184 



St. George's Ploughing Match.— Fly Meshes. Vol. VIII. 



she was, brought into the field by a couple 

 of small mules, and attended by every dis- 

 advantage ; and then was the time for her 

 competitors to triumph ! This reminds me 

 of the boy who, wiien he had been beaten 

 by another lad, cried out, " Ah, I knov^? ^I 

 could beat him, if his eyes were knock'd out." 



Hear what the committee say: — "The 

 Centre-draught plough of D. O. Prouty, was 

 not in a fit state for"/«ir trial, having been 

 much used, greatly worn, and very dull." 

 And yet, the noble implement could not be 

 prevented from taking a premium, after her 

 eyes had been knock'd out! for she was 

 awarded a copy of the Farmer's Cabinet for 

 one year. I once knew a horse, which could 

 never be overcome in the race, until his in- 

 liuman owner had consented to take a bribe 

 and over-weigh him, by which his shoulder 

 was slipped ; the rider afterwards declaring, 

 that even tlien, he found it harder to make 

 him lose, than he had ever done to make 

 him win. And well they might fear, seeing 

 that she had beaten the winning plough 

 three times in succession, and most of the 

 others twice over, but a few days previous, 

 compelling them to humble to her at Vv' il- 

 mington, "Baltimore county, and Prince 

 George's, Marlborough, and carrying ofl' tlic 

 three'' first premiums— a new plough, a sil- 

 ver o-oblet, and a silver ice spoon, with the 

 greatest ease. Now I have no doubt the 

 judges placed the plouohs according to their 

 merits, but I would take leave to ask, where 

 was the justice in bringing a plough forward 

 for competition in so very unfit a state! 



But all this must be rectified at the next 

 meeting of St. George's Society, when just 

 such a plough as that which took tlie above- 

 mentioned premiums, and made sucli admi- 

 rable work as that which is chronicled in 

 the seventh volume of the Cabinet, page 

 190, by Mr. John Jones, will be exhibited 

 under very different circumstances, and it 

 is believed, with far different results. And 

 will you, sir, oblige me by permitting the 

 following extract from Mr. John Jones' ac- 

 count ot^the ploughing match at Port-Penn, 

 on tlie 14th of May, lS42, to re-apoear in 

 your pages, and oblige your sincere friend, 



X. r^^.v, io,o James Pkddeii. 



Dec. 25th, 1813. 



P. S. Dr. Noble's extraordinary yield of 

 ^jieat — see page 153, of Cabinet for De- 

 cember — is mainly attributable to the Cen- 

 tre-draught plough, witli which the land for 

 that crop was turned, by that best of plough- 

 men, Mr. James Bones, who, with a pair of 

 horses, ploughed 15 acres in seven dnys 

 with a mass of vegetable matter growing 

 on it, that bade defiance to every other 

 plough in the country; Mr. Bones himself i 



finding it impossible to go through it, until 

 he had obtained the use of the Centre- 

 draught plough of Mr. Philip Reybold, jr., 

 which turned and buried the whole, so that 

 not a vestige of it remained to be seen ; a 

 perfect spade-labour business. And it was 

 on this occasion that Mr. Bones observed, if 

 he had an interest in the plough, he would 

 engage to sell 2,000 of them a year. J. P. 



" Each of tlie ploughmen entered on his 

 sepai'ate land, and all performed their work 

 well : but the land ploughed by the Centre- 

 draught plough, was the best done that I 

 ever saw. It was ploughed hither-about, 

 and so neat and true was the work per- 

 formed, that if a line had been stretched 

 across from tlie double furrow, and including 

 it, there could not have been a variation of 

 two inches, either in the width of the fur- 

 row, or height thrown, including also the 

 clearing furrow, which was the best done in 

 the whole ; for so straight was the sod laid 

 and evenly guagcd, that the open furrow 

 was just the width of the share and bar, 

 and no more ; and most elegantly finished. 

 Notwithstanding all this, the judges gave 

 the award to the Concave plough; alleging, 

 that if the work had been done by the Cen- 

 tre-draught ploughman, it would Imve been 

 better performed ! A strange award indeed." 

 Signed, John Jones. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Fly Meshes. 



The July number of the Saturday Maga- 

 zine, de^-cribes a very simple method of ex- 

 cluding flies from apartments. The appara- 

 tus is so simple and cheap, that it may per- 

 haps induce some of the readers of the 

 Cabinet to make the trial and give the re- 

 sult publicity. 



It is simply to suspend a net with meshes 

 an inch square, made of light coloured thread, 

 to the outside of the window, and although 

 the meshes may be large enough to allow 

 several flies with expanded wings to pas.s 

 through at the same moment, yet from some 

 inexplicable dread of venturing across the 

 rnesh-work, thoy will be effectually excluded. 

 Or a substitute for a net may be employed, 

 by stretching threads across both vertically 

 and horizontally, and fastening to small nails 

 driven into the window frame. 



It is said to be much used in Italy, where 

 from the heat of the climate, flies are very 

 abundant and troublesome, and with perfect 

 success. 



For this plan to succeed, it is essential that 

 the light enter the roomy'<-o??z one side only, 

 for if there bo an opposite or side-window 

 the flies pass through without scruple. Z. 



