37 



GRAIN, ROOTS, MIXED CROPS AND SEEDS. 



Your Committee liad reason to expect at the outset an 

 arduous task in performing tlie duties assigned them. Eight 

 of the staple crops of New England were to pass in review 

 before us ; wc were to be judges of the cultivation of the soil, 

 the selection of seed, the process of depositing the seed in the 

 earth, the watchful care bestowed upon it, the quantity and 

 quality of manure used, and last, though not least, the manner 

 of harvesting the crops, and ascertaining the product. Then 

 there were mixed crops committed to our charge ; these, as 

 might have been expected, were to be entered from every 

 section of the county, and had they been, your Committee 

 would have been obliged to spend months in examining these 

 mixed crops, — a heavy tax on actual farmers. 



Again, a pleasant duty was assigned us, namely, to judge on 

 seeds. We have as many varieties of corn as there are towns 

 in the county, and probably mafly more, and perhaps to all of 

 them premiums have been awarded heretofore. A nice matter 

 this, but then we had to prepare ourselves for it. 



There were the root tribes, and it was necessary to scrutinize 

 with a jealous eye the seeds that were to be scattered over the 

 land far and near; good seed would be the mainspring to a 

 fortune, whilst bad seed would ruin a man. The grasses, too, 

 needed a life-time experience to do them justice. Your Com- 

 mittee were aware of all the difficulties, and the great respon- 

 sibility resting upon them, but dutifully accepted the trust. 



After all this preparation, your Committee desired to be 

 called upon to examine a large number of cornfields, and 

 peruse statements of raising grain and mixed crops, and 

 especially would they have delighted in beholding specimens of 

 all the seeds of which it was our duty to judge. But to the 

 result: one field of corn was entered in due time, but being 

 on land not sufficiently drained, — for seasons like the past, — it 

 was a failure, and was virtually withdrawn by the gentlemanly 

 proprietor after an examination by the Committee. One other 

 field was entered, but our rules were not complied with, and 

 though it had merit, we were obliged to withhold the premium. 



At the show, there were exhibited two strings of seed corn, 

 and one peck each of wheat and rye. These constituted the 

 sum total of what we had to judge on. 



There were offered in our department, twenty-seven pre- 

 miums, — eleven in books, and sixteen money premiums, 

 amounting to sixty-five dollars ; but all we could allow was 

 four premiums, amounting to five dollars. We ask, why this 

 backwardness in entering for premiums? We answer, that we 

 do not offer a sufficient sum for the articles included in grain 



