FARMS. Gl 



high and the necessity of more thorough cultivation so appar- 

 ent, it is of the first importance to obtain the best implements 

 for performing the work of the farm, and the most approved 

 machinery for saving the cost of it. The horse rake, which 

 but a few years ago was regarded with ridicule, is now almost 

 indispensable. The mower and reaper, though not yet fitted 

 for common use, will, in an improved form, be of invaluable 

 benefit and saving to every large farmer. The subsoil or subsod 

 plough, once having small favor, is now fast gaining friends and 

 advocates by its usefulness. Other improved implements are 

 brought into notice by the inventors or sellers of them ; and 

 we recommend the examination and trial of them wherever 

 they can be had. 



"We believe that a new impulse has been given to agri- 

 culture among us by the formation of our society. By its 

 meetings, shows, premiums, and reports — by the intelligence 

 it combines and diffuses — by the enterprise of its leading mem- 

 bers — by the improvements it has suggested or made in the 

 quality of stock and swine — it has fully justified its existence 

 and merited the encomiums it receives from every quarter. 

 It is instrumental in inducing men of wealth and energy to 

 remove from the cities into the country — men who, by their 

 means and efforts, contribute largely towards carrying forward 

 the noble art which feeds the world. It is doing much in 

 redeeming agriculture from the charge of empiricism, and 

 advancing it, through its transitional states, towards the char- 

 acter of a perfected science. 



Such are some of the reflections suggested by our recent 

 observations. There is no evidence that the value of agricul- 

 tural pursuits in Norfolk county has depreciated. On the con- 

 trary, it may safely be asserted, that, taking the whole body of 

 farmers together, there has been no time within our remem- 

 brance when their labor was better paid, or enabled them to 

 enjoy more of the comforts of life, or to give a better educa- 

 tion to their children. A very few get rich ; fewer still abso- 

 lutely fail ; while the many support themselves and families in 

 all the essentials of comfort and respectability. Can more be 

 said of any other calling ? 



We consider it to be within the scope of our commission to 



