100 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



HAMPSHIRE:, HAMPDEN AND FRANKLIN Aft- 

 RICULTURAL. SOCIETY. 



. [Extracts from the Report of the Committee on the 

 state of the Cattle Show, generally.] 



In making a Report of tlie result of their ex- 

 amination of the various manufactures, the Com- 

 mittee take pleasure in saying, that the articles 

 presented were much more numerous and of much 

 better quality than those exhibited on any former 

 occasion, for several years past. And it is grati- 

 fying to be able to state, that there has been a man- 

 ifest improvement over former exhibitions ill the 

 quality and finish of the articles shown — though 

 in the item of blue and other dressed cloths, there 

 is a great deficiency in quality. 



Flannels, floor-carpet?, heartli rugs, woollen 

 counterpanes, rose blankets, linen dla|>ers and 

 sheetings, were of excellent quality. 



The butter and cheese was of fine flavor ; one 

 lot of cheese from the dairy of Col. Gardiner 

 J>;oh;iiooii urcuii way, deserves particular uuiice 

 for its superior quality, and mode of manufacture. 

 A letter inn-elation to it, having accompanied the 

 cheese, and setting a good example for all others 

 to follow, the object of such exhibitions being not 

 merely to show a particular sample, but to commu- 

 nicate the way improvements are made, that oth- 

 ers may derive a benefit from their experimen s. 



The Silk department was superior to that of 

 any former anniversary in this county, and is a 

 sure evidence that the silk cause is rapidly ad- 

 vancing within the limits of the society, })articu- 

 larly in the town of Ctimmington, where more silk 

 is manufactured than in any other town. 



The raw and reeled and manufactwrcd article 

 exhibited by Mr Austin Cobb of Cummingion, 

 was of excellent quality, and greater in quantity 

 than were ever before exhibited here. 



The raw and reeled silk exhibited by !\1r '! im- 

 othy Smith of Andierst, would do credit to any 

 county, or any society. 



The silk hoisery by Miss Sophia Dickinson of 

 Hatfield, Miss Norton and Mrs Kingham, and 

 Sewing silk by Mrs Tucker, all of Cunnningtcn, 

 were of superior quality. 



Mrs N. Hartshorn, of Northampton, exhibited 

 Bpecimena of the greaiest quantity of cocoons, and 

 of excellent quality. 



Were we to judge of the silk business from what 

 has been now exhibited, the time cannot be distant 

 when every family might clothe themselves in 

 silk of their own manufactute, instead of paying 

 sixteen or seventeen millions of dollars annually to 

 foreign nations for this one article. 



The legislature of this State have granted a 

 bounty for seven years on cocoons, reeling and 

 throwing of silk, which will pay all the expense of 

 feeding the worms, and of performing the reeling 

 and throwing, so that- the silk will be a clear gain 



to the family in which tfie business is, or ought to 

 be done, and through which our silk factories are 

 to be supi)lied. And so important is this subject 

 becoming, both as a matter of production and 

 manufaciiire, that the attention of the most en- 

 lightene<l men, as well as the attention of state 

 legislatures and of Congress, has been directed to it. 



The Committee noticed a mammoth pumpkin, 

 and a squash weighing sixtysix pounds, the pro- 

 duct seed being brought from the Mediterranean, 

 and raised in the garden of Mr VVhitmarsh of 

 Northampton. 



There was also some large sugar beets from the 

 garden of Mr Apthrop of Northampton, producing 

 at the rate of i\(^nr\y forty tons to the acre. 



A machine for cutting potatoes and other vege- 

 tables for cattle, the invention of Mr Abel Wil- 

 liams of Ashfield, attracted great attention, and it 

 is thought may be of great use. 



In respect to the animals, the Committee will 

 say generally, thai mey were more numerous and 

 finer than on ordinary former exhibitions. And 

 on cows, heifers and cattle for the stall they regret 

 that the rules of the society did not allow them to 

 award more premiunis. 



Several fine bucks were shown, but no lots of 

 ewes. Swine better than las: year, but might bo 

 improved by crossing the breed. 



The subject of Agriculture is of vastly more 

 importance than the mere term imports ; and the 

 annual shows ought not to be considered as in- 

 tended for or confined to the farmers alone. And 

 here the Committee feel comj)elled to remark, that 

 a comjtarison with similar societies in the neigh- 

 boring counties, places us decidedly in the back 

 ground. 



A prominent member of this society, and adis- 

 tinguisiied public man in this county, now no more, 

 once remarked that "the mi)mentyou pass the lines 

 o( the county on the east and west of the Connec- 

 ticut river, you feel that yo\i have entered another 

 district" — the neatness of the farms, the excel- 

 lence of the fences, the absence of brush in the 

 highway — all Told that thrift was there — and an 

 examination uf the stock and (ai'ming i(iipU>inents, 

 and a nearor view of the flomestic arrangements 

 showed that the neatness which prevailed without, 

 was but the conscfpience, or the accomplishment 

 of the neatness and order and system and comfort 

 and thrift which reiL'ned within. 



The old county of Ham|'shire was formerly no- 

 ted, almost to a proverl), for being in point of beau- 

 ty, fertility of its soil, and the morality of its pop- 

 ulation, one of the fmest counties in the country, 

 and unsuri)assed in its general agricultural advan- 

 tages by any one in New England. 



x\nd while our neighbors in the adjoining coun- 

 ties, with soil far inferior to ours, and possessing 

 far less natural advantages, are outstripping us in 



