65 



early production in tlic month of May, is an unheard of novel- 

 ty, and almost incredible. Of the many wonders we, who 

 have the good fortune to live in the nineteenth century, have 

 been the witnesses, we venture to think that to eat bread, 

 which is the results of the 1880 harvest in May, 1880, is not 

 one of the least marvelous." 



Before leaving this subject, we cannot but notice a new kind 

 of bread, which, however, will not take the place of wheat bread 

 or probably compete with it in Essex County, at present. I 

 quote from the Confectioner's Journal of November, 1880 : 

 " There has been lately turned out at Milan, a new kind of 

 bread, made with blood from raw flesh. It is said to be a pre- 

 ventive of scurvy, and to do away among peasants with all 

 desire for alcoholic drinks. The difficulty of blood coagulation 

 being overcome, the " blood bread" will last for years. Twen- 

 ty per cent, of its ingredients consists in blood ; its cost is 

 only two-thirds of a cent per loaf, and it is more nutritious 

 than the ordinary loaves at one cent each." 



Bread, with Honey, or a little preserve, jelly, or even a 

 pickle, do not detrtjct but rather adds to its merits, as your 

 committee took occasion to test, thereby adjusting their awards 

 knowing the quality of articles of which they spake. 



The Honey exhibited was very fine, the past season having 

 been found by the bees to have been a good one for storing 

 their choicest sweets, and by their keepers also, when they 

 realized how much surplus honey could be removed from their 

 hives. 



Our county is capable of producing a much greater amount 

 of honey than it now does, and it should be encouraged to do 

 so by our Society, in offering liberal premiums for the best 

 methods of obtaining it, our swamps and woods being filled 

 with wild flowering shrubs and our meadows with " white 

 clover," while our roadsides and hill tops are dyed with the 

 golden hues of the " golden rod," nearly all of which, capable 

 of making the best of honey, wastes its sweetness in the dewy 

 air. 



Bees are easily raised and kept, we having wintered them on 



