66 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



it. m. irAmMMiB. 



BOSTOK.—S.ITURDAY, OCT. VI, i;i22. 



BRIGHTON FAIR AND CATTLE SHOW. 



The annual exhibition of Cattle and Manu- 

 factures was holden at Brighton on the f th and 

 10th inst. The fair v.as attcndod by " '^Tge 

 concourse of citizens from Massachuselts and 

 the adjoining States, including some from the 

 southern '.section of the Union. Fine animals, 

 line manufactures, fine vegetables, rare, curious 

 snd useful macliines, the best products of the 

 soil, and the best results of mechanical ingenui- 

 ty, proofs of industry excited by emulation and 

 guided by skill. Were exhibited in profusion. 

 Detailed accounts of all that was worthy of no- 

 tice would be too voluminous for insertion, and 

 arc rendered unnecessary at this time, as we 

 propose to publish the official reports of the 

 several cotntnittcea, as soon as received. 



At one o'clock, of the first day, the Society 

 went in procession to the Meeting House. A 

 prayer by the Rev. Dr. Foster, and an Adilress 

 by the Hon. Timothy Pickering, composed the 

 exercises at that place. Mr. Pickering's .Ad- 

 dress was plain, practical, and replete with val- 

 uable information. The subjects treated of, 

 (such as the theory of vegetation, the food of 

 plants, the uses of lime and the mode of its 

 operation, &c.) were some of them abstruse, but 

 rendered fis perspicuous as possible by the ven- 

 erable Orator, who adapted his style to the un- 

 lettered as well as to the learned hearer, by 

 giving the common as well as the scientific 

 name to such substances and ideas as could not 

 be supposed to be familiar to all classes of his 

 audience. 



On the second day of the Exhibition, at 4 

 o'clock, P. M. the Premiums were declared in 

 •he Meeting House. The first premium of glO 

 for fat oxen ivas awarded to Mr. Oliver Starr, 

 of Deerfickl — this animal was six years old and 

 weighed 2333 lbs. — 2d premium ^30, to Lewis 

 Barnard, of Worcester, animal six years old, 

 weighing 225G lbs. To Maj. Jaques, of Charles- 

 town, for his Bull, 1st premium, ^^'0 — 2d do. to 

 Mr. Coolidge, of Watertown. To the owner of 

 a Cow from Salem ^30. Several other fine an- 

 imals were spoken of as richly deserving a pre- 

 mium. For Heifers, the 1st premium was a- 

 warded to Henry Rice, of Marlborough, for one 

 two years old, with a calf six weeks old, weigh- 

 ing 8C 1-4 lbs. — 2d do. to Samuel Brooks, of 

 Brighton. 



For the best Boar, to .loscph Rice, glO. Mr. 

 Sparks, of Watertown, 2d best, >^o. For four 

 Pigs, to Luke Fiske, g5. To A. Dow p. For 

 a Merino Ram, the first premium was awarded 

 to Gorham Parsons, Esq. — 2d to Gen. Austin. 



Mr. S. Jaques, of Leicester, received a pre- 

 mium of ^50, for a breed of long wooled Sheep, 

 6 ewes and 1 lamb. A Ram and two Ewes, re- 

 markable for heavy fleece, fine wool, k,z. were 



exhibited by Hon. T. H. Perkins, though not 

 for premium. The committee, however, are 

 of opinion, that he ought to be presented with 

 the Society's gold medal. 



Twelve yoke of Working Cattle were enter- 

 ed. The 1st premium, jpSO, was given to Lu- 

 ther Whiting, of Sutton— 2d do. f 25, to Peter 

 Dudley, of Sutton. Several other premiums 

 were divided among people Irom that town. 



Among the Inventions was a cast iron roller, 

 by Aaron Willard. A Vertical Family Spinner, 

 which has been for some time in use in Rhode 

 Island, was well spoken of for its labor saving 

 qualities. 



Of Manufactures, the 1st premium of $30, for 

 Broadcloths, was awarded to James Shepherd 

 &. Co. of Northampton— 2d do. g20, to Wolcott 

 Woollen Manufactory — 2d do. on Cassimeres to 

 Shepherd ic Co. To George Johnson, Salem, 

 for a quantity of American Duck, ^10. 



There were only three premiums awarded at 

 the Ploughing Match, viz. to J.Cook, of Brook- 

 line, 1st premium ^20 — to J. Curtis, Roxbury, 

 2d do. $12 — To Stedman Williams, Roxbury, 

 ffS. The work was done in from 22 to 46 

 minutes, making 18 to 20 furrows. 



The above is but a hasty sketch of the pro- 

 ceedings on this occasion, and is partly the re- 

 sult of personal observation, and in part abridg- 

 ed from the Boston Daily Advertiser. We hope 

 it will allay, if not gratify, public curiosity, till 

 the official account is receivedi 



Ojr SAVI.VC AND M^UflSG THE MOST OF MANIRE. 



{Conlinutd from page 63.) 



In our preceding observations under this head, we 

 took a concise view of the controversy existing among 

 agricultural writers as well as practical farmers relative 

 to long and short, fermented and unfermented manure, 

 and mentioned the names and opinions of some eminent 

 writers, who had taken opposite sides of the question. 

