ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 17 



advised the culture of roots. One Essex County farm, 

 he declared, was built on corn, carrots and ruta baga. 



1830—1840. 



The ox was still the farmer's chief reliance and he had 

 a kingly place of honor at the Cattle Shows. At Andover, 

 in 1831, the farmers made up a mighty team of about 

 150 yoke, a novelty in the Essex shows, though frequently 

 seen in other centers. The ploughing matches with 

 double and single yoke were the thrilling episodes of the 

 annual fairs. But the horse was coming into his own. 

 In 1829, Rufus Slocum of Haverhill appeared in the lists 

 with a team of three horses and ploughed "with skill and 

 dispatch, to wit in 45 minutes, and as well as the average 

 of ox-teams." His time was noticeably shorter. In 1832 

 premiums for horses were given for the first time, and 

 it was recognized with regret that insufficient attention 

 was being given to breeding. 



New inventions were calling for the horse each year. 

 In 1831 the report was made that a revolving horse rake 

 had been introduced lately in Pennsylvania and that a 

 man and a single horse with this machine could do the 

 work of six men with hand rakes. It was affirmed in 

 1835 that a boy with his horse rake could draw the hay 

 into windrows as fast as eight men could put it into 

 cocks. There were obscure allusions to a mowing ma- 

 chine in some sections of the country, drawn by a horse, 

 which could mow ten acres in a day, and a threshing 

 machine operated by a horse which equalled in one day 

 the work of a man with his flail in ten. 



By the year 1834 the wooden plough had yielded to 

 the superior efficiency of the iron. As early as 1820, 

 Mr. Howard had taken out his patents and made the first 

 iron ploughs, as he affirmed, in the Commonwealth. Many 

 other patents had been granted, but Howard was recog- 

 nized as the pioneer. The Committee on Agricultural 



