140 



THE FARMER^S MONTHLY VISITOR, 



MERRIMACK COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SO- 

 ClETr. 



JAMES WILSON, Pembroke, /'ifsWcnJ; 



GEORGE W. AESMITH, Franklin, I . PresuleJit ; 



Jeremiah Kimbai.i., Boscawcn, Secretari/ ; 



N.vth'l. B. Baker, Cnncord, TVensurer. 



Benjamin Whipple, Dmibarton, "| 



James Cochran, Northfield, Excculirc 



Nathan Walker, Warner, V committee. 



Silas Call, Boscawen, 



Jeremiah Pecker, Concord, J 



The annual exhibition of the MERRIMACK COUN- 

 TY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, will be at the West 

 Parish Village in Concord, on Wednesday 13th day of 

 October next, at 9 o'clock A. M. The following Com- 

 mittees have been appointed by the Directors on the sub- 

 jects assigned to them respectively. 



The several Committees will meet at 9 o'clock, A. M. 

 on the day of exhibition, and proceed in the performance 

 of their respective duties as soon as may be practicable. 

 Their Reports will be expected to be made to the Society 

 at their meeting for business at 3 o'clock, P. M. It is re- 

 spectfully susgestcd to the Chairmen of the several Com- 

 mittees that they would do well to think on the subject 

 committed to them previous to the day of exhibition, and 

 to arrange in their minds such general ideas as they would 

 wish to have appear in their Reports. The want of 

 thought previous, and the want of time at the exhibition, 

 have often rendered our Reports less interesting and in- 

 structive than they should be. " A word to the wise is 

 sufficient." 



The Ploughing Match will commence at 10 o'clock, 

 A.M. 



The following will be the order of the day. 



At 9 o'clock the Committees will meet and fill all va- 

 cancies and proceed in the performance of their duties. 



10 o'clock Ploughing Match. 



Address at the Meeting House. 



Choice of officers. 



Reports of Committees. 



The Hon. Isaac Hill has generously offered 20 sets of 

 his valuable agricultural paper as premiums, which will be 

 allowed to those who prefer them. 



JEREMIAH KIMBALL, Secretary. 

 On Viewing Farms. 

 SIMEON B. LITTLE, Boscawen, 



ENOS HOYT, Northfield, 



ISAAC VIRGIN, Concord, 



STEPHEN PINGREY, Salisburv, 



JEREMIAH H. WILKLNS, Pembroke, 



JOHN T.\YLOR, Franklin, 



HAZEN KIMBALL, Hopkinton, 



JOSEPH WHITNEY, Canterbury, 



JEREMIAH KIMBALL, Boscawen. 



On Ploughing Match. 



LEVI BARTLETT 

 GEORGE W. DOW, 

 ENOCH LITTLE, 

 BENJAMIN WHIPPLE, 

 ABRAHAM BROWN, 



On Working Oxen. 

 JAMES COCBRAN. 

 ABRAHAM BROWN, 

 HENRY FARNUM, 

 .lOHN COLBY, Jr. 

 REUBE.N JOHNSON, 



On 2 and 3 year old Steers. 

 ABR.\HAM BURB.\NK, 

 JESSE KIMBALL, 

 REUBEN WYMAN. 

 BENJAMIN Sl.MP.SON, 

 ALBERT C. A.MES, 



On Yearlings. 



joiix Ki!,Hrr,\. 

 BK\.M.ML\ rVKTF.R. 

 NF.IH-MIAII (()<;s\VELL, Jr. 



Warner, 



Northfield.' 



Northfield, 

 Hopkinton, 

 C^oncord, 



CVI 



I'UCKF.I 



Boscawen 



Boscawen 

 Loudon, 



siMi:c)N B. i.rn 



.1 ^^•• - '.|; ; Mi-fiH, 

 .^1 I,, ;li,,\ Uh. KERING, 



On Milch Cow 

 JOSIAH STEVENS, Jr. 

 CHASE FOWLER, 

 WILLIAM M. KIMBALL, 

 LIFE A. «AZELT1NE, 

 ENOCH COFFIN, 

 JEREMIAH PECKER, 



niie.Tnd3 ycei old 



,L, 



On Horses. 

 ENOS HOYT, 

 JOSEPH S. GERRISH, 

 N.\THAN WALKER, 

 TRUEWORTHY HILL, 

 JOSEPH C. SVVETT, 

 F. VV. COFFIN, 

 JOS. C. THOMI-SON, 



On Sheep. 

 JOHN JARVIS, 

 JOSHUA DARLING, 

 MOSES P. GRAY, 



Boscawen. 



