174 



Ai^riculiural Societies — Shaker Barn. 



Vol. II. 



far-famed dam, for surely no one is better 

 entitled tlian the Major to the possession of 

 first rate animals, as no one has exerted more 

 sagacity or zeal in their obtainment. 



But to return to the calf in question : in 

 addition to his immense weight, he is a per- 

 fect model of what the genuine Durham 

 should be in all the points that give that no- 

 ble race character and caste. If the reader 

 should ask who is his breeder, we must an- 

 swer, sub rosa, that he may be found in the 

 person of" Mine Host" of the Fountain Inn 

 — Farmer and Gardner. *" 



Agricialtural §ocietics. 



It is with no ordinary feelings of pleasure 

 we perceive by our exchange papers, that 

 the agricultural coivmunities throughout the 

 country, are becoming sensibly alive to the 

 propriety, nay necessity, of establishing Agri- 

 cultural Societies. This feeling augurs well 

 for the interests of husbandry, and should be 

 cherished by every one, however remotely 

 he may be connected with the cultivation of 

 the earth. Farmers and planters form, after 

 all, the great interest upon which all others 

 must mainly rely for individual as well as 

 national welfare ; they are indeed the bone, 

 sinew, and muscle of the country; for how- 

 ever beneficially the labors of other depart- 

 ments of human life may be exerted, the 

 country wou'd cut but a sorry figure if the 

 labors of the plough were suspended, or any 

 sudden disaster were to blight the products 

 of the earth. Such being the case, it behoves 

 those engaged in a callmg at once so digni- 

 fied and important, to exert every means with- 

 in their power, to fulfil the high obligations 

 confided to them. In England prior to the 

 creation of agricultural associations, the con- 

 dition of agriculture was most lamentably de- 

 fective, and the earth did not produce more 

 than a moiety of its present yield. The rea- 

 der is most sensibly impressed with this truth, 

 in reading Mr. Arthur Young's tours, as well 

 as in the writings of the lamented Sir John 

 Sinclair. But we need not go out of our own 

 country to find instances of the kind, as it 

 will be admitted by all intelligent men, that 

 notwithstanding the small number of sucIl so- 

 cieties which now exist in America, their in- 

 fluence has been widely and fortunately felt. 

 Show us the county in which such an insti- 

 tution is located, and is now in healthful ac- 

 tion, and we will show you a section of coun- 

 try in which evidences of the improvement 

 of the soil and of stock, increase of product 

 and of profit abound. The very circumstance 

 of meeting together to confer upon subjects 

 connected with the culture of the eartli — to 

 consult upon objects and measures, in which 

 <?ach feels a common interest, tends to bind 



the whole together by ties of almost fraternal 

 strength, to infuse into each a spirit of enter- 

 prise and emulation, which in the race for 

 rivalry never fails to end in the achievement 

 of private and public good. Such assem- 

 blages may be compared to meetings upon 

 neutral ground, where discussions of the 

 highest moment may be carried on with the 

 utmost advantage to the parties to it; where 

 instead of the introduction of antagonist prin- 

 ciples, creating collisions, heart-burnings and 

 dissentions, the communion of brethren upon 

 matters of the profoundest import to all, serve 

 to bind them closer together, and awaken 

 none but the most friendly feeliitgs. Here 

 the opinions and intelligence of States or 

 counties may be concentrated — here the prac- 

 tice of one district is laid open to the inhabit- 

 ants of another, and here, however well versed, 

 a farmer or planter may be in the mysteries 

 of his calling, he may learn something that 

 will prove of advantage to him on his return 

 home; for the wisdom of the world belongs 

 not to any single individual, however gifted 

 he may be. 



These being our views, we would respect- 

 fully urge upon our agricultural readers 

 throughout the country, in every county 

 where there is not a society already formed, 

 to go to work with a holy zeal, and rest not 

 until they have succeeded in forming one. — 

 Fariner and Gardener. 



Shaker Bam. 



The English agricultural journals are 

 warmly praising a mode of curing hay by ven- 

 tilating the stacks or mows, and thus pre- 

 venting mould or must ; it will be seen by the 

 following extract from the same writer's pa- 

 pers, that ventilation is no new thing among 

 the shakers. — Gen. Farmer. 



" The great object of agricultural curiosity 

 at Hancock, is their magnificent circular 

 stone barn, two stories in height, and ninety- 

 six feet in diameter. The great mow is in 

 the centre, and is said to be capable of con- 

 taining four hundred tons of haj. The door, 

 or drive way, is on the outside of the circle, 

 and the team goes round and comes out of 

 the same door by which it enters. By all 

 passing in the same direction, several teams 

 can stand on the floor and be unloaded at the 

 same time. In the centre of this mow a large 

 mast or post is erected, reaching from the 

 ground to the roof, which is crowned with a 

 small cupola. Slats, or pieces of plank, arc 

 secured around this post, at a small distance 

 from it, to prevent the hay from coming in 

 contact with it, and the hay at the bottom be- 

 ing raised from the ground, a perfect ventila- 

 tion is kept up, and the steam from the new 

 hay is effectually carried off." 



