522 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov 



tie anticipated danger!) W. Atchison, Saxon- 

 ville, exhibited the largest Isabellas I saw. The 

 bunches weighed a pound ! 



In the bird line there was, among others, a coop 

 of Ajlesburj ducks, owned by Wm. Bent, Cochit- 

 uate village. Also, an honorable hen with 18 

 chicks of g.»od size, hatched and raised up through 

 the usual perils without loss, at Mr. Buckmin- 

 ster's. 



The vegetables were represented by a great va- 

 riety of creditable specimens. 



I now left tlie tent to see the drawing. A 

 pair of oxen owned by Henry Rice, of Marlboro', 

 vei'y carefully driven by his farmer, moved the 

 load of rocks up the hill and seemed to make no- 

 thing of it. Other cattle showed good training, 

 and were quietly driven. 



The next business was to hear the Address. — 

 This was delivered in the Baptist Church, by Col. 

 Isaac II. Wright, a gentleman of some military 

 reputation. It was well pronounced, and if some- 

 what general in its character, it had the great 

 merit of brevity. 



The dinner was by J. B. Smith. It was abun- 

 dant and excellent, but had to be taken with a 

 heavy installment of the "peck of dirt" which 

 every man is bound to eat in his life-time. 



After the physical wants had been supplied, 

 the intellectual feast was introduced by some re- 

 marks of Mr. Buckminster. Mr. Train, the Dis- 

 trict Attorney, acted as toastmaster, and quite 

 happily called out the distinguished gentlemen 

 present. Speeches were made by Col. Ivers Phil- 

 lips, of Fitchburg, Hon. Tappan Wentworth, 

 Representative to Congress from the 4th District, 

 Hon. Charles Devens, late U. S. Marshal, and 

 Mayor Smith, of Boston. The Mayor made one 

 of his easy, off-hand speeches, drawing largely 

 upon what he had seen of the state of agriculture 

 during his recent travels through Europe and 

 Asia Minor. He spoke of the fifty thousand cav- 

 alry horses which he saw at Constantinople. — 

 Their living was nothing but a few quarts of 

 chopped straw and beans, fed to them in a bag. 

 Dr. Smith wonders that this fare for their ani- 

 mals is not adopted by Americans. He says the 

 Arab horses are spirited and beautiful, and their 

 principal food is beans. He predicts that the wild 

 grass fields will be superseded by smaller fields of 

 beans {!) grown as food for our animals. The 

 time may come, but some learned man must show 

 us how to teach the brutes to eat this new prov- 

 ender. An experiment or two has shown me that 

 one rather intelligent horse will "stand out" not 

 to '■'know bems !" 



I was obliged to leave the table at 4 o'clock, 

 and saw many other gentlemea present, from 

 whom good speeches wi.^re expected. Getting 

 aboard tlie express train at South Framingham, a 

 ride of two and a Ji'alf hours brought me safely to 

 the Connecticut river. The cool air of the journey 

 was especially grateful after the sweltering heat 

 and dust at Framingham. 



The Hampden County Agricultural Society 

 held its tenth annual show on the 27th and 28th 

 of September. Springfield was beautiful the sec- 

 ond day. The streets were well watered. The 

 sidewalks cleanly swept. The trees that line the 

 principal tl.orougfare were gay with their autum- 

 nal dyes. The air that came down from the 

 mountains to the North, imp.arted a bloom to 



many a healthy countenance, happy with antici- 

 pation of the day's festivities. 



There was great excitement in North Main St. 

 to witness the show of horses. About 100 Avere en- 

 tered ; among them was the famous Morrill horse, 

 which took the second prize at the " Great Horse 

 Show," last fall There was a noble animal 

 which has just been purchased by his present 

 owner, John A. Hemenway, of Suffield, Ct., for 

 $1000. There were several pairs of beautiful 

 carriage horses, whose movements attracted much 

 attentien. 



After the exhibition of horses was over, the 

 company formed a procession, with a fine band of 

 music, and repaired to the Baptist Church, to 

 hear the address by Prof. Nash. The address 

 was earnest and practical. It was commenced at 

 a late hour, and was unusually lengthy, but the 

 audience seemed interested and attentive. Prof. 

 Nash drew largely from his observations during 

 his recent travels in Europe, and gave many in- 

 teresting facts connected with British and Belgian 

 agriculture. He knew too much.of his subject to 

 deal in generalities, and in his remarks came close 

 home to his hearers. He showed the improvidence 

 of spending in this country twelve millions of dol- 

 lars for guano, as had been done this year, when 

 for one-twelfth part of that sum the same value 

 could be obtained and retained on the farm, or in 

 neighboring cities. He spoke of barns which he 

 knew of, where the escape of ammonia was suffi- 

 cient to make the strongest man weep ; and of 

 others that were sweet and wholesome. A little 

 dried swamp mud, or clayey loam, judiciously 

 sprinkled, made the difference, and saved great 

 value to the farmer. 



After the address, the Society marched, with a 

 very good will, (3 o'clock,) to Cooley's Hotel, 

 where a first rate dinner was served to each guest. 

 When the substantials had been disposed of, the 

 President, Mr. Brewer, made a few remarks, in 

 which he alluded to the first cattle show in the 

 State, 45 years ago. It was that of the venerable 

 Berkshire Society, which, it seems, commenced 

 the good work. 



The President now introduced to the company 

 Dr. S. Reed, of Pittsfield, a member of the State 

 Board of Agriculture. Dr. Reed spoke of horses. 

 Mr. John Eden, of Northampton, gave a senti- 

 ment. Mr, W. C. Goldthwait, a teacher Irom 

 Westfield, spoke of having had but little experi- 

 ence in farming, but he had done something at 

 trimming among suitable apple tree sprouts. Mr. 

 G. urged that instead of money premiums, it might 

 be better to award useful and substantial articlel! 

 He spoke of being present at a fair where the pre- 

 miums were of this description, and were arranged 

 on a table in front of the desk in the church, and 

 the fortunate recipients were called out to take 

 them. 



Prof. Nash spoke of the attention and kindness 

 he uniformly received in England, of the good 

 feeling there existing towards Americans, and 

 how impossible it would be to bring about another 

 war with England. These remarks called up Mr. 

 Eden again, who was an Englishman. He thank- 

 ed Mr. Nash very feelingly for his favorable men- 

 tion of his countrymen. He was certain that the 

 more the English became acquainted with Ameri- 

 cans, the more they would esteem them. 



Rev. Dr. Osgood made a few pleasant remarks. 