Concord, 



Boscawen, 



Canterbury, 



Pembroke. 



Concord, 

 Hopkinton, 

 Boscawen, 

 Concord, 



Hopkinton, 



('oncord, 



Boscawen. 



Concord, 

 Hennikrr 

 Epson,, 



JOHN TAYLOR, Franklin, 



HENRY L. DODGE, Boscawen. 



On Swine. 



I.ABAN M. CHADWICK, Boscawen. 



HAZEN KIMBALL, Hopkinton, 



I'.NOCH H. PILLSBURY, Boscawen, 



HANNIBAL HAYNES, Canterbury. 



JEREMIAH GERRISH, Boscawen. 



On Ploughs. 



SAMUEL CHADWICK, Boscawen, 



BENJAMIN T. KIMBALL, Boscawen, 



ROBERT EASTMAN, Concord. 



STEPHEN PERKINS, Jr. Chichester, 



JOSEPH WHITNEY, Canterbury. 



R. H. AYER, 

 JAMES EATON, 

 THOS. J. FLANDERS, 

 PETER KIMBALL, 

 JOSEPH L. COUCH, 

 DAVID MORRILL, 



Hopkinton, 

 Salisbury, 

 Boscawen, 

 Canterbury. 



Concord, 

 Concord, 

 Canterbury, 

 Canterbury, 



ISAAC HILL, 

 JOSEPH LOW, 

 RICHARD GREENOUGH, 

 AMOS COGSWELL, 

 HARVEY CARTER, 



On Cheese. 



ZENAS CLEMENT, Concord, 



JONA. E. LANG, Concord, 



JOSEPH C. WEST, Concord, 



SAMUEL COFFIN, Concord, 



F. H. BOYDEN, Boscawei 



On Needle Work. 



FR.\NKLIN PIERCE, Concord, 



VV. W. ESTABROOK, Concord, 



ASA FOWLER, Concord, 



G. W. ELA, Concord, 

 ALBE CADY, Concord, 



On Fulled Cloth and Cassimcres. 



JEREMIAH H. WILKINS, Pembroke 



WM. H. GAGE, Boscawet 



SAMUEL EVANS, Concord, 



HOSEA FESSENDEN, Concord, 



BENJ. EMERY, Chichcsit 



IIUFUS MERRILL, 



On Blankets, Countenir 

 CHAS. H. PEASLEE, 

 II. H.CARROLL, 

 JOSEPH PILLSBURY, 

 SETH EASTMAN, 

 JACOB A. POTTER, 



Chichester 

 Concord, 

 Concord, 

 nd Coverlets. 

 Concord, 



Concord, 

 Boscawen, 

 Concord , 

 Concord. 

 On Linen. 

 CYRUS BARTON, Concord, 



SAMUEL MOORE, Loudon, 



KOBERT LANE, Sutton, 



R.H. AYER, HooksctI, 



STEPHEN AMBROSE, Concord. 



Muslin and Silk Hose. 

 IRA PERLEY, Concord, 



D. S. PALMER, ■ Concord, 



MOODY A. PILLSBURY, Boscawen, 



WM. P. HILL, Concord, 



THOMAS LITTLE, Boscawen. 



On Flannel. 

 GEORGE W. ELA, Concord, 



JOHN M. HILL. Concord. 



N.VTHAN P. AMES, Boscawen. 



D. M. CARPENTER, Chichester, 



SILAS CALL, Boscawen. 



On Leather, Boots and Shoes. 

 I)\NIEL K. FOSTER, Chichester, 



FARNUM COFFIN, Boscawen 



HOSEA FESSENDEN. Concord 



JOHN S. A. FRENCH, Boscawen, 



ENOCH CALL, Boscawen. 



On Silks. 

 JOSEPH ROBINSON, Concord 



WM. KENT, Concord 



THO.MAS D. MERRILL, Ensom 



RICHARD POTTER, Loudoil 



JOSHUA EMERY, Loudon. 



On .Articles of Special Improvement. 

 GEO. W. NESMITH, Franklin, 



D.WID MORRILL, Concord 



liDWIN MOODY, .Salisbury, 



Committee of An 

 GEORGE W. DOW, 

 JOHN JARVIS, 

 HENRY FARNUM, 

 BENJ. CARTER, 



Concord, 



S. S. DOW, 



UEUBEN JOHNSON, 



WM. H. GAGE, Boscawen: 



Marshals. 

 COL. JOSIAH STEVENS, Jr. Cnncord. 



