elizabeth C. Hartwell, painting in oil.
Northampton — Wells & Leland, daguerreotype. Sunderland —
Erastus D. Field, 17 paintings in oil : Miss E. A. Graves, two paint-
ings in oil.

Faxcy Articles, 3.5 entries. Amherst — Miss Sarah Ball, lamp-
mat ; Miss Nancy H. Cutler, embroidery ; Mrs. John Dickinson,
lace cape, worked sleeves ; Miss Louisa Dickinson, cushion, embroid-
ery ; Miss F. J. Emerson, embroidery ; Miss Sarah Feriy, bouquet ;
Miss Jane Haven, a bag ; Miss Kate Howland, cushion ; Miss M.
Leland, lamp-mat ; Miss S.Ann Linnell, embroidery; Miss Tempo
S. Linnell, embroidery and worsted work ; Miss M. R. Nims, blan-
ket ; Mrs. C. Sears, pillow ; Charles Sweetser, moss house ; Miss
Mary Warner, worsted work, bead-bag, and collar ; Jliss Abby M.
Wood, worsted work. Belchertown — Mrs. Loman A. Burnett, col-
lar, ottoman, scarf; Miss S. C. Gates, skirt, tidy. Granly — Miss
E. N. Ayres, skirt ; Miss Ellen E. Montague, lamp-mat. Hadley —
Mrs. Levi Adams, drcssing-case ; i\Irs. C.D.Dickinson, bouquet;
Mrs. T. G. Huntington, worked collar, tidy ; Mrs. Cotton Smith,
shell box. Leverett — Miss J. Cook, shirts, stockings ; Miss Sibil
B. Fitts, wax flowers ; Miss E. Moore, mats. Northampton — Miss
Netta A. Hawley, cradle-quilt. Prescott — Miss L. F. Haskins,
needle-work. South Hadley — Mrs. H. M. Smith, ottoman. Sun-
derland— Mrs. Alanson Hubbard, ottoman-covers ; Mrs. N. A. Smith,
mats, vase; Mrs. J. B. Warner, mats, tidies.

SHOW IN PIIENIX HALL.

The display in this Hall was extensive in the number, and superior
in the quality of the articles exhibited. Thirty-six loaves of excel-
lent Bread; two hundred and fifty-four pounds of goUL-n Butter ;

ANNUAL EXHIBITION. 11

two hundie;! pounds of new milch Cheese; one hundred and thirty-
five pounds of Flour from Wheat raised in this vicinity ; two hun-
dred pounds of Flour from Rye grown in this region ; thirty pounds
and more of superior Honey ; forty pounds of Maple Sugar ; hun-
dreds of specimens of Garden Vegetables and Grains, and some thirty
articles illustrating the skill of our mechanics, Avcre the leading at-
tractions. ,

EXTBIES.

Wheat Bread, 13 Loaves. Amherst — Mrs. Bcla U. Dickinson,
Mrs. Edward Dickinson, Mrs. Alonzo Dutton, Mrs. George H. Far-
rar, Mrs. Joseph P. Gray, Mrs. John Lyman. Granhy — Mrs. Cyrus
Stobbins. Montague — Mrs. Peter Spaulding. Northampton — Mrs.
Henry Shepard. Sunderland — Mrs. C. B. Hubbard, Mrs. Oliver
Williams.

PtTE Breab, 14 Loaves. Amherst — Mrs. Bela U. Dickinson,
Mrs. Alonzo Dutton, ]\Iiss Elizabeth Wheelock. Granhy — Mrs.
Cyrus Stebbins. Hadlcy — Mrs. Linus Green. Leverett — Mrs. Orus
Ball, Mrs. Baxter Hobart. Montague — Mrs. Peter Spaulding, Sun-
derland— Mrs. A. L. Clark, Mrs. Eliphalet Clark, Mrs. Alanson
Hubbard, Mrs. Albert Montague, Mrs. Nathaniel Smith, Mrs. Oliver
Williams.

Rye and Indian Bread, 9 Loaves. Amherst — Mrs. Samuel S.
Dickinson. Leverett — Mrs. Orus Ball, Mrs. Harrison O. Field.
Montague — Mrs. Peter Spaulding. Northampton — Mrs. Henry
Shepard. Pelham — Mrs. A. A. Rankin. Sunderland — Mrs. Eli-
phalet Clark, Mrs. C. B. Hubbard, Mrs. Albert Montague.

Wheat Flour, 135 pounds. Hadlcy — George Dickinson, Wil-
liam P. Dickinson, Rufas Scott. Sunderland — Ransom Dickinson,
D. D. & J. Whittemore, Jr.

Rye Flour, 200 pounds. Amherst — Bela U. Dickinson. Had-
ley — George Dickinson, William P. Dickinson. Smiderland — Eli-
phalet Clark, Alanson Hubbard, Albert Montague, Nathaniel Smith,
Levi P. Warner.

Butter, 254 pounds. Amherst — Mrs. Simeon Clark, Mrs. Ches-
ter Cowles, Mrs. Bela U. Dickinson, Mrs. John Dickinson, Mrs.
Alonzo Dutton, Mrs. Joseph P. Gray, Mrs. Edmund Hastings, Mrs.
Harrison Ingram, Mrs. Horace Kellogg, Mrs. John Lyman, Mrs. G.
C, Munsell, Mrs. Cotton Smith. Hadle7j— Mrs. Wm. P. Dickinson.
Montague — Mrs. Peter Spaulding. Sunderland — Mrs. Austin L.
Clark, Mrs. Ransom Dickinson, Mrs. C. B. Hubbard, Mrs. Albert

12 X 11 A X S A C T I 0 X S .

Montague, Mrs. Brainard Smith, Mrs. Natlianiel Smilli, Mrs. Levi
P. Warner.

CiiEiiSE, 200 pounds. Aiitltcrsi — ^Irs. Jonatlian Cowlcs, Jr.,
]Mrs. Samuel S. Dickinson, Mrs. Horace Kellogg, INIrs. Reuben
Thayer. Lcvcrcll — Mrs. Harrison O. Field. Montague — Mrs. Or-
rin I'ainc. Felham — Mrs. A. A. Rankin. Sunderland — Mrs Ran-
som Dickinson.

Maple Sugar, 33 pounds. Lcvcretl — Harrison O. Field, G lbs.
Mmdagnr. — Peter Spaulding, 10 lbs. Sundei'land — C. B. Hubbard,
5 lbs. ; Z. M. Hunt, 5 lbs. ; Albert Montague, 7 lbs.

HoxKY, 40 pounds. Hadlcy — David S. Cowles, 20 lbs. ; R. D.
Fish, 12 lbs. Sunderland — Ransom Dickinson, 8 lbs.

Vegetables, 42 entries. Amherst — Alfred Baker, Japan peas ;
D. L. Bangs, cabbages, beets, potatoes; William Boltwood, 3 varie-
ties of beans ; E. S. Church, red peppers ; Prof. Clark, 8 varieties of
potatoes, 2 of turnips ; Levi D. Cowles, onions ; Marquis F. Dick-
inson, potatoes and turnips ; William W. Dickinson, beets squashes,
cabbages ; Austin Eastman, onions ; George H. Farrar, 3 varieties
of squashes ; Flavel Gaylord, 2 varieties of potatoes ; Edmund Hast-
ings, 2 varieties of turnips ; Harrison Ligram, turnips and carrots ;
John Lyman, cabbage; John Mathews, carter potatoes ; Daniel Paine,
potatoes. Belcliertown — Cephas Hyde, 2 superior varieties of
squashes. Granhij — Rodney Ayrcs, Japan peas ; Lucius Ferry,
beet. Hndlcij — IjCvi Adams, 4 squashes ; Edwin Chapin, beets ;
David S. Cowlcs, beets, carrots, onions, and turnips ; George Dick-
inson, 4 varieties of beans, 3 do. of potatoes, broom-brush, broom-
seed and rye ; Rufus Scott, potatoes. Leverett — Silas Ball, 5 varie-
ties of potatoes; William H. Smith, peach-blow potatoes, Monta-
gue— Joshua Marsh, pumpkin. Pelham — Pliny Boyden, Jenny Lind
potatoes; CD. Eaton, peach-blow potatoes. Prcscott — Christopher
Paige, blood-beet, carrots, parsnips, and potatoes Sunderland —
Hiibbard Graves, California potatoes; Horace Henderson, everlast-
ing squash; John M. Smith, 12 varieties of potatoes; Levi P. War-
ner, turnips, and 4 quarts of beans.

Grains, 15 entries. Amherst — Edmund Hastings, seed corn;
Austin Loomis, seed corn. Deerjicld — IMoses Stebbins, seed corn ;
Hadley — David S, Cowles, 5 varieties of seed corn ; George Dickin-
son, Trace seed corn and Mapes's evergreen sweet corn ; William P.
Dickinson, seed Avheat ; Rufus Scott, Genesee white flint wheat.
Sunderland — Sylvester Brown, seed corn; Ransom Dickinson, 2

ANNUAL EXHIBITION. 13

varieties seed corn ; John M. Smith, seed corn and red-top grass
seed; Nathaniel Smith, herds-grass seed; Levi P. Warner, seed corn
and rye ; D. D. &> J. Whittemore, Jr., seed wheat ; Oliver Williams,
grass seed.

Mechanic Arts, 30 entries. Amherst — David S. Cook, garden
and fire engines ; Porter Dickinson, patent corn-sheller ; Field &-
Strickland, cottage bedstead, chair, couch, rocking-chair, card-table,
ottomans; Walter Fuller, floating-ball washing-machine; W. S.
Howland, patent window-springs ; Lovctt &/ Dickinson, axe, hook,
fork, shovel, hammer and bush-cutter ; Charles E. Morse, patent
washing-machine; David S. Warner, Cataract Engine, No. 1, of
Amherst, manufactured by L. Button &/ Co., Waterford, N. Y.
Belchertoicn — J. Packard iS^ Co., elegant buggy. Chester Village —
C. W. Ilannum, edge tools. Granhy — G. H. Brown, model of a
patent telegraph. Hadley — Joseph Adams &- Sons, bent rims and
saw buck; George Dickinson, 12 brooms; Hubbard Lawrence, 12
brooms and sign-broom ; S. C. Wilder, corn-plow and grape-cradler ;
Montague — L. G. Rice, superb seraphine. New York — Joseph Col-
ton, mitre machine. South Hadley — H. L. Watts, horse shoes,
Sunderland — L. Fish, 12 brooms; Henry 0. Williams, broadcast
seed and manure-sower; Oliver Williams, cjrn-plantGr and manure-
dropper. Whatcly — J. M. Crafts, file. v

SHOW OF FARM STOCK.

The collection of Cattle was the best ever exhibited at any fair of
the Hampshire Society, although not so many animals were on the
ground, as on some former occasions. There was but one Town
String — a noble one of forty-four pairs — from Hadley. The exhibi-
tion of Bulls and of young cattle was better than ever before. The
breeds were of the choicest, and the specimens displayed points and
qualities, showing a decided advance in thorough breeding. Sheep
were not numerous, but were of those excellent varieties, the South
Downs, Merinoes and Cotswolds. The display of SAvine included
some very fine Suffolks and other improved breeds. The show of
Poultry was good.

entries.

■ Strings of Cattle. Hadley — Forty-four Pairs.

14 TRA^TSACTIONS.

Bulls. Amlicrsl — Alfred Baker, 2 Devons, 1 and 2 years old;
Levi D. Cowles, Devon, 6 years ; Edward Hitchcock, grade Durham,
11 months, 755 lbs.; Edmund Hobart, grade Durham and Devon.
2 years, 1112 lbs. ; Reuben Thayer, Devon, 4 years ; Ebenezer Wil-
liams, grade Durham and Devon, 3 years, 1795 lbs. Belchertoion
— Barnard Arnold, Durham, 1 year; Ira Fenton, grade Durham and
Devon, 5 years. Erving — A. H. Albee, grade Durham, 19 months.
Granly — Augustus Clark, Durham, 16 months. Prcscott — Chris-
topher Paige, grade Durham, 2 years.

Steeks, three years old. Amherst — W. E & S. S. Dickin-
son, Devon and Hereford ; Emory II. Needham, Native, 2560 lbs.
Belcheriotcn — George O. Hannum, Durham, 3300 lbs. Granhy —
George N. Smith, Durham, 3640 lbs. South Hadlaj — Edmund
Smith, 2885 lb?.

Steers, two years old. Ainherst — George A. Pomeroy, grade
Hereford, 30 months, 2190 lbs. Belchertown — George O. Hannum,
Durham, 2235 lbs. Conway — Cephas May, twin Durhams, 26
months. Hadlcy — Chester Gray, Native, 2690 lbs. ; William P.
Dickinson, Native.

Steers, oke year old. Amherst — William W. Smith, Durham
and Ayreshire ; Russell T. Wheelock, grade Durham. Cotnoay —
Cephas May, Devon. Hadley — T. P. Huntington, Native. Lev-
erett — Cephas Porter, twin Natives, 1 680 lbs.

Cattle for the Stall. Decrjield — Moses Stebbins, Hereford,
6 years, 3757 lbs. ; Same, Natives, 7 years, 4277 lbs. Granhy —
Nelson Smith, Natives, 6 years, 3485 lbs. Sunderland — D. D* &-
J. Whittemore, Jr., Natives, 5 years.

Milch Cows. Amherst — Bela U. Dickinson, Native, 7 years ;
William W. Dickinson, grade Durham, 11 years. Granhy — Augus-
tus Clark, Durham, 7 years ; same, Durham, 1 1 years. Hadley —
William P. Dickinson, grade Devon, 6 years.

Heifers. Amherst — Alfred Baker, grade Ayrshire, 1 year ; Lu-
cius Boltwood, Native, 1 8 months ; Spencer Church, grade Durham,
2 years ; Mrs. T. Jones, grade Ayrshire, 1 year ; G. C. Munsell,
Short-horn, 2 years; Thomas Reed, grade Durham, 2 years, 1077
lbs. Hadley — T. G. Huntington, grade Durham, 2 years. Pres-
cott — Christopher Paige, 2 grade Durhams, yearlings.

Calves — Bulls. Amherst — William W. Dickinson, Native, 11
'months ; William C. Fowler, thorough-bred Alderney, 3 months ;
Luke Sweetser, thorough-bred Ayrshire, 4 months.

ANNUAL EXHIBITION. 15

Calves — IIeifees. Ajuherst — Bcla U. Dickinson, Native, 10
weeks ; Luke Sweetser, thorougli-brcd Ayrshire, 3 months.

Calves — Steeks. Amherst — Willard .M. Kellogg, twin Natives,
11 months. Comiuty — Cephas May, 2 Durhams, 9 months; Same,
single Durham, 111-2 months.

Sheep — Bucks. Amherst — Cotton Smith, South Down and
Smut-face, 1 year. Granhy — Augustus Clark, French and Native,
2 years. South Hadley — J. M. Hatfield, Cotesworth, 2 years;
same. South Down, 2 years.

Sheep — Ewes. Amherst — Cotton Smith, South Downs and
Smut-faces, 1 and 4 years. Granly — Augustus Clark, French and
Spanish, 1 year ; same, a lot of South Downs.

Swine — Boaks. Amherst — Cotton Smith, Suffolk and Mackay,
1 year. Granhy — Orsemus Richardson, Suffolk and Belgian, 10
months. Leverctt — Ransom Nutting, Suffolk, 18 months. Sunder-
land— Hubbard Graves, grade Suffolk, IG months.

Savine — Sows AND PiGS. Amherst — Thomas Hastings, grade
Suffolk, sow 1 year, pigs 1 week old. Leverett — Harrison O. Field,
grade Suffolk, sow 1 year, pigs 24 days old. Sitnderlarul — Brainerd
Smith, Mackay and Granite, sow 13 months, pigs 12 weeks old;
Levi P. Warner, grade Suffolk, sow 14 months, pigs 2 weeks old.

Savine — liiTTERS OF PiGS. Amherst — Flavel Gaylord, grade
Suffolk, 10 weeks. Sunderland — Sylvester Brown, Suffolk, 5 weeks ;
Claudius B. Hubbard, 6 months.

Poultry. Amherst — E. S. Church, Whirlwind Chickens; Ed-
■\vard Sears, Bantams. Hadley — Levi Adams, Bantams. South
Hadley — W. IL Woodford, Poland Bantams. Sunderland — E.
Porter Dickinson, Turkeys ; Claudius B. Hubbard, Turkeys : Zebina
Hubbard, Turkeys, Ducks and Chickens ; Levi P. W^arncr, Chickens.

DRAWING MATCH.

The trial of working oxen took place, on Wednesllay, at noon, in
the highway, near the First Congregational Church. Eighteen pairs
entered for the premiums. Each pair v/as required, according to the
Show Bill, to draw up the hill a cart, loaded with three thousand
pounds weight, and to be exercised in backing and turning. The
premiums were to be awarded according to the docility and training

16 TRANSACTIONS.

of the cattle, their match in color, stren^^th, size, weight and breed,
as well as their performance at the trial. The scene was exciting
and attracted a dense mass of interested beholders.

"Working Oxen, tive years olb and upwards. Amherst —
Levi D. Cowles, Natives, 7 years, 3215 lbs.; John Dickinson, Na-
tives, 7 years, 3334 lbs. ; same, Natives, 7 years, 3130 lbs.; Flavcl
Gaylord, Natives, 6 years, 3425 lbs. ; Willard M. Kellogg, Durhams,
5 years ; Orrin Johnson, Natires, 6 years, 3302 lbs. ; Jonathan
Pierce, Natives, 5 years, 3255 lbs. ; Samuel Prince, Natives, 5 years,
3660 lbs. ; Ebenezer Williams, Natives, 7 years, 4020 lbs. Granhy
— Geo!g3 N. Smith, grade Durhams, 5 years, 3900 lbs. Hadlcy —
Parsons West, Natives, 5 years, 3212 lbs. Pclham — Ansel A. Ran-
kin, Natives, 5 years, 3036 lbs. South Hadlcy — Edwin H. Judd,
Dirhams, 5 years, 3885 lbs. ; Hovcy bloody. Natives, 5 years, 3425
lbs. Sunderland — D. D. & J. VVhittemore, Jr., Natives, 5 years,
4005 lbs.

Oxen, four tears old. Amherst — William Poltv/ood, Natives ;
Emory PI. Necdham, Natives, 2810 lbs. Hadlcy — Chester Gray,
Natives, 3486 lbs.

PLOWING MATCH.

Wednesday afternoon, at two o'clock, the plowing commenced.
The land selected for the occasion is situated on the new road from
Amherst to Hadley, half a mile west of the Colleges,' and belongs to
Mr. A. P. Howe. Although there was a respectable shower at the
time the plows started, the crowd in attendance Avas large and the
Avork was vigorously prosecuted. Four Double Plows, six plows
Avith horses and five drawn by oxen, entered for premiums. Each
comjietitor drew his lot before going to the ground. The furrow
was required to be not less than seven inches dee]!, and the work
was done in silence, and fairly exhibited the excellence of the plows,
the training of the teams and the skill of the plowmen.

Double Plows. Amherst — Chester Cowles, Puggles, Nourse,
Mason &L Co."s; Levi D. Cowles, Whittemore & Co.'s Chicopce

ANNUAL EXHIBITION

17

Plow ; Horace Kellogg, Trouty & Mears's Boston Tiow. North-
amptmi—llcmy Shcpard, lluggles, Nourse, Mason & Co's Worces-
ter Plow.

Horse Teams. Avihcrst— Edward B. Lovett, Whittemore &
Co.'s CliicopcG Plow ; William W. Smith, Proiity & Mears's Boston
Plow. Hadley—Samnel C. Wilder, Prouty & Mears's Boston Plow.
Northampton— Samncl L. Parsons,a'routy & Mears's Boston Plow ;
Elisha Strong, Buggies, Nourse, J\fason & Co.'s Vv^orcester Plow;
William Strong, Prouty & Mears's Boston Plow.

Ox Teams. Amherst — Danforth K. Bangs, Prouty & Mears's
Boston Plow; Flavel Gaylord, Plow maker not given. Granhy—
David H. G. Nash, Prouty & Mears's Eagle C, Boston Plow, Pcl-
ham— Ansel A. Bankin— did not plow. Sunderland— V.. Porter
Dickinson, Whittemore & Co.'s Chico^xje Plow.

SHOW OF HORSES.

The exhibition of horses occurred on Thursday, at nine o'clock in
the forenoon. The number of competitors was seventy-seven. There
was one committee on Stallions ; another on Mares and Colts ; a
third, on Draft Horses ; a fourth on Single Farm Horses ; and a fifth
on colts. The horses were distributed among these committees and
occupied separate stations.

It is the duty of an Agricultural Society, to encourage horses,
adapted to farm or agricultural uses. But it has been suggested,
that, if the funds of the Society will admit, premiums might well
be offered in future on Carriage Plorscs.

Improvement in the horses and in the modes of exhibiting their
points, was very obvious, and is attributed, in part, to the influence
of the National Horse Show, in 1853, at Springfield.

ENTRIES.

Staleions. Granhj—'Milo A. Taylor, Morgan, 5 years old;
New Salem — Nelson Haskins, Morgan, 6 years. Shuteslury — A. S.
Howe, Moscow and Morgan, 7 years, 1098 lbs.

Maues and Colts. Amherst — William S. Clai^v, Colt 4 1-2
mouths; Ansel C. Marshall; G. C. Munscll, Mare 11 years, Colt 4

18

TKAXSACTIONS

1-2 months. G?7YW2%— William J. Patrick, Mare 20 years old.
Hadhy—T. G. Huntington, Mare 10 years, 1007 lbs., Colt 4 months,
425 lbs. Leverett—-DiXY{d. Kimball, Mare 12 years, Colt 5 months!
DRAn HoKSES IN Paiks. Amherst— E. Foster Cook, Morgans,
4 and 5 years ; Levi D. Cowles, Natives, 7 years ; William F. Gunn!
Natives, 8 and 9 years, 2330 lbs.; Edward B. Lovett, Natives, 12
and 16 years. BelchertoiDn—WiWmm Thayer, Duroc and Messen-
ger, 7 and 8 years. Granhj—G.-N. Smith, 9 and 10 years. Bat-
Jield—Elisha Hubbard, Morgans, 6 and 7 years. Pelham—A. A.
Rankin, Morgans, 4 and 5 years, 1865 lbs.

Single Farm Horses. Amherst— Uemy Clark, 8 years, 1192
lbs. ; E. Foster Cook, 8 years ; Edward Dickinson, Eclipse, 1 1 years ;
Asahel Gates, grade Morgan, 8 years, 1005 lbs. ; Flavel Gaylord'
Guilford, 5 years ; Joseph P. Gray, 5 years ; Emory H. Needham,'
two grade Morgans, 4 and 5 years; William W. Smith, 7 years;
Luke Sweetser, 10 years; Dr. Taylor, 5 years ; J. H. Winter, grade
Morgan, 7 years. Conway— George Pratt, Morgan, 4 years. Had-
Ze?/— David S. Cowles, 4 years; J. B. Kentfield, grade Morgan, 4
years; Charles Smith, 9 years; David White, 5 years, 952 lbs.
Hatfield — Elisha Hubbard, Morgan, 6 years. Leverett — Abner Gil-
bert, Morgan, 4 years, 890 lbs. ; Ransom Nutting, 8 years. Pelham
— A.A.Rankin, Morgan, 5 years. PrescoZ^— Christopher Paige,
11 years. South Hadley-Rsirry Smith, Morgan, 7 years. Spring-
field—D. J. Bartlett, Morgan, 7 years. Sunderland— Ed^vin Field,
French, 7 years.

Colts, three years old. Amherst— Alhed Baker, William C.
Fowler; H. C. Howard, grade Morgan, 812 lbs.; Henry Kellogg,
Morgan; Austin Loomis ; A. G. Mossman, Morgan, 3 years, 930
lbs,; G. C. Munsell, grade Morgan. Granhy — Nelson Smith, 1100
lbs.; Alonzo Warner, grade Black Hawk. Greenwich — Sylvester

Lincoln, Hunter. Hardwick — Edward Dean, Morgan. Leverett

Harrison Field, 892 lbs. Pelham— Joseph G. Ward, grade Black
Hawk, 850 lbs. ; same, do., 820 lbs. ; same, breed not given. SotHh
Hadley—C. Newton Montague; Gilbert A. Smith, Morgan lion,
1055 lbs. Sunderhmd-Axxstm L. Clark, breed not given; Alden
Graves, French, 915 lbs.

Colts, two years old. Amherst— OMycx H. Curtis, grade Mor-
gan, 930 lbs. ; H. C. Howard, grade Morgan, 910 lbs. ; Marquis F.
Dickinson, Longley's Kentucky Hunter. B elchertown— Ba.vna.rd
Arnold. Conway— George Hamilton. DeerfieU-AXxan Stebbins,

ANNUAL EXHIBITION

19

grade Morgan, 1082 lbs, Grmihy — Nelson Smith. Hadley — Simon
F. Comins, grade Morgan ; Theodore Pasco, Ingram's. Leverett —
Seth Wood, Morgan, 900 lbs. Prescolt — Christopher Paige, Mor-
gan. South Hadley — C. N. Montague ; Hovey Moody, grade Mor-
gan.

Colts, one year old. Shutesbury — A. S. Howe, Clay and Mes-
senger, 760 lbs.

LIST OF PREMIUMS AWARDED.

FARMS.

Austin Smith & Sons, Sunderland, ,
Theophilus P. Huntington, Hadley,

WHEAT CROP.

D. D. & J. Whittemore,Jr.,Sun'rd,

CORN CHOP.

Austin L. Clark, Sunderland,
Chester Cowles, Amherst, gr.,

RYE CROP.

George Dickinson, Hadley,
Chester Cowles, Amherst, gr.,

TURNIP CROP.

O. & F. H. Williams, Sunderland,

CARROT CROP.

O. & F. H. Williams, Sunderland,

OAT CROP.

Albert Montague, Sunderland,

POTATO CROP.

C. D. Eaton, Pelham, gr.,
Chester Cowles, Amherst, gr.,

CROP OF HERDSGRAS8 SEED.

Oliver Williams.Sunderland, gr.,

MANURES.

Kelita Hubbard, bunderland,
A-very D. Hubbard, Sunderland,

RECLAIMED SWAMPS.

Samuel Powers, Hadley,
John A. Morton, Hadley,
Avery D. Hubbard, Sunderland,

APPLE ORCHARDS.

Theodore Pasco, Hadley,
Nathaniel Smith, Sunderland,

OLD ORCHARD RECLAIMED.

Avery D. Hubbard, Sunderland,

PEACH ORCHARD.

$20

Daniel Cowles, Hadley,

$3

>', 1»

NURSERY.

Melzar Hunt, Sunderland,

$3

, $5

ESSAY.

Leander Wetherell, Amherst,

$!•

$5

STRINGS OP CATTLE.

3

Town of Hadley,

nULLS.

$20

$4

Edmund Hobart, Amherst,

$S

2

Ira Fenton, Belchertown,

«

A. H. Albee, Erving,

4

$3

Augustus Clark, Granby,

STEERS, THJIEE YEARS OLD.

2

$2

George N. Smith, Granby,

S4

W. E. & S. S. Dickinson, Amherst

, 3

$3

George H annum, Belchertown,

STEERS, TWO TEARS OLD.

2

$3

Cephas May, Conway,

$3

2

Chester Gray, Hadley,

2

George Hannum, Belchertown,

1

52

STEERS, ONE TEAR OLD.

Cephas Porter, Leverett,

$2

$6

WilUam W. Smith, Amherst,

1

4

CATTLE FOR THE .STALL.

Moses Stebbins, Deerfield,

$5

$8

Moses Stebbins, Deerfield,

4

6

Nelson Smith, Granby,

3

4

MILCH cows.

Augustus Clark, Granby,

$6

$5

William W. Dickinson, Amherst,

6

2

William P. Dickinson, Hadley,

4

Bela V. Dickinson, Amherst,

3

$3

Augustus Clark, Granby,

i

20

TRANSACTIONS,

nEIFERS, nVO YEARS OLD.

Spencer Church, Amherst, S3

Thomas Eeed, Amherst, 2

HEIFERS, OXB YEAR QLD.

Christopher Paige, Prescott, $2

Wrs. Thomas Jones, Amherst, 1

CALVES.

Willard M. Kello.^g, Amlierst, $2

Luke Sweetser, Amhernt, 2

Luke Sweetser, Amherst, 2

BOAES.

Bansom Nutting, Levcrett, $4

O. Pdchardson, Granby, 3

SOWa AND PIGS.

Erainerd Smith, Sunderland, $1

Thomas Hastings, Amherst, 3

LITTERS OF PIGS.

CLiudius B. Hubbard, Sunderland, $3
Levi P. Warner, Sunderhmd, 2

RUCKS.

Cotton Smith. Amherst, ^2

Augustus Clark, Granby, 1

EWES.

Cotton Smith, Amherst, $2

Augustus Chirk, Granby, 1

POULTRY.

E. Porter Dickinson, Sunderland, $2
Levi P. Y\'arncr, Sunderland, 1,60
Claudius B. Hubbard, Sunderland, 1,
Elihu S. Church, Amherst, ,50.

WORKING OXEIV, FIVE YEARS OLD.

D. D. & J. Whittemore, Jr., Sunder-
land. $5
Edwin H. Judd, South Hadloy, 4
Wiliard M. Kellogg, Amherst, 3

WORKING OXEN, FOUR YEARS OLD.

Emory H. Needham, Amherst, $-i

Chester Gray, Hadley

PLOWING WITH OX TEAMS.

Ebenezer P. Dickinson,Sundciiand
David N. G. Nash, Granbv,
Plavel Gaylord, Amherst,'

PLOWING WITH HORSE TEAMS.

William Strong, Northampton,
Samuel C. Wilder, Hadley,
William W. Smith, Amherst,
Samuel L. Parsons, Northampton,
Elisha Strong, Northampton,

PLOWING WITH DOUBLE PLOWS.

Levi D. Cowles, Amherst, $3

Chester Cowles, Amherst, 2

WHEAT BREAD.

Mrs. H. Shepard, Northampton, $1,60
Mrs. Geo. H. Farrar, Amherst, 1,00
Mrs. Bela U. Dickinson, Amherst, ,50

RYE BREAD.

Mrs. Nath'l Smith, Sunderland, $1,50
Mrs. R. B. liobart, Leverett, 1,00
Mrs. Alanson Hubbard, Simderl'd, ,50

RYE AND INDIAN BREAD.

Mrs. Ansel A. llankin, Pelham, 1,00

Mrs. Peter Spaulding, Moutaguc, ,

WHEAT FLOUR.

Rufus Scott, Hadley, $1,

D.D. & J Whittemore, Jr., Sund'l'd, ,
W. P. Dickinson, Hadley, gr. bag
■wheal;.

RY"E FLOUR.

Alanson Hubbard, Sunderland, $1
Albert Montague, Sunderland,

RUTTER.

Mrs. L p. Wnrner, Sunderland, $4
Mrs. Guy C. Mun.^ell, Ainhcrst, 3
]\Irs. Erainerd Sraith, Sundt-rland, 3
Mrs. C. B. Hubbard, Sunderland, 2
Mrs. Nath'l Smitli, Sunderland, 2
Mrs. Simeon Clark, Amherst, 1
-Mrs. Harrison Ligram, Amherst, 1
Mrs. Cotton Smith, Amherst,

CHEESE.

Mrs. S. S. Dickinson, Amherst, $2
IMrs. Ansel A. Kankin, Pelham, 2
Mrs. Jona. Cowles, Jr., Amherst, 1
Mrs liarrison O. Field, Leverett, 1
Mrs. Orrin Payne. ]\lontague,

TIAPLE SUGAR.

Peter Spaulding, Montague. $1
Claudius E. Hubbard, Sunderland,
Albert Montague, Sunderland, ,

HONEY.

David S. Cowles, Hadley, $1

Ransom Dickinson, Sunderland.

STALLIONS.

Nelson Haskins, New Salem,
Abraham S. Howe, Shutesbury,

FARM HORSES.

D. J. Bartlett, Springfield,
Joseph P. Gray, Amherst,
Asahel Gates, Amherst,

DRAFT HORSES.

William Thayer, Belcherto^A n,
Enos F. Cook, Amherst,

MARES WITH COLTS.

Guy C. Munsell, Amherst,
Theodore G. Huntington, Hadley,
William J. Patrick, Granby,

THREE YEARS OLD COLTS.

Sylvester Lincoln, Greenwich,
Harrison Field, Leverett,

TWO YEARS OLD COLTS.

George W. Hamilton, Conway,
Alvan Stebbins, Deerfield

YEARLING COLTS.

Abraham S. Howe, Shutesbury,

D0:MESTIC MANUFACTURES.

Mrs. p. Smith, South Hadlej-,
Mrs. Z. M. Lyman, do.
Mrs. Rodney Ayres, Gianby,
Ayres & Aldrich, do. '

Mrs. E Clark, Sunderland,
Mrs. N. A. Smith, do.
Mrs. O. Paine, Montague,

50

,00
,50

,80

,50
,00
,iO
,00
,50

,00

,e0

.50
,00
,50
,(■0
,60

,00

50

00

ANNUAL EXHIBITION.

21

Mrs. R. Gootlell, Amherst, $2,00

Mrs. E. Kellogg', do. 1,00

Miss N. Cowies, do. 1,00

Mrs. A. Eastman, do. 1,00

Mrs. W. F. Gunn, do. 1,00

JMrs.W.M. Ivello.2;g, do. 1,00

Mrs. Gilraorc, Belchcrtown, 1,00

Mrs. P. Hobart, Leverett, 1,00

Mrs. A. Hubbard, Sundeiand, 1,00

Mrs. S. Brown, do. ,75

Mrs. J. Bartlett, Belchertown, ,75
Mrs. Z. M. Lyman, South Hadley, ,7.5

Mrs. C. J. Covvles, Amherst, ,75

Miss A. J. S Dickinson, do. ,75

Miss M. E. W. Dickinson, do. ,75

Miss S. Hobart, do. ,7o

jMrs. Eastman, do. ,50

Mrs. Grover, Sunderland, ,50

T. S. Munsell, dp. ,50

FANCY ARTICLES.

Miss E. R. Nims, Amherst, $1,75

]Miss Mary Warner, dd. 1,50
iliss E. A. Graves, Sunderland, 1,26

Miss C. A. Pierce, Amherst, 1.00
Mrs. H. M. Smith, South Hadley, 1.00

Mrs. Burnett, Belchertown, ,95

E. D. Field, Su):derland, ,75
Miss Sophia Dickinson, Amherst, ,75

Mrs. E. Hitchcock, ' do. ,75
E. G. Shiimway, do. • ,75

Miss J. M. Ball', do. ,50

Mrs. E. A. Cummings, do. ,50

Mrs. J. Dickinson, do. ,50

Miss L. Dickinson, do. ,50

Sliss E. A. Hobart, do. ,50

Miss J. Hobart, do. ,50

Miss M. R. Nims, do. ,50

Miss A. M AVood, do. ,60

Miss S. B. Fitts, Leverett, ,50

INIrs. L. Adams, Hadley, ,40
Miss N. A. Hawley, Northampton, ,40

E. N. Ayres, Granby, ,30

Miss E. Montague, do. ,30
Mrs. T. G. Huntington, Hadley, ,30
Mrs. J. R. Warner, Sunderland, ,30

Miss J. Haven, Amherst, ,30

Miss 8. A. Lumell, Amherst, ,30

Miss T. S. Lianell, do. ,30

Miss Marietta Cowles, do. ,25

Miss M. J. Green, do. ,25

Miss C. Howland, do. ,25

Miss M. Leland, do. ,25

Miss S. Ball, do. ,25

Miss F. J. Emerson, do. ,25

Miss S. Ferry, do. ,25

Charles Sweetser, do. ,25

Mrs. N. A. Smith, Sunderland, ,25

Mis. C. Smith, Hadley, ,25

APPLES.

Ashur Shepard, Northampton, 2,00

Austin Eastman, Amlierst, 1,75

Edward Dickinson, Amherst,
Rufus Scott, Hadley,
Avery D. Hubbard, Sunderland,
N. A. Smith, do.

William W. Smith, Amherst,
Luciiis Bolt^vood, do.

Christopher Paige, Prescott,

QUINCES.

Edward S. Field, Amherst,
Pliineas Warner, do.

William Boltwcod, do.
William W. Smith, do.

PEACHES.

A. Paine, Montague,

GRAPES.

Ransom Dickinson, Sunderland,
John Dickinson, Amherst,
Charles Adams, do.

TOMATO FIGS.

Mrs. C. D. Dickinson, Hadley,

VEGETABLES AND .GRAINS.

John M. Smith, Sunderland,
Levi P. Warner, do.
Silas Ball, Leverett,
Austin Loomis, Amherst,
Rufus Scott, Hadley,
iloses Stebbins, Deerfield,
Leyi D. Cowles, Amherst,
D. L. Bangs, Amherst,
William Boltwood, do.
George H. Farrar, do.
Marquis F. Dickinson, do.
David S. Cowles, Hadley,
Calvin D. Eaton, Pelham,
Ransom Dickinson, Sunderland,
Horace Henderson, do.
Austin Eastman, Amherst,
Edmund Hastings, do.
Harrison Ingram, do.
Cephas Hyde, Belchertown,
Christopher Paige, Prescott,

MECHANIC ARTS.

G. H. Browai, Granby,
Cataract Engine Co., Amherst,
L. G. Rice, Montague,
J. Packard & Co., Belchertown,
Field & Strickland, Amherst,
Lovett & Dickinson, do.
C. W. Hannum, Chester,
Oliver Williams, Sunderland,
II. 0. Williams, do.
David S. Cook, Amherst,
Walter Fuller, do.

Warren S. Howland, do.
Hubbard Lawrence, Hadley,
Samuel C. Wilder, do.
H. L. Watts, South Hadley,
J. M. Crafts, Whately,
George Dickinson, Hadley,
L. Fish, Sunderland,
Joseph Colton, New York,

Sh50
1,25
1,00
,7o
,50
,50
,50

,75

,50
,25
,25

,50

,75
,75
,50

,50

^3,75
1,25
1,00
,75
,75
,50
,50
,30
,25
,25
,25
,25
,25
,25
,20
,20
,20
,15
,15
,15

^3,00

3,00

2,00

1,25

1,00

1,00

,75

,60

,50

,50

,50

,50

,50

,60

,50

,25

,25

,20

,20

22 * TEANSACTI0N9.

PROCESSION, ADDRESS, AND DINNER.

The procession, on Thursday, at half-past eleven o'clock in the
forenoon, was formed by Acting Chief Marshal, Horace Lyman of
Sunderland, The South Hadley Band, the best of all our local
bands, considering the style of music and the number of pieces, did
escort duty. The procession marched through the principal streets,
to the First Congregational Church. The assembly was greater than
ever before gathered in Amherst, to hear an Agricultural address.
Rev. Edwaed S. Dwighx of Amherst opened the exercises with
prayer. The Band discoursed excellent music. Rev. W. Clift of
Stonington, Ct., delivered a well-'svritten address, abounding in good
points, which was received with great favor. After music by the
band, the procession again formed, and marched to the Amherst
House.

The Dinner was Avell attended by ladies and gentlemen. The
President officiated at the table. The chairmen of the several Com-
mittees announced the premiums. The Secretary stated, that, dur-
ing the past year, the Funds of the Society had increased from $3200
to $3500, and that the number of Life Members had increased from
734 to 800. The sixty-six new members are from Amherst, Belcher-
town, Granby, Hadley, Leverett, Montague, Northampton, Prescott,
Sunderland, Ware and Williamsburgh. Speeches were made by
Hon. Edwaed Dickinson ; Major Joseph Colton of New York ;
Samuel Nash of Hadley ; Hon. John W. Proctor of Danvers ;
Rev. W. Clifx of Stonington, Ct. ; Prof. John A. Nash ; Rev.
Mr. BuEFiNCH of Dorchester ; and Hon. Joseph Smith of Hadley.

On motion of Samuel Nash, seconded by Major Josejih Colton, the
following resolution was unanimously adopted :

Resolved, as the sense of this society, that its prosperity and use-
fulness would be promoted by a larger and more convenient Hale,
in which to exhibit the various articles, entered at these annual
fairs.

ADDRESS

ON THE

ECONOMY OF SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE.

BY REV. W. CLIFT.

Mr. President, and Gentlemeit :

Conducting your farm operations, in the communities that clus-
ter around this seat of learning, and gathering here annually for the
display of the products of your industry, assembled on this hill of
science as a society of cultivators, the place and the occasion shall
furnish the theme of our thoughts. For long ages, the farm and the
college have been too widely separated. The farm has sent its most
precious products hither, its noblest sons, but no reciprocal influence
ever went back from the college to the old homestead. The treasures
of science gathered here, enriched not the soil there. It w^as only as
the sons took a final leave of the farm, as a home and a means of
subsistence, that they sought the generous culture and the thorough
discipline of the schools of science. The light gathered here illumed
other professions and callings. At the homestead they learned noth-
ing new of the soil or of its products. The streams, that flowed out
hence, made glad every other spot, but the farm. Science gave the
artizan, not only new methods of working, but new materials to work
with. He now reaches results, in a day, that once could not be
reached, in years. The home of the artizan, the merchant, and the
professional man looks tasteful and thriving ; while the old home-
stead every where shows signs of decay. There, on the farm, where
economy most concerns every individual, it has been most lost sight
of, and we are met here to-day, Avith the strange fact, that there has

24 T H A ^^ S A C T I O N s .

been less of improvement in agriculture, than in any otlicr field of
human labor.

There is need, then, that the college should be on somewhat better
terms with the farm ; that it should make some honest returns to the
soil, for the noble sons, which it has stolen away, diverted to other
callings, that it should teach the husbandman, as well as the artizan,
how to make the most of the materials, on which he relies for sub-
sistence.

In calling your attention to The Economy of Scientific Agricul-
ture, it is hardly necessary to remark, that the science of this art is
yet in 'its infancy, if, indeed, it can be said to be born. Very few
cultivators are able to give a reason for the faith that is in them, and
the most enlightened of the calling are generally most cautious, in
assigning the causes of the facts that come to light in their art. Yet
there are certain principles, of great practical Talue, so far establish-
ed, as to be safe guides, that ought to be every where disseminated.
The tiller of the soil should know, so far as he can, the causes of
those beautiful processes in nature, on wliich, success in his art de-
pends.

It has been often asked, " what is the use of educating a boy, who
is to till the soil ? He is going to be nothing but a farmer." And
the question shows, both a low estimate of the occupation, and of the
qualifications for it. " Can he lift a bigger stone, or lay a smoother
furrow, or drive a team, any the better, for his learning: " Though
it be somewhat heretical, I venture the opinion, that an educated
farmer can do the most common farnr v.-ork, all the better, for his
education. It is mind, enlightened by science, and disciplined by
the study of the schools, that has given us all the improvements, in
the implements of husbandry, and in the methods of culture, that we
now enjoy.

"What is meant, then, by a scientific farmer ? I do not mean
simply a book-worm, who has gone through the routine of college
studies. The discipline of college is desirable, if a man would make
the most of himself, in any calling, and were I shaping my own
course for this occupation, I would not forego this discipline, if it
were within my reach. B^t this is not necessary, that science may
bring its blessings to every farm.
/ Nor is a scientific fiirmer necessarily a man of wealth and intelli-
gence, retired from profescional life, or some other calling, to amuse
himself in rural occupations. There arc such men, wise in other
U

A D D II E S S . 25

things, but sciolists in the cultivation of the earth, who spend a hun- "]
dred dolhirs to get a crop worth fifty from the soiL They are gen- ,
erally the hvughing-stock of all common sense farmers, in their
neighborhood, and are thought to be a standing refutation of the
utility of book farming. But this argument is not fair. Agriculture ,
is not their business, but their amusement ; and they do not conduct
their o])crations, at all, -with reference to profit. No farmer under-
stands the science of his business, until he sees his way clear, to get
back every dollar of capital, that he expends upon his soil, with a /
large increase. He is a man, who understands both the science, and
the practical details of every operation, uix)n the farm. He can tell
you not only why a thing should be done, in a given way, and how
to do it, but he can do it himself. He is a sceptic as to the wisdom
of his grandfather, and believes, that even all agricultural knowledge
did not die, with his father. He is 9 man who knows something
about his business, and looks for ncv/ revelations in the future.

The man of science upon the farm, in the first place, knows same-
thing of the composition of his soils. These are the materials, on
which, he is to display his skill, and out of which, he is to rear his
harvests. There is a great difference in these, and without a proper
knowledge of their ingredients, he cannot tell how to grow a crop to
good advantage. It is all a matter of experiment, whether or not,
he have a remunerative harvest. "Witho-ut this knowledge, too, he is
unable to tell, what amendments his soils require, even when the
chemist has made an analysis of them. A farmer who does not un-
derstand this, is as poorly fitted for his business, as the smith would
be, who did not comprehend the different qualities of metals, or the
carpenter who could not tell the difference between white oak and
Avhite pine. The mechanic who should give you a pine plow-beam,
or a chestnut axe-helve, would be called a bungler, or a knave.
And yet his case would bo parallel, with that of the farmer, who
attempts a grain-crop, on a field that has lost itspotash, or its phos-
phoric acid. The folly, in either case, is transparent. You have the
form and semblance of strength, in the pine plow-beam, but no
toughness, or durability. You have the stalks and the heads of the
wheat, or the rye, but nog rain. ]3oth are shams, because bunglers-
have made them. In the case of the grain crop, the blame is thrown
upon nature, and it is declared that the wheat blasted. The poor
man does not suspect himself, of a vain endeavor,to rival the Almighty
— to make something out of nothing — and vet, that is practically the

4

2^ TRAXSACTIOICS

policy of the farmer, who would grow a crop, without knowing
whether the elements of that crop are in his soil.

He should also, understand the science of manures. He must
know their different qualities, and what it is in a given manure, that
gives it its chief value. This alone will enable him, to prepare his
compost-heap, so as to supply the wants of his soil, and his crops, to
the best advantage. There are store-houses of manures, or rather
divisors of manure ; on almost every farm, and the educated farmer
Avill know how to make the best use of the muck swamp, the leaf
deposits of the forest, the clay, or the sand bank, the lime rock, or
the deposit of marl. When the requisites of his crops are not to be
found, on his own premises, he will know how to supply the defi-
ciency from abroad, at the least expense.

He must also be acquainted with the laws of reproduction, both
among plants and animals. Without this, he will not feel the im-
portance of procuring the best stock, or the best seeds for his farm,
or how to perpetuate these, when he has once obtained them. The
importance of this department of agricultural knowledge, is not suffi-
ciently understood. Other things being equal, the whole question
of profit or loss, may depend upon the quality of the seeds, and the
animals, Avith which a farm is stocked.

Another item, in the education of the farmer, is a knowledge of the
markets, he has to supply. If he has only a distant markefi, he
would naturally turn his attention to the grains, or to beef and pork
—that beef keeps longer, and bears transportation better, than vege-
tables. If he has a home market, other articles can be grown^o
better advantage. Some farms, on account of their location, can be
worked, very profitably, for raising root crops, and vegetables, that
would pay small profits, for raising grain alone. It is quite as nec-
essary to market his crops well, as it is to have good crops.

And to these items, a tact for neatness and good order, in his hus-
bandry, and the farmer is intellectually furnished for his work. Good
taste is as essential in his, as in any other calling ; and his success
in his business, quite as much depends upon it." The man, who can
always make sales in the market, a little higher than any body else,
is the man, who brings his articles in a little the neatest and clean-
liest style. This catches the eye, takes captive the olfactories, and
tickles the palate. The market man cannot resist him, for his works
praise him. The man, with these qualifications, is a scientific farmer.
He may not be educated in any thing else. He may not understand

A n D R I. S S

the points In law, or the live points in theology, or the mysteries of
medicine. He may be a know-nothing in politics, unable to tell who
will be the next Governor, but he does know how to till the earth,
and is educated in his business.

Such a knowledge of the science of his business is economical to
the farmer himself, and to all the social, and religious interests of the
community. Give all our farmers these qualifications, and not only
are they greatly elevated, and benefited, as a class, but every other
interest, in society is profited.

I come to speak, then, upon the economy of this scientific agricul-
ture, to the farmers as a class. Some here to-day, possibly, do not
find'farming a very profitable business. Some, perhaps, hardly make
the ends of the year meet, and others do not save more than two or
three hundred dollars, annually, by their hard toil.

This knowledge of the principles of his business, which is within
the reach of every cultivator, would help you, in the matter of dol-
lars and cents. It would lead you to economize in the quantity of
soil you cultivate. You now spread your labor, and your manure,
over too much surface. The average produce of corn, per acre, in
the state, is not^over forty bushels. The experiments of educated
farmers, in this and other states, have demonstrated, that a hundred
bushels' or more, can be raised, upon the same acre. Premiums upon
this crop, in almost all your counties, have been awarded, varying
from ninety, to one hundred and forty-five bushels, to the acre. It
takes more labor, and more manure, but a bushel of corn is produced
at least twenty-five per cent, cheaper, by thorough culture, than by
the common process. So of all other crops. They can be grown
much cheaper on a little land, than on a greater surface. The man
of science would see this truth, and act upon it. Almost every farmer
could sell half of his land, and get rich faster on the remaining half.
He would also economize, by a thorough mechanical preparation
of the soil. Most men own a second farm, beneath their present
surface, which has never been disturbed by the plow. Indeed, the
shallow surface-plowing, has only served to harden, and consolidate
the subsoil. There are more or less of the elements of crops in this
subsoil, originally, and some of the salts of the manures, with which
the surface has been dressed for ages, have found their way down
into this unknown region. The roots of plants cannot penetrate
thither, to get hold of this aliment, and it remains worthless, like

28 T R A X S A C T I 0 X S .

undiscovered gold in tlie mine. There is more wealth of this kind,
in the subsoil of our farms, than in all the mines of California.

The educated fanner v.ill put his subsoil plow into this mine of
wealth, and give the roots of plants a chance to draw up its treasures
and wave them, in the golden harvests. And the result of this me-
chanical disturbing of the soil, will not onlj' give new pasture ground
for the roots of plants, but v.ill put the soil itself in a better condition
to faster vegetation. The soil is loosened, and the air tirculates
freeh% to the depth to which it has been disturbed. The air circu-
lates there, charged with more or less of moistui-e, and moisture is
also drawn up, by capillary attraction, from the earth beneath; so
that the evils of summer' drought are, in a great measure, guarded
against. So, also, the excessive rains of spring, and the summer
showers, do not flood tlie crops, and destroy them. A more abun-
dant harvest is secured, and larger returns to the farmer's pocket.
The scientific cultivator will increase the depth of his acres, just as
he reduces their breadth, and grows rich by the operation.

He will economise in manures. He will make more of them, and
of much better quality. The most valuable, and volatile part of
them, that have been hitherto stolen away, by the sun, and the rain,
will be retained, in his compost heap, by the free use of plaster of
Paris, burnt clay, charcoal dust, or other carbonaceous matters. The
muck and peat swamps, those rich mines of the farm, will be laid
under contribution, to furnish the stables, the pens, and the yards,
Avith suitable retainers of the gases, and salts of the animal excretia.
There is no more wholesale waste, about our farming, than in the
manure heap. Almost every one might double this, in quantity,
without at all reducing its quality ; while many might increase it
ten fold. No farmer should be satisfied, or feel that he is cultivating
his lands to the best advantage, until he makes his fifty half cords of
manure, for every horse, cow or ox upon his farm. This is done by
some who cultivate the soil, and could be done to good advantage,
by every farmer, who has the necessary divisors upon his own prem-
ises. This would, in due time, furnish every acre of the fiirm, with
abuudant food for crops, and would be continually enriching the
land, while it snriched the owner. Now many a farmer spends less
than a fortnight in the preparation of manures, and his only manu-
factory is an open yard, giving free play to the sun, winds, and rain,
and, perhaps, having a drain upon the lower side, to conduct its
washings into the street, or the neighboring pond. With such a

A 1) D K E S S .

29

system, it is no wonder tliat the farmer complains of hard times, and
that the starved soil gives a starveling living, to its stupid cultivator.
Science, also, will enable him to economize in stocking his farm.
It is the opinion of our best stock-farmers, that twenty-five per cent,
can be added to the amount of milk, obtained from any given num-
ber of cows, simply by selection. The average yield of cows, in
New England, through the entire year, is estimated at four quarts a
day. A good selection, then, without a change of keep, or increase
of care, will add three hundred and sixty-five quarts of milk to the
annual yield ; and ten dollars and ninety-five cents to the income of
each cow, every penny of which, is profit. Some farmers keep fifty
or sixty cows, and they would make a clear gain of five or six hun-
dred dollars, per annum, over present profits, at the outlay of only a
little judgment, if they only knew how to judge.

If the ordiuary farmer gets his one hundred and fifty pounds of
butter, from each cow, the educated farmer will get his two hundred.
If there be a clear profit to the one, of two hundred dollars, from this
branch of his business, there Avill be a clear profit of three hundred,
to the other. This is equally true of every kind of stock, kept upon
the farm, from that noblest of quadrupeds, the horse, to the most
despised of bipeds, the more-plague-than-profit dunghill fowl. The
farmer Avho knows how to select the best stock, and to reproduce
them, in their perfection, will make each and all, large profitable.
It costs but little more to raise a thorough-bred colt, than one, whose
pedigree is as obscure as that of a Hottentot. The spirited, well-
grown, and well- trained animal is worth a small fortune, in the mar-
ket. The spiritless, awkward, ill-formed beast is dull of sale, at the
purchaser's own price. Every creature of God will pay its way, just
as it is well-cared for. And the same is true of all vegetation, that
flourishes upon the farm or in the garden. Quite as much depends
upon the selection of seeds, as upon the mode of cultivation, and the
philosophy of the fact is obvious. It is with seeds, as with animals; some
have a great deal more vital force in them, than others, of the same vari-
ety. Put a good seed into the same soil, with one that is weak in con-
stitutional energy, and the former will more thoroughly appropriate the
aliment within its reach, will obtain a larger size and mature more
fruit, and that of a better quality. Feed the same quantity of grain
to an ox in sound health, and to one whose digestive organs are dis-
eased, and the one will lay on flesh and fat, while the other will
waste, or at least gain nothing. Seeds are subject to disease, and

30 T R A X S A C T I 0 X S .

are as liable to propagate their disease, as animals. The preserva-
tion of early, large, and perfect seeds is no less important, than that
of retaining the most thrifty, and best formed animals.

A gentleman, in Maryland, gathered the earliest and largest heads
of wheat, from a field, and sowed them, gathering the best and earli-
est of their produce, and sowing again, and continued the process,
three or four years. It now produces heads, that measure, with the
beard, ten inches in length, five inches, at least, being covered with
grain. This wheat is known by the name of Code wheat, taking the
name of the gentleman, who had, by his pains, increased the quan-
tity so much,

A gentleman in Essex county, went through with a similar process,
with onion seed, until seed of his raising readily sold for four dollars
a pound, while common seed was worth but fifty cents. The great
improvement in the crop, from his seed, justified the cultivator, in
paying this great price.

Many farmers are improving their corn crop, by the same method.
A careful selection of perfect ears, from the stalks producing two or
more ears, will improve the yield.

A gardener selected a single pod of six beans, from a lot of pole
beans, called the Scipios, which usually have but four and five beans
in a pod. The selected, true to the spirit of the age, produced not
only pods with six beans, but some with seven and eight. These
again were planted by themselves, and, this year, have produced pods
with nine beans, with good promise of further enlargement. There
is hardly a crop, grown on the farm, that cannot be greatly improved,
by intelligent husbandry. The educated farmer understands this,
and consults his own interest, in producing larger and better crops.
In this single item, one may save enough, to make all the difference
between a successful farmer, and one who fails in his business. Sci-
entific agriculture is the only true economy of farmers. If they will
secure this, they will secure their own fortunes.

We pass to consider its advantages to the community at large.
The diff"erent classes of society are mutually dependent. Every use-
ful occupation serves every member of society, directly, or indirectly.
The agriculturist serves all classes directly. All are more dependent
upon him, for the supply of their most pressing necessities, than upon
any other calling. Every one is, at once, the patron and the depend-
ant of the farmer. Whatever, then, afi"ects his interests, aff'ects the
whole community. Make him prosperous, and every other interest
prospers with him.

A 1) U It K S S . 31

But, to be more specific, scientific agriculture is economical to
society, Inj adding to its general intelligence. In the education, I
have pointed out, there is a kirge amount of intellectual training.
The tillers of the soil form a large majority of our population, and
from the vastness and fertility of our territory, they always must be a
majority. While we have free institutions, they must either rule the
country, or suffer it to be ruled, through their political leaders. Ele-
vate this class, by instructing them, in the science of their business,
and you have changed the ruling influence of the country. Almost
from the beginning of our government, farmers have been an immense
political machine, in the hands of a few men of intelligence, and
through this machine, the educated few have shaped the measures and
policy of the government. Any demagogue, that knew enough to
flatter their prejudices against wealth and aristocracy, and to call
them the bold yeomanry, the bone and sinew of the country, has been
enabled to crawl into power, and to use it for his own, rather than
for his country's good. Educate this class in their business, and the
reign of demagogues and political mountebanks will be over. The
man who comprehends the difference in the staple that covers sheep,
wall be able to discriminate between the wool and the cotton of pol-
iticians. The man who rests his agricultural creed upon his own
experience and knowledge, rather than that of his father, will not
leave his political faith in the keeping of Jonathan Buncome, Esq.,
M. C. for his district. The policy of our national administrations,
will no longer be a shuttlecock between free trade and protection,
A political economy for the farm, will be discovered, by clear-headed
men, and will shape, uniformly, political action at Washington. Ev-
ery interest of society is better cared for, and has more ample protec-
tion and patronage, from our government, than that of agriculture ;
and that, too, in the face of the fact, that farmers are the majority,,
own eighty-five per cent, of the property of the country, and contrib-
ute, directly, to the prosperity of all classes. Why do our ships of
commerce, and our navy, any more need a secretary to care for them,,
than our farms ? Why do our guns and fortifications need a govern-
ment officer, to stand sentinel over them, more than our rich harrests,
which are a thousand foldj,more exposed to plunder ? If the govern-
ment's gold needs a treasurer, to keep it, why should the wealth of
the soil — gold in another shape, and a thousand times more valuable,
— be left without a government guardian ? This anomalous state of
things, at our political metropolis, is beginning to awaken the atten-
tion of farmers, and must needs be reformed. .

82 T K A X S A C T I 0 N S .

And not only will education give this class increasing political in-
jluence, but their influence will be increasingly felt, in all social in-
terests. In any public improrenient, this class have always been the
last to be moved, the slowest to appreciate progress, in any thing,
and the most reluctant to change. The man who finds little use for
his mind, in the prosecution of his own business cannot be expected
to apprecicte the need of education for any other calling. If reading,
writing, and ciphering, are the whole catalogue of studies that he has
pursued, and these fit him for the use of the hoe and the plow, why
should the merchant, mechanic, or any other man need any thing
more ? "Why should we have schools, that give any higher intellect-
ual furnishing? This has been the farmer's reasoning, for many gen-
erations past, and such reasoners are not all gone yet. But many
have adopted more enligh/ened views, and begin to sec, that, a man's
brains are worth more than his hands, even in the cultivation of the
soil, and will make the work of every hand, and every tool, upon the
farm, more available. The man, who sees this for his own calling,
will take liberal views of every other public interest. He will not
grudge the extra dollar that is put upon the new school-house, will
not despise the new seats, that have taken the place of the old oak
planks, and the coat of paint that has eclipsed the wood color of the
old clapboards. He has lij.',ht enough to mourn over the defects of
his own education, and willingly furnishes the means of instruction
to the rising generation.

But there is a direct -pecuniary benefit to .society in scientific agri-
culture. It would bring cheaper food, and of much better quality, to
every man's door. In the absence of famine, \ye forget that famine
would now exist were it not for the improvement already affected by
the application of science to agriculture. It is this alone which has
enabled England to double her population, within a century. It is
this alone, which enables us to keep so much of our population upon
the sea-board, and which can keep it, against the strong competition
of the liew lands of the west.

What science has done for British agriculture, it can do for ours.
There is no magic in great crops, and no miracles wrought in God's
rain and sunshine. " He sendeth his rain upon the just, and upon
the unjust." The man, that knows how to make his acres produce-
maximum crops, will get them, and he only. Providence will help
those, who learn how to help themselves. There is a wide difference
between good and bad husbandry, visible to all, M'ho look at it.

ADDRESS. 33

There is a still greater difference between that which now prevails,
and that which is attainable by all.

It is speaking far within bounds, to say, that the present agricul-
tural population of Hampshire county, is capable of producing, from
the same farms now cultivated, twice the amount of meat, and bread-
stuffs, now grown here. Many a farm, under improved husbandry,
has increased its productions three and four fold. But, suppose the
products of this county are only doubled by this process. The result
is a gain to every member of the community, who consumes these
products. The butter, cheese, beef, pork, and lard, which enter into
the yearly bills of every family, would be furnished a little cheaper.
The vast quantities of flour and grain, which now come to you frcm
the West, might just as well be raised at your own doors, and be fur-
nished at a cheaper rate. All these articles are increasing in price,
from year to year, mainly because consumers increase faster than the
agricultural skill of our farmers. Farmers, here, have long since
ceased to supply eastern markets, and we have to import the deficien-
cy from abroad, and pay a profit to the shippers and merchants, who
stand between us and our producers. There is no remedy for this
high price of provisions, but in a more skilful cultivation of the earth.
This, then, clearly, would be a direct pecuniary advantage to all
classes in society.

But there is yet another view of this subject, which, legitimately,
belongs to the clerical profession for discussion. As you have hon-
ored this profession, as heretofore, in providing for your annual ad-
dress, you will allow me to say, that the success of the cause, we are
met to promote, is intimately connected with the religious prosperity
of the country. I regard it as in the line of professional duty, as
well as a personal gratification, to meet your call, and to advocate, au ,
interest, intimately connected with the welfare of the church, as well
as of the state. It is generally conceded, that religion lies at the
foundation of our social prosperity. The reaction of secular business
upon religion is too generally overlooked. Stagnation, in the former,
is incompatible with thrift, in the latter. A parish, where all earthly
interests droop, where the husbandman, the mechanic, and the man-
ufacturer, alike fail of success, is not likely to see piety increasing.
The man that is nerveless and disheartened, in the prosecution of
secular enterprises, will find it very difficult to be fervent in spirit,,
serving the Lord. In his straitened circumstances and poorly remu-

5

34

TBANSACXIONS.

nerated toils, how hardly shall " ho devise liberal things for Zion,"
whether at home or abroad.

There are parishes, in New England, once able and self-sustaining,
now so impoverished, by lack of skill and enterprise in business, that
they have lost the ability to support gospel institutions among them,
without foreign aid. Whatever may be the moral disposition of the
people, they lack the pecuniary me'ans, to pay a minister's salary.
That many, if not most of our rural parishes are waning, in numbers,
wealth and influence, is generally conceded, by intelligent men, with-
out any statistical knowledge of the fact. The most cursory observa-
tion shows it. The extent to which this decrease has gone on, would
probably surprise any one, Avho has not had his attention particularly
called to this subject. Even here, in the valley of the Connecticut,
where you have the finest soil in New England, there are traces of
this decay.

Taking the ten towns, lying around Amherst, and including in it,
the towns most largely represented in your society, and there has
been no important increase of population, for the last forty years,
except where manufactures and trade have drawn population from
abroad. Leverett only added nine to its population, from 1830 to
1850. Granby only added thirty-eight to its population, from 1820
to 1850, a period of thirty years. Sunderland only added seventy-
three to its population, from 1840 to 1850. Belchertown only in-
creased one hundred and twenty-six, during the same ten years,
Pelham lost two hundred and ninety-five inhabitants, from 1820 to
1850, and Shutesbury, one hundred and seventeen in the same period.
If in Amherst, Northampton, and South Hadley, there has been sub- "
stantial increase of wealth and population, it is owing mainly to other
• causes.*

It is believed that there is no exception to this state of things, in

* The following table -vvill show the changes in population, for the last forty
years, in these towns : —

1810. 1820. 1830. 1840. 1850.

Amherst, 1469 1917 2631 2550 3057

Belchertown, 2270 2426 2491 2554 2680

^™y' 850 1036 1(964 971 1104

V^dley 1247 1461 1686 1814 1986

Leverett, 769 857 939 875 948

Northampton 2631 2854 3613 3750 5278

J^eJham 1185 i278 904 956 983

bhutcsbury, 939 1029 986 987 912

South Hadley 902 1047 1185 1458 2495

bunderland, 551 597 ggg 719 792

Ai<i^iii-S5. 35

any agricultural parish, in the commonwealth. Towns in other parts
of the state, relying more exclusively upon agriculture, and having
poorer soil to till, would show a greater decrease of population.
There are many parishes, that have not the wealth, or population,
they had fifty years ago. While the churches, in your manufacturing
villages, have grown stronger, in most instances, the churches in the
rural parishes, those landmarks of the olden time, have wasted.

To every good man, these examples of unthrift and decline are sad
spectacles. They are contrary to the genius of Christianity, which
not only makes the wilderness bud and blossom as the rose, but keeps
the wilderness it has reclaimed, in perpetual luxuriance. The de-
cline of our agricultural parishes is too often regarded as hopeless.
Go into any of them, and converse with that class of farmers, who
take no agricultural paper, and while they concede the fact, that
their lands are less productive than formerly, they propose no rem-
edy. Is there no help r

Certainly, it ought not to be so. For the right use of every thing,
God has made, improves it ; while man's Avorks, only, wear out in
the using. Mind improves by use, and is broken down, only by
neglect or abuse. The soil is as much God's workmanship, as mind.
Use it rightly, and it will not onlj^ never wear out, but always im-
prove. There is no good reason why the soil should not every year
increase in riches and in its capacity to produce aliment for man and
beast.

The natural working of the soil, under the influence of light, heat,
and moisture, secures this result. The decay of vegetation, on wild
lands, every year, increases the mold and all those elements of fertil-
ity, which future generations of plants will require. It should be the
office of human tillage, to increase the action of these natural agen-
cies, and to hasten the process of amelioration. We should come to
this conclusion, upon general principles, were there no science to de-
monstrate its truth. The soil would be an exception, among all the
works of God, were it run down, by legitimate use. But agricul-
tural science shows us, beyond all cavil, that good tillage, while it
gives the amplest rewards, improves, most rapidly, the capacity of
the soil for future usefulness.

If these principles are correct, it is quite manifest, that far the
greater part of our husbandry is a flagrant abuse of one of God's
gifts. It is wearing out the soil, and dissipating the inheritance of
future generations, with reckless prodigality ; and it is not merely a

36 TKANSACTIONS.

physical evil, cursing the soil, but is playing the part of I'urk and
infidel, with our religious institutions. It is drawing away the life-
blood from our agricultural parishes, those strongholds of Puritan
faith and morals. It is only by keeping these parishes in vigorous,
healthful life; vigorous in all the elements of temporal prosperity,
that you can hand down the New England of to-day, and of the past,
to future generations. The seed-plot of that prolific stock, which
has so largely peopled the Union, and is now wielding the pick aad
the spade, so siiccessfuUy, on the placers of the Pacific, is the New
England farm. The work-shop, the counting-room, have not and
cannot nurse such vigor and enterprise into being.

The farm is the best nursery for every other avocation. Who fill
the positions of wealth and influence, in our centers of commerce ?
Who are our millionaires? Who stand unrivalled for eloquence, at
the bar, and for statesmanship and diplomacy, in the high places of
power ? Who fill the pulpits of our land, or with the self-denial of
primitive Christianity, preach Christ in lands, Avhither Paul and Bar-
nabas never ventured ? All these look to the farm, more than to
any other one spot, as their birth-place, and the school of their early
discipline. If the farm, then, is the fountain-head of that moral in-
fluence, which controls the land, and does so much to impress our
institutions upon other tribes and nations, how important is it, that
the best religious influences should surround the farm ; that our rural
population should have that moral and religious training, which will
fit them for their future positions. This is clearly impossible, in the
present condition of ma.ny of these parishes. In some of them, gos-
pel institutions have died out, and, in others, they have but a sickly
and starving existence. In none of them, is the pulpit and the
school-room doing what they might do, with ampler means and scope,
for their exercise. We can but feel, that they might accomplish far
more for the characters that are moulding under their influence, if
they had better opportunities to do their legitimate work. The pros-
perity and thrift, which an improved and intelligent husbandry would
give, would supply the most pressing necessity of these parishes.
They are so numerous, and form so large a share of our New Eng-
land population, that the question is one of public importance, and
demands the attention of every philanthropist and Christian. The
remedy is not mere preaching or moral appliances, of any kind.

The poor wise men, in our pulpits, though more largely the bene-
factors of the public, than any otherclass, will find an evil here, tha't

ADDKESS. 37

the ethics of no school in theology will directly meet. Were their
hearers

" all ear

And took in strains, that might create a soul
Under the ribs of deatli,"

they could not make of them flourishing congregations. The souls
are not there, to be converted. There is not capacity in the wretched
husbandry that prevails, to sustain them, and make them energet-
ic and thriving parishes, if they were converted. Religion corrects
the maladies of the heart. It does not promise, directly, to remedy
the defects of the mind, or to reform the bad results of a wrong men-
tal training. Piety will not give a man the results of experience and
business tact. It will not, directly, make a man a better farmer.
But, finding a farmer, or mechanic, intelligent in his business, it will
furnish him with new motives for its vigorous prosecution, and teach
him to make a wiser use of his accumulations. There is a physical,
rather than a moral cause, for many of these spiritual wastes, and
waning parishes, in New England, and there must be corresponding
appliances, to remedy the evil.

The one thing wanted, to renovate the soil, and to bring back
prosperity to these parishes, is scientific agriculture. This will make
husbandry as profitable as other callings, and will change it, from
dull plodding and drudgery, to a business of intelligence and taste.
The aspiring sons of our New England farmers, finding employment
for mind, as well as muscle, in husbandry, can easily be retained at
home, to improve and adorn this heritage of the pilgrims. This nur-
sery of n^on and women for our country, and for. the world, Avill be
enabled to send out, still, the men and women the world needs.

