174 



KEW ENGLAND f'ARMER. 



ApRii. 



of persons engaged in it. The Andover Advertiser 

 says that the aggregate vahic of boots and shoes 

 manufactured in this State is $37,«00,090, o-r 

 more than that of all the other States combined— 

 and far exceeding that of any other manufacture 

 in the Commonwealtli. About one-third of the 

 above amount is sliipped to New York, and the 

 remainder is sent to the South and West, to Cali- 

 fornia, the West Indies, South America. Australia, 

 the Sandwich Islands, England, and the European 

 continent. Lynn is more extensively engaged in 

 this business than any other town, making nearly 

 five milliong of pairs annually. Then come in 

 succession Danvers, S-toneham ami Graftan. In 

 the hitter town, a single raamifacturer uses one 

 hundred liuehels of shoe pegs every year. The 

 pegs used in this immense business are mostly 

 made in New Hampshire ; they are cut by ma- 

 chinery, and one firm manufiicturos fifty bushels 

 per day. Machinery is also nov/ used to a con- 

 siderable extent, for sewing and stitching the 

 leather. 



CARROTS vs. CORH. 



Mr. Editor : — Reading in No. 3 of the present 

 volume of the Farma\ the report of committees 

 on crops of the Kennebec Co. Ag.ricultural Socie- 

 ty, led to some thoughts about carrots. Which 

 is worth the most, an acre of carrots or an acre of 

 corn 1 I see Mr, May raised 199 bushels af eo.rs 

 of corn, which he reckoned at 50 cts. per bushel, 

 amounting to $99,50. He estimates the cost of 

 plowing, planting, hoeing and liarvesting, at 

 $2&,50, but makes no mention of the fodder. 



Capt. Foster raised on one-oighth of an acre 

 130 bushels of carrots, which be sold for two shil- 

 lings per bushel. This is after the rate of 1040 

 bushek per acre, which, at the price the Captain 

 sold for, amounts to the sum of $3-10,06. He es- 

 timates the cost at $10, making $80 per acre, 

 which I think is about right,, leaving a profit of 

 $260,00. Now, Mr. Editor, any one can niake 

 figures for themselves. I think carrots are profit- 

 able roots to raise. We can raise more of them 

 than any other root, and it is not so much woi'k to 

 raise them as naany people think it is,, till they 

 try a few. I have raised carrots for three ye;u-s, 

 and like them much. I raised GO bushels the past 

 year, and am feeding them to my cattle (10 in 

 numlier) one-half bushel per day, v,-hich is not 2 



?uarts apiece, and they do well on them and straw. 

 think 1 can winter a stock of cattle on c>at straw 

 (cut when the straw is about one-third turned) 

 and one-half peck of can-ots each a day, as well 

 as on second quality of hay. 

 — Maine Fanner. Jona. S. Lo.ngley. 



Benefits of Geological Surveys. — Three years 

 ago the Legislature of North Carolina made an 

 appropriation for a geological survey^of the St ite. 

 The discoveries of the first year developed the ex- 

 istence of cop])er and gold ores, drew to tlicin the 

 attention of capitalists, and have already iiKruased 

 the revenues of the State to five times the cost of 

 the whole survey. In the second year, s.-ams of 

 the purest bituminous coal, some of them iifteen 

 feet in thickness, extending through a region of 

 some forty-five square miles, rewarded their inves- 

 tigations. It is estimated that every thousand 

 acres of these seams will yield thirty millions of 

 tons of bituminous coal of the best quality. 



For tke New England Farmer. 



FARM IMPLEMENT FAIR. 



Mr. Emtok .— I had oceasi^m hiyt suisiiwes to ad-' 

 dress you respecting the introduction of the mow- 

 ing miichinc. It has occurred to me that t-lievo i» 

 a kindred sulyect to w) ich it may l>e well ta call 

 your attention. I observe that you free jU(Mitly no- 

 tice the imiirovements inagvieuitural iiu[)lem.ents^ • 

 and I consider this as something which gives pe- 

 culiar value to your truly cxeelteut paper. It is 

 an interesting inquiry, how can these new inven- 

 tions Ix; most successfully introduced, so as t-o be 

 properly appreciated by the farming community. 

 They are not to be seen at our agricultural ware- 

 houses, nor at our cattle shows, nor yet at the 

 Mechanic's Fair. We hear, indeed, that they are 

 to be found at the Crystal Palace, some two or 

 three hundred miles off, but for aught we know, 

 they may never be any nearer, and that may be 

 the first and last that we ever hear of them. Now 

 I would propose to meet this exigency, that we 

 have a Farm Implement Fair, in connection with 

 a practical exhibition of the mowing machine. 

 This movement may be thought to be a novel one, 

 but it is not more so than the Horse Fair at Spring- 

 field, and it is believed that it is not less impor- 

 tant. 



The proposition of holding a national exhibitron 

 of horses, in connection with the Hampden Agri- 

 cultural Society, was first made by George M. At- 

 water, in May last. A committee was then ap- 

 pointed to take the subject into consideration, as 

 the society did not deem the object of the exhihi- 

 tion as coaiing exactly within their sphere, and 

 out of the action of that committee has grown this 

 grand exhibition, whose objects have been so gen- 

 erally appreciated and forwarded by the press 

 throughout the country. 



The horse has been called the gi'eat civilizer of 

 man. That I deny. It was said with much more 

 truth, "Wherever a man comes, there comes revo- 

 lution. Man is the wonder-worker." The horse 

 is undoubtedly a noble animal, but he can do 

 nothing of himself. It is only when harnessed to 

 human inventions that he becomes efficient. It is 

 left to the skill and agtmcy of man to increase his 

 power, and make it available ; it is by man's con- 

 trol and efforts, that he is made to aid in the great 

 machinery of civilization. I certainly have no dis- 

 position to undervalue the capability of the horse, 

 and while it is admitted that he is important in 

 the progress of tlie arts, it cannot be pretended 

 that the genius and efforts of imm are less essen- 

 tial ; indeed, I think that the pre-eminence of our 

 rational nature over mere brute force, is clear and 

 rncontestible. Award then to man his just place 

 in the march of improvement, and let him stand 

 conspicuous in the great work of progress. 



If tlien there is nothing in the merits of the 

 cas(> why a Horse Fair should have the precedence 

 over a Farm Implement Fair, the question is» 

 whether the demand for the latter has Ivi^n oi* 

 can be supplied in any other way. I have already 

 stated that the implements in question are not to 

 be found at our cattle shows. The farming uten- 

 sils there exhibited, occupy but a small space. 

 They generally consist of a plow, hoc^ hay-cutter 

 and apple-parer, and are crowded into a cnnier or 

 six foot s(}uare. While every possible variety of 

 fruit is spread out in profusion, agricultural im- 

 plements form but a meagre and insipid ptvrt of 



