No. 6. 



Bucks County Agricultural Exhibition. 



173 



refused to pay the stipulated rent, which, of 

 course, is much higher than the rent paid 

 by the purser to his landlord. In this form 

 the case came before David Milne, Alexan- 

 der Balfour, and William Thoms, Esqrs., the 

 presiding Justices, at the instance of Mr. 

 Macdonald, for the purpose of fully trying 

 the question. On the part of the defenders, 

 reference was made to the law on the point 

 as laid down by Erskine, by which it ap- 

 pears " that, though the tenant should have 

 got possession, and sown his arable grounds, 

 the landlord cannot, by the Roman law, claim 

 any part of the rent, if inundation, the ca- 

 lamity of war, the corruption of the air, or 

 the inclemency of the weather by earth- 

 quakes, lightning, &c., had brought upon 

 the crop damage phtsquam tolerabile" and 

 that though it is not exactly defined 

 "what degree of sterility or vastation makes 

 a loss that cannot be borne," it is said to be 

 the common opinion that "the tenant is lia- 

 ble for the rent, if the produce of the crop 

 exceed the expense of the seed and the til- 

 lage." To carry out this point, therefore, 

 the defenders led evidence to prove the al- 

 most total failure of the crop in question ; 

 and the Justices, with reference to the fore- 

 going authority, assoilzied all the defenders, 

 with one exception, in which case it appears 

 that the crop had been taken up early, and 

 while in good condition — the defender in 

 this instance pressing his willingness to pay. 

 — Kelso Chronicle. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Bncks County Agricultural Exhibition. 



A COMMUNICATION appeared in the fourth 

 No. of the Cabinet, page 120, over the sig- 

 nature of J. P., in relation to the Bucks 

 County Agricultural Exhibition, which may 

 require a passing notice. 



Although the writer appears to have been 

 well pleased with viewing the "excellent 

 stock, and good show of produce and vege- 

 tables" exhibited at Newtown, yet he was 

 not so well pleased with the fact, that the 

 plough for which the diploma was awarded, 

 was a Bucks County plough, and he attempts 

 to cast odium upon the Society through their 

 committee, by asserting that the committee 

 on implements awarded their diploma "be- 

 fore trial." Now I have the best evidence — 

 that of the committee themselves — all of 

 whom were of " the old Bucks County class 

 of husbandmen," for saying that the ploughs 

 were stopped at their request, before the 

 furrows were cleared up, that they might 

 view the ground before the spectators ran 

 over it, and that they were unanimously of 

 the opinion that the diploma plough was the 



best plough, and that the decision was made 

 with special reference to the work done. 



Notwithstanding Prouty's plough ia so 

 highly recommended for turning under the 

 stubble, yet much anxiety was manifested 

 to attach a chain to it, and complaint was 

 made of the decision of the committee on 

 ploughing, that it should work without one, 

 as the others did. This certainly furnished 

 evidence of the existence of doubts whether 

 that plough could successfully compete in 

 this respect. It might here be added, that 

 for turning under a heavy coat of vegetable 

 matter without choaking, the diploma plough 

 stands unrivalled by the Prouty plough, the 

 peculiar construction of its side cutter giv- 

 ing it advantages in this respect which that 

 plough does not possess. 



J. P. remarks that the committee " might 

 have added the Prouty plough, after carry- 

 ing a furrow two and a half inches deeper 

 and two inches wider, finished her task, 

 leaving the Wiggins plough five furrows to 

 turn ;" but it appears they were men who 

 did not choose to make such an assertion. The 

 space ploughed has been measured and the 

 furrows counted. The Prouty plough plough- 

 ed 22 feet 6 inches, turning down the sod at 



22 furrows; the Wiggins plough ploughed 



23 feet 6 inches, turning down the sod at 



24 furrows, making a difference of about 

 one-half inch, instead of two inches, in the 

 width of furrow. For this fact I refer to 

 Edward Leedom, who owns the soil plough- 

 ed, and assisted in measuring it. "The depth 

 ploughed cannot now be accurately mea- 

 sured, but I have conversed with many indi- 

 viduals upon the subject, some of whom paid 

 particular attention to it at the time, and 

 none of them believe that the Prouty plough 

 ploughed more than one inch deeper, and 

 some of them not near that much. The 

 time of ploughing depends very much upon 

 the speed of the team, and the committee 

 did not limit the ploughmen as to time. 



That the Wiggins diploma plough is not 

 entirely destitute of merit, appears from the 

 fact, that the second premium was awarded 

 to it at the exhibition of the Philadelphia 

 Agricultural Society, where Prouty had 

 three ploughs entered; and I believe the 

 plough and those who entered it, were en- 

 tirely unknown before the exhibition to every 

 member of that committee; therefore I think 

 the premium in this case was not awarded 

 "before trial." 



In conclusion, if the Prouty and Mears 

 plough " performed the best work that J. P. 

 liad witnessed the present season," and "it 

 called forth the admiration of the congre- 

 gated mass of spectators, without a dissent- 



