acliusetts. In the European countries they were 

 used with great moderation. One only in Great 

 Brit;iin, at Smithfield, was an annual one. The 

 Bath and West of England Society occasionally 

 exhibited a Show of their animals, and offered 

 premiums for Plougliing Matches. The American 

 farmers, from the nature of our institutions, and 

 the spirit of rivalry produced by them, were not 

 contented with si>igle Shows confined to local dis 



ricts. As soon as the spirit was excited in Berk- ""'>'> over-grown cattle fed at enormous expense, 

 ihire, it was copied by the parent Society — the old I ''"'■ "'*-' soon put an end to this folly, by declaring 

 Massachusetts Agricultural Society— and at great I 'hat wc would not give our premiums to the fat- 

 B.xpcnse, they provided the means, with the aid of ^^^^ animal, but to those which had the most prof- 



NEW ENGLAND FAREIER. 



Published by ions B. Risskll at the corner (d' I'oiigr 



id liindiill .Streets 



VOL. V. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1826. 



(onlr.iuci. troiii l.iiidnil Strcet|. — Thomas G. Fessenden, Kditor. 



No. 14~ 



OUlGi.Wl. PAPERS. 



smaller proportion of the beau monde. There is u 

 lery great falling olf in the multitudes from the 

 iFtVSt Iit4)0l*t on the iSViljfUOU (ffnttlrlcity, who e.\pected adayof hlhirity and lou dissi. 

 ,SftOtD. ' pation ; but flic visiters from the cnuntry huvc 



O.yr.lTC.lTTLE^RULLSS.BLLLC.ILVEs'''"'''" constantly increasing, while the more sober, 



and reflecting and intelligent citizens of Boston 



Commtllce. i liave continued, and will continue, to atford their 



Jou>- LowELt., LvKE Fjske, and Jereji. Baker valuable and rational countenance to institutions 



These public exhibitions for the encouragemen; P^^'ch are useful to the republic in cveri/ view, tlje 



of farmers originated in Great Britain, were soon'"'"*' important ol which, they are sensible, is the 



t\cr adopted in Frnnce, and in this country were ^'onviction which they produce on the minds of the 



first introduced by the Berkshire Society in Mas- ' Fn'mera, that their interests arc intimately blended 



with their oivn. 



Let us recur to the question, are these shows 

 becoming tiresome and indilTercnt to the Farmers? 

 We have no means of exciting them beyond our 

 prsmiums — we use none — no artificial, extraordi- 

 nary means. Yet our pens this year were entirely 

 full. The number and quality of the fat cattle has 

 exceeded those of former years, all the circumstan- 

 ces considered. Wc have had once, and once 



public benefactors, of an Annual Cattle Show at 

 Brightoii. The spirit, thus excited, could not be 

 lounded by local restraints, and there sprung up 

 jimilar associations throughout all New England, 

 [t is not our design at present to enter into the 

 nquiry. Whether they have, or have uot, been pro- 

 luctive of benetit to the farming interest. 



We confine ourselves simply to the fact, that a 

 Jeep interest has been excited by these Shows, 

 A'hether they have been of public benefit or nut. 

 I is a part of the constrtution of human nature, 

 hat excitement should be followed by a state of 

 ndifference, sometimes of disgust ; and it has been 

 illegeu, that such is the state of public feeling 

 .vith relation to these Exhibitions. 



It was even predicted the last year, that we 

 should never have another Exhibition at Brighton, 

 or if we should persist in the attempt, it would be 

 m entire failure. 



It is true, that whenever tlie Farmers shall cease 

 o feel an interest in these Shows, they must fall, 

 tnd they ought at once to cease, — their utility de- 

 pending entirely upon the zeal of those for whose 

 benefit they were designed. It is true also, that 

 the merchants and gentlemen of the metropolis, 

 who, with laudable spirit, first patronized this insti- 

 tution from motives of the most piaiseworthy char 

 acter, would naturally get tired of it. The novdty, 

 to them, was its prmcipal charm. But the great 

 question is, have the farmers lost their interest in it ? 

 So far is this from being true, v;e state from our 

 own careful examination, that the farmers, al first. 

 viewed these Shows with distrust. They did not 

 think them their own. They were jealous of the 



Gentlemen Farmers," as they unkindly called 

 them ; and the first Shows were supported princi- 

 pally by the Trustees of the Massachusetts Agri- 

 cultural Society, and by the educated men of the 

 city. This state of things has been chansrinu- from 

 year to year ; and the substantial yeomanry, tlie 

 nctual cultivators, have regularly increased their 

 lupport and enlarged their confidence. There are. 

 to be sure, fewer female visiters, and of course a 



itable flesh, and were fatted at the least expense. 



You are therefore no longer to expect a " Mag- 

 nus" and "Maximus," unwieldly animals, fed at 

 enormous expense. 



The bulls and bull calves were more numerous 

 and finer in all respects than in former Shows. — 

 They were from all pafts of the country within 

 rcacli of this exhibition. 



