422 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



cast iron kettles, holding about fifty to seventy gal- 

 lons of brine, placed close together in two rows, 

 the whole length of the arches. A fire built in the 

 mouth of the arches passes under each kettle into 

 a chimney, built generally fifty to one hundred and 

 fifty feet high, averaging from fifty to seventy ket- 

 tles in each block. A single block with one row of 

 kettles is about half of this width. 



Any improvement in the manufacture of salt 

 •which could cheapen its production only by a very 

 small per centage, would be an invention of no or- 

 dinary importance ; and we think the field, although 

 the subject is occasionally dabbled in with various 

 degrees of success, is much less the scene of com- 

 petition among inventors than many others of less 

 magnitude. — Scientific Amtrican. 



For the New England Fanner. 



AN ENGLISH CATTLE SHOW. 



BY n. F. FRENCn. 



Ipswich, County of Suffolk, ) 

 England, July, 1857. 5 



Seeing a notice in the papers that the Sufiblk 

 Agricultural Association was about to hold a pub- 

 lic exhibition, I took the train from London, and 

 came out here, sixty-eight miles, to attend it. By 

 mere accident I was set down at the famous Inn 

 called the White Horse, the scene of Mr. Pick- 

 "wick's adventures on the occasion when he, by mis- 

 take, entered the chamber of a lady by night, in en- 

 deavoring to return to his own. It is one of the 

 interesting circumstances about travelling in Eng- 

 knd, that one is daily finding something to remind 

 liim of some striking event in history, or some noted 

 individual, or some fiction of literature, to interest 

 him. 



Besides being the scene of the adventures of Mr. 

 Dickens's most noted character, Ipswich is the birth- 

 place of Cardinal Woolsej-, who founded here a 

 school, which is still supported; and as one looks at 

 the old place, not the house, for it is gone, where 

 the great man first saw the light, the sentiments 

 which Shakespeare has put into his mouth constant- 

 ly recur to mind. The cardinal rivalled his mon- 

 arch in the splendor of his palace and retinue, yet 

 in the end, in his sorrow and remorse, cried out — 

 "0, had I served my God with half the zeal I've 

 served my King, he would not, in mine age, have 

 left me naked to mine enemies." 



But a stranger circumstance than these impress- 

 es me at this moment. I am writing on the morn- 

 ing of the fourth of July, at the mansion of an Eng- 

 lish nobleman, who kindly insisted on bringing me 

 to his fine old English homes, from the exhibition 

 dinner of yesterday. The first object that met my 

 awakening eyes this morning, is a large engraving, 

 a copy of a splendid piece of plate, presented by 

 the citizens of Suffolk county to an ancestor of 

 my host, for his distinguished services in a naval 

 engagement in the war of 1812 between England 

 and the United States. I shall not so far violate 



hospitality as to give any clue to the particular ac- 

 tion thus commemorated, but I cannot help copying 

 a line or two from the inscription, which explains the 

 design in part thus : "Britannia, borne on a sea- 

 horse, holds the trident of Neptune in one hand, 

 while with the other, she hurls her thunders on 

 the American eagle that is expiring at her feet." 

 This is but one feature of the engraving ; but it 

 gives the key to the design. Now is not that a pic- 

 ture for an American to open his eyes upon on In- 

 dependence day, in a foreign land ? But I had my 

 turn yesterday, in an after dinner speech, at the 

 exhibition, in which I modestly alluded to the ex- 

 tent of territory, and the resources of the nation 

 over which this same old bird, which fortunately 

 survived the thunderbolts of Britannia, now spreads 

 her triumphant wings, and when, in conclusion, I 

 offered a sentiment expressive of the hope that 

 peace and good will might always continue between 

 the two countries, it was greeted with cheers and 

 shouts of applause, far more grateful to the ear 

 than the thunders of victorious cannon. I may 

 add, by way of conclusion, as to the dinner which 

 closed the show, that an English lord, the Earl of 

 Stradbroke, the President of the society, presided 

 at the table, that English noblemen of distinction 

 were present, that some three hundred of the most 

 substantial proprietors and farmers of Suffolk were 

 at the banquet, and that, with no other introduction 

 than a general introductory letter from the United 

 States Agricultural Society, I was received with 

 honor, and placed in a position to indicate the re- 

 spect shown to the society and country which I rep- 

 resented. 



This is worthy of notice, because it indicates 

 what is now felt everywhere in England, the kind- 

 ness and good feeling which exist on the part of 

 the English people towards our country. With 

 this long preamble, I will return to the more strict- 

 ly agricultural topic, with which, when I took my 

 pen, I intended to fill this sheet. 



THE HORSES. 

 The conspicuous feature of the exhibition was 

 the great array of cart horses, for which this coun- 

 ty is celebrated. The number of entries for hors- 

 es and colts for agrioultui'al purposes was one hun- 

 dred and fifteen. The Suffolk cart horse is a long, 

 low posted, large legged, thick set, heavy draft 

 horse, of monstrous size, weighing from fifteen hun- 

 dred to two thousand pounds. There were several 

 on the field that I have no doubt exceeded the lat- 

 ter weight. They are almost uniformly of what is 

 here called a light chestnut ; or nearly as light as 

 what we call a sorrel color with us, with a light col- 

 ored mane and tail. They must be very slow, as 

 their common days' work at the plow i.i seven hours, 

 and they plow but one acre. For mere draft horses 

 they must be very valuable, but are good for noth 

 ing else. 



