1853. 



NEW ENGLAND JtARMER. 



483 



The show of agricultural implements was not 

 large. There were Robinson's Montpelier plows, 

 and Taylor's Bristol plows. But the plows were 

 those of Ruggles, Nourse and Mason. There were 

 20 of these plows on the ground. There were two 

 of the best horse powers which I have seen, and 

 decidedly the best hay and corn cutter which Yan- 

 kee ingenuity has invented. This is the invention 

 of Daniels, and manufiictured at Woodstock. The 

 price is very high, f 18. I am certain it may be 

 sold profitably for $12. When it is sold for $10 

 or $12, it must take the place of all others as a 

 corn cutter. It cuts corn butts from half an inch 

 to 2 inches in length. Corn, cut more than from 

 one to two inches in length, may as well not be 

 cut at all. The use of corn for fodder is increasing, 

 and if the proprietors will not bo too grasping, 

 they will sell an immense number, and make more 

 money in the end. 



The oration was set down in the bill for 2 o'clock, 

 but they acted on the principle that it is two till 

 it is three. At three the orator tookthestand, and 

 a large assembly collected upon seats arranged up- 

 on a natural amphitheatre. But the clouds 

 threatened rain, and in the course of 15 minutes 

 the rain began to fall, and the audience began to 

 scatter, and in about 30 minutes, Dr. Wheeler 

 closed iiis beautiful and well written address. 



T will give you in few words some of its leading 

 thoughts. He began by paying a beautiful tribute 

 to the late Governor Paine, who recently died in 

 Texas on his way home to his native State. He 

 then imagined an assembly in ancient days, in 

 Egypt, Greece or Rome, and inquired what ap- 

 pearance it would have presented, and what would 

 have been the condition ofits masses, and compared 

 that condition with that of the assembly before him 

 He then proposed his subject — the relation of ag- 

 riculture to the growth and prosperity of the State 

 The spirit of traffic is cosmopolite, but the tiller of 

 the soil becomes attached to his home. He does 

 not buy his farm as so much stock in trade, but to 

 build a home for himself and family; and here he 

 builds a school-house in which to educate his chil- 

 dren, and a church in which to worship God. The 

 outward condition of the humanity of the common- 

 wealth depends upon the soil, and its ultimate 

 strength and security are derived from it — agricul- 

 ture is the power at home, which controls and 

 modifies our internal institutions. The home life 

 of the farmer is the ground-work of our character 

 — civil and domestic. The soil is held directly or 

 indirectly from the State. Its possessors do not 

 hold it for themseves alone; personal property may 

 vanish, but real estate remains for the life and se- 

 curity of the State. The landed tenures of Eng- 

 land constitute the strength of the State. The 

 landed tenures of our State are the pillar of its 

 strength ; as agriculture flourishes, so will the 

 State. We must be influenced by patriotism as 

 well as by other motives, to promote the advance- 

 ment of agriculture. The most intelligent and 

 cultivated men in Eur(jpe and in this country, have 

 ever been interested in agriculture, and lent their 

 influence to its promotion. These are a few of the 

 leading thoughts in this elegant discourse^ Pres- 

 ident Wheeler was fallowed by Governor Wright, 

 of Indiana, who spoke for a few moments in the 

 style of true western eloquence. The trotting 

 match, which was to have come off at 4 o'clock, 

 was prevented by the rain. Attorney Gen. Drum- 



mond and several gentlemen from Canada were 

 present, as well as several from New, York and 

 other States. Mr. Tucker, of tlie Albany Cultiva- 

 tor , and our \eneTah]e friend. Major B. Wheelet, 

 were of the number. It was estimated that there 

 were 15000 people on the ground. 



The rain is now falling copiously, and promises 

 to spoil the plowing tomorrow. A few teams 

 plowed this P. M. I left one of the Judges of 

 this, Washington county, holding one of Ruggle's 

 plows, and turning a furrow full 12 inches deep, 

 from which I judge thatyou will judge that he is a 

 Judge who will judge righteous judgment. 

 Yours truly, 



Montpelier, Sept. 13, 1853. j. R. 



POISONED VALLEY. 



A singular discovery has lately been made near 

 Batten, in Java, of a poisoned valley. Mr. Alex- 

 ander Loudon visited it last July, and we extract 

 a paragraph from a communication on the sub- 

 ject, addressed by him to the Royal Geographical 

 Society : — 



"It is known by the name of Guevo Upas, or 

 Poisoned Valley ; and following a path which had 

 been made for the purpose, the party shortly 

 reached it with a couple of dogs and fowls, for 

 the purpose of making experiments. On arriving 

 at the mountain, the party dismounted and scram- 

 bled up the side of a hill, at a distance of a mile, 

 with the assistance of the branches of trees and 

 projecting roots. When at a few yards from the 

 valley, a strong, nauseous, suffocating smell was 

 experienced ; but on approaching the margin, the 

 inconvenience was no longer found. The valley 

 is about half a mile in circumference, of an oval 

 shape, and about thirty feet in depth. The bot- 

 tom of it appeared to be flat, without any vegeta- 

 tion, and a few large stones scattered here and 

 there. Skeletons of human beings, tigers, bears, 

 deer, and all sorts of birds and wild animals, lay 

 about in profusion. The ground on which they 

 lay at the bottom of the valley appeared to be a 

 hard sandy substance, and no vapor was perceived. 

 The sides were covered with vegetation. It was 

 proposed to enter it ; and each of the party hav- 

 ing lit a cigar, managed to get within twenty feet 

 of the bottom, where a sickening, nauseous smell 

 was experienced, without any difficulty of breath- 

 ing. A dog was now fastened to the end of a 

 bamboo and thrust to the bottom of the valley ; 

 while some of the party with their watches in 

 their hands, observed the effect. At the expira- 

 tion of fourteen seconds he fell off his legs, with- 

 out moving or looking around, and continued alive 

 only eighteen minutes. The other dog now left 

 the party and went to his companion. On reach- 

 ing him, he was observed to stand quite motion- 

 less ; and at the end of ten seconds fell down ; he 

 moved his limbs after, and lived only seven min- 

 utes. A fowl was now thrown in, which died in 

 a minute and a quarter ; and another, which was 

 thrown in after it, died in the space of a minute 

 and a half. A heavy shower of rain fellduring 

 the time that these experiments were going for- 

 ward, which, from the interesting nature of the 

 experiments, was quite disregarded. On the op- 

 posite side of the valley to that which was visited, 

 lay a human skeleton, tlie head resting on the 

 right arm. The effect of the weather had bleached 