The report of the Hon. Mr Welles will show, 

 that in the department of cows, heifers, and small 

 stock, the show was superior to that of former years. 



V\^e have taken notice in the report, of the in- 

 terest exiiibited by the First Blagistrate of the 

 State in this Show, an example worthy of his offi- 

 cial and personal character. The great expense 

 he nmst have incurred, the inconvenience of send- 

 ing his domestics to such a distance, and the res- 

 pect he thereby evinced for these exhibitions, and 

 for the Society, whose Show he so much enrich- 

 ed, require our most sincere thanks. His only ob- 

 ject we are authorised to state was to enabje the 

 public to judge, whether our native stock had not 

 been improved by the cross of the short horned 

 breed of Great Britain. The fine ox, grass fed, 

 half Denton, exhibited by Mr White of Boylston, 

 showed their disposition to early maturity, while 

 the cow exhibited bj Gov. Li.nuol.n at Worces- 

 ter, proved them to be equal at least to our native 

 cattle as milkers. 



But were the proofs of the deep interest which 

 the farmers feel in these shows confined to the ex- 

 hibition of animals ? 



Take the working cattle and the ploughing 

 match, as tests. When we first began, we could 

 not fill our eight lots in the ploughing match with- 

 out the aid of Mr Parsons, Mr Prince, Mr Der- 

 by and Mr Quincy, who came forward and solely 

 ivith the view of encouraging the Show. 



How stood the case in 1820 ? Twenty-five yokes 

 of working cattle entered for the premium, from 

 Sutton in the West, to Medford in the East. Ten 

 withdrew from perceiving the superiority of their 

 rivals. Fifteen actually competed and we are 



assured by Gen. Derby, the chairman and his fel- 

 low practii al farmers, that the improvement was a 

 must decided one. 



In the ploughing match we had no less than 

 twonty ploughs actually employed, i\\ti\.ca.i\ of eight 

 uiiich constituted our whole number at the com- 

 mencement of this Shovv, of which three at leaet 

 were oWnea by the Trustees. These competitors, 

 this year, were from the counties of Norfolk, IVlid- 

 :J'\sex and Worcester — embracing a territory of GO 

 miles square. We congratulate the ancient coun- 

 ty of Mid.llesex, and the patriotic town of Con- 

 cord on their unexampled success. We know that 

 the Judges were practical farmers, excellent farm- 

 ers. The numbers of the lots only were given to 

 them — the names oi tiie competitors were not dis- 

 closed to them. We have understood that some 

 dissatisfaction was expressed by the Sutton farm- 

 ers, because they did not carry alt the preiiiums, 

 but they ought to know, that the Judges v;ere noc 

 in any degree influenced by local pr' j idices. They 

 had no nearer connection with the Concord Farm- 

 ers tlian with those of Sutton. 



The choice was in truth one of difficulty — the ' 

 ploughing was, all of it, excellent. But as citizens, 

 we must feel a pleasure in finding, and the liis-.p- 

 pointed candidates ought to share with us, that 

 pleasure, that good husbandry is not confined to 

 any one section of our country. 



If furtlier proof could be necessary to show the 

 zeal, which our respectable farmers feel in these 

 exhibitions, I would simply add, that the most re- 

 spectable farmers of Roxbury have been constant- 

 ly competitors ; and that tlie Hon. Mr Fiskk of 

 Waltintn entered the liets, managed his own 

 ploug'i, and though not successful as a competitor 

 owing to the extra length of time he took, yet ho 

 showed his skill and his conviction of the utiliiv <vf 

 these trials, by his entering as a competitor. We 

 hope we have shown, that if these Exhibitions fail, 

 it cannot be attributed to any defect of zeal in the 

 agricultural interest. 



No. I. 



The Committee appointed to awaril the premi- 

 ums for fat oxen, bulls, and bull calves, feel it 

 their duty to say, that the late Show was signally 

 rich in the descriptions of stock which came un- 

 der their cognizance. The fat cattle were very 

 fine, (never finer at this Show, all things duly con- 

 sidered), and it is a source of great pleasure to 

 the Committee, that they are able to award the 

 premiums to grass fed cattle only. 



They award the first premium of twenty-five dol- 

 lars, to II. Penniman, of New Braintree. for his 

 grass fed ox, weighing 'i.398 pounds — 7 years old. 



The second premium of twenty dollars, they 

 award to Aaron White of Boylston, for his grass 

 fed ox, (half Denton) weighing 2451 pounds — 6 

 years old. 



The third {»einium of ten dollars to II. Penni- 

 man for his grass fed ox, weighing 2198 pounds— 

 7 years old. 



The other o.xen offered for this premium were 

 very fine, as were the two oxen offered by Ward 

 N. Boylston, Esq. for exhibition only. 



The first premium for the best bull had been 

 awarded by the majority of the Committee, to His 



^ 



