334 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



The South Downs made a very good show. They 

 were chiefly from the flocks of Messrs. Sherwood, 

 Itotch, Mclntyre and Wakeman. There were good 

 animals in each of these lots. The fat wethers of 

 Col. Sherwood, and several cross-bred South Down 

 and Cotswold wethers, shown by Mr. Mclntyre, were 

 capital specimens, and did not fail to attract the at- 

 tention of those who know good mutton. 



Swi/ie. — This department was not well filled. In 

 numbers, it was less extensive than at any former 

 show for several years, and we saw no animals of 

 remarkable appearance. Some good pigs were shown 

 by William Hurst, of this city, and by Winant 

 Vounghans and William Webb, of Darien. 



Poultry. — There was a much better display of 

 poultry than at Syracuse, though it was hardly 

 equal to the show at Buffalo. Much of the good 

 api)earance of this department was due to K. L. 

 Colt, Esq., of Paterson, N. J., who exhibited speci- 

 mens of four kinds of geese, and several varieties of 

 fowls. E. E. Piatt, of this city, showed a collection 

 of fowls, embracing several valuable breeds. Mr. P. 

 had also a fine specimen of the curassow. Fine 

 specimens of the Dorkings were shown by F. M. 

 Kotch, of Butternuts, and very handsome specimens 

 of the Spangled Hamburg or Bolton Gray fowl, by 

 John Chadwick, of New Hartford. 



Some beautiful rabbits, very large, with pendent 

 ears, were shown by R. H. Van llensselaer and F. 

 M. Kotch. 



Dairy Products. — There was a respectable show 

 of these ; but we were unable to take particular notes 

 in tliis department, on account of the derangement 

 occasioned by the tent, in which the articles were 

 placed, having been blown down. 



The show of Farm Lnplements was large and at- 

 tractive ; but we think there was less competition, 

 and lor this reason less variety, than at Syracuse. 

 Emery & Co., of Albany, filled a building of their 

 own, one hundred by forty feet, besides occupying a 

 much larger area in the open field. In front of their 

 building was a fountain, which constantly sported 

 its beautiful jets of water, and added much to the 

 ornament and interest of the general exhibition. 

 There were other extensive exhibitors of implements, 

 as Messrs. Starbuck & Co., and Bosworth, Kich, & 

 Co., Troy, Wheeler & Co., Albany, and Eddy & Co., 

 l-nion Village. But we must reserve our notices of 

 particular articles in this department till our ne.xt 

 number. 



The " Mecha7iics' Hall" contained a great number 

 of useful articles, under the head of machinery, of 

 various kinds, stoves, and other contrivances for 

 house-warming and culinary purposes. Considerable 

 of the machinery was kept in operation, the power 

 being derived from a steam engine put up for the 

 purpose, by Messrs. Low & Co., of Albany. A 

 power printing press was worked during the exhibi- 

 tion, which explained the art of printing to thou- 

 sands, by whom it was before a mystery. The pro- 

 cess of printing on stone (lithography) was also here 

 exemplified. 



The " Manufacturers' and Domestic Hall " presented 

 a display, which, in variety, richness, and beauty, ex- 

 ceeded any thing of the kind we have before seen ; 

 but for want of room, we must defer particular 

 notices till a future occasion. 



The Fruit and Floral Department was well filled. 

 In regard to fruits, we believe the display was, with 

 the exception of peaches, equal to that of any pre- 

 vious year. It was the general expression that this 

 department was better filled than at any exhibition 

 since that at Poughkeepsie, in 1844. Among the 

 principal cxhibiters were Henry Vail, Troy ; El- 

 ■Wcinger & Barry, llochester ; II. L. Colt, Paterson, 

 N. J.; Jonathan Battey, Keeseville ; E. P. Prentice, 

 Dr. II. Wendell, Isaac Denniston, Elisha Dorr, 



James Wilson, Dr. March, of Albany ; L. Menand, 

 WaterA^iet; Norman Briggs, Schaghticoke. Among 

 the mo.st attractive objects was a basket of fruits 

 from Mr. Vail, tastefully ornamented and placed in 

 a conspicuous position, containing thirty-four va- 

 rieties of apples, thirty-one of pears, ten of plums, 

 eight of peaches, nine of grapes, and one Christiana 

 melon. Mr. V. had also a box, containing a grape- 

 vine, on which were eight well-ripened and hand- 

 some bunches of grapes. The splendid bunches of 

 black Hamburg and other foreign grapes, from Mr. 

 Colt, received much praise. The show of plums, from 

 Mr. Denniston and others, was very fine. 



Of Veyctubles, there was about the usual display. 

 C. F. Crossman, Rochester, made a large contribution 

 to this department. Specimens of blood-beets, shown 

 by him, were unusually fine. 



The Address, by Prof. Amos Dean, was received 

 with well-deserved approbation. His main subject 

 was " Agricultural Education, the training up of the 

 young mind with special reference to the pursuits 

 of Agriculture." This subject was ably and thor- 

 oughly discussed, and was shown to lie at the very 

 foundation of improvement in this branch of in- 

 dustry. In our next, we shall endeavor to give a 

 more comprehensive view of Prof. D.'s highly valu- 

 able remarks. 



Several distinguished gentlemen visited the show- 

 grounds, among which were Ex-President Van Bu- 

 ren. Gov. Fish, Gen. Wool, Com. Thomas Ap C. 

 Jones, Hon. Mr. Ferguson, of Canada, G. P. R. 

 James, Esq., (the celebrated English literary writer,) 

 and a grandson of Gen. La Fayette, from France. 

 Delegates were in attendance from the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society, the Agricultural Societies of 

 Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and various 

 county societies in other states. 



COMPOST YARDS. 



Mr. Freas : In a modern work, published not 

 long since, in Scotland, entitled the Book of Farm- 

 ing, there is a drawing delineating the " compost 

 yard." It is represented as an appendage, distinct 

 from, yet appertaining to, the barn- yard, and contains 

 a '^tank," or, as I should denominate it, a cistern, 

 for the reception of the urine, or liquid matter gen- 

 erated in the sties, cotes, cattle, horse, and sheep 

 yards, and so positioned or located as to receive it 

 through a system of pipes. Into this cajjacious and 

 convenient reservoir is thro\vn, from time to time, 

 muck, virgin earth, or bank soil, and on this is 

 poured, occasionally, the urine of the cattle, soap- 

 suds, and the rich wash from the manure heaps. In 

 this way a large amount of these absorbent sub- 

 stances are enriched, and rendered subservient to, 

 and highly efficient in, the fertilization of the soil. 

 If our farmers would but adopt this system — so 

 economical in its details, and apparently so beneficial 

 in its results, we should probably, in a short time, 

 hear far less of scanty crops and imjjoverished fields. 

 It is time for the American farmer to arouse, and by 

 a vigorous effort shake off the lethargy which has so 

 long bound him down to indigence and profitless toil 

 on fields emasculated and unproductive. Light and 

 intelligence are ditt'using their rays over the rest of 

 the world, while we are indolently reposing like the 

 sluggard spoken of in Scripture. Let this not be. 

 We have already too long neglected our best inter- 

 ests ; let us now arouse from our stupor, and no 

 longer slumber. 



The Scotch are a singularly industrious and eco- 

 nomical people ; they turn every thing to the most 

 profitable use, and the influence which Scotch enter- 

 prise has operated in elevating the agricultural char- 

 acter of England, and the rest of the civilized world, 



