18 



NEW ENGLAND FAllMER. 



every other sail in the horizon. Our life looks triv- 

 .al, and we shun to record it. 



'Tis the trick of nature thus to degrade to-day ; 

 a good deal of buzz, and somewhere a result slipped 

 magically in. 



So much of our time is preparation, so much is 

 routine, and so much retrospect, that the pith of 

 each man's genius contracts itself to a very few 

 hours. — Emerson. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE TROTTING GROUND. 



Friend Brown: — I notice from time to time 

 communications in your excellent paper, complain- 

 ing of the race grounds at your cattle shows as being 

 fraught with immoral tendencies. One is almost 

 induced to believe there is but one side to the ques- 

 tion, but I must beg to difier somewhat, showing 

 my reasons, which may be of little value to your 

 readers. 



Now, what are the objects of these annual cattle 

 shows ? Is it the best cow, swine, bull, yoke of ox- 

 en or horse team, that shall work the best at the 

 plow and haul the heaviest load ? Is it the colt 

 and best breeding maie that must be trotted out to 

 show speed and movement in order to award premi- 

 ums ? (a.) If feats of strength are to be tolerated, 

 why not feats of speed, which constitute one of the 

 most valuable elements of the horse, particularly as 

 applying to the pockets of the farmers ? (h.) 



A county race-course does not invite outsiders. 

 Its county limits are supposed to restrict action un- 

 der a committee of premiums — no interlopers al- 

 lowed there. Since Young America is getting to be 

 so fast, it seems to me that the cultivation o^ fast 

 horses is our only hope of keeping vp. I see no ne- 

 cessity of making this county race-course a Pan-' 

 demonium, or the arena of a Jockey Club. 



Farmers attach too much honor to the institu- 

 tion to suffer any such improprieties. Speed is 

 sought for ; a Black-Hawk colt at 3 or 4 years old 

 has been sold at $1500, while a common animal 

 would fetch $75 to $100. The farmer knows that 



father's house in forty minutes. In three hours the 

 men were on the march." (d.) This fast horse of 

 the revolution played his good part. Our country 

 can say most heartily, sacred to his memory. 



Cattle shows are the farmer's jubilee, a yearly 

 meeting, a gala day for a most praiseworthy com- 

 petition. The charm of my boyhood life was "Lec- 

 tion day," its scrub races and bowls of punch, gotten 

 up by the moose country landlord. It was a privi- 

 lege then to pay two cents for a lemon peel. So 

 with "gineral muster," when the capitalist boys 

 "kept tent," with a cask of West India and a cock 

 at either end, an awning between, that fitted snug 

 around the bilge. Bill comes along and wants 

 some good rum, price 3 cents a glass — "t'wont do ;" 

 he is sent to the next tent and gets better rum at 

 6i cents out of the other end of the cask. No cat- 

 tle shows then. 



Now in the absence of such good times, let us 

 not fastidiously disparage rational pleasure or ))rofit 

 at our cattle shows. After the feats of strength 

 have been tried by the animals, let the noble horse 

 come in to the course and show his power of speed. 

 He is nigher to us in attachment and more useful 

 than any other animal, (e.) Why is he to become 

 a gambling stock, or depreciate the morals of the 

 multitude under a proper supervising committee of 

 farmers ? Try it, you good old Massachusetts far- 

 mers, a little longer, and if your sons and daughters 

 are in danger, rebuke it by plowing up your race 

 grounds, (f) H. P. 



Mw York, JVov. 22d. 



Remarks. — (a.) Yes, friend Poor, and several 

 other things. You are certainly right, so far. 



(6.) Because there is no possible use on the farm, 

 or by the farmer, for a "fast horse." If on any es- 

 pecial emergency he desires to go quickly, eight or 

 ten miles an hour would be as fast as he would risk 

 his neck to ride, and most farm horses will go at 

 that rate long enough to answer the demands of 

 such an emerffencv ; while a "fast horse" would 