The first results of this science Avill be the dissipation of the thick
darkness, that broods over nearly all our farming communities. The
husbandman, instead of being a stereotyped fixture in society, as he
now is, will become a learner, like the men, who follow other pur-
suits. It may be said of this science, as was once said of higher
truth, " The light shincth in darkness, and the darkness comprehend-
eth it not." So far as the large majority of this portion of the com-
munity are concerned, such men as Stephens, Johnston, Jackson,
Norton, Teschmaker, Harris, and many others, write and talk to no
purpose. There is no communication between them and the agricul-
tural world, that so needs the truths they are bringing to light, and

38 TEANSACTIONS.

clearly illustrating. There are comparatively few, that receive the
benefit of their labors.

Not one farmer in five, takes an agricultural paper, and of the few
items, that reach him, in the single column of his religious, political,
or literary paper, he sees just enough to keep alive his inveterate
prejudices against book-farming. They are too brief to give him the
explanation of the results they record ; and the great crops and high
farming he reads of there, look to him like the stories of Sinbad, or
the fictitious entertainments of the Arabian Knights ! They will do
very well to read about, but he is not fool enough to base his prac-
tice upon them. He was graduated a finished farmer at his majority ;
and whatever he expects to learn in politics or religion, he looks for
no new ideas in the mode of husbandry !

Other men are learners in their callings. The lawyer, the physi-
cian, and the divine, all look for improvement in their professional
work ; and expect to be more learned advocates, more skilful prac-
titioners, and better-read theologians and preachers, at the age of
fifty than at thirty. The mechanic is wide awake to any new im-
provement in his art, and grasps with eagerness at every new idea,
that Avill save him capital or labor.

Science has revolutionized most of these callings, and added thirty,
sixty, or an hundred fold, to the products of capital and labor. But
improvement is far from being universally the order of the day among
farmers. There is, indeed, a change in some small circles, and we,
who feel its impulse, forget the wide expanse beyond, that is still a
breathless calm. County and State societies are formed ; and a few
public-spirited men, in them, are reaping the advantages of science ;
and are demonstrating to others, its utility and economy. But the
mass of the people are not yet reached. They are not learners in the
business of farming ; and have a fixed horror of improvement, ap-
proaching to obstinacy.

But let science be once introduced into these communities ; as now
taught by the best agricultural papers and lecturers, in England, and
in this country ; and this darkness must be gradually dissipated. It
will make of the present stereotyped farmer a learner. He will come
out in a new edition of manhood ; and open his eyes to the stolidity
and misery of the present method of skinning, rather than cultivat-
ing the soil. All needed improvement will follow the new position
of a learner, in the noble art of husbandry.

Science, with new light, will give a healthful excitement to these

ADDRESS. 89

communities, which are the most stagnant and hopeless, in the land.
If there is too much mental excitement and prrsaure, in the city,
there is too little, in the rural community, where the population feel
that Nature has no secrets, and they have nothing to learn, in their
daily pursuits. The mind demands excitement of some kind ; and,
if it cannot have that which is healthful, it Avill break over virtuous
restraint, in pursuit of illicit gratifications. The young, especially,
demand it ; and if it is not to be found, within the quiet precincts of
the old parish, they will rush for high life, in the city ; for wild life,
on the borders of civilization, at tlic West, or for gold life, on the
placers of California.

A farming community, without the news, or the science of its daily
business, is necessarily stagnant. It furnishes employment enough
for the hands, but leaves the mind empty. Discouragement, discon-
tent, vicious desires, rush in to fill the vacuum. The farmer over-
tasks his physical strength ; and sees, after all his toil, little improve-
ment in his farm, little in his stock, and still less in his fortune. He
gains little beyond the annual support of his family ; and often falls
behind, and is harrassed with debt. He grows discouraged and un-
happy, and changes his business, or emigrates to some new region.

A community, made up of men who are not thriving in their busi-
ness, is not in a condition to help forward enterprises for the public
good ; or to be very much profited by the ministrations of the sanc-
tuary. Every pastor, of much experience, knows, that the most
hopeless of all communities, is that, where worldly enterprise in stag-
nant, and men's minds are filled with business perplexities.

But let science enter every farmer's dwelling, in the old parish,
and it quickens the popular mind. Every body has a new idea, — a
new crop to be cultivated, or a new method for growing an old one.
Neighbors have now something to talk about, besides gossip, scandal,
law-suits, and politics. Every man tries his experiment, and has his
success, or failure, to relate. His success makes him an instructor.
His failure makes him a learner. A new spirit is abroad, in the
community ; and brighter skies hang over the old parish, than ever
cheered its inhabitants before. In such a state, a people are far
more easily moulded, to any good purpose, than they could be in a
state of stagnation and despondency.

Scientific agriculture will greatly elevate the standard of mental
culture, in these parishes. It may seem invidious, to make any com-
parison between the rural population and that of cities and villages.

40 TEANSACTIONS.

But any one, who has an acquaintance with both classes, and feels
equally at home in either, has marked a diflerence. There is a much
better acquaintance with men and books, in the latter, than in the
former. The country has been drained of its most enterprising and
intelligent population, to fill up the city.

As sure as we send our sons to the academy, and give them a
taste of science, or of the classics,, they arfe oif to college, or away to
the city. No sooner are our fair daughters returned frorn the semi-
nary, than the young doctor, lawyer, or merchant, from the city,
drops in, and the daughters drop out — of our society. The good
pastor is called to give his blessing, and his farewell, to the most
gifted and intelligent portion of his flock, every year. These new
alliances with the city give it additional attractions over the country,
and make the tide, which sets thither, continually stronger. Not
every parish can endure this continued drain upon its vitality and
intelligence, without feeling the loss. Every one 'must see, that a
city population, thus formed, has a great advantage over that of the
country, which parts with its most cultivated, and only keeps those
who lack the enterprise to get away.

Now, the influences, that are bearing upon the respective classes,
are calculated to widen the difference in intellectual culture. The
regular morning paper, with its intelligence from all parts of the
world ; the evening lecture from the most accomjDlished scholars in
the land ; the close competition in business ; the strife for profes-
sional success, which are' the constant mental stimulus of the citizen,
are altogether unknown to the rustic, who has but his weekly j^aper,
or, what is very common in our farm-houses, no paper at all.

When science is recognized as an indispensable ally to good hus-
bandry, the very business of the farmer will become a powerful stim-
ulus to mental culture. He will no longer look upon his labor as
purely mechanical, but he will be continually studying the philosophy
of large crops, by the most economical methods. An acquaintance
with many of the natural sciences will be found essential to the most
profitable husbandry ; and Avhen it is once seen and felt, that the
farmer, who best knows how to till the soil, succeeds the best, and
makes the most m.oney, all will be anxious to know how, and no
ordinary obstacle will prevent them from learning. Farmers' sons
will have a better education, to begin their business with, and the
prosecution of their business will enrich their minds with knowledge,
as it does their acres with the elements of fertility. They will study

ADDRESS

41

chemistry and geology, in the compost-heap, and in the adaptation of
manures to their various soils. They will study botany, in the grow-
ing of their crops ; and entomology, in destroying the various insect
depredators that rob them of the fruits of their toil.

There is no calling whose necessities demand a wider range of
knowledge, and more reseaich, than that of the husbandman. Agri-
cultural science, as it penetrates these communities, will make these
necessities felt, and mental culture will go on with the culture of the
soil. The population of the old parish will become as intelligent as
the best informed circles of the city, and will no longer send off the
best of its youth, because there is no field for their enterprise at
home.

Agricultural science, too, will make farming lucrative, and thus
benefit the fortunes of our rural parishes. Husbandry is now poorly
rewarded, because, and only because, it is not understood. When
the farmer is drilled in the principles of his business, as thoroughly
as the professional man, or the mechanic, he will succeed as well.
This is already done in a multitude of cases. There are farmers iu
our own land, who clear their thousands of dollars, by the cultivation
of their farms. Now what shall hinder other farmers, from doing
likewise ? Others have as good capacities, as those, who succeed so
well. Let agricultural science shed its light upon the old parish, and
the value of its acres will be at once enhanced. Its productiveness
will soon be doubled, and prosperity will take up its abode in every
dwelling.

Agricultural science, as it gives to our rural population, increasing
intelligence and wealth, will cultivate their taste for the heautiful in
nature and art ; and benefit the old parish by making it attractive.
The heau ideal of life, can never be realized in a city, or even in a
village. The beautiful in nature, such as greeted the eyes of the first
human pair, can find no congenial place there. There is not room
enough for the grand old trees, on which time ever sheds a holier
light ; for the gardens, the orchards, the walks, the fountains, the
shrubbery, and all the glad green things, in which a cultivated taste
loves to embower its home. These things are only to be realized in
the country. Nature has done much for the hills and valleys of New
England. There may be here a perfection of physical adornment and
moral culture, that can never be realized on the prairies.

There are indeed tasteful homes in the country, but they are mostly
confined to the suburbs of cities and villages. They have been reared

42

TRANSACTIONS

by men who have gained their fortunes and formed their tastes under
other influences than those of husbandry. A farm cottage, in New
England, built by one who has been a farmer from his youth, and
adorned with the appliances of taste, is even now a rare object. Few-
men, in these communities, have the means to gratify a taste for rural
ornament, if it existed. They are obliged to study the strictest econ-
omy, in every thing, and have acquired a fixed habit of despising
ornament. A man, who has a family to support, taxes to pay, and
old age to provide for, is thought to be in poor business when he
spends time and money merely to make his walls, fences, grounds,
and buildings, look better. Many a house still stands, innocent of
paint, though there is economy, as well as beauty, in it ; unprotected
by a single shade-tree, though there is health, as well as ornament,
in its shade and foliage. The roadsides, in these communities, are
rarely adorned with trees. The population have been too busy to
think of them ; or perhaps have feared the encroachment of their
roots upon the adjoining fields. Even gardens for fruits and vege-
tables are sadly neglected, though they are so essential to health.

Agricultural science will also have a tendency to condense popula-
tion upon a given territory, and thus to afford greater facilities for
the mental, moral, and. re/igious cultivation of the people. If the
teachings of science are at all reliable, the present productiveness of
the soil is no measure of its capacities to yield sustenance to man and
beast. It is not extravagant to suppose that scientific husbandry
would double the population of the old parish; and, at the same
time, increase the wealth of individuals

This is not mere conjecture, for improved husbandry has actually
realized the density of population Ave have supposed. The kingdom
of Belgium maintains a population three or four times more dense
than that of New England ; not because her soil is naturally richer,
but because it is better cultivated. Scientific agriculture has made
large portions of that country a garden. This density of population,
with our thrift and civil and religious institutions, would give a per-
fection of human society, that has never yet been realized.

We have seen, in the discussion, that agricultural science will dis-
sipate the darkness and ignorance, that now prevails in our rural dis-
tricts, upon the subject of husbandry ; that it will give a healthful
excitement to communities now stagnant and monotonous ; and prove
in itself a means of intellectual culture, and by other means, will
stimulate that culture ; that it will make husbandry lucrative and

ADDRESS. 43

tasteful, and therefore attractive ; and thus make the population of
rural districts more dense, and afford increasing facilities for their
mental and religious improvement.

If this is the tendency of agricultural science, I suhmit the ques-
tion, if it does not afford the desired remedy for our waning rural
parishes. And if there is a remedy here, entirely practicable, in its
application, it becomes a matter of vital interest to the Christian and
philanthropist to know the best means of disseminating this science.
It is a question of life and death with many of these parishes.

Whatever may be said of the various appliances that have been
suggested in this connexion, Farm Schools, State Institutions, Boards
of Agriculture, Public Lectures, Agricultural Societies and Journals,
the process of making good farmers, must, after all, be much like
that of making good Christians. It depends quite as much upon
example as upon precept. Show me any process that will establish
two or three scientific ftirmers in each of the towns of New England,
and I will show you a process that will renovate our whole system of
farming. The principles of this science are already taught in some
of our colleges, but so far as I am able to learn, there has been no
very large attendance upon the lectures given in this department.
And here I would venture to suggest, gentlemen, that county socie-
ties, like yours, could hardly make their influence more beneficially
felt, than by encouraging a larger attendance upon these lectures. If
you could send up annually to these instructions a few young farmers
from each of the towns represented here, the happy results would
soon be seen on all your broad acres. The great difficulty is, to
get the few disciples of improved husbandry well taught, and then to
distribute them through the land. They are to be found, already, in
a few towns and districts, in sufficient numbers to work the needed
reform in their several spheres of influence. There is a surplus of
them around some favored cities and villages, where agricultural
journals and fairs and good markets abound. Oh for some mighty
persecution to arise, that would scatter them among Medes and Par-
thians, Elamites and Macedonians, so that every dweller upon our
hillsides, and in our valleys, might hear, in his own tongue, and not
far from his own fireside, the truths of Scientific Husbandry. Such
a scattering of the truth would make converts to improved agricul-
ture, more rapidly than any other process. But we are to look for
no Pentecost, in our reformation, and must be content to make the
best use of the means we now have, and secure better as soon as we

44 ., TKAKSACTIONS.

can command them. The farmers, who understand their business
best, have usually selected their location with reference to a market ;
well knowing that this is a consideration of prime importance in their
calling. We cannot look to them to forsake their own private enter-
prises, and become apostles of the mysteries of which they are the
stewards, — at least, not until there is a better demand for their
labors.

These model farmers of our suburban districts, are generally men
of intelligence, and have studied the theory, as v/ell as pursued the
practice of their art. They have been the patrons of agricultural
journals, not so much because they needed patronage, as that they
felt the need of their recorded experience and instruction. Enter
their sitting-rooms, if they do not chance to have libraries, and you
"will find there, upon the book-shelf or the center-table, some half
dozen agricultural papers, and Liebig, Johnston, Norton, and Down-
ing, as well thumbed authors. They are, to a man, those who read
and think, who work with their brain, as well as with their hands.
They are men who have done with the lore of their grandfathers, and
are willing to learn. Where they see a well-attested improvement,
in their art, they are ready to try it. They are frequenters and pat-
rons of agricultural fairs — prominent among the contributors of stock,
fruit, and vegetables. The process, that has made these men good
farmers, will make every farmer excel in his business. Mere instruc-
tion has not given them their knowledge, but instruction and practice
together. A perfect farmer must be, in a great measure, self-taught.
It is by testing the principles, laid down in the books, that he Avill
arrive at the best system of ireatment for his ov/n soil and climate.

I reckon, then, as among the best helps to an agricultural educa-
tion, the agricultural journals of the day. The last five years has
seen a great advance, both in their number and in their quality. As
the repositories of the recorded experience of our best farmers, they
are invaluable to every tiller of the soil. The local journal, devoted
to his art, should especially be carefully studied, for it is adapted to
his own soil and climate. No farmer can afford to do without these
papers. They are as indispensable to his success as the manures he
puts upon his soil, or the tools with which he works it. They are
the best investment of capital a farmer can make. If well read and
digested, the investment will pay better than any of his crops. They
are now published so cheap, and the mails bring them to one's door
so conveniently^ that no farmer has an apology for not reading them.

A D D K E S 3,

45

Fairs, like this we have witnessed on this occasion, are also a help
to the education of the husbandman. Not a man has come up hither,
but will carry hence some new idea that will affect his next year's
husbandry. Why should he not grow as fine stock and as fine fruit
as any that has been shown at this festival ? Has he not the same
soil, the same rain and sunshine ? If the knowing how is the only
thing lacking, will not any live Yankee stir himself to gain the secret
of large crops, of fine stock and fine fruits ? One of the great advan-
tages of these fairs is, that they show us what our neighbors have
been doing. There is too little intercourse among farmers, and these
occasions bring them together, not merely for holiday purposes, but
to learn something new in their art.

Gentlemen of the Hampshire County Agricultural Society : I am
happy to have met you on this occasion, and to have had this oppor-
tunity to plead a cause of common interest, to your calling and to
mine. I have endeavored to point out the conner ion between scien-
tific agriculture and your pecuniary success — the welfare of society
and the prosperity of religion. Your cause is iden'tified with the
best interests of the state. A noble field of toil is open before you.
Go on in your work, until your influence is felt in every town and on
every farm, in the field of your toil ; until improved husbandry is the
motto of every farmer within your borders, and every waning parish
shall regain its lost wealth and influence. Let these homes of your
fathers — these nurseries of the' Puritan stockr— go down to your chil-
dren, adorned with the thrift and beauty of high cultivation. Let
each October, as it comes in the passing years, tinging the forests
with purple, gold, and crimson, find its own glorious hues rivalled in
the luscious fruits that crown your exhibitions. Let " the sere and
yellow leaf" of your own life find you amid these noble toils, and
your gathering to your fathers be within the dear old parish, and
tinder the shadow of the sanctuary your labors have resc-ued from
ruin and handed down to the future.

ESSAY

ON COMPOST MANURES.

BY L . W E T H E E E L L .

Of all the numerous topic; that concern the tillers of the soil —
those who have entered into partnership with Nature, in order to
multiply and increase the products of the earth upon which man and
his various domestic animals are to subsist — there is none, perhaps,
that more intimately relates to their ^^I'osperity, and ultimate success,
as farmers and gardeners, than that which the Executive Committee
of the Hampshire Agricultural Society projjosed in their last annual
Show-Bill for an essay, to wit, " Compost Manures."

Homer, who lived many hundred years before the Christian Era,
mentions an old king who was found manuring his fields with his
own hands. Whether this circumstance gave application of the word,
manure, from manus, signifying the hand, does not belong to the
essayist to determine, neither is it of any consequence in the present
discussion, because every farmer as well understands the meaning of
the word as now popularly used by writers and speakers, as he would,
were the question of its etymological derivation settled beyond a
query, by the most learned English or German philologist.

Compost, in agriculture, is a mixture or composition of various
manurial substances for fertilizing land. Compost Jlanure may,
therefore, consist, as it often does, of s mixture of vegetable and ani-
mal substances with lime or other earthy matter, substances, or com-
pounds.

Before proceeding to the discussion of the subject under consider-
ation, it may be well to review, briefly, its past history, in order that
all who feel interested, may be able to mark the progress, made
through a long series of ages.

COMPOST il A NITRES. 47

"VVe read concerning Adam, tlie progenitor of the human race, that
after he was created, even before his lovely and loving consort was
provided for him, that the Lord God planted a garden in Eden and
there put He man whom He had created, for to dress and to keep it
— thus implying, that a life of innocence, even, was not a life of indo-
lence, nor idleness, but a life of activity. Eden's garden was to
Adam a place of pleasure and delight, and yielded at first, no doubt,
spontaneously, the cereals and fruits upon which man subsisted.
This early account of the first man would seem clearly to demonstrate
that his first employment was horticulture, a vocation, than which,
none, even now, can be found more consonant with man's purity and
innocence. What place, even now, in man's degeneracy, does he
find more exquisite pleasure and delight than in a well-dressed and
well-kept garden of beautiful flowers and delicious fruits .' In order,
therefore to enjoy this paradisiacal delight and pleasure, designed for
man by his Creator, it is necessary that he should know how, not
only, to dress and keep the " planted garden," but how, also, to re-
store and replenish its exhausted condition, caused by a successive
cropping of fruits and grains and pulse. No virgin soil, however
richly stored with the elements of plants, can long be annually crop-
ped without becoming sterile and unproductive. Hence, it is fair to
infer, that to dress and to keep the first garden, signified more than
spading or ploughing, and cropping. As man multiplied upon, and
replenished the earth, he would come to see, as the process of soil
exhaustion was going on from year to year, as he observed the dimi-
nution of his harvest from season to season, that some mode of re-fer-
tilization must be resorted to, or else he must frequently emigrate,
and thus carry forward the sure work of impoverishing desolation,
until every fruitful field should be converted into a desert waste.

Man, being both an observing and reflecting creature, would, most
certainly, come to a knowledge of manurial specifics, such as would,
if rightly applied, restore and even improve the original state of his
garden or farm. Thus from history may this process be demonstrated.
But in the course of time when the maximum of improvement in cul-
tivating the soil should be attained, as in Egypt, the work of emigra-
tion would be as sure to go on, as under the exhaustive and minimum
process.

Very little can be found concerning the modes of cultivating and
fertilizing the field and garden until the dawn of Grecian history. It
is said of Anjeas that he was first among the Greeks to discover the

48 TRANSACTIONS.

use of manure. If so, it was probably subsequent to the time when
he stipulated with Hercules to clean out his stable in one day, though
it had not been done for 30 years, notwithstanding he is reputed to
have kept 3000 oxen, and promised, if he would do so, to give him
one-tenth of his cattle. This, Hercules is said to have done, not,
however, after the way of modern times, but by turning the river Al-
pheus, through the stable, which immediately carried away the dung
and filth. The condition of many a modern farmer's stable would re-
mind one of the Augean stable. So let it be cleansed, as by water,
so that none of the excrementatious matter, whether solid or liquid,
shall be lost, but all so saved that it rnay be used to fertilize his gard-
ens and fields whence comes his daily bread.

Zenophon, who lived about 450 years B. C. recommends the use of
earth that has long been under water, as a fertilizer of the soil — so
that the use of peat and mud from swamps and ponds, is no new dis-
covery ; he, also, recommended the growing of, and the ploughing in,
of green leguminous crops as a manure, remarking that they " enrich
the soil as much as dung."

Virgil, who lived about 70 years B. C. wrote concerning the ad-
vantages to be gained by a rotation in crops — recommended nitrum,
not saltpetre, as many translate, but the carbonate of soda, or of jjot-
ash, mixed with the dregs of oil as a preparation for swelling seed-
grain before planting — suggesting the advantage of scattering ashes
over exhausted soils, thus indicating no slight knowledge of the meth-
ods of artificial fertilization then known — speaking not only of ordi-
nary manure, but of special manures, such as pumice, stone, shells,
&c. Pliny, who wrote about 100 years later, says, "There are many
kinds of manure and the thing itself is very ancient." Varro, one of
the most learned men of Rome, who lived about 100 years B. C. was
so minute in his enumeration of animal manures, as to mention the
dung of blackbirds, thrushes, and other birds kept in aviaries. Cato,
Theophrastus, and Columella, display a knowledge of compost ma-
nures that would be creditable to American farmers of the 1 8th cen-
tury— occasionally throwing out suggestions that would do credit to
a Massachusetts or New York farmer, even of the present day.

The Greeks and Romans very generally, at the commencement of
the christian era, associated the ideas of successful husbandry with the
careful accumulation of manures, and their liberal use. " They con-
sidered the application of manure, as one of the principal operations
of agriculture, and placed it next to ploughing. They were so sensi-

COMPOST MANUKES. 49

ble of the advantages arising from the manuring of their fields, that
they Avere very careful in finding out and collecting all such things as
were found proper for the purpose. They carefully gathered the dung
of their cattle — littered them with straw or stubble which they mixed
with the droppings of the animals — collected all kinds of ashes — dif-
ferent kinds of earth — burned trees, shrubs and stubble in their fields
for the ashes — and frequently sowed pulse — not cereal grains — to
plough in as a green manure. " You may make manure," says Ca-
to, "of stubbles, lupines, bean-stalks, oak-leaves, straw and chaff".
From the wheat-field, pull oiit the dwarf elder, hemlock, the till
grass, and reeds in the willow plantations, and lay them below the
cows and sheep." Says Columella, " I am not ignorant that there
are some farms so stinted in the country, that neither the dung of
cattle nor birds can be got. lie is, however, a slothful husbandman,
that, even under such circumstances, has no manure. For he may
collect many kinds of leaves, the cuttings of briers and the rakings af
the highways ; he may cut ferns, which, though on the fields of his
neighbor, will rather be an advantage than injury to him, and mix
with the cleanings of the court-yard ; he may dig a hollow place
and throw into it ashes, the dirt of the kennels, and jakes, all kinds
of straw and everything that is swept froiH the house." Again he
says, " I think those husbandmen are not diligent, who, from each of
their lesser cattle in thirty days make not a load of dung, and from
each of their larger cattle ten loads — and as many mctfe from each of
the men who may collect what they make, not only, but that which
is produced daily by the court-yard and house."

Says Theophrastus, " Some advise to mix earths of different quali-
ties— for example, light with heavy and heavy with light — fat with
lean and lean with fat ; — and in like manner, red and white and
whatever has contrary qualities ; because this mixture supplies, not
only, what is wanting, but, also, renders the soil, Avith which another
is mixed, more powerful, so that what is worn out, being mixed with
a fertile kind of earth, begins again to carry crops as if renewed, and
what is naturally barren as clay, if mixed, is rendered fruitful ; — for
one kind mixed with another, serves in some measure in the place of
dung." " This suggested the idea of trenching, every fifth or sixth
year," says Theophrastus, "by digging as deep as the rains penetrate,
thus turning up the bottom mould by which the wheat-fields wcfe
renewed — and thus bringing up the virgin earth to take the place of
that which had been partially exhausted by cropping." Columella,
7

50 TRANSACTIONS.

also, mentions the practice of mixing earths of different qualities as
having been performed with great success by his uncle a learned,
skilful and industrious husbandman, who had thus enriched, both his
wheat fields and his vineyards.

The present age boasts loudly of its progress and improvement over
the past. HoAV much improvement and advancement have the farmers
of this 19th century made in the use of barnyard manure and the
ordinary modes of composting, over that In use by the Grecians and
Romans 2000 years ago ? The preparation of poudrette from night-
soil was known long ago to the Chinese. Ashes were used and pre-
ferred to barn-yard manure long since by the Britons, as. well as by
the Romans. In the early part of the middle ages, calcareous sand
was used by the English farmers as a manure. Even sea-sand was
employed as a fertilizer in the Counties of Devon and Cornwall, for
the improvement of their arable lauds. Carbonate of soda, or of
potash we have seen from the history of the past, has been used In
steeping seeds and as a fertilizer ; and several kinds of saline sub-
stances and preparations have long been used in Briton, both, for
preparing seeds, and as fertilizers. An agricultural writer 300 years
ago made a record, that some farmers believed coleworts, — a species
of cabbage, — grew best in salt ground, and, therefore, they employed
salt cis a manure — also, saltpetre and ashes. A writer near the close
of the 17th century, says, "Rains and dews, cold and dry winters,
with store of snow, I reckon equal to the richest manures, Impregnated
as they are, with celestial nitre ; and I firmly believe that were salt-
petre, I mean fictitious nitre, to be obtained In plenty, we should
need but little other composts to meliorate our grounds."

A compound of lime and common salt. It Is said, was recommended
more than two hundred years ago by Glauber, a distinguished German
chemist, in his hints on Agriculture, as most fit for dunging lands
and to be used instead of animal excrements ; and the same prepara-
tion was described and commended toward the close of the seventeenth
century by Christopher Packe, as the cheapest of all mixtures for the
enriching of poor and barren land.

Gypsum began to be used as a manure after the middle of the last
century ; — -so, also, did fish, since when, they have been extensively
employed. Guano, though universally used by the Peruvians as far
back as their history extends, was not commercially introduced into
England till 1840. So of crushed bones, and many of the artificial

COMPOST M A If U E E S . 51

specifics, used as manures, some of them being called composts, were
not known until a recent, period.

Having thus briefly sketched the history of the subject under con-
sideration, it is time to proceed directly to its discussion.

Manure is defined, by Dr. Lieber, the author of a German Lexicon,
to be "vegetable, animal and mineral matters, introduced into the
soil to accelerate vegetation, and increase the production of crops."
Loudon, in his work on Agriculture, says, " every species of matter,
capable of promoting the growth of vegetables, may be considered as
manure." Prof. Low, in his Elements of Agriculture, says, " all
substances, which, when mixed with the matter of the soil, tend to fer-
tilize it, are in common language, manures." Mr. Johnson, in his
Farmers' Encyclopedia, says, a manure may be defined to be any fer-
tilizing element, whether a compound, or simple ingredient, if added
to a soil of which it is naturally deficient. In these definitions. Prof.
Liebig and Dr. Dana, two modern writers on manurial specifics, agree.

Prof. Low classifies manures as follows: 1. Animal and Vegeta-
ble manures. 2. Mineral Manures. 3. Mixed Manures.

They are also classified into organic, inorganic, and mixed, — into
animal, vegetable, and mineral, — nitrogenous, carbonaceous, saline,
and earthy, — general and special, — natural and artificial, — simple and
compound, — massiv, powdery, and liquid, — diffused and concen-
trated,— volatile and fixed, — ephemeral and permanent, — chemical
and mechanical, — top-dressings, incorporated and buried manures, —
into such as contain the prepared food for plants, and such as resolve
themselves by decomposition into the food of plants, — such as partly
or wholly combine with ingredients in the soil, or the atmosphere, to
form the food of plants, — such as absorb aad store up their food from
the atmosphere, such as eliminate their food from the soil, such as
increase the absorption and nutrition of plants by stimulating or
strengthening their organism, — such as increase their absorption and
nutrition by improving the mechanical condition of the soil, and such
as increase the vigor and luxuriance of plants by diminishing, modi-
fying or destroying substances in the soil, which are injurious to
their growth. These classifications, though from the nature of the
subject, necessarily, very imperfect, serve, nevertheless, to aid the
inquirer in gaining a knowledge of it, as well as the farmer and gar-
dener in the practical work of preparing and furnishing plant nutri-
tion.

The art of rightly applying manures to different soils and for the

52 TRANSACTIONS.

promotion of the growth of different plants, as well as the neutral-
izing of noxious agencies, requires no small amount of careful observ-
ation, experience and skill. The herdsman that should feed his oxen
■with beans, — the shepherd tjiat should fodder his sheep with rye-
straw, — or the groom, that should feed his master's favorite horse on
swamp-hay and onions, would be laughed to scorn by every body but
the cockney. Yet worse blunders than these, are continually made
by such as are called farmers. It is just as important, that the
farmer and gardener should know how to feed their plants, as their
animals. It is no more certain of your Indian corn, if it be only half
fed, that you will gather only half a crop, than it is of your cow, if
treated thus, that she will yield only half a mess of milk. So of
your other crops and animals — they must all be fed with food pre-
cisely suited to their wants — such as is best adapted to promote
growth and maturity. It would seem, then, if the farmer only knew
how, he might prepare his ground here, for producing wheat or any
other grain or product, suited to our climate, and, be almost as sure
of a bountiful harvest, as of a seed time.

The combinations of matter that enter into the organization of
plants, are almost infinite, though the original elements are few.
Chemistry has discovered less than sixty elements in the material
world, called simple substances, so named, because incapable of
reduction. Of these, only four enter in any considerable degree into
the formation of plants, viz.. Carbon, which forms from forty to fifty
per cent, by weight of plants cultivated for food ; — Oxygen, forming
nearly one-half of the crust of the globe, twenty-one per cent, of the
atmosphere, eight of every nine pounds of water, and nearly one-half
of the living organisms of plants and animals ; — Hydrogen, the light-
est of known substances, constituting one-ninth part of the weight of
water, and entering but slightly into the composition of animal and
vegetable bodies — and Nitrogen, constituting seventy-nine per
cent, of the bulk of the atmosphere, constitutes a part of most animal
and vegetable substances. Plants, then, being composed chiefly of
carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, must be fed with these in
due proportion, in order to produce a vigorous growth and an abun-
dant harvest in return for the labor, skill and care of the husband-
man. The carbon is derived from carbonic acid, the oxygen, from
the atmosphere, hydrogen, from the decomposition of water, and nitro-
gen, from ammonia, absorbed by water and received by the plants
through their rootlets. Earthy particles and salts are always present

COMPOST MXXUUES. 53

in plants. In composting manures, the aim of him who engages in
it, is, or should be, to provide food for plants by furnishing them with
carbon and ammonia, materials found in great abundance in the de-
composition of both vegetable and animal matter.

The food of man and his domestic animals depends, chiefly, both
as to quantity, and quality, upon his skill and industry, as manifested
in his cooperation with Nature in the production of such vegetables
as are needed for growth and nutrition in the animal kingdom, such
as are either immediately, or mediately dependent thereon.

It is a law of Nature, that the higher the grade of the animal and
the more complicated its organism, the greater the necessity of a cor-
responding degree of food. Man is the noblest creature that God
has made on the earth, and, consequently, has the most complicated
and highly wrought organization of animated nature. Hov,% or upon
what shall man subsist ? What does the best economy of his system
require ? A critical chemical analysis of his body, fed and nourished
under the direction of knowledge reflected upon the subject by the
light of physiology, will show its composition, and, therefore, demon-
strate what elements the soil needs to produce bodily nutrition.
Those elements will be found most important, as fertilizers of the
soil, that enter most largely into the growth and maintenance of the
human body. Man, in his present state, is both a herbivorous and
carnivorous animal, being composed organically of all those elements
that enter into the various organisms upon which he has subsisted,
and still subsists.

The manures most common, are animal, green crops, peat, muck,
mud, poudrette, bones, guano, fish and animals, refuse of factories, —
wool, soot, ashes, lime, marl, phosphate, superphosphate, gypsum,
salt, and other specifics and compounds, too numerous to mention.

Composting consists of mixing the different manurial substances —
or, in other words, of converting the animal or stable manures into
compost, by mixing them with some or all of the following, to wit,
loam, peat, muck, pond-mud, cleanings of drains, wash of roads,
leached ashes, using sandy loam, or marly clay, according to the
nature of the soil where the compost is to be used. Into your com-
post heap, throw weeds before the seeds form, straw, litter, animal
excretions, night-soil, the urine of the stables and all elsewhere that
can be saved, the wash from sink-drain, the suds of a washing-day,
and every thing else whose decomposition and fermentation furnishes

54 TRANSACTIONS.

fertilizers for the soil, and which would otherwise render your prem-
ises filthy and stenchy.

Every farmer has ever-producing resources of some or all of these
manurial substances, which he cannot well afford to lose, and which,
if saved and composted, will enable him to make several cords more
of manure than hitherto, every year, which will readily sell, if he has
no land upon which he wishes to use it. Besides, he will keep his
premises clean and free from offensive smells, indicative of bad econ-
omy not only, but of a very criminal disregard for health and comfort.
There are many who call themselves farmers, that would consider them-
selves Avronged if any one should question their claim to this noble
title, — who claim to be great economists, yet have never learned the
distinction between economy on the one hand, and stinginess and
parsimoniousness on the other, having no claim to the former, yet
possessing the latter in full exercise in all that pertains (o the mental
improvement of their families — that suffer filth and nastiness of every
kind to accumulate about the " back door" and yard, being horribly
offensive — with a drain, perhaps, from both hogsty and barnyard,
pouring the liquid manure into the highway — a nuisance to every
passer by.

The following directions for making compost manure are taken
from SprengeFs late work on Manures. The right was patented in
Germany :

*' First take a layer of twenty inches in thickness of straw dung, or
straw, dry leaves, weeds, potato stems, turf, muck, or marl. This is
to be wet with dung-water, or common water, and covered with
night-soil, poultry dung, street sweepings, pulverized bones, offal,
kitchen slops, &c.

Next one-fourth of an inch of coal, or, wood ashes.

Then three inches of good earth mould or marl.

Then eighteen inches of horse, sheep, or cattle dung — wetting it
again with urine or common water, then cover with a layer of pond
mud, ditch scrapings, mould, muck, or marl.

Next one-fourth of an inch of coal, or wood ashes ; and then a
second course of straw dung, ashes, mould or marl, horse, sheep, or
cattle dung, with a final covering of mud, muck, or marl. From two
to three weeks in summer, and from four to six weeks in winter, are
required for the fermentation. If in any part of the mass the heat be
too great, it should again be covered with loam or mud, and wet with
water. _ If any part does not ferment, holes are made, that the air

COMPOSTMANUUES. 55

may reach these parts. When the mass is properly fermented, and
the substances decomposed, it should be Avell wet with water, work-
ed over, put up in heaps, from six to eight feet high, and covered
with rich loam to the thickness of ten or twelve inches. After stand-
ing a few days, it may be carried to the fields and harrowed in with
the grain, or ploughed in for other crops."

Farmers are not yet fully aware of the treasure they have in their
peat swamps. Dr. Dana of Lowell has done more, perhaps, than
any other scientific man to develop the value of these collections of
decayed vegetable matter. Experience and science have taught the
farmer how to use thcoC vegetable deposits of manurial substances.
To bring out the ammonia, the muck, whether peat or mud, must be
fermented, which may be effected, cither by the use of alkalies, or,
composting with fresh stable manures. Take from fifteen to twenty
bushels of ashes, or potash, ninety pounds, or soda, about sixty, to a
ton of peat. Such a compost will contain about the same amount of
ammonia as cow dung. Oncf of the best methods of preparing peat,
is, that of mixing it in the yard where cattle, sheep and hogs are
confined. It thus becomes impregnated Avith the urine of the ani-
mals, much of which would, otherwise, be lost, and this renders the
peat, as a fertilizer, equal to the solid excrements of these animals,
for, in addition to the urine, it absorbs the leachings of the solid
manures. Mr. Phinney of Lexington, says, that a load of green
dung Avill convert two loads of peat, if well mixed, and make them
equal in value, as a fertilizer, to itself, uncomposted, — i. e., one load
of green dung, mixed with two loads of peat, will make three loads
of compost, equal to three loads of green dung» It is said of a
farmer in Watertown, that he makes no use of liis green dung as a
fertilizer, though he keeps a large stock of cattle. He sells it, and
mixes the leached ashes, from his soap and candle factory, with peat,
in proportion to one part of such ashes, to three of peat, thus keep-
ing his farm in a high state of cultivation. He digs his peat in the
fall, and in the spring, mixes the ashes with it by shoveling it over
three or four times.

It is claimed by such as have experience, that peat should be taken
from the swamp in the month of August or September, and suffered
to lie through the winter, — and in the spring, it should be opened
and mixed as aforesaid, one part of green dung to two of peat, — or
of leached ashes, one to three ; — unslacked lime may be used to accel-
erate fermentation. Composted thus, it will be ready for use in the

56 teJlXSJlCtioxi.

fall. Peat or muck for the hogyard, or barnyard, should, also, be
taken from the swamp about six months before it is put into the
yards. Pond mud, though not so rich in humus as peat, or muck, is
a valuable fertilizer, its action being more immediate than that of
unfermented peat, owing to its greater proportion of salts and sili-
cates.

In the winter of 1839 and '40, Mr. Whalen of Saratoga Co.,N. Y.,
took from a pond on a creek, one thousand loads of pond muck and
put it on to a field of light sandy or gravelly soil, which had been
thoroughly exhausted by cropping, until it produced nothing but
sorrel and mullein. This muck was spread and ploughed in, and the
field planted to corn, which yielded fifty bushels to the acre. The
next winter, he took out seven hundred loads, and applied it to two
other fields with similar results. He has also taken muck from an
ash swamp with similar results. This mode of fertilization has caused
these worn-out fields to produce good crops of oats and grass, as well
as corn, where nothing scarcely grew before.

Every farmer should place swamp muck or peat, — and if he cannot
obtain these, loam will do, — under his stable floors, to save the
urine, most of which otherwise will be lost. Proper economy will
enable many farmers that think they are very saving, to make double
the mannre every year that they now do. If the old maxim, " Money
saved is as good as money earned,'" be true, then it is equally so.
Manure saved is as good as manure bought.

It was recently stated in an agricultural journal, that the United
States now import about two hundred thousand tons of guano annu-
ally, at an expense of $2,600,000, furnishing, probably, not more
than one farmer in a hundred thousand with this costly fertilizer.
To prevent this importation, as well as the necessity of the purchas-
ing of superphosphate and other expensive artificial fertilizers, it is
proposed that every family of four persons, shall, by the due exercise
of the virtue of cleanliness v/ithin doors and about the immediate
premises, make annually, or rather save what shall equal a ton of
guano. Thus might two hundred thousand families save by skill
and care, what now costs the country $2,600,000. Add to this- what
might be made by those who keep a cow, hog, and horse, Avith the
poultry-yard, and you would have what would equal another ton for
every family establishment. Thus might be saved, were this econ-
omy introduced throughout the United States, a quantity of manurial
substance, equal to two hundred thousand tons of guano, which, at

COMPOST MANURES. 57

f 58 -per ton, the price of guano, would equal $11,600,000,000 per
aunum.

Thus, it would seem, that, if every farmer and consumer of Earth s
products would save all, by taking heed that nothing which can be
used as a fertilizer of the tilled and cropped soil, be wasted, the ne-
cessit}^ of importing manures or purchasing superphosphate, would
soon be known, only, as connected Avith the history of bad economy.
The sources oi' foreign manures are by no means inexhaustible — and,
if resorted to, to any considerable extent, would soon be exhausted ;
besides, it is bad, exceedingly bad national policy to purchase of a
foreign government, what cai'e and attention might secure at home.
He who suffers his crops to waste away, and return to the earth and
air, whence they came, when ready to harvest, is not regarded, either,
as a good, or provident husbandman. Neither should he be, who
fails to save and compost and return to the field those elements nec-
essary to feed, nourish, and promote the luxuriant growth and matu-
rity of such plants as are cultivated and produced for the growth and
sustenance of both man and beast. May tliis subject be duly con-
sidered by all, who are engaged in farming and gardening.

Having thus presented the subject of manures, composting, &,c., it
is hoped that the farmers of the Hampshire Agricultural Society will
here find such facts and suggestions as shall serve to incite them to
the exercise of greater diligence, economy and skill in saving, com-
posting and applying specific manures. Manure is to plant-culture,
what food is to your stock. Be as eager, then, to save and provide
manure to feed your plants, as fodder and provender for your cattle
and hogs. It is no more essential to your thrift and prosperity as a
breeder of stock, that you should know how to feed your animals, so
as to promote their most rapid growth and maturity, than it is that
you should know how to cultivate and manure your land so as to
secure the greatest possible return in crops for the capital and labor
invested. In other words, it is as essential that you should know
how to feed your plants, as your animals. Neither will grow and
mature to perfection, unless rightly fed and nourished. Both the
quantity and quality of what the farmer and his domestic animals
subsist upon, from his tilled acres, will depend chiefly upon his skill
as a husbandman.

In order to compass the end that every good farmer should have
in view, to wit, to secure the greatest possible return for labor and
capital invested in farming, he should read and study carefully the

58 XBANSACTIONS.

test written treatises on agriculture — read the most intelligibly con-
ducted agrcultural journals, — converse with his neighbor farmers,
such as are actively engage! in improving their soils — such as produce
thei largest crops, the best cattle, the finest and fleetest horses, the
most profitable sheep, the most desirable breed of hogs, the choicest
varieties of the difi'erent species of poultry, &c. &c. ; — also concern-
ing the best and most economical methods of fi\rm management, in-
cluding the implements, so as to be able to select the best kind of
plough, seed-planter, cultiva,tor, mowing-machine, horse-rake, &c. ;
also, to learn the art of ploughing difi'erent soils, whether deep or
shallow — whether it is cheaper to i^se oxen or horses, as a team ; —
the mode of seeding with grain — when — and whether it be better to
sow grass seed in the fall or spring — how to save, mix, compost, and
multiply manures, so as to produce the greatest possible amount from
the materials employed — ascertain how to use them on the soil to the
best advantage ; — in the rotation of crops, learn whether it be better
to take two crops of corn in succession from the same field, than one,
how to employ all labor-saving machines, so called, in order to
cheapen labor by gaining, or saving time ; also, to learn something
every season by careful and intelligent experimenting and observa-
tion— so that his' growth in knowledge, experience and wisdom in his
noble vocation, shall more than keep pace with the progress and im-
provement, annually developed in the skilful management of his fatm.
Then will farming pay, not only, but will become, also, a source of
pleasure and delight, akin to that enjoyed in horticulture, before man
received the sentence, " In the sv/eat of thy brow shalt thou cat
bread." The hand, when guided by a well instructed mind and pure
taste, — all under the influence and promptings of a good heart, will
so beautify the farm acres, as to render every Farmer's Home a fit
dwelling-place for Nature's truest nobleman, the Farmer.

REPORT ON FARMS.

BY PROFESSOR J. A'. XASH.

The committee report that entries for premiums have been made
by Austin Smith and Sons, of Sunderland, and by Theophihis P.
Huntington, Wm. P. Dickinson, and Poyal W. Smith of Hadley.

The committee visited the farms of these gentlemen as directed by
the rules of the Society ; and Ave take pleasure in saying here, that
the hospitality with which we have been received, has been such as to
induce the hearty wish that we had as many premiums to award as
there have been entries made, so that none of our friends need go
unrewarded.

We find, however, that there are but two premiums, one of $20,
and the other of $10. The first of these we have awarded to Austin
Smith and Sons, of Sunderland, and we are confident that a discern-
ing public will find reasons for our so doing in the accompanying
statement of these gentlemen. So far we found plain sailing, and if
that cou^-se had brought us into harbor, we should have been glad,
but there were competitors from Hadley, all of whom exhibited good
farming, and so equally good that it was difficult to discriminate in
favor of either against the others. In the farm management of Mr.
Huntington and in that of Wm. P. Dickinson we saw much to com-
mend. These men have exhibited the right spirit, and, so far as we
can judge, the right practice with regard to the reclaiming of waste
lands. Our region of country would soon be more beautiful and
more productive, and, though now healthy, would be still more con-
ducive to health and long life, if all owners of lands would farm them

60 , TRAXSACTIOXS.

as \vcl]. Botli in the reclaiming of swamp land and in the cropping
of their lands generally, they have done well. Their practice proves
farming to be a paying business, more profitable than any other busi-
ness equally safe. Between them as compared with each other, and
■when both were b/ought into competition with Mr. R. W. Smith, the
question was one which it seemed almost impossible to decide.
Your committee, however, believed that Mr. Smith's farm manage-
ment was quite as good as theirs, and his statement v,'as somcv.-hat
full, conforming more nearly than theirs with the conditions on which
these premiums were offered, which two considerations taken together,
induced them to award the second premium to Royal W. Smith of
Hadlcy, unless Mr. Huntington, whose farming we much approve,
but v.hose statement was very deficient, will consent to make out a
new and more full statement, one that shall be satisfactory to the
Executive Committee, in which case we award the second premium
to him.

We do not understand that the rules of the Society require Io7ig
statements. It is, however, to be supposed that the man v.'ho takes
your premiums for good farm management, is a good farmer, that his
example is worth considering, at least, if not worthy in all respects of
imitation ; and if so, then it is incumbent on the competitor to make
such a statement as would enable other farmers to comprehend his
projceedings and to imitate them if they choose. We specially com-
mend that part of Mr. R. W. Smith's statement, which relates to the
composting of manure for his corn.

STATEMENT OF AUSTIN SMITH & SONS.

The Farm which we have entered for premium consists of sixty-
four acres, situated in Sunderland, twenty-six acres being contained
in the homestead, and thirty-eight acres in the two meadows in town.

The greater proportion of the soil is a sandy loam, the remainder
a clayey loam.

Fences are dispensed with, except on twenty acres of the home-
stead, the remainder being employed in cultivating, in rotation, the
various crops raised upon the farm.

During the present year, our farm has been cultivated, as follows :
twenty-four acres in grass ; fifteen in broomcorn ; thirteen in Indian
corn ; three in wheat ; four in rye ; two and one-half in oats, and
one half acre in potatoes.

It has been our aim to labor for the improvement of the farm,
rather, than the largest possible present crop. This we endeavor to

FAKMS, 61

do, by thorough cultivation, and a continual effort to increase the
amount of manure made on the premises. We have made and ap-
plied, the present season, five hundred and fifty loads of barnyard
and compost manure, of thirty bushels each ; and have, besides, pur-
chased and applied two hundred bushels of ashes, seven hundred
pounds of guano, ten bags of superphosphate of lime, and one ton of
gypsum ; from each of which we have observed very satisfactory
lesults, with the exception of the guano. The ashes and superphos-
phate of Jine were principally put in the hill, at time of planting;
the ashes, for corn — the lime, for broomcorn.

Our barnyard and compost manures, we apply at planting time,
harrowing in that which is well rotted, and plowing in the coarse.
The manure from the horse stables is thrown into the h^gyard, and,
with a frequent addition of muck or loam, a large qu.:ntity of excel-
lent manure is made. Our wdnter-made manure is applied almost
wholly in the spring ; our practice in this respect having undergone
an entire change within a few years.

We seed down to grass by four methods, according to circumstan-
ces. By hoeing in seed, at the last hoeing of Indian corn; by sowing
at time of sowing oats in the spring ; by harrowing in, where rye
was sowed the autumn previous : and by turning over the turf on
wet land, in August, and harrowiiig in a liberal coat of compost
manure.

Our team work is done principally with horses, some pieces of our
land being from one to two miles from home.

We have fattened twenty swine during the past year, making forty-
five cwt. of pork, feeding upon milk and slops from the house, pump-
kins, refuse apples, soft corn, «Se-c., and fattening upon meal, ground
from a mixture of three parts of broomseed and two of corn.

The crops raised on our farm, are consumed entirely at home, ex-
cept the broomcorn brush.

The amount of the products of the farm, for the present year, is
derived, considerably, from estimates made by a comparison with the
known produce of previous years.

Th3 price of produce we have endeavored to fix, at what it would
realize, if sold on the farm. The broom-brush having been sold, we
put accordingly.

We have included, in the item for labor, the estimated value of
our own and the expense of hired labor with the addition of board.
W^e have considered that nothing is lost in employing so much help,
as to have farm work thoroughly done, and the various crops culti-
vated and gathered at the proper season.

PK0T)UCTS OF THE FAKM.

715 bushels of corn, at $1, , . . . $715 00

12,000 pounds of broomcorn brush, at 9 cents, 1080 00

1050 bushels of broomcorn seed, at 40 cents, 420 OO

37 " wheat, $2 25, . . . 83 25

62

THANSACXIONS

90 bushels of rye, at $1 17,

95 " rye and oats, at 75 cents,

80 " potatoes, at 50 cents,

40 tons of hay, at SI 2,

30 " corn stover, at $G,
3 1-2 " wheat and oat straw, at $6,
3 " rye straw, at §5, .

50 bushels of apples, at 50 cents,

30 " " at 17 cents,

200 dozen eggs, at 17 cents,

20 loads of pumpkins, at Si,

550 loads of manure, at $1,

Improvement of Farm,

EXPENSES

Our own and hired labor.

Grass seed, .....

Seed corn, rye, wheat, &c., .

200 bu&hels of ashes, at 20 cents,

1 ton of gypsum.

Superphosphate of Lime,

Guano, .....

550 loads of manure, .

Interest on land, at $100 per acre.

Taxes on the same,

Net profit on 62 acres,
Do. on 1 acre,
Sunderland, Oct. 9, 1854.

105 30

71 25

40 00

480 00

180 00

21
15

00
00

25 00

5 10

34 00

20 00

555 00

100 00

-$3944 90

$869 00
1 00

10 00
40 00

11 00
45 00
20 00

550 00

384 00

25 60

-$1965 60

$1979 32
31 90

STATEMENT OF T. P. HUNTINGTON.

My farm, lying on the Connecticut river in Hadley, contains forty-
four acres, exclusive of a small wood lot on Mt. Warner, nearly two
miles distant. My homestead contains ten acres of the first quality
naturally, but this land gives much better returns Avith manure than
without. Sixteen acres, further back, are well adapted to grass, but
the greater part is rather low for corn. Of the remaining eighteen
acres, ten are occasionally tilled for rye — though made of no accouiit
in this statement — and eight have been left for a few years to Na-
ture, in part being covered with a beautiful growth of raluable trees.

In considering the improvement upon the farm, as required of
competitors in the Hampshire Society's list of premiums, I trust I
shall be excused, if, instead of including five years, I commence still
farther back, say fifteen years, when the buildings were all new, the

F AKM S. 63

ground comparatively bare of trees, and a consideraLlo debt was in-
curred.

iMymain object at tliat time, was to clear off the debt. The sliort-
est way to effect this was adopted, viz; selling -the produce, hay and
grain, keeping as little stock as possible, and giving my labor to oth-
ers, either in the way of day's works or by taking land to till on
shares, so that I could raise corn for market without furnishing ma-
nure.

The matter of the debt being disposed of in the course of eight or
ten years, some improvement being made at the same time about the
buildings, in the way of painting, fencing, and setting fruit and orna-
mental trees, a little land added, the farm stocked and farming imple-
ments purchased; 1 began to turn my attention to the improvement
of the farm, my object being not so much to make the land rich, as to
get the surface smooth and into a fit state for coviforiahle culture.
The result, except with the sandy land, is entirely satisfactory to my-
self, and I presume to flatter myself, that your committee would
acknowledge no small improvement, had they seen the ground eight
years ago. Others are ready to testify to the facts, though I say it
not boastingly.

In commencing this general improvement, my j^lan was to take a
portion yearly of the ten acres of sandy land, and a portion of the
sixteen acres of low ground, and so to manage by draining, ploughing,
manuring and seeding, as to not only make it pay in the way of crops,
but to improve the value and the appearance of the whole, in a series
of years.

Upon the sandy hill I prepared large heaps of muck from the low
ground, mixed with manure ; sometimes ploughing in this compost,
sometimes harrowing it in without any percej)tible difference in the
result ; sometimes planting Indian corn, sometimes broom, corn, and
some years Vt'hite beans ; each followed with rye and clover seed.
For want of sufficient manure made upon the farm to carry out the
experiment faithfully, I have been. obliged to rob other fields of their
portion of manure, or purchase it a mile distant. The crops I think
have not paid for the labor and manure ; the clover, if perchance it
germinates, rarely survives the first summer's sun and then gives
place to a luxuriant growth of sorrel, and the soil is as poor as M'hen
I commenced. Thus I consider my experiment with the sandy hill a
failure, so far as the permanent improvement of the soil is concerned,
and I must look to others for instruction in the matter, for with me
it has been, in more than one sense of the word, an tip hill business.
In the use of the low ground, as I have said, the result has been
satisfactory. I have made it a point to have the land before plough-
ing, thoroughly drained, making deep drains to cut off the springs,
and covering them, when the quaritity of water was not too great to
be carried off readily. These covered drains are made by laying two
large rails at the bottom of the ditch, one on each side, far enough
apart to allow a water course between them, and a third in the
middle, resting upon the two and keeping them apart. Another may

64 tra:nsactions,

be laid on each side and the whole covered first with a little straw,
then sods inverted, and the upper part filled with finer earth. In this
way I have made within- a fjw j^ears about seventy-live rods which do
well. After these, deep main drains were propi'rly made, all un-
necessary ditches were filled, and then the land was ready for the
plough. I ploughed, for corn, turf land in autumn, about seven
inches deep, and prepared at the same time — if possible — a pile of com-
pqst manure of thirty-one horse-cart loads for each acre, to be applied
in the Spring and harrowed in. The ground being planted with corn
and kept even, I have succeeded in getting good grass by sowing
seed among the corn and working it in in August. Sometimes I give
the land a second ploughing and seed down with oats.

In this way I have been over the sixteen acres, draining, planting,
and seeding. The last piece of rough, low, unproductive ground has
been made smooth and I trust will prove to be productive by a differ-
ent process, a plan recommended by Mr. Buckminster of the Massa-
chusetts Ploughman ; that of seeding immediately upon the inverted
sod, which cannot be too highly recomm.ended for low ground. As
your committee saw this ground, before and after the operation, it is
needless for me to enlarge upon it.

While I have been engaged in carrying out these principal objects,
I have been constantly experimenting on a small scale for my own
benefit ; but, if it Avill be proper here and of any use to others, I will
mention some, which, although they may not have been made with
that exactness which might be desirable, yet are satisfactory to me.
Some of the experiments have already been mentioned, and I may
add that my experiment in subsoiling — though cattle-show orators
may keep telling us to plough deep, that we have strata of farms (no
one knows how many) underneath those we now till — has not been
the most flattering. I have no doubt that subsoiling upland, the
present year, Avould have operated well; but, in ordinary seasons,
low lands deeply ploughed retain too much moisture, which retards
the ripening of the crop.

Ploughing in buckwheat or Indian corn to enrich sandy land, I am
satisfied is a long process. Salt to kill worms, and oyster-shell lime
to cut up moss and make corn grow, may answer in some locations,
but something else, or perhaps nothing is better. Guano harrowed
in for corn, has been dear manure to me. Many think there is econ-
omy in boiling sour apples for hogs, but sour meal and milk make
sweet pork fast enough.

1 have been in the habit of keeping a good supply of earth during
the summer months in the bottom of the barn-yard, stable, hog-pen,
privy, and sink hole, to absorb the valuable liquid and with the ma-
nure to be harrowed in for corn. The winter made manure is
ploughed in on corn-stalk or stubble land. I never mean to allow
the air to become impure about the buildings from the waste of fer-
tilizing matter, but have earth at hand to cover every foul spot; thus
having the comfort of a wholesome atmosphere, and at the same tim©
saving food for crops.

FARMS. 65

I have raised very little stock during the last five years, though I
have now five very promising yearlings of my own raising. Ths
main objection to raising stock in my vicinity being the want of good
pastures. The produce of the farm, besides supporting the family, is
principally fed to cows and hogs. The amount of butter made lasfe
year was seven hundred and twenty-five pounds. One yoke of oxen
fattened and twenty-four hundred pounds of pork. I usually employ
a boy seven months in the year — besides myself — or a man half that
time. As to farming implements, I mean to keep along with the
times as near as the circumstances of a small farm will seem to au-
thorize. Going a little further in this matter within the last ten
years, I succeeded at last in getting three acres of grass cut at the
Tery moderate sum of fifteen dollars — five dollars per acre.

I am not aware of much improvem.ent in the way of rail fences,,
unless it is in laying them up in snug piles or upon the barn beams
for scaffolding.

One framed building has been added to the place witthin the last
five years, and paint and paper to the amount of some $80. The
paint wpon the house being yet good, it received last week a (X)vering
of oil, merely to preserve the paint and thus the timber. This is
mentioned only as an item in the "■ economy of farm management,"
as the expense did not exceed five dollars, whereas a coat of paint
two years hence would have probably cost thirty.

Some sixty or more young fruit trees about the buildings, of ditfe: -^
ent kinds, merely for family use, constitute the orchard, except fifteen
or twenty older ones scattered upon the farm.

The income of the farm, or the produce of the present year at the
market prices, -with the expenses, will stand, I sup])osc, nearly as.
follows :

PRODUCTS.

Hay, estimated at 18 tons, at $12 50 per ton,
330 bushels of ears of Indian corn, at 50 cents,

4 tons of corn stover, at $5 per ton,
1200 pounds of husks, at 75 cents j>er cwt.,
Broombrush from 3 acres, estimated at 1 ton, at 1 Oc
150 bushels broom-seed from 3 acres, at 2s.,
3 acres of oats, estimated at 100 bushels, at 6,0c.,
Oat straw from 3 acres, estimated at 2 tons, at §5,
40 bushels good Carter potatoes, at 75 cents,
20 bushels small, " at 25 cents,

7 bushels early potatoes, at $1,

8 bushels peach-blow potatoes, at 50 cents,
15 bushels buckwheat, at $1,
Green peas, sold 10 bushels,

5 bushels of wheat, at $2,
Turnips, 30 bushels, at 2 shillings,
Rowen, pasturage, and fall feed, estimated at
10 barrels picked apples, at $1,

9

$225

00

165

o;)

20

00

9

00

, 200

00

50

00-

60

00

, 10

00

30

00

5

00

7

00

4

00

15

00

10

00

10

00

10

00

25

00

10

00

66 TEANSACTIONS.

12 barrels wind-falls, at 60 cents, .
20 bushels cider apples, at 10 cents,

EXPENSES.

Manure, including guano, $93, say one-half spent
this year, ......

Labor by self, 8 months, at $30, ...
Labor by son 12 years of ago, 6 months, at $10,
Use of horse, wagons,, and tools,

Profit, including interest and taxes, . . ^474 20

Hadley, Oct. 31, 1854.

7

20

2

00

$874

20

$46

50

240

00

60

00

55

50

$490

00

STATEMENT OF R. WALES SMITH.

The farm, which I enter for premium, is in Hadley and contains
eighty-five acres. It is divided as follows : thirty-nine acres of pas-
ture, twenty acres of mowing, ten acres of tillage, and sixteen acres
of woodland. I have, within five years last past, reclaimed twenty
acres, which were formerly overrun with bushes and stumps, which
cost me at the outset ten dollars an acre. This lot is now under a
high state of cultivation, and is worth fifty dollars per acre. This
improvement was accomplished, without any outlay of money, and
principally by my own labor. I have practiced deep plowing, usually
from seven to ten inches. Ten acres of the soil is a yellow loam un-
derlaid with hard gravel, and the remainder is a clay soil.

During nine or ten years past, 1 have composted manure, and find
it equal to yard manure, and better for corn. I usually make fifty
loads of compost. I draw twenty-five loads of muck to my corn-field
in the fall. About the first of April following, I draw out to this
muck -heap twenty loads of barnyard manure. I add five hundred
pounds of plaster and fifty bushels of oyster-shell lime. As soon as
the ii-ost is out of the ground, I mix these ingredients. When the
compost heap begins to warm, I pitch it over to prevent burning.
The manure will be well rotted and fermented and fit for use by the
time it is wanted for planting. I have never failed of a good corn
crop with this manure. I comjjost all my manure and usually make
from two hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty loads annually.

I till about fifty acres in nine years, breaking up five acres of sward
land each year. My system of rotation is, first a corn crop, then,
oats, and lastly, grass. I raise enough potatoes for my own use, and
very little rye.

My farm is usually stocked with twenty head of cattle in the win-
ter, of which about one-third are fattened and sold in the spring.

My hay and grain are fed out to cattle on the place ; but my dairy

FAEMS

67

products, annually sold in market, average not less than five hundred
pounds of cheese and two hundred and fifty pounds of butter.

During the present year, I have cultivated six acres in corn and
potatoes and four acres in oats, and mowed twenty acres. The labor
has been wholly performed by myself, except for sixteen days in the
hay season, when I hired a man to assist me.

PRODUCTS.

30 tons of hay, at $12 50, .

5 acres of grass, sold at §11 50.

250 bushels of corn, at $1,

150 " of oats, at 62 1-2 cents,

Pasturage of 13 horned cattle, 26 weeks, at 33 1

25 bushels of potatoes, at 50 cents,

20 " of apples, at 50 cents,

527 pounds of cheese, at 10 cents,

250 pounds of butter, at 20 cents,

10 tons of corn fodder, at $5,

2 tons of oat straw, at $5,

250 loads of compost manure,

EXPENDITUKES

My own labor, 225 days,

Hired man 10 days in haj'^-time,

Grass seed, • . . . .

Seed corn, 1 bushel.

Seed oats, 10 bushels, at 62 1-2 cents,

Seed potatoes, 2 bushels, at 50 cents,

1000 pounds of plaster,

75 bushels of oyster-shell lime,

250 loads of compost manure,

Interest on 69 acres tillage and mowing, at

Taxes, .......

Net profit, .
Hadley, Oct. 4, 1854.

$375 00
57 50

250 00
93 75
3c., 112 66
12 50
10 00
52 70
50 00
50 00
10 00

250 00

$225

00

LO

00

6

00

1

00

6

25

1

00

4

50

12

00

250

00

0, 207

00

27

00

U324 11

$759 75
$564 36

68

TEANSACXIOJfS.

IlEPORT ON KECLAIMED SWAMPS.

BY HOX. JOSEPH SMITH.

It is peculiarly fortunate, M-hen the performance of a particular
duty harmonizes with the tastes of those, who have to fulfil it. For
then the mind, instead of dragging the slow length of its ideas along,
moves witli alacrity, and imparts to others a jwrtion, at least, of the
satisfaction which itself enjoys.

Such is the happy position of the Committee. Merc swamps had
teen cold, wet and dreary, but that word, reclaimed, not merely
made our duty less irksome, but rendered it positively delightful.
The idea of reclaiming any thing, quickens the pulsation of every
generous heart, because it presupposes a downward career, and a ten-
dency to the region of hopelessness ; and to be instrumental in the
extrication of any thing spiritual, animal or vegetable from this dark
abode, this mournful fete, must aflbrd satisfaction to any one possess-
ed of right feeling. The sensation of rescuing from hopelessness and
restoring to utility, can be no other than a pleasing one. Is it noth-
ing to make the barren womb of earth to rejoice, by causing it to be
the fruitful mother of abundant produce r We have authority, which
it would be impious to question, that there is more joy in heaven
over one sinner, that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just per-
sons, that need no repentance. May we not reverentially adopt this
heaven-born sentiment, and, in the appropriation of it to our worldly
affinities, venture to feel that there is more joy, not only in making
two blades of grass grow where one grew before, but also in making
one grov,% where none grew before ; than there is in beholding the
vast, immeasurable extent of indigenous vegetation, however luxu-
riant, that clothes the western prairie ?

It is gratifying to observe the progress, made for some time past in
reclaiming waste and swamp lands. In the ten years, between 1840
and 1850, not less than two hundred and thirty-nine thousand nine
hundred and eighty-seven acres were reclaimed and made productive
throughout this State. The pasture land has been turned into mow-
ing and tillage, and the unimproved land, into pasturage or tillage.

The profit arising from reclaimed land, is said to be, on an average,
fifty per cent. ; in some cases, it is very large ; and lands so reclaim-

K E C L A I M K D S \V A M P S . 69

ed have become the best parts of the farms, yielding, in general, two
good crops of first quality hay in a season.

A writer from Hampshire county, who is quoted by the Secretary
of the State Board of Agriculture, in his first annual Report, gives
the following process of reclaiming poor, worthless swamp lands :

In the first place, says he, we drain them as dry as we can conve-
niently ; and, then, we cut the surface over as even as possible ; and
in some cases we plough and level it. Then we draw on sand or
gravel, at the rate of about a cart-load to a square rod of ground, and
then cart on fifteen or twenty loads of good manure to the acre, and
spread evenly over the ground, and then harrow it thoroughly. After
that, sow to herdsgrass, clover and red-top seed. The latter part of
A^gust is considered the best time for seeding, but it will do very
well, later in the season.

STATEMENT OF SAMUEL POWERS.

My piece of reclaimed swamp contains five acres, and it is situated
on the county road, leading from Hadley to Amherst, at the foot of
the hill, about half a mile from the former place.

In 1837, I became the owner of the above land in connection with
twenty acres, a part of which was improved land, and worth what the
whole cost, leaving the portion I am about to offer for consideration,
in its then condition of little or no value. This worthless part first
engaged my attention. Its soil is of that peculiar kind, called peat,
and is the product of accumulated vegetable matter. I resolved, if it
were a practicable thing, to put it in a fit condition for cultivation,
and, on taking its water level, I found that in a distance of sixty rods,
there was a fall of about two feet. This fact encouraged me to make
the attempt to free it entirely of water. I cut a ditch, three feet in
depth, at the foot of the hill, which carried off the water which the
springs gushing from the hill sent forth. In addition to this, other
ditches of equal dimensions were dug, encircling the entire piece, and
one also through the centre. These ditches evacuated the swamp of
water. After the land had remained in this condition one year, I
proceeded to plow it with a team consisting of three yokes of oxen,
attended by three stout naen to guide the plow and turn the furrows.
Three days were consumed in plowing one acre ; at an expense of
twelve dollars. But the work was effectually done, the heavy swamp
sods being turned over e.nd buried eighteen inches deep, after clearing
the surface of the many roots and logs scattered over it. A drag and
'heavy cultivator were next applied, v/liich gave the before rough
swamp a smooth and level surface. The following spring, a smaller
plow, drawn by a pair of horses, turned over the surface, not disturb-

70 TRANSACTIONS.

ing the thick turf, covered over the year before. I first planted to
potatoes, and obtained a large crop ; second year, planted Indian
corn and had an abundant crop ; third year, planted broomcorn, and
had an abundant crop. In looking over my minutes of the income
derived during the three first years of its improvement — after making
a fair deduction of all expenses for manure and labor — I find that my
receipts exceed the expenditure over eighty dollars.

Since that time, a period of fourteen years, the land has been con-
stantly planted to broomcorn, and has produced crops equal in value
to the best meadoio soils, while only about five loads of manure were
used to the acre, and applied in the hill, which has kept it in a good
state of cultivation. It yields as good crops and is as beautiful in
appearance and as productive as any land in the vicinity.

Hadley, Oct. 17, 1854.

STATEMENT OF JOHN A. MORTON.

My piece of meadow land contains one and a half acres. The soil is
in part peat mud and inpart a clayey subsoil. It lay in pasture, cov-
ered with brush, coarse grass, and water. In the fall of 1851, I
ploughed the lot in which this land lies, to the depth of seven inches.
I then cut drains around the wet part, the ditches running north and
south about two rods apart, the fall being sufficient to carry off" the
water. I planted it to corn in the spring of 1852, manured in the
hill with ten loads to the acre, and the yield was thirty bushels to
the acre. In the spring of 1853, I ploughed in fifteen loads of sheep
manure to the acre, and again planted to corn with ten loads of com-
post manure in the hill. The corn grew large and was considerably
injured by the wind in August. The ground being soft, the corn
was turned out by the roots. I raised over fifty bushels of corn per
acre. I soAved the piece to oats, the first of June, 1854, and sowed
twelve quarts of timothy grass seed and three pounds of clover to the
acre. The oats were light, the seeding looks well. The land I con-
sider worth fifty dollars per acre, which was nearly worthless, when I
came in possession of it. I think the great secret in reclaiming land
is, to get ofi" all the Avater, and then plough deep and bring up the
soil, whatever it may be, to the action of the sun and air. I will
now give the value of the crop on one acre for the last three years :

PRODUCTS.

Two years in corn, 80 bushels, at 92 cents, . $73 60
Four tons of corn fodder, at $5, . , . 20 00
Twenty bushels of oats, at 60 cents, . , 10 00

$103 60

EXPENSES.

Cutting brush and preparing the land to plough, $5 00
Ninety rods of drain, at 12 1-2 cents, . . 11 25

RECLAIMED SWAMPS. 71

Ploughing and harrowing.
Seed corn and oats,
Hay seed, ....
Thirty-five loads of manure,
Planting, hoeing and harvesting,

Profit on crop,

Increased value of the land,

6 00

2 00

1 25

35 00

15 00

$75

50

$28

10

•

40

00

Total gain, $68 10

STATEMENT OF AVERY D. HUBBARD.

