90 



The Agricultural Display in Delaware. 



Vol. X. 



From the Inquirer and Gazette. 

 The Agricultural Display in DelaAvare. 



Wilmington, Sept. IStli, 1845. 



Dear Sir, — I have been here for the last 

 two days, attending the Exhibition and 

 Ploughinof Match of the Agricultural So- 

 ciety of New Castle County, one of the 

 most popular and successfully conducted in 

 the whole country, particularly if we consi- 

 der the limited extent of the population em- 

 braced in the territory represented by it. 

 The exhibition of the stock took place on 

 the first day. Accompanying the stock that 

 came in from ditferent directions, were long 

 teams of oxen. New Castle Hundred sent 

 twenty yoke attached to a cart containing 

 the implements of the farmer, as the Horse- 

 Rake, the Swing-Harrow, the Plough, Cul- 

 tivator, &c., and products of the soil, such 

 as the sheaf of wheat, rye, corn, oats, tobacco 

 plant, and hemp, and the other "fruits of the 

 season," as apples, peaches, potatoes, and the 

 like. Over the front part of the cart was 

 sprung a handsome arch wreathed with 

 flowers. The cart from Christiana Hun- 

 dred was dressed in a similar way, and 

 drawn also by some twenty yoke of the 

 most beautiful oxen I ever saw, with ban- 

 ners and mottoes attached to their yokes. 



The exhibition ground, a beautiful field of 

 some ten acres, in the rear of the town, was 

 graced with the clioice stock of the county, 

 cattle, horses, hogs and sheep, of all sizes 

 and ages. Major Reybold had present the 

 celebrated Oxfordshire sheep, which his son, 

 Mr. Clayton Reybold, at an expense of some 

 forty guineas a head, has lately brought from 

 Europe. Until I saw these celebrated sheep, 

 which are, I understand, a cross between 

 the Cottswold and Leicesters, I never fully 

 comprehended, or rather apprehended, or 

 conceived the extent to which the art of 

 breeding might be carried. The weight of 

 the largest is at the present time 267 pounds, 

 and measures nearly one yard across the 

 back. The Major is one of the best and 

 most efficient friends the cause of agricul- 

 ture has, either in Delaware or the Union. 



The horticultural department of the So- 

 ciety, the exhibition of which was at the 

 Town Hall, was one of the most interesting 

 points of attraction. The fitting up, &c., 

 was all under the immediate care and su- 

 perintendence of the ladies, and though as- 

 sisted by gardeners, we must give credit to 

 their artist eyes and hands, that arrange and 

 display everything in the most skilful and 

 tasteful manner. The gardens of John R. 

 Lattimer, Esq., Samuel Canby, Esq., and 

 William C. Boulden, Esq., seem from the 

 labels upon the fruit, flowers, and culinary 

 vegetables in every part of the Hall, to have 



been put largely under contribution. Mr. 

 James, the Secretary of our Society, was 

 here, and commended it all very highly, and 

 I may also mention, " not being too old to 

 admire pictures," that in addition to the 

 honours done Flora and Pomona, there were 

 certain living, moving tbrms and graces now 

 flitting about the Hall, and now gracefully 

 grouped together, rivalling their own fes- 

 toons of roses or the clustering fruit that 

 hung from the vine. 



On the second story of the same building, 

 was the Mechanics' Institute ; and here the 

 display, though not extensive, was never- 

 theless highly creditable to the mechanical 

 skill of Wilmington ; and an able report 

 from James Canby, Esq., which was read at 

 the dinner table, did full justice to the con- 

 tributors, and also to the natural resources 

 and physical capacities of Wilmington and 

 its neighbourhood for extending still further 

 the manufacturing interest. 



At five o'clock an address was delivered 

 by the Hon. Jonathan Roberts, of our State, 

 whom all know as a veteran farmer, an able 

 statesman and an honest man. I was sur- 

 prised alike by the intellectual and physical 

 effort of this venerable man, now seventy- 

 five years of age. For one hour he held 

 his audience in breathless attention, and 

 though speaking in the open air, and in the 

 most audible voice, seemed not at all op- 

 pressed, for when on the completion of the 

 Address, the farmers and others crowded up 

 to the venerable m.an, and desired introduc- 

 tions, he received them all, and continued 

 to converse as though not at all oppressed or 

 fatigued. The compliment thus expressively 

 conveyed on the part of his audience, must, 

 I think, have been highly gratifying to our 

 respected fellow citizen. 



The Ploughing Match took place on the 

 second day, in the country, some two miles 

 from town. As the hour of ten had been 

 appointed for the start, we were early on 

 the ground, and met crowds of all ages and 

 both sexes, hastening forward, in vehicles, 

 on horseback, and on foot, to witness the 

 trial. I never saw anything like the same 

 interest manifested by all classes of the 

 population, to witness a ploughing match, 

 but this is a grain growing district, and they 

 are ploughing nearly half the year,*and to 

 excel in it, seems to be regarded as a high 

 merit. The ploughmen, as we approached, 

 were scattered about a twenty acre green 

 sod field, surrounded and followed by groups 

 of their friends, as they continued to prac- 

 tice their teams and regulate the running of 

 their ploughs. Now the call was made to 

 come forward, make their entries, draw for 

 numbers, and take position ready for a start. 



