572 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec 



has had but one, at most two swarms, come off. 



He uses the Langstroth hive. I infer, therefore, 



that a wet, cold season is a poor one for honey. 



King Oak Hill, Oct., 1858. Noufulic. 



Remarks. — We have only to say in regard to 

 this matter, that we hate quarrels most cordially, 

 and advise all our correspondents not to be too 

 sensitive when their positions are attacked, and 

 that we believe there is nut a purer, more noble- 

 minded man in New England than Mr. Langs- 

 troth, and no other man who has given the sub- 

 ject of Bee-culture so much thought and investi- 

 gation, and brought to bear upon it so much va- 

 ried and sound learning:. 



For ike Neic England Farmer. 



U, S. AQRICUIiTCTRAL SOCIETY. 



^Letter from our own Correspondent.] 



liichmond, Va., Oct. 22th. 



Gents. : — Prompted by curiosity and love of 

 agriculture, and being desirous of seeing this 

 part of our beloved country, noting its agricultu- 

 ral resources, examining its products, both veg- 

 etable and animal, and observing its people, and 

 more especially its farmers, I made the celebra- 

 tion of the sixth anniversary of the National Ag- 

 ricultural Society in this place, an occasion for 

 coming hither. In doing so, I feel amply repaid 

 for the time and the money, I will not say spent, 

 but invested ; for the money or time which one 

 employs, in the legitimate pursuit of useful 

 knowledge, becomes, as it were, stock, whose div- 

 idends are in proportion to the skill of the in- 

 ventor and the investment. Some are only sat- 

 isfied as they see their bank stocks or other sim- 

 ilar investments multiplying, being careful to in- 

 vest little in books, papers, or other means for 

 storing the mind with useful knowledge, which, 

 if rightly employed, gives power over both mat- 

 ter and mind. There are others who look upon 

 money as a means to aid in the acquisition and 

 diffusion of knowledge — a nobler purpose than 

 hoarding. 



Having enjoyed rare opportunities for obser- 

 vation concerning what relates to agriculture, 

 horticulture, stock breeding, implement making, 

 &c., in this southern region, I propose to furnish 

 your numerous and intelligent readers some ac- 

 count of what I have seen, occasionally inter- 

 spersed with my own reflections thereon. 



Nearly all who visit the South, come to the 

 conclusion that its natural resources for wealth, 

 like those of the West, are in the soil, conse- 

 quently the business of the people is the tillage 

 of the soil, for the purpose of producing wheat, 

 maize, tobacco, cotton and the sugar cane, to- 

 gether with stock breeding, as a lucrative branch 

 of farming. The breeding of horses and mules 

 is a productive source of income by those who 

 understand it. So of cattle, sheep and swine — 

 for wool-;^'rowing is becoming quite a profitable 

 business in the "Old Dominion," as 1 was in- 

 formed by experienced farmers. 



But the first thing to he attended to and what 

 more immediately concerns your readers, is, to 

 hear some account of the National Fair by one 



who was there. In doing this I shall endeavor 

 to give an impartial narrative thereof. 



The fair was held on the grounds near the 

 city, and well adapted for the purpose. There 

 having been little rain here for four months, it is 

 jdry and very dusty. Crops here have suffered 

 from the drought very much, and therefore the 

 I display of vegetables is not as good as it other- 

 wise would have been. As for fruits, there are 

 none scarcely — they having been destroyed by 

 late frosts. The South will almost entirely de- 

 pend on the North for apples, which will serve 

 to keep the prices up, though the crop be a fair 

 average at the North. 



The show of stock was not large, as to num- 

 bers, but good, aye, superior in some classes, as 

 to quality. This will apply with peculiar dis- 

 tinctness to the Shorthorns, Devons and Jerseys. 

 The Ayrshires, Herefords and natives were not 

 very well represented. There were some very 

 superior grades of the Shorthorn breed, which 

 had been bred back until they were ly-16 Dur- 

 ham. Of these were steers and oxen of extraor- 

 dinary size, symmetry and beauty, thus seeming 

 to confirm the notion, that no other cattle ma- 

 ture so soon as the Shorthorns and their grades. 



The Devon herd, exhibited by a Maryland far- 

 mer, was vei'y fine. The enterprising husband- 

 man, Capt. Strandling, like S. C. Ludington, of 

 Western Virginia, the exhibitor of Durhams, had 

 occasion to feel proud of the skill in cattle- 

 breeding, which his Devons demonstrated. Capt. 

 S. had one cow, "Matilda," which Avas the best 

 cow of that race I have ever seen, and though 

 she did not receive the first premium, to which 

 she was so richly entitled, she was crowned with 

 a wreath of flowers, by the ladies, on leaving the 

 grounds, as indicative of their estimation of her 

 excellence. 



The Jerseys were the next best lot. They did 

 not meet the approval of the farmers generally. 

 A Kentucky farmer called them "scrubs" in ap- 

 pearance. It is true they would thus impress a 

 western breeder of Durhams. 



Ayrshires and Herefords not well represented, 

 and those on the ground were not such as to im- 

 press those unacquainted with these varieties, 

 very favorably. 



Natives but few and not superior. 



Sheep, swine, poultry and horses all very well 

 represented, except the swine. Viator. 



A PAEMER'S LIBRARY. 



Dr. Johnson being once asked whom he deemed 

 the most miserable, replied, "The man who can- 

 not entertain himself with a book on a rainy day." 

 Were the question put, What farmers are likely 

 to make the most rapid progress and improve- 

 ment in husbandry ? the answer would be, other 

 things being equal, those who read most on the 

 subject of their vocation. A man Mho reads lit- 

 tle, no matter what his vocation is, will be likely 

 to think little, and act chiefly with reference to 

 tradition received from former generations, or 

 else in imitation of what is going on about him. 

 There is always hope of a man who loves reading, 

 study and reflection. Not all who buy books lib- 

 erally and patronize the press generously, are 

 readers. There is a class of fancy book buyers 

 who purchase freely and expensively, but who 