My swamp contains about five acres, one acre of which, I oft'er for
the examination of the committee. Previous to my coming in pos-
session, it was drained around the edge, and was so dry as to permit
a team on it, in a dry time. It bore a small quantity of coarse sage
gi-ass, barely sufiicient to pay for getting. At that time, I oftered
the land for sixteen dollars an acre. Becoming satisfied, that it was
too wet to improve, I let a man cut a drain for the muck, thus divid-
ing my swamp and leaving little more than an acre in the lot I have
reclaimed. On about twenty rods of the least boggy part, I cleared
off the bogs and wood, and carted on sand and a little horse manure,
sowing on a quart or two of herds-grass seed, a kind of red-top com-
ing up around the bogs. It has produced two heavy crops of grass a
year, till this year, when the drought so aflected the rowen, that I
have fed it down. In the spring of 1853, I took twenty-seven rods
more, cleared off the bogs and wood, and planted with potatoes, put-
ting a little lime in the hill, and I had a fair growth, though a good
many potatoes rotted. In July, 1853, I took off the sage grass from
the remainder and set fire to it. In about a week, it had burned all
over, and had also burned about four inches of the muck. I thus
entirely cleared the land of bogs, and the stumps were so loose, that
a yoke of small cattle removed them from the piece, without difficulty.
With a hoe I levelled down, Avhere the roots came out ; and, on the
ninth of August, sowed about a pint of turnip seed and six quarts of
herds-grass seed. There was a fair crop of turnips, and the grass
looked fine in the fall. In May, it looked Avell, and a number of
good judges, who saw it, said it bid fair to be the heaviest crop of
herds-grass they ever saw. But the dry weather hurt it. Still, a
number thought it would yield two tons to the acre, but, being at
quite a distance from any scales, it was not weighed.

The spring being very wet and backward, I did not plant the
piece I had potatoes on last year, till the 13th of June. I spread on
about eight horse-loads of compost, made of muck and sand, two
tushels of ashes, one bushel of oyster-shell lime, twenty-five pounds

72

aEANSAGTIO:«rS

of plaster, and half a cord of horse manure. I also put in the hill
four loads of sand and muck from the drain. There were no weeds
on the piece, either year, so I used no cultivator on it.

PEODUCE IN 1853.

$3 00

20 00

4 50

$27

50

§16

50

9

00

2

00

2

00

f29

50

Potatoes (most of them rotting),

120 bushels of turnips,

1000 pounds of hay (two crops),

PRODUCE IN 1854.
3300 pounds of hay, . . . ,

9 bushels of corn, ....

800 pounds of corn fodder, at $5 a ton.
Fall feed, ......

Total produce in 1853 and- 1854,

EXPENSES IN 1853

Bogging, above the worth of bogs,

Planting, hoeing and digging potatoes.

Seed potatoes, and herds-grass seed.

Carting on sand and gravel.

Leveling, and raking in grass and turnip seed.

Grass and turnip seed,

Pulling turnips, ....

$12 25

EXPENSES IN 1854.

Ploughing, carting on manure and sand, and planting, $2 00

Manure, ashes, plaster, lime, and seed corn, . . 2 75

Hoeing and harvesting corn, . . . . 2 00

Cutting, curing and carting grass, , . . 3 00

Total expenses in 1853 and 1854,

Net gain on one acre.
Increased value of an acre.

Total Gain, .
Sunderland, October 16, 1354-

$57 00

$1

50

2

50

1

00

50

1

25

50

5

00

$9

75

$22

00

.

$35 00
65 00

$100 00

POKESTTEEES. 73

REPORT ON FOREST TREES-

BY iEANDEK WETHEKELL.

NoTAviTHSTAXDiNG the liberal premium offered from year to year
by the Society for the best plantation of forest trees, consisling of
white oak, yellow oak, locust, white ash, or white pine, not more than
three years old, and of not less than one thousand trees, produced
from seed, no competitors have yet appeared to claim it. Now if he
is worthy of being called a benefactor, who makes two blades of grass
grow where but one grew before, then should he be called a good
economist, to say the least, who causes to grow three thousand white
pines on a sandy acre, that has not produced a single blade of grass,
for a quarter of a century.

The whole area of the State, is said to contain four million four
hundred and ninety-one thousand eight hundred ajid twelve acres ; of
this, according to the returns made about ten years since, from which
we copy, there were, seven hundred and twenty-nine thousand sevcR
hundred and ninety-two acres of woodlands ; besides this there were
reported, nine hundred and ninety-five thousand acres of unimproved
lands, and three hundred and sixty thousand of unimprovable (?) — in
all, two million forty-four thousand seven hundred and ninety- two
acres, or nearly one-half of the entire area of the State not under im-
provement— a remarkable fact, it would seem, in one of the oldest, and
most densely populated States in the Union-
It is deemed fair to state, that, a large share of this unimproved
and what is denominated unimprovable land, may be rendered pro-
ductive by planting suitable seeds of native trees. The number of
species of native timber trees in Massachusetts, is greater than that of
any kingdom in Europe. Of the oak species, there are nine, of
hickories four, birches five, maples three, ashes three, pines three,
walnuts two, elms two, spruces two, cedars two, besides the beech,
chestnut, hornbeam, lever-wood, tupelo, nettle-tree, tulip, plane, bass,
locust, hemlock, fir, hacmatack, cherry, holly, poplars, willows and
numerous smaller trees. In addition to these, thei^e arc many of the
species of Europe that will grow here, besides others in the Middle
and Western States. In view of this great number of timber and
wood producing species, nearly every kind of unimproved, including

10

74'

TIlA>rSACXIO>-S

much of what is denominated unimprovable lands, can be rendered
productive of wood and timber.

The quantity of wood and timber, owing to the great demand, is
annually growing less and less in this State, and consequently tim-
ber and wood, and the lands producing th3m, becoming more and
more valuable. Hence, a reason for forest planting and culture.
There are many acres of unproductive lands of diiferent kinds in
"Western Massachusetts, that might, in this way, be made productive
and valuable^ In view of the facts that the demand for wood and
timber is annually increasing, and prices advancing, and, of there
being so much unproductive land in the State, it is proposed to
present considerations, which, if heeded, vv-ill convert the hundreds of
thousands of acres of unimproved and non-productive lands of the
State, into wood and timber producing lands, thus enabling the State
to produce within its ov»-n narrow bounds what is sought abroad at
high prices. By introducing this mode of improvement, the lands
are made better, and timber will, ere long, be furnished for house-
building, ship-building, fence-making, furniture, implements of the
various kinds, bark for tanning, and fuel for the fire. These may be
considered good and substantial reasons for doing what has been
done, and may, therefore, be done again under the direction and in-
iluence of knowledge, enterprise and enlightened Public Economy.

The subject is one of such immense magnitude and interest, and
the space allowed for this Kcport so limited, that we can present only
a very few reasons for engaging in the economical enterprise of forest
planting. There are many who will object to this on the same
ground that others have done to planting fruit-trees, to wit, the fear
that they shall not live to enjoy the benefits of the improvement, thus
anticipated. How selfish and narrow-minded is such an objection.
Plan as if you were to live always, and live, as if you might die on
the morrow. Then will you prove yourself a benefactor of mankind,
and posterity will rise up and call you blessed. But your objection,
giving it all its force, is not well founded ; for the first Duke John of
Athol, Scotland, saw a British frigate built of Larch, of his own
planting.

Athol situated in the north of Scotland, latitude 57° north, con-
tained the estates of the Dukes. Duke James planted, between 1740
and 1750, more than twelve hundred larch trees in various situations,
for the purpose of trying this species, then new in Scotland. In
1759, he planted seven hundred larchs over a surface of twenty-nine

F O E i; S T X 11 E E S

75

Scotch acres, intermixed -with other kinds of forest trees. This plant-
ation was upon a hill-side, from two hundred to four hundred feet
above the sea-level. - The ground was rocky, and covered with loose
masses of mica slate, the whole gi-ound not worth £3 a year. His
successor, John, first conceived the idea of planting the larch, to the
exclusion of all other species, upon the hill-sides about Dunkeld.
Before his death, he planted over four hundred acres on the sterile
hill-sides of his estate. Plis son, Duke John, continued his father's
plans. His father died in 1774, and in 1783 the young Duke had
planted two hundred and seventy-nine thousand trees. Hetween
1786 and 1791, he planted six hundred and eighty acres, with five
hundred thousand larches.

Thus he continued to prosecute the work of larch planting upon
the barren hill-sides until 1826, when he and his predecessors had
planted more than fourteen millit)ns of larch trees, covering more
than ten thousand acres. It is estimated that a forest ])lanted with
larches will, in seventy-t^vo years from the time of planting, furnish
timber for building the largest ships. Befiire this time, the trees
will have been thinned, leaving about four hundred trees to an acre.
Allowing fifty cubic feet of timber to a tree, at a shilling a foot, and
you will have the product of £1000 per acre, of the poorest land,
consisting of rocks and shivered fragments of schist. It is stated,
that the v,diite larch on the duke"s plantation, sixteen hundred feet
above sea-level, eighty years after it was planted, produced three hun-
dred cubic feet of timber fit for any use. The larch is superior to the
Scotch pine, and will, in half a century, make as mnch wood as the
pine will in a century. The Scotch larch resembles the American
larch or hacmatack, as it is called.

There is much sandy land in Central Massachusetts, that might
successfully be planted with the seeds of the white pine, v/hich is a
rapid grovver. The cones mature so that they may be gathered in the
winter, and they do not open so that the seeds can escape by
Nature's processes until early spring, the best time for artificial sow-
ing. The seeds, says Loudon, require from thirty to fifty days tc^
germinate, and sometimes do not come up until the succeeding spring,
and even later. Until the fifth year they are of very slow growth and
require protection — after which the growth is rapid, — increasing froni-
one to three feet annually. Moses Field of Leverctt, a member of
the committee, to whom we are indebted for specimens of the annual
growth of several species of forest trees, left v,-ith us a white pine,

'^ TEAXSACTIOXS.

■whose ?;rowtli equalled, two feet nine inches last year, and two feet
eleven inches the past season.

The white pine has been cultivated in both England and France,
and has been found to grow in height from fifteen inches to three feet
annually for sixty years. A tree planted near Paris, grew eighty feet
m height and nine feet in circumference in thirty years. The whorl
of limbs encircling the trunk marks its annual growth. Says Mr.
Emerson, in his Eeport on Trees and Shrubs in Massachusetts, "In
I80t) or '10, a belt of pines and other trees was planted on two sides
of the Botanic Garden in Cambridge, to protect it from northwest
winds. When they had been growing th-irty-one years, ten of the
white pines measured by myself, exhibited an average of twenty inches
in diameter at the ground. The two largest, measured five feet seven
inches in circumference at the ground. One in Hingham, at the age
of thirty-two, measured seven feet in circumference at the ground,
sTxtT-two feet and six inches in height, averaging annually, nearly an
inch in diameter, and two feet in hejo-ht."

We might, did space allow, give the results of oak plantations and
trees of other species, all tending to encourage forest-planting. In
closing, we give as one more incentive to tree-culture, the results of
the growth o-f the different species of an English plantation of six
acres, for twenty years. The soil was wet and swampy, resting upon
a substratum' of gravel.

Averajre cir-

Average cumf'erence.

feet in height. ft. in.

Lombardy Poplar, Popuhts dilatala, 60 to 80 4 8

Abele, Populus alba, 50 to 70 4 6

Plane, Platanus occidentalis, 50 to 60 3 6

Locust, Rolinia acacia, 50 to 60 2 4

FAm, Uhnus campestris, 40 to 60 3 6

Chestnut, Castaneavesca, 30 to 50 2 9

White Pine, Pinus strohus, 30 to 50 2 5

Spvuce, Abies communis, 30 to 50 2 2

Larch, Larix communis, 50 to 60 3 10

Who of the members of the society will commence an experiment
in forest-tree-planting, and thus render productive his worn out and
unproductive lands? By so doing, he will render the " Old Ilomc-
Btead" more of a gem, and prove himself a provident husbandman.

rKUITTREESANDrBtriTS, 77

llErORT ON FRUIT TREES AND FRUITS.

BY LEAXDER -WETIIERELL.

The cultivation of Fruit trees in Massachusetts lias not generally
received the attention, which so important a subject justly demands.
This will be found emphatically true of Central and Western Massa-
chusetts— the beautiful Valley of the Connecticut, not even affording
a general exception to this remark. This want of good fruit of the
various species and varieties, has been suffered to prevail quite too
long. The spirit of progress and improvement which so eminently
marks the present age, is beginning to be felt in this direction. Here
and there, may be found gardeners and farmers who have, within the
past few years, demonstrated that the luxury of good fruits, of the
various kinds, may be universally enjoyed. Let these demonstra-
tions, though few and far between, beget a speedy determination in
all the proprietors of the soil, that have not already done so, to engage
at once in the cultivation of fruit trees, and thus secure as a home
production, what you are now so fond of sharing with yonrmore en-
terprising neighbors, or friends, whether in your own town, or more
remotely situated.

In looking over the Report of the Committee on Fruit Trees, made
last year by its accomplished Chairman, Prof. W. C. Foavler, and
published in the Transactions of the Hampshire Co. Agricultural So-
ciety of 1853, the present Chairman of your Committee, finds that
the subject was treated on this wise, to wit: I. Plant a Nursery ;

II. Select the Ground for your Orchard and Fruit Garden, carefully ;

III. Prepare your Ground carefully ; IV. Plant your trees carefully ;
V. Tend your Trees carefully. He having considered these several
topics in their order, it is proposed on this occasion to present a few
suggestions concerning some of the more desirable varieties of fruits.
Some seem incliued to multiply varieties, more especially of apples
and pears, without paying due regard to the qualities thereof.

Don, in his work on English Gardening, published in 1832, gives
fourteen hundred varieties of the apple. The number has been greatly
enlarged since, so that there are now about two thousand cultivated
Tarieties.

Before proceeding to the enumeration of certain varieties which it

78 THAXSACTIOKS.

is desirable to cultivate, it should be rcinarked, that every farmer in
making his selection, should be governed by the use which he designs
to make of them. How many, for example, he wants for baking,
drying, sauce, cider, dessert, and for other uses ; also, if he designs to
raise apples for the market, to select such varieties as v/ill sell most
readily, and for the highest prices. Early fruits, if located near the
place of market, will be found most profitable, but if remote from the
place of sale, autumn and winter varieties will be found more profit-
able. In selecting, you should have regard to varieties, whose trees
are vigorous growers, and good bearers. There are some of the
choicest varieties, whose growth is feeble, and products meager. The
alphabetical list of the choice varieties which follows, will be found of
service to ail interested in fruit-culture in our Society.

Summer Apples. American Summer Pcarraain, ripe in September; Asira-
chan, Red, ripe in August; Ecnoni, ripe in August; 13ough, Large Sweet,
August; Bohanan, August to October; Early Harvest, July; Early Straw-
berry, August ; Larly Joe, last of August ; Lyman's Large Summer, August ;
Manomet, August to September; Stcm/ner Belle- flour — superior, late siiramer
apple ; iiop$ of Wine, August to Septem.ber ; and Williams's Favorite, August.
Autumn Apples. Autumn Swarr, known as " Sweet Swaar," lipein Octo-
ber and November ; Cooijer, October to December ; Fall Pippin, October to
December ; Gravenstein, September to October ; Haicley, September to Octo-
ber ; Jewett's Red ; Maiden's Blush. September to October ; Northern Sweet,
an excellent sweet apple; Porto-, September; Republican Pippin; St. Law-
rence, October ; Spice Sweet, September, and Superb Sweet, September to
October.

Winter Apples. American Golden Pais.set ; Baldwin ; Baili/ Sweet, super,
October to January ; Blue Pearmain, very popular in market from Oct. to Jan-
uary ; Bell-flower, yellow, November to April ; Belmont, October to February ;
Danvers Winter Sweet, keeps till April ; Dutch Mignonne, November to
March ; Fameuse, November to January ; Iluhbardstoii Nonstick, November to
January ; Jonathan, November to April ; Lady Apple, November to May —
sells for the highest prices in market ; Lady's Sweet, Nov. to May ; Mother,
November to January ; Norion's Melon, super, October to April ; Northern Spy, a
superior apple, retaining its freshness of flavor and appearance till July ; New-
town Pippin, November to June ; Peck's Pleasant, November to April ; Pom-
me Grise, November to April ; Rambo, keeps till February ; Tied Canada,
November to May ; Rhode Island Greening; Russet, Golden American ; Swaar,
November to May; Seek-no-further, November to February; Spitzenburgh
.^sopus, November to April ; Spitzenburgh Newton ; TaUman Sioeetiny, No-
vember to April ; Wagener, December to May ; Willow Twig, long keeper ;
White Winter Calville, November to March.

Apples por Ornament or Preserving. Red Siberian Crab, and large, do.,
ripe from September to October ; Yellow Siberian Crab, and Large Yellow
Crab ; and the Double Flowering China — a beautiful ornamental tree.

FUUITTEEESA^^DFRUIXS. 79

Pears. Very little attention has been given to tlic cultivation of
this most delicious and desirable fruit. If you will prepare your soil
b)' sup})lying such manurial specifics as are requisite, such as bone-
dust, ashes, salt, lime, «fcc., you may be as certain of producing pears
as of apples. A short list of some of the best varieties is furnished :

Summer Pears. Eloodgood, ripe in August; Bartlctt, last of September;
Dearborn's Seedling, August ; Doyenne d' Etc, August ; Madeline, the earliest
variety ; Tyson, September.

AuTUMX Pears. Eeurre Diel, October and November ; Eeurro, Goldcii of
Bilboa, September and October; Duchess d' Orleans, October; Doyenne,
White, October and November ; Doyenne, Grey ; Flemish Beauty, September
and October ; Henry IV., September ; Louisa Bonne de Jersey, September and
October ; Napoleon, November and December; Seckel; Stevens's Genesee, Sep-
tember and October; Swan's Orange, October and November.

Winter Pears. Bamre d' Armnberg, December to January; Beurre, Easter,
keeps till spring ; Beurre Gris d' Iliver Nouveau, November to January ;
Glout Morceau, December ; Lawrence, November to February ; Vicar of Wiiik-
jleld, November to January.

For Cooking, either Baking or Stewing. Cattillac, Easter Bergamot,
and Pound, all keep through, winter, if desired.

iVearly all these choice varieties may be grafted on the quince, and
succeed well. Would it not be well, then, for our farmers to graft
some of their quince trees ? It is hoped they will do so.

Quinces. This fruit is very common here. The best varieties
are the Orange, Pear-Shaped, Portugal, and Angers, the last being
the best variety for pear-stocks.

Peaches. A few select varieties :

Bergen's Yellow, September ; Yellow Bare-ripe, September ; Cole's Early
Bed, August; Cooledge's Favorite, August; Crawford's Early, September;
Crawford's Late Melocoton, September ; Early York, August ; George the
Fourth, August ; Grosse Mignonne, August ; Jacques's Bare-ripe ; Large
Early York, August ; Late Admirable, September ; Morris's White ; Morris's
Bed Rare-ripe ; Bed Cheek Melocoton, September ; Snow Peach, September ;
Weld's Freestone, October; Lemon Cling, September; Old Mixon Clingstone,
September.

Grapes. Selected. Catawba, Isabella, Black Cluster, Black Prince, Black
Hamburg, and White Sweetwater.

In making this selection of the more choice and desirable varieties
of fruits, "Barry's Fruit Garden" has been frequently referred to,
a work recommended to all fruit-growers. The italic names indicate
some of the most delicious varieties.

The Committee desire, in taking leave of this fruitful subject, to

80 TEAIflACTIOXS.

press home to the mind of every proprietor of a garden spot or farm,
in Western Massachusetts, the importance of fruit-culture. Then,
ere long, this region will become as noted for producing an ample
supply of the choicest varieties of fruits, as it has been, hitherto, for
the lack of them.

APPLE ORCEAKDS.
STATEMENT OF THEODORE PASCO.

I have eighty-one trees of grafted fruit in one location, on an acre
and a quarter of land. A part stand on loamy, and the remainder on
sandy soil. I have, also, twenty-three scattered and ungrafted trees.
The trees in my orchard were grafted, six or seven feet from the
ground, twelve years after they were set. Most of them are twenty
feet apart, but I think it would be better, if the distance was twenty-
eight or thirty feet. The land they stand on has never been ploughed
since they were set ; for my opinion is, that turning over the soil
around the trees, two or three feet from them, and throwing on com-
post manure plentifully, is preferable to ploughing. Young trees
standing on land, that is often ploughed, at first, will look very thrifty,
and grow fast ; but soon the roots are badly injured and the result is,
the appearance of the orchard is sadly changed. My varieties of
fruit are, Greenings, Nurseries, Baldwins, Roxbury Russets, Shaker
Russets, Gilly Flowers, Seek-no-furthers, Winter Sweets, Golden
Sweets, Gennetings, Pumpkin Sweets, Spitzenburg, Pound Royals,
and several varieties of early apples. I have gathered, this year, from
my grafted trees, one hundred and eighty-one bushels of good winter
fruit, thirty bushels of fall apples, and one hundred and fifty bushels
of cider apples.

Hadley, Oct. 16, 1854.

STATEMENT OF NATHANIEL SMITH.

My Orchard which I offer for a premium, has over seventy-five
trees. About twenty of them are thirty years old, but the remainder
are young trees, some of which are in bearing this year. The old
trees were grafted after they were set out. The soil is sandy loam,
deep and rich. The old part is in grass ; broom-corn is cultivated on
the other part. The manure used is common compost, and the quan-
tity of apples is probably about one hundred and fifty bushels, valued
this year from forty-five to fifty dollars. The value of the fruit was
much reduced by the hail storm in September. My varieties are,
Early Harvest, Porter, Congress, Greenings, two kinds of Russets,

r R U I T T K E K S A X 1) r K TJ I T S . 81

Ealdwinf^, Seek-no-furthcrs, Boll-flowcrs, Little-core, Swar, Graven-
stein, ^Esopus, Spitzenburg, Crow's-eggs, Golden Sweets, and other
varieties, too numerous to mention.

I came in possession of the place last Spring, and therefore am not
able to state the cost of the Orchard.

Sunderland, Oct. 17, 1854.

OLD OKCIIAED ESCLAIMED.
STATEMENT OF AVEllY D. HUBBARD.

The land on which rny oi chard stands, is sandy and light. I have
twc'iity-iive trees, which h ive been reclaimed. Their ages vary from
forty to more than a hundred years. Twenty ycai's ago, they were
almost worthless, — grown up with sprouts and deadliml's — not having
been trimmed for many years — bearing only afeio " rider apples " —
none of them having been grafted, or budddd. The trees Avere
thoroughly trimmed and all the dead limbs cut off. We were careful
to shape them well and have handsome tops. The trees were scraj^cd
Avith a hoe, till all the ohl and loose bark, and moss, were removed,
and a compost of swamp muck, ashes, plaster, and lime, was spread
under the trees, and thoroughly mixed with the soil, by ploughing.
Most of them stood on ploughed land.

In a few years a thrifty set of shoots came out, which were grafted
Avith Baldwins, Greenings, Spitzenburgs, Seek-no-furthers, llo.Kbury
Bussets, None-such, Boston Kusscts, Pippins, &c., tSuC. For several
years they have borne apples enough for our family use, and I have
sold some for several years, till the last year, Avhcn the worms injured
them some, though not so much but that Ave had a number of bushels
of Avinter apples. This year they have borne very full and very nice
apples. The number of bushels, I am unable to state, as avc have
kept no account. We have some A'ery early apples, which Avere ready
for market in July, and I am satisfied we have sold apples enough this
year to pay all the expense of reclaiming the orchard. In regard to
manure, I have found that any tiling that v/ill make corn grow, Avili
make apple trees groAv, and produce apples. Work manure well into
the soil, as far round as the limhs extend. I think every farmer,
especiaihj, and all Avho own land, had better set out a young orchard,
unless they already have done so. But if you ha\-c an old orchard,
go to Avork and reclaim it, and, in a few years, you may have all the
apples you Avill need in your family, till your young trees begin to bear.

Sunderland, Oct. IG," 1854.

11

82 TKAW3i.CTIOX8.

NURSERY.
STATEMENT OF xMELZAR HUNT.

jNTy Nursery contains one hundred and fifty apple trees of different
Tarieties — the Baldwin, Greening, Roxbury Russet, Hubbardston
Nonsuch, Belle-flower, Winte? Sweet, Russet, &,c., &c. Most of
them are three years old from the bud, or graft.

My method of raising trees is, to sow the seed in the fall, in drills
— the rows three feet apart and the trees six inches apart in the rows.
In April, after they have grown one year from the bud, I transplanted
them, setting them two feet apart in the rows. The budding is done,
when the trees are of a suitable size, which is generally the second
year. The ground on which the trees are grown is spaded every
spring, and hoed as often as necessary to keep it from' weeds. I cul-
tivate some other ci"op between the rows of trees, either carrots- or
potatoes.

Sunderland, Oct. 15, 1854.

PEACH ORCHARD.
STATEMENT OF DANIEL COWLES.

I have about forty peach trees. The principal part of them were
grown from peach stones, that I obtained of a grocer in Springfield,
in 1839. He had saved them from a few very choice lots of peaches
that had been brought in to hira-. They were planted in the fall of
1839 ; and in the spring of 184'2, I set them about the sides and ter-
races of my garden, where I thought they would do the least damage.
I have practiced putting ashes about the roots, occasionally, in the
fore part of the season. The greater part of the trees bear the early
yellow peach. Some bear a peach, very much resembling the Early
Crawford, and there are three or four varieties of later peaches. I
have a few young trees of different varieties — the snow peach, the
blood peach, &.C., &e. My trees have borne well, every year, since
they were three years old, excepting one ; but not as well this season
as last. I have had this season from fifteen to twenty bushels. The
peaches were not as large and good as usual, this year, owing, I
think, to the dry weather.

Hadley, September, 1854.

K i. X U B £ s . 83

REPORT ON MANURES,

JIY PROFESSOR NASH.

What your Committee find specially to commend in tlie practice of
Mr. K. Hubbard, is, that he digs up and brings to his pig-pen and
yard, in those parts of the year, when farm work is least pressing,
sufficient swamp muck, to completely deodorise the excrements of
the animals and to retain all their fertilizing properties, till wanted
by growing plants, thus doubling and in some cases quadrupling the
<|uantity of manure, without detracting much of any thing from its
quality.

STATEMENT OF KELITA HUBBARD.

I have tried several methods of composting manures, with swamp
muck, by mixing it with barnyard manure, ashes, plaster, dtc, and I
find it profitable. But on my swamp, I have a large quantity of sage
bogs, which I have found very difficult to work into manure, and had
considered them worthless ; until I commenced throwing them into
my hogpen. I have found, for three or four months in a year, the
hogs would work them to pieces, and make some of my best and
cheapest manure. My practice is, to commence about the fii-st of
August and cart them green to my hogpen, throwing in, daily, as
many as they will work up. I have eight shoats, which will usually
demolish a cart buck full in two days, varying according to circum-
stances of feed, state of the bogs, &/C.

These shoats make manure in three or four months, worth $35,00
Cost of getting the bogs, above the benefit hogs receive
from eating the roots, of which they are very fond, . 5,00

Net gain, annually, $30,00

Sunderland, Oct. 18, 1854.

STATEMENT OF AVERY D. HUBBARD.

The question, " how we can take a crop from our land every year,
and keep it as good as when we commenced?" is a question often
asked. And how we shall obtain a good crop and improve our land,

,84 T n A N S A C T I 0 X 8 .

is a still harder question to answer. I have bcconio satisfied, that the
w.iy most land is managed, after taking off a crop of grain in the
summer, does not tend to improve it ! Most land that is to be culti-
vated the next year, after taking off a crop, will produce a heavy coat
of weeds, which, if turned under, will be destroyed and the land
benefited. But, say some, we don't like to have our land lie up to a
hot sun three or four months ! Then, sow on a crop of rye immediately.
It will cost but little. Half seed enough scatters v/hcn you gather
the grain, in many instances ; so that less than one-half a bushel will
ho enough seed for an acre, and the feed in the fall more than pays the
cost of seed and ploughing. You will have a green crop of rye to turn
in as manure in the spring, worth according to my experience, five or
six loads of manure to the acre. I would say, then, to brother I'aimers,
turn over your stubble land, where you intend to cultivate next year,
as soon as possil)le and scatter on a little seed, and you will see a
marked change in the land. It will produce a heavier crop of corn,
or rye, or oats, with the same manure. And you will receive some
indirect benefits in many ways, some of which I will name :

1. You will thoroughly pulverise the land, so that you will save
more in fitting your land for a crop, and in first hoeing, than all it cost
you the year before.

2. Y^on will destroy the seeds of all noxious weeds, by turning
them under, before they ripen.

3. You will be very apt to plough deeper. The team having be-
come thoroughly rested since you finished your Spring work, will take
hold M-ith a •' vUl ;" and if the plough goes into the old" hard pan,"
which has been formed in years back, they'll not stop, but turn up
two or three inches of it and so give the roots a chance to run down,
which I have found to be of great benefit the past dry summer.

Sunderland, Oct. 10, 1854.

REPORT ON PLOWING.

BY DAVID KICE, M. D.

The preparation of the soil with the plow, an important prelimi-
nary to the reception of seed, is, every thing considered, the gi'cuvd-
work of farming. It lies at the bottom of the whole subject, and is
its grand basis. As we enter upon this theme, a multitude of inqui-
ries suggest themselves.

To a few of the most important, we will give our attention. Many
things are positively necessary, in order to have the work done prop-

r L o w I X G . 85

erly and -well. First, the quality and condition of the soil is to be
considered. If not already in a fit state, the work of preparation
should be thoroughly consummated. Heaps of stones, rocks, and
roots of trees and shrubs, and every other impediment should be
removed. The soil should be neither too wet, nor too dry. A suit-
able moisture is hig^ily necessary to a smoothly-turned furrow, and
the work is done with much greater ease. A day or two following a
moderate rain, is a suitable period for plowing, more particularly on
sward land. Secondly, the plow must be of the right kind and con-
structed on scientific principles. No man, however skillful, can do
the work well with a poor plow. And there is no good excuse for
using poor plows, at the present day. American ingenuity has
brought the implement so nearly to perfection, that few more im-
provements can be made, and the prices are low enough, so that every
farmer, however moderate his circumstances, can own the very best.
We have a great many excellent varieties. There are so many, that
do the work nearly perfectly, that farmers can select without much
hesitation.

The different varieties have their peculiar excellencies. Some are
more suitable for stony, others for sandy land. Some do the work
best in light, others in heavy soils. Another is suitable for one sec-
tion of country, while a different style and size is just the thing,
where the first would do badl}'. All latitudes, lands, and tastes can
be suited and well served, and the plowman, if he possesses a proper
jixdgment, can easily adapt his implement to the condition of his land.

Thirdly : a proper and well-trained team, is an important item in
good plowing. One that will go over the most ground, Avith a good
deal of hawing, and geeing, and goading, is by no means the best
team. More land may be badly plowed, to be sure, by " cutting and
covering," and leaving the Avork half done, but what are the results ?
The team, at night, will be jaded — the plowman hoarse and full of
vexation, by hallooing to his team, and lame in every joint ; and —
worse than all — the plowed field will appear more like the " sea in
a storm," than a lot of well-turned furrows, and will be withal ill
prepared for future use. One acre of sward land, is enough for two
yokes of oxen to plow, in a day. They should be trained to work
evenly and without fretting. They should be of the right age, con-
dition, and strength, to draw the plow steadily along the furrow.
They should be well fed, kindly treated, and have a suitable driver.

The plowman often drives, himself, when plowing with a single,

86 TEAUSACTIOXS.

•well-trained yoke of oxen ; but, when more than one team is required,
a driver is necessary. Boys are sometimes employed ; restless, peev-
ish and ill-tempered and entirely unfit for the business, not having
half the discretion of the oxen themselves.

They can shout haw ! and gee up ! and flourish the whip and use
the goad to perfection. The well trained and sensible animals, not
used to such company, fret and miss the furrow, as the lash is inaptly
and untimely applied ; and, as a consequence, the land is badly
plowed and the animals injured. The lash and the goad to the backs
of such boys, say we, and a good discretionary driver for the oxen.

Finally: it requires an experienced and skillful plowman, in ord^r
that tke work be well and properly done. It actually does require
tact and experience, to guide the plow handsomely, and to turn a
furrow cleverly. Other things being equal, a.fi'esh and a gf7'ee7i hand,
and an old, well trained plowman, will produce very different results.

Width of furrow, depth, completeness in turning the sod, proportion-
ate width and evenness of all the furrows ; all these receive the atten-
tion of the experienced plowman, and when his labors are finished, he
beholds his field with honest pride, — -a beautiful triumph of the plow,
and the laborer's skill.

The above requirements are positively necessary and essential to a
well plowed field. There are other collateral circumstances, and
things of minor consequence, that ought to receive attention. The
plow should be kept in good order, and free from soil, rust, and cor-
rosion. A rough, unsmooth plow turns a furrow badly and requires
more power to operate it. Plows should be kept housed, well clean-
ed and polished, and then they will be fit for use.

They should always be supplied with a proper point. Some farmers
tise a ploAT, until the point is worn out and as blunted as a miser's
conscience, and it is impossible for them to do work, even moderately
well. This is poor economy, and smacks of bad calculation and want
of judgment.

Fifty cents for a new point, as often as the old one ceases to do
■well, is money well applied. But we must not generalize too far.
Our apology is our love of Agricultural themes. The land — the
grand old mountains, the green sunny hill-sides, and the luxuriant
meadows and the quiet old homesteads, give me. The city with her
piles of granite, and her wealth ! Old ocean with her navies and richly
laden ships ! Others may enjoy tliem if they will, but give me the

CROPS, 87

country, where God has bestowed, in abundance, beauty, health and
all the objects to make life agreeable and pleasant.

" O who would be bound to the barren sea,
If he could dwell on land :
Where his step is ever both firm and free,
Where flowers arise,
Like sweet girls' eyes ;
And rirulets sing,
Like birds in spring ?
For me — I •vrill take my stand
On land, on land !
For ever and ever, on solid land !"

Barry Corn trail.

REPORT ON CROrS.

BY SAMUEL POWERS.

In consequence of the severe drought, during the past summer, the
number of crops entered for premium was less than usual. Each
competitor was required, by the rules of the Society, to deposit with
the Secretary, on or before the loth of November, a certificate of
measurement of the land by a surveyor ; also, to furnish a particular
statement in writing, of the kind of soil and its previous condition ;
the quantity, quality and expense of seeds and manure; the value
of the employed labor, and the mode of cultivation ; and, where the
crop was planted in hills, to state the distance between the hills ;
also, the times of sowing, hoeing and harvesting, and the amount
and value of the crop, when gathered. In several instances, these
rules of the Society were not complied with and the statements were
not sufficiently full and particular. To such competitors the premi-
ums could not be awarded. But to encourage the worthy, and to
induce hereafter a strict compliance with the rules, sums smaller than
the premiums are recommended as gratuities.

A moment's reflection will convince any competitor, that his state-
ment should be full in its details, and strictly accurate. It will then
be most worthy of publication, most useful to others, and most cred-
itable to himself.

gg TRAXSACTIOXS.

WHEAT CKOP.

STATEMENT OF D. D. &, J. WHITTEMORE, Jn.

Our crop of wheat was raised in Sunderland on one acre and forty-
one rods of ground. In 1851, the piece was sown with barley and
seeded with clover. About the 12th of September, we ploughed in
the second crop of clover and sowed two varieties of wheat, viz : bald
and bearded white flint — one bushel of the first and one and a half
bushels of the last, and harrowed well. Early in the spring, we
sowed three bushels of salt, two and a half bushels of plaster, and five
barrels of slacked oyster-shell lime. Our wheat suffered from the
severe winter and from the drought in summer. We judged that forty
per cent, was Avinter killed. "We harvested in July, and for want of
barn room, had it threshed immediately by hand. Consequently wo
lost a large per cent., by its being left in the straw. The quantity
thus lost, was estimated at from three to five bushels. Of the bearded.,
we had nineteen bushels, and of the bald six bushels, or twenty-five
bushels of wheat, perfectly free from rye and all foul seeds.

VALUE OF CROr.

^

25 bushels of wheat sold for

Value of straw . . . . .

. $62 50
7 00

$69 50

EXPENSES.

Ploughing, sowing and harrowing,

Seed wheat, ......

Lime, Plaster, Salt, ....

Harvesting and threshing,

Interest on land, .....

3 75
3 37
5 35
8 00
5 00

$25 47

Net profit, $44 03

Sunderland, Nov. 8, 1854.

COBN CHOPS.
STATEMENT OF AUSTIN L. CLARK.

The piece of com, I offer for premium, contains one acre of land.
'It was an old pasture, that was never plowed, within the memory of
the " oldest inhabitant." In May, I plowed it about six inches deep,
turning in ten loads of barnyard manure. I then harrowed in eight
loads of compost manure. On the 20th of May, it was planted.
Eight bushels of leached ashes were dropped in the hill. The corn
was hoed twice. The hills wore not raised, and were three feefc^apart
each way. The soil w-as a clayey loam. On the 14th of September
the crop was harvested.

c K 0 r s.

89

VALUE OF CROP.

75 bushels of corn, at $1, .

4895 pounds of fodder, at $6 per ton,

4 1-2 bushels of soft corn,

EXPENSES.

18 loads manure, ....

8 bushels leached ashes.

Plowing, harrowing and hauling manure.

Planting and seed, ....

Hoeing and ashing, ....

Cutting and stacking,

Carting and husking.

Interest on land, ....

Net gain,
Sunderland, Oct. 25, 1854.

)75 00

17 47

1 12

$18 00

80

6 00

1 25

3 50

2 00

6 00

5 00

$S0 59

$•42 55
$48 04

STATEMENT OF CHESTER COWLES.

I offer for premium a crop of corn raised on three acres. It was
old pasture land. I seeded it down and mowed it, two years. In
Nov. 1853, it was plowed with the Double Michigan plow. In the
Spring, I harrowed it over. I then carted on my barnyard manure, at
the rate of fifteen loads per acre. I then spread it and harrowed it
again. The corn was planted by the hoe, on the 10th of May. It
was hoed three times after the first hoeing. I put on plaster and ashes
mixed together. In the second week of September, I harvested the
crop.

VALUE OF CROP.

180 bushels, at $100,
8 baskets soft corn,
Corn fodder, estimated.

45 loads of Manure,
Manure and spreading.
Planting and seed.
Hoeing and cultivating,
(hitting and stacking.
Carting and husking.
Interest on land,

EXPENSES.

$180

2

18

00
00
00

$45

00

17

00

4

00

23

00

7

00

15

00

18

00

$200 00

$129 00

Net gain,
Amherst, Nov. 14, 1854.

12

$71 00

90

TIlAXSACTIO>'S.

EYECROPS.

STATEMENT OF GEORGE DICKINSON.

The land on which my crop of Hye grew, is second quality of
meadow land, lying directly on the bank of the Connecticut, in Had-
ley. In the spring of 1853, it was plowed from seven to eight inches
deep. Twelve loads of manure were applied to the acre and har-
rowed in. Corn was then planted and thoroughly cultivated. The
corn was cut up, the second week in September, and yielded at har-
vest fifty bushels per acre. The ground was again plowed from eight
to nine inches deep and sown with a bushel and a half of white rye,
per acre, at seventy-five cents per bushel. The crop was harvested
the 13th and 14th of July.

A'ALUE OF CROP.

65 1-2 bushels of 56 pounds,

3 1-4 tons of straw, . . . . .

EXPENSES.

Plowing and sowing,
3 bushels rye, .
Harvesting and housing.
Threshing and cleaning,
Interest and taxes,

Net profit,
Hadley, November, 1854.

$76

63

19

50

$3 00

2

25

5

00

6

00

15

00

$06 13

!1 21

$64 88

STATEMENT OF CHESTER COWLES.

The land on Avhich this crop Avas raised, contains two acres. In
1853 it was planted with corn, and manured, at the rate of twenty
loads to the acre, spread on and harrowed in. After my corn was
harvested, I sowed my rye, at the rate of one bushel to the acre. I
harvested in July. The land was plowed deep and thoroughly har-
rowed.

VALUE OF CROP.

50 bushels, at $1 25, . ^ .

Straw, by estimate, .....

EXPENSES.

Seed,

Plowing, harrowing and sowing,

Harvesting and threshing.

Interest on land, .....

$62

50

15

48

$2

25

3

50

8

00

12

00

$77 98

125 75

Net profit,

552 23

CHOPS. 91

OAT CROP.
STATEMENT OF ALBERT MONTAGUE.

The acre of land on ^vllIch I raised my crop of oats, is a sandy
loam. I have planted it for two years previous. The first year upon
turf, manuring in the hill. Last year I plowed in twenty loads of
green manure, and put a little compost in the hill. My land was not
in condition to plow for spring grain, as early by fifteen days, as the
average of seasons. The crop was not as good as it would have been,
had the land been in condition to sow, as early as usual. I plowed
my land and sowed my oats, on the tenth of May. I sowed four
bushels to the acre. Unless sowed very thick, my oats are apt to
fall down. I harrowed thoroughly and then rolled them with a
heavy roller. I harvested, the 29th and 31st of July, and threshed
in September, and had sixty and one-half bushels. I cut them when
they were about one-half white.

VALUE OF CROP.

60 1-2 bushels of oats, $30 25

1 1-2 tons of straw, 9 00

$39 25

EXPENSES.

Plowing and sowing, . . • . • $2 00

Seed, 2 00

Harvesting and threshing, . . . . 4 50

Interest on land, ...... 4 50

- $13 00

Net profit, $26 25

Sunderland, Nov. 1, 1854.

BEOOM-CORN CROPS.*

STATEMENT OF AVERY D. HUBBARD.

The land on which my crop of broom-corn was raised, contains just
one acre, and is a light sandy soil. In 1852, a crop of corn was
raised of about twenty bushels to the acre. In the fall of the same
year, it was sowed with rye and had a fair crop, of about ten bushels
to the acre. No manure of any kind was used on it, in 1853. Ihe
land is light and mellow ; and is easy to cultivate. Ten cart-loads
of compost manure were spread upon it, just before plowing.^ The
manure was made, the winter previous, in my hog-pen, which is
directly under my home barn. It is composed of about two parts of

* The premiums on crops of Broom-Corn were awarded, as follows . lo
Avery D. Hubbard, $4, and to KeUta Hubbard, $2, both of Sunderland.

>2

T R A X S A C T r O >' S

swamp muck to one of horse manure ; all thoroughly worked togeth-
er by the hogs, and did not cost over fifty cents a load, though I have
set the price a little higher. I plowed, about the 2()th of May, and
planted on the 23d, with Woodard's improved planter, dropping
about one-half bushel of superphosphate of lime in the hill. The
rows Avere abput three feet apart, and the hills two feet apart. The
corn was well stocked and very even. The drought affected the
crop but little, the land being plowed deep. The crop was gathered,
about tlie last of September, and has been scraped, and the seed
cleaned up. I have made no account of carting or spreading the ma-
nure, as I think it improved the land more than what the manure
cost.

VALUE OF CKOP.

700 pounds of broom-brush, at 10 cents,
52 bushels of broom-seed, at 40 cents,

EXPENSES.

Plowing and harrowing.
Planting and seed,
Phosphate and manure,
Interest on land.
Hoeing three times.
Harvesting and scraping,
Cleaning seed, .

Net profit on one acre,
Sunderland, Nov. 15, 1854.

$70

00

20

80

$1

62

1

00

9

00

2

40

$90 80

4 38
6 50
1 50

826 40
$64 40

STATEMENT OF KELITA HUBBARD.

The piece of land on which this crop was raised, contains one
acre. The land, previous to 1853, had been mowed for several years.
It was turned over in May of tbat year, and planted with Indian
corn ; fifteen dollars worth of compost manure being plowed in, and
a single handful of a mixture of twelve-sixteenths of ashes, three-
sixteenths of lime and one-sixteenth of plaster dropped in the hill.
The crop was good, yielding about sixty-two bushels of shelled corn
to the acre. The land is sandy loam with a gravelly subsoil, inclined
to be wet from springs above. It was so wet, that I could not plant
till the last of May, 1854. I manured in the hill, with ten cart-
loads of compost manure, worth six dollars. I planted on the ma-
nure, hoed three times, and harvested about the first of October.

YALUE OE CROP.

800 pounds of broom-brush, at 10 cents,
70 bushels of seed, at 40 cents, .

28

00
00

-$108 GO

CROPS

93

EXPENSE

Plowing and harrowing, .
Manuring and seed, .
Planting and hoeing,
Harvesting and scraping, .
Manure and interest on land,

$1 50

2 00

7 00

10 00

10 00

$30 50

Net profit,
Sunderland, Nov. 15, 1854.

!77 50

POTATO CROPS-
STATEMENT OF CALVIN D. EATON.

I offer for premium a crop of potatoes raised on one acre of land,
in Pelhani. The piece was old pasture land, with some brush on it.
In May, I plowed twice, harrowed and planted with peach-blow po-
tatoes. I used no other manure than one hundred and twenty-five
pounds of plaster, and hoed only once. I dug the potatoes about the
twelfth of October. I used two barrels of dry ashes, before hoeing.
My crop was one hundred and seventy bushels of extremely large
potatoes, many of them weighing over one pound.

VALUE OF CROP.

170 bushels, at 40 cents,

EXPENSES.

$68 00

Interest on land.

.

$1 20

Plowing and harrowing,

.

6 00

Planting,

.

4 00

Seed and plaster.

.

7 00

Hoeing and digging,

• • • •

8 00

$26 20

Net profit,
Pelham, Oct. 30, 1854.

$41 80

STATEMENT OF CHESTER COWLES.

The land on which this crop was raised, contains one acre. It is
old pasture. I plowed it in May and planted eight bushels to the
acre, and harvested in October. I put on the manure at the rate of
twelve loads to the acre.

VALUE OF CROP.

150 bushels, at 50 cents,

$75 00

94

TRANSACTIONS

EXPENSES.

Seed,

Plowing and harrowing,

Manure, .

Speading and harrowing.

Planting and hoeing.

Digging and carting,

Net profit,
Amherst, Nov. 14, 1854.

$4 00

2

50

12

00

1

50

6

00

8

00

$34 00
$41 00

CAREOT CROP.

STATEMENT OF 0. & F. H. WILLIAMS.

The ground on which w^e raised carrots, this year, measures one
half-acre. The soil is of a light loam. It was turf land, had been
down to grass three years, and was in a good state of cultivation.
Plowed eight inches deep, with Michigan double plow. The manure
was taken from my hog-pen and composted with one-third dirt. The
amount of manure composted for my carrots was twelve cart-loads.

VALUE OF CHOP.

336 bushels, at 25 cents,

EXPENSES.

Plowing and harrowing,

Manure, 8 loads.

Carting and spreading,

Planting 2 feet apart, with planter,

Half a pound of seed.

Hoeing first time, 3 days,

" second time, 4 days,

" third time, 2 days,
Plowing between rows.
Harvesting, $6 ; Interest on land, $3,

Net profit,

$84 00

$2

00

8

00

1

00

25

40

3

00

4

00

2

00

25

9

00

$29 90

$54 10

TURNIP CROP.
STATEMENT OF 0. &. F. H. WILLIAMS.

The piece of ground on which I raised my turnips, this year, con-
tains fifty-two rods. The piece is of a light loam, having been down

c Ro r s

95

to grass three years. After taking off a crop of grass, I turned the
sward over without manure, eight inches deep. Thus, you see, I ob-
tain two crops a year. The land was not in a high state of cultiva-
tion.

VALUE OF CEOr.

61 bushels, at 25 cents, . . . . . . $15 25

EXPE^KSES.

Plowing and harrowing.

$1 00

Drilling with machine,

25

Seed, long kind.

12

Plowing between rows.

25

Gathering crop, 3 days,

3 00

S4 62

Net profit,

$10 62

CBOF OF HEBDSGBASS SEED.

STATEMENT OF OLIVER WILLIAMS.

I have raised, the past season, two bushels of herdsgrass seed, on
thirtj-'five rods of ground. A sample of the seed, I had on exhibition
at the late Fair. '1 he land on which the seed grew, was a light loam.
This piece was selected from three acres, which, in 1852, were sowed
with rye and oats, my usual spring grain. The field — aside from
these thirty-five rods — was cut about the seventh of July, the remain-
der about the first of August. I consider the hay, after the thresh-
ing off" the seed, worth about half price. I recommend to all farmers
to raise their own grass seed. My yield was at the rate of twenty-
four dollars to the acre.

VALUE OF CROP.

$6 00

2 00

2 bushels of seed, at
Hay,

$8 00

EXPENSES.

Grass seed.

Plowing and harrowing.
Interest on land, at $50,
Cutting and thrashing.

Net profit,
Sunderland, Oct. 16, 1854.

SO 50
75
75

1 00

$3 00
$5 00

96 T K A X S A C T I 0 X S

REPORT ON HEIFERS.

, BY G. C. MUNSELL.

The rearing of good dairy stock is an object of great importance
to the farmer. The cow ranks high among our domestic animals.
Probably no other is of more importance to us. She furnishes both
the necessaries and the luxuries of life. To the farmer she is a source
of both luxury and profit. How desirable, then, that, in rearing
dairy stock, he should produce animals of the best qualities for his
purpose. And the question, hozo this can be best accomplished, is
one of much interest to breeders of neat stock. If " like produces
like," too much care and skill can hardly be exercised by the breeder
in the selection of his breeding animals. He should select such as
have the style and qualities, desired in their offspring.

In rearing heifers for the dairy, such should be chosen as have de-
scended from good milking stock. It is not only important, that the
dam should have been a good milker, but equally so that the sire
should have been bred from a good milking race. It is generally
believed by breeders of experience, that the male has as much influ-
ence upon the milking qualities "of the progeny, as the female.
Hence, the necessity of having well selected males, as well as females,
in attempting to rear good stock for the dairy. The breeder should
not only use superior animals to breed from, but reserve for himself
the better portion of their progeny. If a heifer shows an aptitude to
fatten easily, she is generally considered worth more for the shambles
than the dairy ; and, consequently, goes into the hands of the butch-
er; while some hard-hided one, which could not easily be fattened,
is reserved for the milk-pail.

The opinion is very prevalent among farmers, that a heifer which
takes on flesh rapidly, will not make a good milker. Perhaps the
fact, that most good milkers become thin of flesh, when in full milk,
leads to this opinion. But such cows generally fatten quickly, when
dry. It would seem, that the fact of a heifer's fattening easily,
should lead to the belief, that she would make a good cow for butter,
her aptitude to fatten showing her system to be such, that all the
carbon of her food is not required for heat and respiration.

V O V I; T R -i' . 97

KEPORT Ox^^ POULTRY.

BY X. G. TROAV, M. D.

The question, -whether the farmer can ajford to spend much time
or money in this department, is one which is not very definitely set-
tled. That it is a very comfortable matter, to have a generous num-
ber of eggs and fat chickens and turkeys during the year, and espec-
ially about Thanksgiving time, is a point about which there is proba-
bly very little dispute. But, when we come to the question, whether
in view of the dollars and cents, we can actually afford to have them,
the subject seems at present to be an open one.

That there is as much pleasure to be derived from the prosecutjion
of labor in this department, as from any other connected with the
farm, Ave believe tp be susceptible of abundant proof. Indeed, whafe
can be more bejiutiful than a flock of fowls, where every tin; anc5
shade of color is presented in the very perfection of beauty to the eye
of the beholder ; and, yet, this perfection, with comparatively little
care in " crossing," is easily obtained. Again, what farmer would be
willing to dispense with the call of the noble " Farm Cock," at the
earliest dawn of each returning day ? or, who can be insensible to the
value of a flock of fowls in destroying worms and insects, which oth-
erwise might exert a very deleterious influence on the growing crop?
One of the competitors at the Fair, remarked to the committee,
that, in his opinion (and he has devoted as much time to this subject
as any man in this vicinity), " the good thus accomplished, would
more than compensate for the damage, which they would iiaturally
do to the crops, either in the garden or upon the farm.

But is there an actual profit in raising 2>oultry ? We are con-
strained to <>nswer this question in the aflfirmative: and, in comfirm-
;. tion of our views, we wish to introduce some statistics, very kindly
lumit-hed by Mr. L. P. Waknkr, of Sunderland, showing the value
of his flock of hens, during the past year.

On the first of January, 1853, Mr. Warner valued his stock of
hens at $23.25 ; and, at the close of the year, at §24. He thinks
the average number through the year would be about si.vty. His
largest number of laying hens at any one time was seventy-five. 'J'he
largest number of eggs in any one dav was seventy.

13

98 T It A X S A C X I 0 >' s .

To these hens, he fed during the year, food worth $39.45, consist-
ing of corn, potatoes, meat and bone-meal. The whole number of
eggs produced was 5451, which were sold for $60.79. The receipts
for poultry sold, were $30-28, amounting to $91.07. If from this
sum, Ave subtract the whole expense for feed, we have in round num-
bers $51.62, as the clear profit on the S23.25, the capital invested.
We are aware that we have not estimated the interest ; neither have
we spoken of the item of manure, which must have been an import-
ant one, and, if added to the seventy-five cents in our favor at the
close of the year, would pay the interest on the capital invested and
swell the amount of clear profit very considerably.

We perhaps ought, also, to state that the expense of the outfit
was next to nothing.

In view of facts like the above, we feel ourselves justified in call-
ing the attention of farmers to the importance of giving more atten-
tion to this subject. It must be apparent to every one, that the
profit in proportion to the amount invested by Mr. Warner, was
enormous. Whether others would be alike successful, experiment
alone can determine.

KEPORT ON BUTTER.

BY T. G. HUXTINGTOX.

The committee appointed to examine and report on Butter, be-
came, at an early stage of iheir proceedings, fully impressed with the
difficulty of doing justice to the charge committed to them. To de-
cide justly on the relative merits of the lots entered for exhibition, it
will be readily concadcd, was no easy task ; especially when all are
supposed, by the exhibitors at least, to be of the first quality. To
come to a decision which should be universally satisfactory, was not
to be thought of, or hoped for, indeed. Even if we had granted
prizes to every lot, we doubt whother our course would have found
more favor, than the one we have adopted.

We beg leave to assure those of our competitors, who have not
been successful, that the whole thing is a mere matter of taste. This
is true. Though we would by no means have it understood, that we

B U T T E K . 99

performed our duties blindfold, we hold that the eye may taste as well
as that other organ, which so generally claims a monopoly of that very
agreeable exercise.

Before entering upon our examination, the thought of a division
of labor was suggested, but almost as soon given up ; for it was seen
at once, that this matter of taste stood in the way. We thought of
the old proverb, " What's one man's meat may be another man's
poison," and gave up the project.

Then came the unwelcome conviction, that as tastes differ, so our
awards must almost necessarily be the result of a compromise. Find-
ing this train of thought leading to some reflection on human fallibil-
ity, not very flattering to our self esteem ; and feeling somewhat vexed
too on being compelled, to resort to a principle, which lias been so
hotly decried for the past year — we resolved upon another mode of
operation. Believing that among so many specimens, there must be
some very near perfect, we agreed upon certain qualities, which should
be indispensable to insure the drawing of a prize.

The first requisite should be cleanliness. This is necessary through
the whole process, from the milking of the cow to the finishing stroke
of the butter paddle. Any suspicion of unfaithfulness, here, cloys the
appetite at once ; and makes one perfectly willing to eat his bread
alone, rather than entertain a doubt, whether he is taking into his
mouth what properly belongs to the barnyard or the scavenger.

Closely connected with this, is the absence of all foreign taste in
butter. Many housewives, who perhaps are not justly chargable with
want of neatness, suffer this important article of manufacture to go
from under their hands, sadly intermixed with substances entirely
foreign to the pure article Salt is one of these and though necessary
in certain proportions — it will hardly do to adopt the principle in re-
gard to its use, that there cannot be too much of a good thing. We
believe that on« grand defect, here, is that cream is kept too long,
especially in the summer season, before it is churned. Few are aAvare,
perhaps, how soon putrifaction takes place in milk, in the hottest
weather in summer. Undoubtedly the most satisfactory results are
obtained, where the churning is performed every day. This is not
practicable in many of our small dairies ; but, where a tolerable article
is expected, it should be done as often as two or three times a week.
Butter seems to possess, in a remarkable degree, the power of appro-
priating to itself the flavor of substances, with which it is in near
contact. One of your Committee, anxious to protect his butter from

100 X R A X S A n TI 0 X s .

the fine dust, whicli is apt to settle upon it -while on exhibition, pro-
cured a box, which was to be covered Avith glass. The box, for want
of other material, was made of some sort of pine wood. In order to
test the matter, and ascertain whether the butter would take any taste
from the wood, a small lump was put upon a plate and placed in the
box. In twelve hours, it had imbibed so much of the flavor of the
wood, as to become strong and acrid, even, to the taste. In the ex-
amihation made by the committee to-day, the importance of this
matter was ainply illustrated ; much too large a proportion of the
lots exhibited, having a taint of some foreign substance. While on
this point, it may be well to say, that the quality of cream is some-
times materially damaged by being kept in a close vessel. This is
probably in consequence of the confinement of certain gases, which
operate injuriously and which would escape, if there were opportunity.
Another of our requisites is color and density. The color, common
consent declares, should be yellow, and it is useles to argue the ques-
tion, why it is so. It is granted, that this is not a matter wholly
within tlie dairywoman's power ; but then, if she has a husband and
knows how to manage Aim, she may not find it so very difficult, to in-
duce him to make a trial of his cows and keep only such as shall, by
the aid of her facile hands,* crown his board with a production, as
pleasing to the eye, as it is tempting to the appetite.

REPORT ON WHEAT BREAD.

BY EEV. GEORGE E. FISHER.

It was a query %\ith the chairman of the Committee, what qualifi-
cations he was supposed to possess for this Committeeship. He at
length concluded, that the appointing powers of this Society must
have known, that he has been living for several years upon good
bread. — first-rate bread, the very best of bread, — which is the case ;
and that they supposed, and that rightly, that he would consequently
know by intuition, what good bread is. He is persuaded, also, that
in the further constituting of this Committee, search was made, and
that wisely and successfully, for manufacturers who stand at the head
of then- trade or profession.

W H E A I B 11 E A B . 101

We might suggest that bread is the staff of life ; but as we have
a decided aversion to seeming originalities of thought and expression,
and to the starting of novelties and striking figures of speech, we
refrain from the suggestion.

Bread, real bread, that which is worthy of the name, is always
good ; i. e., it is light, sweet, eatable and digestible. There is much
that passes for bread, which is no bread at all. It is a ponderous,
acidiferous, uneatable, indigestible, conglomerated mass ; fit food, in-
deed, for Congressional doughfaces ; but by no means such as honest
and honorable men ought to take, whether they belong to healthy,
or " unhealthy," or profoundly unknowing or unknown political or-
ganizations. Such a preparation is not bread. It is libellous to call
it so.

Between what we have called bread, and what we have termed no
bread, comes in something which, as yet, is a nondescript, though it
may not much longer remain such. It is neither very light, nor very
heavy, — neither very sweet, nor very sour, — neither very eatable, nor
uneatable, — neither very digestible, nor indigestible. It is an am-
phibious article, too poor to be eaten, and too good to be uneaten.
It is therefore a great evil. It sorely vexeth one's righteous or un-
righteous soul. We wish it distinctly understood, at this point, that
Ave are not speaking from any painful personal experience. Good
bread is a good thing. Bad bread is a bad thing. Amphibious
bread is neither the one nor the other.

Bread-making is a great art. We call it a7i art, for M'e are not
aware, that nature produces the ar^-icle, i. e., bread does not grow
bread. It is an art in which, too many, whom, by doing violence to
language and truth and charity, we may possibly term housckecj^ers,
are altogether unskilled. Yet it is an art and an accomplishment,
far greater and worthier of attainment, than the most of those which
our would-be ladies seek to acquire, and in which it is their pride to
become proficients. In its real dignity, beauty and utility, it casts
entirely into the shade music and drawing, dancing and painting, and
simpering, artificial and affected mannerisms, which occupy the whole
minds and employ the tiny, delicate fingers, which it would be per-
fectly shocking and horrifying to soil by contact with the realities
and utilities of life in the kitchen, in the cellar, in the washing-room,
or in the cooking-department.

The exhibition of bread, to-day, has shown that there are large
numbers within the limits of this Society, who are well qualified for

102 TKANSACTI0N3.

promotion to a professorship in the science of bread-making We
trust, that no mother in Hamphire and Franklin will ever allow a
daughter to escape initiation into all its mysteries, or to go forth to
the duties of a new home, Avithout a thorough training and practical
acquaintance with this science. We fear that many mothers are in
this respect verily guilty. If not guilty of moral wrong, they are by
no means irresponsible for some little social disturbances, that some*
times ensue. Heavy, hard, sour bread, as the rule and not merely a
rare exception, tends to produce sourness and heaviness where it
were desirable, that they should never be. For bread, there should
be no family jars.

KEPORT ON RYE BREAD AND FLOUR.

BY KEY. DAVID EASTMAN.

The committee on Rye Bread and Flour, found many good speci-
mens offered for premiums. There were fourteen loaves of bread,
most of which were very white and pleasant to the taste ; exhibiting
care and skill in combining the mateiials entering into their compo-
sition. Some of the bread would have been supposed to have been
wheat, had we not seen it labelled "Rye Bread."

From the specimens presented, we were satisfied, that some of the
housekeepers in this vicinity " are workmen who need not be ashamed,"
and can suit the most fastidious lovers of Rye Bread. With their
tables supplied with such' an article, there would be no occasion for
apologies for the absence of wheat. Rye Bread among our fanning
population, enters largely into the food of familie- ; and. when
properly made of the best materials, contributes to good nature, health
and happiness. We recommend, therefore, to all matrons to carry
the art of manufacturing good Rye Bread to as high a degree of per-
fection as possible ; and to educate their daughters practically, in
this most honorable and useful duty. If this branch of domestic labor
is thoroughly understood, it is a guarantee, that all others will be
attended to in their place.

RYK AND INUIAXBlliCAD. 103

There were eight entries of nice Rye Flour, capable of making ths
very best bread of the kind. One of the boxes, contained a remark-
ably white and beautiful specimen, to which the committee unani-
mously awarded the first premium. Three others were nearly alike
in their good qualities, rendering it somewhat difficult to decide to
Avhich to give the preference. All the entries were worth presenting,
and were alike exhibitions of taste and skilful management, in the
cultivation of rye. Good Rye Flour depends on several things : The
seed sown should be of the best quality. Meadow or plain land is
said to produce the whitest and nicest flour. The harvest must be
gathered, in just the appropriate time, in a dry state. Very much
also depends upon the grinding. If all these things are attended to,
flour may be produced from rye, almost equal to the wheat flour,
which comes from the west. Rye so useful for bread, as well as for
animal food, should receive more attention from our farmers in its
cultivation, especially as it commands so high a price.

REPORT ON RYE AND INDIAN BREAD.

BY KEY. W. H. BEAMAN.

An essential to good housewifery is the art of making good bread.
The managers of this Society have shown their appreciation of this
fact, by assigning three committees to this department. Had they
selected women, instead of clergymGii for chairmen, they would have
shown tliemselves to be wiser men. For we meet the women here
on their own ground ; and if wc are the mouth pieces, we must say
about what they tell us to say, in making up our judgment. The
awards have accordingly been made and published.

A few words may be hazarded however without their personal as-
sent. There were five specimens of the old fashioned Rye and In-
dian Bread — such as everybody eat in the days of our childhood, be-
fore warm wheat Biscuit and Dyspepsia came into fashion. It is
hoped, the day is distant, when this brown staff of our revered, vigor-
ous ancestors, will be wholly exchanged for one that is whiter, light-
er, but not stronger. If the wives and mothers would have hardy

104 T 11 A :: S A. C 1- 1 G JV s .

and longlived husbands, sons and daughters, they must know how to
make good broAvn bread. If the daughters would be well qualified
to take their mothers' places, they must be ambitious to excel, not in
the work of the toilet, the graces of the drawing-room, the arts of
embroidering, painting and music, only ; but in that of baking, espe-
cially. This is woman's right, and should be her pride, rather than
harranguing public assemblies, and managing the affairs of State.
It is to be hoped that, next year, instead of eight, there will be, at
least, twenty-eight entries of brown bread. That the daughters, as
well as mothers, will have a hand, and a name in them, and the re-
sponsibility of judging and reporting upon them. Certain it is, that
among all the arts of women, which are many — but fev/ have a high-
er practical importance, than that of making plain, good and whole-
some bread ; essential qualities of which are, siocetness, lightness,
and (to coin a word) doncncss. In order to this, the materials must
be well selected, well mixed, well raised, and well baked. Then it
will be well eaten and well digested ; and the husbands, fathers and
sons, will thank the Giver of all good, or ought so to do, — not only
for this "staff of life," but for the hands which he has prepared to
furnish it. Of the housewife who excels here, it is to be presumed,
that "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he
shall have no need of spoil." that "She looketh well to the ways of
her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness" — that "Her
children rise up and call her blessed ; her husband also, and he
praiseth her.'''

REPORT
ON AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.

BY CII.VrvLES H. FIELD.

" Mi>'D makes the man." It may be said with as much truth, that
mind makes the community or nation. The yankec mind is said to
be peculiarly inquisitive. Whether inquisitivencss and inventive
genius are necessarily co-partners, we will leave for Doctors and Phi-
losophers to decide, inclining, however, to the opinion tbit they are.
The live Yankee, with his bosom companions, a jac'v-knife and pine

AGItlCULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 105

stick, almost invariably produces something both novel and useful.
Be this as it may, we may rest assured, in this age of mechanical fairs,
agricultural societies and baby shows, that the genius of America is
inventive.

The character of our inventions, whether in science or art, is emi-
nently practical, adapted to our wants, and calculated to elevate all
classes and conditions of society. Other nations may have excelled
us in matters of taste and luxury. But it is only in countries like our
own, with its vast territory, and unbounded resources, where minds,
always busy and uninfluenced by the vagaries of olden time, are so
eager in the search after wealth and progress, that invention assumes
its true character of administering to the wants of all. As a natural
result of our wants as a nation, our efforts have been eminently suc-
cessful. American genius has controlled that mighty power, steam,
and demonstrated its great superiority as a propelling power, thus
rendering it subservient to the wants of man. It has tamed the fury
of the lightening's power, and bid it go on messages of mercy, rat'ier
than of vengeance. It has tunnelled mountains, levelled hills, filled
up valleys, explored the bottom of the sea, dug deep into the bowels
of the earth for hidden treasures, and visited the starry spheres above.

No country can compete with us in cheap but useful agricultural
implements: in the manufacture of many articles from the precious
ore. No country possess macliines for the working of lumber or other
manufacturing purposes in such perfection. Our rivers are traversed
by the most elegant steamboats. Our ships, which ride so majestical-
ly over the billowy deep, far outstrip all others in speed, beauty and
durability. In short, our country affords abundant evidence of the
contributions of inventive genius to her prosperity and happiness. It
would be useless to enumerate the advantages we possess at the
present day, as compared with the past.

It has become a matter of history, a " living epistle, known and
read of all men."' In the brief interval from one agricultural fair to
another, we may not perceive any remarkable change ; but when we
look back for but one half century, who can fail to observe the " signs
of the times,"' and to look forward with renewed hope and confidence
into the future.

In improved implements of husbandry, there has been a marked
advance, within a few years. Science has thrown her light upon the
farmer's pathway, rendering his occupation both pleasant and profit-
able. The drudgery and monotony of the farmer's life is fast wear-

14

106 TRAXS ACTIONS.

ing away under the potent influence of mowing, Avinnowing and
thrashing machines, seed sowers and planters, corn shellcrs, patent
churns and patent cow-tail holders. Necessity, " the mother of in-
vention," has caused great improvements to be made in all the im-
plements of husbandry, and the farmer can give no satisfactoay rea-
son why his work should not be done in its season, and well done.
Yet we fear there are many, who, from mistaken notions of economy,
or fear of spending the " almighty dollar," follow in the beaten track
of their fathers and grandfathers. Such would prefer the Syrian
plough of old, which was made of th? branch of a tree, cut off below
some crook, and tipped with iron, and drawn by a small cow or ass,
merely scratching the surface of the ground, to the double, cast iron
plough of the present day, that is capable of pulverizing the soil to
the depth of twelve or fourteen inches. No good farmer will fail to
employ these aids to labor, which, as experience has taught, tend to
improve the condition of all classctss, and to advance civilization. The
farmer and mechanic are bound together by the strongest ties of in-
terest, and whatever contributes to the prosperity of the one, operates
equally to the advantage of the other. We cannot forbear, here, from
alluding to the too common practice of furnishing our youth with
worn out or refuse tools ; and then requiring too great an amount of
labor, or finding fault with its execution. We need not wonder that
they look upon agriculture, as servile or slavish ; and on its votaries,
as mere serfs ; and leave the old homestead, with sU its hallowed as-
sociations, in pursuit of other occupations. Encourage them not only
by precept and example, but by surrounding them with those comforts
and conveniences, which none but ihe husbandman can enjoy, which
are so well calculated to secure that greatest of earthly blessings, a
contented and happy mind.

The exhibition of specimens of agricultural imjDlements and mechanic
arts, was good, comprising thirty entries, but time and space will for-
bid an extended notice. Among the best, were the fire engine of
Cataract Engine Co., of Amherst, which, judging from its mechanical
appearance, would work like a charm ; a Seraphine, entered by L. G.
Rice of Montague, of beautiful finish and superior tone ; a telegraph
machine by G. H. Brown, of Granby, of fine mechanical appearance
— samples of agricultural implements by Lovett & Dickinson of Am-
herst, which would recommend themselves to any farmer ; samples of
axes, adzes, &lc., by C. W. Hannum of Chester, which brought forci-
bly to mind the old adage, " beware how you handle edge tool." W.

TKEASURERS REPOKT.

