1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



97 



A KBW MOVEMENT. 

 OLD CHESHIRE COUNTY AWAKE. 



The Cheshire Count ij Agricultural Society of 

 New Hampshire, at its last annual meeting, some 

 months since, then instituted, and has already 

 partially carried into effect, a movement which 

 is destined in our opinion to have an important 

 influence upon our agricultural interests. In- 

 stead of continuing to exhaust its treasury, an- 

 nually, in paying premiums, and in the other ex- 

 penses incident to an autumnal show, they voted 

 to hold meetings in various parts of the county, 

 and to discuss some of the topics supposed to be 

 of paramount importance in exciting better sys- 

 tems in practical agriculture, and to bring more 

 profitable results from its labor. 



In accordance with this plan, the first of the 

 series of these meetings took place at the beau- 

 tiful town of Winchester, on Wednesday, the 

 29th of December. The day was a severe one, 

 Lhe wind and snow blowing furiously, and the 

 cold intense. But this did not deter the zealous 

 from gathering, and the afternoon was spent in 

 an earnest discussion upon the subject of Soils, 

 their reclamation, and adaptation to particular 

 crops. The meeting was addressed for an hour 

 by the editor of the Farmer, then by Benjamin 

 Read, Esq., of Swanzey, the presiding officer of 

 the meeting, by Dea. Buffum, of Winchester, 

 by Capt. Adams, of Fitzwilliam, and others. Af- 

 ter an adjournment of two hours for tea, a nu- 

 merous audience of both sexes assembled and 

 listened to a lecture upon Agriculture as an Av- 

 ocation. After the lecture, the President called 

 upon several persons to speak, and an interest- 

 ing discussion was continued until nine o'clock. 

 A vote was passed to form a Farmers' Club in 

 Winchester, and the initiatory steps taken to es- 

 tablish it. 



The second meeting of the series was holden 

 at Troy on Friday, Jan. 7th, and was organized 

 by choosing Benjamin Reed, Esq., of Swanzey, 

 President, and Dr. Caverly, of Troy, Secretary, 

 The weather was again unpropitious ; it being 

 rainy through the day, the snow soft and sloppy, 

 and a dense fog coverhig the face of the earth 

 in the evening. But notwithstanding this, a 

 goodly number was present, and the exercises 

 commenced at a little past two, P. M., and con- 

 tinued until five. The subject. Manures, was 

 discussed with energy, and with an eminently 

 practical bearing, by Messrs. Brown and Rey- 

 nolds, of Concord, Mass., Parker, Kendall 

 and Adams, of Fitzwilliam, and Wright and 

 BoYCE, of. Troy. In the early part of the even- 

 ing, a spirited discussion took place upon the 

 Culture of Indian Corn — its value as a crop, and 

 the best modes of cultivating it. A variety of top- 

 ics were incidentally introduced iu this discus- 



sion. At eight o'clock, a practical, sound in doc- 

 trine, and finely written lecture upon Farm Man- 

 agement, was delivered by Dr. Joseph Reynolds, 

 of Concord, Mass. 



By this time, a new spirit of inquiry had been 

 awakened, and a succession of questions elicited 

 replies until nearly ten o'clock. It is only pos- 

 sible that any person attending that meeting, 

 left it without resolving to seek new information 

 to aid him in the pursuit of hia calling, and to 

 conduct his agricultural labors in a more intelli- 

 gent and systematic manner. 



This movement, projected with admirable fore- 

 sight and wisdom by the Cheshire Society, has 

 already excited an interest and made an impres- 

 sion that will pervade the county in producing 

 more profitable practices, in increasing the amount 

 of their crops, and in swelling the aggregate 

 sums of value on the assessor's books. 



The next meeting is to be holden at one of 

 the villages in Marlborough, near Keene, on 

 Friday, Jan. 21st, at ten o'clock, A. M. The sub- 

 jects to be discussed are. The Grasses, Grains 

 and Stock. The meeting will undoubtedly be 

 one of much interest. 



"PBUIT TREES ON THE HOADSIDE." 



Writing of trees reminds me of another pecu- 

 liarity of this country, from v/hich "Young Amei'- 

 ica" might learn an important lesson. Along 

 the public roads, for hundreds of miles, are rows 

 of fruit trees, unprotected by ditch, hedge or 

 fence ; yet the ripe fruit may hang in profusion 

 on their boughs, or cover the very roadside, and 

 not an apple or pear will be purloined, not a 

 cherry twig will be broken. Frequently some 

 poor man buys the fruit of one or more trees for 

 a season. All he must do to have it sacredly 

 respected is to bind a withe of straw about the 

 trunk, in token of ownership. 



It is not enough that we have plenty to eat 

 and drink, fine clothing, comfortable houses, and 

 productive farms. Every man owes it to him- 

 self, his family, his country, to cultivate all those 

 qualities of mind and heart which delight in beau- 

 tiful objects, which are susceptible of moral and 

 religious growth. And as home is the cradle of 

 all virtues, and as external adornments, espe- 

 cially those natural ones which lie within the 

 reach of every citizen of our favored land, such 

 as trees, shrubs, fiowers, tasteful lawns, arbors, 

 and trellises, are among the strongest means of 

 making home attractive, it should be the desire 

 and the labor of all good men to diffuse through- 

 out the community a sentiment of regard for ru- 

 ral works and pastimes. To do this, lies within 

 the power of no one man or woman ; all should 

 make it their object, and he who labors most v/ill 

 have the satisfaction of knowing that he has 

 faithfully done his part towards accomplishing 

 the great work of the age. 



Man must work, he must labor. But he may 

 work willingly, or as a machine ; he may work 

 cheerfully, or as a slave. Labor, undirected by 

 knowledge of the great principles which govern 



