98 



JVeivcastle County Jlgri cultural Society. 



Vol. XI. 



Each ploughman first struck out his own 

 land as it had been previously staked, by 

 going one round ; and here it was that the 

 great skill of our ploughmen in running 

 straight lines, exhibited itself — never did 

 Paul Hoover line a bee to a hive straighter 

 than they went to the opposite stakes; and 

 without flattery, and with truth, it may be 

 said, that the compass itself would in refer- 

 ence to many of the furrows drawn, have 

 indicated no deviation from an entire straight 

 line. 



The fifteen teams now came up abreast, 

 and every ploughman had his position, ready 

 for the word "go." The committee may 

 here state, that the ground selected for the 

 match, was such as was calculated to tax- 

 to the greatest possible extent, the skill and 

 perseverance of the ploughmen. So far 

 from being a smooth green sod, which is 

 generally selected, the ground was covered 

 with a heavy matted crop of clover, blue 

 grass, and fox tail, and in addition to all this 

 a straggling crop of tall weeds. 



It was a clay soil, and for the most part 

 very tenacious, and rendered particularly 

 hard and compact by the drought of the 

 season. The first round seemed to have 

 satisfied the ploughmen of what they had to 

 do: few seemed sanguine, and none appa- 

 rently confident of the result, though among 

 the entries were no less than four first pre- 

 mium men, the successful candidates on 

 other fields. Indeed there was an anxiety 

 felt by some of the ploughmen, and a doubt 

 expressed, as to whether they would be able 

 to overcome the obstacles that opposed them, 

 so far as to make the performance even cre- 

 ditable in the eyes of the thousands that be- 

 held them, and who could only judge super- 

 ficially of the difficulties with which they 

 had to contend. The committee, for these 

 reasons, permitted the use of chains to the 

 ploughs, and also allowed to each a cleaner. 

 At the word given they got under way. The 

 teams were so well trained that the heavy 

 draft oflTered no opposition to a fair pace. 

 There was no halting or pausing, but furrow 

 after furrow was rolled up, each as true and 

 perfect as the last, or if marred in the slight- 

 est, from any cause, the comments of the 

 spectators soon announced the fact in tones 

 even audible to the ears of- the ploughman 

 himself. But the remarks were all gene- 

 rally in a friendly and encouraging spirit, 

 and indeed it was not a little interesting to 

 hear the comments that greeted the plough- 

 man as he each time came out, as "That is 

 well done," " You are doing well — stick to 

 it," " Keep cool," &c. 



The ploughman himself with every nerve 

 braced, a strong arm, a quick and ready eye, 



apparently unconscious of every thing around 

 him, directed his plough with his utmost 

 skill — at most a furtive glance, as he turned 

 at the end, down the ribboned furrow he had 

 just cut, was the only instant he was at- 

 tracted from his task, and as if gathering 

 trom the view, hope to encourage him to 

 greater eflxjrts. Again he would push down 

 liis land apparently watching his plough and 

 coaxing his team with a " Wha, padder, 

 Wha," for an eflx)rt that should surpass the 

 last. 



But now all is accomplished but the last 

 furrow, the cleaning out furrow, the great 

 test of the ploughman's skill — all, however 

 well done, may be marred in an instant by 

 the slightest balk here. The spectators 

 crowd up — the voices of friends are heard 

 encouraging to coolness and to take time but 

 the good ploughman has already half antici- 

 pated his task ; but a single narrow stripe, 

 not varying one half inch in width the whole 

 distance, is all that remains — his Plough is 

 pitched, and the completely inverted sod is 

 upturned, leaving the land with the appear- 

 ance of having heen handsomely divided not 

 ditched or gullied, but neatly separated by 

 the furrow and giving to the whole a beau- 

 tiful and perfect finish. 



Such certainly was the performance, and 

 such the result on most of the lands ploughed 

 at this match. 



It was this description of ploughing, that 

 the committee were called on to judge and 

 to decide upon — to decide as to the relative 

 merits of each performance. The task was 

 by no means easy. That they might secure 

 for their award on the part of all, the con- 

 cession of perfect impartiality, the commit- 

 tee designated three of their number to act 

 as a sub-committee and to retire from the 

 ground, and not to come upon it, until after 

 the ploughing was completed. They were 

 Washington E. Moore, Francis Sawdon and 

 .John Smith. Without knowing who plough- 

 ed the particular lands, but called on to ex- 

 amine the fifteen that had been ploughed, 

 and to designate the four best among them, 

 these members of the committee, after the 

 most careful examination, and taking the 

 merits and defects of each into account so 

 far as their judgment and experience would 

 enable them to do so, came to the conclu- 

 sion that was announced on the ground, 

 namely, that John Newlove was entitled to 

 the first premium, William Banks to the se- 

 cond, John Everson to the third, and Tho- 

 mas Truitt to the fourth. 



There were several other lands that were 

 remarkably well ploughed. The committee 

 would not designate except in one instance, 

 and they do this to point out on the part of 