107

Fuller of Amherst, exhibited a floating ball Washing Machine, which,
caused a gleam of satisfaction to rest upon the faces of matronly-
dames and rosy-cheeked damsels. There were many other articles,
worthy of praise ; and we regret that our means were so limited, in;
bestowing gratuities to contributors to this important part of our f.iir.
Agriculture is said to be the mother of the arts, and we hail widt
pleasure the day, not far distant, when science and agriculture shall
go hand in hand, and when the husbandman shall take his proper-
rank among the professions.

TREASURER'S REPORT.

PERMANENT FUND, Gross Recfipts to Not, 30, 1854, $3485,51.

RECEIPTS OF 1854.

Caslirec'dfr. Commonwealth, $(iOO 00

« " income of the fund, 153 18

New members and donations, 251 00

"Whole amount of receipts, $1907 18

DISBURSEMENTS OF 185i.

Premiums and gratuities Paid

or Payal-ilc, . . . $150 42

Printing Transactions, 600

copies for distribution, . 100 00

Current Expenses of the So-
ciety, about . . . 300 00

Disbursements for the year, $850 42

ANALYSES OF PUEMIl'MS AWAKUED.

AVhole number of Competitors, 6W
"Whole No. who rcc'd Premivuns, 207
AVhole am't awar'd in Premiums, $485
Number of Towns in which Pre-
miums were distributed, 21

Amherst,

$140 00

Belchertown, .

* •

17 10

Chester, ,

75

Conway, .

2 00

Deer field, .

10 50

Ervuig,

4 00

Granby, .

35 60

Greenwich,

3 00

Hadley, .

79 00

Lcverett, .

12 50

Montague,

6 50

New Salem,

5 00

New York,

20

Northampton,

11 90

Pelham, .

6 25

Prescott, .

2 65

Shutesbury,

5 00-

South Hadley,

11 25

Springfield,

3 00

Sunderland^

128 55

AVhately,

2&

AMncusT, Nov. 30, 1854.

JAMES W. BOYDEX, Treasurer,

LIFE MEMBERS

OF THE

HAxMPSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY,

HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS

Prof. Wm. C. Fowler, Amherst, I
11 )X. M. P. WiLOER, Dorchc'^ter,
AV.M. C. GoLDTiiw.viT, A. M.'. Westiielcl,
Hey, F. D. Huxtixgton, Boston, |

Hox. Geo. T. Davis, Greenfiekl,
Z. C. Montague, A. M., Amlierst,
C. L. Flixt, Sec. State Board of Ag
IIox. J. C.-Gray, Boston.

• a:»*iiierst.

Adams, Charles
Adams, Charles Mi's.
Adams, John S.
Adams, John S. Mrs.
Aius^worth, Forrester
Allen, Benjamin AV.
*Allen, Illram II.
Allen, lia-am H. Mi-s.
Allen, Martha L.
Allen, Nathaniel
*Ames, Edwin
AjTes, Elijah
AjTcs, Elijah Mrs.
Ayres, Josiah
Baker, Alfred
Baker, Alfred '^hs.
Baker, Euos
Baker, George
Baker, George 'Mrs.
Baker, Joel
Bangs, Charles H.
Bangs, Danforth K.
Bangs, Danforth K. Mrs.
Barnard, Alvan
Barnard, Alvan Mrs.
Bartlctt, David
Bartlett, David Mrs.
Belden, Aaron
Bilden, Horace
Belden, Timothy C.
Bla'ichard, Horace
*Blodgctt, Henry
Bo^ue, Elishu
Bogue, Elis'.a ilrs.
Iliil; voo'l, r.ucius
Bolt wood, William

LIFE MEMBERS

BoltM'ood, AVillinm Mrs. I
Boyden, James W. |

Boyden, James AV. Mrs.
Bridgman, Guilford
BridgTnan, Henry A.
*Bridgman, Jonatlian
Bridgman, Mary S.
Briggs, Ebenezer
Briggs, Ebenezer AIi's.
Bm'nham, George Jr.
Bm-nham, Geo. Jr. ^Irs.
CadwcU, Aretas J.
Cadwell, Aretas J. Mrs.
Caller, Samuel C.
Carter, Samuel C. ^Ii's.
Chandler, Aaron AI.
Church, Elihu S.
Chnrch, Elihu S. AIi's.
Chvu'ch, SjDencer
Clark, Simeon
Clark, Simeon Airs.
Clark, AV. S. Prof.
Clark, AV. S. Mrs.
Cohb, Henry
Conkey, Ithamar
Conkey, Ithamar F.
Conkey, Ithamar F. Mrs.
Converse, Daniel
C'onverse, Daniel Mrs.
Cooke, David S.
Cooke, David S. Mrs.
Cook, Eiios F.
Cooley, Alden
C^ooley, Aloses D.
Co '.vies, Caester
Covvles, C tester Airs.
Cowles, Clinton J.

Cowles, Clinton J. Airs.
Cowles, Enoch
Cowles, Enoch Airs.
Cowles, Erastus
Cowles, Erastus Airs.
CoAvles, James
Cowles, James Aii-s.
Cowles, Jonathan
Cowles, Jonathan Airs.
Cowles, Jonathan Jr.
Cowles, Jona. Jr. Airs.
*Cowles, Julia B. Aliss
CoM'les, Levi D.
Cov.-les, Levi D. Airs.
Cowles, Aloses
Cowles, AIoscs Airs.
*Cowles Oliver
Cowles, Ransom
Cowles, Ransom Airs.
Cowles, Submit Airs.
Cummins, E. A. Rev.
Cummins, E. A. Airs.
Curtis, Oliver H.
Curtis, Oliver H. Mrs.
Cushman, John R.
Cushman, John R. Mi's.
Cutler, Esther Aliss
Cutler, Elisha P.
Cutler, George
Cutler, George Airs.
Cutler, Robert
Cutler, Robert Airs.
Cutler, Samuel F.
Cutler, AVilliam
Cutler, AVilliam Mrs.
Dana, Joseph
Darling, Benjamin R.

* VfbOBta&i.

1. 1 Jb' JS M E il IS D U 8

108

Dexter, David
Dexter, David Mrs.
Dickinson>.As;i & Noble
Dickinson, Eola U.
Dickinson, Bcla 1'. Mrs.
Dickint^on, Charlotte Miss
Dickinson, Daniel
Dickinson, Daniel Z\Irs.
Dickinson, Daniel A.
Dickinson, Emily E, Miss
Dickinson, Edv.ard
Dickinson, Edv.ard !\Ii-s.
Dickinson, Enos
Dickinson, Enos ^Irs.
Dickinson, Enos 2d
Dickinson, Enos 2d ili's.
Dickinson, John
Dickinson, John ilrs.
Dickinson, Joseph
Dick inson , Jos iaii
Dickinson, L, A. Miss
Dickinson, Lydia E. Miss
Dickinson, Lovina Miss
Dickinson, I/iicius
Dickinson, ^Marquis F.
Dickinson, M. F. :Mrs.
Dickinson, Moses B.
Dickinson, Moses B. Mrs.
Dickinson, Oliver
Dickinson, Oliver '^h:9.
Dickinson, S-arah M. Miss
Dickinson, Samuel S.
Dickinson, S. S. Mrs.
Dickinson, Waitstill
Dickinson, \Vaitstill Mrs.
Dickinson, William
Dickinson, AV'illiam 2d
Dickinson, Wm. Austin
Dickinson, Vv"illiam E.
Dickinson, William W.
Draper, Lewis L,
Dutton, Alonzo
Dutton, Alonzo I\irs.
Dvvight, E. S. Rev.
Dwight, E. S. :Slis.
Eastman Austin
Eastman, Austin ;Mi's.
Eastman, Baxter
Eastman, Baxter Mrs.
Eastman, Solomon K.
*Eastman, S. K. Mrs.
Edwards, Simeon
Farrar, George H. Tsirs.
Ferry, Sarah P. Miss
Field, D'Estaing Mi-s.
Fish, Cummins
Fish, Seth
Fish, Seth Mrs.
Fisher, George E. Rev.
Fitch, Newton
Fitch, Newton Mrs.
Freacb, Mary F. Mies

Fiink, Iicnry
Frink, Henry i.Ii-s.
Fuller, "Waiter
Gay lord, Flavcl
Gaylord, Eleuzer
Gaylord, William
Craylord, William Mrs.
Goodaic, Noble T.
Goodale, Rufus
(joodale, Kufas JMi's.
Gray, Joseph P.
Gray, Joseph P. Mrs.
*Green, Eunice
Green, !Moses B.
*Gridiey, Timothy J.Dr.
Grout, AiiSiiu
Gunn, LjTnau
Grunn, William F.
riallock, Lcavitt
Hallock, Leavitt Mi-s.
Hammond, Salem
Hammond, Salem ilrs.
Harlow, Nathaniel L.
Hastings, Edmimd
Hastings, Edmund JIi's.
Hastings, Joseph C.
Hastings, J. C. Sirs.
Hastings, Thomas
Hastings, Thomas ^Ii-s.
Haven, Joseph Prof.
Plaven, Joseph Mrs.
Hawley, Charles SI.
Hawley, Harrison
Hawley, Justin
Hayward, Chaides F.
Hayvv'ard, Chas. F. !Mi-s.
Henderson, Timothy
Hills, Leonjird !>I.
Hills, Leonard M. Mrs.
Hills, Liberty
HiUs, Liljerty Mrs.
Hills, Samuel
Hills, Samuel T.
HUls, Samuel T. Mrs.
Hitchcock, Edward
Hitchcock, Edward Mrs.
Hobart, Edmund
Hobart, Edmund Mrs.
Hobart, George W.
Hobart, Geo. W\ Mrs.
Ilobai-t, Jeremiah W.
Hobart, Joshua
Hobart, Stillman
Hobart, Stillman Mrs.
Howard, H. C. & M. W.
Howard, ]\I. W. ISlis.
Howe, Albin P.
HoAve, Albin P. Mrs.
Howland, Warren S.
Howland, W. S. Mrs.
Hubbard, Ethan D.
Hubbard, Ethan P. Mrs.

Hubbard, Orton

Ingram, Ezra

Ingram, Hari'ison

Ingram, Harrison Mrs.

Ingram, llui'us

Ingram, Zaccheus C.

Ingram, Zaccheus C.Mrs.

Jackson, Henry
I Jcwett, George B. Prof.

Johnson, Earl
j Johnson, Earl I\Irs,
I Johnson, Orren
I *Jones, Thomas
I Jones, Thomas Mrs.
' Kellogg, H. C.
j Kellogg, Eleazer
1 Kellogg, Horace
j Kellogg, Horace Jr.
I Kellogg, James
j Kellogg, Lj-man
! Kellogg, LjTuan 'Mis.
! Kellogg, Willard M.
1 Kellogg, Willard M. Mrs.
I * Kellogg, William
I Kellogg, William Mrs.
I Kellogg, William

Kingman, Cjtus

Lelaud, John
' Leland, John ^Irs.

Lincoln, R. S.

Lincoln, R. S. Mrs.

Loomis, Austin

Loomis, Milton

L}nnan, John

«Maek, David

Ivlack, David Mrs.

Marshall, Ansel C.

Marshall, Joseph E.

Mather, William E.

Mather, William E. Mrs.

Mc]>Iaster, Charles

IVIcMaster, Charles Mrs.

Merrick, James E.

Merrick, James E. Mrs.

Merrick, James L. Rev.

Merrick, James L. ili-s.

*Mcrrick, William

Merrill, Calvin

Merrill, Calvin Mrs.

Merrill, HaiTiet O. Miss

Moore, Phebe Mrs.

Munsell, Guy C.

Nash, Charles

Nash, Chaides Mrs.

Nash, J. A. Rev.

Nash, J. A. Mrs.

Nash, Luther

Needham, Emory IL

Needham, Emory H.Mrs.

Nelson, Julia C. Miss

Newton, Walter

Palmcar, Frederick A.

110

r,IiE 1IEMBEK3

Palmer, Frederick A.Mrs.

Pierce, Francis A.

Pierce, Francis A. Mrs.
I Pomcroy, David

*Pomeroy, David Mrs.

Potwinc, Thomas

Prince, Samuel

Putnam, Rufus

Putnam, Rufus Mrs.

Rankin, John

Reed, Thomas

*leed, Thomas Mrs.

Rice, Alpheus

Roberts, Fanny H. Mrs.

Robins, Alva

Robins, Z. \V.

Robins, Z. W. Mrs.

Robinson, Ferdin'd ^Irs.

Robinson & Aiu^worth,

Russell, R. Chauncy

Russell, Emerson

Russell, Emerson !Mrs.

Russell, Francis H.

Scgraves, Horatio

iShepard, Charles U.

Slate, Jonathan S.

Smith, B. F. Dr.

Smith, B. F. Mrs.

Smith, Cotton

Smith, Timothy

Smith, Timothy ^Irs.

Smith, William B.

Smith, William W.

Snell, E. S. Prof.

Snell, E. S. Mrs.

Spaulding, Philip D.

Spear, Ebenczer P.

Spear, lA'scom

Spear, Lyscom Mrs.

Spear, M^Tick N.

Stanley, Edward A.

Stratton, Chester Dr.

Stratton, Chester ^Irs.

Strickland, "William G.

Strickland, Wm. G. Mrs

Sweetser, Hannah Mrs.

Sweetser, Luke

Swcctser, Luke Mrs.

Taylor, Israel II. Dr.

Taj'lor, Israel H. ilrs.

Taylor, Stillman

Thayer, Jason

Thayer, Jason, Mrs.

Thayer, Jonathan

Thayer, Jonathan Mrs.

Thayer, Reuben

Thayer, Savannah A.

Thayer, S. A. Mrs.
Turner, Rodolphus

Tvler, William S. Prof.
Tyler, William S. Mrs.
Warner, Aaron Prof.

Warner, Aaron ^Irs.
Warner, David S.
Warner, George
Watson, Oliver
Watson, Oliver Mrs.
Wcthercll, Lcandcr
Wheeiock, Dana
Wheelock, Russell T.
♦Whipple, David
Whipple, George A.
Whitney, Simon W.
W^illiams, Ebenczer
Williams, Enos D.
Williams, E. D. }ilrs.
Williams, Frederick
Williams, Oriu
Williams, Orin Mrs.
Winter, Jonas H.
Woodman, Geo. S. Dr.
Woodman, G. S. Mrs.
WoodMorth. C. L. Rev.
*Wood-vvorth, C. L. Mrs.
Wright, Svlvauus il.
Wright, S."M. Mrs. 385

BALSTOX, N. Y.
Crapo, Azubah Mrs. 1

BALTIMORE, MD.
BroAvn, Smitli 1

BELCHERTOAVX.

Alden, Thomas
Ariiold, Barnard
Barrett, Leonard
Chandler, George
Dorm an, Roderic
Dunbar, Charles T.
Dwight, Xathaniel Jr.
Gilbert, Wareham C.
Goodell, Asahel
*IIainium, (ramalicl
Ilannum, Lyman W.
Holland, Luther
*LaAATence, MjTon
*Longlcy, Joshua
Montague, Epiiraim
Packard, Joel
Sab in, LjTuan
Sisson, John
Thayer, Ilezekiah
Thayer, Rufus
Thayer, William
*To'vVne, Israel
Wilson, Asa 23

BOSTOX.

Smith, Charles

Smith, Chailes !Mrs. 2

CHICAGO, ILL.
Tapley, George AV. 1

CHICOPEE.
Mossman, Abner G. 1

I COX WAY.

j May, Cephas 1

I COYIXGTOX, KY.
Payson, Joseph R. 1

DEERFIELD.

Fogg, Josiah
Stebbins, Evander G.
Stebbins, Moses
Stebbins, Moses Mrs. 4

EASTHAMPTOX.
Colton, A. M. Rev.
Coltoij, A. M. Mrs. 2

EX FIELD.
Fobes, Henry
Smith, Alvan
Woods, Josiah B. 3

GEXESEO, ILL.
Godfrey, William B. I

GRAXBY.
A\Tes, Rodney
A}Tes, Samuel
Barton, James M.
Barton, Phineas D.
Chapin, Philo
Clark, Augustus
Clark, 1-UKo M.
Clark, Spencer
Dickinson, Samuel D.
Ferry, C.iarles S.
i"'erry, LuciUS
Montague, Giles F.
Montague, Holland
Patrick, William J.
Preston, John II. D.
Richardson, Oremus
Srait'i, George
Smith, Jarcd
Smith, Xclson
Smith, Samuel Jr.
Smith, William A.
Stebbins, Cyrus
Taylor, Milo A.
Warner, Alonzo
Warner, Park
Witt, Benjamin
Witt, Horace
Woodward, A\'m. H. 28

GRAXBY, CT.
Gaylord, Ebenczer
Gaylord, Eben. Mrs. 2

GREEXFIELD.
L'STnan, Horace
Smith, Samuel D. 2

GREEXWICH.
Douglass, Stephen
Earle, Luke 2

HAD LEY.
Adams, Benjamin
Adams, Benjamin Mrs.

LIFE JklEilEERS

111

Adams, Joseph
Adams, Levi
Adams, Levi Mrs.
Baker, Esek
Carter, Benjamin T.
Comins, Simou F.
*Co\vles, Asa
Cowlcs, Dauiel
Cowlcs, Daniel Mrs.
Cowlcs, David 8.
Cowles, David Mrs.
Cowlcs, Elijah
Cowles, Elijah Mrs.
Cowles, Lewis
*Cowles, Lewis Mrs.
Dickinson, Dexter C.
Dickinson, Elihu S.
Dickinson, George
Dickinson, Samuel Jr.
Dickinson, "William P.
Dickinson, "NVm. P. ^L:s.
Granger, Lorenzo N.
Granger, Lorenzo N. Mrs.
Gray, Amos
Gray, Chester
Green, Dorus
Green, Dorus ?kL:s.
Green, Ileiu-y
Green, Linus
Green, Linus Mrs.
Havward, E. E.
Hihbard, Albert
Hibbard, E.
Hill, Roderic B.
Hooker, Benjamin
Huntington, Theodore G.
Huntington, T. P.
Huntington, T. P. Mrs.
Kellogg, Marthi
Kellogg, ^lartin Mrs.
Kellogg, Stillman
Kellogg, Stillman Mrs.
Lamson, Charles E.
Marsh, Timothy S.
Morton, John A.
Morton, John A. Mrs.
Nash, John W.
Nash, Samuel
Nash, Samuel Mrs.
Osborn, John
Pasco, Theodore-
Pasco, Theodore Mrs.
Porter, Eleazcr
Porter, Edwards J.
*Portcr, Louisa
Powers, Alfred
Powers, Alfred Mrs.
Powers, Samuel
Powers, Samuel Mrs.
Russell, Horace
Russell, Horace Mrs.
RussoU, John

Russell, John Mrs.
Russell, Levi
Russell, Levi !Mrs.
Sab in, Sherman
Sab in, Sherman Mrs.
Scott, Rufus
Scott, Rufus Mrs.
Shipman, John
Shipman, John Jr.
Smith, Chester
Smith, Cotton
Smith, Cotton Mrs.
Smith, Edmund
Smith, Erastus
Smith, Giles E.
Smith, Horace
Smith, Jeriah S.
Smith, Joseph
Smith, Joseph Mrs.
Smith, R. "Wales
Smith, R. Wales Mrs.
Smith, Thaddeus
Smith, Thaddeus Mrs
Stockbridge, Levi
Tower, Samuel
Wallis, Addi
"SYest, Parsons
"West, Parsons Mrs.
White, Samuel S.
Williams, P. Smith
Wilder, Samuel C. 95

HATFIELD.
Hubbard, George W. 1

HOLYOKE.
Cooke, Edwin F. 1

KEEXE, N. H.
Sprague, Joseph G. 1
KNOXYILLE, TENN.

Cooke, George Rev.

Cooke, Geoi'ge Mrs. 2
LEYERETT.

Adams, Alden

Asbley, Mai-vin

Ashley, Marvin Mrs.

Ball, Orus

Ball, Orus Mrs.

Ball, Silas

Bangs, Howard

Boutwell, Levi

Boutwell, Levi Mrs.

Boutwell, Samuel W.

Clark, William Wells

Cutter, Seneca Mrs.

Duuklee, Hezekiah

Eastman, David Rev.

Eastman, David Mrs.

Field, Alden C.

Field, Alden C. Mrs.

Field, Asa L.

Field, Asa L. Mrs.

Field, Charlea H.

Field, Charles H. Mrs.
Field, Harrison
Field, Harrison O.
Field, Harrison O. ilrs.
Field, Moses
Field, Moses Mrs.
Field, Zebina
Fitts, Nathan H.
Frary, Francis
Graves, Elmer
Graves, AYalter
Graves, Kellogg
Hobart, Baxter R.
Hobart, Chai-les D.
Hobart, Peter
Hobart, Spencer
Howard, Baxter
Hubbard, Roswell
Ingram, Elisha
Ingram, Elijah
Kimball, David
Leach, Chester
Matthews, Horace
Moore, Dexter
Nutting, Lucius
Nutting, Ransom.
Porter, Cephas
Putnam, Timothy
Putnam, Timothy Mrs.
Rice, Josiah
Rice, David Dr.
Smith, NVdliam H.
Ttiylor, AYilliam
AYhitaker, Augustus G.
Willis, Lawsou
Wood, Seth

Woodbury, Jason H. 56
MARLBORO", N. H.
Downs, Almeron S. 1

MONTAGUE.
Boutwell, William
Paine, Orrin Mrs.
Russell, Calvin
Russell, Calvin Mrs.
Spaulding, Peter Jr. .5
MT. MORRIS, N. Y.
Sears, Simon 1

NEW LONDON, CT.
Ford, Emily Mrs. j

NEW SALEM.
Haskius, Nelson
Hunt, Horace 2

NEW Y'ORK CITY".
Colton, Joseph
Harrington, Samuel
Harrington, Samuel Mrs.
Smith, H. B. Prof. 4.

NORTHAMPTON.
Arnold, W. A.
Baker, OsmTii

112

LITE MEilBERS.

Clapp, D. M.
Clark, WiUiam Jr.
Clark, WiUiam
Dickinson, George P.
Titts, Elijah B.
Hawks, Charles K.
Hinckley, Samuel L.
Hillyer, Winthrop
Kirkland, Harvey
Parsons, Samuel L.
Shepard, Ashur
Shepard, Henry
Smith, S. M.
Strong, Elisha
Strong, William
Thayer, Justin
Trumbull, James R.
Trumbull, James R. Mi-:
Washburn, Luther 1.
Wells, Samuel
West, Joseph I.
Wilson, J. W.
Wright, Ansel 2

OLEAN, N. Y.
Nutting Truman
Nutting, Truman Mrs.
OSKOSH, Wise.
Kellogg, Ansel W.
PELHAM.
Aldrich, Asahel
Aldrich, Nchemiah W.
Ballou, Emory
Ballou, Hii-ami
Barrows, Isaac
Bufl'um, Thomas
Carter, John
Cook, Olncy
Eaton, Calvin D.
Pales, Abijah
Hall, John 13.
Newell, Lemuel H.
Rankin, Ansel A.
Rankin, Ansel A. ^trs.
Russell, John
Ward, Joseph G.

PRESCOTT.
Aiken, Benjamin P.
Paige, Benjamin K.
Paige, Christopher

PROVIDENCE, R. I
Leonard, Dexter M.

SHUTESBURY.
Adams, N. Dickinson
Adams, S. AVard
Dudley, Samuel F.
Fitts, Edward
Howe, Abraham S.
Shores, David

SOUTHAMPTON.
Edwards, Elisha
SOUTH HADLEY.

Allen, Levi W.

IG

Alvord, Hervey
Bates, Emerson
Burnett, Nelson W.-
Clark, Marcellus
Gaylord, Lorenzo
Kellogg, Amos
l,athrop, Paoli
Lyman, George J.
Lpnan, Lorenzo W.
Montagiie, C. Newton
Moody, Hovey
Nash, Thomas M.
Smith, Edmund
Smith, Edmund Mrs.
Smith, Gilbert A.
Smith, Jason
Snow, Sheldoai ilrs. 18

SPRINGFIELD.
Brewster, John ^L. Dr.
Montague, Isaac AV. 2

STAFFORD, CT.
Kellogg, Sauford Wells 1

SUNDERLAND.
Brown, Sylvester
Brown, Sylvester !Mrs.
Clai'k, Austin L.
Clark, Austin L. Mi-s.
Clark, Eliphalet Mrs.
Clark, Sereno D. Rev.
Cl;u-k, Sereno D. Mrs.
Cooley, Charles
Crocker, Stoughton D.
Dickinson, Ebenezer P.
Dickinson, E. P. !Mi's.
Dickinson, Ransom
Dickinson, Ransom Mrs.
Dunklee, Benjamin F.
Dunlap, Samuel
Dunlap, Samuel Mrs.
Field, Erastus D.
Gaylord, AVilliam
Graves, Alden
Graves, George AA^.
Graves, Hubbai-d
Graves, Hubbard Mrs.
Graves, Timothy
*Grover, Josiah
Gunn, Isaac S. II.
Hemenway, B. C. Mrs.
Henderson, Horace
Henderson, Horace ilrs.
Hubbard, Alanson
Hubbard, Alanson Mrs.
Hubbard, Ashley
Hubbard, Ashley Mrs.
Hubbard, Averv D.
Hubbard, A. D. :\Irs.
Hubbard, Claudius B.
Hubbard, C. B. Mrs.
Hubbard, Kelita
Hubbajrd, Martin L.

Hubbard, IMoses 2d
Hiibbard, Moses 2d Airs.
Hubbard, Rodolphus B.
Hunt, James
Hunt, Aleizar
Hunt, AVilliam
Hunt, Zebina M.
Ludden, Parmenas
iMillcr, AVashington
Alontague, Albert
Montague Albert, Airs.
Alontague, AVarreu
Russell, Austin
Russell, Emmons
Russell AVilliam AV.
RusseU, AVra. AV. Mrs.
Sanderson, Eli
Sanderson, H. F. ilrs.
Smith, Austin
Smith, Austin Airs.
Smith, Brainard
Smith, Brainai'd Airs.
Smith, Elihu
Smith, Jo^n M.
Smith, John AI. Mrs.
Smith, Nathaniel
Smith, Nathaniel Airs.
Smith, N. Austin
Smi'th, N. Austin Airs.
Trow, Nathaniel G. Dr.
AA'arner, James R.
AVarncr, Levi P.
AVarner, Levi P. Airs.
AVhittero.ore,D.D.& J. Jr.
AVilcy, Dolly F. Airs.
AA'ilcy, Ebenezer
AA^iley Ebenezer Airs.
AA'iley, John
AA'illiams, Oliver
AVright, Abram 78

^TAUNTON.
Sanford, John Rev.
Sanford, John ALs. 2

AVARE.
Gilbert, George H.
Gilbert, G. H. Mrs.
Phelps, Samuel H.
Rice, Joel
Sage, Orrin
Stevens, Charles A. 6

AA^ESTBOROUGH.
Smith, Charles H.
White, Samuel N.
AA'hite, Sam'l N. Airs. 3
AVILLIAAISBURGIL
Bartlett, Newman AA^.
Graves, Levi AI. 2

AATLAIINGTON, VT.
Smith, Newman AA'. Dr.
Smith, N. AV. Mrs. 2

TRANSACTIONS

07 THB

mp^xt €s. %fMimi ^stu%

DURING THE YEAR

1855.

PREPARED BY THE SECRETARY.

AMHERST, MASS. :

PRESS OF WILLIAM FAXON,
1855.

CONTENTS.

By-Laws,

Transactions, . .

Address by C. L. Flint, Sec'y Mass. Board op Agkicultube,
Report on Fruit Trees, by Dr. Rice, ....

Orchard of Moses Stebbins,

Orchards of Chandler, Warner and Atres,

Nurseries and Reclaimed Orchards,
Report on Forest Trees by Prof. Clark, .

Plantation of T. P. Huntington,
Report on Subsoil Plowing by S. C. Wilder,

Experiments by Albert Montague,
Manure Experiments by Albert Montague,

Experiment by J. Edwards Porter,
Report on Farming Tools by Hon. F. De Witt,
Report on Mowing Machines by T. G. Huntington,
Report on Crops with Statement of A. L. Clark, .

Statement of J. Edwards Porter, ....

Statements of W. Miller and A. Montague, .

Statements of N. A. Smith and A. Montague, .• .

Statements of Messrs. Smith, Williams and Porter,

Statements of 0. & F. H. Williams and L. P. Warner,
Report on Horses by Gilbert A. Smith, ....
Report on Swine by Levi P. Warner, ....

Feeding Swine ; an Experiment by A. Montague,
Report on Bread by Levi Stockbridge, ....

Report on Butter by Rev. W. H. Beaman,
Report on Stock by Leander Wetherell, ....

Premiums and Gratuities Awarded,

Report of the Treasurer, . . ...

Officers of the Society,

Honorary Members,

Life Members of the Hampshire Agricultural Society,
Recapitulation

4
5
9

33
35
36
37
38
40
40
40
41
42
43
44
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
52
53
54
54
56
61
65
66
67
67
72

B Y-L A W S.

Art. 1. The Officers of this Society shall be one President, six Vice
Presidents, a Secretary and Treasurer, and an Executive Committee of seven,
to be chosen by ballot, 'at the annual meeting, ^d to serve one year, and
until others are chosen in their stead.

Art. 2. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Society, and
in his absence, one of the Vice Presidents.

Art. 3. The Secretary shall keep a true record of all the doings of the
Society.

Art. 4. The Treasurer shall keep an account of all monies received into
and paid out of the treasury. His accounts shall always be open to inspec-
tion by any member of the Society, and he shall give Bond in such sum as
shall be designated by the Executive Committee, for the faithful discharge of
his duties, and he shall make an annual report, previously audited by the
Executive Committee.

Art. 5. It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee, to call special
meetings of the Society ; to designate the time and place of annual exhibi-
tions, and make all necessary arrangements therefor ; to "appoint Sub Com-
mittees for examination and to award premiums ; and to have a general su-
pervision over the funds and affairs of the Society. The President and Sec-
retary shall be members of the Executive Committee.

Art. 6. The Annual Meeting of the Society shall be held on the last
Wednesday of December, each year, and twenty members shall constitute a
quorum to do business.

Art. 7. Notices for all meetings of the Society shall be signed by the
President and Secretary, and published in some newspaper in the County, or
circulated by handbills, or in any other manner that may be designated by
the Executive Committee.

Art. 8. Any male person may become a Life Member by paying to the
Treasurer the sum of five dollars. Any lady, by payment of two dollars and
fifty cents, may become a Life Member.

Art. 9. Minors, whose father and mother are members of this Society,
and to whom premiums may be awarded, "shall be paid the full amount of the
premiums awarded. And in cases where the father only is a member, and
has paid more than five dollars to the Society, his minor children shall be
paid the full amount of the premiums awarded to such minors.

Art. 10. All Premiums not called for within six months after the same
are awarded, shall be paid into the treasury and be considered as presented
to the Society.

Art. 11. These By-Laws may be amended or altered by a majority of the
members, present at any legal meeting.

€xMSuixaM.

The present year has been one of prosperity and progress.
The funds of the Society have constantly increased and
the interest in its welfare has extended. Although the So-
ciety has received, for the past four years, sixty new members
annually, yet, this year, there have been sixty-five new mem-
bers, so that the whole number, including ladies, is now 874.
May the Society, in two or three years, have a fund of four
thousand dollarsj and count a thousand members.

Through the courtesy of Hon. Edward Dickinson, member
of Congress from this District, the Society was supplied with
forty volumes of the U. S. Patent Office Reports, both Agri-
cultural and Mechanical, to be awarded in gratuities.

One hundred copies of the " Agriculture of Massachusetts,
as shown in the returns of the Agricultural Societies for 1854,."
and also the Second Annual Report of Charles L. Flint,
Esq., Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture,
have been judiciously distributed.

Members, who applied for valuable seeds, received from
other countries through the Patent Office at Washington,
have been liberally supplied.

The annual Exhibition was well sustained in all its depart-
ments, and exceeded its predecessors in many essential par-
ticulars. The farmers turned out en masse, and have good
reason to be gratified with their show of stock, of agricultural
and horticultural and dairy products, with their plowing and
their horses. All seemed in the best spirits, and doubtless

O TKANSACTIONS.

returned to their homes, satisfied with what they saw and
heard, and with judiciously formed plans of future improve-
ment.

As the exhibition has become from year to year more ex-
tensive, more attractive and more instructive, the want of a
suitable hall has been felt more and more. The public spirit
of the inhabitants of Amherst will doubtless soon furnish that
enterprising town with a suitable Town hall, which will also
accommodate our annual exhibition, and secure its continu-
ance at Amherst. *

ORDER OF EXERCISES AT THE CHURCH.

MUSIC BY THE SOUTH DEERFIELD BAND. PRATER BY REV. PRESIDENT STEARNS.

HARVEST HYMN,
Composed for this occasion, by H. C. Hayd'n, of Amherst College,

1. God of the harvest — thou hope of the sower,
Humbly we bow at thine altar below ;
Thou of the rain and the dew art bestower.
Sunshine and smiles from thy px-esence do flow.

2. God of the household — vouchsafe thy protection,
There let affection and peace ever reign,

Give young and aged thy gracious direction,
Free them from sorrow, and soothe every pain.

3. God of our Nation — thou source of our gladness,
Shall not thy banner forever be love ?

Break ev'ry fetter, wipe each tear of sadness.
Guide us to glory — receive us above.

4. God of creation — 0 hear our petition,
Pity our weakness and fill us with praise,
Send us the spirit of humble contrition,
Open the heavens, thou Ancient of days.

ADDRESS BY CHARLES L. FLINT, OP BOSTON.

ODE,

Written for this Anniversary, by J. E. Twitchell, of Amherst College f

1. The God of bounteous harvest praise,
The God of truth and love ;
Who scatters blessings o'er our land.
And reigns supreme above.

AKNUAI, EXHIBITION. 7

2. He makes the teeming fields rejoice,
The hills and valleys sing ;

And flocks and herds reecho forth
The praises of their King.

3. He sends the cool, refreshing rain,
The rich Autumnal shower ;
And waving fields of golden grain,
But magnify His power.

4. He feeds the creatures of His hand,
With bounties rich and rare ;

And 'round the farmer's cheerful hearth,
Shows His protecting care.

5. Then let us all unite as one,
To sing His glorious praise ;
Join every heart and every voice,
In loud and cheerful lays.

During the delivery of the address the Church was crowded,
and the close attention of the audience evinced the satisfac-
tion with which it was received.

The procession marched to the Amherst House, where a
bountiful entertainment had been provided by Mr. Howe.

A blessing was invoked by Rev. Dr. Woodbridge of Had-
ley. The company proceeded to a discussion of the good
things before them, and after spending some time in that very
pleasant exercise —

The President remarked that he was happy to meet so ma-
ny members and friends to-day — appropriately alluded to the
death during the past year of Cotton Smith, one of the Vice
Presidents, and proposed —

The health of our late President, Alfred Baker, Esq. of Amherst.

Mr. Baker expressed his thanks for the compliment.

The President then gave —

His Excellency the Governor — Though not called from the plow to his hon-
orable station, the farmers of this community are most happy to receive a
gardner as their guest, and they feel assured that the successor of the Win-
throps and Dudleys, of blessed memory, will rejoice to behold with his own
eyes the prosperity of Massachusetts.

Gov. Gardner eloquently responded and closed by wishing

Prosperity and success to the agriculture and agriculturists of the county
of Hampshire.

The President then introduced His Honor Lieut. Gov.

Brown, who spoke of the excellence of the exhibition, and

8 TBANSACTI0N3.

closed with a happy allusion to the beautiful scenery with

which Amherst is surrounded.

The President then read the following, which he said had

been handed in by a lady :

Rev. Dr. Hitchcock — The companion of Nature, the favorite of Science, the
friend of the Soil and the Husbandman — though he has resigned the Presi-
dency he still keeps his seat in the cabinet, where may he long remain.

Mr. Boyden stated that Dr. Hitchcock was necessarily ab-
sent from town.

The President then introduced Rev. Dr. Stearns, Presi-
dent of Amherst College, who spoke of the ennobling calling
of the farmer, and closed with the following sentiment :

The noblest work of God, and the noblest to improve — men — may the time
come when they will all show the features of their paternity, and all ac-
knowledge each other as brethren.

The President then read the following :

Professor Clark — He gives us a substitute for the philosopher's stone, for
the soil prepared by his hands yields us golden harvests.

Prof. Clark briefly responded, and urged the farmers to
avail themselves of instruction in matters pertaining to their
calling — agricultural chemistry, geology, &c.

The President then read :

The Orator of the Day — Like a good Flint he never refuses fire.

Mr. Flint humorously responded, and gave the following

sentiment :

The Hampshire Agricultural Society — May it always have the smiles and
encouragement of the ladies.

Hon. Amasa Walker, of North Brookfield, was next intro-
duced, and urged the importance of farmer's clubs.
The President then gave
The State of Alabama.
Mr. George Montague responded, and proposed

The Homes of New England — The abodes of industry, virtue, intelligence
and happiness — their light shines in every land — their voice is heard through-
out the world.

ADDRESS

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Hampshire
Agricultural Society :

We have met, to-day, to do what we can to advance the
cause of agriculture. Coming together from all parts of your
county — many of us from more distant sections of the State
— we desire to obtain from each other the knowledge, which
different minds, working in different localities and upon differ-
ent systems of observation and practice, may impart, and, thus,
from a free and unrestrained intercourse, gather hints and
suggestions for the future.

But this festival is not useful for these purposes only. It
has another and an equally important object. It is designed
to bring together all those interested in the cause for which
we labor and to unite them by all the bonds, which are crea-
ted and strengthened by social intercourse. The day on
which we meet is eminently a social occasion — a day of re-
laxation as well as improvement.

The time and the place, then, seem not to demand, not
even to admit of the exposition of any abstruse scientific the-
ory, or the discussion of any question which would require a
close and wearisome attention. It seems more appropriate
that we should pause here, for a moment, to look back upon
the space already passed ; and, then, turning to the heights
which yet lie before us to be surmounted, consider what path
we shall take, and what strength we must put forth to meet
2

10 tKANSACtlOXS.

our yet distant goal. Such a survey, I think, will be foUnd
to be both interesting and instructive.

I had proposed to pass over those countries where agricul-
ture may be said to liave had its birth, and, beginning with
times of which we have an authentic history, to introduce you
to a Greek farm house, as it existed twenty-five centuries ago,
within sight of the most civilized and highly cultivated city
then on the globe — to inquire what its inmates are about,
what they know of their calling, be it more or less than the
aggregate of our own knowledge, — to lead you, perhaps, to
sympathize with their toils, their struggles and their joys, and,
leaving them with a few practical hints for our own improve-
ment, to trace briefly the progress of agriculture to our own
times, showing in what w^e have improved, if we have im-
proved at all, and pointing out the present wants and the
future prospects of agriculture in New England.

Time, however, will not permit us to dwell at any length
upon the early* history of this art, as I wish to call your at-
tention more particularly to our own times and our own
country.

In the early ages of the world, agriculture was honorable
and dignified enough to engage the attention of men of the
highest rank and greatest talent. The history of Greece
shows us numerous examples of this. Her great men are
associated in our minds with glorious struggles for liberty, or
with such writings as will never cease to command the admi-
ration of the world. The scholar of all ages has loved to con*
template both the men and their works, but it has too often
been forgotten, that they found afar higher satisfaction in the
cultivation of the soil and the improvement of agriculture,
than in the management of armies and the intrigues of the
court. Let us turn from the contemplation of their public
life and see them at home.

The farm house stands well back from the road, and we
wind up an avenue of silver firs or other graceful trees and
find a building, large but by no means elegant or beautiful.

We are met at the door by a plain, unostentatious man,

ADDBES8. 11

who, with true-hearted hospitality and manly pride, invites us
to examine his house, his barn, his farm and his stock.

Entering the house and passing on through the hall, with-
out stopping to examine the bags of grain and boxes with
which it is filled, we find our hostess engaged in spinning or
carding, tending the children and directing the servants. In
the kitchen the maid has her pets as well as her mistress, and
likes to see them under her eye, and the ducks and geese are
racing in spirited emulation on the floor, while a pet pig or
two adds variety and interest to the monotony of this depart-
ment.

The first object, that attracts our attention in the yard, is the
hen coop. Here the Greeks are at home. These barn door
fowls were originally imported from India and Media, and for
many years importations were made from Italy, Sicily and
Egypt. The coops are so constructed as to admit the smoke
from the kitchen, which was supposed to be agreeable to
hens.

On the other side of the yard are some of the finest pigs
the world ever saw. It is doubtful, indeed, whether the Suf-
folks themselves equal the long and beautifully built pigs of
Grecian history. Speaking of their value, we are told that a
neighboring king lately paid no less than a thousand dollars
for a single imported hog. The Greeks were more interested
in the improvement of stock, than the farmers of Massachu-
setts are. Merinoes were sometimes bought in Spain, at a
cost of twelve hundred dollars apiece. Mules and oxen
were commonly used for the plow, the horse being too costly
and used mostly for the army and for pleasure.

Passing along the terraced walk to the fields, we notice the
apple, the pear, the cherry, the plum, the quince, the apricot,
the peach, the nectarine, and many kinds of nuts, as well as
figs, lemons, citrons, date-palms, and almonds.

There is evidence, on every hand, of a high and perfect
cultivation. Looking for the means by which it was brought
about, we behold the awkward, old wooden plow, so con-
structed as to require great physical strength to keep it in the

12 TEAN9ACTION8.

earth. The plow, in the earliest ages, was extremely rude
and simple, hardly more than a wedge, indeed, though in the
time of Moses, it was drawn by a yoke of oxen and had a
coulter and a share ; and among the Greeks and Romans it
became still more complicated and powerful, being furnished
with wheels. The ancients seem to have had nearly all the
varieties of this implement, which are known to this day,
though not in so great perfection. It is somewhat remarkable
that the plow now used in parts of France and Spain, is sim-
ilar to that in use among the Romans in the time of Christ,
and is called the Roman plow. It consists of a beam, a share
and a handle, and rather pushes the soil each way, than turns
the furrow, and on very light, sandy soils, serves at least, to
mellow them. The plow of Syria is very light and can easily
be carried in the hands. That of India is often drawn by a
man or woman. So is the plow used in some parts of Italy,
which, says Dr. Clark, only differs from the most ancient plow
of Egypt, as we see it represented upon images of Osiris, in
having a double, instead of a single coulter. The Irish plow,
even so late as the middle of the seventeenth century, was
drawn by the tails of horses, till parliament interfered to pre-
vent it. It was made of wood. " From want of a proper
mould board, it required the constant application of the plow-
man's foot to keep down the furrow slice ; as the plow ad-
vanced, it was only partially turned over, and without the as-
sistance of the foot, it did not occupy its proper place. This,
as may be supposed, was very laborious to the plowman who
had only one leg to hop upon, the other being constantly em-
ployed, as we have stated, in kicking — while his hands and
trunk had severe labor in 'pressing the plough downwards
towards the muzzle, contrary to its upward tendency."

These instances are mentioned to show that many nations
still use plows, no better than those of the Greeks, sorne of
them being simple copies of the ancient plow.

The Greeks usually plowed three times before planting-;
sometimes sub-soiled, and often mixed different kinds of soil,
as sand with clay. They composted with great skill, saving

ADDBESS. 13

everything with the most scrupulous care. They adopted a
■ biennial system of rotation, of fallow and grain, which is the
system still pursued in many countries in the South of Eu-
rope. They also paid great attention to the selection of the
best seed for the succeeding crops. So far as all the essen-
tial practices of agriculture are concerned, their cultivation
was of a liigh order. But it must be confessed that their ag-
ricultural implements would but ill compare with ours, in their
admirable adaptation to the purposes for which they were in-
tended.

The names of not less than fifty agricultural writers have
come down to us, but there are only a few whose works have
been preserved. I, have selected one or two extracts, as an
illustration of the general character and tone of the whole.
" No man," says Xenophon, " can be a farmer, till he is
taught by experience. Observation and instruction may do
much, but practice teaches many particulars, which no master
could ever have thought to remark upon." I find a curious
prescription for frightening a tree into bearing.

" Gird up your loins, roll up your sleeves, then take hold
of an axe or mattock, and, being full of wrath, approach the
tree as if intending to cut it down. Let now some one come
up to you and beg you not to cut it down, pledging himself at
the same time that it will do better next year. Then you, ap-
pearing to yield to this man's request, will spare the tree, which
after this will become a great bearer."

Turning now to Rome, we find that agriculture was as
much honored there, as in Greece, being regarded as one of
the noblest occupations of man. Commerce, indeed, was
looked upon as degrading, in the earlier a^ges of Rome, and
war and agriculture engaged the whole attention of the Ro-
man citizen, the farmer thinking himself able both to till and
to defend his little farm. That was the age when the highest
praise, that could be bestowed upon a man, was to call him a
good farmer. He was thought to be highly honored, who was
so commended. " The earth took pleasure" says Pliny, " in

14 T R A X 8 A C T I 0 N 8 .

being tilled by the hands of men, crowned with laurels and
decorated with triumphal honors."

Four hundred and fifty-nine years before Christ, the farm-
er Cincinnatus left his plow to assume the Dictatorship, amidst
the shouts and exultation of Rome ; raised an army and con-
quered a powerful enemy ; and, at the end of sixteen days, re-
turned to his little farm and resumed his work. So with many
other men distinguished in Roman history. Under such in-
fluences, fostered and encouraged by practical and patriotic
men, agriculture reached a high degree of perfection, and it is
not too much to say, that this progress has exerted a powerful
influence on all subsequent times.

We find, accordingly, that improvements were made in ag-
ricultural implements — some changes especially in the plow.
It consisted, as intimated above, of a beam, to which the
yoke was attached ; a handle with a cross piece by which the
plowman held ; a share fixed into a share beam, two mould-
boards, a coulter, and sometimes a wheel which could be used
or not, at pleasure. The Romans had, also, spades, hoes,
rakes and harrows ; yet even with these improvements the
farmer's work advanced but slowly ; thus it took two days to
plow three-fourths of an acre, the first time, and one to plow
it, the second.

The distinction of soils and their adaptation to particular
crops was well understood, and the farmer paid special atten-
tion to the enlargement and improvement of his manure heaps.
Lupines and clover were sown to plow in green. The stubble
was often burnt for the ashes.

The most common crop among the Romans was wheat, but
they also raised rye, barley, oats, flax, lupines, millet, peas,
beans and turnips. Much ground was devoted to the culti-
vation of the grape and the olive also.

The terse and sensible maxims of the Roman agricultural
writers are worthy of remark, and many of them will be found
as applicable to us, as to those for whom they were written.
<■' What is good tillage ?" asks Cato, the great Orator, Politic
cian and General. " To plow !" he answers. "What is the

ADOKESSi 15

second point ? To plow ! The third is to manure. As to
the rest, sow abundantly, select your seed carefully, and keep
the crop free from weeds through the season."

"Nature," says Varro, "has shown two paths which lead
to a knowledge of farming — experience and imitation. Farm^
ers, hitherto, by experiments have established many maxims
and their posterity generally imitate them ; but we ought not
only to imitate others, but make experiments ourselves, not
directed by chance but by reason." In the collection and
preparation of manures the Romans seem to have excelled,
and there is no doubt it was made a prominent subject of
study among them. The excrements of birds were held in
the highest esteem, and the utmost care was taken to preserve
and apply them judiciously. A compost heap was built near
the house, in the form of a bowl to retain the water from the
sink and the wash from the house, protected by a covering of
brush or shrubs, and the manure of the stable and barn-yard
was allowed to remain and ferment a year before being ap-
plied. A top dressing of guano, or the manure of birds
ground fine, was thought to have a wonderful effect in reviv-
ing a sickly crop, and it was often applied to wheat. They
hoed and stirred the soil frequently about growing crops, and
horse-hoeing was not very uncommon. Wheat was some-
times fed off, when young, to benefit the crop.

When any remarkable crop was cultivated, a statement was
not unfrequently made of it, though I find no very good evi-
dence that it was submitted to a committee of an agricultural
society, and it is probable that the farmers of that day did not
require the stimulus of a premium to awaken enterprise and
competiti<!in. It is stated by Pliny that four hundred stalks of
wheat, ail grown from one seed, were sent to the emperor
Augustus ; and at another time, three hundred and forty to
the emperor Nero, from Byzantium, in Africa, and the state-
ment made of the soil was, that " when dry, the strongest
oxen cannot plow it, but after a rain, I have seen it opened
by a share drawn by a wretched ass on the one side and au

16

TRANSACTIONS,

old woman on tlie other." Not a very " stroug team/' one
would suppose, for a modern subsoil plow.

Special attention was paid to the planting of trees to pro-
tect cultivated fields from high winds and storms, a practice
much needed with us, since the indiscriminate destruction of
forest trees in New England. "Men should plant while
young," says Pliny, " and not build till their fields are plant-
ed, and even then they should take time to consider and not
be in too great haste. It is best, as the proverb says, to pro-
fit by the folly of others." This advice should lead us, at
least, to give more attention to the planting of orchards and
fruit trees.

Great attention was paid to the breeding of fine stock, par-
ticularly oxen, horses, sheep and goats, though their scale of
points would seem to be open to many objections from the
modern breeder, for Palladius says that " bulls should be tall,
with very large limbs, of a medium age, rather young than
old, of a stern look, small horns, a brawny and huge neck and
a confined belly." The points which Columella gives for
cows, however, show much careful and discriminating obser-
vation and judgment, for he says, they should be of '-a tall
make, long with very large belly, very broad head, eyes black
and open, horns graceful, smooth and black, hairy ears,
straight jaws, very large dewlap and tail, and moderate hoofs
and legs."

Columella prescribes a peculiar and curious treatment of
oxen in the following words : " After oxen get through plow-
ing and come home heated and tired, they must have a little
wine poured down their throats, and, after being fed a little,
led out to drink, and if they will not drink, the* boy must
whistle to make them."

Virgil says the breeders of horses and oxen should pay
special attention to the build of the female, and that she
should be large in all her parts. In selecting oxen for work,
Varro says they should have " spacious horns, rather black
than otherwise, a broad forehead, wide nostrils, a broad chest
and thick dewlap."

ADnaEss. 17

Mules were also worked to considerable extent, while the
raising of poultry received a large share of attention, and was
made a prominent source of pleasure and profit. There are few
departments of modern farming, indeed, which were not car-
ried to great perfection by the ancients.

It is truly a matter of surprise, and the more astonishing
the more we contemplate it, that with all the improvements
of the moderns in every other art, the modes of communica-
tion, the application of machinery to shorten labor, the dis-
covery of printing and a thousand other wonders in the arts
and sciences, the ancients, in all the practical details of farm-
ing, seem nearly to have equalled us, and we are led to inquire
wherein we have excelled them. The answer is brief and
simple. What we have done more than they, is chiefly in
the introduction of a great number of plants into cultivation,
which has enabled us to perfect the system of rotation, which
was necessarily limited and interspersed with fallows by them,
and even by the moderns, till within the last two centuries.
Many of these plants were consequent to the discovery of this
continent. We have, also, to some extent brought the scien-
ces to bear on the perfection of agricultural implements, by
which we have economized the physical strength both of man
and beast. The investigations of science into the peculiari-
ties of diff'erent soils, and the better understanding of the
nature of plants and the soils adapted to them, have done
something and are destined to do more for farming. What
the ancients did by guess, the moderns may do with the cer-
tainty of demonstration.

We should derive neither pleasure nor profit from the at-
tempt to trace the progress of agriculture through those dreary
times when Rome, absorbed in luxury and enervated by vice,
was gradually yielding to the northern conqueror ; or later, in
the darkness of the Middle Ages, when learning hid itself in
the gloomy walls of the cloister ; when every science and all
the arts of peace withered and perished among men ; when
the poor menial toiled without knowledge or hope, and the
very earth, as if to revenge the neglect of her children, some-

18 TRANSACIIOXS.

times refused to give them bread, leaving thousands to die in
misery and starvation.

In modern times, England first claims our attention. She
began the career of improvement and has continued it with a
spirit and intelligence, which have made her fields the great
model farm of the world. France, Belgium, Holland and
Flanders followed, forced on by the necessity of sustaining a
crowded and fast increasing population.

The first treatise on farming published in England was by
Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, in 1534 ; followed by another, by
the same author, in 1539. With these early attempts, began
the first germs of improvement in the community. About the
year 1652 appeared the Improver Improved, a work full of
judicious maxims and sensible advice. Soon after this, clover
and turnips were introduced, and made a complete revolution
in the agricultural system of England.

After the efforts of Jethro Tull with his drill husbandry,
and his thorough tillage as a substitute for manures, at the
beginning of the last century, there was little advance in ag-
ricultural science, with the exception of great attention paid
to live stock by Bakewell and others, till the Board of Agri-
culture was established in the year 1793, under the charge of
Sir John Sinclair. A general interest in agriculture was then
awakened and a systematic eff'ort made to gain and diff'use
useful knowledge of farming. Men interested in agriculture,
in the different parts of the kingdom, became acquainted with
each other, and the benefits of associated eff'ort were soon
most sensibly felt. Science was brought in to secure the
judicious investment of capital, and these efforts have been so
steadily continued that the Englishman now follows farming
because he loves it and understands it, and because his
thoughts and feelings are centred in it.

The first settlement of New England was under circum-
stances of peculiar difficulty. Leaving a country, at that time,
the best cultivated on the globe, for a region wild and for the
most part uncultivated, wholly unacquainted with the climate
and the soil, it was not to be expected that the early settlers

AD DEE 39. 19

would make rapid progress in agriculture. Casting behind
them all that was dear to their hearts from early childhood,
^nd consecrated by tender association, they were to begin life
tinew. Their former experience could not serve them much.
For months after landing, they had no beasts of burden to
share their toils, and the woodman must work in the two-fold
capacity of teamster and team. Afterwards, when a few cat-
tle were obtained from England they were poorly fed on
meadow hay and were liable to fall a prey to the wolves and
the Indians. The price was so high that it was impossible
for a poor man to procure them. A long time after the pil-
grims had established themselves in the country, a two year
heifer sold for twenty-five pounds sterling. It is a curious
fact that a red calf was much cheaper in those early days
than a black one, because the wolves mistaking it for a deer
were much more likely to kill it.

While stock was so high, a quart of new milk could be
bought for a penny and four eggs at the same price.

The difficulty of procuring proper agricultural implements
was an additional obstacle to improvement. No metal could
be obtained but Taunton iron, made of bog ore, very brittle
and liable, at any moment, to break and put a stop to a day's
work. SteeLwas not then to be had.

On landing, the pilgrims found nearly all the plants then
cultivated or raised as food by the Indians, such as corn, beans,
pumpkins and squashes.

They were indebted to the Indian women for many hints
as to the modes of farming adapted to the new circumstances
in which they were placed. These women, whose patient
and meek endurance would seem to have entitled them to a
better fate, were compelled to do all the hard and thankless
work, which the limited wants of their families required. All
the farming fell to their lot, while the hunting and fishing was
the sport of their husbands and sons, though, after the fish
were caught, they, poor creatures, had to carry them home,
often to the distance of miles.

From them the settlers learned the use of corn, and the

20 TKAN8 ACTIONS.

manner and time of planting, weeding and shelling it. They
dug small holes about four feet apart, sometimes using an in-
strument, which seems to have answered the purpose of ^
shovel and a hoe, and sometimes with nothing more conven-
ient than large clam shells. Into each of these they usually
put a horse-shoe crab, and sometimes two, and planted four
kernels upon it, covering the hills with the same instru-
ment with which they had dug the hole. After the corn was
up, beans were planted in each hill and were supported by the
corn.

In the interior, three or four small fishes served the purpose
of a fertilizer. The practice of using any such materials was
not universal. They were neat and clean in their cultivation,
much more so than the settlers. Not a weed was allowed to
grow, and they took special care to guard against the destruc-
tion of the corn by insects and birds. The custom of hilling
corn for its support was so general among the Indians, that to
this day, the spots which they cultivated may be found in all
parts of the country. This custom was of course imitated by
the colonists, and has been continued till within the last few
years, as it still is by a few who choose to do so because their
fathers did. It is thought by some, however, that the corn is
not supported by it, but on the contrary, that it is more liable
to be swept over and broken off by storms when hilled, and
cannot erect itself so readily as with the flat culture. A very
successful experiment was lately made by spreading and plow-
ing in a few loads of stable manure, after which the ground
was furrowed four feet apart, and a small handful of concen-
trated manure put in the bottom of the furrow, on which the
corn was dropt, leaving the top of the hill a little below the
surface of the ground. The first hoeing raised it slightly, and
the second or third made it perfectly level with the surface.

The picture of the farming of the Indians, which was the
model of that of the colonists, would not be complete without
a brief allusion to their mode of storing the products of their
labor. The women dug large holes in the earth and carefully
lined the sides with bark. Into these holes they threw the

ADDRESS. 21

corn and beans, after having dried tliem in the sun, and cov-
ered them up level with the surface of the earth. There they
were well preserved through the winter. These excavated
barns were concealed by the women from their lazy husbands,
lest they should eat up all they had ; yet however carefully
all this was done, the hogs of the colonists sometimes unhing-
ed their barn doors and helped themselves to the contents.
One of these Indian barns was discovered by the pilgrims, at
the tim€ their granary was reduced so low as to contain only
five kernels of corn to each individual.

Another plan of providing for their winter supply, was by
making large boxes, shaped a little like barrels, of a kind of
wicker-work. These barrels were kept in the wigwam for
the more immediate use of the family.

This brief sketch of the farming in the early days of the
colony, is sufficient to show it to have been rude in the ex-
treme, and attended by hardship and trial to which we are
happily strangers.

We may vv'ell imagine the surprise of the simple children
of nature at the first sight of a plow. It was a mystery to
them. They wanted to see the instrument work. It tore up
more ground in a day, than all their clam-shells could scrape
up in a month, and looking at the coulter and share and see-
ing them to be of iron, they told the plowman, if he was not
the devil himself he was very much like him.

The first sight of a ship, you will recollect, had previously
caused them even greater excitement. To them it was a
floating island ; its masts were nothing but trees ; its sails
were clouds ; its discharge of guns was thunder and lightning,
but, as soon as the thunder and lightning ceased, they pushed
off their canoes to go and pick strawberries on the island.

Slowly but gradually the. little colony advanced, yet there
were but few intelligent cultivators like Endicott and Win-
throp, and for the most part agriculture was in a state of ex-
treme depression. No enterprise marked the people engaged
in it, no spirit of inquiry gave it the charm of interest, no active
minds were devoted to its elevation and improvement. The

22 TRANSACTIONS.

farmer planted corn where he could no longer raise wheat,
and when, by an ignorant and wretched system of exhaustion,
his soil was too poor for corn, he sowed barley or rye, and
when he could no longer raise rye he planted beans, and then
complained that he could raise nothing but beans !

He had no love or respect for his calling. He was indif-
ferent to selecting good breeds of stock and the best agricul-
tural seeds, and the consequence was, that he had poor and
miserable cattle, poor and miserable horses, and ideas poorest
and most miserable of all. These would seem to be good
reasons for the depression of agriculture, but in addition to all
this, the farmer often affected to despise all intelligent culti-
vation of the soil, and not only followed religiously the exam-
ple of his fathers, but advised others to do the same, thus
transmitting to us in the line of succession the very practices,
which his fathers had learned from the barbarous and uncivil-
ized Indian !

A few years after the Revolution, things began to wear a
brighter aspect. The benefits of combined and associated
effort were seen and felt by the few, who were in advance of
the age.

The Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture,
was established in 1792, a similar one having been established
in Philadelphia, in 1784, followed by a voluntary association
in New York, in 1791, which led to the establishment of an
incorporated society th^ere in 1793. These societies were
managed by mep of the most ardent and self sacrificing pa-
triotism, but owing either to the state of the times, or to their
defective and inefficient organization, they failed to excite
any spirit of emulation in the community. Their chief work
was the yearly publication of a book. The premiums which
they offered, could with difficulty be disposed of, and not one
it is said, was paid from the treasury of the Massachusetts So-
ciety, previous to 1811. The plowing match which the So-
ciety instituted at Brighton, in connection with its exhibition,
was started not with any idea of improving the plow, but
solely to try the strength and docility of the oxen. The plow

ABDRESS. 23

maker happened to be there. He had his eye upon it. He
began to think, and from that time to this a vast amount of
scientific knowledge has been brought to bear upon this imple-
ment and with results which ought to put to the blush the
prejudices of those, who declaim against the application of
systematic knowledge to agriculture.

Some new organization seemed to be needed, something to
seize upon and enchain the interest of the farming communi-
ty ; something to excite their emulation, and lead them to im-
portant and permanent improvements.

This new organization was found in the county societies,
the first of which was incorporated in Middlesex, in 1803,
having existed as a voluntary association, from the time of its
institution, in 1794. The Berkshire Society was established
in 1811, in the midst of opposition so determined, as to call
down upon its projector the ridicule of all classes of society.

Having much difficulty the second year of its existence for
want of funds, the young Berkshire Society applied for assist-
ance from the ample and unappropriated funds of the State
Society, and received from its President, John Adams, this
significant reply :

"QuiNCY, 16 Sept. 1S12.
You will get no aid from Boston. Commerce, literature, theology, are all
against you ; nay medicine, history and university, and universal politics
might be added. I cannot, I will not, be more explicit."

Gradually, however, the feelings of the people were enlist-
ed in their favor, premiums were offered and awarded, and a
large gathering from all parts of the county, increasing rap-
idly from year to year, gave evidence that something had
reached the heart of the community. Under the auspices of
the government which soon came to the aid of these societies,
such an impetus was given to the improvement of our agri-
culture, that within the last forty years the entire aspect of
the State has been changed.

If any one were disposed to doubt this improvement, we
need only point to the number of acres of waste and unim-

24 IBANBACTI0N8.

proved lands in all parts of the State, which have been re-
claimed to fruitfulness and beauty ; to the noble farms v^'hose
products have been doubled and trebled within the last twenty
years ; to the number of farms once mortgaged and over-
grown with weeds and bushes which choked the very walls,
now cleanly cultivated and productive ; to the whole smiling
aspect of the State, wearing as it does, the legible marks of
the enterprise, the energy and intelligence of its inhabitants.

I have made a computation based on the valuation of 1850,
to ascertain how long it will take, at the present rate of pro-
gress, to bring under cultivation all the waste lands in the
Commonwealth. It appears from official statistics that twenty
four thousand acres of waste land are annually made capable
of cultivation by the reclaiming of meadows, the drainage of
swamps &-C. Now, at that rate, upon which I think we may
safely calculate, considering the increasing population and
wants of the State, and the greatly increased interest felt in
the subject, it will take less than thirty years to bring all our
waste and unimproved land, capable of use, into cultivation.

This does not, of course, include some two hundred and
fifty-eight thousand acres, most of vi-'hich is wholly incapable
of improvement.

I am less familiar with this section than with many other
parts of the State, but from much observation during the
present season, I think I am safe in saying that the amount
which has this year been brought from comparative waste
cannot fall short of that of any previous year. There is a
deep and growing conviction in the minds of farmers, that
these will be the most valuable and the most profitable lands
they can own. But apart from the expectation of any pecu-
niary profit, there is a natural and noble sentiment which im-
pels many an enterprising farmer to carry on and perfect
these improvements, and when he has accomplished his work,
he feels that he has added something to the real wealth of the
world. There is the fertile field itself continually proclaim-
ing the knowledge and enterprise of its owner, and rewarding
him every moment for his care and energy, for it looks up to

A.DDEESS. 25

him as, in some sort, its creator. Such an investment gives
him^ in addition to its large per cent, interest, a sure and per-
manent source of satisfaction.

We have seen what progress has been made in .practical
agriculture, and the effect which this progress has ha^ on the
aspect of the State. It would not be fair to ascribe all this
improvement to mere physical strength and energy. Within
the last few years, agricultural knowledge has been systema-
tized, so as to be made available in its application, and here-
in, as we have seen, consists, in part, our superiority in agri-
culture over the ancients.

Science has unlocked the subsoil, discovered its absorbing
power and exposed it to the air ; it has made known the value
of concentrated manures and enabled us to tell the true from
the false ; it has laid open to us the nature and structure of
plants, disclosed in them a system for the assimilation of food,
analogous to the organization of the animal and equally won-
derful. At the same time, it has told us just what food the
plant requires, and Vv'hat part of this food is taken from the
air and what from the soil. Our implements of husbandry,
also, and our breeds of cattle have not been neglected by it.
Thus science, aided by the practical knowledge derived from
experience, has vastly accelerated the progress of agriculture.
I do not refer to mere theory and its deductions, I speak
only of the application of mind to practice, and the investiga-
tions of men, who, to early practical knowledge of the details
of farming, unite a sound knowledge of the true science of
agriculture ; who, not pretending to revolutionize farming or
to make it a pastime, are modestly investigating the compo-
sition of soils and plants, of animals and manures, and who
study to make their investigations of practical value.

But notwithstanding the advance which has already been
made, much — very much — yet remains to be done. The
farmers and those immediately dependent upon them, consti-
tute a very large proportion of the ])opulation of the State.
When they are prosperous all other classes must share their
prosperity. Thus the farming interest has a right to call upon

4

26 TEANSACXIONS.

all to aid it in the development of the resources of the soil,
and, by the aid of systematic knowledge founded on a basis
of unimpeachable facts, to direct its industry into the most
proper channels. I know of no better means of advancing
practical agriculture than the formation and energetic support
of agricultural societies of various kinds. To them we are
to look for improvement in the science and practice of agri-
culture. They bring men together engaged in the same pur-
suits and striving for the same object. All hearts beat in
unison, and men meet to learn and to communicate, to observe
and to show. By far the largest part of our most valuable
practical knowledge is gained in our intercourse with our fel-
low men. Knowledge acquired in this way is as much more
effective than knowledge drawn from books, as the impres-
sions made by the human voice, and the human soul, speak-
ing in it, are more effective than those made through the eye.

The government very wisely encourages these associations,
paying annually the liberal sum of more than ten thousand
dollars to be distributed in premiums, w^ith the simple condi-
tion that every agricultural society which shall receive this
bounty, shall offer annually such premiums and encourage-
ment for the raising and preserving of oaks and other forest
trees, as they shall think proper and best adapted to perpet-
uate within the State an adequate supply of ship timber.

Yet with all the great and acknowledged advantages of the
county societies, their meetings must necessarily be unfre-
quent. Farmers live scattered all over the country, on every
hillside and in every valley. They are isolated from each
other. They cannot act in concert and harmony. The mer-
chant meets his fellow merchant to discuss the state of trade,
to buy and sell and to keep up with his own business. He
studies the fluctuations of the market with the same care and
eagerness, that the scholar studies his books.

But the town meeting is too often the only place, where the
inhabitants of a town assemble for a common object. It is
too often the case that neighbors have but few social ties, if
they happen to worship God at different altars. I ask you nW

ADDRESS. 27

'if this is right ? Does it become us as townsmen ? Does it
become us as christians ?

The farmer needs some system by which all the improve-
ments in his calling may be instantly brought to his notice ;
by which he may learn as early as possible the introduction
of new machinery and new seeds, new breeds of cattle and
new modes of treating the soil.

I know of no better 'Change for him than farmers' insti-
tutes and farmers' clubs, which shall meet regularly and as
often as practicable to discuss the modes of farming and the
principles which may be most worthy of application.

Suppose a farmers' club, for instance, established in every
town and every village, furnished with a library suitable and
accessible to all the reading community, meeting on grounds
strictly neutral in politics and religion. What would be the
result ? In the first place it would promote the best social
feelings and elevate the social qualities and the social position
of the farmer. It would increase the intercourse between
neighbors, separated it may be by sectarian and unchristian
prejudices, as much as if an ocean rolled between them. Men
would discover the swCet fountains of humanity welling up in
many a heart, where they expected to find only bitterness and
hatred. New and enlarged ideas would be spread abroad by
lectures and discussions, placing before the thinking commu-
nity whatever improvements others are making, and enabling
many to adopt them, who otherwise would never even have
heard of them. Farmers would become more and more inter-
ested in their vocation and more and more satisfied with it.
The moment you bring mind to bear on the toils of the hand,
that moment you dignify and ennoble them. Mind is the
only thing that distinguishes the toils of man from the toils of
the brute, and it is for this reason that those occupations,
which neither require nor admit of the exercise of mind and
thought, descend in some measure to the level of mere brute
force. Let the farmer begin to think and to calculate and to
educate himself for his calling, and he will have a respect for

28

TRA NS ACTIONS,

it wliich he never felt before, and a self-respect which shall
challenge and secure the respect of the world.

I do not speak without a knowledge of the exact situation
of our small towns and villages. It has been my fortune to
live in very many different ones in this and other States, and
to have been more or less intimately acquainted with the in-
habitants of them all. I am not so sanguine as to suppose that
a club would meet with equal success in every place. In
some, indeed, there is too much reason to fear that it would
fail altogether, from the want of a few leading minds inter-
ested in the subject ; but I believe that the number of these
would be small, and I know of no better way of meeting the
wants of those inquiring and thinking minds, which now form
a large part of every community. I know of no better way
of convincing the doubtful, that a cultivated intellect is not
inconsistent with a body strengthened by honorable toil, or
of showing that there is one thing in which all parties can
unite — the cultivation of those higher social feelings which lie
at the basis of all civilized society.

A beginning once made, however small, forming a nucleus
for a library and a cabinet, enterprising and active minds
would create a thousand facilities for enlarging and increas-
ing it. Diiiiculties vanish the nearer we get to them. The
lion is glad to get out of the way. No man ever succeeded
who cherished in inactivity the delusive dream of hope.

Why, gentlemen, let such a club take up the discussion of
the adaptation of flax to your lighter soils, and its probable
profit, and I believe it would pay for all the trouble and ex-
pense of starting a club in every town and every village in
the county.

