126 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



increased, inch by inch, until the whole surface of the ground is 

 thoroughly pulverized, nine or ten inches from the surface ; thus 

 giving the ground greater capacity to throw toward the surface 

 the salts that lie buried in its bosom, to mingle with the gases 

 of the atmosphere, and thus give the greatest possible amount 

 of food to tiie vegetable kingdom ; and if we had but two words 

 to say to all tillers of the ground, they should be, "plough 

 deep," and more abundant and rich will be the crops that mother 

 earth shall give in return for your labor. 



Joshua T. Everett, Chairman. 



HAMPSHIRE, FRANKLIN AND HAMPDEN. 



From the Report of tlie Comm,ittee. 



There are various significations given to the term ploughing ; 

 and although Webster says that plouphing means turning up the 

 ground with the plough, yet the sailor assures us that he ploughs 

 the mighty deep, and the Philistines ploughed Avith Mrs. Sampson 

 to obtain the secret of the great strength of her husband, and 

 many a news-monger and gossip of the present day is devotedly 

 pursuing the same avocation, with the earnest desire of obtain- 

 ing the secrets of families and neighborhoods, and they plough 

 deep too, and do not hesitate to cross-plough until they have 

 pulverized the whole matter. 



The plough, the loom and the anvil, are often represented 

 as the most important implements necessary to the success of 

 the husbandman and the artisan. In one view, perhaps, the 

 anvil should hold the first place, as with it or on it arc forged 

 some of the most necessary appurtenances of the plough and 

 the loom, tlie blacksmith holding the place of chief or king 

 among that important and respectable portion of the commu- 

 nity known as mechanics. 



It is within the remembrance of many of us when the plough 

 share was almost wholly formed on the anvil, and a frequent 

 resort to it was indispensable for the sharpening of the instru- 

 ment. 



The improvements in this most necessary implement of hus- 

 bandry, within a few years, have been astonishingly great, and 



