514 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



the cut, which is done by 2^ revolutions of the 

 crank. 



One great advantage of this machine is that it 

 pares crooked or uneven places nearly as well as 

 the smooth surfaces, and at the same time does 

 the work with wonderful rapidity. This ma- 

 chine is manufactured by Messrs. Lockley & How- 

 land, Leominster, Mass. Both are excellent la- 

 bor-saving-machines. 



MIDDLESEX AGKICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



This Society held its sixty-fifth anniversary at 

 Concord, on the 29th of Sept. The weather was 

 favorable, which, with the liberal premiums that 

 had been offered, and the drawing power of the 

 orator of the day, brought together an unusual 

 collection of people. Fifteen teams plowed, and 

 the Spading Match took place as usual. 



The show of stock was large, and embraced 

 some fine cattle of all breeds common among us, 

 and there were about fifty horses of all kinds. 

 The swine and poultry were well represented. 

 Twenty-five loaves of bread and fifteen samples 

 of butter were tempting articles, especially to 

 those who had taken an early breakfast and trav- 

 elled twenty miles to reach the grounds. The 

 display of fruits, including apples, pears, peaches 

 and grapes, was very fine, and received many 

 words of commendation. The vegetables, also, 

 were in profusion, and most excellent in kind. 



In articles of household manufacture, and in 

 some specimens of painting and the arts, there 

 was a good display. Of other manufactures 

 there were stoves, sifters, a mowing machine, 

 Boaps, &c. &c. The sifter was a most convenient, 

 portable article, made to fit into the top of a bar- 

 rel to sift coal ashes, and in another form to sift 

 beans or sort them, or chestnuts, or to sort pota- 

 toes at will. It is a cheap, durable and excellent 

 economist, devised and made by Mr. Sanford 

 Adams, of Boston. Persons burning coal for 

 their fuel, cannot afford to do without one of 

 these sifters. 



The Mowing Machine is an improvement upon 

 the old Ketchum, and we feel free to say, comes 

 nearer our idea of a good ajticle than any we had 

 before seen. We saw it put together and set in 

 operation within ten minutes after it was taken 

 from the wagon ; it was tried in a field of thick 

 rowen, which it cut clean and rapidly, and with- 

 out much strain upon the horse. It could be 

 turned at the corners or backed with ease. It 

 cuts a swath about four feet wide, and weighs 

 less than 300 pounds. If this machine proves 

 to work as well as when we saw it, there must 

 be a large demand for it another year. It was 

 made by Messrs. Nourse, Mason & Co., who are 

 determined, we believe, to furnish the farmer 

 with just such a machine as he needs before they 



are done with it. We saw nothing in all this 

 excellent exhibition, that gave us more pleasure 

 than this new machine. 



At half past one, every plate at the dinner ta- 

 ble was occupied, and many more plates were 

 wanted. Mr. Sheriff Keyes, the President, wel- 

 comed the company in brief words, saying that 

 he would not detain them long from the rich har- 

 vests before them. The dinner over, he intro- 

 duced Mr. Emerson, of Concord, who gave an 

 Address occupying nearly an hour in the deliv- 

 ery. Its subject was, — The condition of the 

 farmer — his strength and weakness, his aids, and 

 his share in the great future before the people of 

 the country. It is utterly impossible for us to 

 give such a synopsis of this address as would 

 be fair to the speaker, or one that would give a 

 correct idea of it. We prefer, therefore, to give 

 such portions of it by-and-bye, unmutilated, as 

 we can find space for. 



Several "regular" toasts were then read, and 

 were pleasantly responded to by Messrs. White, 

 of Lowell, Judge Marston, of Barnstable, the 

 Delegate from the State Board of Agriculture, 

 Dr. C. T. Jackson, of Boston, Hon. Joseph 

 Howe, of Halifax, N. S., Joseph T. Bucking- 

 ham and E. p. Whipple, of Boston, and Hon. 

 C. L. K.NAPP, of Lowell. 



The Society then re-elected all its old officers, 

 and a new Board of Trustees for the ensuing 

 year, and then adjourned. 



In this Exhibition, we noticed that each de- 

 partment was distinct, and that when any change 

 in the exercises occurred, it was done at the mo- 

 ment assigned. The arrangement of the Show 

 was in the hands of Capt. John B. Moore, as 

 Superintendent, and his skill and vigilance put 

 all things in order and kept them so. The large 

 Hall was tastefully ornamented with fabrics from 

 the carpet mills of Amory Maynard, Esq., of 

 Stowe, their bright colors illuminating and ^set- 

 ting off the gifts of Ceres and Pomona below 

 them. We have no doubt that many a good 

 housewife concluded that she would have a new 

 carpet this winter. 



In point of merit, taking this Exhibition as a 

 whole, Preparations, Stock, Implements, Fruits, 

 Vegetables, Manufactures, Order, Punctuality, 

 Oration and Addresses, we think we have never 

 seen it surpassed — and our experience in these 

 matters has not been limited. All these excel- 

 lent points have been gained by two things : — 

 First, by well-directed labor, and secondly, by en- 

 deavoring to keep the Exhibition confined to tlie 

 objects for which it was designed. In speaking 

 of the Middlesex Society, one of our contempo- 

 raries says : — 



"One marked feature of its management has 

 been the cfiscarding of all outside 'attractions' to 



