no 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



OCT. 6,1848. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



Boston, Wednesday, October 5, 1842. 



ESSEX tOUiNTY CATTLE SHOW. 



Thie was lield at Andover on Wednesday last, and in 

 most departments was an unusually fine exhibition. The 

 day was fine, and the concourse of people was greater 

 than we have witnessed in almost any past year. This 

 fact speaks well fur the cause of Agi-iculture in the 

 county. It shows that the people aie awake to the 

 subject. 



We are not, in Essex, stock raising farmers; and our 

 show of animals, especially young animals, is not equal 

 to those of inosl societi^'s in the interior. Of bulls we 

 have enough exhibited, and some of them are good — very 

 good. Our milcii cows, loo, compare well with those 

 of other places. Sut in young stock, generally, we are 

 deficient. In swine we have soinelinies dori« well, but 

 the premiums are so small that they will not pay for the 

 trouble of Ciirrying the hogs to the place of exhibition. 

 Last wcfk very few were shown, and those all were 

 from the town in which the show was held. One soli- 

 tary lamb was the solo representative of the wool-bear- 

 ing tribe. Our working oxen may have less beauly 

 than those exhibited where stock is raised, but in point 

 of size, training, and the useful qualities of working cat- 

 tle, we have never seen those surpassed that appeared 

 on the ground at Andover last week. 



The show of fruits, flowers and vegetables was highly 

 gratifying, as was that also of domestic majiufactures. 



But the part of the show in wliicli we took most inie- 

 rest, was the_ plowing match. About iwentyfive ox 

 teams entered the lists — twelve, we think, were double 

 teams — i. e. had two yoke of oxen and a driver; and 

 one had a yoke of oxen and a horse, with a driver. The 

 others had each a single yoke of oxen, and the plowman 

 drove. The land allotted to each d'luble team was one- 

 sixth of an acre; that to a single team one-eighth. The 

 sward of the land was brittle, and besides many fast 

 rocks, numerous small ones troubled the plowmen ex- 

 ceedingly. There was no opportnnily here to show the 

 speed, and power of the teams, but their training was 

 well exbibitid — and the sirength and skill of the plow- 

 men were brought 'to a severe test. The day was warm, 

 and we never saw^a more sweaty set oi men than these 

 five and twenty fiiowmen were, about the time of finish- 

 ing their work. Vhe work was well done by nearly 

 every plowman there — excepting that the swingle teams 

 generally did not plow deep enough. The Society re- 

 quire these teams to plow five inches deep. The plows 

 were guaged so that in free and easy land, such as is 

 usually taken for a plowing match, they probably would 

 have run five inches deep or more ; but here the fur- 

 rows loohtd less than that. Would not the Society do 

 well to require single teams to plow deeper — say 6 or 

 6 1-2 inches.' They now encourage shallow plowing. 

 The ground was so rocky that many of the teams were 

 near an hour in finishing their work. 



Besides the above, theie were fjur horse teams, of 

 two horses each, the plowman managing them. In this 

 rocky land they did less well than the ox teams. 



Of 28 plows u<ed on the field, we noticed 15 made by 

 Prouty & Mears, 10 by Ruggles, Nourso & Ma.son, 2 by 

 Charles Howard, and one Pike plow. So many circum- 

 stances besides the merits of the plow itself, come into 

 the account in determining who deserve the premiums 

 for plowing, that the fact that the plows from one maker 

 take either more or less premiums than those from anoth- 

 er, is not decisive of their respective merits Th 



however, is not a method of testing that should be en- 

 tirely set aside, provided it be extended through several 

 years and to the trials in several counties. Were com- 

 mittees to report the name of the maker of each plow 

 used, there would soon be a record from which the com- 

 parative success of the plows could be learned. Such a 

 report was made at Andover, by the chairman of the 

 commitiee on double teams, J. W. Proctor, Esq. The 

 work of each team, whether successful in obtaining a 

 premium or not, was minutely described — and the re- 

 port was vastly more valuable than any other we ever 

 heard. We hope the esample set by this commitiee 

 will be copied in future years, and that all useful facts 

 and hints will thus be put upon record. 



One remark made by the committee on double teams, 

 we were pleased to hear, viz : thai the furrows turned 

 by one of the plows, though laid flat, were cracked 

 much. This the committee said, was not named as a 

 fault — but in ihe opinion of some ofthem, it was an ex- 

 cellence. This opinion we think correct, and we were 

 glad to hear it advanced. 



The trial of working oxen we were unable to witness, 

 as we were also the trial of plows. We learn that seve- 

 ral made by Prouty &, Mears, and several manufactured 

 by Ruggles, Nourse Ac Mason, were entered for trial, 

 and that the committee made some progress in their 

 work, but were unable to complete it that day, and ad- 

 journed to Tuesday (yesterday; to finish their labors. 

 We are glad that they show this disposition to do iheir 

 work thoroughly. Had we have known in season that 

 the work would be so faithfully performed by the com- 

 niiitee, we would have furnished them with one of How- 

 ard's plows for trial by the side of the others. 



