HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY. 335 



rendered insensible, he would be a passive victim in the 

 butcher's hands. This humane custom of knocking him on 

 the head, before cutting his throat, is rapidly gaining ground 

 in our country. May it supplant the barbarous practice of 

 plunging the living hog into boiling water, and even scraping 

 off his bristles and disembowelling him while yet sensible. 



Respectfully submitted, 



J. W. BoYDEN, Chairman. 



Compost Manures. 



Two entries were made ; one by William P. Dickinson, to 

 whom was awarded the first premium, of eight dollars; the 

 other, by Royal W. Smith, to whom was awarded the second 

 premium, of four dollars. 



Your committee were in doubt how to award these pre- 

 miums. Had there been two premiums of eight dollars each, 

 we would have awarded one to each competitor, with a "good 

 will ;" for we consider them both highly meritorious, and about 

 equally so. We say to them both, " Go on, you will be re- 

 warded, and you will benefit your neighbors. You are fast 

 finding out how to raise corn at a diminished cost. We see 

 distinctly, and beyond the possibility of a mistake, that the 

 corn on these fields has cost you but about half as much as the 

 corn on many fields in your neighborhood; and we confidently 

 believe that by means of your composts you are not only not 

 abusing your soils, but are essentially amending them for long 

 years to come. When all farmers will manage their lands as 

 you are managing yours, then will come the golden age of 

 agriculture, and you may enjoy the satisfaction of feeling that 

 you have contributed to usher it in." 



Mr. Smith's mode of composting manures has been tested 

 for a longer time than Mr. Dickinson's, and he has this year 

 grown a larger crop with it. For these considerations, we 

 were inclined to award him the first premium. But Mr. Dick- 

 inson has raised a crop of fifty or more bushels per acre, on 

 eight acres of land, which was so covered with moss, and so 

 unpromising in all respects, that few men would have said that 