Inquiring minds would look into the mode of culture, the
extent of the demand, the expense of raising it, and the value
of the crop. Facts would be brought out, which would throw
light on the subject and encourage the cultivation of the plant.
One would be surprised to find that the demand reached the
utmost limit of the possibility of supply, and that the farmers
of the west raising it for the seed alone, can realize a profit

ADDHES3. 29

which will enable them to throw away the fibre, which is it-
self worth nearly the price of hay. Another would discover
that much of your soil is admirably adapted to it, that it re-
quires only a moderate degree of fertility, that there is more
danger of having the soil too rich, than of having it too poor
and light. Another would find out that it did riot exhaust the
soil, as has been supposed, but that all the fibrous part of the
plant draws its substance and support from the air and from
water, and that it is only the seed that draws upon the soil,
and that only to a very limited extent, which could be sup-
plied with the utmost ease, by feeding out the oil-cake to cat-
tle, and returning it in the shape of stable manure. Another
would find a home market which must now be supplied by im-
portation from countries which can raise it no better than we,
at a cost of six or eight millions of dollars annually. Estab-
lishments for the manufacture of thread and coarse cloth from
flax would be found at Andover, Clinton, Willimantic and
Webster. It would be evident that other similar establish-
ments would soon start up in different parts of the country.
Another would look into the uses and demands for the seed,
its fattening properties for cattle, the average amount per acre,
and the price, and find equal encouragement there for its cul-
tivation.

Another would examine the improved machinery lately in-
troduced, with facilities for the preparation and manufacture
of flax never before knowi^ and would obtain information in
regard to flax cotton, and all the varieties of fabrics for which
flax is now required more extensively than ever. With the
lights which all these investigations would open, the club
would come to the important decision of the propriety of of-
fering a premium for this very crop by the Hampshire County
Agricultural Society. When the investigations connected
with flax were concluded, the properties and value of root
crops might be taken up and their peculiar adaptedness to the
soil of your county would be impressed on the attention of
farmers. Their fattening properties would be investigated.
That would lead to experiments by one and another connected

80 TRANSACTIONS.

with the club, and experiments would perhaps show that eh
animal mig^ht be fattened on swale hay and turnips alone.
Thus practical results of great value to our farmers, would
from time to time be arrived at, and questions would be settled
which have been discussed for many years, to no purpose,
because men did not work together.

The same may be said of farmers' Institutes, by means of
which the highest intelligence of the country would be brought
to bear on agricultural subjects, and a large amount of inform-
ation in relation to the cultivation of the soil might soon be
accumulated.

But time would fail me, should I attempt to explain the
various means by which public and associated effort may be
made to act on the progress of agriculture. Individuals are
doing much by example to elevate and improve the agricul-
ture of the Commonwealth, and whether they are, in all re-
spects, strictly practical men or not, they are deserving of
lasting remembrance. But there are still some who oppose
all the efforts of the friends of improvement, and look with
contempt on all the exertions of our societies and their mem-
bers, and grow impatient when they find that their expecta-
tions are not realized. They forget that every thing which is
to be of permanent value, requires the slow development of
time and thought. I do not suppose any such are here to-
day, but if there are, I can only say to them, plod on in the
old style if you will, but be assured that the longer you plod
in the ruts of a former time the deeper you wear them, till at
last, when you can no longer see to the right hand nor to the
left, the tide of progress will sweep over and bury you beneath
its current. Do not complain of the ingratitude of the pres-
ent and its want of reverence for the past. The old has
sometimes opposed the new, but the new would reject the old,
only so far as it refuses to do the best it can, to use the light
it has rather than grope in utter darkness.

The present has not lost its reverence for the past, as some
suppose. It is only a part of the past that has ceased to
command respect. It is that part of it only which was op-

ADDRESS. 31

posed to progress and to knowledge, for that part was unnat-
ural and opposed to itself, for progress is the law of life, and
to be opposed to a rational progress is in eftect to die and be
forgotten.

If we did not learn the best modes of farming when we
were young, it was because there were then no facilities for
doing so. We did the best we could and used all the light
we had. But now when we have these facilities, we will not
say to our children," " We did so and so, and you may go and
do likewise !" No ! Rather let us tell them to study and
comprehend the age in which they live. Tell them they are
expected to do better than their fathers did if they can, and
to imitate them only when they can no longer improve upon
them. Tell them to educate themselves for farming as a pro-
fession. Tell them the wq^-ld Vill instinctively award its
honors, its dignities and its power, not merely to those who
are educated for the law, for divinity, for medicine, for teach-
ing, or for the counting-room, but to those who are educated
for their occupation. Tell them the professions, technically
so called, have hitherto exerted an almost unbounded influ-
ence on mankind, only because they have done so much of
the thinking for the world, have brought so large a share of
intellect to bear on the progress of the race. For these rea-
sons the world has bowed in reverence to their superiority of
intellect, and has given a prominence, not to* law, medicine or
divinity, but to that intellectual culture which gives to life its
grace, its harmony and its beauty, and which they may ac-
quire as well as others. Tell them that science, stooping
from its proud flight among the clouds and the stars, has shed
its genial light around them and above. Tell them to learn
of nature ; to seek knowledge from the right hand and the
left, and though to attempt to learn all her laws and observe
all her miracles may seem as hopeless as^ to try to gather to-
gether the pebbles on the shore of the sea, yet in the enlarge-
ment and elevation of mind which it will produce, every ob-
ject will be clothed with the perfection and beauty which it
had when it came from the hand of God !

32 TBANSACTIONS.

But SO long as farmers think that nothing is wanting but
bone and muscle, strength of sinew and power of endurance ;
so long as they neglect all mental culture, and look with con-
tempt on all intelligent farming ; so long as they discard good
taste and good language and good manners as unnecessary ; so
long as they disregard all sentiment and all refinement, so long
will farming languish and be'forced, by farmers themselves, to
take its place among the mere mechanical employments by
the side of machine and slave labor, when 'it might and ought
to be elevated and dignified, as worthy of the highest intelli-
gence, as opening the field on which human genius has some
of its grandest triumphs to achieve !

|ttprt5 at €mmiiinB.

REPORT ON FRUIT TREES.

BY DAVID BICE, M. D.

The best methods of propagation, and the best varieties of fruit trees,
iave been considered by former committees of the Hampshire Society.
Something to amuse the fancy, may be often as profitable, as the weightier
matter, that instructs the mind. • The light and shade of a picture adds
beauty and value to it. The music of the flowing stream fills the atmos-
phere with gladness.

Pleasure, health, luxury and profit may be derived from the culture of
fruit trees.

It is pleasant, as well as instructive, to watch the growth of a tree, from
the opening of the rich mould in spring time, by the egress of the tender *
plant, to the full maturity of the beautifully proportioned tree of many
years.

A celebrated French writer was once dissuaded from a design he had con-
ceived of compiling a history of nature from the works of others, by the
study of a strawberry plant that grew in his window. On minutely observ-
ing its progressive growth, he found so much to admire and to learn, that
he felt convinced " that the study of a single plant, with its habits, would
suffice to employ the minds of many learned men." He accordingly aban-
doned his original plan, and the contemplated title of his book, and gave it
the simple name, " Studies from Nature," and a very valuable book it proved
to be.

The exercise of planting, training, pruning and workin^fcmong fruit trees,
is a real pleasure, which is heightened by the hope of future fruit. What
vocation is more pleasant than that of cultivating, on one's own premises,
orchards of apple, peach, cherry, and quince trees, or vines, climbing over
fanciful arbors, and beds of luxuriant strawberry ?

The beauty of fruit orchards is a source of exquisite delight, especially in
the flowering season. What is more enchanting to the lover of the beauti-
ful, than an orchard of apple or peach trees, clad with their chastely deli-
cate blossoms, in early spring 1

An apple blossom is indeed as charming a flower as the most beautiful
5

84

TEANSACTION

exotic, and its fragrance is seldom excelled by the rarest flowers. Go out m
the morning in spring time, when your orchard is in full bloom, and tell me,
did you ever witness any thing more delightful ? The trees themselves are
graceful objects, standing in regular order, spreading their branches into
globular shaped tops, and clothed in dresses of dark green leaves. Myriads
of buds and blossoms, of a delicate rosy hue, are intermingled with the foli-
age, and diffuse on the morning breeze a delicious ordor. The happy song
birds are there, while the apple blossoms descend on delicate wings to nestle
among the grass blades and the diamond dew drops. ■

" Now the earth prolific swells.
With leafy buds and flowery bells ;
Gemming shoots the olive twine ;
Clusters ripe festoon the vine ;
All along the branches creeping,
Through the velvet foliage peeping,
Little infant fruits we see,
Nxursing into luxury."

In autumn, too, the orchard is a princely show, laden with ripe, delicioua
fruits, red-cheeked and golden. Fair, rip^, mellow peaches blush in beauty,
like a young maiden, and their charms vie with the rosy-tinted apples and
purple grapes, that hang like swinging gems in the tree tops, and nestle
among the dark green leaves of the vine.

Ripe fruit is a healthful luxury when partaken in proper quantities and at
. proper times. Apples, peaches, pears, strawberries, grapes, in all their
variety of form and flavor— when most needed, most agreeable— are luxuries
indeed. But when by the magical culinary art, they are transformed into
pies, tarts, sauces and sweetmeats, by our wives and daughters, is not the
" Ne plus ultra " of luxuries fairly reached ?

Ripe fruits promote health, and form, with other articles of aliment,
wholesome food, alleviate thirst, and give energy to the digestive organs.
Ripe apples and peaches are good for persons recov^ing from fevers and
dysenteries, and help to hasten the return of health. Scopoli " was cured
of dyspepsia by eating ripe apples." Says Dr. Willach, " in diseases of the
chest, either roasted, boiled, or stewed, they are of much service, and may
be employed in decoctions, which, if drank plentifully, tend to abate fever
and allay cough." Cider, or the fertoented juice of apples, is an excellent
acid tonic for scrofulous persons, to be taken in moderate quantities with
other food. In consumption and catarrhal coughs, cider is useful to allay
both fever and cough, and is preferable to brandy or wine as a tonic. Dr.
Newman was cured of a chronic dysentery by eating ripe peaches. Linnse-
us, the great botanist, was cured of the gout by the use of strawberries.
Ripe grapes are said to be useful in a case of torpid liver. The seeds of the
quince, infused, in cold water, form "one of the most valuable mucilages ; and
a decoction of the dried quince, sweetened with white sugar, is superior to
almost any other acidulated drink in nearly all kinds of fever, and, sweet>
ened with honey and liquorice, it is excellent in consumptive coughs.

FBUIT TEEE3

35

The culture of fruit trees may be a source of 'profit. There ia bo other
pursuit connected with the farm, requiring only the same amount of labor
and expense, that is so lucrative. There is a great income in proportion to
the outlay. No crops of grain, grass, or esculent roots, other things being
equal, pay so well as the fruit crop. Many farmers annually get more profit
from their orchards, and receive more money for fruit, than for all the
other products pf the farm. One of my neighbors has gathered and sold
from one tree, this season, thirty bushels of fine fruit. An orchard of forty
Baldwin apple trees " has been known to produce in one season, three hun-
dred bushels of fine fruit." Says H. F. French, "At the lowest rate of
product that any man in his senses would estimate, as a common crop, an
apple orchard will give four times the amount of profit, as the same quantity
of land in grass for hay, with less cost for cultivation."

Apples are in good repute for fattening horses, cattle and swine.

Cider vinegar is the nicest and most agreeable of any, and readily brings
from three to five dollars in market. Cider molasses, made by boiling sweet
cider into a syrup, is excellent for making and preserving sauces. Brandy,
distilled from fermented cider, for certain useful purposes, is not excelled by
any other spirit.

Pleasure, luxury, health and profit, are or ought to be powerful incentives
to every one, who owns an acre of land, to raise fruit trees. A farm, with-
out an orchard, is like a book without title-page or pictures ; or a painting
destitute of the proper light and shade ; or a heaven without stars.

Your committee were invited to view six orchards and two nurseries.
Five of these have been set out since 1845 ; the sixth was an old orchard,
reclaimed by the process of grafting. Three of these orchards have already
received first premiums from other incorporated societies, and consequently
could not again receive a first premium, under the statute of 1855.

All the orchards we examined, were in good condition, and looked beau-
tifully.

ORCHAFtD OF MOSES STEBBINS.

This orchard was undoubtedly the best orchard, and would have iaken the
first premium, had it not already drawn that premium from another society,
receiving the bounty of the State. His orchard stands upon table land in
Deerfield, just under the brow of sugar loaf mountain, and covers over four
acres. It contains two hundred trees, set out at intervals, since 1845. The
soil is a light, sandy loam ; partaking much of the nature of the soil in the
vicinity of Sugar Loaf, v\?hich is composed of new red sandstone. Previous
to setting out his trees, Mr. Stebbins treated his lot to a compost of slacked
lime and salt. On two acres, he plowed in sixty hundred pounds of lime,
sixteen bushels of salt, and six bushels of plaster. One hundred and twenty
trees stand on these two acres. The land has been cropped, annually.
This year, Mr. Stebbins has raised fifty bushels of corn, to the acre, in his
orchard. He used no manure, save about five hundred pounds of guano to
the acre, sowed on and plowed in. Your committee thought the lime and
salt had much to do with the thriftiness of both trees and corn. He gives
his trees a top dressing of compost every spring. Mr. Stebbins doea not

36

I'BAN8A0TI0N8

allow any thing to grow under his trees. He leaves a fallow plot under
each tree. His orchard contains the clioicest varieties of fruit. We con-
gratulate Mr. btebbins on possessing so fine an orchard. Your committee
lelt, hardly knowing which to admire most, Mr. Stebbins himself as an ac-
complished and gentlemanly farmer, his superior orchard, or his model farm.
We advise every person, who wants to raise an orchard, to visit his prem-

ORCHARD OF GEORGE CHANDLER.

My orchard, in Belchertown, consists of eightv-one trees, which bear the
Jollowing varieties, viz. : Baldwin, 64 ; Porter, 2 ; Hubbardston Nonsuch,

i ^"^avenstein, 1 ; Sops of Wine, 1 ; Newtown Pippin, 2 ; Roxbury Rus-
set, 4 ; Greening, 1 ; Northern Spy, 2 ; Ladies Sweeting, 2. The land, on
which this orchard stands, is a gravelly loam. The trees were set in the
spring ot 1849. They were then two years old from the bud. I set them,
mtle, it any deeper than they stood in the nursery. I dug a hole sufficient-
ly large to admit the longest roots and about ten or twelve inches deeper
than the lowest roots, I then put in a few shovels of rich loam and filled
up around the trees with the dirt thrown out, taking particular pains in
spreacimg the roots and small fibres. I have washed them, once a year,
with a solution of potash-water, composed of one pound of potash to about
five quarts of water. The land, on which two-thirds of the trees stand, I
have kept plowed and have taken a crop from it, annually. I have spread
on manure, every spring, since the trees were set, with two exceptions, and
plowed in. The remaining trees stand on sward land, and have been
manured but little. I generally raise the earth around the latter, six or
eight inches, late in the fall, to prevent the mice trom girdling, and level
the sa^me in the spring • keeping the soil light and loose. Some of my trees
are m bearing condition and some of them bear abundantly.

ORCHARD OF PARSONS WARNER.

Mr. Warner has a beautiful orchard in Sunderland, containing one hun-
dred and twelve trees. It stands upon a plot of ground on the bank of
Connecticut river, a deep sandy loam. The trees are very thrifty, and will
soon be in full bearing. They were set out in 1848-9. Mr. Warner culti-
vates the land, on which his orchard stands. This year he has raised,
among his trees, a heavy crop of broom-corn. We should think broom-corn
vpould shade a young orchard too much, and have a tendency to thicken th&
tops of the trees and make them grow too compact,

STATEMENT OF JOSIAH AYRES.

_ Apple seed should be planted in the fall, in land well manured and deep
tilled. When the shoots come up in the spring, cultivate with care, strip-
ping ofiF the leaves one foot from the ground. When one year old, trans-
plant them in rows at a proper distance. As soon as large enough, bud
them near the ground, with buds taken from good bearing trees. ° When
large enough to transplant, prepare holes, at least four feet in diameter, and
three feet deep ; two feet thereof thoroughly mix with compost ; then trans-
plant with great care ; set the trees about the same depth that they stood

I'fiUIXTKEES. 37

in the nursery ; two rods each way ; never set a tree that is not thrifty ;
mulching is good ; manure them in the fall with compost — dig it in, in the
spring, when the apple trees are in blossom, and put ashes and charcoal
around the trees — this is the best time to prune and wash the trees. Great
care should be taken not to prune too mucii in this climate. The limbs and
trunk should be shaded, when the tree is growing fast in August and Sep-
tember. When the tree is small, let it be shaded artificially. Let the
twigs grow on the limbs, when the tree is too small to bear fruit. It will
not injure the tree so much, as when fruit grows on the ends of the limbs.
Wash trees in ley, potash-water, or soda-water, which you please ; but take
great care not to have the wash too .strong. Tiio strength can be deter-
mined by observation ; if too strong, the bark will soon turn dark, and when
it is wet with rain, it will turn yellow. The wash should not turn the color
from the natural green.

Select what fruit you please for your own use ; but, for profit, select such
as grow quick and bear well, and are wanted in market, especially such as
are adapted to this climate.

NURSERIES.

There were two competitors for premiums on Nurseries, Messrs. Warner
and Hunt of Sunderland.

Jlr. Warner's nursery contains four hundred trees, all budded or grafted.
About one-half of thein are fit for transplanting. Seventy-five are only one
year from the bud, and some of them have grown five feet since budding.

Mr. Hunt, also, has an excellent nursery, hardly inferior to Mr. Warner's.
Mr. Warner's trees are rather straighteV, and have had more attention than
Mr. Hunt's, nor have they been culled or broken in upon in the least. Mr.
Hunt's nursery is the continuation of one that has been culled. Both are
excellent nurseries, and the writer intends to select some trees from both,
next spring, for .a young orchard.

RECLAIMED ORCHARD OP DANIEL BALLARD.

This was the only entry for a premium on a " Reclaimed Orchard." Mr.
Ballard's orchard contains one hundred and twenty trees, standing on Wen-
doll land, which is a compound of knolls and rocks. He has reclaimed his
orchard by grafting. Every old tree has a new top, bearing tho sem-
blance of a tree, he having set more than four thousand grafts since 1845.
The orchard looks quite well, and contains some good varieties of very fair
fruit. His experiment shows what can be done for an old orchard by graft-
ing, and making new tops. We wish Mr. Ballard success, but advise him
to try his hand at trimming, pruning, and getting out rocks, and putting a
compost of ashes, muck and yard manure around his trees, in order to im-
prove both their appearance and health.

88 TEAJfSAOXlONS

REPORT ON FOREST TREES.

BY PKOF. WILXIAM S. CLARK.

In the inspired account of the creation of man and the existing races of
animals and plants, we are informed, that trees were essential to the per-
fection of the Garden of Eden, the record being as follows : " And out of the
ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight
and good for food." It is also stated as conclusive evidence of the sur-
passsing wisdom of Solomon, that " he spake of trees, from the cedar tree
that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop, that springeth out of the wall."

Sustained by such authority in favor of the study and cultivation of trees,
your Committee would venture the opinion, that much more time and
thought should be given by farmers to the real value and proper use of old
forests, and to the preservation and perfection of younger timber of sponta-
neous growth, as well as to the planting of those species, which, while they
improve the soil, make larger returns to the cultivator, than any other crop.

It is confidently believed, that the full-blooded, crude Yankee has an in-
stinctive hatred of all monarchs, especially those of the forest ; and that
the fatal axe is as peculiarly his weapon, as is the boomerang that of the
Australian savage.

A reason for this will appear to the traveller, who will ascend Mt. Wash-
ington, and cast his eye over the immense wilderness, which covers the slopes
and the valleys of the White Hills ; or to him who will visit the head waters
of the Connecticut, and wander a few days in the unbroken forest, which
stretches away northward, more than one hundred miles.

New England, two centuries ago, was a heavily timbered range for wild
beasts and their Indian hunters ; but so fierce and pitiless has been the Yan-
kee warfare against the aboriginal inhabitants of the land, that they are all,
Indians, animals and forests, well nigh exterminated.

It is time for this indiscriminate slaughter to cease, and for some method
to be devised and employed, for repairing the damage already sustained.
Unless Massachusetts does more to preserve her forests where they exist,
and to recreate them on the, rocky hillsides and sandy plains, which have
been rendered unproductive and almost worthless by a wretched system of
farming ; she will be often compelled, as she recently has been, to hear the
sad voice of one and another of her agricultural towns, asking leave to expire.
The few of her intelligent young farmers, who cannot forsake their native
state, will gather around her cities and manufacturing towns, and become
large gardeners, raising fruits and vegetables ; while the remainder, who
adhere to their calling, will leave for a new country.

Well has it been said, that a broad band of waste land follows gradually
in the steps of cultivation. " Thorns and thistles, ill-favored and poisonons

F 0 R K S T' T R F E S . 89

plants, mark the track whicli man has proudly traversed through the earth.
Before him lay original nature in her wild, but sublime beauty. Behind him
he leaves the desert, a deformed and ruined land ; for a childish desire of de-
struction, or a thoughtless squandering of vegetable treasures, have destroy-
ed the character of nature, and man himself, terrified, flies from the arena
of his actions, leaving the impoverished earth to imrbarous races, or to ani-
mals, so long as yet another spot in virgin beauty smiles before him."

It is well known that many countries, which were formerly well-watered
and populous, as portions of Egypt, Syria and Persia, have by the destruc-
tion of the forests been converted into treeless, arid, uninhabitable wastes.
The same change is rapidly coming over our own land, and unless arrested
soon, will produce equally disastrous effects.

Forests are useful in many ways ; — they furnish fuel and timber ; they
absorb carbonic acid and purify the atmosphere by evolving in its place an
equal amount of oxygen ; they attract electricity and rain from the clouds,
and by their shade prevent the too rapid evaporation of water from the
earth ; and they exert a wonderful power ^ decomposing rock, loosening
and deepening the soil and supplying it with a vast amount of vegetable
matter.

Did the space allotted to this report permit, it would be interesting to
consider at length the question, whether the members of the Society could
not profitably transform one-half or, at least, one-third of their over-large
farms into plantations of valuable trees 1 "Would it not pay better to have
a plantation of healthy pines growing rapidly every year, and at the same
time benefitting the soil, beautifying the landscape, and purifying the air,
rather than to own a barren, sun-burnt, old field, which will yield ten bushels
of rye per acre once in three years 1 Would it not be well to have fine for-
ests of European larch at work, decomposing the granite rocks of the hill
pastures, and at the same time, protecting the thin turf and cattle from the
scorching rays of the sun, and breaking the furious wintry blasts which are
ever stripping off the snowy covering, so kindly furnished to keep out the
cold ; and in addition to all this, attracting every neighboring thunder-cloud,
disarming it of its deadly power, and absorbing its life-giving electricity and
its refreshing waters, and receiving from every passing breeze its poisonous
carbonic acid to be converted into carbon for valuable timber and wood, and
oxygen for the support of man and the animal kingdom 1 Would it not be
well to inquire whether white oak, white ash, locust, black walnut or hick-
ory could not be advantageously planted on some of the better soils ? or
whether every man may not as well have an orchard of sugar maples, as one
of apple trees ?

These suggestions are thrown out, in the hope that the members of the
Society may be persuaded at least to tliink of the subjects tlius briefly hint-
ed at, to be cautious in the use of the axe, and to entertain a suitable rev-
erence and affection for the noble old trees, which are ever toiling silently
but faithfully for their welfare.

40 TKAlfS^CTI OK S

PLANTATION OF T. P. HUNTINGTON.

This plantation is beautifully situated, in Hadley, on a low range of hills,
running parallel to the Connecticut river, and is elevated some sixty feet
above it. It comprises four acres of light, sandy soil, and was planted
twenty-five years ago. Fiyrows, one rod apart, were plowed across the lot,
and one thousand locusts were set out in them. At present, the piece is
covered with a dense growth of white and yellow pine, with occasionally an
oak, a hickory and a chestnut. Many of the locusts have died, so that not
more than half the original number remain. These are from fiiteen to thirty
feet in height, and are as thrifty as could be expected on such a soil. They
are not very badly aifected by that scourge of the locust tribe, the borers,
although nearly every tree bears their mark.

REPORT ON SUBSOIL PLOWING.

BY S. C. WILDER.

Notwithstanding the great importance, not to say the absolute necessity
of deep tillage on certain soils, to insure an abundant and paying crop, yet
few seem disposed fractically to believe it. They readily admit the theory,
but, for some unaccountable reason, they are slow to practice. We venture
to say, that it is impossible to reclaim, and make productive, any land, high
or low, marshy or otherwise, which has a hard, clayey subsoil, without
deep tillage. This is absolutely essential on land of this kind, if a paying
crop is to be obtained ; for, in no other way, oftentimes, can the surface
water be successfully drained off. In almost all eases, the subsoil plow will
drain the land more effectually than either blind or open ditches. Let thia
plow follow the common one, loosening the earth as far below the first fur-
row, as that furrow is deep ; and the entire field thus plowed is underdrain-
ed ; the water contained in the surface soil being received by the loosened
subsoil below ; and, being retained there, furnishes moisture for the growing
crop in time of drought. Experience has demonstrated that, on soils of the
kind under consideration, all crops and grasses are much benefited by sub-
soiling. The roots of crops go down for sustenance and moisture, as well as
search for them on every side. We cannot too strongly urge upon our
brother farmers the use of this plow, especially on hard soils. Use it for
spring crops, use it for winter grain, and use it if you would have good
meadows. -

EXPERIMENTS BY ALBERT JIONTAGUE. ^

I present, for consideration, a statement of the effect of subsoil plowin;.*
upon three pieces of land of similar soil, and in about the same state of cul-

, MANTJBEEXPEBIMENTS. 41

tivation. I plowed the land seven to eight inches deep and subsoiled six to
seven inches.

No. 1 was a piece, upon which a crop of corn was taken last year. It
contained one acre. One half of it was subsoiled. The whole piece had
been equally manured and treated alike for a number of years. Upon this
piece I sowed oats and <];rass seed, and could see no difference in the piece
i^-om the time the oats came up until harvested. But, now, the clover upon
the subsoiled part is a little the largest, enough to be noticed by persons
who pass by the lot.

No. 2 was a piece of green sward, containing two acres. One-half to
three-fourths of fin acre, through the centre, was subsoiled. Upon the
whole I spread compost manure and harrowed it in. I spread as evenly as
I could over the whole piece ; then planted it to broom-corn, using a few
ashes in the hill. The piece was cultivated alike through the season ; but
the broom-corn upon the part subsoiled, was longer, of a better color through
the season, and, I judge, will yield horn one hundred and fifty to two hun-
dred pounds of brush to the acre, more than that upon each side of it, and
the seed is much better.

No. 3 Avas a piece, subsoiled three years since, and planted to corn.
Same quantity of manure was used, and it was managed alike through the
season, and the corn crop was no better upon the subsoiled, than upon the
part not subsoiled. I sowed grass seed at the last hoeing. I have mowed
it for two years past, and each crop of grass has been much the best upon
the part subsoiled, being I think nearly a ton more to the acre.

Sunderland, Oct. 10, 1^5.

MANURE EXPERIMENTS.

BY ALBERT MONTAGUE.

No. 1. I purchased, last spring. Superphosphate, Poudrette and Guano,
for the purpose of testing their comparative value with each other and with
barn-yard manure.

Upon one acre of my best land, I spread eight loads of well rotted manure
and harrowed in ; then, planted to broom-corn, using $1.44 worth of Pou-
di-ette in the hill, upon one-half of it, and $2.41 worth of Superphosphate
upon the other half, dropping both Poudrette and Superphosphate at the
time of planting, using Woodward's Planter. At the first and second hoe-
ings, the corn, where I used the Superphosphate, was the most promising ;
and at harvesting, I should judge, would yield from fifty to one hundred
pounds more broom-brush.

No. 2. Upon a piece of green sward, soil rather cold and heavy, I spread
fifteen loads of compost to the acre ; then, planted to Indian corn, using
Superphosphate upon one-half, and good wood ashes upon the other half,
putting quantities of equal value upon each. The corn upon the Super-
phosphate part came up first, grew the fastest, ripened ten days earlier, and
6

42 TKANSACTIOXS. •

will yield ten bushels of corn more than the ashed part. Nearly the same
result I found, by experimenting •with superphosphate and ashes upon a
piece of light, sandy soil. I think the relative difierence was about the
same, although the piece of corn was much lighter.

No. 3 was with guano and barn-yard manure. I measured one and a half
acres of good meadow land, that had been well manured and well cultivated
for a long time. Upon one-half of it, I spread and plowed in eight loads of
good yard manure, for which I paid eight dollars. On the other half, being
in the centre of the piece, I sp^ad Guano at the same cost, as the yard
manure (i. e., at the first cost — the expense of applying the Guano was but
little, compared with that of applying the yard manure). I harrowed in the
Guano. Then, I planted to broom-born, using a little Superphosphate in
the hill, upon the whole. The piece was managed alike, during the whole
season, after the different manures were applied. Many persons, who have
passed, have asked why the middle of this piece looked so much the best.
I referred them to the Guano. The crop is not yet harvested, but good
judges have said there would be two hundred pounds more of broom-brush
and a greater excess of seed upon the guanoed half.

No. 4. Believing broom-corn stalks of some value, if plowed in green, I
cut some stalks from a part of a piece, immedia^ly after I had taken oifthe
crop, and placed the stalks in furrows nice and smooth — one hand plowing,
while another took care of the stalks. I sowed the piece to oats, the follow-
ing spring, and upon the part where I plowed in stalks, the oats were one-
third heavier, than where none were plowed in. I obtained eight dollars
worth of oats on one acre for the labor of getting rid of my broom-corn stalks
in this way. And as to the removing tne stalks, it did not cost me a dollar
more, than to have gathered and burned them in the spring. ■

SUNDEKLAND, Oct. 5, 1855.

EXPERIMENT BY J. EDWARDS PORTER.

The land, on which my trial of Guano was made, is situated in Hadley,
on the plain. The soil is a sandy loam, — has been frequently cropped with
rye — the crop of 1854 yielding only five bushels to the acre. Some four
years ago, wishing to try the effect of Guano upon this land, I purchased
and carefully composted the Guano with seven parts of earth ; applied it to
the hill, at the rate of one hundred pounds per acre, and planted to corn.
At the first hoeing, I was surprised at the healthy appearance of the crop.
It continued to grow vigorously, outstripping for a few weeks the corn upon
my best land. But a change came, and my corn assumed a sickly appear-
ance. I found that my homoeopathic dose of Guano, in its haste to produce
stalks, had exhausted all its force and there was no virtue left for ears. My
crop was a failure. So I concluded that, if I "had treated my poor, sandy
land more liberally with Guano, I should have been amply repaid at harvests

FAEMINGTOOLS. 43

I have, since, practiced on this conclusion, and have had my reward. I
have applied four hundred pounds of Peruvian Guano to the acre, broadcast,
and plowed the -whole under, to the depth of six inches. At one harvest, I
gathered from three acres of this poor, sandy plain, three hundred and six
bushels of corn in the ear, and realized a net profit of $92.
mDLEY, Nov. t4, 1855.

REPORT ON FARMING TOOLS.

BY HON. FRANCIS DE WITT.

Science and art have been constantly producing wonderful changes in all
departments of industry. The agriculturist, once slow to comprehend the
importance or necessity of any cliange in form or substance" of the farming
tools used by his father, now realizes that changes may be made, which are
decidedly beneficial. We need but to go back thirty or forty years, to draw
a striking comparison with the times in which we live, and articles in daily
use. Many farming tools of former times are becoming obsolete and are
seen only occasionally in a corner of some old garret, having been super-
seded by " labor-saving machines."

Of the implements used for agricultural purposes, nearly all have passed
through such a transformation in the march of improvement, that some of
them could hardly claim the relationship of " third cousin " to their prede-
cessors of the same name. Others again, " new and rare " things, which
our fathers dreamed not of, are now considered almost indispensable to every
farmer.

Among the many good results growing out of the formation of agricultural
societies, is the rapid improvement in fiirming tools. In no department of
industry are improvements progressing so rapidly, as in agriculture. The
fact is noted in the Patent Ofiice Reports, " that the greatest number of
patents applied for and issued, of any one class, are connected with agricul-
ture, and the fewest are those to be used in war ;" it is said the proportion
is nearly as ten to one. This probably in part arises from the fiict that im-
provements can be made ; that agricultural societies stimulate such im-
provements ; and partly because labor-saving tools are necessary, owing to
the scarcity of farm laborers and the high price of labor. It is hoped an-
other good may be the result of these exhibitions of skill and industry. Our
young men, who, in years past, have been disposed to forsake the old home-
stead, and the tilling of the ground for positions and occupations in cities
and large towns, with a future prospect of a little more cash, but far less in-
dependence, may be enabled to see that there is a scope for the mind, in the

44 TRANSACTIONS.

science, as well as art of farming ; and, by the use of the improved and
labor-saving machines, the farm work is not all mere drudgery. At the
same time, there is more real enjoyment of the gifts of a bountiful Provi-
dence, than can be obtained in the usual employments of the dense popula-
tion of a city. The flirmer and mechanic are so closely connected in interest
and so dependent upon each other, that it is desirable tlfty should, on an
occasion like this, meet on common ground, and together enjoy that inter-
change that is necessary for mutual improvement. We hope the fairs of
this society will increase in interest in this essential department of agri-
culture.

REPORT ON MOWING MACHINES.

BY THEODORE G. HUNTINGTON.

We have ever felt a deep interest in the success of Mowing Machines. We
have too many reminiscences of aching bones, of garments steeped in sweat
and of exhausted lungs, not to desire most lei-vently the introduction of some
instrument that shall cut grass evenly, without clogging, and with ease to
the team that does the work.

Of the relative merits of-the different Machines, it is not our intention here
to speak. The most prominent ones in use in this State, are Ketchura's,
Manny's and Russell's. These have been tried side by side in various parts
of the State. Committees have been appointed to see them work, and their
decisions are before the public. Doubtless, each has its merits and its de-,
fects. The former we shall be most grateful for, the latter point out to the
manufacturer that he may remedy, if possible. We should be satisfied with
nothing short of a perfect machine, until we are sure such an one cannot be
made. Let us then enumerate some points which we think essential to such
an instrument :

1. It should be easily drawn.

2. Easily conveyed from field to field.

3. Jlasily managed while at work.

4. It should cut close.

5. It should cut smooth or without clogging.

6. It should lay the grass evenly.

7. It should be able to start in grass without backing.
.8. It should cut equally well with or against the wind.
9. It should be adjusted so as to cut high or low.

10. It should not be liable to get out of repair.

Perhaps some may say that these ten requisites cannot all be combined in

MOWlIiGMACKINES. 45

one machine. It may be so, and yet it is encouraging to know, ths^t they
are found to a good degree, though not in perfection, distributed among the
different machines above mentioned. For instance, we have one or two ma-
chines, which are tolerably light of draft, viz : Manny's, and Ketchum's im-
proved. The former of these is generally so acknowledged, but whether in
reality it has any claim to superiority in this respect, can only be determined
by an instrument made for the purpose. At a trial held on the farm of T.
P. Huntington of Hadley, in June last, we suggested that the competing
machines should be subjected to some such test, but it was not done. It is
a matter of some importance, and we may have occasion to refer to it again.
In regard to the second and third of our requisitions, Manny's seems to be
nearly perfect ; while in regard to the fourth and fifth, both that and Ketch-
um's do very fair work, though on the fifth point they are not faultless. We
are aware that it is claimed for both these machines, that they will not clog,
and we gladly concede, that in ordinary mowing, they do not ; but we have
witnessed instances, the past season, in which both proved themselves im-
perfect on this point. The difficulty arises probably, in part at least, from
the fact that the knives work about half of the time at a disadvantage. The
course of the knives on the ground being serpentine or zigzag, it is easy to
see that the central part of each stroke is made at much the best advantage.
When this difficulty shall hare been fairly overcome, the groat problem of
mowing with Machines will be solved. Mr. Eiissell's mower, though opera-
ting unfavorably in some respects, is as far as our knowledge extends, with-
out fault in this. Our acquaintance with it, however, is limited, and we
would not positively claim for it so desirable a quality. On the sixth point
Ketchum's is all that can be wished. The eighth point is accomplished with
Manny's mower by the use of the reel, and we know of no other way in
which it can be done. We presume it would be next to impossibility for any
man to spread grass as evenly as this Machine. On the other hand, Man-
"y'S) by being made to cut at any desired height, possesses peculiar advan-
tages in mowing over stubble grounds, that are growing up to weeds, mossy
and stony lands, &c.

Thus it will be seen, that each machine has its own merits and defects.
Our object in speaking of them, is not to make invidious distinctions, but to
stimulate to further improvement. It is by no means desirable that alL
should be made by the same pattern. Competition, besides being the life of
business, may almost be said to hold in her hands the guarantee of perfec-
tion. Nothillg has contributed more, as we believe, to the excellence of our
plows, than the rival manufactories at Boston and Worcester ; and so close
has the competition become, that he must be a niggard in his commenda-
tions, who hesitates to award the merit of success to the conductors of either
of those establishments.

So let it be with Mowers. Let each improve his own and each will receive
his due share of patronage. But we venture to say, our farmers will never
accept of a machine that will not cut all kinds of grass and cut it close. If
there is anything that the better class of them take a pride in, it is a well-

46 TEANSACTIONS.

mown field ; and a machine that does not work among the lower joints of the
grass, will hardly find favor with them. Neither do they want one that re-
quires an extra horse.and hand to run to the blacksmith's for repairs. Es-
pecially would we urge the importance of lessening, as much as possible, the
draft. Though great improvement has been made in this particular, there
. eeems no reason for supposing we have attained its limit. A pair of horses
now does the work of only five or six men, which shows a great loss of pow-
er somewhere. If by any means this could be saved, it would be an achieve-
ment worthy of the best efibrts of our mechanics, and would probably add
more to the well being of the State, than the thousand and one schemes
offered by sagacious politicians for the same purpose.

Besides, he who succeeds here wins the favor of the fair. For woman's
tender and generous nature revolts at the idea of unreasonable service from
an animal, which of all others seems best to understand her fine sensibilities.
She looks askance, indeed, at all our boasted improvements, which do not
include in their scope, kindness to the brute creation, but will bestow her
choicest benisons on him, who, while ho lessens the toil of father, husband,
or brother, scorns not to take into consideration the comfort of those mute
servants, so useful in our business and so dependent on our care and kindness.

Hitherto, the success of a machine has depended too much upon the man
who has managed it. We want such machines as common farin laborers can
operate. We are neither able or willing to hire mechanics to cut our grass.
If done at all, it must be by the ordinary help of the farm, aud whenever
manufacturers shall furnish us with good practicable machines, ^^rotW to be
such, at reasonable prices, they may be sure of an extensive demand for
them.

CROPS.

Thirty crops were entered for premiums, viz. : four of wheat ; six of corn ;
four of rye ; four of broom-corn ; two of oats ; five of potatoes ; three of
carrots, and two of turnips. The statements were examined, after harvest,
by the Executive Committee, and those of the successful competitors are
here published. #

CORIV.

Statement of Austin L. Clark.

This crop was grown upon one acre of sandy loam, on which I applied,
last year, ten loads of manure. The first week in May I plowed, and turned
in ten loads of yard manure, about eight inches deep. I then spread on nine
loads of compost and harrowed in. On the ICth of May, I planted in rows

CROPS

47

three feet apart — hills three feet four inches apart — and put five bushels of
ashes in the hills, which were not raised. I hoed three times. On the 24th
of September the crop was harvested.

Value of Crop.

9U bushels corn, at $1, . . .
3 tons fodder, at $6,
9 bushels soft corn, at 25 cents, .

Expenses.

19 loads manure, at $1,
5 bushels ashes, at 22 cents,
Plowing and harrowing,
Hauling manure and planting seed,
Hoeing, cutting and stacking,
Carting and husking.
Interest on land, ....

Net profit,
Sunderland, Nov. 15, 1855.

$91 25

18 00

2 25

$11^

50

$19 00

1 10

2 00

3 50

6 50

6 50

5 00

$43 60
$67 90

Statement of J. Edwards Porter,

My crop was raised on two acres of sandy loam. In 1854, I took off a
crop of rye, say twelve bushels per acre ; and in 1853, a crop of broom-corn
of some four hundred pounds per acre. I hauled from a muck-hole, near by,
some sixty loads, which I deposited in four piles, placing at the bottom of
each pile a load of horse manure, and another in the middle of the pile. In
November, I added two loads of horse manure to each heap, and had the
whole worked over, and composted. In the spring, a small quantity of ma-
nure was added, and one more turning and mixing of the compost prepared
it for use. This was evenly spread over the surface, at the rate of thirty-
five loads of compost to the acre, and upon this I sowed one hundred pounds
of Guano, and plowed the whole under, to the depth of seven inches.

163i bushels of corn, at

Value of Crop.

Expenses.

$163 50

Plowing, harrowing, planting and rolling.
Seed, 75 cents; hoeing, $8,
70 loads compost, $42 ; 200 pounds Guano, $6,
Interest on land, at $100 per acre,

Net profit,
Hadlef, Nov. 14, 1855.

$5 67

8 75

48 00

12 00

$74 42
$89 08

48 THAN8ACTIOX8.

RTE.

Statement of Washington Miller.

My rye grew on one hundred and five rods of my best land. In 1854, T
spread twelve loads of yard manure, plowed it in, seven inches deep, planted
to broom-corn, and harvested at the rate of eight hundred pounds of brush
to the acre. In October, 1854, I turned in the broom-corn stalks and
sowed the piece with a bushel of rye. Last April, I sowed on two hundred
pounds of Mexican Guano, and harvested, about the 15th of July, twenty-
eight bushels, weighing fifty-nine pounds to the bushel.

Value of Crop.

28 bushels, at $1,25,

1^ tons of straw, ......

Expenses.

Seed, plowing, sowing and guano,
Harvesting and threshing,. $4 ; interest $8,

Net profit $25 75

SUNDERLAKD, Oct. 2, 1855.

EROOinCORiT.

Statement of Albert Montague.

My broom corn was raised on one acre of Sunderland meadow. It was

Planted to corn in 1853, and last year I took off a light crop of rye. In May,
855, I applied eight loads of manure, spread evenly, and plowed in. I
planted with Woodward's planter — the hills two and a half feet apart, and
the rows about three feet apart. I dropped in the hills about fifty pounds of
superphosphate of lime, mixed with fifty pounds of plaster, hoed four times,
and left the ground nearly level. I used a Cultivator between the rows three
times, and the last time nothing but the hoe, merely cutting the weeds, that
they might not seed. I harvested on the 11th, 12th and 13th of October.

^35 00
9 00

$44 00

$6 25
12 00

$18 25

Value of Crop.
Expenses.

1129 pounds of brush, at 10 cts., .... $11290
j^6 bushels of seed, at 45 cts., .... 29 70

Plowing, harrowing and planting,
Manure in the hill, . . . . .
Hoeing, $8 ; harvesting and scraping, $10,
Interest, .......

$2 50

]0 50

18 00

9 00

$142 60

$40 00

Net profit, $102 UU

Sunderland, Nov. 14, 1855. ■

CHOPS.

49

Statement of N. A. Smith.

My piece of broom corn is part of a field of sandy loam, on which I raised
broom corn last year. I plowed early in May, and put on about twelve loads
of manure, well pulverized, and plowed it in. I planted the 8th of May,
with Woodward's planter, and dropped in the hill one hundred pounds of
DeBurg's superphosphate of lime. I hoed three times, and afterwards^cut
the weeds. The crop was harvested about the 10th of October.

Value of Crop.

1022 pounds of brush, at 9 1-2 cts.,
86 1-2 bushels of seed, at 67 cts. per bushel,

Expenses.

Plowing, harrowing, planting and hoeing,
12 loads of manure, ....
100 pounds of superphosphate,
Harvesting, scraping, and cleaning seed,
Interest on land,

Net profit,
Sunderland, Nov. 14, 1855.

$97

09

57

95

$10

00

15

00

3

00

10 00

9

00

$155 04

$47 00
$108 04

OATS.

Statement of Albert Montague,

The acre of sandy loam, upon which I raised oats, was in corn last year,
and yielded a fair crop. In 1854, I plowed in fifteen loads of green manure,
and put a little compost in the hill. In the fiiU, after the corn was harvest-
ed, I plowed about eight inches deep, and sowed oats early in the spring of
1855 — 25th of April — at the rate of four bushels to the acre. I harvested,
the 8th of August, and threshed in September.

Value of Crop.

61 J bushels of oats, at 50 cents, ....
11 tons of straw, at $8, . . . . .

Expenses.

Seed, plowing, harrowing and sowing, .
Harvesting, threshing, and interest on land,

Net profit,

Sunderland, Nov. 14, 1855.

. $30 62
14 00

$5
7

00
50

$44 62

$12 50
$32 12

60 TEAN6ACII0NS.

POTATOES.

Statement of Nathaniel Smith.

My potatoes grew on eip;hty-eight rods of sandy loani ';r sandv knoll, which
bore rye in 1853 and 1854, without manure. Last May, I plowed in seven
loads of coarse manure ; and, after two or three weeks, I harrowed it over,
pulverizing the soil and destroying the weeds. May 30th, I planted about
four bushels of Wood's Seedlings, and put about eight bushels of ashes in
the hills. I hoed twice.

Value of Crop.

135 bushels, at 33 cents, . . $45 00

Expenses.

Seed, plowing, harrowing and planting, • . . $4 00
Manure and carting, $9 ; ashes, $2, . . . . 11 00
Interest, $4 ; hoeing, $3 ; harvesting, $4, . . . 11 00

$25 00

Net profit, ..... ... $20 00

Sunderland, Nov. 15, 1855.

Statement of O. df F. H. Williafns.

Our Peachblows were raised on one acre of light, sandy soil. In 1852, it
was covered with blue clay, and in 1854 it was in corn. Last April, I plow-
ed eight inches deep — made furrows three feet apart — filled them with com-
post, ashes and salt — dropped in small seed potatoes, and turned back the
furrows with the horse.

Value of Crop.

227 bushels, at 50 cts. . . . . . . . $113 50

Expenses.

Plowing, $1.75 ; compost, $8 ; seed, 1.75, . . $11 50

Planting, 75 cts. ; furrowing and manuring, $2, . . 2 75

Hoeing, $5 ; digging, $15 ; interest and taxes, $6, . 26 00

$40 25

Net profit $73 25

Sunderland, Oct. 31, 1855.

CARROTS .

Statement of J, Edwards Porter.

My carrots were raised on 5-16ths of an acre of rich loam, plowed ten or
twelve inches deep, which had borne carrots for three years. In 1855, I
manured with ten loads of earth, that had sucked the juices of the barnyard
for twelve months, and with fifty pounds of guano, plowed in eleven inches
deep. I made ridges, eighteen inches apart, with a double mould board
plow, and deposited the seed on the top of the ridges with a hand drill.

CHOPS

51

Value of Crop.
■201 bushels, at 40 cents, ....

Expenses.
Compost, $10 ; guano, $1.50,
Plowing and harrowing, $1,
Seed and sowing, $1.75 ; hoeing, $6, .
Harvesting, $8 ; interest, $3, .

Net profit,
Hadley, Nov. 14, 1855.

$11 50

1 00

7 75

11 00

$80 40

$31 25

$49 15

Statement of O. df F. H. Williams.

Our carrots were raised on a half-acre of light, loamy soil, which was in
grass in 1852 and 1853. It was manured in 1854 with compost, made from
the stable, and sowed to carrots. ' Last May, we plowed nine inches deep
with a Double Plow, planted with a Seed Sower, in rows two feet apart, and
used a very light steel plow between the rows.

Value of Crop.

288 bushels, at 30 cents.

Expenses.

Compost, $12 ; carting, $2,
Plowing, $2 ; seed, 40 cents.
Sowing, $1 ; hoeing, $4,
Thinning and weeding, $6.50,
.Harvesting, $6 ; interest and taxes, $4,

Net profit,
Sunderland, Nov. 17, 1855.

$86 40

$14 00
2 40

5 00

6 50
10 00

$37 90
$48 50

TURBTIPS.

Statement of Levi P. Warner.

My turnips were grown on 57^ rods of land, which, in 1854, was planted
to corn, and sown to clover, at the last hoeing. In 1855, after taking oflf
the hay crop, I plowed, harrowed and sowed 6 ounces of seed broadcast,
applying a dressing of 100 lbs. of superphosphate of lime ; and added 7
bushels of ashes when the plants were up.

Value of Crop.

256 bushels, or 6 tons and 800 lbs. at $6 per ton, . . . $38 40

Expenses.

Plowing, harrowing and sowing, $1 ; seed 20 cts. ; lime $2.87, 4,07
Ashes 87 cts.; thinning 50 cts.; harvesting $3 50; interest 68c., 5,55

Net profit,
Sdnderland, Nov. 17, 1855.

9 62

$28 78

52 TKAXSACTIOXS.

REPORT ON HORSES.

BY GILBERT A. SMITH.

Horses are among the most profitable animals the farmer can raise, at
this time, for there is an increasing demand and high prices can be obtained
The horse may also be one of the most attractive of animals. Let a fine
horse be drove or rode through a street, and how soon all eyes are upon him.
He excites many of the noblest and best feelings of man. Even the lisping
boy exclaims in the fulness of his heart, 0, that's a fine horse ! what a
beauty ! Our horses should be of the best breeds. It is as cheap, or nearly
80, to raise a good horse as to raise a poor one, if the right pains are taken
at the start.

In order to raise a good horse, the colt should come of a sire and dam,
which are not victims of any disease or unsoundness ; and which have in
themselves those good qualities, which we desire the colt to possess. In
general, the sire and dam will transmit their qualities to their ofispring.
We recognize with pleasure the increasing interest in improved breeds of
Horses.

REPORT ON SWINE.

BY LEVI P. WAKNEE.

"We invite attention to a few practical hints, and perhaps to some existing
errors, with regard to breeding, selecting, feeding and general management
of the Boar.

A choice breed should be selected, preserved and improved. It is more
honorable to breed a choice Boar, than to import him. Breeding a Boar for
service is a matter of no small importance, and success requires skill and
good judgment. The pedigree, for at least three generations back, should
be ascertained, in order to avoid any impurities of blood, which frequently
make their appearance after generations of apparently pure stock.

In breeding, it would be well to observe at what age a sow brings the
best pigs, and whether at the first or second litter ; also the efiect of in and
in breeding ; and whether the Boar that first serves the sow has any influ-
ence on succeeding litters, and whether stock from two difierent boars is of
equal quality, if the one serves ten sows a vreek, and the other only as many
in a year.

S W IN E . 55

In selecting the Boar for service, no haste is required. It is too frequent-
ly done, when the pigs are quite young. If all of them should run together,
and have the same keeping until they are somewhat matured, a good judge
of stock will make a good selection.

The feed of the Boar should be such as to produce a rapid growth and
bring him early to maturity, without laying on too much flesh. Among the
various kinds of food in common use, the best for growing swine are milk,
boiled potatoes, wheat and rye bran, with a mixture of green clover and
weeds, while Indian meal and all other heavy grains should be cautiously
fed.

"With regard to the managenj^nt of Boars, tliey are too generally brought
into service, while too young ; and are fattened and killed when they should
be in their prime. And they are not always supplied with litter, sufficient
to keep them clean and healthy, especially in cold, damp weather.

FEEDING SWINE.
Experiment by Albert Montague.

I present an experiment ia feeding swine with cooked, and with una
cooked food.

The meal, cooked and uncooked, was alike ; one-half corn, one-fourth
oats, and one-fourth broom-seed. I cooked the meal by stirring it into boil-
ing water, and letting it boil from thirty to foity minutes, by which time it
would swell to three times its capacity before boiling. The pigs selected
were all doing well upon uncooked food. I put four in two pens, side by
side ; weighed them four different times ; kept an exact account of their
weight at each weighing, and weighed them aljout the same hour of the day
each time. I fed two of them with cooked moid four weeks, and they were
not so heavy, by eleven pounds, as at the time I commenced. They were
weighed twice, during the time. They ate f(uir bushels of meal, I fed
eight and one-fourth bushels of meal, uncooked, to the others, and they
gained eighty-two pounds. I then fed the last named pigs three and one-
half bushels of cooked meal, and, in three weeks, they lost four pounds. I
fed five and a half bushels of raw meal to those, first fed on cooked food,
and, in three weeks, they gained sixty-one pounds. I think this proves
conclusively that we cannot fatten swine with profit, on cooked food. Had
ray pigs never had any meal, but what had been cooked, I presume they
might have improved a little upon it ; but, taking them from uncooked, and
putting them upon cooked food, they did not eat quite so freely at first, as
they otherwise might. Hence, a loss. But when we remember, that even
a hog cannot be so hoggish, as to more than fill himself, and one quart of
cooked meal would fill them, as much as three quarts of uncooked meal, we
can easily see that a pig, fed on uncooked meal, would eat nearly or quite
three times the value of meal, compared with the one fed on cooked food,
provided cooking did not increase the value. Even if cooking'increases the
value one-third, then a pig would not be able to eat enough to fatten readily,
as it must take a certain amount of food to support life, whether cooked or
uncooked. Taking swine from uncooked food and putting them upon cooked
food, in both cases, they lost in weight. On the other hand, taking them
from cooked food and giving them uncooked food, there was a fair gain.

Sunderland, Oct. 8, 1855.

54 TEAKS ACTIONS

REPORT ON BREAD.

BY LEVI STOCKBB.IDGE.

According to the best recollection of your committee, the first successful
bread-maker, of whom we have any account, was jMrs. Abraham ; who, on
a certain occasion, by the direction of her husband, took " three measures
of fine meal " and after kneadine, baked it on the hearth. This was before
the invention of brick ovens and cooking stoves, but she might have had one
of those old fashioned tin ovens, which, on the hearth before a brisk fire,
performed its work finely. Whether she did or not, is a matter of little
consequence ; but she made bread of the first quality — fit for angels to eat.
From the days of that lady to the present time, the art of bread-making has
been one of prime importance, and it will always continue so. We sincerely
hope the ladies of the present day, will, in this respect, follow the example
of their " Illustrious Predecessor," while they are not a whit behind her in
the moral virtues. Judging from the exhibition of to-day, there is many a
fair bread-maker, who is worthy of being the wife of as worthy a husband as
Abraham. Such white loaves as those on which we feasted our eyes, and
our tastes, we have seldom seen. We are convinced, that, notwithstanding
it is written " man shall not live by bread alone," yet that he might do so,
with pleasure and profit. Your Committee did not stop to inquire if the
hands that made this bread Avere decked with rings and accustomed to the
piano ; neither do we care. Only give us the hr&ndi first ; and, afterwards,
things less necessary, ad infinitum. This being the opinion of the commit-
tee, we say to all mothers, learn your daughters to make bread, and to take
pride in making good bread, fit for a king's — that is, a farmer's table.
Then, and only then, should they aspire to the honor and dignity of presid-
ing at his table. As the bread was all good, we have awarded, in addition
to the premiums, to.each of our fair bread-makers, A Farmer.

REPORT ON EUTTER.

BY REV. W. H. BEAMAN.

At the Fair, the committee noticed three hundred pounds of golden but-
ter, and awarded premiums, according to the following principles :

Flavor, color and form indicate the character of butter. Flavor is first in
importance, color the second and form the third-. Of two lumps of butter,

B U I T E B. 55

flavored alike, but of different color, that which has the deepest color is the
richest, and most pleasant to the palate. And the nicer the form — other
things being equal — the better is the ai'ticle, for the eye, which loves to dis.
criminate, is then gratified, as well as the taste. She who can make butter
of fine taste and rich color and impress on it a beautiful form is worthy of a
premium, and will do her husband good and not evil, all the days of her
life.

The competitors furnished statements of the process of butter-making.
Would it not be well, in future, to state how the cows were fed ; what kinds
of churns were used ; how long it takes to bring the butter ; and whether a
discovery has been made for preventing, or removing " the witchery,"
which sometimes gets into cream, and which tries the patience and tasks
the strength of those who toil at the churn.

The statements of the successful competitors for premiums have been pre-
served ; and what is peculiar to each is here given, with some verbal varia-
tion and curtailment.

Milk is uniformly strained into tin pans — generally stands in a cool, airy
place, from thirty-six to forty-eight hours. The cream is put into tin or
stone, and daily stirred.

No. 1 says, Cream is churned twice a week ; after churning, the butter is
thoroughly washed before it is taken from the churn, then worked and salt-
ed, and after a few hours worked again and formed into lumps. No. 2.
Milk strained into a tin pail, and set in a boiler of hot water till at a tem-
perature of 120° ; then put in pans, in a cool place, thirty-six to forty-eight
hours ; cream stirred often, so as to have all that is to be churned at a time
well mixed, twenty-four hours before churning ; cream at a temperature be-
low 60° when churned ; one ounce of salt to one pound of butter ; second
working twentj^-four hours after first. No. 4. " Cream is stirred and salt-
ed when new is added." No. 5. " Cream is stirred, morning and evening,
and churned twice a week." No. 6. " Churning once in four days."
No. 7. " Churned in a crank churn." No. 8. " Skim the cream as free
as possible from milk ; for one quart of thick cream stir in a table spoonful
of salt ; when churned to butter, add one ounce of salt to a pound ; -work
out all particles of buttermilk at last working"

56 TRANSACTIONS.

REPORT ON STOCK.

BY LEANDER WETHERELI,.

In the range of subjects embraced in Rural Economy, there is none of
greater importance to the farmer, than that assigned to this Committee. The
word " Stock," in Agriculture, includes all the Domestic Animals, from the
Bantam fowl to the most beautiful and elegant horse of the " Black Hawk,"
breed. To treat of this subject by presenting a report containing suggestions
concerning all these various genera and species, with their almost infinite
varieties, is not expected ; for the subject has been classified, the labor divi-
ded and given to difierent Committees. This Committee is expected to treat
specifically of neat stock, or cattle.

The Animal Kingdom is divided into Orders, Genera and Species, the lat-
ter including Varieties, Races or Breeds, which include animals of the same
species, being essentially alike, differing only in minor characteristics, caused
by climate, food and care in breeding. Species designates animals that are
alike in character, possessing power of reproduction, however unlike in gen-
eral appearance these Races may be. Compare the elegant, thorough-bred
Short Horn, or Durham Bull, with the most diminutive " scrub," and no
one will fail to observe the striking difference, yet the general specific char-
acteristics are the same. The difference is the result of careful attention in
breeding.

The word " Breed " means a progeny, descended from the same stock. It
is an old maxim, founded on a well known, fixed law of Nature, •' That like
begets like." A breed of cattle, therefore, includes a Race or Variety, as
the Devon, or Hereford breed. These have fixed qualities that are well
known and understood by Stock-breeders — qualities that can be, with the
certainty of a well known law of the animal economy, communicated to their
progeny. This law is everywhere confirmed in the history of domestic ani-
mals. The Merino sheep furnish a striking illustration. So does the Ara-
bian horse. " Native Cattle " cannot, according to this definition, be called
a " breed ;" for, they are destitute of the marks of breeding, as here indi-
cated, which are agreed to by stock-breeders. But, says the objector, if ad-
mitted " That like begets hke," is not this law as true of natives, as of well-
bred cattle? Undoubtedly. The uncertainty lies in this : no one can divine
whose likeness the progeny will be, whether that of the bull or some one of
his " scrub" ancestry, with which his blood is mingled.

In view, then, of the fact, that about three-fourths of the farming capital
is invested in stock, stock-feed and stock accommodations, the subject of
stock-breeding and raising, becomes, at once, a matter for careful and intel-
ligent consideration by every farmer, who wishes to make this part of his
business as profitable as possible. This brings up the subject of breeds, or

STOCK

67

no breed, or of well-bred and native cattle. Both the " natives," and the
thorough-breds have their advocates and their contemptuous revilers. Now
what every enterprising farmer wants to know, is, whether it is better fur
him to invest in native, or well-bred stock, or both ;-— also, to inquire con-
cerning the different breeds, all of wjiich have their enthusiastic advocates ;
whether it is better to keep them pure, or to cross with " natives." Instead
of fully discussing these various topics as the Committee would gladly do, it
can only make a few suggestions which it is confidently hoped Avill serve to
awaken a greater interest and desire in the Hampshire Society farmers, to
improve their stock, and thus receive more liberal dividends for money thus
invested.

Notwithstanding the intention of the Committee to enumerate the various
breeds of cattle in England, giving their general characteristics, &c., it is
deemed inexpedient to do so now. Those most popular in this country, are
the Jerseys, (sometimes called Alderneys,) Devons, Ayrshires, Ilerefords
and Durhams, names indicating that part ^f England, Avhere the breeds
were cultivated and improved. In determining which of these is best, or
which is most desirable, the inquiries come up, whether you want to breed
cattle for the shambles, the dairy, or for work, or for all these purposes.

Of these different breeds, the Durhams, or 'Short-Horns, are by far the
most elegant and beautiful of the cattle-kind. They are the Dukes, or the first
order of nobility of all the well-bred animals of the bovine Races. For the
shambles, they have no equals ; for work and travel they are not excelled.
Says a gentleman who purchases oxen for quarry work, in a neighboring
State, after an experience of twenty years, " I have never seen the grade
Short-Horns excelled." "As a breed," says another, "the Short-Horns
are remarkable for their milchiug qualities." " Grade Short-Horns are al-
most universally good milchers." Yet it is said by the advocates of other
breeds, that the Durhams are deficient in both milching and working quali-
ties. The milching qualities of a breed may be transmitted to their progeny,
with as much certainty, as those of form or color. This may have been neg-
lected by some Durham breeders, and thus have furnished occasion for this
remark. Yet every well-informed stock-breeder knows that there are excel-
lent milchers among the Short-Horns. In fine, there is no doubt, that the
" Improved Short-Horns," when well fed, are tlie most profitable breed of
cattle known.

The Committee, having enjoyed an opportunity of attending a large number
of County and State Fairs, may be allowed to give some of the fruits of per-
sonal observation, the present season.

In Western New York, at the Monroe Co. Fair, the Devons greatly pre-
dominated over all other breeds. At the Ontario Co. Fair, held at Canan-
daguia, the Durhams far exceeded all others, both in number and quality.
Here was exhibited about forty head of fine, thorough-bred Short-Horns.
Some of them were from the Herd of the late Henry Clay. A cow and calf
were sold here at auction for over iour hundred dollars. Many other ani-
mals of this breed were sold for high prices. At the Livingston Co. Fair at
8

68 TEINS ACTIONS,

Geneseo, the Short-Horns boro off the palm, ■ This was deemed the best'
county exhibition of Stock in the Empire State. The grade Stock was ex-
ceedingly fine. At the New York State Fair at Elmira, the Durhams were
more numerous and excellent, than those of any other breed. There were
but few Herefords, Devons, Ayrshires and Jerseys. At the Illinois State
Fair in Chicago, the Durhams far excelled all others in elegance, beauty and
numbers. Of all the exhibitions of Stock seen during the past autumn, as
well as those observed on all former occasions, none equalled the Stock-show
at the Illinois State Fair. The most celebrated stock-brenders in the " Gar-
den State" are J. N. Brown, Esq., and Col. Dunlap, the former of Sangam-
mon county, and the latter of Morgan county, both of Central Illinois. Mr.
Brown has about fifty thorough-bred Short-Horns, and about five hundred
head of grades and natives. Mr. Dunlap has also a large number of thor-
ough-breds. The stock of these two enterprising farmers attracted much at-
tention. If any of the readei^ of this Report should be moved to procure a
fine and elegant pair of thorough-bred Durhams, the Committee can refer
them to no better man to fill such an order, than James N. Brown of " Is-
land Grcve," Sangammon Co., 111.

The Devons are deemed a good breed for poor farms, and short feed. Ifc
is said that the native cattle of this country have a strong infusion of the .
Devon blood, being mingled more or less with that of the various other Ra-
ces of the small breeds. Their color is a mahogany red. They are some-
times called " improved natives.^'

The Herefords are a large breed, and highly recommended by some breed-
ers for dairy and work. Their color is a dark red,' or reddish-brown, with
white faces, with more or less white on the back and belly. The Durhams
are gaining in the home of the Herefords, thus showing that their superiority
is acknowledged, even by the breeders of Herefords.

The Ayrshires possess excellent dairy qualities. !Mr. x^yton describes them
as a puny race, in his work on " Dairy Husbandry," published in 1825,
" They are mostly of a black color, masked with white on the face, back
and flanks, — few of the cows yielding more than from a gallon and a half to
two gallons of milk per day, in the best part of the season, and when fat,
weighing not more than twenty stones." Their blood is mingled with that
of the Alderneys. The cows are very hardy, decile and gentle, and will pub-
sist on ordinary food. Few steers of this breed are reared fur grazing.
" Those, therefore, who suppose that the Ayrshire breed combines the prop-
erties of dairy and grazing stock, entirely mistake its distinctive character.
For dairy purposes it occupies a high rank, like its kindred, Jerseys, and
like the latter, an inferior place for grazing and fattening."

The Aldernejs are famous only as milchers. They are a small and ill-
formed race. The color of this breed is, usually a light red or fawn, mixed
with white ; but individuals may be found that are black, mixed with white
or dun, and sometimes cream-colored. To preserve the purity of this race,
" a law was enacted in 1789, and is still i^reserved on the statute book, by
which the importation into Jersey of any cow, heifer, calf or bull, is prohib-

STOCK. 69

Ifced under tli^ penalty of two hundred livres, witli forfeiture of the boat and
tackle, and a further penalty of fifty livres is imposed on any sailor on board
who docs not inform of the attempt. The animal itself is to be immediately
slaughtered, and its flesh given to the poor." This breed is supposed to be
of Scandinavian origin.

The Committee would gladly enumerate the qualities of the Glamorgan-
shire, Sussex, Galloway, Kerry and other breeds, were it deemed practically
necessary. The best breeds have been named, and scarcely more, not for
the want of matter, but for the lack of space to enlarge.

Determining on the most valuable breeds mentioned according to the true
test, not by the profits yielded between buying and selling, but by that
•which it yields, says Low, to the breeder and the feeder, conjointly, from its
birth to its maturity: this being the test, the Short Horns, or Durhams,
merit what has been most justly awarded to them, the preference over all
other breeds, known to stock breeders and graziers.

It having been unanimously decided W both practical and scientific ob-
servers, that " the male has far more influence than the female in fixing the
characteristics of the progeny," the way for farmers to improve their stock
to the best advantage, is, to procure a thorough-bred bull of the breed de-
sired. No such farmer will ever keep a grade bull, though it be superior to
its well-bred sire, in form and symmetry ; for remember, purity of blood is ev-
erything in this natter. Let farmers unite, if no one feels able to procure
a thorough-bred animal of the breed desirecf, and purchase, such an one, and
all will soon see the advantage.

For raisiug grade stock with native cows, the " Improved Short-Horns"
are altogether the best ; for this grade stock makes good milchers, jjood
working oxen and good cattle for grazing and fattening. The Short-Horns
are not, as you sometimes hear it said, universally white, or nearly so. They
are seen of every variety of color, that can be made by mixing red and white.
They may be spotted, or a roan, or a creamy white, or pure red. The hair
of the well-bred animals is of a soft, silky feeling, and of a superior quality
to that of any other breed.

It is hoped that others will strive to emulate the worthy example of Prof.
Fowler and L. Sweetser, Esq., of Amherst, Paoli Lathrop of South Had-
ley, and H. Hunt of New Salem, who have procured some well-bred Alder-
neys, Ayrshires, Durhams and Devons. Let this work of improvement go
on until every " scrub bull" of the anc^try of " Pharaoh's lean kine" shall
be banished from the hills and valleys of Hampshire and Franklin counties.
Let thorough-bred bulls only be employed — those who pedigree is pure, and
recorded in the Herd Book.

The pedigree of animals is registered in Herd Books as follows :

" Logan, 95 American Herd Book, roan, bred by Paoli LAxuROPof So.
Iladley Falls, calved August 19th, 1844, sired by North American (No. IG
American Herd Book) Dam Louisa, by Boston, (1735, English Herd Book)
Grand Dam, cow Boston by Sir Charles, (1440 do.) Great G. Dam Dutchess
by Wellington, (683 do.) G. G. G. Dam— by Admiral (41 do.) G. G. G. G.

60 TRANSAOTIOKS.

Dam— by Sir Henry (1444 do.) G. G. G. G. G. Dam— by Colonel (1440 do.)
G. G. G.G. G. G.Dam— by Sonof Hubback (310 do.) G. G. G. G. G. G. G.
Dam by Hubback (319 do.)," the celebrated bull from which have descend-
ed the " Improved Short-Horns" of the present day.

The Committee was unavoidably prevented from attending the exhibition
of Stock at the late Hampshire Cattle Show and Fair. It is gratifying,
however, to learn, that it was superior to any former Show of Cattle. H.
N. Rust, of South Deerfield, exhibited a well-bred Devon bull ; L. Sweet-
Ber, of Amherst, six fine Ayrshires ; H. Hunt, of New Salem, exhibited two
Devon bulls. There were, also, several fine grade animals, thus demon-
strating the advantages of crossing the improved breeds with the common
native stock. There were several pairs of grade oxen that attracted much
attention.

It is hoped that another year's exhibition will include a much larger show
of pure, thoroughbred animals, such as have their pedigree recorded either
in the English or the American Her]^ Book. No others should be permitted
to take premiums as pure blooded animals, of the breeds which they sever-
ally represent. Purity of blood, let it be borne in mind, is of the utmost im-
portance to breeders. Committees should be judges of pedigree, as well as of
points of excellence. And these are really the tests, which should decide
the merits of such animals. It is no matter how fine and symmetrical the
form, if the animal is a bull, and not thoroughbred, do not suffer yourself to
be deceived by the claims of the owner, that he is just as good for stock im-
provement, as any animal Avhose pedigree can be tra-ced back in a direct line
to Hubback ; for it is not true. Let it be repeated, and received as a maxim
in this matter, that none but pure thoroughbred bulls will serve the highest
purpose in crossing with natives. Purity of blood is the first quality to be
considered in a bull.

rfmiums anlj (iratttitifs.

APPLE TREES.

George Chandler, Belchertown, $5
Moses Stebbins, Deerfield, 3

NURSERIES.

