NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



533 



Will the editor of one or both of the above pa- 

 pers be so kind as to give us a remedy for this ap- 

 ple blight? — Farmer and Mechanic, Danville, 111. 



Remarks. — We are not aware that any of our 

 orchards have been affected in the manner described 

 above. If such a malady exists in these regions, 

 perhaps some of our correspondents will be able to 

 aid their Illinois brother in his difficulty. 



FOURTH EXHIBITION OF THE FITCH 

 BURG AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The fourth annual festival of the farmers of old 

 "Worcester North" took place at Fitchburg yes- 

 terday. The day was beautiful, the weather cool, 

 and everything auspicious. The town was crowd- 

 ed with farmers and their families, embracing large 

 numbers of the fair sex, whose presence is a most 

 pleasing feature at these exhibitions. 



The display of fruit and vegetables, and plain, 

 fancy and ornamental work by the ladies, was 

 made in the new Town Hall. The display was 

 beautiful in the extreme, and exceeded in variety 

 and quality any of the previous exhibitions of the 

 society, and spoke loud in praise of the usefulness 

 of the society, and the intelligence, industry and 

 thrift of the farmers of Fitchburg and vicinity, and 

 the prolific soil of the noble county of Worcester. 



The display of vegetables was very fine, particu- 

 larly in squashes, pumpkins and potatoes, of which 

 there were many fine specimens. 



A most beautiful display of butter was made, 

 the contributions being numerous, and most deli- 

 cious looking. They told of superior dairy stock 

 and skilful and accomplished housewives. We think 

 the most fastidious could not fail to have admired 

 the choice specimens exhibited by the fair daugh- 

 ters of Worcester North. 



Of the important article of bread there was a 

 fine contribution, and every lot deserved a premi- 

 um. It was a substantial display, and did not fail 

 to arrest the attention of all lovers of a good arti- 

 cle. 



There was also some boxes of delicious looking 

 honey on exhibition. 



By no means the least attractive portion of the 

 beautiful display in the hall were the specimens 

 of useful, fancy and ornamental articles contribu- 

 ted by the ladies, which contrasted finely with the 

 noble products of the farm which surrounded them. 

 This department embraced quilts, blankets and 

 other useful articles ; — embroidered mats, chairs, 

 ottomans, and paintings, crayon drawings, and in- 

 numerable other articles of ornament, which 

 showed that the fair daughters of Worcester North 

 are not neglectful, amid household duties, of the 

 elegant and fanciful in needle-work or the fine arts, 

 but blend them in harmonious proportion. We 

 would gladly notice them more in detail, but we 

 were obliged to pass them by for want of time. 



The show of farm stock in the pens on the com- 

 mon, though not so large or exhibiting such evi- 

 dence of superior feeding, (owing to the dry and 

 unfavorable season for rearing fine stock,) was 

 quite extensive, and comprised some very fine ani- 

 mals. 



There was quite a show of horses and colts ; good 

 looking animals, but calculated rather for service 

 than for display. Of sheep there were a few, 



some of which showed to good advantage. The 

 display of barn-yard fowls was limited to a few va- 

 rieties, which, however, embraced some fine tur- 

 keys, liens, &c. 



At 9 o'clock the plowing match took place in the 

 field of Mr. John Harris, on Pearl Street, about 

 three-quarters of a mile from the village. There 

 were seventeen teams entered, including two or 

 three horse teams. 



Immediately after the plowing'match, the trial 

 of working oxen and of working horses took place, 

 near the Unitarian church. There were 14 single 

 yokes of oxen entered, the task assigned them be- 

 ing the drawing and backing of a load of 4000 

 pounds. Among them were several fine teams, 

 which exhibited superior muscular powers devel- 

 oped by judicious training. 



At the trial of horses three spans and five sin- 

 gle horses were entered — the load for the former 

 being 2450, and for the latter 1730 lbs. 



At a little past 12 o'clock, a procession of mem- 

 bers of the society and others was formed in the 

 square, and accompanied by the Fitchburg Cornet 

 Band, proceeded to the Unitarian church, to listen 

 to an address from Thomas E. Payson, Esq., of 

 Rowley. 



The address was well written and eloquent, and 

 though not strictly practical, was quite interest- 

 ing, and listened to with close attention. 



Immediately after the services in the church the 

 procession was again formed and proceeded to the 

 Fitchburg hotel, where a capital dinner had been 

 spread by Messrs. Mclntyre &> Jaquith for about 

 250 persons. Among the guests we were pleased 

 to see a bright array of the fairer sex, whose pres- 

 ence is too often wanting on such occasions. — Jour- 

 nal. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SWALLOWS. 



Mr. Editor : — I saw a request in the New Eng- 

 land Farmer, that your readers would carefully 

 note the migration of* the swallow. I have for some 

 years noticed their departure with care, and have 

 never seen them until this year later than the 7th 

 of Sept. This year the last I saw was on the 17th 

 of Sept., ten days later than I ever noticed before. 

 I saw the "white breast" swallow on the 7th of 

 Sept., and not after — the chimney swallow on the 

 12th, and the "brown breast" on the 17th. I nev- 

 er saw the swallow come before the 20th of April, 

 and never before, remain after the 7th of Sept. 

 Yours truly, Leonard Chase. 



Milford,N. H., Sept. 27, 1852. 



Remarks. — We are happy to receive these no- 

 tices from our friends. It will hardly be necessa- 

 ry, however, to publish in full every letter in re- 

 lation to the migration of the swallow. We are 

 receiving so many that to publish all would occu- 

 py more space than we can find it convenient to 

 spare, and more, probably, than would be desired 

 by the reader. But we hope still to be favored 

 with similar notes from lovers of nature with 

 regard to birds and other matters of the farm ; 

 and by-and-by will compile a table from them 

 showing the observations which have been record- 

 ed in various parts of the country. 