COL. FREDERICK W. COFFIN, Northfield, 



MAJ. JONA. E. L;VNG, Concord 



Value of the Subsoil. 



Tlieve is much virtue in that mateiial directly 

 below the tipper soil in many parts of the coun- 

 try : we are not sure that the suhsoil, whether it 

 be hard pan, clay, admixture of clay, gravel or 

 sand, or clear sand, is not always valuable. The 

 idea of its uselessness or want of value is proba- 

 bly derived from the fact that on its first e.\po- 

 sure it is cold and lifele.ss, and, until e.vposed to 

 both a winter and a summer atmo.sphere, will 

 not beneficially operate upon the soil. Experi- 

 ence proves to us that after e.xposure the hardest 

 pan gravel will become fruitful — clayey sand up- 

 on alluvion ground often becomes fertile ; and 

 even the sand and gravel of the lightest soils 

 which are erroneously supposed to be so open as 

 to leach down the virtue tliat is near or may be 

 put upon the surface (for from such soils the am- 

 monia escapes upward from the increased power 

 of the 8un,and not downward) may be made highly 

 fertile with the aid of an incredibly small portion 

 of alumina. 



There are many swamps on which the vegeta- 

 ble matter, peat, muck or mud, lies at no great 

 depth, sometimes only ten inches, one foot to 

 eighteen inches. At the bottom of these is often 

 found a sharp white gravel, resembling what is 

 called sea sand. We do not think it likely that 

 the quality of this swamp sand is always the 

 same; but it is our opinion that all of it found 

 along the coast where the swamp does not rise 

 many feet above the level of the sea, will be 

 found to be a species of marl highly valuable as 

 a fructifier of the soils lying near these swamps 

 ami even upon the surface of the swamps them- 

 selves. 



A very intelligent gentleman, a subscriber for 

 the Visitor, of Hamilton in E.^sex county, Ms. (Mr. 

 ANTirAS Dodge) called upon us a few weeks ago, 

 and remarked that in consequence of advice 

 made by the Rev. Heniy Colman while visiting 

 him about five years ago" to make top-dressing of 

 the subsoil sand found at the bottom of swamps 

 on his premises at no very great distance below 

 the surface, he had made trial of it. The swamp 

 was a quagmire wherever there was any deptli of 

 soil : it was ditched and drained. The undersoil 

 of grey or white sand, dug from the ditches and 

 the bottom of the swamp, was spread upon the 

 surface : on exposure to the atmosphere it slack- 

 ed like lime. The first year the laud produced 

 well, and the second year the crop was still bet- 

 ler: he rai.sed upon the swamp good rye, and, 

 laid down to buy, it produced great crojis of 

 herdsgrass. Mr. Dodge has succeeded well in 

 reclaiming several pieces of low sunken swam]). 



National Society of Agriculture. 



Solon Robinson, E.-iq, a persevering farmer 

 who has .settled down in the wilds of North In- 

 diana and made himself abundant in wealth by 

 the growth in value of his soil, whoso interesting 

 contributions (or the Agricultural Press have ap- 

 peared monthly in the Albany Cultivator for the 

 last two or three years, has spurred on many dis- 

 tinguished citizens to the formation of a " Na- 

 tional Society of Agriculture" at the city of Wash- 

 ington. To curry into efiect this laudable under- 

 taking, Mr. Robinson travelled from Indiana to 

 Washington city, where he found every facility 

 for the object of his journey " most cheerfully af- 

 forded by rhc lion. Henry L. Ellsworth, Com- 

 missioner of Patents, in whom the country can 

 most truly boast a most decided friend of agri- 

 cultural improvement." 



The first meeting was called at the great en- 

 trance Hall of the ^new Patent Office, where the 

 meeting w.is called to order by Mr. Ellsworth, on 

 whose motion Mr. Robinson wasappointed Chair- 

 man, .lohn F. Uallan and .John A. Smith, Esqrs. 

 were appointed Secretaries, and 



The following Resolution was submitted by 

 Mr. Ellsworth, and after several gentlemen had 

 exiiressed their views very freely, it was unaui- 

 motisly 



Resolved, That the interests of Agriculture im- 

 periously require the co-opei'cition of its friends 

 tliroughout the Union, to concenlraie their efTorts 

 by the formation of a National Society, for the 

 liromotiou of National Industry, and 'ho elevate 

 the character and standing of llie cuUivalors of 

 .American soil." 



The following gentlemen were appointed a 

 committee to prepare the draft of a f'onstitutioii 

 for a National Society of iigriculturc, to be sub- 