Parsons Warner, Sunderland, ^3

RECLAIMED ORCHARD.

Danigl Ballard, Wendell, $2

FOREST TJIEES.

T. P. Huntington, Hadley, gr. $6

MANURES.

Albert Montague, Sunderland, $6

CORN CROPS.

Austin L. Clark, Sunderland, gr. $3
J. Edwards Porter, Hadley, gr. 2

RYE CROP.

Wash. Miller, Sunderland, gr. $2

BROOM CORN.

Albert Montague, Sunderland, $3
N. Austin Smith, " 2

OATS.

Albert Montague, Sunderland, $3

POTATOES.

Nathaniel Smith, Sunderland, $4
O. & F. H. Williams, " gr. 2

CARROTS.

J. Edwards Porter, Hadley, gr. $2
O. & F.H.Williams, Sunderland, gr. 1

TURNIPS.

Levi P. Warner, Sunderland, $2

THE DAIRY.

Theo. Q. Huntington, Hadley, gr. $G

STRINGS OP CATTLE.

Leverett, $15

Hadley, 10

BULLS.

Alfred Baker, Amherst, $6 "

John Russell, Hadley, 4

Horace Hunt, New Salem, 5

Luke Sweetser, Amherst, 5

William C. Fowler, Amherst, 5

Horatio N. Rust, Deerfield, 3

WORKING OXEN FIVE YEARS OLD.

E. Pomeroy Cutler, Amherst, $4
Linus Green, Hadley, 3
Aretas J. Cad well, Amherst, 2
Levi Hawley, Hadley, U. S. Report.
Ansel A. Rankin, Pelham, do.

WORKING OXEN, FOUR TEARS OLD.

Nelson Smith, Granby, $3

Elijah Cowles, Hadley, ' 2

STEERS, THREE YEARS OLD.

L. W. Hannum, Belchertovm, $4

Asahel Gates, Amherst, 3

Nelson Smith, Granby, 2

STEERS, TWO YEARS OLD.

Calvin D. Eaton, Pelham, $3

Russell T. Wheelock, Amherst, 2

STEERS, ONE YEAR OLD.

Willard M. Kellogg, Amherst, $2

William Boltwood, Amherst, 1

CALVES.

Horace Hunt, New Salem, $2

F. Gaylord, Amherst, The Farmer.
Alfred Baker, Amherst, The Farmer.

CATTLE FOR THE STALL.

John D. Ely, Deerfield, $5

TEANSACTIONS.

$3

Moses Stebbins, Deerfield,
George Smith, Granby,
Moees Stebbins, Deerfield, gr.

MiLCE cows.
Bela U. Dickinson, Amherst,

HEIFERS, TWO TEARS OLD.

Baxter Eastman, Amherst, $B

Ethan D. Hubbard, Amherst, 2

YEARLING HEIFERS.

Luke Sweetser, Amherst, ^2

Spencer Church, Amherst, 1

SHEEP.

Daniel B. Crocker, Sunderland, ^<2
Oliver Williams, Sunderland, 1

Harrison Field, Leverett, U. S. Rep.

BOARS.

Hubbard Graves, Sunderland, $S
O. Puchardson, Granby, 2

sows AND PIGS.

Austin Russell, Sunderland, ^3

Hubbard Graves, Sunderland, 2

POULTRY.

Horatio N. Rust, Deerfield, $2

STALLIONS.

Sumner Bigelow, Greenfield, $6

Richard Dean, New Salem, 4

COLTS, THREE TEARS OLD.

John M. Smith, Goshen, £-;2

Guy C. Munsell, Amherst, 1

C. Paige, Prescott, Farmer.

COLTS, TWO TEARS OLD.

Joshua T. Brown, Sunderland, $1.50
John Sisson, Belchertown, 1.00

COLTS, ONE YEAR OLD.

William H. Smith, Leverett, $1

TV. W. Dickinson, Amherst,

Farmer.

CARRIAGE HORSES IN PAIRS.

Enos F. Cook, Amherst, ^3

Ansel A. Rankin, Pelham, 2

A. J. Cadwell, Amherst, Report.

SINGLE CARRIAGE HORSES.

William S. Clark, Amherst, $2

Wareham C. Gilbert, Belchertown, 1

DRAFT HORSES.

Ransom Nutting, Leverett, $Z

Levi D. Cowles, Amherst, 2

Samuel F. Dudley, Shutesbury, 1

FARM HORSES.

Wm. A Smith, Granby, $3

Austin Russell, Sunderland, 2

BREEDING MARES AND COLTS.

Asa Wilson, Belchertown, $3

Moses B. Green, Amherst, 2

Ransom Cowles, Amherst, 1

A. C. Marshall, do., Farmer.

PLOWING WITH DOUBLE PLOWS.

•Danforth K. Bangs, Amherst, $5
Levi D. Cowles, Amherst, 4

PLOWING WITH SINGLE OX TEAMS.

Ansel A. Rankin, Pelham, $3

Elijah Cowles, Hadley, 2

PLOWING WITH HORSES.

J. W. Hobart, Amherst, $4

S. C. Wilder, Hadley, 3

Edmund Hobart, Amherst, 2

Wm. W. Smith, Amherst, 1

Levi D. Cowles, Amherst, Farmer.

SUBSOIL PLOWING.

Albert Montague, Sunderland, gr. $3
Horace Kellogg, Jr., Amherst, gr. 1

HONET.

Austin Russell, Sunderland, $1

S. D. Crockfer, do., Farmer.

D. S. Cowles, Hadley, gr. U. S. Rep.

WHEAT FLOUR.

D. D. & J. Whittemore, Jr., Sun-
derland, $1
J. M. Smith, do., Farmer.
Levi P. Warner, do. , Farmer.

RYE FLOUR.

Sylvester Brown, Sunderland, $1
T. G. Huntington, Hadley, Farmer.

BUTTER.

Mrs. Simeon Clark, Amherst, $4.00
Mrs. Chester Cowles, Amherst, 3.60
Mrs. Moses Field, Leverett, 3.00
Mrs. B. Smith, Sunderland, 2.50

Mrs. G. C. Munsell, Amherst, 2.00
Mrs. T. Graves, Sunderland, 1 50
Mrs. B. U. Dickinson, Amherst, 1.00 _
Mrs. N. D. Adams, Shutesbury,

The Farmer.

PBEMIUM3 AND aRAXUITIE3'

63

CHEESE.

Charlotte Dickinson, Amherst, $2.50
Mrs. 0. Williams, Amherst, 2.00
Mrs. A. Eastman, Amherst, 1.50
Mrs. G. Chandler, Belchertown, 1.00
Mrs. S. Dickinson, Amherst, Farmer.

WHEAT BREAD.

Mrs. E. p. Hallock, x\mherst, $1.50
Mrs. 0. B. Trow, Sunderland, 1.00
Mrs. L. Adams, Iladley, Farmer.

RYE BREAD.

Mrs. A. Hobart, Sunderland, $1.50
Mrs. H. Henderson, Amherst, 1.00
Mrs. N. Smith, Sunderland, Farmer.

RYE AND INDIAN BREAD.

Mrs. Orus Ball, Leverett, $1.00

Miss Mary Brooks, Sunderland, .50
Mrs. P. Spaulding, Montague, .50

APPLES.

Josiah Ayres, Amherst, $2.00

Austin Eastman, Amherst, 1.75

E. P. Cutler, Amherst, ' 1.50

Parsons Warner, Sunderland, 1.25

John S. Adams, Amherst, 1.00
Ransom Dickinson, Sunderland, .75

Harrison 0. Field, Leverett, .50

PEARS.

Orrin Sage, Ware, .75

QUINCES.

Horace Henderson, Amherst, .75
John Russell, Pelham, .50

Orrin Sage, Ware, gr. $2.00

Ransom Dickinson, Sunderland, .75
John S. Adams, Amherst, .50

Charles Adams, Amherst, .75

Chester Ashley, Leverett, .50

Mrs. H. D. Boutwell, Leverett, .75

MISCELLANEOUS.

Cummings Fish, Amherst,
Mrs. C. D. Dickinson, Iladley,
Mrs. John Dickinson, Amherst,
Orrin Sage, Ware,
Mrs. Electa Smith, Amherst,
George Chandler, Belchertown,
Mrs. Alvan Barnard, Amherst,

DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES.

Austin L. Clark, Sunderland,
Mrs. Timothy Graves, do.,
Mrs. Lyscom Spear, Amherst,
Mrs. Silas Howard, Belchertown,

.50
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25

.75
.75
.75
.75

Mrs. Joseph P. Gray, Amherst,
Mrs. S. W. Kenney, do.
Mrs. Enoch Cowles, do.
INIrs. Catherine Kellogg, do.
Mr?. T. Kimberley, do.

Miss Catherine Kelley, do.
Miss Lovina Dickinson, do.
Miss Harriet G. Parker, Montague
Mrs. E. P. Dickinson, Sunderland,
Miss Clarinda Field, Leverett,
Mrs. A. Montague, Sunderland,
L. M. Hills & Son, Amherst,
Mrs. S. Montague, Sunderland,
Mrs. Wm. Kellogg, Amherst,
Mrs. Robert Cutler, do.
Mrs. Electa Smith, do.
Mrs. Silas Cowles, Hadley,
Mrs. Orrin Payne, Montague,
Mrs. David Stiles, Middleton,
Mrs. Reuben Puffer, Amherst,
Mrs. Chittenden, Sunderland,

10

50
50
50
50
50
50
,.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25

FANCY ARTICLES.

Mrs.

Miss
Mrs.
Miss
Mrs.
Miss
Miss
Mrs.
Miss
Miss
Miss
Mrs.
Miss
Mrs.
Mrs.
Mrs.
Miss
Mrs.

F. Owen, Belchertown, $1.25

Mary Ann Cutler, Amherst, .87

Lucretia Pasco, Hadley, .50

Frances Emerson, Amherst, .37

J. E. Smith, Hadley, .37

E. Robinson, Sunderland, .25

Kate Rowland, Amherst, .25

Linus Green, Hadley, .25

Martha L. Allen, Amherst, .25

A. R. Bentley, do. .25

Lucy Fitch, do. .25

Maria Graff, Northampton, .75

Martha L. Pease, Ludlow, .37

A. Hubbard, Sunderland, .37

A. Hobart, do. .25

Sarah Turner, Amherst, .50

Elvira Hobart, do. .37

Enoch Cowles, do. .25

Miss E. S. Graves, Sunderland, $1.00

Miss Sarah Ferry, Amherst, .75

Miss Maria Niras, Amherst, .50

Miss Sarah Russell, Hadley, .50

Miss Susie Sheldon, Hadley, .25

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.

H. 0. Williams, Sunderland, $3.00
Alvin Barnard, xVmherst, Report.
Whittemore & Squiera, Chicnpee,

Report and 1.00
Orrin Johnson, Amherst, Report.
H. 0. Williams, Sunderland, co

S. Johnson, Templeton,

Report and 1.50

64

XEANSACJIONS,

Walter Fuller, Amherst, Report.
John Clark, Hadley, Report and 50c.
R. C. Russell, Amherst, Report.

0. M. Clapp, do.. Report and 1.50
Joseph Adams & Sons, lladley.

Report and 1.00
Joseph Colton, W. Springfield, 1.00
B. F. Allen & Co., Amherst,

Report and 1.00
Charles H. Field, Leverett, Report.

MAPLE SUGAR.

Albert Montague, Sunderland, $1.00
Peter Spaulding, Montague, .75

Horace Henderson, Amherst,

Farmer.

VEGETABLES.

M. F. Dickinson, Jr., Amherst, $1.00

Edwin Chapin, Hadley, 1.00

Samuel Kimball, Enfield, .50

Rodney Ayres, Granby, .50

Christopher Paige, Prescott, .62

William Boltwood, Amherst, .62

David S. Cowles, Hadley, .50

James H. Winter, Amherst, .50

Asahel Gates, do. .25

Timothy Smith, do. .25

Parsons Warner, Sunderland, .25

Levi p. Warner, do. .50

Sylvester Brown, do. .25

Ransom Dickinson, do. .25

Alfred Baker, Amherst, .25

Moses Stebbins, Deerfiekl, .25

Lyman Gunn, Amherst, .25

George Stockwell, Amherst, .25

Oliver Watson, do. ,25

Alvin Barnard, do. .37

E. Ames, Jr., Conway, .37

A. L. Clark, Sunderland, .25
0. & F. H. Williams, Sunderland, .37

Albert Montague, Sunderland, .25

George Warner, Amherst, .12

Moses B. Green, do. .12

Linus Green, Hadley, '.12

Austin Loomis, Amherst, .12

E. P. Dickinson, Sunderland, .12

C. B. Hubbard, do. .12

Ezra Ingram, Amherst, .12

Eliphalet Clark, Sunderland, .12

Austin Smith, do. .12

S. C. Wilder, Hadley, . .75

Miss Charlotte Haskell, Amherst, .75
Mrs. Geo. Cutler, do. .50

Mrs. Sarah Turner, do. .50

Mrs. H. D. Boutwell, Leverett, .3Y
Mrs. Alvin Barnard, Amherst, .37
Miss Harriet Kellogg, Hadley, .37
Miss Martha A. Dexter, Amherst, .37
Miss Harriet Russell, Montague, .62
Mrs. A. J. Stebbins, Deerfield, .37
Mrs. J. E. Smith, Hadley, .25

S. F. Cooley, Hadley, .25

Miss Martha Barnard, Amherst, .25
Miss Octavia Wheelock, do. .25
Miss Fanny Russell, Hadley, .25

Mrs. Dolly F. Wiley, Sunderland, .25
J. L. Lovell, Brattleboro',Vt., $2.00

REPORT OF T-HE TREASURER.

RECEIPTS.

From the Commonwealth, . . . .

" 65 new Life Members, . . . .
" income of the Fund, . . . .

Total Receipts of the year,

DISBURSEMENTS.

Premiums Awarded and Payable,

Printing 700 copies of Transactions, .

Current Expenses, '

Total Disbursements of the year,

PERMANENT FUND.

Loans on Mortgages of Real Estate,
Other Loans, at Interest,
Outstanding Notes of Life Members,
Cattle Pens, Tables, &c., at cost.
Cash in Treasury, .

Total Permanent Fund,

DISTRIBUTION OF PREMIUMS.

$600 00
250 25
205 03

$1055 28

$346 87
105 00
352 16

$804 03

$2427 77
180 72
535 00
135 10
291 61

$3570 20

Amherst,

$119.57

Montague,

2.62

Belcher town, .

17.25

New Salem,

11.00

Brattleboro', Vt., .

2.00

Northampton,

.75

Chicopee,

1.00

Pelham,

8.50

Conway,

.37

Prescott,

1.12

Deerfield,

19.62

Shutesbury,

1.50

Enfield,

.50

Sunderland,

77.97

Goshen,

2.00

Templeton,

1.50

Granby,

13.50

Ware,

3.00

Greenfield,

6.00

Wendell,

2.00

Hadley,

48.36

West Springfielc

I, . . 1.00

Leverett,
Ludlow,

25.62
.37

Total,

. $367.37

Middleton,

.25

Whole numbei

' of premiums awarded,

260

Different persons, who received premiums,

160

Number of To

wns,

which recei

ved premiums,

25

tfutxs at i\t ^0tidg.

President,

WILLIAM P. DICKINSON, of Hadley.

Vice Presidents,

HORACE HENDERSON, of Sunderland.
COTTON SMITH, of Amherst.
GEORGE CHANDLER, of Belchertown.
ALDEN C. FIELD, of Leverett.
RODNEY AYRES, of Granby.
EZRA INGRAM, of Amherst.

Secretary and Trcasorer,

JAMES W. BOYDEN, of Amherst.

Execatlve Committee.
P. SMITH WILLIAMS, of Hadley.
ASA L. FIELD, of Leverett.
ANSEL A. RANKIN, of Pelham.
LYMAN W. HANNUM, of Belchertown.
AVERY D. HUBBARD, of Sunderland.
RUSSELL T. WHEELOCK, of Amherst.
CYRUS STEBBINS, of Granby.

$Ht pmhrs.

HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS.

Prop. W. C. Fowler, Amherst.
Hon. M. p. Wilder, Dorchester.
W. C. GoLDTHWAiT, A. M., Westfield.
Prop. F. D. Huntington, Cambridge.

Hon. George T. Davis, Greenfield.
Z. C. Montague, A. M., Amherst.
C, L. Flint, Sec'y State Board of Ag.
Hon. J. C. Gray, Boston.

LIFE MEMBERS.

AMHERST.

Adams, Charles
Adams, Charles Mrs.
Adams, John S.
Adams, John S. Mrs.
Ainsworth, Forrester
Allen, Benjamin W.
*Allen, Hiram H.
Allen, Hiram H. Mrs.
Allen, Jilartha L. Miss
AUen Nathaniel
*Ames, Edwin
Ayres, Elijah
AjTes, Elijah Mrs.
Ayres, Josiah
Baker, Alfred
Baker, Alfred Mrs.
Baker, Enos
Baker, George
Baker, George Mrs.
Baker, Joel
Bangs, Charles H.
Bangs, Danforth K.
Bangs, Danforth K. ]\Irs.
Barnard, Alvin
Barnard, Alvin [Mrs.
Bartlett, Daxid
Bartlett, David Mrs.
Eelden, Aaron
Belden, Horace
Belden, Timothy C.
Blanchard, Horace
*Blodgctt, Henry
*]3ogue, Elisha
Bogue, Elisha Mrs.
Boltwood Lucius
Boltwood, William
Boltwood, William Mrs.

Boyden, James W.
Boyden, James W. ]\Irs.
Bridgman, Guilford
Bridgman, Henry A.
■*Bridgman Jonathan
Bridgman, ]\Iary S. Miss
Briggs, Ebenezer
Briggs, Ebenezer Mrs.
Burnham, George Jr.
Burnham, Geo. Jr. ilrs.
Cadwell, Aretas J.
Cadwell, Aretas J. Mrs.
Carter, Samuel C.
Carter, Samuel C. Mrs.
Chandler, Aaron M.
Church, Elihu S.
Church Elihu S. ilrs.
Church, Spencer
Clark, Simeon
Clark, Simeon Mi's.
Clark, W. S. Prof.
Clark, W. S. Mrs.
Cobb, Henry
Conkey, Ithamar
Conkey, Ithamar F.
Conkey, I. F. Mrs.
Converse, Daniel
Converse, D. INIrs.
Cooke, David S.
Cooke, D. S. ISIrs.
Cook, Enos F.
Cooley, Alden
Cooley, Moses D.
Cowles, Chester
Cowles, Chester J.Irs.
Cowles, Clinton J.
Cowles, C. J. Mrs.
Cowles, Enoch

Cowles, Enoch Mrs.
Cowles, Erastus
Cowles, Erastus Mrs.
Cowles, James
Cowles, James Mrs.
Cowles, Jonathan
Cowles, Jonathan Mrs.
Cowles, Jonathan Jr.
Cowles, J. Jr. Mrs.
* Cowles, Julia B. Miss
Cowles, Levi D.
Cowles, LcAd D. Mrs.
Cowles, Moses
Cowles, Moses Mrs.
*Cowles, Oliver
Cowles, Ransom
Cowles, Ransom Mrs.
Cowles, Submit Mrs.
Curtis, Oliver H.
Curtis, Oliver H. Mrs.
Cushman, John R.
Cushman, John R. Mrs.
Cutler, Elisha P. .
Cutler, Esther Miss
Cutler, George
Cutler, George Mrs.
Cutler, Robert
Cutler, Robert Mrs.
Cutler, Samuel F.
Cutler, William
Cutler, William Mrs.
Dana, Joseph
Darling, Benjamin R.
Dexter, David
Dexter, David Mrs.
Dickinson, Asa & Noble
Dickinson, Bela U.
Dickinson, Bela U. Mrs,

* Deceased.

€8

LIFE MEMBERS

Dickinson, Charlotte Miss
Dickinson, Daniel
Dickinson, Daniel Mrs.
Dickinson, Daniel A.
Dickinson, Edward
Diclvinson, Edward Mrs
Dickinson, Emily E. Miss
Dickinson, Enos
Dickinson, Enos Mrs.-
Dickinson, Enos 2d
Dickinson, Enos 2d Mrs.
Dickinson, John
Dickinson, John Mrs.
Dickinson, Joseph
Dickinson, Josiah
Dickinsoii, L. A. Miss
Dickinson, Lovina Miss
Dickinson, Lucins
Dickinson, LydiaE. Miss
Dickinson, Marqnis F.
Dickinson, M. F. Mrs.
Dickinson, Moses B.
Dickinson, M. B. Mrs.
Dickinson, Olirer
Dickinson, Oliver ilrs.
Dickinson, Samuel S.
Dickinson, S. S. Mrs.
Dickinson, Sarah M. Miss
Dickinson, Waitstill
Dickinson, "Waitstill Mrs.
Dickinson, William .
Dickinson, William 2d
Dickinson, Wm. Austin j
Dickinson, William E.
Dickinson, William W.
Draper, Lewis L.
Dutton, Alonzo
Dutton, Alonzo Mrs.
D wight, E. S. Rev.
D wight, E. S. Mr^.
Eastman, Austin
Eastman, Austin ^Ii's.
Eastman, Baxter
Eastman, Baxter Mrs.
Eastman, Solomon K.
«Eastman, S. K. Mts.
Edwards, Simeon
Emerson, Sarah E. Mrs.
Faxon, William
Ferry, Sarah P. Miss
Field, D'Estaing Mi's.
Fish, Cummings
Fish, Seth Dr.
Fish, Seth Mrs,
Fisher, George E. Rev.
Fitch, NcM-ton
Fitch, Newton Mrs.
French, Mary F. Miss
Fuller, Walter
Gaylord, Flavel
Gaylord, Eleazer

Gaylord, William
Gaylord, William, Mrs.
Goodale, Noble T.
Goodale, Rufus
Goodale, Rufus IVIrs.
Gray, Joseph P.
Gray, Joseph P. Mrs.
* Green, Eunice Miss
Green, Moses B.
*Gridley, T. J. Dr.
Grout, Austin
Gunn, Lyman
Gunn, William F.
Hall, John B.
Hallock, Leavitt
Hallock, Leavitt Sirs.
Hammond, Salem
Hammond, Salem IMrs.
Harlov/, Nathaniel L.
Hastings, Edmund
Hastings, Edmund Mrs.
Hastings, Joseph C.
Hastings, J. C. Mrs.
Hastings, Thomas
Hastings, Thomas Mrs.
Haven, Joseph Prof.
Haven, Joseph Mrs.
Hawley, Charles M,
Hawley, Harrison
Hawley, Justin
Hayward, Charles F.
Hayward, C. F. 'Mis.
Henderson, Horace
Henderson, Horace !Mrs.
Henderson, Timothy
Hills, Leonard M.
Hills, Leonard M. Mrs.
Hills, Liberty
Hills, Liberty Mrs.
Hills, Samuel
Hills, Samuel T.
Hills, Samuel T. Mrs.
Hitchcock, Edward
Hitchc'ock, Edward Mrs.
Hobart, Edmund
Hobart, Edmund Mrs.
Hobart, George AV.
Hobart, G. W. Mrs.
Hobart, Jeremiah W.
Hobart, Joshua
Hobart, Stilhnan
Hobart, Stillman Mrs.
Howard, H.C.&M.W.
Howard, M. W. 'Mis.
Howe, Albin P.
Howe, Albin P. Mrs.
Howland, Warren S.
Howlaud, W. S. Mrs.
Hubbard, Ethan D.
Hubbard, E. D. IMrs.
Hubbai'd, Rodolphus B.

Ingram, Ezra
IngTam, Harrison
Ingram, Harrison Mrs,
Ingram, Rufus
Ingram, Zaccheus C.
Ingram, Z. C. Mrs.
Jackson, Henry
Johnson, Earl
Johnson, Earl Mrs.
Johnson, Orrin
*Jones, Thomas
Jones, Thomas Mrs.
Kellogg, Henry C.
Kellogg, Eleazer
Kellogg, Horace
Kellogg, Horace Jr.
Kellogg, James
Kellogg, Lyman
Kellogg, Lyman Mrs.
Kellogg, S. Wells
Kellogg, Willard M.
Kellogg, W. M. Mrs.
*Kellogg, William
Kellogg, William Mrs.
Kellogg, William
*Kingman, Cyrus
Leland, John
Leland, John Mrs.
Lincoln, R. S.
Lincoln, R. S. Mrs.
Loomis, Austin
Loomis, Austin D.
Loomis, Milton
Lyman, John
*Mack, David
Mack, David Mrs.
Mai-shall, Ansel C.
Marshall, Joseph E.
Mather, William E.
Mather, William E. ilrs.
McMaster, Charles
McMaster, Charles Mrs.
Merrick, James E.
Merrick, James E. Mrs.
Merrick, James L. Rev.
Merrick, James*L, Mi-s.
*Merrick, William
Merrill, Harriet O. Miss
Moore, Phebe Mrs.
Munsell, Guy C.
Munsell, Guy C. Mrs.
Nash, Charles
Nash, Charles Mrs.
Nash, J. A. Rev.
Nash, J. A. Mrs.
Nash, Luther
Needham, Emory H.
Needham, E. H. Mrs.
Nelson, Julia C. Miss
Newton, Walter
Palmer, Frederick A.

LITE MEMBEKS.

69

Palmer, Frederick A.Mrs,
Pierce, Francis A.
Pierce, Francis A. Mrs.
Pomeroy, David
*Poineroy, Mary Mrs,
Potwine, Thomas
Prince, Samuel
Rankin, John
Reed, Thomas
Reed, Thomas Mrs.
Rice, Alpheus
Roberts, Fanny H. Mrs.
Robins, Alva
*Robins, Z. W.
Robins, Z. W. Mrs.
Robinson, Ferdin'.d Mrs.
Robinson & Ainsworth,
Russell, R. Chauncy
Russell, Emerson
Russell, Emerson Mrs.
Russell, Francis H.
Segraves, Horatio
Shepard, Charles U. Prof.
Slate, Jonathan S.
Smith, B. F. Dr.
Smith, B. F. Mrs.
*Smith, Cotton
Smith, Timothy
Smith, Timothy IMrs.
Smith, William B.
Smith, William W.
Snell, E. S. Prof.
Snell, E. S. Mrs.
Spaulding, Philip D.
Spear, Ebenezer P.
Spear, Lyscom
Spear, Lyscom, Mrs.
Spear, Myrick N.
Stanley, Edward A.
Stratton, Chester Dr.
Stratton, Chester Mrs.
Strickland, Wiiliam G.
Strickland, Wm. G. Mrs.
Sweetser, Hannah Mrs.
Sweetser, Luke
Sweetser, Luke Mrs.
Taylor, Israel H. Dr.
Taylor, Israel H. Mrs.
Taylor, Stillraan
Thayer, Jason
Thayer, Jason Mrs.
Thayer, Jonathan
Thayer, Jonathan Mr-s.
Thayer, Reuben
Thayer, Savannah A.
Thayer, S. A. Mrs.
Turner, Rodolphus
Tyler, William S. Prof.
Tyler, William S. Mrs.
Warner, Aaron Prof.
Warner, Aaron Mrs.

Warner, David S.
Warner, George
Watson, Oliver
Watsou, Oliver Mrs.
"SVetherell, Leander
Wheelock, Dana
Wheelock, Russell T.
*Whipple, David
Whipple, George A.
Whitney, Simon W.
Williams, Ebenezer
Williams, Enos D.
Williams, E. D, Mrs.
Williams, Frederick
Williams, Orin
Williams, Orin Mrs.
Winter, Jonas H.
Woodman, Geo. S. Dr.
Woodman, G. S. Mrs.
Woodworth, C. L. Pv.ev.
* WoodAvorth, Maria ^Irs.
Wright, Sylvanus M.
Wright, S. M. Mrs,

ATHOL.

Putnam, Rufus
Putnam, Rufus Mrs.

BALTIMORE, M. D.

Brown, Smith

BELCHEETOWN.

Alden, Thomas
Arnold, Barnard
Barrett, Leonard
Chandler, George
Chandler, George Mrs.
*Dorman, Roderic
Dunbar, Charles T.
Dwight, Nathaniel Jr.
Gilbert, Wareham C.
Goodale, Asahel
*Hannum, Gamaliel
Hannum, Lyman W.
Holland, Luther
*Lawrence, Myi-on
*Longley, Joshua
Montague, E^jluraim
Packard, Joel
Sab in, Lyman
Sisson, John
Thayer, Hezekiah
Thayer, Rufus
Thayer, William
*Towne, Israel
Wilson, Asa

BOSTON.

Smith, Alvau
Smith, Charles
Smith, Charles Mrs.

CHICAGO, ILL.

Hubbard, Orten
Tapley, George W.

CHICOPEE.

Mossman, Abner G.

CONWAY.

May, Cephas

COVINGTON, KY.

Payson, Joseph R.

DEEKFIELD.

Ely, John D.
Fogg, Josiah
Rust, Horatio N.
Stebbins, Evander G.
Stebbins, Moses
Stebbins, Moses Mrs.

EASTHAMPTON.

Colton, A. M. Rev.
Colton, A. M. IN'Irs.
Sab in, Sherman
Sabin, Sherman Mrs.

ENFIELD.

Aldrich, Nehemiah W.
Fobes, Henry
Woods, Josiah B.

GEANBY.

Aldrich, Christopher C.
Ayres, Rodney
Ayres, Samuel
Barton, James M.
Barton, Phineas D.
Chamberlain, C. M. Dr.
Chapin, Philo
Clark, Augustus
Clark, Charles F,
Clark, Luke M.
Clark, Spencer
Dickinson, Samuel D.
Ferry, Charles S.
Ferry, Lucius
Lyman, George J.
Montague, Giles F.
Montague, Holland
Patrick, William J.
Preston, John H. D.
Richardson, Orsemus
Smith, George N.
Smith, Jared C.
Smith, Nelson
Smith, Samuel Jr.
Smith, William A.
Stebbins, Cyrus
Taylor, Milo A.
Warner, Alonzo
Warner, Park
*Witt, Benjamin

70

LIFS MKMBEES,

Witt, Horace
Woodfordf Wm. H.

GRANBY, CT.

Gaylord, Ebenezcr
Gaylord, Eben. Mrs.

GRAXD RAPIDS, MICH.

Merrill, Calvin
Merrill, Calvin Mrs.

GREENFIELD.

L}TTQan, Horace
Smith, Samuel D.

GREENWICH.

Carter, John
Douglass, Stephen
Earle, Luke

Adams, Benjamin
Adams, Benjamin Mrs,
Adams, Joseph
Adams, Levi
Adams, Levi Mrs.
Baker, Esek
Beaman, Jonas
Bouney, Franklin
Bonney, Oliver E.
Carter, Benjamin T.
Chapin, Edwin
Comius, Simon F.
*Cowles, Asa
Cowles, Daniel
Cowles, Daniel Mi-s.
Cowles, David S.
Cowles, David Jlrs.
Cowles, Elijah
Cowles, Elijah Mrs.
Cowles, Lewis
*Cowles, Pamela ]\Irs.
Dickinson, Dexter C.
Dickinson, Elihu S.
Dickinson, George
Dickinson, Samuel Jr.
Dickinson, William P.
Dickinson, Wm. P. Mrs,
Granger, Lorenzo N.
Granger, Lorenzo N. Mrs,
Gray, Amos
Gray, Chester
Green, Dor us
Green, Dor us IMrs.
Green, Henry
Green, Linus
Green, Linus Mrs.
Hayward, E. E.
Hibbard, Albert
Hill, Roderic B.
Hooker, Benjamin
Huntington, Theodore G,

Huntington, T. P.
Huntington, T. P. Mrs.
Ingram, Robert
Kellogg, Martin
Kellogg, Martin Mrs.
Kellogg, Stillman,
Kellogg, Stillman ]Mrs.
Kentfield, Jeremiah B.
Lamson, Charles E.
Marsh, Timothy S.
Morton, John A.
Morton, John A. Mrs.
Nash, John W.
Nash, Samuel
Nash, Samuel IVIrs.
O shorn, John
Pasco, Theodore
Pasco, Theodore Mrs.
Porter, Eleazer
Porter, Edwards J.
*Porter, Louisa Mrs.
Powers, Alfred
Powers, Alfred Mrs.
Powers, Samuel
Powers, Samuel JNIrs.
Russell, Horace
Russell, Horace Mrs.
Russell, John
Russell, John ]VL;s.
Russell, Levi
Russell, Levi Mrs.
*Scott, Eufus
Scott, Rufus Mrs.
Shipman, John
Shipman, William S.
Smith, Charles
Smith, Chester
Smith, Cotton
Smith, Cotton Mrs.
Smith, Edmund
Smith, Erastus
Smith, Giles E. '
* Smith, Horace
Smith, Jeriah S.
Smith, Joseph
Smith, Joseph Mrs.
Smith, Oliver E.
Smith, R. Wales
Smith, R. Wales INIrs.
Smith, Thaddeus
Smith, Thaddeus Mrs.
Stockbridge, Levi
Tower, Samuel
Wallis, A^ldi
Warner, William P.
West, Parsons
West, Parsons IMi's.
White, Samuel G.
Williams, P. Smith
Williams, P. Smith Mrs,
Wilder, Samuel C.

HATFIELD.

Hubbard, George W.

HOLTOKE.

Cooke, Edwin F.

KBENE, N. H.

Sprague, Joseph G.

KNOSVILLE, TENN.

Cooke, George Rev.
Cooke, George Mrs.

LEVERETT.

Adams, Alden
Ashley, Marvin
Ashley, Marvin Mrs.
Ball Orus
Ball Orus Mrs.
Ball, Silas
Bangs, Howard
Boutwell, Levi
Boutwell, Levi Mrs.
Boutv/ell, Samuel W.
Boutwell, S. W. Mrs.
Clai-k, William W^ells
Cutter, Seneca Mrs.
Dunklee, Hezekiah
Eastman, David Rev.
Eastman, David Mrs.
Field, Alden C.
Field, Alden C. Mrs.
Field, Asa L.
Field, Asa L. Mrs.
Field, Charles H.
Field, Charles H. Mrs.
Field, Hai-rison
Field, Harrison O.
Field, Harrison O. Mrs.
Field, Moses
Field, Moses Mrs.
Field, Zebina
Fitts, Nathan H.
Frary, Francis
Graves, Elmer
Graves, Walter
Graves, Kellogg
Hobart, Baxter R.
Hobart, Charles D.
Hobart, Peter
Hobart, Spencer
Howard, Baxter
Hubbard, Roswell
Ingram, Elisha
Ingram Elijah
*Jones Albert M.
Kimball, David
Leach, Chester
Matthews, Llorace
Moore, Dexter
Nutting, Lucius
Nutting, Raneoia

LIFE MEMBERS.

71

Porter, Cephas
Putnam Timothy
Putnam, Timothy INIrs.
Rice, Josiah
Kice, David Dr,
Smith, William H.
Taylor, William
Whitaker, Augustus G.
Willis, Lawson S.
Wood, Seth
Woodbiu-y, Jason H,

L0CKP0K.T, N. Y.

Sears, Simon.

MARLBOROUGH, N. H.

Downes, Almeron S.

MINNESOTA.

Farrar, George H. Mrs.
Nutting, Truman
Nutting, Truman ilrs.

MONTAGUE.

Boutwell William H.
Paine, Alonzo
Paine, Orrin Mrs.
Russell, Calvin
Russell, Calvin TMrs.
Smith, Charles H;
Spaulding, Peter Jr.

MONTGOMERY, ALA.

Montague, George

NASHUA, N. H.

Jewett, George B. Rev.

NEW SALEM.

Dean, Richai-d
Haskins, Nelson
Hunt, Horace

NEW YORK CITY.

Ford, Emily Mrs,
Harrington, Samuel
Harrington, Sam'l Mrs.
Shipman, John Jr.
Smith, H. B. Rev. Prof.

NORTHAMPTON.

Arnold, W. A.
Baker, Osmyn
Clapp, D. M.
Clark, William Jr.
Clark, William
Dickinson, George P.
Fitts, Elijah B.
Hawks, Charles K.
Hinckley, Samuel L.
Hillyer, Winthrop
Kirkland, Harvey
Parsons, Samuel L.

Shepard, Ashur
Shepard, Henry
Smith, S. M.
Strong, Elisha
Strong, William
Thayer, Justin
Trumbull, James R.
Trumbull, J. R. Mrs.
Washburn, Luther I.
W^ells, Samuel
West, Joseph I.
Wilson, J. W.
Wright, Ansel

OSKOSH, WIS.

Kellogg, Ansel W.

Aldrich, Ashael
Ballou, Emory
Ballou, Hham
Barrows, Isaac
BufFum, Thomas
Cook, Oluey
Eaton, Calvin D.
Tales, Abijah •
Newell, Lemuel H.
Rankin, xlnsel A.
Rankin, Ansel A. Mrs.
Russell, John
W"ard, Joseph G.

PITTSFIELD.

Frink, Henry
Friuk, Henry Mrs.

PRESCOTT.

Aiken, Benjamin P.
Paige, Benjamin K.
Paige, Chistopher

PROVIDENCE, R. I.

Leonard, Dexter M.

SARATOGA, N. Y.

Crapo, Azubah Mrs.

SHARON, ILL.

Godfrey, William B.

SHUTESEURY.

Adams, N. Dickinson
Adams, S. Wai'd
Dudley, Samuel F.
Dudley, S. F, Mrs.
Fitts, Edward ^
Howe, AbrahaiffS.
Shores, David

SOUTHAMPTON,

Edwards, Elisha -

SOUTH HADLEY,

Allen, Levi W,
I Alvord, Hervey
j Pates, Emerson
I *Burnett, Nelson W.

Clark, Marcellus
I Gaylord, Lorenzo

Kellogg, Amos

Lathrop, Paoli

Lyman, Lorenzo W*

Montague, C, Newton

Moody, Hovey

Nash,' Thomas M.

Smith, Edmund

Smith, Edmund ^Mrs*

Smith, Gilbert A,

Smith, Jason

Snow, Sheldon Mrs.

SPRINGFIELD.

Brewster, John M. Dr,
D.Iontague, Isaac AV.

SUNDERLAND.

Brown, Joshua T.
Brown, Sylvester
Brown, Sylvester Mrs.
Clark, Austin L.
Clark, Austin L. Mrs.
Clark, Eliphalet IVIrs.
Clark, Norman P.
Clark, Norman P. Mrs.
Clai'k, Sereuo D. Rev.
Clark, Sereno D. Mrs.
Clark, Stillman D. Mrs.
Cooley, Charles
Crocker, Daniel B.
Crocker, Stoughton D.
Crocker, S. D. Mrs.
Darling, Benj. Clark
Darling, B. Clark Mrs.
Delano, Ansel C.
Delano, Ansel C. Mrs.
Dickinson, Ebenezer P.
Dickinson, E, P. Mrs,
Dickinson, Ransom
Dickinson, R, Mi-s,
Dunklee, Benjamin F.
Dunlap, Samuel
Dunlap, Samuel Mrs,
Field, Edwin G,
Field, Edwin G, Mrs,
Field, Erastus S.
Gaylord, William
Graves, Alden
Graves, George W,
Graves, Hubbard
Graves, Hubbard, Mrs,
Graves, Marvin Mrs.
Graves, Timothy
Graves, Timothy Mrs.
*Grover, Josiah

72

TalTZ KEMBEBa

Gunn, Isaac S. H.
Hemenway, B. C. Mrs.
Hobart, Albert
Hobart, Albert IMi-s.
Hubbard, Alanson
Hubbard, A. Mrs.
Hubbard, Ashley-
Hubbard, A. Mrs.
Hubbard, Avery D.
Hubbard, A. D. Mrs.
Hubbard, Caleb T.
Hubbard, Claudius B.
Hubbard, C. B. Mrs.
Hubbard, David
Hubbard, David Mrs.
Hubbard, Kelita
Hubbard, Mai-tin L.
Hubbard, Moses 2d
Hubbard, Moses 2d Mrs.
Hunt, James
Hunt, Melzar
Hunt, William
Hunt, Zebina M.
Ludden, Parmenas
Miller, Washington
Montague, Albert
Montague Albert ]\Irs.
Montague, Warren
Newton, Lyman A.
Pomeroy, William D.
Prouty, James B.
Robinson, Ephraim E.
Rowe, Alfred E.
Howe, Alfred E. Mrs.
Russell, Austin

Russell Emmons
f RusseU, J. Wiley

Russell, J . Wiley Mrs.
1 Russell, William W.
! Russell, Wm. W. Mrs.
! Sanderson, Eli
I Sanderson, H. F. ISIrs.
I Smith, Avistin
. Smith, Austin Mrs.

Smith, Brainard
! Smith, Brainard Mrs.
I Smith, Elihu

Smith, Elihu ]\Irs.
i Smith, John M.
I Smith, John M. Mrs.
I Smith, Nathaniel
I Smith, Nathaniel Mrs.
1 Smith, N. Austin
i Smith, N. Austin Mrs.

Taft, Francis L.

Trow, Nathaniel G. Dr.
! Trow, Nathaniel G. Mrs.
I Warner, James R.
I Warner, Levi P.

Warner, Levi P. Mrs.
I Warner Parsons
' Warner, Wallace R.

Whittemore, D.D.& J. Jr.

AViley, Dolly F. Miss
' Wiley, Ebenezer |

Wiley, Ebenezer Mrs.

Wiley, John j

; Wiley, John Mrs. i

' Williams, Henry O.
, Williams, H. O. Mrs. ;

Williams, Oliver
Wright, Abram

TAUNTON.

Sanford, John Rev.
Sanford, John Mrs.

WARE.

Bowen, Sylvester
Brakenridge, Wm. S.
DeWitt, Francis
Gilbert, George H.
Gilbert, G. H. Mrs.
GofF, B. F.
Phelps, Samuel H.
Rice, Joel
Sage, Orrin
Stevens, Charles A.

WESTBOEOUGH.

White, Samuel. N.
White, Samuel N. Mrs.

^yEi¥£ SPRINGFIELD.

Colton, Joseph

WILLIAMSBURGH.

Bartlett, Newman W.
Graves, Levi M.

WILMINGTON, VT.

Smith, Newman W. Dr.
Smith, N. AV. IMrs.

WOBCESTER.

Cummings, E. A. Rev.
Cummings, E. A. Mrs.

RECAPITULATION.

Amherst,

386

Greenwich, . 3

Pittsfield, .

2

Athol, .

2

Hadley, . .102

Prescott,

3

Baltimore, Md.,

1

Hatfield, . . 1

Providence, R. I.,

1

Belchertown,

24

Holyoke, .• . 1

Saratoga, N. Y.,

1

Boston,

5

Keene, N. H., . 1

Sharon, 111.,

1

Cambridge, .

1

Knoxville, Tenn., 1

Shutesbury,

7

Chicago, 111.,

2

Leverett, . . 59

Southampton,

1

Chicopee,

1

Lockport, N. Y., 1

South ■■ Hadley,

17

Conway,

1

Marlborough, N. H., 1

Springfield, .

2

Covington, Ky.,

1

Minnesota Territory, 3

Sunderland, .

110

Deerfield,

6

Montague, . . 7

Taunton,

2

Dorchester, .

1

Montgomery, Ala., 1

Ware, .

10

Easthampton,

4

Nashua, N. H., . 1

Westborough,

2

Enfield,

3

New Salem, . 2

Westfield, .

1

Granby,

32

New Ya-k City, . 5
Northampton, . 25

West Springfield,

1

Granby, Ct.,

2

Williamsburgh,

2

Grand Rapids, Mic

:h., 2

Oskosh, Wis., . 1

Wilmington, Vt.,

2

Greenfield, .

3

Pelham, . .13

Worcester, .

2

Whole number of Members, 8? A.

TRANSACTIONS

OF THE

HAMPSHIRE AGRICDIJRAL SOCIETY,

DURING THE YEAH

1856.

PREPARED BY

JAMES W. BOYDEN,

SECRETARY.

AMHERST:

PRESS OF J. H. BREWSTER.

1856.

ADDRESS,

BY EDWARD HITCHCOCK, D. D. LL., D.

How benevolent a provision it is, in such a world as this,
that some men are about as well fitted for one place as another.
When other men's plans want piecing out, or get cracked, or
have holes in them, these jacks-at-all-trades can be used at
once, and made to fit exactly. I claim the honor of being one
of these convenient men ; and my present position proves it.
Imagine the indefatigable Secretary of this Society to meet
me a few hours ago, with the announcement that the orator
for this occasion had failed, and that nobody else — that is, no
one able to give a good address, — could be obtained ; and lay-
ing his grappling irons on me as a last resort for the occasion.
But Mr. Secretary, I reply, though willing to do much to help
in such an emergency, I really have but very little written
on the subject of agriculture, or the arts, which I have not al-
ready delivered in public ; not before this body, indeed, nor
any where within the last decade of years, but still delivered
formerly in this valley, and perhaps before some who may be
present this week. Nay, what is worse still, most of what I
formerly delivered on such occasions is in print. This state-
ment, I felt sure, would close the Secretary's mouth and leave
me free. But no : he actually gave the argument such a turn
that my resolution was overcome, and I have submitted to have
the harness buckled upon me. He assured me (what a com-
pliment to the power of my eloquence !) that undoubtedly

4 TRANSACTIONS.

everybody had forgotten my addresses, and would never sus-
pect, did I not inform them, that what I should deliver had
ever been written or published. I presume he spoke the truth ;
and, therefore, I invite this respected auditory to partake of
such a hashed dish as I am able to offer. They will doubtless
feel as did one of my parishioners formerly, who suspected me
of preaching a sermon the second time, and who likened it to
being fed on cold pudding. But I beg you to remember that
t have not had time on this occasion, to warm over the pud-
ding.

Without further delay, however, I proceed to my subject,
which is the mutual dependence hetiveen agricultui'e and the
other important pursuits and interests of society.*

The mutual dependence between the arts, manufactures,
commerce and agriculture, will need but a few words of illus-
tration, because famiHar to all. In order to success in any
important pursuit, it is necessary that a man should give to it
an undivided, constant, and nearly exclusive attention. Neith-
'er the farmer, mechanic, nor merchant, can be thriving and
successful, if he do not rise up early and sit up late, and make
his business a leading object of pursuit. He cannot success-
fully combine two or more of these branches of labor, unless it
be as mere over-sight. What, then, could the merchant, me-
chanic or manufacturer do, without the products of the soil ?
and how could he obtain them, were there not a class of men
exclusively devoted to their growth ? Let the farmer then
cease his labors, and it would almost sweep commerce from
the ocean, shut up almost every merchant's shop, and starve
out most of our mechanics and manufacturers.

On the other hand, let not the farmer imagine, because he
is the principal producer, that he is independent of commerce,
arts, and manufactures. His existence might, indeed, be con-

*Notwithstanding the statements in this introduction, the Society requested
that the address might be printed in their annual Bulletin. The author, al-
though differing from the Society as to the expediency of this course," has
marked what he regards as its most important parts, which he submits to their
•wishes.

ADDRESS.

tinued without them ; but it would be only existence as a sav-
age ; and of course only a small fraction of the present popu-
lation of a country could in this way even exist. Besides,
they would owe their sustenance, not to agriculture, but rather
to the bounty of Providence, which has caused the earth, in
almost every land, to bring forth spontaneously the fruits es-
sential for the food of a scattered population. But agricul-
ture, properly so called, cannot exist without commerce and
manufactures. Tlie very first step in farming, I mean the
breaking up of the soil for the seed, requires the artizan's skill
in the construction of tools. Without that skill, indeed, the
farmer's present comfortable, and it may be elegant habitation,
must be exchanged for the skin lodge of the Pawnee, the bark
hut of the New Hollander, or, at the most, the wigwam of the
aborigines of New England. His dress, too, if dress he could
obtain, must be the undressed hide of some animal ; and his
wife and daughter must exchange their silks, muslins, and cal_
icoes, for the filthy skin of the horse, the racoon, the bear, or
the buffalo ; festooned it may be, as the ne plus ultra of sav-
age skill, with the quills of the porcupine, the feathers of the
eagle, or bark painted with elderberries. In his habitation,
too, the nicely sanded or carpeted floor must give place to the
lap of mother earth, where vermin, lizards and serpents, would
dispute with him the right of possession. An unglazed hole
in the wall must let in the storm and the wind, as well as the
light ; the stagnant pool must be the mirror before which he
must make his toilet ; and his glass, pottery and porcelain,
must give place to a wooden trencher or bowl, wrought out by
p, flint. Let the farmer be thus stripped, for a iew months, of
all the necessaries, comforts and luxuries which come to him
through the arts, manufactures and commerce, — let him, like
Nebuchadnezzar, be compelled "to eat grass as oxen, until his
hairs are grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's
claws," — and he would cease to say of his present state of
comfort and happiness, " is not this great Babylon, wliich I
have built, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my

TRANSACTIONS.

mijesty." He would be ready to acknowledge his dependence
if not on God, yet on commerce and the arts.

But why should I dwell on this subject ; for every agricul-
tural fair presents us with a practical illustration of the inti-
mate connection and dependence between agriculture and the
arts. The choicest and richest displays of mechanical skill
meet and gratify us there ; and many of them, too, have been
prepared in the farmers' families, in the intervals of leisure ;
so that, in fact, to attempt to depreciate manufacturers would
be to depreciate farmers themselves.

The important connection between agriculture and national
prosperity is a subject almost too trite for an occasion like the
present. And yet few think of all the relations between these
subjects. The products of the soil, which result from its cul-
tivation, are generally thought of, as the only contribution
which agriculture makes to a nation's prosperity. This is, in-
deed, a main pillar of that prosperity. But, after all, the most
important element of national character is the character of the
citizens.

Just such men as agriculture produces are needed to fill up
the ranks of other pursuits in society. For though these other
pursuits are of the utmost importance, nay, indispensable to
the prosperity of society, and therefore those who engage in
them are in a most honorable and respectable path, they are
not adapted, like agriculture, to give that physical energy and
happy development of character to the rising generation, which
they need to take the place of their fathers. Indeed, all the
sedentary pursuits in which men engage, tend rather to the de-
terioration of the human constitution, so that the sons of me-
chanics, merchants, and professional men, can only in part fill
up the vacancies occasioned by death. Nay, an enfeebled
constitution often compels them to resort to agriculture to re-
store its lost stamina. Hence there is needed a foreign supply,
to keep the ranks full and strong in these professions. And,
where agriculture is in a proper state, it furnishes such a sup-
ply. The discipline which the young are undergoing on every
well conducted farm in the land, is fitting them to become fu-

ADDRESS.

ture artizans, merchants, and professional men. Especially
are they preparing there to supply the enormous demand
which the cities and larger towns are making upon the coun-
try. The fact is, that the strong mental excitement, the heavy
pressure upon time, the unseasonable hours, the luxurious hab-
its, and the want of fresh air and exercise, in city life, ere long
break down the strongest constitution ; and in a large propor-
tion of cases the children of robust parents are feeble, and,
though precocious, are destitute of the bodily hardihood and
mental energy essential to eminent success in any pursuit.
Hence such children must usually give place to youth from the
country, whose decendants in time must yield to others from
the same prolific source. Hence, as I have wandered over the
hilis and valleys of our land, and have met by the wayside,
and on the farm, or in the meanest hovel, with children uncul-
tivated, and even repulsive in their appearance, yet healthy
and hardy, I have often felt for them no small degree of re-
spect, when I recollected that probably, under that rough ex-
terior, there lay concealed the future wealthy merchant, or
eminent artizan, or distinguished scholar. The refined city
beau, or belle, may indeed smile contemptuously at the un-
couth manners of the plough boy, who, on his first trip to the
city, is staring about the streets with half opened mouth ; but
not unlikely that despised rustic will one day rise far above
them in wealth, learning, and respectability. At any rate,
such transmutations are of every day occurrence in the city.
The cause of education is regarded by all intelligent men,
especially in a country like our own, as an important national
tional interest ; and hence we should inquire what influence
is exerteaapon it by agricultural pursuits. An eminently sal-
utary influence, is the decided reply. Especially is this the
case in respect to popular education, as appears from several
considerations. These pursuits, in the first place, aftord more
of leisure for study than most others, since the hours of active
toil must be so much fewer than those of tlie waking period of
the day. The farmer, also, is ever in intimate communion with
nature ; and thus an inquisitive and discriminating spirit is ex-

8 TRANSACTIONS.

cited. Tlie farmer of experience likewise soon learns how
much he may be aided by a good education in his calling ; and
thus is he prompted to secure such an education for his chil-
dren. But above all, his active habits give him so much phys-
ical vigor, that the old adage may be applied to him ; mens
Sana in cor'pore sano ; a sound mind in a sound body. He
can sit down calmly to his books with little of that nervous ir-
ritability and restlessness, and little of that cloudiness and de-
bility of intellect, that torment and retard so many of sedentary
habits. Those only can appreciate the value of such a state
of body and mind, who have had to struggle with its opposite*
If I may be allowed to give my own experience on this subject
I would say, that decidedly the best time for study which I
have ever known, — when the mind was the the clearest and
the nerves most quiet, — was the evening that succeeded a hard
day's work in hoeing or mowing. After having mowed an
acre of grass, 1 found my mind prepared to mow an acre of
Geometry or Astronomy ; and often in subsequent days, when
study was a task, and there seemed to be a muffle over the
mind, I have sighed for the return of that period, when the in-
tellect had as keen an edge by night, as the scythe had by day.
Of the reflex influence of education upon agriculture I might
say much. It is this indeed, almost exclusively, that dis-
tinguishes the farmer of New England from the serf of Russia ;
the one, about as low in the scale of humanity as is possible ;
a servile animal, with scarcely more of intellect than the ox or
the horse ; the other, an intelligent freeman, with sagacity to
know what his rights are, and with the determination to main-
tain them ; far more independent than the European lord,
who, with all his wealth and his castles, is a slave to his meni-
als. The American farmer has enough property to supply all
his reasonable wants, but not so much as to make him misera-
ble. He knows how to take care of himself, and is not com-
pelled, therefore, as most of the wealthy are, to commit his
happiness into the hands of mercenary hirelings, or unpaid
slaves. And it is his education merely, that gives him such a
proud pre-eminence over so vast a majority of hisfellow.men.

ADDRESS. y

This alone teaches him what are his peculiar advantages, and
how best to improve them.

I have spoken thus far of education in its more general ac-
ceptation ; as meaning the discipline of all the powers of man.
But between science and agriculture, there is a still more spe-
cifically intimate relation ; and on this point, as more particu-
larly appropriate to the present occasion, and falling in with
my past course of study, I hope I may be allowed to dwell
with more attention, than upon the other relations of agricul-
ture.

There are three sciences in particular, from which it has
been supposed agriculture might derive important benefit, viz :
Botany, Geology, and Chemistry.

Is is obvious now, that these branches open before the scien-
tific man a wide and most interesting field. And within a few
years past, most diligently has it been explored. Some of the
ablest chemists, geologists, and botanists of Europe and Amer-
ica, have been most actively and successfully employed in
these researches.

As a consequence, the science of agriculture has advanced
most rapidly. Even a review of its progress is more than I
can attempt on this occasion. But I ask your patience while
I briefly notice the most important points that have been gained,
and the present aspect and prospects of agricultural science.

Whoever examines the internal structure of plants, even
cursorily, will be struck with its analogy to that of animals.
He will find in both, organs for the reception of food, for its
digestion and assimilation, as well as a system of circulation
and reproduction. The plant, indeed, has its peculiarities of
organization, as for instance, that no nervous system has been
discovered in it ; and yet it seems possessed of irritability, if
not sensibility. Under the microscope, however, it is a won-
derful structure ; and notwithstanding all the difficulties of
the investigation, the patience of physiological botanists has
disclosed an organization in plants almost as wonderful as that
of animals.

To the chemist it has long been manifest, that the true way

10 TRANSACTIONS.

to ascertain what food is needed by plants, is to analyze their
whole substance, to see what ingredients they contain. For
the notion prevalent not long since, that vegetables have the
power to transmute one simple substance into another, is ut-
terly exploded ; and no scientific man now expects to find in
plants any ingredient that does not exist in the soil or the at-
mosphere. The uniform result of careful and repeated analy-
sis of plants is, that they are mainly and essentially composed
of four principles, viz : carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen.
These are combined together in various ways, and form the
almost entire mass of vegetables. But when plants are burnt,
they leave a solid residuum, or ash, which often contains eight
or nine other simple substances : viz : chlorine, iodine, sulphur,
phosphorus, potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, alumin-
um, silicon iroij, and manganese. These are the inorganic
ingredients ; and though essential to the composition of plants,
they do not always exist in the same proportions, even in the
same plant, as do the organic ingredients, that is, carbon, ox-
ygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. Neither are any of these in-
gredients, organic or inorganic, found in a simple state, but are
united in various ways.

The next grand inquiry is, Whence do plants derive their
twelve or thirteen ingredients? If we can answer this ques-
tion satisfactorily, we have gained an important step in ascer-
taining how the farmer can supply food to those plants which
he cultivates. As a general answer to the question, we may
say, that the soil and the atmosphere are the only sources
whence the vegetable world can derive its nourishment. And
analysis dhows that ordinarily all that is essential to its healthy
development is found there. Indeed, nearly or quite all of
these ingredients are usually found in the soil ; and the com-
mon impression is, that the greater part of the substance of
plants is derivpd from the soil; by means of the sap absorbed
by the roots, because it is necessary to add manure yearly to
render soils productive. But the opinion is now general
among chemists, and seems sustained by facts, that a large
proportion, — say about two thirds, — of the carbon contained

ADDRESS. 11

in plants, is absorbed directly from the atmosphere by their
leaves. And yet only l-'SSOOth part of the atmosphere is car-
bonic acid, which is diffused through the whole air, and less
than one third of this gas is carbon. How then can a tree or
forest, for instance, obtain enough of this gas to form so large
a part of its substance ? since the quantity immediately around
it, and even the fresh portions brought by the wind, must soon
be exhausted. But here a very wonderful law of nature com-
pletely provides for the difficulty. If several sorts of gas or
air be brought together, even though some be much heavier
than others, they will soon become equally mixed throughout ;
and if any one of them be removed from a particular spot, what
remains of the same gas in other portions of the mixture will
instantly expand, till it has filled the whole space, just as it
would do if that were the only gas present. So that, if all the
carbonic acid around a particular plant be absorbed, the gas
will rush in from other parts of the atmosphere, and thus keep
a constant supply within reach. In this way a tree can go on
without interruption, except by winter, accumulating carbon
for years, and even centuries, A single pine tree in Oregon,
for instance, is sometimes found to contain 256,000 pounds of
carbon; which required 1,305,333 pounds of carbonic acid;
two thirds of which is 870,222 pounds, all taken from the at-
mosphere ; or 800 pounds yearly ; on the supposition that the
tree required 1100 years for its growth. This single example
will give some idea of the magnitude of the process that is go-
ing on, silently, yet surely, to supply all the forests on the globe.
So much for the carbon which forms the principal part of
the solid portion of the plant. Whence does it obtain its oxy-
gen and hydrogen ? Nearly all of it, no doubt, from the
water pumped up by the roots, or absorbed by the leaves ; for
water is entirely composed of these two elements. Nitrogen,
also, the least abundant ingredient, might, it would seem, be
derived directly from the air by absorption, since four fifths of
the atmosphere consists sf it ; but there is no evidence of any
such absorption. Yet a small quantity of it is absorbed by the
water taken up by the roots, Ammonig also, a compound of

12 TRA^NSACTIONS.

nitrogen and hydrogen, sometimes exists in small quantity in
the air, and is produced still more abundantly by fermenting
manures. Nitric acid likewise is sometimes found in minute
quantity in the atmosphere, and its absortion would furnish
nitrogen as well as oxygen.

As to the inorganic matter of plants, the sulphur, phosphorus,
lime, silex, iron, manganese, &c., it must nearly all be derived
from the soil, since water alone can hold it in solution. Chlo-
rine perhaps may, as Dr. Dana suggests, be derived from the
atmosphere in the condition of common salt, which he has
shown to exist probably in tiie air.

Such are the ordinary sources whence the food of the vege-
tible world is derived. But there is one principle of vegetable
physiology of great importance and deep philosophical interest,
that should be noticed, since its neglect has been a fruitful
source of controversy among scientific men. It cannot be
doubted that plants like animals have the power of adapting
themselves to circumstances ; so that, if they cannot obtain
nourishment from one source, they are able to derive it from
another. It is well known that some plants will flourish in
pure water, others suspended in the air ; and on some marly
soils, destitute of vegetable matter, abundant crops may be
raised without manure through an indefinite number of years ;
though in all these cases, probably, plants are less robust and
prolific than if supplied with food both from the soil and the
air. But their ability to draw a less perfect subsistence from
different sources is another interesting evidence of Divine fore-
sight and benevolence.

Chemists have not been satisfied with ascertaining the na-
ture and origin of the nutriment of vegetable nature. They
have attempted to foUoAV the crude materials through their va-
rious and most delicate metamorphoses, till they become con-
verted into the different remarkable compounds which plants
produce. And, though much of the chemistry of these changes
is concealed, yet we can see what are the most important
agents concerned ; and heat, light, and electricity, stand at the
head of the4ist. It can hardly be doubted that the rootlets of

ADDRESS. 13

plants have the power, by a galvanic agency, of eliminating
from the soil many important principles, not otherwise separa-
ble; nor is it more doubtful, that the various products of
plants are the result of a similar galvanic agency exerted by
their organs. The necessity of heat for effecting these various
changes has always been known ; but it is not till recently that
the necessity of light, and its mode of action, were understood.
The sap, it appears, undergoes but little change till it reaches
the leaves. There it experiences digestion, by the action of
solar light upon the green matter, called chloropylle. The
green matter itself is first produced, and then it forms an ap-
paratus by which the compounds in the sap are decomposed,
the oxygen gas is liberated, and mineral or inorganic matter
becomes organized, that is, converted into the various parts of
the plant. The chemist cannot, indeed, look into all the cru-
cibles, and flasks which nature employs in this curious labora-
tory, nor examine all the re~agents, be cause they are too
minute ; but he can see enough to show that the whole is a
chemical process, modified somewhat by the vital principle.

He can see enough to make him strongly desire to see more •
enough to make him feel how infinitely superior is nature's
chemistry to his own.

The analysis of the various parts and products of plants has
disclosed some most curious facts as to their great similarity,
and their relation to the principles found in animals. It has
been ascertained that animals need two sorts of food ; one
kind containing nitrogen, and another sort destitute of it.
Those principles containing nitrogen are necessary for their
nourishment, such as albumen, Jibrine, hcBmatin and caseine,
which are the same essentially in composition. Those princi-
ples destitute of nitrogen are necessary to sustain the process
of breathing, and thus to furnish fuel for keeping up the ani-
mal heat. These are fat, starch, sugar, gum, &c, Now these
principles, both for giving nutrition and keeping up the ani-
mal heat often exist ready formed in vegetables, and, when
vegetables are taken for food, the animal merely appropriates
the principles. Thus fat exists in the oily and waxy parts of

14 TRANSACTIONS.

vegetables ; starch and sugar occur abundantly in many plants ;
and the fibrine, albumen and caseine, are derived from the
gluten of flour, the leguminous principle of beans, &.c. It
needs nothing, also, but water and the oxygen of the air, to
convert these various principles into one another ; and some-
times this can be done even by man. Thus, starch is easily
changed into sugar, and very palatable bread has been made
out of wood, which, in fact, is chiefly fibrine, and contains all
that is essential for nourishment. Who knows how soon it
may happen, that a few cords of wood shall furnish the poor
man not only with fuel, but with bread ?

These theories of nutrition and animal heat cannot be re-
garded as completely established. But they are so much more
ingenious and satisfactory than any which have preceded them>
as to give them strong claims upon our attention.

Geology teaches us that soils are nothing but rocks crushed
into powder, and mixed up with vegetable or.animal matter.
Hence we might expect that they would differ in composition
as t'le rocks d;fter : and so they do ; though such has been
the nature of the agency by which the rocks were crumbled
down, that the materials from several rocks are frequently
mingled together. But in fact, rocks do not diff'er very mate-
rially in composition. Some, such as trap rock and limestone,
contain more lime and magnesia than others. But there is
scarcely any rock of nmch extent, that does not contain all the
earthly ingredients essential to plants ; and, therefore, so far
as their composition is concerned, it is comparatively unimpor-
tant from what rock a soil is derived. We shall be almost
sure to find in it a large amount of silex, more or less of alu-
mina, lime, and magnesia, with gypsum and phosphate of lime.

But th 3 great ditferences in the fertility of soils depend more
upon the a.nount and condition of the organic matter which
they contain, and upon their power of absorbing and retaining
heat and moisture, and upon their degree of fineness or coarse-
ness, than upon their mineral constitution. Every farmer
knows that a soil may be too coarse or too fine for good crops,
and that it may be too cold ; and also that it may abound in

ADDRESS. 15

organic matter, — that is, such as results from decayed animals
and vegetables, — and yet be very barren. And when ashes,
or quick lime, or marl, or gypsum, or bone powder, is added,
they render the soil fertile, not because the soil is entirely des-
titute of these materials, but because they bring the vegetable
matter into such a state that it can be taken up by the roots
of plants ; or they make it mellow, or more tenacious of heat
or moisture.

If these views are correct, some important consequences
follow.

One is that there is scarcely any soil too barren to be made
very fertile ; and that what the farmers of New England
should aim at, is, not to transplant their sons to the fertile
prairies of the west, but to improve our own soil ; so that they
shall be contented with the paternal inheritance. To illustrate
this position, let me give an example from my own experience.
Every one knows that there is not a more barren spot in New
England, than the further extremity of Cape Cod ; where the
traveller sees little else but white drifting sand, and scarcely
no vegetation, except a few stinted pines, and beach, find pov-
erty grass. Finding myself in Truro, and, as I fancied, almost
beyond the regions of agriculture, I was surprised, on being
invited by a respectable farmer there to visit a piece of ground,
on which he was in the habit of raising annually fifty bushels
of Tndian corn to the acre. I found that the soil did not dif-
fer from the white sand around it, except in containing an
abundance of fragments of quahaug shells, and enough of or-
ganic matter to give it a dark color. Having extracted these
shells, that is, all the carbonate of lime, (about 20 per cent.,)
and a little phosphate, and then burnt off the organic matter,
nothing remained but the pure white sand of the Cap3.

Now this is an extreme case ; and if such a soil can be made
fertile, I know of none in New England that cannot be made
so. True, it requires industry, ingenuity, and perseverance.
But this is just what men need for the development of a good
character, and for happiness. Providence never conferred a
greater blessing upon this nation, than by directing our Pilgrim

16 TRANSACTIONS.

Fathers to the comparatively barren shores of New England.
Had they found an easy and naturally fertile soil here, New
England character, in which we so much glory, would never
have been developed. It needed a soil, capable, by cultiva-
tion, of yielding a good return, but not affording even subsis-
tence without untiring industry and skill. We ought, there-
fore, to be thankful for the comparative barrenness of our soil,
and, instead of envying others their naturally richer fields, we
ought to ba stimulated to make ours as rich as possible by cul-
tivation ; and then, we shall have, what is very seldom acquired
in regions that yield almost a spontaneous growth, and what
is worth infinitely more than natural fertility ; I mean industri-
ous and sober habits ; well informed minds ; energy of char-
acter; and a good conscience. And this, with me, is one of
the strongest arguments for doing all we can, to sustain agri-
cultural societies ; since they are accomplishing this work in a
most energetic and efficient manner.

Perhaps science has not thrown more light upon any part of
agriculture, than upon that of the nature and operation of ma-
nures. It is but a few years since there was a darkness that
might be felt upon this subject. But now, we know the com-
position and specific action of most substances called manures.
They may be divided into two classes ; the first, embracing
the various salts useful upon land ; and the other, consisting
of vegetable or animal matter mixed with salts. The salts are
such as common salt nitre, phosphate of lime, or bone ashes,
limestone, marl, nitrate of lime, potash, soda, &,c. &.c. These,
in their pure state, do not afl'ord much nutriment to plants ; but
they act upon the nutriment, and prepare it for the organs of
the plant, by rendering it soluble and decomposing it. The
common manures, or a large part of them, are converted, when
mixed with the soil, into what is called geine, or humus. But
this is not in a proper state to be taken up by the roots, until
acted upon by other substances, when it becomes soluble, or
produces carbonic acid. Common manures usually contain
more or less of the salts ; but, being most of them soluble, they
are carried away by rains ; and hence the value of new sup-

ADDRESS. 17

plies. Nor does it usually require but a small quantity, as the
example of ashes, and gypsum, and phosphate of lime evinced.
The latter, in the state of bone dust, where the phosphate is
mixed with carbonate of lime and cartilage, is a manure so con-
centrated, that one ton of it is equal to 14 tons of farm yard
manure ; and almost equally concentrated is guano, and some
other compounds now used upon land. But I cannot go into
details.

Allow me also to repeat a suggestion made in my report on
the Agricultural Geology of Massachusetts, respecting the use
of what I call Muck Sand, dug from a considerable depth in
the earth. It is well known to the chemist, that most of the
salts so useful upon land, are dissolved by rains, and carried
downward through the soil, till they meet with a water-bear-
ing stratum. There they will accumulate ; and now, let that
stratum, — known by springs issuing from it, — be dug up and
spread over the surface, and these salts will exert their appro-
priate influence upon the crops. This very principle is the
chief secret of the good eff'ects of subsoil ploughing ; and I
doubt not but it will yet lead to valuable results in the use of
substances drawn from a still greater depth. In some in-
stances, they certainly have produced astonishing effects.

