HAMPDEN SOCIETY. 179 



many ladies to add to the excellence of the show, not intended 

 for premium. Such disinterestedness is certain to be appre- 

 ciated. 



The bread, for which premiums were awarded, appears, from 

 the written statements, to have been fermented with yeast. This 

 is the tenor of the old way, and for anything the committee know 

 to the contrary, yeast may be the best leaven. It is presumed 

 that there may be improvements in this respect by every lady, 

 who is 



" Happy in this, she is not so old 

 But she may learn ; happier than this. 

 She is not bred so dull but she can learn." 



Dr. Gregory, in his Outlines of Chemistry, says, that yeast 

 causes a loss of one sixteenth part of the flour, that is, of one 

 ounce in the pound. He proposes to avoid this loss by the use 

 of carbonate of soda, which has proved satisfactory; equally 

 good bread is obtained, and there is no loss. The committee 

 suggest a trial of the proposed substitute. 



In respect to butter and cheese, the question may be put 

 to the farmers' wiv^s and daughters, Will you make a great 

 deal more of the same sort ? Will you do yourselves and our 

 good old Commonwealth the honor to cause it to be said that 

 Massachusetts makes her own butter and cheese ? Your grand- 

 mothers and great-grandmothers, in 1787, made enough and 

 had some left for exportation. The home supply of breadstuff's 

 in Massachusetts does not keep pace with the increase of her 

 population. The production falls two millions of bushels be- 

 low the whole amount required for consumption. Will the 

 farmers' wives and daughters look to this? May not the west- 

 ern portion of the State, in which agriculture is the leading in- 

 terest, greatly increase its production of breadstuff's ? There is 

 already cheap transportation for produce, by railroads, to the 

 larger towns and cities. It will pay. Much has been done ; 

 more can be done by agricultural societies, agricultural periodi- 

 cals and books. Scientific culture is growing in favor. It may 

 accomplish the work of making Massachusetts independent of 

 the farms and farmers of our sister States. Scientific culture 

 will be found the most economical and the most profitable. 