The Howard plow has been successful at the Essex 

 plowing matcli the hist two seasons. Last year there 

 were but two of this make out of the seven used by "the 

 sinde teams, and those two took the second and third 

 premiums This year two of Howard's only were found 

 among the eleven drawn by bingle teams, and one of 

 them took the first premium. These facts are certainly 

 favorable to the 'Howard plow. 



A good dinner for the occasion was provided under a 

 tent, where two or three hundred partook — and among 

 them were many ladies. Hon. L. Sallonstall, President 

 of the Society, made an animated and appropriate speech. 

 Hon. Daniel P. King, the Secretary, and C. A. Andrew, 

 Esq., of Salem, made a few pleasant remarks — when 

 the Society adjourned to the meeting house, and listened 

 to a very good, practical address by Hon. Allen W. Dodge, 

 of Hamilton. This address will be published in the 

 Transactions of the Society, and then we shall willingly 

 i give it more extended notice. 



This Society multiplies its benrfus far beyond What is 

 usual with other societies, by publishing annually in 

 pamphlet form, all its transactions, and circulating them 

 among its members and others interested in agriculture. 

 We should do good service were we to influence other 

 societies to copy the example of Essex in this respect 



PIGS AND PORK. 



We have heard that 1.^0') " passengers" came down 

 from Albany on the Western Railroad on Friday last. 

 They were brought at $8 per ton. These travellers do 

 not make their appearance in our streets, but we pre- 

 sume that they exhibited themselves in Brighton on 

 Monday. Not only bipeds, but the four-legged and 

 bristled come from the Hudson to us in a night. Shoals 

 will be low in our market, and pork too. 5 and 5 1-2 

 cents is as much as the dealers are willing to pay for our ' 

 best northern hogs We cannot afford to raise for this. 



We have no disposition to complain of rail roads — 

 they are a pw/»/ic benefit ; but many New England far- 

 mers will for some lime suffar by competition opened to 

 the New York and the more distant farmers. We shall 

 be obliged to change in part our articles of production. 

 Those which are perishable and difficult of transporta- 

 tion, must claim our chief attention. 



CRANBERRIES. 



We have recently spoken of these as very scarce in 

 this vicinity. On Monday morning, we saw for the 

 first time this year, a considerable quantity in the mar- 

 ket. These were brought from the neighborhood of 

 Providence, and sold by the quantity for $2 25 per 

 bushel. 



THE CONNECTICUT FARMER'S GAZETTE. 



This useful and good paper, edited by Joseph Wood, 

 and published by Wm. Storer, Jr., at New Haven, Ct._ 

 has been changed from a weekly to a semi-monthly 

 journal, at $1 per year. We like its appearance and 

 wish it success. 



PLANTING FRUIT TREES ON THE SIDES OF 

 HILLS. 



Dodart first observed that trees pushed their branches 

 in a direction parallel to the surface of the earth. If a 

 tree stands on a steep, it pushes both towards the hill 

 and towards the declivity ; but on both sides it still pre. 

 serves its branches parallel to the surface. As there is 

 an attraction between the upper surface of leaves, and 

 light, (says Dndart,) I am also persuaded, though not 

 equally certain of it from experiment, that there is an 

 attraction of the same nature between the under surface 

 of leaves and the surface of the earth. This I consider 

 theciiuse of the phenomenon. 



I had long observed that the most fruitful orchards 

 and the most fertile trees, are those planted on a declivi- 

 ty, and the steeper it is, though not quite a precipice, 

 the more fertile will they prove. 



It is well known that the spreading of trees always 

 renders them fruitful. On a plain, however, they in- 

 cline to shoot upwards; and therefore art is called in by 

 skillful gardeners, and applied in various ways to check 

 their perpendicular, and to promote their lateral growth. 

 But this point, which can only be gained on a plain by 

 art, is obtained on a declivity by nature. There a tree 

 loses its tendency to shoot upwards, and in order to pre- 

 serve its branches parallel with the surface, is constrain- 

 ed to put them in a lateral direction. 



Hence an important rule in the choice of orchards and 

 gnrdens.— Selected. 



ij'ThiH'sday, November 24th, has been appointed for 

 Thanksgiving in Massachusetts. 



APPLES. 

 The crop of these is abundant, though the fruit is 

 more wormy than usual, and many varieties not as large 

 and fair as in most seasons. 



It is an unfortunate thing for fools, that their preten- 

 sions should rise in an inverse ratio with their abilities, 

 and their presumplion with their weakness; and for the 

 wise, thill diffidence should be the companion of talent, 

 and doubt the fruit of investigation. — Lacon, 



If there be a pleasure on earth which angels cannot 

 enjoy, and which they might almost envy man the pos- 

 session of, it is the power of relieving distress. If there 

 be a pain which devils might pity man for enduring, it 

 is Ihe death-bed reflection that we have possessed the 

 power of doing good, but that we have abused and per- 

 verted it to purposes of ill — Ibid. 