 ^Ve likewise attempted to shew that the disputants 

 were not, in our opinion, exactly right, nor altogether 

 wrong — That in certain soils and for certain crops, long 

 manure, which had undergone hut a slight and incipi- 

 ent fermentation, was to be preferred — but when used 

 for white crops, and indeed any crops which cannot 

 conveniently be hoed or weeded, or probably when 

 applied to soils containing acids or some principles 

 which would prevent fermentation, and stop the pro- 

 gress of putrescence and dissolution, it must be well 

 rotted. 



Rotting manure, however, in a baru-yard or in any 

 situation in which its volatile and liquid products es- 

 cape into the atmosphere, or soak into ground not de- 

 signed to support vegetation, is very slovenly and 

 wasteful, and always to be avoided if possible. The 

 steam, effluvia, or gas which is suffered to escape from 

 fermenting manure, is not only almost altogether lost 

 to useful vegetation, but, what is still worse, fills the 

 atmosphere with particles injurious to health, and often 

 destructive to life. The evaporations from a manure 

 yard rob the farmer of a part of his sub.stance, starve 

 his crops, and it is well if they do not moreover poison 

 him and his family by their contaminating influence. 

 Some farmers' barn-yards, hog-pens, and other recep- 

 tacles of manure are very offensive, and if they do not 

 generate typhus fever in its worst form, which wc fear 



is frequently the case, they at least cause a degree a 

 languor and debility which embitters existence, and ii 

 a grt at measure disqualifies for any of the useful pur 

 poses of life. It is a fact that those exhalations, sc 

 injurious to animal life, arc the essence of vegetable 

 life, and the volatile substances, which offend out i- 

 senses and injure our health, if arrested in their transit 

 by the hand of skilful industry, may be so modified in 

 the great laboratory of nature as to greet us in the 

 fragrance of a flower, regale us in the plum or nectar- 

 ine, or furnish the stamina of life in substantial viands, 

 composed of materials drawai from the butchers' sh.am- 

 bles. 



If we are correct in these premises, an important 

 axiom may be deduced, viz. A~o pulrtfaclire proctss 

 ought to be suffered to proceed on a farmers' premises 

 lothout his adopting some mode to save, as far as pos-' 

 sible, the gaseous products nf svch putrescence. These 

 gaseous products constitute important elements of 

 vegetable food, and a farmer may as well permit liis 

 cattle to stray from his stall, or his swine from his styej 

 without a possibility of reclaiming them, as suffer the 

 principles of fertility, expelled by fermentation and 

 putrefaction, to escape into the atmosphere for the 

 purpose of poisoning the air, instead of feeding his 

 plants. It is very easy to arrest these particles. A 

 quantity of (arth applied to, or thrown over the natter 

 in which fermentation is going on, will check its vio- 

 lence, and secure its gaseous products, which will be 

 imbibed by the soil and afterwards yielded to plants in 

 such proportion as the wants of vegetation may require. 



" Fermentation," says an able writer, " that great 

 destroyer of all organic contbrmation, is not to be feared 

 by the farmer, if it be conducted and carried on in the 

 presence of earth, which fixes and secures the gases as 

 fast as they are liberated. Even the degree of the pro- 

 cess is a matter of less consequence ; because if the 

 elementary principles are in keeping, and reserved for 

 future usefulness, it is immaterial whether this has 

 happened by a new absorption, or by still holding th(:ir 

 original and unchanged form. In his composite hill 

 [compost heap] the whole animal or vegetable struc- 

 ture may be dissolved, and leave behind no trace of 

 existence, without the least waste of the principh s of 

 fertility ; because the ingredients superadded to the 

 dung have become surcharged with them, or to speak 

 philosophically, fully saturated. 'We may go farther 

 and state, that complete decomposition is desirable in 

 this case, %vhich is so much to he avoided in' the farm 

 yard ; because putrescent matter can only become 

 vegetable food by its resolution into primary parts, and 

 if this be effected by any preparatory step, the young 

 crop receives the full and instantaneous benefit. The 

 compost manure is carried to the field ready to give 

 out its richness on the very first call, and to supply the' 

 nascent radicle [young root] with a copious share of 

 nourishment. 



" The putrefactive process may be carried on in the 

 presence of pure earth only, or of earth intermingled 

 with fibrous roots, or lastly, in the presence of peat, 

 which is an assemblage of inert vegetable matter; and 

 compost dunghills may be formed according to this 

 threefold method. 



" The simplest of all composts is a mixture of barn 

 yaid dung, and surface mould taken from a field under 

 regular culture. The proportions between the ingredi- 

 ents are fixed by no determinate laws, and consequent- 

 ly great liberty is allowable to the operator. I have 

 known some instances where two cart loads of dung were 

 used for one of earth ; others, where they were blend- 

 ed in equal quantities ; and it is not infrequent to com- 

 pound two of earth with one of dung. In fact, such is 

 the uncertainty in the composition, that almost every 

 farmer adopts a mode peculiar to himself, and with 

 equal success. No man need therefore follow implicity 

 the rules which are laid down in this department of 

 rural economy, but may vary and multiply his experi. 

 mi nts, according to the suggestions of fancy or the dic- 

 tates of convenience. If we slightly glance at the prin- 

 ciple, wc shall see the cause of this seemingly endless 

 variety in the combiuatioiis qI Uie ingredients. Th« 



