42 OXFORD COUNTY SOCIETY. 



the ground. — the same that were exhibited at Portland — remarkable 

 for the perfection and quaintness of their discipline. They are 

 owned and trained by Gilman Tuell, of Paris, aged 15. We joined 

 the crowd, to witness their astonishing feats. They elicited much 

 attention, and received merited applause. 



The encouragement given for such exhibition, by the offer of 

 premiums, has resulted in some cases in a degree of progress not 

 anticipated by the managers of the societies. Both the boy and the 

 steers are improved by the course of training for these exhibitions. 

 These steers are taught to take many unnatural postures, and to 

 perform feats so unusual, as to fix our attention and claim our ad- 

 miration. Rarey never had a horse more completely under his con- 

 trol than young Tuell his steers. 



We saw but few horses on exhibition. Judging from our stand- 

 point, we entertain no immediate fears that the substantial interests 

 which these annual gatherings are designed to promote will here be 

 thrust out of sight, for a more ephemeral show of fast horses and 

 fast men. 



The Ploughing Match was had in a field on the sandy plain. The 

 soil was a fine, yellow, sandy loam, exceedingly light, and a portion 

 of it very nearly clean sand. A^ery little sod was upon it, though 

 the roots of twitch grass were seen to permeate the whole field, 

 though not very thickly set. The lands were marked by first fur- 

 rows before being entered upon by the contestants. Each land 

 contained about thirty square rods. Eight teams entered. All 

 used the ploughs made in the immediate neighborhood, Paris and 

 Norway. One party withdrew, after ploughing about half the tusk. 

 This was on the lightest soil of the field. There was not sufficient 

 weight and adhesiveness in the soil to -enable the plough to cut the 

 roots of the twitch grass. They accumulated on the cutting edge 

 and suspended the work. The ploughing, we judged without taking 

 actual measurement, was done about ten inches deep by twenty in 

 ■width. The match passed off" with commendable order. The selection 

 of a heavier soil would have afforded a better test of acquired skill 

 in holding the plough and managing the team ; and more distant 

 made ploughs of good repute, brought out by their owners and com- 

 pared with these home favorites, would have added much to the 

 interest and usefulness of the trial. 



