NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



199 



the agent, for his faithful discharge of duty. Ar- 

 rangements have been made with the proprietors of 

 the two toll bridges in this A-icinity, to let all pass 

 for half toll who are carrying their wool to this 

 depot. 



Claiik Hough, ■^ 



George Dewey, f ,r rr 7 ■ 



r^., -wr n > JSew Hampshire. 



(jeo. W. Cuttix, I ^ 



Meurit Faunam, ^ 



John Pouter, 



Alle: 



N; 



El 



AMMI WILLARD, Ajent. 



Allen Hazen, | „ 

 Nathan Gushing, ) ' 

 Eben'r Bridge, .' 



ermont. 



P. S. There are but two other establishments of 

 this kind in the country. Both of these received 

 last season 1,500,000 pounds of wool, and all has 

 been sold at satisfactory prices. 



Woodstock, Maij 24, 1S49. 



AGRICULTURE IN MAINE. 



In the late message of Governor Dana to the 

 legislature of Maine, we find the following sensible 

 remarks on the importance of agricultural education, 

 and the propriety of exempting a suitable amount 

 of the debtor's property from the power of the cred- 

 itor, instead of specific articles. We trust that so 

 valuable suggestions will be duly appreciated by the 

 intelligent body to whose action they arc submitted. 



The products of agricultural labor are undoubtedly 

 of greater value than the combined products of all 

 other labor in the state ; and yet that pursuit attracts 

 less of general attention than any other. From its 

 unobtrusivencss it has allowed itself to be nearly 

 overlooked, although the great interest of the state. 

 The farmer sows his seed, watches its springing and 

 maturity, reaps his harvest, and enjoys its fruits in 

 quiet and contentment, asking no protection or legis- 

 lation. But his interests should not be neglected 

 because he makes no clamor in the halls of legisla- 

 tion. I presume it would not be doubted, that the 

 general application of science to agriculture through- 

 out the state, woukl double our agricultural products, 

 with but a slight increase of labor. Such an addi- 

 tion to the productions, resources, and wealth of the 

 state, is an object Avorth)' the highest solicitude, 

 and should command your earnest consideration. 

 But with our present means of education, little ad- 

 A^ance can be made tOAvards its accomplishment. 

 There is not in the state, and i^robably not in New 

 England, an institution Avhere a practical, sricntitic 

 agricultural education can be obtained. Tliree fourths 

 of our population arc farmers ; three fourths of tlie 

 rising generation Avill be farmers ; and yet there is 

 no opportunity for one, of all this number, to obtain 

 an education adapted to, and in aid of, his vocation. 

 True, Ave ha\'e our high schools, academies, and col- 

 leges, — many of them liberally endoAA'ed by the 

 state, — but they all fail to give him an appropriate 

 education ; for, instead of fitting him for his destined 

 pursuit, and rendering it pleasing to him, his course 

 of studies and the associations and infiucnees around 

 him, all tend to give him a distaste for it, and to 

 invite to other professions and callings, Avhere he Avill 

 be far less useful to himself and the community. If, 

 then, the object of education is to fit man for the 

 duties of life, a large majority of our population have 

 no opportunity for obtaining it. 



In my annual message to the legislature of 1847, I 

 suggested the establishment of an agricultural and 

 teacher's seminary, \inder the direction of the board 

 of education, and proposed that, Avhen its finances 

 Avoukl permit, the state should support, at that sem- 



inary, a small given number of scholars from eacli 

 county, to be selected by their respective boards of 

 school committees, as a reward of merit and profi- 

 ciency. The chief design of this feature of my sug- 

 gestion, Avas to giA-e a stimulus to the interest of both 

 parents and children, in our public schools ; but it 

 would probably be attended Avith too much expense 

 for the present condition of the treasury. An agri- 

 cultural school, divested of tliis more expensive 

 feature, as a model, and as a commencement of a 

 system of agricultural schools, is an immediate Avant, 

 and within our immediate means. The interest of 

 the permanent school fund, Avhich is still unappro- 

 priated, is more than sufficient for that purpose ; and 

 if, as I have already suggested, the proceeds of the 

 reserved lands should bo added to this fund, the in- 

 terest of both combined Avould, besides sustaining 

 such a school, furnish the means for increased facili- 

 ties for the education of teachers, cither by the estab- 

 lishment of normal schools, or by prolonging the 

 sessions of oru' institutes. 



The policy of exempting a portion of the property 

 of the debtor from attachment, for the double pur- 

 pose of enabling him to supply the necessities of 

 himself and family, and of furnishing him Avith facili- 

 ties Avherewith he may ultimately relieve himself 

 from his del)t3, has ever been recognized by our 

 laAvs, and is both humane and wise. But I am con- 

 vinced that the cxcmjitionof a fixed amount of prop- 

 erty, of such description as the debtor might select, 

 Avhether personal or real, instead of the list of specific 

 articles noAV exempted, Avould be adA-antageous both 

 to debtor and creditor; because each individual 

 debtor could then retain the property best adajjted 

 to his circumstances, and calculated to afl'ord the 

 most aid in accomplishing the objects for Avhich the 

 exemption Avas made. Under the present laAv, it 

 may often occur, that the property retained, although 

 the amount may be large, is of little benefit to the 

 debtor retaining it; Avhereas, if a much less A-alue 

 Avere secured to him, in precisely the property Avhich 

 his situation retiuired, the ends of protection Avould 

 be more nearly attained. But another important 

 objection to our exemption of specific articles is, that 

 no real estate is included. If the present exemption 

 of personal property does not conflict Avith the rights 

 of tlie creditor, the exemption of the same value, in 

 either personal or real estate, surely could not ; Avhile, 

 at the same time, it Avould be lar more useful to the 

 debtor. He is now allowed the products of a farm, 

 tools, horses, and oxen to cultivate it, but no farm ; 

 thus encouraged to obtain the implements of hus- 

 bandry, but forced to use them upon the farm of 

 another ; induced to assume the relation of a tenant, 

 Avhile the true interests, alike of the debtor, creditor, 

 and the state, Avould invite him to become a free- 

 holder. 



TO ASCERTAIN THE WEIGHT OF LIVE 

 CATTLE. 



This is of tl;c utmost utility to all those Avho are 

 not experienced judges by eye. By the following 

 directions the Aveight can be ascertained, Avithin a 

 mere trifle : Take a string, put it round the breast, 

 stand square, just behind the shoulder blade ; meas- 

 ure on a foot rule the feet and inches the animal is 

 in circumference — this is called girth; then, Avith 

 the string, measure from the bone of the tail Avhich 

 plumps the line Avith the hinder part of the buttock, 

 direct the line along the back to the fore part of the 

 shoulder blade, take the dimensions on the foot rule 

 as before — Avhich is the length ; and Avork the figures 

 in the foUoAving manner : Girth of the bullock, six 

 feet four inches ; length, five feet four inches — 

 Avhich, multiplied together, make thirty-one square 

 superficial feet ; and that multiplied by twenty-three 