Though I have doubtless wearied your patience, ladies and
gentlemen of the Society, by these details, I would gladly add
more. But I trust I have said enough to show how important
a bearing science has upon practical agriculture. The day I
trust has gone by, certainly among the enlightened farmers of
this great valley, when men reject and treat contemptuously
what has been called book farming ; by which I understand
farming on scientific principles. Such farming has done too
much, both in Europe and this country, to be any longer des-
pised, or even looked upon with scepticism. The many agri-
cultural societies, on both sides of the Atlantic, so prolific of
good, are based upon science ; and would be almost useless
without it : and the numerous journals of agriculture, now pub-
lished, derive their chief and most valuable matter from the
application of science to cultivation. Indeed, it is scientific

18 TRANSACTIONS.

agriculture that enables twenty millions of people to subsist in
Great Britain on the same soil, which in J 780 sustained only-
nine mil ions. The Highland Agricultural Society, in Scot-
land, especially, has done wonders, when we consider that no
country is more bleak and barren in Europe ; yet it now has
reached a very high state of agricultural prosperity, and chiefly
through the influence of that Society, now seventy-six years
old. The average produce of wheat in the, whole of Great
Britain was formerly but nine bushels to the acre ; but it is
now more than 19 bushels ; and in several counties of England
and Scotland, the average is not less than 50 bushels.

" On the continent," says a traveller, " especially in Ger-
many, their annual fairs bring together the farmers and peas-
ants of all the surrounding country, when their ambition and
industry are stimulated by a variety of fetes and the distribu-
tion of prizes to successful competitors, and whilst princes,
dukes, and barons are engaged in awarding prizes to those who
have been most successful in the cultivation of grains and cat-
tle, their lovely wives are occupied in a humble but much more
lovely scene, in complimenting and distributing premiums to
the industrious housewife, for her fine specimens of fruit, her
butter and cheese, her linen clothes, weaving, knitting, and
Other manufactures. I have no doubt I shall be ridiculed for
my want of taste, when I state, that to me the Grand Duchess
of Baden, presenting a silver cup to a peasant girl, before an
assembled crowd of farmers and nobility, for the finest speci-
men of manufactured gloves, was a more interesting sight than
that of the gay queen Victoria, racing through St. James' Park,
with fifty fools at her heels, striving not to be distanced by
their lovely mistress." — (^Southern Cabinet for Jan., 1840,
p. 4.)

In this country, we are beginning to realize similar fruits
from enlightened agriculture, under the fostering care of Ag-
ricultural Societies. Many a noble farm in New England,
with its produce doubled or trebled within a few years, testi-
fies to their influence. Our farmers have been fearful that
they could not compete with the products of the West and

ADDRESS. 19

South, poured in upon them through the great iron sluice-
ways that steam has forced open. But let them unite yankee
industry and perseverance to scientific agriculture, and I will
put them against the world. The more rail-roads we have the
better ; for they will only bring the market nearer. Instead
of discouraging the farmer, they should stimulate him to seize
upon and apply all the principles of science and experience
to improve the cultivation of the soil. Why, for instance,
should not the almost entire surface of New England exhibit
as high a state of cultivation as we now witness around most
of our villages ? The soil is capable of it ; nay, of much higher
cultivation, — capable of sustaining four times its present pop-
ulation ; and thus, if our morals and religion be preserved, of
giving us four times more influence upon the world. I trust
that the next generation will see this statement verified ; and
that, too, as the fruit of two things of which some are very
much afraid, viz : rail-roads and book farming.

Protracted as my remarks have been, I cannot feel justified
in closing without adverting to the relations of agriculture to
certain objects of far higher importance than any yet mentioned.
I refer to the mutual bearings between agriculture and person-
al and domestic hap.piness, morality and religion.

The influence of moral and agricultural pursuits upon per-
sonal and domestic happiness, has, from the earliest civilized
times, been a fruitful theme for the poet's numbers and the
philosopher's lucubrations. In the morning of life, indeed,
while yet time and experience have not stripped the world of
its rainbow hues, men fancy that happiness dwells in more
public and exciting pursuits. One seeks it on the battle field
and in the wreaths that crown the warrior's brow. But he
finds at last that a sea of blood is not a sea of happiness.
Another aspires after distinction in political life ; nor does he
learn, without much bitter experience, how far away from the
abode of happiness, the surges and storms of public life are
driving him. Another labors with untiring perseverance to
stand high in the learned professions, and discovers not till the
desired elevation has been reached, how far it rises, not merely

20 TRANSACTIONS.

above the follies, but the enjoyments of life. Another finds
that the luxury and leisure of great wealth and fashion, when
time has disrobed them of their novelty, and cooled the pas-
sions, bring little with them but a tasteless and wearisome
round of heartless pursuits ; while the stream of happiness,
which he was just ready to quaff, is dried up, leaving only the
empty channel, like the streams of the desert, to mock desire.
In short, men of all professions, especially the most elevated,
as the evening of life approaches, turn their thoughts with
strong desire to the quiet and healthful scenes of agricultural
life ; and find in its peaceful labors that modicum of enjoy-
ment, which they have sought in vain in other pursuits. There
have many of earth's greatest and best, found new chords of
pleasure to awake and vibrate, after all artificiat pleasures had
become insipid and disgusting. There have they found how
much truth and beauty there is in the poet's well known eulo-
gium upon the farmer's lot.

" Ah happy swain ! ah race beloved of heaven !
If known thy bliss, how great the blessing given !
True peace is thine ; and life that knows no change,
And various wealth through nature's boundless range.
Content and patience youth's long toil assuage,
Repose and reverence tend declining age ;
There gods yet dwell, and, as she lied mankind.
There Justice left her last lone trace behind."

The connection between agricultural pursuits and correct
moral habits, is most striking and important. The untiring
industry and occupation demanded by these pursuits, were
enough to take away half the temptations to vice, by which
men are overcome ; for it is a truth none the less valuable be-
cause it occurs in a nursery song, —

" That Satan finds some business still
For idle hands to do."

Then the proper development of the physical system, which
is the result of systematic labor in the open air, and of plain
food, prevents that precocious manifestation of the appetites
and passions, and their unnatural excitement, which are the
curse of sedentary life, and break down so early so many con-

ADDRESS. 21

stitutions, and plunge in infamy so many bright intellects.
Besides, the farmer, in a great measure, escapes the contami-
nations that spread, as if contagious, among a crowded popu-
lation. In comparative retirement, fully occupied with healthy
and innocent, or rather, useful occupations, and out of the
way of unhealthy excitements, he can pursue an even course
of life which a philosopher might envy, and which is most fa-
vorable to all the manly virtues.

No less decidedly can we speak of the reflex influence of
sound morality upon agriculture. Indeed, most of the moral
virtues are indespensable to the success of the farmer. Let
him, for instance, become indolent, a tavern haunter, a bar-
room politician, a news monger, a speculator, and especially
an intemperate man, and the efiect upon his farm will be as
fatal as if burnt over every three months. On the other hand,
inquire of our merchants and artisans what has been the eff'ect
of the modern reformation in temperance upon the farmers of
our land, and they will tell you that the result has been won-
derful in multiplying among them the comforts and luxuries of
life. Their enlarged and improved barns, their more tasteful
and elegant houses, their carpeted rooms, their elegant mirrors
and sofas, and stoves, their enlarged libraries, and many other
luxuries and elegancies, found now in three times as many fam-
ilies as twenty years ago, testify to the mighty influence of the
cardinal virtue of temperance upon our agricultural population ;
though, in fact, the influence has been no less decided upon all
other classes ; except, perhaps, some of the wealtliy and fash-
ionable, who still cling to the wine cup : but whose wealth,
unless they do speedily dash that cup from their lips, will as-
suredly pass from them to the hands of those, into whose path
cold water is washing golden sands.

But the crowning excellence of all pursuits and all classes
remains to be noticed. I mean pure and undefiled religion.
And really, if agriculture is favorable to its reception and de-
velopment, this is the greatest recommendation of that pursuit.
Now what religion reasonably asks, is, that its claims should
be examined by a mind in a liealthy state, free from prejudice>

22 TRANSACTIONS.

not perverted by a wicked life, capable of forming a proper
estimate of this world in relation to the next, and of correctly
balancing the evidence for and against Christianity. And we
have shown that the tendency of agricultural pursuits is to pro-
duce such a state of mind and of heart. Accordingly, among
no class of men do the advocates of true religion find a more
ready reception of its principles, and a better exemplification
of its spirit, than among the cultivators of the soil. When
they yield their hearts to its influence, it is a deliberate conse-
cration ; not the result of animal excitement, or partial views ;
and therefore, likely to be thorough and enduring as life. In
short, the influence of these pursuits is seen in the religion of
t heir cultivators, as well as in every thing else.

But, though agriculture may thus in some degree subserve
the cause of religion, far greater is the benefit conferred by re-
ligion upon every agriculturist who adopts and practises it.
To him, and his family, it is literally true, that in a pecuniary
respect, godliness is great gain. There is no motive to indus-
try and economy that vt'ill compare in power with a religious
one. If love to God and love to man reign in the farmer's
heart, and to do good to others be the grand object for which
he lives and acts, how cheerfully, how judiciously, how perse"
veringly will he labor ! He who labors merely to gratify his
inferior appetites, or his selfish passions, or a sordid love of
gain, will be very likely to grasp so much, and be so little scru-
pulous as to the means he employs, as to lose the whole ; or,
at least to be subject to continual vexation and collision with
others. Take away religion from the farm house, and you
have robbed it of its brightest jewel. What spectacle can be
more beautiful and impressive, than to see the well ordered
and affectionate family of the farmer, bowing in unison at the
still hour of the rising sun, around the domestic altar, and to
hear the hymn of praise from sweet voices, stealing softly
through the morning air, followed by the tones of prayer from
the priest of the family ? What a preparation for the labors
of the day ! And how happily, when its toils are ended, will
they repeat over this delightful service ! With what unison

ADDRESS. 23

of purpose and feeling will such a family labor ; and how
cheerfully and liberally will they impart of the fruits of their
toils to every good cause ! So, too, when trials and afflictions
come, what a talismanic power is there in the religion of that
family, to blunt their keenness, and to infuse sweetness into
the bitter cup of sorrow ! And let not the farmer, in the pride
of a stern independence, fancy that the time will never come,
when he shall need the power of piety to buoy up his sinking
spirit. For the hour is at hand, when, at the withering touch
of disease, his strong nerves, shall tremble like the aspen, and
his quailing spirit can find no resting place, but in a genuine,
humble, spititual piety. If, then, religion be so important as
a balance wheel and regulator in his secular affairs, and the
only rock on which he can stand amid the billows of disease
and misfortune, he does not show the shrewdness and wisdom
of a New England farmer, who fails to secure the precious boon.

The subject teaches us that all other professions in society
should lend their efforts to give increased prosperity to agri-
culture. The principle of mutual dependence, which I have
illustrated at this time, will not indeed allow that agriculture
should be exclusively fostered. But there is less danger of
aiding this branch of humin industry too much than any other ;
first, because this is confessedly the most important of all, and
secondly, because improvement in husbandry will increase our
population by increasing their means of support, and thus open
new fields for the expansion of other arts and professions. It
is certain, that he who contributes even a mite to improve the
cultivation of the soil, is aiding to swell the tide of human
happiness ; for we have seen that these pursuits are decidedly
favorable to personal and domestic happiness, as well as to
morality and religion.

Let this Society persevere in pursuit of the noble object
they have in view. Do any ask what that object is ? It can-
not be any thing less, it ought not to be any thing less, than
to double the produce of this region before the close of this
century, and, of course, to double its population, while the
standard of education, morality, and religion, shall be raised?

24

TRANSACTIONS

instead of being lowered. Is this subject Uptopian ? No ;
it can be accomplished. It has been done, to a great extent, in
some European countries in a shorter time ; especially in Scot-
land, whose soil and climate are far less favorable to agricul-
ture than our own. True, we have in this valley not a little of
that kind of soil, which I have represented as one of thegreat-
^ est blessings Providence ever conferred upon New England ; I
mean a poor soil. But I am more afraid that we have so much
good land here, that the spirit of industry and perseverance,
characteristic of those whose I'eins are filled with Saxon blood,
will not be sufficiently roused. What a voice is there in these
rail-roads, which have approximated us so closely to the sea-
board and the largest markets of the land ! What a voice in
that Western and Southern produce, which passes directly
through your territory to supply these markets ! Science, too,
is going before you to prepare the way and to cheer you on-
ward. Hear you not, also, the voice of your country, and es-
pecially, of New England, whose prosperity is ever so dear
to her SODS ? Think what it is to double the population, and
the intellectual and moral power, of a large portion of New
England. You know what her influence has been during the
past, and you can judge how much good those will accomplish?
who shall double that influence in the future. Learning, mor-
ality, and religion, are indeed most deeply concerned in such
a consummation as we are contemplating ; and therefore
should all hearts and hands unite in hastening it on. I know
that you will not prove recreant to the high trust committed to
you by Providence, and purchased by so many toils and sacri-
fices of your fathers. I fancy, rather, that some of the young
men who hear me, now, before their sun of life shall set, wil^
• see realized more than my prophecies to-day ; and smile to re-
member how feeble was my faith, and limited my anticipations.
Then, and not till then, when it shall be seen how mighty an
agency this Society has exerted to bring about such a consum-
mation, will the labors and sacrifices of those be duly appre-
ciated and honored, who have laid its foundations and carried
up its superstructure.

.Ircmhniis.

FARMS.

ANSEL A. RANKIN'S STATEMENT.

My farm contains 115 acres, of which 75 acres are in mowing, til-
lage and pasture, and the remainder is unimproved, but not unim-
provable. I have entered it for the Hampshire Society's premium of
sixty dollars, for the best managed and most improved farm, during
five successive years, commencing in the year 1855. My improve-
ments, during the year past, have been made in addition to the ordi-
nary annual culture. I have commenced a process of reclaiming some
worn out pasture and swamp lands, have laid twelve rods of new stone
wall, and have set out some young fruit trees as a nursery. I have
endeavored to save all the animal and vegetable materials for manure,
which could be found on the farm itself, and have used no other
manure except 40J lbs. of plaster. The assessors' valuation of the
farm is §2,100.

Products of the Farm.

20 tons of

hay, at $12,

$240 00

50 bushels

of oats, at 50 cents,

25 00

15

" rye, at $1,

15 00

150 "

" potatoes, at 25 cts„

37 50

50

" corn, at 90 cts..

45 00

22

" carrots, at 25 cents,

5 50

14

" turnips, at 20 cents,

2 80

1 ton ofr^

fo straw, ....

5 00

2 1-2 tons of oats at S6,

15 00

3 tons corn fodder, ....

12 00

Green corn

fodder, ....

12 00

5 loads of

pumpkins, ....

5 GO

26 T KANSAC TIONS.

Pasturing, ......

Garden vegetables, . . . . .

Apples, .......

3 bushels of white beans, . . . .

Expenses.

50

00

10

00

15

00

6

00

,*'i505 n«

^142

00

\pO\J*J

126

00

29

29

12

33

$309

fiv)

Uw

My own and hired labor.

Interest on valuation.

Taxes,

Seed, ....

Surplus profits, . . . . . $195 46

Pelham, June, 1, 1856.

THEOPHILUS P. HUNTINGTON'S STATEMENT.

My farm in Hadley, near the Connecticut river, contains twenty-
six acres under constant culture, twelve acres of light, sandy soil, that
have been cropped about one year in four, and eleven acres in wood.
Some portions have been reclaimed recently. My attempts to enrich
my light, sandy soil proved failures and worse than failures — mere
robbery of the more valuable parts of the farm — until 1855. I then
applied to three acres a thousand pounds of guano, and harvested a
crop of more than a hundred bushels of corn, which was worth more
than the land could have been sold for in the spring. I have made
experiments in raising broom corn, without the use of manure from
the farm, by substituting phosphates. I succeeded, the past year, in
getting a fair crop, with only one hundred pounds to the acre, applied
in the hill ; but twice that quantity might be better. My theory is,
that the stalks, which are plowed in, and the phosphate will restore
all, that the crop has taken from the land. If our valley farmers can
raise broom corn with phosphate, and good crops of Indian corn and
other grains on light, sandy soils with guano, their grass lands can
have the benefit of all their home made manures.

For a more particular description of my farm, I refer to my state-
ment published in Secretary Flint's Agriculture of Massachusetts,
for 1854, pp. 40 — 45, and in the Transactions of the Hampshire So-
ciety for the same year.

FARM ACCOITNTS

27

FARM ACCOUNTS.

THEOPHILUS P. HUNTINGTON'S STATEMENT.

In compliance with the rules of the Hampshire Agricultural Society,
I present a statement of my accounts from April 1, 1855, to April 1,
1856, in ledger form, with complete inventories of my farm property
at the beginning and at the end of the year.

;:the farm invieistobiy, April i, isss.

Buildings and 49 acres of land.
Horses, cattle, swine and fowls,
Hay, grain and straw.
Carriages and farm tools,
Manures of all sorts,

CROPS.

Broom Corn.

Produce — 2577 lbs. brush and 120 bush, of seed.
Expense of seed, labor and manure,

55,700

00

597

00

219

00

195

00

170

90

1242 16
87 38

Produce, 10 tons at $15,
Expense of seed, and labor,

Hmj.

On Side hill — {poor land.)

Produce — rye, beans, corn and stalks,
Expense of seed, labor and guano,

Indian Corn.

Produce — 286 bush, of ears and stalks,
Expense of seed, labor and manure, .

Garden Vegetables.

Produce — peas, roots, sweet corn, &c., dtc,
Expense of labor, manure and seed

^150 00
20 70

$196 00
98 50

$153 00
86 02

$97 77
52 07

5,881 90

$154 78

$129 30

$97 50

$66 98

$45 10

28 TRAKS ACTIONS.

Oats.
Produce — oats and straw, .... $42 00
Expense of seed and labor, . . . . 11 75

Buckwheat.

Produce on 1 3-4 acres — 50 bushels, . . $37 50
Expense of seed and labor, . . . . 13 67

Sjyring Wheat.

Produce on 3-4 acre — 9 bushels, . . . $22 50

Expense of seed, labor, and manure, . . 7 50

$30 25

$23 83

$15 00

Potatoes.

Produce on one acre — 126 bushels, . . $48 13

Expense of seed, labor and manure, . . 48 38

Loss, ...... 25

FA ffl STOCR.

Swine.

"Value of pigs sold and pork on hand, . $226 00

Expense of keeping and first cost, . . 168 13

Cattle.

Value of milk, butter, and increase, . . $305 85
Expense of keeping, 282 00

$57 87

$23 85

Fowls.

Value of eggs and increase, .... $65 24

Expense of feed, and fowls on hand, . . . 45 62

$19 62

Horses.

Value of earnings of horses, . . . $110 75

Expense of keeping, . . . , 91 92

■ $18 83

Lador.

Value of my labor abroad, , . . . $14 69

Value of labor hired on farm, . . . . 5 25

44

TAKM ACCOUNTS. 29

Cash.

Money received during the year, . $1,248 13

Money paid out during tlie year, . 1,237 74

Not accounted for, . . . 10 39

Total profits of the year, . . . $692 35

From which I deduct.
Interest on investment, . . . . $412 91

Cash not accounted for, . . , . 10 39

Loss on potatoe crop, .... 25

t23 55

Surplus Profits, .... $268 80

THE FIKSI II¥EIT©8,Y, AFEiL 1, 185©.

Buildings and land.
Horse, cattle, swine and fowls.
Hay, grain and straw.
Carriages and farm tools,
Yard manure and ashes.

$5,700 00

400 00

266 00

235 00

91 50

-$6,692 50

These accounts have been kept daily ; very few days passing with-
out one or more entries on the day book, which contains 22 long col-
ums. As I trusted to my memory through each day, someitems have
been forgotten. The error in the cash account shows the importance
of a correct method. The other accounts I think, however, are gen-
erally correct. I have avoided as much as possible making estimates.

It may not be out of place, here, to say that though for many years
I have had a great curiosity to know the result of such accounts, yet
I have always shrunk from the labor. It was not till after I had
made a fair beginning, from personal considerations, that your premi-
um was announced. The amount of the premium alone would' be no
sort of inducement to go over the ground again. If there is anything
in this imperfect effort, to guide, or encourage to something more
worthy, the labor will not be lost. Should anything appear meritori-
ous, no small share of the credit will belong to my friend A. D. Phelps.

T. P. HUNTIKGTON.

Hadley, April 2, 1856.

30

XEANSACTIONS.

RECLAIMED SWAMP LANDS.

THEOPHILUS P. HUNTINGTON'S REPORT.

Two premiums were offered for the best experiments in reclaiming
swamp land, not less than one acre, commencing in 1855. Entries
were made by Messrs. David, Kelita and Avery D. Hubbard, of Sun-
derland, of different parts of a reclaimed swamp of thirty acres.
Drains had been dug at proper distances, and an outlet forced, at
great expense, through a stubborn rock The unprofitable swamp
has become productive and valuable, The Committee award to David
Hubbard the second premium, and recommend gratuities to the other
competitors.

David Huubard's acre was broken up, in the spring of 1855, was
thoroughly dragged and planted to potatoes, which yielded a crop of
125 bushels. In May, 1856, he plowed, harrowed, and planted In-
dian corn to three fourths of the piece, and manured with two bushels
of ashes to the hill and hoed twice. The yield was 37 bushels. The
remainder was planted with early Carter potatoes, and produced 81
bushels. The value of the crops of 1855 and 1856, was estimated at
6110, the expenses at $29, and the net profits $81. The increased
value of this acre was estimated at $70.

Kelita Hubbard's acre was burned over in 1854. In 1855 it
was planted with corn and potatoes, and in 1856 with oats, rye and
millet for fodder.

Avery D. Hubbard's acre is the same, which is described
in Flint's Agriculture of Massachusetts for 1854, p. 71, and in the
Hampshire Society's Transactions for 1854. It has produced good
crops of hay the past two years. He estimates the net profits on this
acre, for four years, including the increased value of the land, at
$135,80.

UKDEK-DKAI N A G E . 31

UNDER-DRAINAGE.

DAVID HUBBARD'S STATEMENT.

I have undffrdrained two pieces of land. The first was by the side
of my mowing, and was so wet that a team could not be driven on it.
Small springs were numerous, and made it a mere quagmire. It bore
a small quantity of coarse grass, which hardly paid for cutting.

In the year 1852, I dug 26 rods of ditch, about 18 inches deep,
reaching to the hard pan. Having plenty of stones handy, which 1
could spare, I put them in, three to four inches deep, leaving a hole
in the bottom of the drain for the water to run off. This passage was
made by placing two stones in the form of the letter A, and also by
placing a flat stone over these two. Then the dirt was thrown back
again, turf doivmoard, and thus prevented the dirt sifting among the
stones. The surface of the ground was made level like the rest. I
then proceeded to cart on ten loads of sand.

Each year I put on a small quantity of cheap manure, and it has
brought in a good bottom of English grass.

Value of Crop.
1853 and 1854, one ton, - - - - $7 00

1855 and 1856, one and a half tons, - - 10 50

Fall feed, 2 50

■ $20 00

Expenses.

Draining, $2 50

Laying stone, and covering ditches, - - 3 50

Hauling sand, -_.--_ 2 00

Value of manure, carting and spreading, - 5 00

-$13 00

Net profit on crops, . . _ - - $7 00

Increase in value of land, . _ _ - $20 00

Total profit of land and crops on 42 acres, - ■

for 4 years, Avas ----- $27' 00

I The second piece drained was a low spot in a piece of tillage, al-
ways so cold and wet that seed would rot in it. I put in seven
rods of drain, it became dry and warm for cultivation, and thus far
its produce has exceeded my highest expectations.

32 TRANSACTIONS.

PASTURE LANDb^.

MOSES FIELD'S STATEMENT.

My experiments indicate that plaster of paris improves old pastures
where the underlying rock is new red sand stone or the conglomerate
or pudding stone, which is made up of rounded granite boulders, and
pebbles cemented together, and slow of decomposition. In 1851, I
applied 500 lbs. of plaster to five acres in Leverett, north west of
Long Plain, upon the lower slope of Mount Mettawampe, with marked
results. In two months, the imperfection of the work of sowing was
indicated by Avaves in the grass, as distinctly as the waves in a field of
badly sown grain. In October, 1854, I sowed sixty acres. The ef-
fect was not visible the first season, nor till the latter part of the
second ; but, at the third season, the difference in the seed was fully
marked. On the more exhausted pasture lands, I think the quantity
of plaster should be two or three hundred pounds to the acre for im-
mediate effect. Pasture that for sixty years has borne little nutritious
feed, now, is clothed with waving grass.

But where the underlying rock is granite, unstratified, abounding
in mica and iron, and susceptible of rapid decomposition, when ex-
posed to the atmosphere, my experiments in the application of plaster
have been followed by no visible effects. Of this character is the land
on the low hillocks, south east of Long Plain, in liCverett.

ORCHARDS.

WILLIAM P. DICKINSON'S REPORT.

Dr. Trow, of Sunderland, has a hundred apple trees, set upon a
rich piece of ground, in the re <r of his house. The trees are very
straight and thrifty, and show that they have had good care. If the
the varieties prove to be what the Dr. sujiposed they were when he
purchased, they will soon repay his care and labor. The apple or-
chard, entered by John R. Robinson, of Sunderland, contains sixty

ORCHAKDS. 83

trees — fifteen less than the rules require. His trees are set upon a
side hill, are very large and thrifty, and show good treatment. We
hope Mr. R. will set fruit trees on the remainder of his lot, as the soil
is well adapted to their growth.

The Reclaimed Apple Orchard of Kelita Hubbard, of Sunder-
land, shows Avhat can be done with old, unsightly apple trees. His
trees are scattered about his farm, and most of them work well. By
scraping, manuring and grafting, he has single trees, which produce
several barrels of Apples.

The KuRSERY of William Hunt, of Sunderland, we found in good
condition, well stocked with apples, but without other fruit, if we ex-
cept a few small pears. His trees have a good growth, and he has
none but the best varieties. We would suggest to all who are set-
ting trees, to be very careful whom they purchase of, and to get only
the best kinds of fruit.

In conclusion, your committee would say that they should have
been happy to have visited other orchards within the limits of the So-
ciety, but had no invitation to do so.

KELITA HUBBARD'S STATEMENT.

Old Orchard Reclaimed. The land on which my orchard
stands, varies from sandy to wet gravel, and I have thirty trees which
have been reclaimed. Their ages vary from twenty to one hundred
years. They had been neglected for many years, were considered al-
most worthless, and bore but very few apples. The best limbs were
grafted, and the others taken off. I have usually taken three yearj
to remove the old limbs, and have been particular to have this and the
grafting done by an experienced hand, that the top may be well
formed. I have been careful to remove all the young sprouts, once
or twice a year, and have endeavored to keep them in a healthy con-
dition by labor and manure.

I have grafted with Greenings, Baldwins, Seck-no-furthers, None-
such, Boston Russetts, Pippins, and many other varieties. The or-
chard now produces a hundred bushels of apples

l't<4 TRANSACTIONS.

PLOUGHING.

CHARLES H. FIELD'S REPORT.

Ploughing must be considered the basis, or groundwork of all good
farming, and the sturdy ploughman we honor as the back-bone and
regulator of society. To him we award the double honor of causing
" two blades of grass to grow where, before, there was but one ; "
for, without a deep and thorough pulverization of the soil, combined
with proper culture, we cannot expect to see any great results in the
art of husbandry.

What constitutes good ploughing? This question has been dis-
cussed with reference to the merits of deep or shallow ploughing, of
wide and flat, or narrow and sliced furrow, and of subsoiling or bring-
ing the subsoil to the surface until amid "confusion worse confounded,"
many farmers are ready to repudiate all book- farming, and plod along
in the beaten track their fathers trod. Observation and experience
have, however, produced some practical results and we shall venture
to express our own views of some of the more important requisites of
good ploughing.

A wonderful improvement has been made in the construction of
the plow. The ancient, crooked stick, tipped with iron, requiring
all the strength and ingenuity of the holder to even scratch up the sur-
face of the ground, has given away to the elegantly finished subsoil,
stubble and double or^Michigan plows — which seem almost like things
of life, so well adapted are they to the purposes for which they were
designed. It is a matter of the first importance that we select a
plow of size and construction suited to the soil we wish to culti-
vate. Next in order comes the team, which must be well fed, well
trained, and suflicient to overcome the draft with ease, moving strong-
ly and evenly in the furrow : and last, though not least, a careful and
experienced driver, who practices moral suasion, rather than too free
use of the lash or goad. In the use of single teams of horses or
oxen, it may be a matter of economy for the ploughman to manage
the team himself, though we are by no means a stickler for the old
proverb, —

♦' He that by the plow would thrive,
Must himself both hold and drive."

PliOUGHING. 35

With such an outfit any man, of moderate skill and judgment,
may manage the plow, and have a smooth and evenly turned furrow.
Most land should be ploughed deep, or subsoiled, which will render
it more retentive of moisture, and less liable to be affected by drought.
Our own experience is, that the depth should be attained gradually, as
too much of the subsoil thrown upon the surface at once, will injure
the soil for a few years. Loamy land, with rich subsoil, may be
ploughed deep without any such results. Reason and experience
must be our guide, but as safe a rule, perhaps, as any, is to " Make
light lands heavier, and heavy lands lighter." The width of the fur-
row must be in proportion to the depth, in order to turn it properly.
We prefer a wide, fiat furrow on most soils, as it completely covers all
vegetation, causes the turf to rot quicker, and is much easier to culti-
vate.

But we are reminded by what we witnessed at the ploughing match
of the Hampshire Society, that we had much better be a doer than a
preacher of ploughing. The difficult land, ploughed with accuracy
and skill, rarely excelled at any exhibition in the State, testifies to the
ability of the farmers within its limits.

Agriculture should be protected and encouraged. Not only is she
the mother of the arts, but to her votaries must we look for the actual
necessaries of life, as well as for the stability and prosperity of our
government. We pity any, who, with silly self-conceit look with de.
rision upon the sturdy ploughman, with his huge, honest hand and
weather-beaten brow. Let such but follow the plow beneath a scorch-
ing sun, and breathe the pure air of heaven, and the delicate form and
sickly hue shall give way to the sinewy arm, and the countenance
glow with health. Thus shall the plow become the benefactor of man-
kind ; the spear shall be beat into pruning-hooks, and the sword into
plough-shares ; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war any more. Be it ours to award to the husband-
man the dignity and honor, justly his due.

" In ancient times, the sacred plough employed
The kings and awful fathers of mankind :
And some, with whom compared your insect tribes
Are but the beings of a summer day,
Have held the scales of empire, ruled the storm
Of mighty war : then, with unwearied hand,
Disdaining little delicacies, seized
The plough and greatly independent lived,"

$6 TRA.N3ACTI0NS.

AJ ANURES.

THEODORE G. HUNTINGTON'S REPORT.

Of the three main tranches of agriculture, the treatment of crops
of the soil, and of manures, perhaps less is known with certainty con-
cerning the latter, than either of the others. Although the general
effect of manures is unquestionable, their specific action is in many in-
stances involved in obscurity.

The subtle processes by which substances, in themselves worthless
and oftentimes offensive, are converted into forms of living beauty
and utility, taking place as they do under conditions that elude our
keenest observation, it is only by the slow process of trial, experi-
ment and generalization, that we are able to arrive at any definite
results on this important subject. Much has already been done in
this way, particularly in regard to compost manure ; and your com-
mittee take this opportunity to say, that while they value every prac-
tical exhibition of the importance of these manures, they have not the
vanity to suppose that, after the thorough treatment the subject has
received at the hands of our agricultural chemists, any crude thoughts
of theirs would be entitled to consideration.

There was but one claimant for the prerqium on compost manure,
and this was for the making and not the application of the manure.

The Hampshire Society encourages experiments, not only with com-
post manures, but also with guano, and the chemical or mineral ma-
nures.

These are getting into very general use, and it is of the utmost im-
portance that farmers should become acquainted with their actual val-
ue. Your committee consider that single trials of this kind, while
they add something to the general stock of information, and bear tes-
timony in individual instances to their value, determine nothing as to
their economy or their permanent effect on the soil. For instance, if
a single application of guano, (though it may produce an immediate
good effect) should leave the land in a worse condition than before,
it may not be good economy to use it. If premiums were offered for
experiments in these manures, to be continued for four or five years sue-

MANTTHES. Sif

cessively, it might lead to some general conclusion as to their perma-
nent value.

Then, again, we want to know whether it will pay to use them.
There are some who stoutly deny this, and well they may, when there
is nothing but guessing to prove that they do pay. There is nothing
like careful and accurate experiment to quiet all doubt in this matter.
If a man has ocular demonstration in the half bushel, that it pays to
use guano, or superphosphate, and gives a handsome profit besides,
he has something that he can rely upon in his future operations, and
his experience may be made useful to others.

With regard to the use of guano, there are two points particularly,
on which much uncertainty rests, and which, it is to be hoped, the in-
ducements held out by the Society, in the way of premiums for expe-
riments, may be the means of elucidating.

One of these points involves the question whether the action of
guano continues more than one season : the other, whether land can
be kept from ultimate deterioration by this manure alone. In regard
to the first of these questions, we have isolated facts, which go to
show that its good effects are not exhausted in a single season. A
case came under the observation of one of your committee, in
which guano, applied on the ridges of peas in the spring of 1855,
produced before the usual time for ploughing the present season, a
luxuriant, spontaneous growth of white and red clover. We might
cite other instances of a similar nature, but not enough to establish a
general principle. It is gratifying to know that with regard to the
other point, the possibility of keeping land in good condition by the
use of this manure alone, that that there are intelligent and enter-
prising farmers among us, whose experiments will go far to settle this
much mooted question. We have in mind, particularly, a gentleman
whose experience as given to the public not long since, already runs
through a period of several years, and who is determined to satisfy
himself, if no one else, on this subject. We incline to the opinion,
that it can be done. It certainly requires good evidence to convince
one that the pittance of two pounds of manure to the square rod
should produce eight pounds of corn, and as much of corn stalks, but
these are facts that cannot be denied, and if it will do this on the
lightest soils for one year, there seems no good reason why it should
not for any number of years.

What is most wanted now is some philosophical explanation of the
fact. If it could be shown that guano, besides furnishing valuable

38 TRANSACTIONS.

food to growing crops, acts also as a solvent to substances otherwise
worthless, it would relieve the agricultural public of a vast deal of
anxiety.

But our remarks are already too far extended and we leave the sub-
ject, in the hope that the farmers of Hampshire may never forget that
accui'acy in conducting experiments is the only true criterion of their
value, either to themselves or the public.

S. D. CROCKER'S STATEMENT.

Much has been said, as well as written, of careful saving and judi-
cious application of manures. It has been estimated that many farm-
ers might better husband their resources and convert into manure
much that is now wasted. The importance of this matter, in connec-
tion with the farmer's success, and my hope of saving much that might
otherwise be lost, led me, four years ago, to adopt the practice of
stabling my cows at night, throvigh the summer season.

My stable floor is covered with muck or loom, to the depth of five
or six inches, and this is strewn Avith leaves, straw, and anything that
will answer for bedding. These materials, as fast as they become
saturated and mixed with solid manure, are thrown, through the stable
window, into my hog yard ; and, here, they are subjected to a contin-
ual mixing process by the swine, with fresh muck, horse-manure,
ashes, plaster, old brine, &c., which are thrown into the hog pen,
from time to time.

In the absence of a barn cellar, or sheds, this method, according
to my experience, creates three times as much manure, as the
common practice of allowing the excrements of cows to remain in the
open barn yard, and exposed to the wasting influences of the sun, air
and rain. The liquid manure, which is supposed by good judges to
be equal, in a given time, to the solid manure, is saved. The solid
niamxre, being mixed with muck and other fertilizing substances, re-
tains its own good qualities Avithout waste.

I have never discovered any injury to my cows from keeping them
stabled, during the warm season. They have a free circulation of air.
With two cows, three hogs and a horse, I estimate that I make, be-
tween the first of April and December, forty cart loads of good ma-
nure; worth one dollar per load, at a cost which I think does not
exceed fifty cents per load. I make no account, however, of the
muck, except the expense of digging it in the autumn, and sledding

MANURES. 39

it home in tlic winter. For the reason, that, by cutting wide and deep
ditches, through the principal springs, I have, within four years,
drained nearly two acres of swamp land, that were formerly covered
with water, and now are sufficiently dry for the plow.

au A N o.

ALBERT MONTAGUE'S STATEMENT.

I wish to call attention to a few careful experiments, made the past
season. The first tends to prove the value of guano, as compared
with first quality of hog manure, on cold land in corn. On such land,
I ploughed in a fair coat of manure from the yard, then furrowed it
all out, having previously made it fine by the use of the harrow and
bush. On one half of this piece, I put hog manure in the furrow, at
the rate of 12 loads to the acre. On the other half, I put 150 pounds
of guano to the acre. The cost of the manure applied to the land,
was 15 dollars, and of the guano, 5 dollars, making a diff"erence of 10
dollars per acre. As near as I can judge, at the present time, there
are ten bushels more of corn on the half guanoed, than on the other
half. There is certainly a much heavier growth of stalks, but as it is
not yet husked I cannot state the exact diff'erence.

Having a piece of sandy plain, too poor to produce anything but a
light crop of rye once in three or four years, I thought I would raise
a crop of corn on it. I accordingly ploughed in 300 pounds of guano
on an acre, and followed it. I gave it a light harrowing, planted,
hoed it twice, at a cost of eleven dollars, besides the plowing, which
I should have done if I had not planted it. I have husked nearly
the whole of it, and I think I can safely calculate on twenty-five bush-
els of good sound corn — making a net profit of $14 or 130 per cent.
The profit on this acre would about purchase two acres of such land at
the present market value. I also harrowed in, a year since, at the
rate of 100 pounds of guano to the acre, at the time of sowing rye,
and it increased my crop seven bushels. These and other trials have
fully satisfied mc, that while we can procure guano for three cents per
pound, we may be confident, that if used aright, a fair annual invest-
ment in \t will return a good income, whether it is applied to warm
or cold lands.

40 TRANSACTIONS.

THEODORE G. HUNTINGTON'S STATEMENT.

The piece of ground on which my experiment was mad3 is a cold,
dry loam. In the summer of 1854, it was in grass, and probably did
not produce 500 pounds of good hay per acre. In the spring of 1855,
it was ploughed, and manured at the rate of twenty loads per acre of
composted manure, consisting of muck, ashes, plaster and saltpetre*
which cost, on the ground, one dollar per load. I planted to Carter
potatoes, and obtained a small yield of forty bushels per acre, but of
good quality.

The last spring, the ground, after being ploughed, was dressed with
200 pounds of guano per acre, a small piece on the poorest part of the
lot being left undressed for the purpose of noting the difference.
The piece was then sowed to oats and grass seed. In harvesting, I
measured off one rod square of the T.mmanured ground and a like
quantity of the manured, the two being within a few feet of each
other. The two patches were reaped, taken home and put in the
barn. The result was as folloAvs :

The rod dressed with guano yielded 12 quarts oats weighing 10
lbs., straw 10 1-4 lbs. This per acre would be —

53 1-2 bushels at 50 cents, . . . $2G 75

1040 lbs. straw at $8 . . , . 6 56

$33 31

The undressed rod yielded 8 quarts oats 5 6-1 6 lbs., making per acre :
29 bush, 30 lbs. per bush., 50 cts. per bush., Sl4 50

820 lbs. straw at ^8 3 28

ai7 78

Difference in favor of guano, —

Per acre, $15 53

Deduct cost of 200 lbs. guano, ... 6 00

Net profit per acre, .... $9 53

It will be noticed in this experiment, that the oats not only yielded
much more, but were of much better quality, when the guano wa*
used. As far as my observation goes, this manure, when applied to
cold land, produces a much more striking effect upon a crop of oats,
than upon one of corn.

CROPS. ^

TURNINa IN QKEEN CROPS,

KELITA HUBBARD'S STATEMENT.

I have practised, for several years, turning in rye for manure. My
land has nearly doubled in value. I can raise two bushel of potatoes,
corn or rye, where I could raise but one a few years ago. I plough
my land as soon as convenient after harvest, when my cattle have lit-
tle to do. The feed in the fall pays for ploughing and scod. I turn
in the rye crop in the spring, and think it is equal to live loads of
manure to the acre. This operation destroys the v.^ed.?, pulverizes
the soil, and saves much labor in the cultivation of the next crop.

CROPS.

DR. DAVID RICE'S REPORT.

The Hampshire Agricultural Society offers premiums for the best
crops — not to encourage farmers to raise great crops, regardless of ex-
pense, on their best lands, but rather, with economy, to raise the best
and largest crops, at a reasonable cost of land, labor and manure.
No premium is offered for crops raised on new lands which contain,
usually, all the elements for large crops. This agricultural association
offers premiums on crops, with reference to the value and condition of
the land; the mode of husbandry; the time of plowing ; the depth
ftnd the number of times ; the kind and cost of manures, and how
tod when applied ; time of planting and sowing, — variety of seed
used, mode of culture, when and how harvested, the whole cost, and
value of the crop, and requires a full and faithful statement from each
competitor. A medium crop, grown on not the best soil, by econom-
ical and skilful husbandry, may justly obtain a higher premium, than
& very large crop, raised on tlie same, or on very valuabl: land, at a
great cost of labor, foreign manures, &-c. Some lands are so rich,
and so well adapted to particular crops, that neither skill, nor ma-
aure, and but a moderate amount of labor, is needed to make them

42 TRANSACTIONS.

bring forth abundantly. No premiums should be awarded, where
dame nature does all the work, and throws up from her own bosom a
spontaneous and abundant growth.

What benefits will the farmer derive, by thus endeavoring to raise
large crops? In the first place, if successful, he will most certainly
be the possessor of the large crop itself, and may secure a premium,
from some Agricultural Society, by conforming to its rules and re-
quirements. Again, he will have all the benefit of his experience and
experiments, in selecting, preparing, manuring and planting ; also,
in seeding and harvesting. He will learn how to adapt the crop to
the particular piece of land most fit for it ; — how to prepare with the
least expense the most valuable and fertilizing manures. He will
find that home made manures, may be more economical than imported
manures. He will learn what kind of manure each crop requires, and
when and how to apply. His inventive genius may bring to his aid
new labor-saving machines. He will learn to do everything in the
right time and in the right manner. Method will become one of liis
watchwords, and economy another. Not entirely contented with his
own experience and experiments, he will strive to learn from his neigh-
bors, and from agricultural papers and books. In a word, the en-
deavor thus to raise large crops tends to make the farmer a student,
a philosopher and chemist ; a learner from the great book of nature,
and a shareholder in her hank stock — the surest and most reliable
bank stock in the world !

I will close by asking the farmers to strive to develop and illustrate
the principle of making two spears of grass to grow where only one
grew before.

The competition for the Hampshire Society's premiums on crops,
was greater this year than in any former year. The whole number of
crops entered was forty, viz : two of carrots, two of turnips, three of
potatoes, four of oats, four of rye, seven of wheat, seven of Indian
corn, and eleven of broom corn. The statements of the successful
competitors are annexed.

IIYDIA^ CORI.

Albert Montague^ s Statement.
The acre of land on which my corn grew, is a sandy loam. It was in
broom corn last year, when it received a light coat of manure on the surface.
The bioom corn was light, not more than six or seven hundred pounds to the
acre. On the 27th of May last, I carted 15 loads of coarse manure from my
yard to this piece, and ploughed it in. I ploughed seven inches deep, and

CROPS.

43

the next day I harrowed it fine, furrowed it with a small plough, and in the
furrows spread 150 pounds of guano, and planted with "Woodward's planter.
My hills were three feet apart from centre to centre, and the rows about 3
feet. I tliink there was no hill missing on the acre. Some kernels of corn,
which were left a little distance from the main hill, produced five ears of corn,
viz : three on the seed stalk, and two on the suckers. I hoed three times?
but, the last time, I did not use a horse, as the corn was too large. I cut it
the 24th of September, carted and husked it the last of October. It was very
dry when husked. I counted the baskets and, by shelling one of them, I
found 93 1-4 bushels of shelled corn, weighing 56 pounds to the bushel, and
just about the same by measurement. I weighed one stack of fodder, and by
multiplication, I learn there were 7200 lbs. I give the statement of expenses
as near as I can. I charge only 3-4 of the yard manure to the corn crop,
as I believe it has not taken more than that.

Value of Crop.
93 1-4 bushels of corn $1,
7200 lbs. of corn fodder, $6, .
7 bushels of soft corn, 25 cents,

Expenses.
Manure on the field,

Guano,

Ploughing, harrowing and planting.
Hoeing three times, .
Harvesting, ....
Interest on land.

Net profit,
Sunderland, Nov. 10, 1856.

$93 25

*

21 60

1 75

$116

GO

$13 50

4 50

3 00

4 00

8 00

4 00

$37

CO

.

$79

60

John M. Smith's Statement.

My corn was raised on land which may be called clayey loam, and measures
five acres, sixty-four rods. I had about three acres of it in grass for three
years previous to 1855. In the spring of 1855, 1 ploughed in ten loads of
manure to the acre, planted corn, and had a fair crop. In the spring of
1856, 1 put on 12 loads to the acre, and ploughed in. The remainder of the
piece was in grass for three years previous to this season, and was manured
in the same way excepting one acre, which was cultivated as follows : One
half was ploughed in November, 1855, and the other half in the spring of
1856. 20 loads of compost manure were spread on the whole acre and har-
rowed in. I could perceive no difference in the growth of the crop, in con-
sequence of the two modes of ploughing. There was no trouble from

44 TRAN-SACTIONS.

worms, I ploughed seven inches deep and planted with ^Woodward's planter,
•"etween the 15th and 25th of May, and put in eight bushels of ashes to the
acre. The com is the " twelve rowed " or '" Dutton " variety. The stalls
stood three feet, f >up inches apart each way. Tlie yield was at the rate o ^
83 1-3 bushels to the acre, and the net profit $02,50.

Value of Crop.

450 bushels of pound corn at $1, .... $45000

15 tjns fodder $90, 8 bushels of soft corn, $2, . . 92 00

Expenses.

Manure $80, applyinc;it $12,50, seed $1,50, plantin-^ $3, $97 00
Ploughing & harrowing $10, hoeing $12,50, harvesting,

$40, interest and taxes $45 $107 50

>12 00

$204 50

* Net profit on 5 2-5 acres $337 50

Sunderland, Nov. 15, 1856.

BROOSI CORH.

Albert Montague^ s Statement.

I plougliod the 18th of May, seven inches deep, put 10 loads of manure in
the hills, which were in rows, 2 1-2 feet apart, and used Woodward's plant-
er. Care was taken, when hoeing, that the stalks left standing did not
crowd each other, and I left from six to ten stalks in a hiil. I hoed three
times, carefully removed the weeds from the hills and left each stalk up-
right. I believe much depends upon the care taken in the infancy of a
broom corn crop. I harvested the 8th of October.

Vlue of Crop.

1559 pounds of broom brush at 7 eta., . . . $81 13

88 bushels of seed at 45 cts., ..... 39 GO

Expenses.

$120 73

Manure $10, ploughing and planting $3, . . . $13 00 .
Hoeing, harvesting, scraping $18, interest on land $9 27 €0

$40 00

Net profit, $80 73

Sunderland, Nov. 15, 1856.

CROPS. 45

N, Austin Smiih^s Slatemenf.
My broom corn was raised on one acre and four rods of land, in Sunder-
land, on the bank of Connecticut river. The soil is sandy loam, and it has
been planted for several past years with broom corn. The etalks oflast year
were harrowed down and ploughed in 9 inches deep, about the 14th of May.
I sowed on 3-4 of the piece 300 pounds of guano mixed with 150 pounds of
plaster, broadcast and ploughed in ; but on the other fourth I put three loads
of good manure, scattered in the furrow. The whole was rolled after plough-
ing; was planted with Woodward's planter, hoed three times, and harvested
about the middle of October. During the summer, the broom cor nupon the
guanoed land was of darker color, and a few days later, but at harvesting
there was no great difference in the crop.

Value of Crop.
1041 pounds of broom brush at 7 cts.,. . . . $72 87

80 bushels of seed 45 cts., 36 00

$108 87

Expenses.

Harrowing and planting, $2, guano, plaster, manure and

application $14,25, $16 25

Rolling and planting $1, Hoeing $6, Harvesting and

scraping $10, interest on land $9 . . . 26 00

■ ^42 25

Net profit, . . , $66 62

Sunderland, Nov. 15, 1856.

Alden Graves'' Statemenl.
My broom corn was raised on one acre of worn out, plain land, for which
I paid twelve dollars and fifty cents per acre. It was planted to broom corn
last year. I put on fifteen loads of compost manure, ploughed it in, then
sowed three hundred pounds of Peruvian guano, mixed with as much plaster
and harrowed it in. I planted with Woodward's planter, in rows three
ieet apart, and hills eighteen inches apart, and left only four stalks in the
hill. I hoed three times, and harvested the first week in October.

Value of Crop.
814 pounds of broom brush, at 6 cts., . . . $48 84

66 bushels of seed, at 37 1-2 cents, . . . . 24 75

$73 59

Expenses.

Ploughing, harrowing, planting $2,50, manure, guano,

plaster $25,00, $28 00

Hoeing $8, harvesting, scraping $8, interest on land 75 cts., 16 75

$44 75

Net profit, 28 84

Sunderland, Nov. 15, 1856.

?46 TRANSACTIONS.

WHEAT.

William Bowman and Son^s Statement.
The land on which our wheat was raised, lies on the bank of the Connec-
ticut river, and measures 148 rods. The soil is a sandy loam. We mowed
a heavy crop of clover in June 1855, and the 5th of September, we
ploughed in the second crop, which was good. On the next day, we sowed
1-2 busliel of wheat, and harrowed till the land was mellow as an ash heap.
We sowed six bushels of plaster and ashes in the spring of '50, and, though
the growth of straw was not large, yet the heads were long and well filled
with a large and plump berry.

Value of Crop.
28 1-2 bushels of wheat at $2,00, ....
Straw valued at .......

Expenses.
Ploughing, sowing and harrowing.
Seed $4, plaster, ashes and application $1,50,
Harvesting and threshing,.
Interest on land,

$57 00
7 00

$3 00

5 50

6 00
5 00

$67 00

$20 50

Net profit, $43 50

Sunderland, Nov. 15, 1856

Theophilus P. Huntington's Statement.
The land, on which grew my crop of spring wheat, lies near the bank of
Connecticut river, in Hadley, and is more sandy, than our alluvial soils gen-
erally. In 1854, it was well manured and produced broom corn. In 1855,
no manure was used. About the middle of April, 1856, two bags of Guano
were sown, the principal part of it being ploughed under, and the remainder
harrowed in with the seed. I cleansed as much as possible one and a half
bushels of seed wheat, soaked it in strong lime, and afterwards by careful
picking over, freed it from foul seed. The ground was harrowed and rolled.
The crop was harvested about the last of July, and threshed with flails the
forepart of September. The Scotch fife was the variety sown, and the crop
will be kept till spring for seed.

Value of Crop.

24 bushels, 20 quarts $49 25

3-4 ton of straw, $6,50 4 87

Expenses.
Plowing and sowing, $2, seed $3,75, .
300 pounds of guano, at $3,05 per cwt.,
Harvesting $2, threshing $4 50,

Profit, . $32 72

Hadley, Sept. 11th, 1856.

i^ui

$5

75.

9

15

6

50

$21

40

CHOPS. 47

OATS.

Albert Montague'' s Statement.
The land on which I raised my oats, is a sandy loam. It was in corn last
year, when I ploughed in 28 loads of manure. The piece contains 1 3-4
acres, and was ploughed the last of April seven or eight inches deep. I har-
rowed it well, and rolled it. I sowed seven bushels on the piece, cut the oats
the iirst day of August, and threshed in September and October.

Value of Crop.

136 bushels of oats at 50 cts. $68 00

3 tons of straw at $8, 24 00

$92 00

Expenses.

Seed, plowing, sowing, $8, harvesting, $11, . . $19 00
Interest on the land, 7 00

$26 00

Net profit, . 6G 00

Sunderland, Nov. 15, 1856.

POTATOES.

George Dichinson' s Statement.
The ground, which I planted with Carter potatoes the past season, con-
tains 86 rows, and is valued on the assessors' books at $195 per acre, first
quality meadow land. It was stocked down with herdsgrass and clover in
1851, and mown four years, twice each season, without any manure. In the
first week of December, 1855, it was ploughed from eight to ten inches deep
the sod being flatly inverted. During the last of April, 1856, six loads of
manure, from thehog yard, were spread on, and cultivated in. The ground
was then thoroughly harrowed, and the holes dug, 2 by 2 1-2 to 3 feet apart.
A mixture of hen manure and plaster was then applied, at the rate of a small
handful in each hill. I used 3 1-2 pounds of seed ; cut the largest pota-
toes twice, and the smaller ones once and one piece I dropped in each hill.
The potatoes were hoed early in April, soon after they were fairly up, and
three times afterwards, the cultivator being used each time, and moderate
hills being made. The crop was dug about the middle of October.

Value of Crop.
95 1-2 bushels table potatoes, at 87 1-2 cents, . . $83 56
13 1-4 do small do at 25 cents, . . 3 31

Expenses.
Ploughing $1,25, manure $11,25, cultivating $1, harrow-

'ing 50 cents, seed $2,25, .... $16 25

Planting $1,25, hoeing $3,50, digging $6,25, interest $6,

Taxes $1, 18 00

$86 87

$34 25

Net profit, $52 62

Hadley, Nov. 15, 1856.

46 TRANSACTIONS.

O. (^ F. H, Williams Statement.
The ground on which were raised our potatoes, has been in grass, as a pas-
ture, for three or four years. The soil is light and sandy, on a side hill,
lying toward the south west. April 24th, we ploughed from three to six
inches deep. The furrows were turned and filled with manure, after the po-
tatoes were dropped, together with a handful of plaster and salt. These
were turned back, covering all about 4 inches deep, and saved at least one
half, if not thre'e fourths the labor of planting with the hoe. Our seed wag
the genuine peach blow. We hill with all the dirt we can, and imitate in
this respect the Irish mode of tillage, which we consider preferable to flat
tillage. We used small potatoes, put one into each hill, and where they
were large, cut them and used at the rate of 8 or 9 bushels at the acre.

Value of Crop.
123 bushels at 50 cents, $61 50

Eocfcnses.
Plowing and harrowing $2, manure $8, manuring, farrow-
ing and covering, $2,80, .... $12 80
Seed $1,20, hoeing $3,50, weeding $1,25, harvesting $8,

interest and taxes $2, 15 95

$28 75

Net profit, ■ . $32 75

Sunderland, Not. 15, 1856.

€ AEKOTS,

David Hubbard's Statement.

Tlie land on which my carrots were raised, is a sandy, gravelly loam,

which has produced corn the past two years, measures sixty-six rods, and i«

in a fair state of cultivation. I ploughed in May, 1856, and subsoiled about

fifteen inches deep. I put on twenty loads of compost maaure, ploughed in

ten loads, harrowed in the other ten, and raked thorouglily. I planted

about the last of May v.'ith one of Ruggle^, Nourse & Mason's seed-sowers,

about one third of a pound of pure orange carrot seed, in rows eighteen

jnches apart. At the third hoeing, I thinned them, leaving them from three

to five inches apart, and filled in with Sweedish turnips where the carrots

were missing.

Value of Crap.

Ti2 8-11 bushels, 55 pounds per bushel, at 33 cents, . . $90 00

Eaypenses.
Manure $15. ploughing and harrowing $2, seed and

sowing $1, . . . _. . . . $18 00 •
Carting and spading manure $2, hoeing $8, harvesting

$7, interest $2,50, 19 50

$37 50

Net profit $52 50

Sunderland, Nov. 15, 1856.

FAKMING IMrLEMENTS. 49

FARMING IMPLEMENTS.

DAYID DEXTER' S REPORT.

This department of the Mechanic Arts presents claims of para-
mount importance As a part of the exhibition, it may well excite
admiration, improve the taste, gratify the pride and promote the ma-
terial interests of an industrious people. Improved farm implements
measure the progress of civilization. The scale of social elevation
of nations, attained in England, France, the United States and in In-
dia or Turkey, is indicated by ths farm tools, used in those countries.
With the rude plow of half-civilized nations, the most skilful would
fail to turn the furrow as we have seen it turned to-day, and all the
noble oxen from Leverett could not stir the subsoil. In the construc-
tion of agricultural implements, inventive genius and enterprise have
been tasked. What was once made by any one, who could use a
saw or strike an anvil, is now made in large manufacturing establish-
ments, with expensive machinery. The rapid succession of improve-
ments has been truly astonishing. If the old patterns of hoes,
shovels, manure and hay forks, fanning mills, ploughs and wagons,
spinning wheels and looms — used a quarter of a century since, could
be collected and shown at our annual fair, beside our improved im-
plements, the exhibition would be amusing, as well as useful. Shall
it be done at the next exhibition of the Hampshire Society? Some
articles have beeni mproved, and others entirely superseded by new
intentions. The hand cards, hand looms and spinning wheels have
been safely stowed in the garret, unless perchance the rim of the latter
be used to expand garments it once helped to fabricata. The
sickle and flail give place to the reaper and the threshing machine.
Mr. Stetson's mowing machine indicates that even the scythe may be
numbered among the things which were. Mr. Stetson has an im-
portant improvement. It has not been thoroughly tested, but a trial
of it during exhibition showed its decided superiority over a Ketch-
urn's machine, which competed with it. It may have been in view of
some such machine, that the Irishman asserted that the easiest work
he ever did, was to see a Yankee mow.

50 TKANSACTIONS.

The introduction of improved farm implements tends to emancipate
men from the necessity of exhausting labor.

In view of the important interests centering in this department,
your committee would like to have had more funds at their disposal,
and to have awarded^tens where we have given units.

STOCK.

THEODORE G. HUNTINGTON'S REPORT.

In looking over the various descriptions of stock that enriched the
Hampshire Society's Fair grounds, the thing that has struck us most
forcibly was the great inequality in the different departments, While
the show of oxen, both for the stall and for the yoke, was unequal to
what it has sometimes been, that of horses and swine has probably
never been excelled. We looked in vain for rival strings of cattle —
Leverett alone appearing on the ground, but with a representation
that did her honor.

Of Bulls there was a fair display ; and the different breeds were
well represented by excellent specimens. 'The Durham Eull, " Uncle
Tom," owned by Mr. Augustus Clarke of Granby, was a prominent
object of attraction. His size and perfect symmetry of form, joined to
great apparent docility and fine handling, must make him a valuable
animal for the breeder of this justly celebrated stock.

Then there was the two year old Ayershire owned by Mr. Luke
Swectser, of Amherst, Avho has lately entered the lists as a breeder
of this kind of stock, and whose success thus far ought to inspire our
more experienced farmers with a salutary fear, lest they be outdone in
enterprise and skill, by one who has already won his laurels in another
profession. This breed is for the dairy, as every one knows, and it is
confidently believed, that few if any animals in the country can boast
a more worthy ancestry, than the one in question. His ov/ner has
been assured that his grand dame, on the mother's side, has given the
almost incredible quantity of 36 quarts of milk per day. This bull is
one of Mr. Sweetser's herd on exhibition — most of them being young,

STOCK. 51

but giving promise of superiority in those qualities, for wliich the
Ayershire are noted.

With regard to working cattle 4 years old, the committee noticed
that the cattle of Mr. Lorenzo H. Pomeroy, of Amherst, performed
their work admirably at the drawing match, and showed themselves
to be under complete control, and in every respect gave satisfac-
tion. But those of Mr. Hamilton, of Shutesbury, being only two
years old, drawing the same load and exhibiting the most perfect do-
cility and training, excited the wonder and admiration of all who wit-
nessed their performance. After such unqualified praise as this, we
hope Mr. Hamilton will retain those steers another year, and give
them good training and keeping, and when another Fair day comes
around, may he win golden opinions and dollars too, as a reward for
his tact and skill. There is altogether too little time and attention
given to the proper training of cattle, and whenever we find a man,
who takes an honest pride in the art and pursues it as a part of his
business, we hail him as a public benefactor.

Of steers, we noticed a few pairs that were very fine. Are the
farmers about to discontinue the raising of oxen : or are they losing
their interest in our exhibitions ? We should be very sorry to believe
either of these things, yet if we judge them according to their works,
it seems difficult to avoid one or the other of these inferences. As a
striking contrast to this lack of public spirit — to call it by no harsher
name — we might instance the example of Cephas May, whose twin
Durham steers, four years old and entered as fat cattle, were magnifi-
cent animals, and redeemed this department.''

There is a little history connected with these steers, which we beg
leave to introduce here, both for example and encouragement. We
have learned incidentally, that they were brought from the somewhat
famous town of Wilmington, Vt., in a one horse sleigh, when calves.
They have since been in the possession of Mr. May, and have been on
exhibition, at least four times, always in the yoke, and always doing
him honor by their thrift and other evident tokens of kindly man-
agement. They have already attained the remarkable weight of 3,800
lbs. If we had more such men among us to excite and keep alive a
spirit of honorable rivalry, we should perhaps find it less necessary to
resort to the somewhat questionable practice of horse trotting matches,
and the kindred et ceteras, to call a crowd together, and give patron-
age to agricultural enterprises.

52 TRAXSACTI0N8.

Of COWS, we found nine entries. Among them, a grade Durham,
belonging to President Stearns ; another belonging to Mr. Williams,
of Sunderland, and a third to Mr. Cobb, of Amherst, intended as
stock animals, and showing good points for that purpose. \

We noticed two choice Durham heifers of Mr. Augustus Clarke
of Granby. If this gentleman continues to breed such animals as
these, he may be sure of winning prizes as often as he chooses to drive
them to the Fair grounds.

As sheep raising is evidently not a favorite branch of husbandry with
us, it is a matter of surprise, perhaps, that there should have been any
on exhibition, rather than so few. We noticed some lots, which ap-
peared to be a mixture of the south down, with our common stock,
and pretty fair specimens. We believe that if the practice of sheep
husbandry, with reference particularly to the rearing of lambs for
market, should become more general, it would be found quite as profit-
able as the rearing of other kinds of stock. Why should it not be
so, when each sheep yields an annual income in fleece, and produces one
or two lambs, whose meat sells for more than almost any other in the
market ? We would by no means recommend going into the business
largely, but almost every farmer has more or less fodder at his dis-
posal, which is better consumed by sheep than by anything else. We
have frequently found that pastures and stubble ground mowed over,
will yield them much feed M'hich no other animal will touch. By a
little pains taking in this way, almost every farmer can collect enough
to winter from fifteen to twenty-five sheep, without encroaching very
largely on the supply for his other stock, and he will find the income
derived from them a very considerable item.

We pass on to swine, and here, candor compels us to acknowledge,
that our highest wishes were gratified. There are swine enough in
this region — good ones too — and it so happened, this year, that there
was a general disposition to show them, a thing not at all strange by
the way, for if there is anything a farmer takes pride in, it is his hogs.
This feeling seemed to have worked itself up to an exceedingly high
pitch, the present season, until it found vent by this astounding rush
to the Fair ground. The provision made for the accommodation of
these dignified personages, who always boast their carriage on such oc-
casions, looked meagre enough, when compared with the host to be
provided for. And after all had been done, that generous hospitality
could do, many were debarred the privilege of showing their fair pro-
portions to the best advantage, and remained shut up in comparative

STOCK. 58

seclusion within the walls of their equipage, with naught to console
them but the thouglit that their elevated position prevented the too
familiar contact of the vulgar crowd. Among so many and worthy
competitors, it might seem invidious in us to make comparisons. We
only venture to say that, among this various assemblage of growth and
beauty, memory reverts with peculiar satisfaction to a nest of weaned
pigs, owned by George J. Lyman, of Granby, that were perfectly
charming.

It remains for us to speak of the horses — a subject to which we
feel an incompetency, and from which we would gladly excuse our-
selves. Indeed, in such an array of animals, most of them apparently
valuable ones, and with only a very limited observation, it would be
impossible to make any nice discriminations. The exhibition of Stal-
lions, however, seems to us of such a character, as to deserve more
particular notice, and we cannot do better here than to refer to the
report of the special committee appointed to examine these animals.
They say only one stallion was entered which was entitled to the
regular premium — he was a fine four years hunter, owned by H. A.
Longley, of Belchertown, and doubtless a son of his Kentucky hun-
ter. The committee recommend a gratuity to N; R. Washburn, of
Springfield, and remark that, for driving and fancy horses, his stock
will unquestionably be valuable. Also, they recommend a gratuity
to Levi Sumner, of Heath, for his bay stallion, whose well knit frame
and determined action indicated just the qualities desirable for draft
and farm horses.

hey also speak with approbation of the black morgan owned by
A. C. Stowell, of Petersham.

On] the whole, we cohgratulate the members of the Hampshire Society
on another successful Fair. If, in closing, they will suffer from us a
word of advice, it shall be this : study in all your stock operations to
maintain as large a variety, as your circumstances will admit. In this
way every thing will be consumed, and all to the best advantage. In
this way you will be pretty sure of sometimes winning Dame Fortune's
smiles and will avoid the mortification of those, who not unfrequently
behold the contents of the barn and the granary emptied into the
barn-yard ; while they have nothing to show for it, but a large pile
of most excellent manure. In this respect, our line of policy should
be wholly diff'erent from that pursued by the western farmer, who relies
almost entirely upon two or three staple products, which mu-t be sent
to a distant market. On the contrary, the Massachusetts farmer is fa-

54 TRANSACTIONS.

vored with a home market, and he should make it his great business
to produce as much as possible of all those necessaries of life, which
at certain seasons of the year will not bear long transportation, and
when he may be sure of a ready market. Be sure to feed roell what
stock you keep. " Give and it shall be given to you," is a maxim
that applies as well to stock-raising, as to morals or religion. He
who practices it will find his reward, not only in a more profitable
^eturn for his labor, but in the thought that in this way he imitates in
his humble sphere, the benevolence of the Creator, who clothes the
lilly, feeds the raven and satisfies the desire of every living thing.

COW AND CALF.

WILLIAM A. STEARNS' STATEMENT.

My cow Juno, I suppose, to be about thirds Durham. She is an excel-
lent milker, both as to the quantity and quality. Iler mother, still thriving, is
considered the besf^cow in Cambridge. Two years ago last May and June
for nineteen days in succession, she gave on an average, twenty quarta a day,
measured milk, without the froth, in old milk measure, and nearly as much
a day for a good while after. It was difScult to dry her up. She is now
farrov/, has given milk eigliteen months, and still gives ten quarts a day.
Thus much of the mother of Juno. Her grandmother sometimes gave twenty-
two quarts a day, in the height of feed, as the mother also did occasionally.
My cow, though uncommonly good, has never equalled either of them. She
has distinguished herself above her progenitors by the very large size of her
calves.

The calf which I present herewith, was dropped on the 20th of August,
and, accordingly, will^be seven weeks old on the first day of the Fait. He
was taken off from the cow about the third day, and has been fed chiefly on
skim milk ever since. He now eats some grass, and sometimes takes a little
meal with his milk. He was sired by Mr. Sweetser's full blood Ayershire-

MILCH CO^VVS.

R. B. HUBBARD'S STATEMENT.

My cow is seven years old, — is half native blood, one fourth Ayershire and
one fourth Durham. I raised her from a calf. Her Ayershire blood she de"
rives from an Ayershire bull kept by the H. F. & H. Agricultural Society.
She has never been kept high and has eaten but very little meal. She had

BEES. 55

her first calf whon a little more than two years old, and dropped her last
calf the first week in March, 1856, and will calve about the 20th of February
next.

The first week in September, we made from her milk, (besides what was
used in the family, and we used cream for coffee every morning) nine and a
half pounds of butter. During the second week we made nine and three
fourth pounds, and in all this time she had nothing but grass.

During the week ending Oct. 5th, there was made from her milk the but
ter which is presented, which we call ten pounds and 2 ounces.

This week, she had, besides grass, a little '• messing," not exceeding in
value two quarts of meal — a mixture of corn and broom seed each day.

The butter was made in the ordinary way. Each mess of milk was set in
four tin pans, in a room separate from the kitchen, and suffered to remain
about 48 hours. It was churned in a thermometer churn, worked over
twice, and salted with one ounce of salt to tlie pound. Not a particle of col-
oring matter was put into the cream or butter, nor did the cow have any
carrots.

B. U. DICKINSON'S STATEMENT.

The cow which I offer is nine years old, and of the native breed. In Au-
gust 1856, she had her last calf, which was fattened and killed when six
weeks old, and weighed 187 lbs. The milk has been weighed for seven days
only, and the average weight was 35 lbs. per day. I did not have time to
make butter from the cow, as the rule of the society requires.

BEES.

MASTER J. F. RUSSELL'S STATEMENT.

I wish to make a statement in regard to my bees, but do not compete for
a premium. I commenced last spring with three hives of bees and have had
eight swarms issue from them, four of which were small. I united themand
made two swarms, which with the others made me six good sized swarms.
I had taken two hundred and twenty-eight pounds of surplus honey from
them and left, in the main apartment, more than they will probably want for
•winter. Part of the remainder I intended to take from them and still leave
a full Jsupply for their winter use. I use Rev. L. L. Langstroth's Movable
Comb Hive.

56 T H A N S A C T I O X S .

CHEESE.

EEV. W. H. SEAMAN'S EEPOrcT.

There were fourteen entries of cheese. The specimens were all of
fine quality. The difference between the better and the poorer was
in some comparisons scarcely a shade.

In the methods of making there was but little variety among the
successful competitors.

No. 1. According to this statement, the milk when taken
from the cow is strained into a kettle and rennet is added, after
which it stands until the curd separates from the whey. It is then
dipped off and permitted to drain, until dry enough to make into
cheese. The same process is repeated witth next days's milk, when
both curds are put together, warmed, salted, pressed two days, and
turned daily till cured.

No. 2. The night's milk stands in a kettle till morning, when it
is warmed and rennet is added sufficient to bring the cheese in about
an hour, when it is drained, pressed two days and turned daily till
cured.

No. 3 The cream is taken from the night's milk, and warmed with
the morning's milk ; then rennet is added sufficient to bring the curd
in an hour ; then it is scalded and drained till afternoon, when it is
put into the press.

No. 4. Rennet is put into the milk when strained; The milk
stands till the curd is separated, which is then drained, warmed, salted,
pressed two days, and turned daily till cured.

No. 5 is about the same as No. 1.

