1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEE. 



m 



RHODE ISLAND STATE FAIR. 



This exhibition took place at Providence, Sept. 

 11, 12 and 13. The weather was intensely hot, 

 and the dust excessively annoying, yet the occasion 

 was one of great interest, and was numerously at- 

 tended. AVe were unable to attend, and must make 

 up our account from the amjjle reports given in the 

 Boston Journal : 



The exhibition is held at the Washington Trotting 

 Park, which is well adapted for that jjurpose. Seats 

 for some twenty-five hundred persons have been 

 erected, l)csides special platforms tor the managers, 

 reporters and music. Amj)le accommodations are 

 also made for feeding the multitude, and in tact, all 

 the details of the arrangements on the field show a 

 wise judgment and discretion on the part of the 

 Committee of Arrangements. 



On entering the jja'-k, we found the cattle, poultry, 

 &c., in their j^ens and coops, ready to receive their 

 ^^siters. The poultry coo])s first came under our 

 observation, and the fine birds in them showed that, 

 notwithstanding Burnhara's expose of the "Hen Fe- 

 ver," there are those who yet ret;iin an interest in 

 it. There were thirty or forty coops. The great- 

 est curiosity in this de])artment was a coop of Tur- 

 keys, to which there is a story atticlied which I 

 will relate. They were o^Mied by J. A. Chedel, of 

 Barrington, and the story is, that the "gobbler" has 

 himself raised two broods of young turkeys. His 

 mode of family government is this : after his better 

 halves have set upon the eggs, and brought the 

 youngsters into the world, he very kindly takes the 

 charge of the little ones, and sets his helpmeets at 

 work laying another batch of eggs. Twice he has 

 done this, and once he has gone even further than 

 this — he has actually set ujjon the eggs, and in- 

 creased the census of turkeydom by his own efforts. 

 If the question of "Woman's Rights" has ever been 

 agitiited among the feathered tribes, certainly this 

 veneral)le patriarch must be held in high esteem by 

 the friends of tliis reform. I am glad the commit- 

 tee awarded liim a jirize of $'.3. May he for many 

 years escape the jjerils of Thanksgiving. 



The swine came next. The number was not large, 

 but the quality was good. Chas. H. Hall, of North 

 Providence, exhibited a sow, four months old, quite 

 a pretty creature, with black neck and shoulders, the 

 rest of the body being white; Adams Carpenter, of 

 North Providence, a fine Suffolk sow, fifteen months 

 old, and second to no other on the field; J. A. Che- 

 dell, of Barrington, exhibited an imjjorted sow from 

 Callao, with a family l)y her side. She was quite a 

 neat looking animal; Orray Taft, of Providence, ex- 

 hibited an imported SufibDi Ijoar, seven months old. 

 He gives promise of making a fine animal ; James 

 A. Potter, of Providence, showed a group of broth- 

 ers and sisters, three months old, averaging 17.'> 

 pounds weight each. They v.ere fine animals. Mr. 

 \Ym. Nickle, of Pawtucket, exhibited a Suffolk sow, 

 with a family of eight httle ones, whose neat and 

 thrifty appearance bore good evi(lence of the excel- 

 lent qualities of their maternal ancestor. Taken as 

 a whol(>, the exhibition of swine, though small, was 

 very good. 



We next come to the exhibition of cattle. And 

 here we must mention one deficiency in the arrange- 

 ments for the exhil)ition, whicii renders it im])ossi- 

 ble for us to mention in detail the cattle which are 

 really worthy of special notice. The cattle were in 



the ])ens, and many of them were fine looking ones ; 

 but the names of the owners, the age and breed of 

 the cattle, were not there. We could find no one — 

 except in one or two instances — who knew anything 

 about them. We are obliged therefore to speak in 

 general terms. Of milch cows there was quite a 

 large exliibition, and the collection embraced some 

 as fine looking animals as we have ever seen. The 

 Durham short horns predominated. We noticed 

 one or two Ayrshiros of more than medium excel- 

 lence. Of working oxen the exhibition was not 

 large. The cixttle exhibited were in good condition, 

 well trained, and showed good treatment on the part 

 of their owners. In the pens for bulls were a few 

 good animals. The best one was a nol)lp looking, 

 gray Durham bull, two years old, weighing 1450 

 lbs. He is owned by Wm. B. De Wolfe, of Bristol, 

 and is as gentle and kind as a cosset. He is truly a 

 splendid animal. 



The display of yoiing stock was not large. One 

 or two bull-calves gave promise of making fine ani- 

 mals. The display of sheep was small, and not of 

 sufficient excellence to deserve special notice. 



The Plowing Match took place between ten and 

 eleven o'clock, There wei'e nine competitors, viz- 

 five single and three double ox teams, and one horse 

 team. The land plowed was very light and sandy, 

 and so dry that the dust made by the turning of 

 the furrows was a great annoyance. The work was 

 done tolerably well, though it did not come up to 

 the exhibitions in ]jlowing by many of the County 

 socieries in the Old Bay State. There was too 

 much hurrying of the teams — a too free use of the 

 whip and of the voice 



The public exercises of this day closed with a lec- 

 ture bp P. B. Johnson of Albany. 



Second Day. 



Providence, Sept. 12, P. M. 

 The public exhibition of the society to-day com- 

 menced with a grand cavalcade of all the horses en- 

 tered, at ten o'clock, under the direction of Col. 

 Wm. P. Hlodgett as Chief Marshal. The display 

 was a most brilliant one. The line of horses and 

 carriages extended about once and a-half around the 

 track which is a mile in length. The cavalc;ide 

 was led off by the stallions, of which there are 

 thirty-six entries, and the list embraced some very 

 fine horses. The Black Hawk and Morgan Breeds 

 predominated. They were not, however, all on the 

 track this morning in the cavalcade. 



EXIIII5ITI0N OF STALLIONS. 



Immediately following the cavalcade was the ex- 

 hibition of Stallions, the premiums for which varied 

 from .* 10 to $200. As I before remarked, there 

 were thirty-six animals entered in tliis class, and 

 nearly that number appeared before the judges, 

 some led by grooms, some in trotting gigs and bug- 

 gies, and others under the saddle. Any one who 

 has any love for fine horses would have had his fill 

 of enjoyment in witnessing the noble animals here 

 exhil)ited. 



KXIinUTION OF imiCEDING MARKS. 



In this dc])artment there were thirty-three entries. 

 I have not at ])resent access to the entry books, and 

 as the mares are designated only by numbers, it is 

 imjjossilile for me to speak of them only in general 

 terms. Tal en as a whole, they made a fine appear- 

 ance. A few of them were superior. One fine ani- 

 imal exhibited was owned by Tristam lUirgess. — 



