1869. 



2^W ENGLAND FAE:MER. 



137 



OLD FRIENDS. 



A few days since, an express man brought 



us a bundle which proved, on examination, to 



contain Vols. I and II of the New England 



Farmer, published by Thos. W. Shepard, 



Rogers' Building, Congress St., Boston, and 



covering the period from Aug. 3, 1822, to 



July 24, 1824. These complete our file, 



from which, fot several years, those volumes 



have been missing. The friend to whom we 



are indebted for this favor, in a brief note 



accompanying the gift, says : — 



"I send you the first two volumes of the New 

 England Farmer because your claim to them is 

 better than mine. But I shall esteem it a favor, if 

 you shall supply yourself with like numbers from 

 another source, for you to return the sacred -vol- 

 umes to one whose claim to them is second only 

 to your own." 



We wonder not that our friend places so 

 high a value upon these relics of the past. 

 Their pages tell many a strange story of the 

 times fifty years ago, when agriculture was 

 almost in its infancy in this country. The 

 "patent plough" figuring in the advertisement 

 of the "Agricultural Establishment, No. 20 

 Merchants Row," for instance, would make a 

 curious figure beside one of the highly fin- 

 ished, beautifully shaped implements of to- 

 day. Other implements and tools mentioned 

 in the same advertisement have years since 

 disappeared before the march of improvement 

 in their field. 



Another instructive fact is the difference 

 in the prices of farm produce then and to-day. 

 A concise table gives the rates of leading 

 articles in this market, from which we quote 

 a few items : 



Beans, ^ bu 90 @ 1 00 



Beef, best, ^ rb 8 @ . 10 



Butter, first quality, #" U> 11 @ . 12 



" second do., ^ tb 9 @ . 10 



" lump, retail, #■ lb 18 @ . 20 



Cheese, new milk, ^ lb 7 "f . 8 



Flour, Genesee, W bbl 7 75 © 7 87 



Eggs, ^ doz 14 (3 . 15 



Pork, fresh, 4?" lb 7 @ . 8 



Lamb, 4?' quarter 30 @ , 45 



Potatoes, V bush 45 @ . 47 



Poultry, 4?" tt) 10 @ . 14 



Wool, Merino, ^ lb, washed 55 @ . 60 



" native, ^ lb, washed 37 @ . 40 



Hay,^ ton 18 00 (g22 00 



It will be seen that, with very few excep- 

 tions, the prices of farmers' produce were 

 much less than at the present time, while the 

 custom of trade was such that the farmer was 

 obliged to take most of his pay in "store 

 pay," or barter. The Farmer was then pub- 

 lished on a sheet less than one-third its pres- 

 ent size, and its price was $3.00 a year, or 



$2.50, "if paid within sixty days." Taking 

 butter as a standard, the farmer of those ddys 

 who felt interest enough in his calling to sup- 

 port a paper devoted to its improvement, 

 sent 20 pounds of his prime butter for his 

 year's subscription. To-day, from 5 to 6 

 pounds is all that is required, and there are 

 plenty of customers ready to take it at his 

 own door, and pay him in cash, too, so that 

 the printer is not obliged to play the part of 

 "middle man." 



We are under obligation for this most ac- 

 ceptable donation of our friend, whose name 

 we withhold simply because we think such 

 reserve more in accordance with his wishes. 

 If any of our readers has in his possession the 

 volumes of the Farmer, first series, for the 

 above period, which he will dispose of, we 

 would like to hear from him. 



AMERICAN DAIRYMEN'S AS BO CIA- , 

 TION. 



The fourth annual meeting of this society 

 was held at Utica, N. Y., Jan. 13 and 14. 

 From a report in the Herald, of that city, we 

 learn that the attendance throughout the ses- 

 sion was very full and the dairymen generally 

 express themselves as highly pleased with the 

 success of the convention, which has been 

 more marked than at any previous one. 



Many topics of interest to dairymen were 

 discussed, to some of which we may allude 

 more fully hereafter. 



Resolutions were adopted requesting the 

 Government to include cheese in the army and 

 navy rations ; requesting Congress to furnish 

 such aid to the Department of Agriculture as 

 may secure the regular publication of informa- 

 tion regarding diseases of animals, and the 

 adoption of means for the prevention of such 

 diseases ; changing the constitution so that all 

 the States might be represented ; referring 

 the question of abortion in cows to the trus- 

 tees of the Cornell University, and requesting 

 them to institute a careful and thorough in- 

 vestigation of the malady, — its probable cause 

 — its prevention or cure. Also, that the trus- 

 tees of the said University furnish to the As- 

 sociation full information respecting the chem- 

 ical properties of milk and of rennet. 



The annual address was delivered by Prof, 

 Gamgee, of the Veterinary College, London, 

 on the evening of Wednesday, to an audience 

 that filled the largest hall in the city. The 