No- 3 is made from a dairy of ten cows — No. 4 from a dairy of eight.
A large dairy appears to be an important condition of cheese. Its
quality must be_, affected, also, by the character of the cows and of
their keeping. " There seems at first sight, to be no connexion be-
tween the application of bones to the Cheshire farmer's poor grass
]and and the unexpected crumbling of the Cheshire dairy maid's
cheese. Yet the connexion is plain enough. The bones bring up
richer grass, which gives richer milk ; and this treated in the old way
makes a fatter and therefore more crumbly cheese."

CHEESE. 57

, In tlie manufacture there should be a regard to health as well as
taste. Milk is the first and natural food of man. It would appear?
therefore, that cheese eaten as^food, to be most healthful, must par-
take, as nearly as may be, of the ingredients of milk in natural pro-
portion. If cream is added to the milk, it makes a cheese too rich
for common use as food, and if taken from it, too poor. Of all indi-
gestible articles of diet, scarcely any can be more so, than hard skim
milk cheese. It is a wonder how that called the Suffolk, (Eng.),
whose milk is skimmed three or four days in succession, can be di-
gested in human stomachs, for it often requires an axe to cut it, and
is said to be so hard that " pigs grunt at it, dogs bark at it, but neith-
er of them dare bite it."

Mr. Johnson, an English writer on agriculture and chemistry, has
given a table, compai-ing the ingredients of milk, cheese, (new and
akim milk) beef and eggs, as follows : —

CHEESE.

New. Skim.

45 80

48 11

Milk.

Casein, (curd),

35

Fat, (butter),

24

Sugar,

37

Mineral Matter,

4

Beef.

EgS[s,

*89

55

40

1(]0 100 100 100 100

To this the folloAving remarks are appended ; " We see from this
table that both cheeses are free from sugar. Either of them, there-
fore, must be eaten with a quantity of vegetable food, which may sup-
ply the starch or sugar required to make it equal to milk,' as a general
nourishment. Again, the new milk cheese contains more fat than
even the eggs. It is too rich, therefore, to be used as an every day
diet by the generality of stomachs. It is partly for this, and partly
for the previous reason, that cheese and bread are almost invariably
eaten together.

Then, in the skim milk cheese, we have only eleven per cent of fat
mixed with eighty per cent of the very constipating curd. Experience
has shown this to be far too little, and therefore butter or fat bacon,
as well as bread, must be consumed along with these poorer cheeses,
when much of them is intended to be eaten ; or they must ba cooked
in made dishes, along with some other variety of fat."

The conclusion of the whole matter is, that, as unskimmed milk is the
most healthful to drink, so is unskimmed-milk-chcese most healthful
to eat ; and that which is most agreeable to a healthy palate may gen-
erally be presumed to be most healthful to the animal system.

*The curd of milk, muscle of meat and white of eggs are nearly ideuticai.

58 TRANSACTIONS

FEUIT.

DR. FRANKLIN EONNEY'S REPORT.

There were two hundred and fifteen plates of excellent apples at
the Fai, in the new Agicultural Hall.

The specimens of grapes were well ripened and of excellent flavor.
A raisin Isabella was particularly delicious. Some very fine speci"
mens of foreign grapes were brought into the hall, by Hon. Francis
De Witt, who presented them in behalf of Hon. Orin Sage of Ware.
The rarieties were the White Grape, White Nice, Austrian Muscat,
White Bual, White Sweetwater, Royal Muscadine, Syrian. Of the
dark varieties, Black Hamburgh, Victoria Hamburgh, Red Trarminer,
and Gridley Fontigau. The magnificent clusters of the Hamburghs,
and the transparent delicacy of the lighter varieties furnished a pleasant
temptation to the palate. Any one must have felt full of grape, whil;?
mentally drinking in these Sweetwaters; and wc should not be very
much surprised if some shooting afi"airs should come off" next spring,
as the result of the hot-headedness produced by this infusion.

We understand that these grapes are raised under glass without
fire — the temperature of our climate being elevated enough to ripen
the fruit, if the sudden changes of Aveather can be guarded against.

It seems surprising, in view of the little expense and labor in-
volved— that more attention is not paid to the cultivation of the grape.
As a luxury and a healthy article of diet, this fruit is unsurpassed.
Besides this, necessity seems to be forcing upon our considera-
tionthe home production of wine. It is notorious, that it is almost
impossible to obtain a pure foreign article. This fact has already
driven many persons to the manufacture of currant and other varieties
of wine, which cannot compete in quality, or facility of manufacture*
with the juice of the grape. Experience has already shown that no
foreign wines can surpass some of those produced in the middle and
western States. The Catawba, manufactured in Ohio, has a less pro-
portion of alcohol, than the most highly esteemed and delicate cham-
paignes of Europe, rendering it on that account superior to any other
variety. There is no reason Avhy its production may not be increased

FRTJTT.

59

to any desirable extent, thereby insuring a pure article, for whatever
use it may be necessary.

The quinces were very fair specimens, some of them very large and
fine. In addition to the premiums, several gratuities were bestowed.
There were a few plates of nice looking peaches. They received
gratuities.

A box of tomato figs very closely imitated the article they were de-
signed to represent. There were some fine specimens of Cranberries,
and a few barberries upon the tables.

ANALYSIS OP PREMIUMS.

For Farm Improvements,
" Crops,

" Farm Implements,
" Cattle, Horses, Sheep and Swine
" Butter and Cheese,
" Fruits and Flowers,
" All other Agricultural objects,
" Miscellaneous Articles

Total Awards,
Number of Premiums Awarded, -

Different individuals who received Premiums
Different towns in wmcn Premiums were d

STRIBUTED,

Amherst,

$117,45

Northampton,

Belch ERTOWN,

17,95

Pelham,

Boston,

25

Petersham,

Chicopee,

. 2,00

Shelburnb,

Conway,

. 5,62

Shutesbury,

Enfield,

75

South Hadley,

Granby,

. 18,70

Springfield,

Greenfield,

25

Sunderland,

Hadley,

. 70,93

Ware,

Heath, i

. 2,00

Whately, .

Leverett, .

. 27,85

WlLLIAMSBURGH,

MlDDLEBOROCGH, .

50

Windsor,

Montague, .

87

Total,

$99,45
38,00
10,50

199,62
25,40
22,59
28,55
31,80

$455,91

278

222

25

$7,00
2,75
1,00
1,75

10,00
5,75
3,25
145,42
2,87
6,75
3,25
1,00

$455,91

I^inilwsis trf Members.

cv:^-

Although the Hampshire Agricultural Society has received, during
the pavSt five years, an average of sixty-one new members annually
yet, this year, there have been eighty-six new members, so that the

AMHERST,

ATHOL, .

BALTIMORE, MD.,

BEAVER DAM, WIS

BELCHERTOWN,

BOSTON, .

CAMBRIDGE, .

CHICAGO, ILL.,

CHICOPEE,

COLERAINE, .

CONWAY,

COVINGTON, KY.,

DEERFIELD,

EASTHAMPION,

ENFIELD,

FARRIBAULT, MIN. T.

GRANBY,

GRANBY, CT.,

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH

GREE.VFIELD,

GREENWICH,

HADLEY,

HARTFORD, CT.,

HATFIELD, .

HOLYOKE,

IOWA, .

KNOXVILLE, TENN.,

LEVERETT, .

LOCKPORT, N. Y.,

LONGMEADOW,

395
2

1
1

30
7
1
3
2
1
1
1
7
5
3
3

3G
2
4
3
3
121
1
1
1
2
2

68
1
1

NIME HUNDRED AND SI.

XTY.

LYNN, .

1

MARBLBOROUGH, N. I

I, 1

MONTAGUE,

7

MONTGOMERY, ALA.,

1

MOUNT PALATINE, ILl

:.., 3

NEW SALExM,

1

NEW YORK CITY,

5

NORTHAMPTON,

24

OSKOSH, WIS., .

1

PALMER,

1

PELHA]\I, . . • .

13

PHILADELPHIA, PA., .

2

PRESCOTT, .

3

PROVIDENCE, R. I., .

1

ROSEMOND, ILL.,

2

SALEM,

1

SARATOGA, N.Y.,

1

SHARON, ILL., .

1

SHUTESBURY,

7

SOUTHAMPTON, .

1

SOUTH HADLEY, .

25

SPRINGFIELD,

3

SUNDERLAND, .

123

TAUNTON, .

2

WARE,

13

WESTBOROUGH, .

2

WEST SPRINGFIELD, .

1

WILLIAMSBURGH,

2

WILMINGTON, VT., .

2

WORCESTER,

3

"^t"

|! r e lit nun s .

&20

$5

FARMS.

T. P. Huntington, Iladley,

FARM ACCOUNTS.

T. p. Huntington, Iladley,

FEEDING SWINE.

Albert Montague, Sunderland, $4

SWAMP LANDS.

David Hubbard, Sunderland, $6

Averv D. Hubbard, do 4

Kelita Hubbard, do 4

UNDER-DRAINIXG.

David Hubbard, Sunderland, $8

APPLE TREES.

Dr. N. G. Trow, Sunderland, $5

Johu R. Robinson, do 3

RECLAIMED ORCDAKDS.

Kelita Hubbard, Sunderland, $3

NURSERIES.

William Hunt, Sunderland, $3

MANURES.

S. D. Crocker, Sunderland, $6

Albert Montague, do 4

llONEV.

David S. Cowles, Hadley, $1

Daniel Dickinson, Amherst, Farmer.

WHEAT CROPS.

William Bowman & Son, Sunder-
land, gr., ... j>;4
T. P. Huntington, Hadley, gr., 3

CORN CROPS.

Albert Montague, Sunderland, $5
John M. Smith, do 4

POTATO CROPS.

George Dickinson, HadleVi $'^

0. & F. H. Williams, Sunderland, 3

BROOM CORN.

Albert jNIonta^^ue, Sunderland, $3
N. Austin Smith, do 3

Alden Graves, do gr., $2

OAT CROPS.

AlbertMontague, Sunderland, $3

CARROTS.

David Hubbard, Sunderland, $3

0. & F. H. Williams, Sunderland, 2

ST.\LLIONS.

H. A. Longley, Belchertown, $8

Anson R. Chapman. Aniliorst, 5

N. R. Washburn, Springfield, 3

Levi Sumner, Heath, 2

A. C. Stowell, Petersham, 1

CARRIAGE HORSES IN PAIRS.

N. W. Bartletfc, Williamsburgh, $3
Henry Smith, South Hadley, 2

FARM HORSES.

Benj. T. Carter, Hadley, $2

E. P. Dickinson, Sunderland 1

MARES AND COLTS."

Samuel Tower, Hadley, 3

Lyman A. Newton, Sunderland, 2
Guy C. Munsell, Amherst, 1

L. IL Cowles, Granby, Stable Book.

SINGLE CARRIAGE HORSES.

E. Foster Cook, Amherst, $2,00

R. Anderson, Shelburne, i,75

Nelson Smith, South Hadley, 1,50

Alfred Baker, Amherst, 1,25

S. W. Whitney, Amherst, 1,00'

62

PREMIUMS

DRAFT nORSES.

Lyman Gunn, Amherst, $3

11. H. Luddington, Chicopee, 2

Wm. E. Dudley, Leverett, 1

COLTS — THREE YEAR'S OLD.

A. T. Judd, South Hadley, $2,00
S. W. Chirk, Northampton, 1,50

A. S. Howe, Shutesbury, 1,00

E. G. Field, Sunderland,

Richardson on the Horse.

COLTS UNDER THREE TEARS.

E. Martin Ingram, Leverett, $1,50
Wm. H. Marsh, Hadley, 1,25

Asa Richardson, Belcher town, 1,00
Milo A. Taylor, Granby, gratuity.
Lucius 11. Cowles, Granby, gratuity

PLOWING WITH DOUBLE PLOW.

L. W. llannum, Belchertown, $4
Levi D. Cowles, Amherst, 3

PLOWING WITH ox TEAMS.

E. Porter Dickinson, Sunderland, $3
J. B. Kentfield, Hadley, 2

Flavel Gaylord, Amherst, 1

PLOWING WITH HORSE TEAMS.

J. Woodbury Hobart, Amherst, $5
William Strong, Northampton, 4

Nathaniel Smith, Sunderland, 3

Alfred H. Cook, Hadley, 2

Chester T. Parsons, Northampton, 1
Edmund Hobart, Amherst, Farmer.

STRINGS OF CATTLE.

Town of Leverett, $20

Whipple & Ward, Amherst, 1

HERDS.

Luke Sweetser, Amherst, $6

BULLS AND BULL CALVES.

Lucius H. Cowles, Granby, $5

Vf . E. ttS. S. Dickinson, Amherst, 3
Augustus Clark, Granby, 5 '

Luke Sweetser, Amherst, 5

T. P. Huntington, Hadley, 5

Charles Hamilton, Shutesbury, 2

R. T. Wheelock, Amherst, Farmer.

WORKING OXEN — FIVE TEARS OLD.

Samuel F. Dudley, Shutesbusy, $5

Chester Cowles, Amherst, 4

Linus Green, Hadley, 3

Flavel Gaylord, Amherst, 2

William E. Dudley, Leverett, 1

WORKING OXEN — FOUR TEARS OLD.

Lorenzo H. Pomeroy, Amherst, $3

j Charles Hamilton, Shutesbury,

STEERS — THREE TEARS OLD.

Otis Turner, Whately.
R. T. Wheelock, Amherst,
A. A. Rankin, Pelham,

STEERS — TWO TEARS OLD.

Otis Turner, Whately, $2,00

Elon Sanderson, Whately, 1,50

Willard M. Kellogg, Amherst, 1,00

STEERS — ONE TEAR OLD.

Alfred Baker, Amherst, $1,50

Thomas Buifum Pelham, 1,00

STEER CALVES.

H. H. Marsh, Hadley ,|

JMilburn's Cattle Breeding.

FAT CATTLE.

Cephas May, Conway, $5

Levi D. Cowles, Amherst, 4

MILCH cows.

R. B. Hubbard, Amherst, $3

B. U. Dickinson, Amherst, 1
W. A. Stearns, Amherst, 3

HEIFERS AND HEIFER CALVES.

Henry Cobb, Amherst, $2

T. P.*^ Huntington, Hadley, 1

Augustus Clark, Granby, 2
David Pomeroy, Amherst, Farmer.

BUCKS.

Samuel Prince, Amherst, $2

Edmund Hastings, Amherat, 1

EWES.

William W. Smith, Amherst, $2

Linus Green, Hadley, 1

POULTRY.

David Hubbard, Sunderland, $2,00

Daniel Cowles, Hadley, 1,50

C. B. Hubbard, Sunderland, 1,00
Luke Sweetser, Amherst,

Richardson on Domestic Fowls.

BOARS.

T. P. Huntington, Hadley, $3
Caleb T. Hubbard, Sunderland, 2

S. F. Eaatman, Granby, 1

sows AND PIGS.

x\ustln Russell, Sunderland, $4

Samuel S. Hibbard, Hadley, 3

Henry Cobb, Amherst, 2

Horace Russell, Hadley, 1

TRANSACTIONS

63

WEANED PIGS.

Martin L. Hubbard, Sunderland, $3
George J. Lyman, Granby, 2

Lorenzo IL Pomeroy, Amherst, 1
Emmons Russell, Sunderland,

Richardson on Hogs.

APPLES.

Austin Eastman, Amherst, $2,00
John C. White, Amherst, 1,75

John Clarli, Hadley, 1,50 j

Daniel Dickinson, Amherst, 1,25
Josiah Ayres, Amherst,

Fruit Gardener's Companion.

GRAPES.

Grin Sage, Ware, $2,00

Giles F. Montague, Granby, 1,00
Charles 0. Sears, Amherst, 1,00

Charles Adams, Amherst, 1,00

Charles Adams, Amherst,

Allen on Culture of Grapes.
Walter Fuller, Amherst,

Hoare on the Grave Vine.

Lizzie Adams, Amherst, 1,00 ^

Walter Fuller, Amherst, j

Charlton's Grape Grower's Guide. !

E. E. Robinson, Sunderland, |

Persoz's Culture of Grapes. I

QUIXCES. I

Elihu Smith, Sunderland, $1,00 \

John Slater, Amherst, Farmer. \

Cummins Fish, Amherst, .25

Wm. F. Bowman, Sunderland, .25
J. W. ilobart, Amherst, .25

Willard Ilibbard, Hadley, 25

TOMATO FIGS.

Mrs. C. D. Dickinson, Hadley, .25

PEACUES.

Ephraim IMontague, Belchertown, .25
John Sisson, Belchertown, .20

•WALNUTS,

William Boltwood, Amherst, .20

FLOWERS.

Mrs. F. M. Graves, Sunderland, $1,00
Mrs. S. W. Boutwell, Leverett,

American Florist's Guide.
Miss A. Parmenter, Sunderland, 1,00
Miss Sarah Lyman, Sunderland,

Buist'a Flower Garden Directory.

YEGETADLES.

T. P. Huntington, Hadley, $1,00
Edwin Chapin, Hadley, 3,00

David S. Cowles, Hadley, 2,00

David Hubbard, Sunderland, 1,50
Ransom Dickinson, Sunderland, 1,00
\ Charles Stetson, Amherst, 1,00

j E. Russell, Sunderland, .75

I John 0. White, Amherst, .50

Wm. Boltwood, Amherst, .50

Henry Cobb, Amherst, .50

B. F. Dunklee, Sunderland, .50

William Hibbard, Hadley, .25

Warren Montague, Sunderland, .25
Miss Laura Emerson, Amherst, .25
Horace Smith, Amherst, .25

Arthur Montague, Sunderland, .25
Levi D. Cowles, Amherst, .25

John E. Albee, Amherst, .25

H. Wilson, Belchertown, .25

i J. G. Russell, Hadley, .25

I Orin Williams, Amherst, .25

I Chester Cowles, Amherst, .25

BARUERRIES.

W. H. Perry, Amherst,

CRANBERRIES.

Edward A. Stanley, Amherst,
Cummings Fish, Amherst,

.25

.25
.25

WHEAT FLOUR.

Sylvester Brown, Sunderland, 1.00
J. G. Lyman, Granby, Farmer.

RYE FLOUR.

C. B. Hubbard, Sunderland, $1,00
S. D. Crocker, Sunderland, Farmer.

WHEAT BREAD.

'' Mrs. D. S. Field, Amherst, $1.00
Mrs. Wm. P. Dickinson, Hadley, .75
' Mrs. H. 0. Williams, Sunderland, .50

RYE BREAD.

! Mrs. Nath'l Smith, Sunderland, $1,00
Mrs. Wm. P. Dickinson, Hadley, .75
Mrs. Edwin G. Field, Sunderland, .50

MAPLE SUGAR.

Albert IMontague, Sunderland, $l-,00
Zebina M. Hunt, Sunderland, .75
Peter Spaulding, Jr., Montague, .50

RYE AND INDIAN BREAD.

Mrs. R. W. Stratton, Amherst, $1,00
Miss E. E. Dickinson, Amherst, .75
Mrs. D. S. Field, Amherst, .50

BUTTER.

Mrs. A. Montague, Sunderland,. $4, 00
Mrs. C.B. Hubbard, Sunderland, 3,50
Mrs. T. Graves, Sunderland, 3,00

64

PREMIUMS

Mrs. N. A. Smith, Sunderland, 2,50
Mrs. E. Smith, Sunderland, 2,00

Mrs. M. Graves, Sunderland, 1,50
Miss 0. M. Field, Leverett, 1,00

Mrs. M. Hubbard, 2d, Sunderland,

Farmer.

CHEESE.

Mrs. S. S.Dickinson, Amherst, $2,50
Mrs. E. D. Hubbard, Amherst, 2,00
Mrs. Orin Williams, Amherst, 1,50
Miss 0. Dickinson, Amherst, 1,00
Mrs. G. Chandler, Belchertown,

Farmer.

COTTON AND WOOLEN MANUFACTURES.

Field & Hubbard, Leverett, $1,35
Miss S. T. Dickinson, Amherst, 1.25
Mrs. Samuel Smith, Granby, 1,00
Mrs. Susannah Kellogg, Amherst, .90
Miss Charlotte Jones, Enfield, .75
Ellaroy M. Bolton, Amherts, .65

Mrs. Jason 'I'hayer, Amherst, .65
Miss "SI. Thayer, Belchertown, .60
Mrs. E. P. Dickinson, Sunderland, .55
Mrs. Levi Buutwell, Leverett, .50
Mrs. A. Mtjntague, Sunderland, '50
Mrs. ^Vm. Dickinson, Amherst, .50
Mrs. Harrison Field, Leverett, .50
Miss E. S. Bowen, Ware, .50

Miss E. M. Hubbard, Sunderland, .50
Quartus E. Moore, Leverett, .45

CARPETING.

Mrs. A. Montague, Sunderland, $1,40
Mrs. Silas Howard, Belcliertown, 1,20
Mrs. E. Russell, Sunderland, 1,00
Miss Maria Gilbert, Sunderland, .00
Mrs. Orin Williams, Amherst, .80

FANCY ARTICLES.

Miss H. E. Goodell, Amherst, $1,50
Mrs. C. Clark, Sunderland, 1.00

Mrs. W. P. Warner, Hadley, .62
Mrs. T. G. Huntington, Hadley, .50
Miss S. L. Fitts, Northampton, .50
Miss Temple Linnell, Amherst, .50
E. W. Cowles, Amherst, .50

Mrs. Sampson, Mibblel)orough, .50
Miss Elizabeth Smith, Granby, .50
D. J. Bartlett, Amherst, .50

S. F. Cooiey, Hadley, 1,00

Miss Maria R. Nims, Amherst, .50

L. M. Hills & Son, Amherst, .50
Miss C. B. Andrews, Muntague, .37
Miss Eliza Bowen, Ware, .37

Miss F. M. Graves, Sunderland, .37
Miss L. & A. J. Aiken, Conway, .37
Mrs. Edwin G. Field, Sunderland, .25
Mrs. Joseph Smith, Hadley, .25

Mrs. N. A. Smith, Sunderland, .25
M'ss E. E. Hastings, So. Hadley, .25
Miss J. A. Thompson, Pelham, .25
Mrs. H. G. Firman, Springfield, .25
Miss C. Bowman, Sunderland, .25
E. G. Shumway, Amherst, .25

Lorenzo Sears, Williamsburgh, .25
Miss D. Field, Conway, .25

Mrs. Smith, Amherst, .25

Miss Eliza Slater, Amherst, .25

Mrs. M. S. Hastings.SAmherst, .25
IMrs. Sarah E. Emerson, Amherst, .25
Miss Newman, Amherst, .25

Mrs. George Cutler, Amherst, .25
Mrs. Benjamin Adams, Hadley, .25
Mrs. Clinton J. Cowles, Amherst, .25
MisslMary Flint, Boston, .25

Miss M. A. Bardwell, Whately, .25
Mrs. Samuel D. Smith, Greenfield, 25

MECnANIC ARTS.

B. F. & L. H. Allen, Amherst, .Si, 00
Charles Stetson, Amherst, $2,00
P. F. Cooiey ,|Windsor, 1,D0
Crafts & Beals, Whately,

t). S. Report.
0. M. Clapp, Amherst, 1,00

A. Daniels, Northampton,!

U. S. Report.

C. F. Hayward, Amherst,

50 cents and Report.
Jos. Adams & Sons, Hadley,

U. S. Report.
Horace Gray, Pelhain, .50

Austin Mathews, Amherst, 1,00

Joel Packard, Belchertown, 1,00

H. 0. Williams, Sunderland, .50

H. T. Filer, Belchertown, 1.00

W. W. Tyler, Amherst, U. S. Report.
A. Randall & Co., South Hadley.

1 U. S. Report,

j Hunt & Co., Amherst,

I [$1 and U. S. Report.

NOTES OF THE FAIR.

The seventh annual exhibition of tlie Hampshire Society
was one of the most successful Agricultural Fairs in Massa-
chusetts, the present year. There was an attendance of
probably four or five thousand persons. As a vi^hole, it was
more extensive and attractive than any former exhibition of
the Society.

At the show of 1855, the whole number of entries was
less than six hundred. This year, the number of entries was
nearly eight hundred.

In the Hall, there were one hundred more entries than in
1855.

The steers, milch cows, heifers, calves, poultry, swine and
horses, showed improvement in number and in quality. The
whole number of neat cattle was two hundred and thirty-
three ; and there were one hundred and twenty-two swine,
and one hundred and eighteen horses on exhibition.

At the plowing match sixteen teams competed, and all the
plowing was excellent.

In the Agricultural Department there was an increase of
entries of manures and of crops of wheat, corn, broom-corn,
and oats.

The trial of mowing machines was on L. D. Cowles' farm.
Although a volunteer affair, it may become hereafter as much
a part of the exhibition as the drawing match or plowing
match ; especially if the ladies accept Col. Page's invitation
to be present at the matches.

66

TRANSACTIONS

The new Agricultural Hall is seventy-five feet in length,
and sixty-two feet in width. It is spacious and adapted to
the purposes for which it is designed. One half of the ex-
pense of fitting up the Hall is borne by the Society, on con-
dition that the Society has the use of it for exhibitions, pay-
ing a reasonable rent ; and that the Society have one half of
the income from the rents of the Hall.

The other half of the cost of the Hall was borne by Hon.
John Dickinson, Luke Sweetser, Levi D. Cowles, Hon. Ed-
ward Dickinson, Charles Adams, J. W. Boyden, William
Cutler, Allen &. Palmer, and R. S. Lincoln.

The great size of the Hall and its convenient internal
arrangements, enable it to exhibit to advantage all the various
articles, and to avoid subjecting visitors to the annoyance of a
crowd. The Hall has more than met the most sanguine ex-
pectations of the officers of the Society. The amount re-
ceived at the door, from persons who are not members of the
Society, indicates that the sum expended in fliting up the
Hall, will, in a few years, be returned to the treasury

THE ANNUAL DINNER.

REPORTED BY Z. C. MONTAGUE

The Annual dinner was furnished in Phenix Hall, Amherst, by R-
S. Lincoln, of the American House. The hall was profusely and
tastefully decorated with evergreens. The tables were loaded with
good things, and fully realized, in provision for the animal wants, all
that was expected from the well known reputation of Mr. Lincoln as
a public caterer. Plates were laid for 350, and nearly every one had
an occupant, a large, and of course, a handsome proportion of whom
were ladies, representing the elite, not only of the farmers' wives and
daughters of this and the neighboring towns, but also of the literary,
scientific and professional portion of the population, of whom no
other part of the State contains a larger share than this favored valley.

By invitation of the President, the Divine blessing was implored
by Ret. Geokge E. Fisher of Amherst then, all hands "fell to"
with a zest which would have given relish to the the good things,
even without the rich sauces and provocatives with which the smoking
viands were flanked and supported. Animal appetite, however, in
due time gave way for a richer feast to come.

The President, William P. Dickinson, Esq., op Hadlet,
introduced the intellectual feast dishes with a neat and cordial speech
of welcome to all. He alluded in the most gratifying terms to the
continued and increasing prosperity of the Hampshire society. Eighty
new members had been enrolled on its catalogue since the last anni-
versary. A new and spacious Hall had been constructed ; and he

68 TKANSACTIOKS.

took occasion to tender the cordial thanks of the Society to those
gentlemen, whose liberality and influence had brought this enterprise
to a successful issue. The President concluded with the following
sentiment :

The Orator of the Day — The able and untiring advocate of Scientific Agri-
culture, may he be successful in convincing the Farmers, that a little head
work saves a great deal of hard work.

Dr. Hitchcock responded briefly and humorously. He did not
expect they would want a speech from him at the table. He found
himself in even a tighter place than he occupied an hour or two since,
(alluding to his being unexpectedly called upon to deliver the address
without preparation,) and after a few more words of earnest depreca-
tion, he concluded by saying that he should decline the call alto-
gether, and, said he, ' I verily believe this is the most acceptable
speech T ever made. He then sat down amidst tumultuous applause-

The Secretary, J. W. Boydex, moved a vote of thanks to Dr.
Hitchcock for the learned and excellent address, with which he had
favored them, and that a copy be requested, in jjerjjetuani rei me
inoriam, for publication in the Transactions of the Society. This
motion was seconded by Mr. Sweetser, Chairman of the Executiv^
Committee, and was carried by acclamation, one loud and long aye !

The next sentiment offered was ;

The State Board of Agriculture — Of their numerous volumes in further-
ance of Agriculture they had sent us their best fage !

Hon. J. H. W. Page of Boston, delegate of the State Board
apologided for his inexperience as a speaker, but said he had intended
to deliver himself of a set speech on th occasion. On retiring to
his room the night of the first day of the low, when he found himself
between the sheets of the bed prepared < him by his amiable hostess
now, thought he, is the time to prepare ciy speech for the morrow. —

So he fell to thinking and composing, 'd, as near as he c " " ^

he had progressed as far as " Mr. President." The next he knew
was a loud rap at the door, at an early hour, accompanied by the
summons, " Breakfast is ready ! Mr. P., evidently an experienced
and graceful orator, spoke to a considerable length in a most happy
and humorous strain. He paid the highest terms of compliment
to the Plowing Match, which he pronounced the best, and on th^
worst ground, he had seen this year, though he had attended, as dele-

D I N N E E . 69

^ate of the board, nearly every Fair in the State that had preceeded this.
He complimented in an especial manner, also, the makers of the
bread, especially of rye bread. ' If,' said he, there is a live woman
at this table, whose delicate fingers mixed and moulded that rye bread
(so called,) I call upon her to rise in her place and pledge me her
affidavit, that the material was rye flour, and, if it was, to tell me
where it was procured, for I wish to carry a bag of it home to my
wife." Still, he added, I have complaint to make of the scarcity of
ladies at the Fair. So marked was this delinquency, that, compared
with other shows he had attended, there were no ladies at all at this
exhibition, " Where were the bread rhakers, why were not the
ladies who made the bread at the tables, showing it off?" The
speaker concluded with a sentiment, borrowed from the original hymn
by Mr. Frisbie of Amherst College, sung during the exercises at the
church, A^hich, said he, looking over the printed copy, as I do not
see that a copyright is secured, I beg to appropriate for thi occasion :
" In all coming days God speed the Plow!"

The next sentiment was complimentary to Amherst College.

Hon. Alexander H. Bullock of Worcester, one of the Trustees
of the College, and one of her most cherished sons and gifted orators,
responded in an elegant speech. Every one knows Col. B.'s sur-
passing power as a public speaker. We very much doubt if he ever,
in the whole course of his life as a speaker, delivered an address,
intrinsically better, or that was listened to with more evident pleasure
or sympathy by an audience. He first spoke of the pleasure his
present visit to Amherst aftbrded him — to behold again this beautiful
scenery, to gaze again upon the broad fields of this valley, still in
their glorious array of green ; and especially of the happiness it
afi"orded him to meet again his old and venerated teacher (Dr. Hitch-
cock.) In playful allusion to his college life here, more than twenty
years ago, like all college boys partly for frolic, and partly for study
he said if Dr. Hitchcock's theories respecting the formation of the
fossil tracks should prove true, and he should have a successor who
should in future ages, dig up and deposit in the ' Appleton Cab-
inet' the fossil tracks which might be found in certain cornfields,
orchards and melon patches, within sight of the College, he hoped
that his (the speaker's) would not be there !

70 TKANSACTIONS.

A large portion of his speech abounded in the most brilliant humor
and flashing wit, but, in the more serious part of his remarks, he
gave us some of the most startling and interesting statistics relative
to the amount of the products of Massachusetts, in proportion to ber
population and area, compared with that of the other states, and the
countries of Europe, demonstrating to a fraction that the 3'early shoe
crop alone of this State exceeded in value the entire cotton crop of
the country. The speaker was constantly interrupted by loud and
repeated applause. He closed with the following sentiment, borrowed
he said, partly from General Jackson, and partly from the Consti-
tution :

" Our Federal Union — It must be preserved.
The fourth regular sentiment was :

Massachusetts — May her Laws and Resolves ever sustain her Agricultural
Societies.

Hon. Francis DeWit, Secretary of the Commonwealth, spoke
of his pleasure in revisiting the hills and valleys of his native county,
expressed his regrets that he was called out on this occasion, saying
that his office and habit had accustomed him to write down what
others might speak, rather than to speak himself. He earnestly
urging his utter inability to make a speech, the truth of which he
proceeded at once to illustrate to the assembly by giving us a speech
relative to the productive industry of the State, a topic which his
official position enabled him to discuss with accuracy and eff"ect, and
which was listened to with interest. Among other things, he said
that Ex-Governor Clifford, many years ago, when the first book of
Massachusetts industrial statistics was printed, when the subject was
new and the returns and compilation of the documents very imperfect,
sent a copy to a friend in England, self-styled the first manufacturing
country in the world, and the friend wrote in reply : " I don't believe
there is another such a perfect bee-hive on the face of the globe!" —
Mr. D. closed with a sentiment complimentary to the Hampshire
Agricultural Society.

The next sentiment submitted by the President was :

The present Congress — In all their strikings, we are happy they have not
struck down the appropriation for Agriculture.

Hon. Calvin C. Chaffee, of Springfield, member of Congress
for this District, rose to respond. Dr. Chaffee is a decidedly hand-

D I N isr E K . 71

some man (so tlie ladles seated at the next table to us united in
pronouncing him.) Throughout his remarks, as indeed was true of
all the speakers at the table, the forbidden field of political discvission
was with great good taste entirely avoided. Once or twice, when by
accident a Avord or an allusion would suggest to all hearers the
thought that a relapse into political Avarfare was inevitable, with the
greatest adroitness he would avoid it, gracefully slide into another
theme, or another part of his subject. Speaking of the increased
appropriation for agricultural purposes at the last session, he stated
that the immense agricultural interests of the Union called for a
Bureau oe Agricuetuke, that the present method of intrusting
all its interests to the Patent Office was unsatisfactory, insufficient,
and a burden to the Commissioner of Patents, who already has aS
much as he can well attend to in the legitimate and regular duties of his
office. Dr. C. pledged himself to use his utmost endeavors, the coming
session, to procure the creation of an Agricultviral Bureau. On the
whole our Hon. Represtenative showed himself to be eminently the
man for his place. It was we are very certain, very gratifying to his
numerous constituents present to listen to his soul-stirriLg eloquence^
His manner, mein, diction and voice, stamp him one of the orators of
the State.

The sixth regular sentiment Avas :

Woman — The first fruit-picker. In picking the apple the first pair fell.

Professor Joseeh Haven Avas called upon to reply in behalf of
the ladies. He promptly arose, Avith the inevitable apology on his
tongue's end that all modest men have, that he had been invited by
+he Secretary to dinner, and became to dine and not to speak. This
taught him a lesson and reminded him of a sentence someAvhere in
Latin, (after scratching his head,) he said, "I have found it. it is this,"

" Timeo Dcmnas et dona ferentes.'"
which means, freely translated, something like this : Beware of Col.
Boyden Avhen he invites you to dinner!" The Professor thep pro-
ceeded in the most playful manner to respond to the sentiment, in
behalf of the ladies. He didn't think it Avell to go back so far, —
that Avas a great while ago, — it Avas best to "let bygones be
bygones." True there Avas a trouble in Eden once, but it Avas long,
long ago — he couldn't say whether it Avas a political or domestic

72 TEANSACTIONS.

difficulty, whether caused by a difference of opinion, or because both
thought alike, — at any rate, it was so long ago, that the least said
about it in this presence, the better. Every one knew that taking
fruit in improper quantities, or at impa'oper times always causes
trouble. Since he was up he should take occasion to correc^
and set right the gentleman from the State Board (Mr. Page^
who in the midst of his raptuous enconiums on rye bread, paused to
complain, that the ladies were not there, and asked why were not the
ladies in the hall of exhibition, — where were the ladies that made
that rye bread ? " As to the bread," said the Prof., " I will inform
the gentleman, it is no unusual affair ; we always have just such
bread in this valley ; only an every day occurrence with us. As to
the ladies, I will tell the gentleman where they were — they were at
home, making rye bread!" (Here Mr. P. acknowledged the correc-
tion as perfectly satisfactory, and begged to retract every word he had
said in detraction of the ladies.) Prof. H. kept the tables in a roar
of laughter the whole time of his highly humorous speech.

The dinner exercises were enlivened at intervals by appropriate
music by the Ingraham (South Pladley) Band.

There were several distinguished gentlemen present, who would
have been called upon for speeches, had time permitted — and among
them were Pkes. Steakns of Amherst College, Hon. Edwaed
Dickinson, Ex. M. C. ; Pkof. W. S. Tyi-er, just returned from
his European tour ; Prof W. C. Foavler ; Mr. Fogg, of Deerfield,
President of the Franklin Agricultural Society; Judge Hodges,
Secy, of the H. F. & H. Agricultural Society ; J. R. Trumbull, of
the Hampshire Gazette ; Dr. Holland, of the Springfield Republi-
can, and others.

The dinner concluded at a late hour in the afternoon. And so
ended the seventh, and most successful Cattle Show of the Hampshire
Agricultural Society.

REPORT OP THE TREASURER.

RECEIPTS.

From State Treasury,

" new members in cash and notes,
" new Agricultural Hall,

Interest of permanent fund.

From other sources,

Total,

DISBURSEMENTS.

Premiums payable to competitors,
Transactions for all the members,
Current expenses.

Total,

|600 00

244 81

172 19

194 00

29 39

$1,240,39

$423 61
128 67
498 39

$1,050,67

STATE BOUNTY ACCOUNT.

Received from Commonwealth, ....

EXPENDITURE.

In premiums payable to competitors, ...
For Copies of Transactions for all the members,
Balance towards current expenses,

$600 00

$423

61

128

67

47

72

PERINIANENT FUND

Loans on mortgages of real estate,
Investment in new Agricultural Hall, .
Outstanding notes of members, (considered good)
Investment in Cattle Pens, Tables, etc.,

$60000

550 00
500 00
382 42
165 04

597 46

Total Permanent Fund, ....

Respectfully submitted,

JAMES W. BOYDEN, Treasurer

Amherst, December 19, 1856.

ctxs at i\t ^fltic{|.

President,
WILLIAM P. DICKINSON, of Hadley,

Vice Presidents,

SIMEON CLARK, of Amherst.
JOHN A. MORTON, of Hadley.
N. AUSTIN SMITH, of Sunderland,
ORIN SAGE, of Ware.
ALONZO WARNER, of Granby.
WILLIAM H. SMITH, of Leverett.

Secretary and Treasurer,
JAMES W. BOYDEN, of Amherst.

Executive Committee.

LUKE SWEETSER, of Amherst.
AVERY D. HUBBARD, of Sunderland.
LEVI STOCKBRIDGE, of Hadley.
GILBERT A. SMITH, of South Hadley.
DAVID RICE, of Leverett,
SAMUEL SMITH, Jr., of Granby.
JOHN SISSON, of Belchertown.

Delegate to the State Board of Agriculture,
LUKE SWEETSER, of Amherst.

flit JItmfjtrs-

HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS.

Hon. A. H. Bullock, Worcester.
Hon. C. C. Chaffee, Springfield.
Hon. Geo. T. Davis, Greenfield.
Hon. Edward Dickinson, Amherst.
Hon. Charles L. Flint, Boston,
Prof. William C. Fowler, Amherst.

Hon. John C. Gray, Boston.
Edv'^ard Hitchcock, D. D., Amherst
Prof. F. D. Huntington, Cambridge
Z. C. Montague, A. M., Amherst.
Hon. J. H. W. Page, Boston.
Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, Boston.

W. C. Goldthwait, A. M. Longmeadow.

LIFE MEMBERS.

AMHERST.

Adams, Asa
Adams, Asa Mrs.
Adams, Charles
Adams, Charles Mrs.
Adams, John S.
Adams, John S. Mrs.
Ainsworth, Forrester
Allen, Benjamin W.
■^•' Allen, Hiram H.
Allen, Hiram H. Mrs.
Allen, Martha L. Miss
Allen, M. x\dams
Allen, Nathaniel
*Ames, Edwin
Ayres, Elijah
Ayres, Elijah Mrs.
Ayres, Josiah
Baker, Alfred,
Baker, Alfred Mrs.
Baker, Enos
Baker, Esek

Baker, George
Baker, George Mrs.
Baker, Joel
Bangs, Charles H.
Bangs, Danforth K.
Bangs, Danforth K. Mrs.
Barnard, Alvin
Barnard, Alvin Mrs.
Bartlett, David
Bartlett, David Mrs.
Belden, Aaron
Belden, Horace
Belden, Timothy C.
Blanchard, Horace,
*Blodget, Henry
*Bogue, Elisha
Bogue, Elisha Mrs.
Boltwood, Lucius
Boltwood, William
Boltwood, William Mrs.
Boyden, James W.
Boyden, James W. Mrs.
Brewster, John H.

*Deceased.

76

XIFE MEMBERS,

Bridgman, Guilford
Bridgman, Henry A.
Bridgman, H. A. Mrs.
■^'Bridgman, Jonathan
Briggs, Ebenezer
I-!riggs, Ebenezer Mrs.
Burnham, George Jr.
Burnham, Geo. Jr. Mrs,
Cadwell, Aretas J.
Cadwell, Aretas J. Mrs.
Carter, Samuel C.
Carter, Samuel C. Mrs.
Chandler, Aaron M.
Chapman, Anson R.
r^hurch, Elihu S.
Church, Elihu S. Mrs.
Church, Spencer
Clapp, Oliver M.
Clark, Simeon
Clark, Simeon Mrs.
Clark, W. S. Prof.
Clark, W. S. Mrs.
Cobb, Henry
Conkey, Ithamar
Conkey, Ithamar F.
Conkey, I. F. Mrs.
Converse, Daniel
Converse, D. Mrs.
Cook, David S.
Cook, D. S. Mrs.
Cook, Enos F.
Cook, E. h\ Mrs.
Cooley, Alden
Cooley, Moses D.
Cowles, Chester
Cowles, Chester Mrs
Cowles, Clinton J.
Cowles, C. J. Mrs.
Cowles, Enoch
Cowles, Enoch Mrs.
Cowles, Erastus
Cowles, Erastus Mrs.
Cowles, James
Cowles, James Mrs.
Cowles, Jonathan
Cowles, Jonathan Mrs.
Cowles, Jonath
Cowles, J. Jr. M

*Cowles, Julia B. Mrs.
Cowles, Levi D.
Cowles, Levi D. Mrs.
Cowles, Moses
Cowles, Moses Mrs.
^-'Cowles, Oliver
Cowles, Ransom
Cowles, Ransom Mrs.
Cowles, Submit Mrs.
Curtis, Oliver IL
Curtis, Oliver H. Mrs.
Cu-hman, John R'.
Cushman, John R. Mrs.
Cutler, Elisha P.
Cutler, Esther Miss
Cutler, George
Cutler, George Mrs.
Cutler, Samuel F.
Cutler, William
Cutler, William Mrs.
Dana, Joseph
Darling Benjamin R.
Dexter, David
Dexter, David Mrs,
Dickinson, Asa & Noble
Dickinson, Bela U.
Dickinson, Bela U. Mrs.
Dickinson, Charlotte Miss
Dickinson, Daniel
Dickinson, Daniel Mrs.
Dickinson, Daniel A.
Dickinson, Hon. Edward
Dickinson, Edward Mrs.
Dickinson, Emily E. Miss
Dickinson, Enos
Dickinson, Enos Mrs.
Dickinson, Enos 2d
Dickinson, Enos 2d Mrs.
Dickinson, John
Dickinson, John Mrs.
Dickinson, Joseph
Dickinson, Josiah
Dickinson, L. N. Miss
Dickinson, Lovina Miss
Dickinson, Lucius
Dickinson, Lydia E. Miss
Dickinson, Marquis F.
Dickinson, M. F. Mrs.

LIPE MEMBERS.

77

Dicldnson, Moses B.
Dickinson, M. B. Mrs.
Dickinson, Oliver
Dickinson, Oliver Mrs.
Dickinson, Samuel S.
Dickinson, S. S. Mrs.
Dickinson, Sarah M. Miss
Dickinson, Waitstill
Dickinson, Waitstill Mrs.
Dickinson, William
Dickinson, William 2d
Dickinson, Wni. Austin
Dickinson, William E.
Dickinson, William W.
Draper, Lewis L.
Dutton, Alonzo
Dutton, Alonzo Mrs.
Dwight, E. S. Rev.
D wight, E. S. Mrs.
Eastman, Austin
Eastman, Austin Mrs.
Eantman, Baxter
Eastman, Baxter, Mrs.
Eastman, Solomon K.
*Eastman, S. Iv. Mrs.
Edwards, Simeon
Emerson, Sarah E. Mrs.
Ferry, Sarah P. Miss
Field, De'Estaing
Field, De'Estaing Mrs.
Fish, Cummings
Fish, Seth Dr.
Fish, Seth Mrs.
Fisher, George E. Rev.
Fitch, Newton
Fitch, Newton Mrs.
Fowler, W. C. Prof.
French, Mary F. Miss.
Fuller, Walter
Gaylord, Eleazer
Gaylord, Flavel
Gaylord, William
Gaylord, William, Mrs.
Goodell, Harriet E. Miss
Goodell, Noble T.
Goodell, Rufus
Goodell, Rufus Mrs.
Gray, Joseph P.

Gray, Joseph P. Mrs.
•''Green, Eunice Miss
Green, Moses B.
^Gridley, T. J. Dr.
Gunn, Lyman
Gunn, William F.
Hall, John B.
Hallock, Leavitt
Hallock, Leavitt Mrs.
Hammond, Salem
Hammond, Salem Mrs.
Harlow, Nathaniel L.
Hastings, Edmund
Hastings, Edmund Mrs.
Hastings, Joseph C.
Hastings, J. C. Mrs.
Hastings, Thomas
Hastings, Thomas Mrs.
Haven, Joseph Prof.
Haven, Joseph Mrs.
Hawley, Charles M.
Hawley, Harrison
Hawley, Justin
Hayward, Charles F.
Hayward, C. F. Mrs.
Henderson, Horace
Henderson, Llorace Mrs.
Henderson, Timothy
Hills, Leonard M.
Hills, Leonard M. Mrs.
Hills, Liberty
Hills, Liberty Mrs.
Hills, Samuel
Hills, Samuel T.
Hills, Samuel T. Mrs.
Hitchcock, Edward Prof.
Hitchcock, Edward Mrs.
Hobart, Edmund
Hobart, Edmund Mrs.
Hobart, George W.
Hobart, G. W. Mrs.
Hobart, Jeremiah W.
Hobart, Jeremiah W. Mrs.
Hobart, Joshua
Hobart, Stillman
Hobart, Stillman Mrs.
Howard, II. C. & M. W.
Howard, M. W. Mrs.

78

I>IFE MEMBERS

Howe, Alvin P.
Howe, Alvin P. Mrs.
Howland, Warren S.
Howland, W. S. Mrs.
Hubbard, Ethan D.
Hubbard, E. D. Mrs.
Hubbard, Rodolphus B.
Hunt , Oliver D.
Hutch inson, Charles E.
Ingram , Ezra
Ingram, Harrison
Ingram, Harrison Mrs.
Ingram, Rufus,
Ingram, Zaccheus C.
Ingram, Z. C. Mrs.
Jackson, Henry
Johnson, Earl
Johnson, Earl Mrs.
Johnson, Orin
*Jones, Thomas
Jones, Thomas Mrs.
Kellogg, Eleazer
Kellogg, Horace
Kellogg, Horace Jr.
Kellogg, James
Kellogg, Lyman
Kellogg, Lyman Mrs.
Kellogg, S. Wells
Kellogg, Willard M.
Kellogg, W. M. Mrs.
■^'Kellogg, William
Kellogg, William Mrs.
Kelllogg, William
*K ngman, Cyrus
Le^and, John
Leland, John Mrs.
Lincoln, R. S.
Lincoln, R. S. Mrs.
Loomis, Austin
Loomis, Austin D.
Loomis, Milton
Lyman, John
*Mack, David
Mack, David Mrs.
Marshall, Ansel C.
Marshall, Joseph E,
Mather, William E.
Mather William E, Mrs.

McMaster, Charles
McMaster, Charles Mrs.
Merrick, James E.
Merrick, James E. Mrs.
Merrick, James L. Rev.
Merrick, James L, Mrs.
*Merrick, William
Merrill, Harriet O. Miss
Montague, Zebina C,
Moore, Phebe Mrs.
Munsell, Guy C.
Munsell, Guy C. Mrs.
Nash Charles
Nash, Charles Mrs.
Nash, J. A. Rev.
Nash, J. A. Mrs.
Nash, Luther
Needham, Emory H.
Needham, E. H. Mrs.
Nelson, Julia C. Miss
Newton, Walter
Palmer, Frederick A.
Palmer, Frederick A. Mrs.
Pierce, Francis A.
*Pierce, Francis A. Mrs.
Pomeroy, David
Pomeroy, Lorenzo H.
^Pomeroy, Mary Mrs.
Potwine, Thomas
Prince, Samuel
Rankin, John
Reed, Thomas
Reed, Thomas Mrs.
Rice, Alpheus
Roberts, Fanny H. Mrs.
Robins, Alva
*fRobins, Z. W.
Robins, Z. W. Mrs.
Robinson, Ferdinand Mrs.
Robinson & Ainsworth
Russell, R. Chauncey
Russell, Emerson
Russell, Emerson INIrs.
Russell, Francis H.
Russell, Levi
Russell, Levi Mrs.
Segraves, Horatio
Shepard, Charles U. Prof.

LIFE MEMBERS.

79

Smith, B. F. Dr.
Smith, B. F. Mrs.
*Smith, Cotton
Smith, Timothy-
Smith, Timothy Mrs.
Smith, William B.
Smith, William W.
Snell, E. S. Prof.
Snell, E. S. Mrs.
Spaulding, Philip D.
Spear, Ebenezer P.
Spear, Lyscom
Spear, Lyscom Mrs.
Spear, Myrick N.
Stanley, Edward A.
Stearns, W. A. President
Stratton, Chester Dr.
Stratton, Chester Mrs.
Sweetser, Hannah Mrs.
Sweetser, Luke
Sweetser, Luke Mrs.
Taylor, Israel H. Dr,
Taylor, Israel H. Mrs.
^'Taylor, Stillman
Thayer, Jason
Thayer, Jason Mrs.
*Thayer, Jonathan
*Thayer, Jonathan Mrs.
Thayer, Reuben
Tuckerman, E. Prof.
Tuckerman, E. Mrs.
Turner, Rodolphus
Tyler, William S. Prof.*
Tyler, William S. Mrs.
Warner, Aaron Prof.
Warner, Aaron Mrs.
Warner, David S.
Warner, George
Warren, Samuel M.
Watson, Oliver
Watson, Oliver Mrs.
Wheelock, Dana
Wheelock, Russell T.
^Whipple, David
Whipple, George A.
Whitney, Simon W.
Wildes, Ansel F.
Wiley, John

Wiley, John Mrs.
Williams, Ebenezer
Williams, Enos D.
Williams, E. D. Mrs.
Williams, Frederick
Williams, Lucas
Williams, Grin
Williams, Orin Mrs.
Winter, Jonas H.
Woodman, Geo. S. Dr.
Woodman, G. S. Mrs
Woodworth, C. L. Rev.
*Woodworth, Maria Mrs.
Wright, Sylvanus M.
Wright, S. M. Mrs.

ATHOL.

Putnam, Rufus
Putnam, Rufus Mrs.

BALTIMORE, MD.

Brown, Smith,

BEAVER DAM, WIS.

Pomeroy, William D.

BELCHERTOWN.

Alden, Thomas
* Arnold, Barnard
Barrett, Leonard
Brown, Charles T.
Brown, C. T. xMrs.
Chandler, George
Chandler, George Mrs.
*Dorman, Roderic
Dunbar, Charles T.
Dwight, NathanielJr.
Gilbert, Wareham, C.
Goodell, Ashael
*Hannum, Gamaliel
Hannum, George O.
Hannura, Lyman W.
Holland, Luther
*Lawrence, Myron, Hon.
Longley, Henry A-
*-Longley, Jo-hua
Montague, Ephraim,
Packard, Joel
Sabin, Lyman

80

lilFE MEMBERS

Sisson, John
Thayer, Hezekiah
Tliayer, Rufus
Thayer, Savannah A.
Thayer, Savannah A. Mrs.
Tha3'er, William
*Towne, Israel
Wilson, Asa,

BOSTON.

Flint, Charles L. Hon.
Gray, John C Hon.
Page, J. H. W. Hon.
Smith, Alvan
Smith, Charles
Smith, Charles Mrs.
Wilder, Marshall P. Hon.

CAMBRIDGE.

Huntington, Frederic D. Prof.

CHICAGO, ILL.

Hubhard, Orton
Slate, Jonathan S.
Tapley, George W.

cnicoPEE.

Grout, Austin
Mossman, Abner G.

COLERAINE.

Sprague, Joseph G.

CONWAY.

May, Cephas

COVINGTON, Kr.

Pay son, Jo.seph R.

DEERFIELD.

Ely, John D.
Fogg, Josiah
Rust, Horatio 'S.
Stebbins, Benj. Zebina
Slebbins, Evander G.
Stebbins, Moses
Stebbins, Moses Mrs.

EASTHAMPTON.

Colton, A. M. Rev.
Colton, A. M. Mrs.
Mathews, Horace
Sabin, Sherman
Sabin, Sherman Mrs.

Aldricb, Nehemiah W
Fobes, Henry

Woods, Josiah B.

»

FARIBDLT, MIN.

Farrar George H.
Nutting, Truman
J\utting, Truman Mrs.

GRANBY.

Aldrich, Christopher C.
Ayres, Rodney
Ayres, Samuel
Barton, James M.
Barton, Phineas D.
Chamberlain, C N. Dr.
Chapin, Philo
Clark, Augustus
Clark, Charles F.
Clark, Luke M.
Clark, Spencer
Cowles, Lucius H.
Dickinson, Samuel B.
Eastman, Samuel F.
Eastman S. F. Mrs.
Ferry, Charles S.
Ferry, Lucius
Lyman, George J.
Montague, Giles F.
Montague, Holland,
Nash, Lorenzo S.
Patrick, William J.
Preston, John H. D.
Richardson, Orsemus
Smith, George N.
Smith, .Jared C.
Smith, Nelson
Smith, S imuel Jr.
Smith, William A.

LIFE MEMBEKS

81

Stebbins, Cyrus
Taylor, Milo A.
Warner, Alorizo
Warner, Park
*WiU, Benjamin
Witt, Horace
Woodford, Wm. H.

GRANBY, CT.

Gaylord, Ebenezer
Gaylord, Eben. Mrs.

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.

Merrill, Calvin
Merrill, Calvin Mrs.
Cutlw, Robert
Cutler, Robert Mrs.

GREENFIELD.

Davis, George T. Hon.
Lyman, Horace Hon.
Smith, Samuel D.

GREENWICH.

Carter, John,
Douj;laps, Stephen
Earle, Lnke

HADtEY.

Adams, Benjamin
Adams, Benjamin Mrs
Adams, Joseph
Adams, Levi
Adams, Levi Mrs.
Beaman, Jonas
Bonney, Franklin
Bonney, Oliver E.
Carter, Benjamin T.
Chapin, Edwin
demons, Horace
demons, Horace Mrs.
Comins, Simon F.
Cook, Horace
Cooley, Simon F.
*Cowles, Asa
Cowles, Daniel
Cowles, Daniel Mrs,

Cowles, David S.
Cowles, David Mrs.
Cowles, Elijah
Cowles, Elijah Mrs.
Cowles, Lewis
*Cowles, Pamelia Mrs.
Dickinson, Alphonzo
Dickinson, Alphonzo Mrs.
Dickinson, Dexter C.
Dickinson, Elihu S.
Dickinson, George
Dickinson, Samuel Jr.
Dickinson, William P.
Dickinson, Wm. P. Mrs.
Granger, Lorenzo N.
Granger, Lorenzo N. Mrs.
Gray, Amos
Gray, Chester
Green, Dorus
Green, Dorus Mrs.
Green, Henry
Green, Linus
Green, Linus Mrs.
Hawley, Zachariah
Hayward, E. E.
Hibbard, Albert
Hibbard, Edward P. '
Hibbard, Samuel S.
Hibbard, Willard
Hill, Roderick B.
Hooker, Benjamin
Huntington, Theodore G.
Huntington, T. G. Mrs.
Huntington, T. P.
Huntington, T. P. Mrs.
Hurd, Horatio C.
Ingram, Robert
''''Kellogg, Martin
Kellogg, Martin Mrs.
Kellogg, Still man,
Kellogg, Stillman Mrs.
Kentfield, Jeremiah B.
Kentfield, J. B. Mrs.
Lamson, Charles E.
Lawrence, Hubbard
Marsh, Henry M.
Marsh, Timothy S.
Morton, John A.

82

LIFE MEMBEKS

Morton, J. A. Mrs.
Nash, J. W.
Nash, Samuel
Nash, Samuel Mrs.
*Osborn, John
Pasco, Theodore
Pasco, Theodore Mrs.
Porter, Edwards J.
Porter, Eleazer
*Porter, Louisa Mrs.
Powers, Alfred
Powers, Alfred Mrs.
Powers, Samuel
Powers, Samuel Mrs.
Russell, Horace
Russell, Horace Mrs.
Russell, John
Russell, John Mrs.
^•Scott, Rufus
Scott, Rufus Mrs.
Shipman, John
Shipman, William S.
Smith, Charles
Smith, Chester
Smith, Cotton
Smith, Cotton Mrs.
Smith, Edmund
Smith, Enos D.
Smith, Enos D. Mrs.
Smith, Erastus
Smith, Francis
Bmith, George
Smith, Giles E.
.^'Smith, Horace
Smith, Jeriah S.
Smith, Joseph Hon.
Smith, Joseph Mrs,
Smith, Oliver E.
Smith, Roswell 2d
Smithi Roswell 2d Mrs.
Smith, R. Wales
Smith, R. Wales Mrs.
Smith, Thaddeus
Smith, Thaddeus Mrs.
Spear, Joseph O.
Stockhridge, Levi
Tower, Samuel
Wall is, Addi

Warner, Wi'Ham P.
West, Parsons
West, Parsons Mrs.
White, Samuel G.
Wilder, Samuel C.
Williams, P. Smith
Williams, P. Smith Mrs.

HAETFOKD, CT.

Faxon, William.

HATFIELD.

Hubbard, George W.

HOLYOKE.

Cooke, Edwin F.

IOWA.

Strickland, William G.
Strickland, William G. Mrs

KNOXTIELE, TENN.

Cook, George Rev.
Cook, George Mrs.

EEVERETT.

Adams, -Alden
Ashley, Marvin
Ashley, Marvin Mrs.
Ball, brus
Ball, Grus IMrs.
Ball, Silas
Bangs, Howard
Boutwell, Levi ♦

Boutwell, Levi Mrs.
Boutwell, Samuel W.
Boutwell, S. W. Mrs.
Childs, Paris
Clark, William Wells
Cutter, Seneca Mrs.
Dudley,, William E.
Dunklee, Hezekiah
Eastman, David Rev.
Eastman, David Mrs.
Field, Alden C.
Field, Alden C. Mrs.

IIFE MEMBERS,

88

Field, Asa L.

Field, Asa L. Mrs.

Field, Charles H.

Field, Charles H. Mrs.

Field, Harrison

Field, Harri.son O.

Field, Harrison 0. Mrs.

Field, Moses

Field, Moses Mrs.

Field, Zebina

Fitts, Nathan H.

Frarj, Francis

Graves, Eiuier

Graves, Walter

Graves, Kellogg

Hobart, Baxter R.

Hobart, Charles D.

Hobart, Colburn

Hobart, Peter

Hobart, Spencer
Howard, Baxter
Hubbard, George
Hubbard, Roswell
Ingram, Elijah
Ingram, Elisha
*Jones, Albert M.
Kimball, David
Lawton, Charles
Leach, Chester
Leach, Chester Mrs.
Moore, Dexter
Nutting, Lucius
Nutting, Ransom
Porter, Cephas
Putnam, Timothy
Putnam, Timothy Mrs.
Rice, David Dr.
Rice, David Mrs.
Rice, Josiah
Smith, William H.
Smith, William H. Mrs.
Taylor, William
Whitaker, Augustus G.
Willis, Lawson S.
Wood, Ira
Wood, Ira Mrs.
Wood,Seth
Woodbury, Jason 11.

LOCKPORT, N. r.

Sears, Simon.

LONG MEADOW.

Goldthwait, William C.

LYNN.

Kellogg, Henry C'

MARLBOROUGH, N. H.

Downes, Almeron S.

Boutwell, William II.
Paine, Alonzo
Paine, Orrin Mrs.
Russell, Calvin
Russell, Calvin Mrs.
Smith, Charles H
Spaulding, Peter Jr.

MONTGOJIERV, ALA.

Montague, George.

MOUNT PALATINE, ILL

Wright, Abram.

NEW SALEM.

Dean, Richard
Haskins, Nelson
Hunt, Horace

NEW YORK CITY.

Ford, Emily Mrs.
Harrington, Samuel
Harrington, Sam'l Mrs.
Shipman, John Jr.
Smith, H. B. Rev. Prof.

NORTHAMPTON.

Baker, Osmyn
Barrett, Benjamin
Clapp, D. M.
Clark, William
Clark, William Jr.
Dickinson, George P.
Fitts, Elijah B.
Hawks, Charles K.
Hillyer, Winthrop
Hinckley, Samuel L,
Kirkland, Harvey
Parsons, Samuel L.
Shepard, Ashur
Shepard, Henry
Smith, S. M.
Strong, Elisha
Strong, William
Thayer, Justin
Trumbull, James R.
Trumbull, J. R. Mrs.
Washburn, Luther I,

84

XIFE MEMBERS

West, Joseph I,
Wright, Ansel.

osKOsn, WIS.
Kellogg, Ansel W.

PALMER.

Field, Erastus S.

PELHAM.

Aldrich, Ashael
Ballou, Emory
Ballou, Hiram
Barrows, Isaac
Buffum, Thomas
Cook, Olney
Eaton, Calvin D.
Tales, Abijah
Newell, Lemuel H.
Rankin, Ansel A.
Rankin, Ansel A. Mrs.
Russell, John
Ward, Joseph G.

PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Arnold, W. A.
Wilson, John W.

PRESCOTT.

Aiken, Benjamin P.
Paige, Benjamin K.
Paige, Christopher.

PROVIDENCE, R. I.

Leonard, Dexter N.

ROSEMOND, ILL.

Smith, Brainard
Smith, Brainard Mrs.

SALEM.

Jewett, George B. Rev.

SARATOGA, N. T.

Crape, Azubah Mrs.

SHARON, ILL.

Godfrey, William B.

SHUTESBURT.

*Adams, N. Dickinson
Adams, S. Ward
Dudley, Samuel F.

Wells, Samuel
Dudley, S. F. Mrs.
Fitts, Edward
Howe, Abraham S.
Shores, David

SOUTHAMPTON .

Edwards, Elisha

SOUTH HADLET.

Allen, Levi W.
Alvord, Hervey
Bates, Emerson
Burnett, Nelson W.
Clark, Marcellus
Gaylord, Lorenzo
Kellogg, Amos
Lathrup, Paoli
Lester, William Dr.
Lyman, Lorenzo W.
Montague, C. Newton
Moody, Alvan
Moody, Ilovey
Nash, Thomas M.
Preston, Joseph S.
Smith, Edmund
Smith, Edmund Mrs.
Smith, Edward L.
Smith, Gilbert A.
Smith, Henry N.
Smith, Jason
Smith, Jason ]Mrs.
Snow, Sheldon Mrs.
Swift, E. Y. Rev.
Swift, E. Y. Rev.

SPRINGFIELD.

Brewster, John M. Dr.
Chaffee, Calvin C. Hon.
Montague, Isaac W.

SUNDERLAND.

Bowman, Wm. & Son
Brown, Joshua T.
Brown, Sylvester
Brown, Sylvester Mrs.
Chittenden L. 0.
Chittenden, L. 0. Mrs.
Clark, Austin L.
Clark, Austin L. Mrs.
*Clark, Eliphalet Mrs.
Clark, Norman P.
Clark, Norman P. Mrs
Clark, Sereno D. Rev.
Clark, Sereno D. Mrs.

LIFE MEMBERS

85

Clark, Still man D. Mrs.
Coole}', Charles
Cooley, Charles INIrs.
Crocker, Daniel B.
Crocker, Stoughton D.
Crocker, S. D. Mrs.
Crocker, Zaccbeus
Darling, Benj. Clark
Darling, B. Clark Mrs.
Delano, Ansel C.
Delano, Ansel C. Mrs.
Dickinson, Ebenezer P.
Dickinson, E. P. Mrs.
Dickinson, Ransom
Dickinson, R. Mrs.
Dunklee, Benjamin F.
Dunlap, Samuel
Dunlap, Samuel Mrs.
Field, Abner
Field, Abner Mrs.
Field, Edwin G.
Field, Edwin G. Mrs.
Frink, Henry
Frink, Henry Mrs.
Gaylord, "William
Graves, Alden
Graves, George W.
Graves, Hul>bard
Graves, Hubbard Mrs.
Graves, Marvin Mrs.
Graves, Timothy
Graves, Timothy Mrs.
*Grover, Josiah
Gunn, Isaac S. H.
Hemenway, B. C. Mrs.
Hobart, Albert
Hobart, Albert Mrs.
Hubbard, Alanson
Hubbard, A. Mrs.
Hubbard, Ashley
Hubbard, A. Mrs.
Hubbard, Avery D.
Hubbard, A. D. Mrs.
Hubbard, Caleb T.
Hubbard, Claudius B.
Hubbard, C. B. Mrs.
Hubbard, David
Hubbard, David Mrs.
Hubbard, Kelita
Hubbard, Kelita Mrs.
Hubbard, Martin L.
Hubljurd, Martin L. Mrs.
Hubbard, Muses 2d
Hubbard, Moses 2d Mrs.
Hunt, James,

Hunt, Melzar,
Hunt, William,
Hunt, William Mrs.
Hunt, Zeliina M.
Ludden, Parmenas
Miller, Washington
Montague, Albert
Montague Albert Mrs.
]\Iontague, Ira Mrs.
^Montague, Warren
Newton, Lyman A.
Parmenter, Alathea, Miss
Prouty, James B.
Richards, Perrin N.
Robinson, Ephraim E.
Robinson, E. E. Mrs.
Robinson, John R.
Rowe, Appleton E.
Rowe, Appleton E. Mrs.
Russell, Austin
Russell, Emmons,
Russell, Emmons Mrs.
Russell, J. Wiley
Russell, J. Wiley Mrs.
Russell, William W.
Russell, Wm. W. Mrs.
Sanderson, Eli
Sanderson, H. F. Mrs.
Smith, Austin
Smith, Austin Mrs,
Smith, Elihu
Smith, Elihu Mrs.
Smith, Juhn M.
Smith, John M. Mrs.
Smith, Nathaniel
Smith, Nathaniel Mrs.
Smith, N. Austin
Smith, N. Austin Mrs.
*Taft, Francis L.
Trow, Nathaniel G. Dr.
Trow, Nathaniel G. Mrs.
Warner, James R.
Warner, Levi P.
Warner, Levi P. Mrs.
Warner, Parsons
Warner, Wallace R.
Warner, Wallace R. Mrs.
Whittemore, D. D.
Wiley, Dolly F. Miss
W^iley, El)enezer
AVih^y, Ebenezer Mrs.
Williams, Franklin H.
Williams, Henry 0.
Williams, H. 0. Mrs.
Williams, Oliver.

86

LIFE MEMBERS.

Sanford, John Rev.
Sanford, John Mrs.

Bowen, Sylvester,
Brakenridge, William S.
Devens, Arthur L.
Devens, Arthur L. Mrs.
DeWitt, Francis Hon.
Gilbert, George H.
Gilbert, G. H. Mrs.
Goff, B. F.
Phelps, Samuel H.
Rice, Joel
Sage, Orin
Stevens, Charles A.
Wetherell, Leander

WESTBOROUGH.

White, Samuel N.
White, Samuel N. Mrs

WEST SPRINGFIELD.

Colton, Joseph.

WILLIAilSBURGH.

Bartlett, Newman W.
Graves, Levi M.

WILMINGTON, VT.

Smith, Newman W. Dr
Smith, N. W. Mrs.

WORCESTER.

Bullock, A. H. Hon.
Cummings, E. A. Rev
Cummings, E. A. Mrs

INDEX.

Address by Edward Hitchcock, T). D., L. L. D.
Farms, A. A. Runkia's Statement,

" T. P. Huntington's Statement,
Farm Accounts, T. P. Huntington's Statement,
Reclaimed Swamp Lands, T. P. Huntington's Report,
Under-drainage, David Hubbard's Statement, .
Pasture Lands, Moses Field's Statement,
Orcqards, Wm. P. Dickinson's Report,

" Kelita Hubbard's Statement, .
Ploughing, Charles H. Field's Report
Manures, Theodore G. Huntington's Report,
" Stoughton D. Crocker's Statement,
*' Albert Montague's Statement,
" T. G. Huntington's Statement,
" Kelita Hubbard's Statement,
Crops, Dr. David Rice's Report,

" Albert Montague's Co.n Statement,
" John M. Smith's Corn Statement, .
" A. Montague's Broom Corn Statement,
" Smith and Graves' " Statements, .
" Bowman and Huntington's Wheat Statements,
" Albert Montague's Oat Statement,
•' George Dickinson's Potatoe Statement,
" 0. & F. H. Williams' " Statement,. .
" David Hubbard's Carrot Statement,
Farming Implements — David Dexter's Report, .
Stock — Theodore G. Huntington's Report,
" President Stearns' Statement,
" Hon. R. B. Hubbard's Statement,
" B. U. Dickinson's Statement, .
Bees — Master J. F. Russell's Statement,
Cheese — Rev. W. H. Beaman's Report,
Fruit — Dr. Franklin Bonney's Report, .
Analysis of Premiums — awarded.
Notes of the Fair, . .....

Annual Dinner — Z. C. Montague's Report,
Treasurer's Report, ,...••
Officers and Members of the Society,

Page.
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41
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46
• 47
47
. 48-
48.
. 49
50
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54
. 55
55
. 56
58
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65
. 67
73
. 74

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