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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ESSEX COUNTY TRANSACTIONS. 



The pleasure was ours of attending the last an- 

 nual exhibition of the Essex county Agricultural 

 Society, at Salem in September last. Since that 

 time its ample volume of Transactions has been 

 published, and through the kind attention of its 

 President, the Hon. John W. Proctor, we have 

 received copies. This society has long been in 

 vigorous existence, and we have no doubt has been 

 the means of increasing the productive powers of 

 the soil of that county some hundreds of thousands 

 of dollars in value. It has been favored through 

 a long series of years with men of such intelli- 

 gence and earnestness of purpose, and at the same 

 time impressed with such a sense of the import- 

 ance of a more thorough cultivation in order to de- 

 rive a remunerating profit and meet the demands 

 of increasing trade and population, that its pros- 

 perity and usefulness have been constantly in- 

 creasing. With such men as Colman,King, New- 

 hall, Pickering, and many others in that ancient 

 county, who have ever been interested in the cul- 

 tivation of the soil, any of our societies may in- 

 crease their fruits an hundred fold. Mr. Proctor, 

 we believe, has been the President of this society 

 for more than thirty years . Such long-repeated con- 

 fidence, and annual approbation of services would, 

 to us, afford a higher gratification than any politi- 

 cal honor which could be conferred, — indeed, it al- 

 most negatives the scripture declaration that "a 

 prophet is not without honor save in his own 

 country." Mr. Proctor has it not only every 

 where else, but in his own county. 



Mr. Dodge, of Hamilton, is the never-tiring 

 Secretary of the society, and we have no doubt 

 that much of its success may be attributed to his 

 indefatigable industry in gathering and preparing 

 the reports for publication. 



The operations of a society may be very exten- 

 sive, and of a high character, but if they are not re- 

 ported so that the people at large may come at 

 them, they can be of but little use to any but 

 those making the experiments themselves. It is 

 necessary that full and thorough reports, but in 

 a clear and concise style, should be made. In the 

 Essex society this seems to be fully appreciated. 

 One such report as that made by Mr. Wm. F. 

 Porter, of Bradford, must do much to settle the 

 question as to the profits of farming, and affords 

 strong encouragement to those who are doubting. 

 His neighbors admitted that he had a good farm, 

 but doubted whether he could obtain a living from 

 it. The farm, with new buildings erected, stock 

 tools, &c, cost about seventeen thousand dollars. 

 Looking at the credits to the farm last year, the 

 reader will perceive that the interest on that in- 

 vestment was nearly twelve per cent., an interest 

 that ought to satisfy any reasonable man in any 

 business. 



But the people of Essex county have accom- 



plished a great deal in the improvement of their 

 meadow and swamp lands, until they have not 

 only satisfied themselves, but all who look upon 

 them, that they may be made the most productive 

 lands we have. We have been looking at some 

 of the former volumes of the Transactions, as well 

 as the last, with reference to the improvements 

 made on meadow and swamp lands ; but as our 

 remarks are somewhat extended, have placed what 

 we had to say particularly on that subject in anoth- 

 er column. 



DEEP PLOWING. 



As the season is approaching when our farmer 

 friends will start their plows, we deem the follow- 

 ing article, which we find in the Germantown Tele- 

 graph, to the point at the present time : — 



A farmer in this vicinity whilst plowing last 

 fall, was asked by a neighbor who, although he 

 had a large farm, could scarcely support his family 

 off it, why he plowed so deep? 



"Because, neighbor," he replied, " I plowed 

 the same way last year, and the year before, and 

 I found I plowed a great deal of gold !" 



" Gold !" exclained the amazed neighbor, "why, 

 how much did you plow up ? " 



" Well, some hundreds of dollars a year — and I 

 did it in this way ; my crops were twice as large 

 where I plowed as I now do, in the same fields 

 where I formerly plowed only to half the depth, 

 and they take less manure too." 



" I don't believe a word of it," said the neigh- 

 bor, disappointed in the gold digging. "If that 

 is the way you plow up gold, I am afraid you will 

 never set the river on fire. I go for the good old 

 way, and find it the best. There is little to learn 

 in farming which those before us did not know." 



" Well, neighbor, you may do as you like, but I 

 have tried both ways, and I am more than satis- 

 fied with the result. Indeed, by strictly perse- 

 vering in it and other improvements, I shall nearly 

 or quiet double my profits, and all this excess I 

 consider just so much gold plowed up in my 

 fields." 



" Ah," continued the neighbor, " I see you are 

 from your notions a book farmer, and belong to an 

 agricultural society ; but you'll find it won't pay 

 in the long run, I think." 



" There's where you are in error, my friend ; I 

 am no book farmer — I belong to no agricultural 

 society, but I mean to join one at the earliest op- 

 portunity." 



Prevention of Gum on Peach Trees. — A practi- 

 cal gardener informs us that if the earth is re- 

 moved from the roots of the peach trees affected 

 with gum, to a distance of one foot immediately 

 around the trunk, and finely powdered charcoal 

 applied to them the thickness of an inch, that it 

 will effectually check the flow of gum. 



Tue Cherry Slug.— This larva, which eats the 

 pulpy part of the leaf of the cherry, and sometimes 

 of other trees, is most effectually routed by a 

 sprinking of lime. Air-slacked lime, applied in 

 the dew of the morning, accomplishes the desired 

 purpose. Dry, water-slacked lime, taken fresh, is 

 still better, being more caustic. — Exchange. 



