NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



115 



bove provision was passed in February 1819, 

 nd being limited to the term of Jive years, will 

 xpire, if not renewed, in February, 1C24. The 

 uestion will soon arise, therefore, as to the 

 ropriety of re-enacting or continuing in force 

 he provisions of the act referred to ; and it is not 

 nlikely, bet'ore that period arrives, that the 

 ublic sentiment upon this subject will have 

 een distinctly ascertained and expressed. 



" It is sometimes remarked, by casual obser- 

 ers, that our cattle shows, with all their impos- 

 ^g ])ageantrv, are calculated merely for the 

 musement of the public, and do not, in any con- 

 iderable degree advance the interests even of 

 liat clas* of our citizens, for whose immediate 

 enelit they were first established, the agricul- 

 ansts. 



" However little there may be, either of truth 

 r justice in the suggestions we have mentioned, 

 I is, nevertheless, to be remarked, that the ob- 

 ection, even if correct, would ira|>eacli, not the 

 visdom of the legislature, to whose bounty it is 

 wing that we are able to distribute so large a 

 urn in premiums, nor the public spirit or distin- 

 uisfaed liberality of those citizens, to whom we 

 re indebted lor the means of becoming the ob- 

 ects of that bounty, but only the discretion or 

 ound policy of the officers, or those who are 

 ntrusted with the control of the affairs of the 

 ocieties themselves. 



'• The great mass of the people of Massachu- 

 etts are either husbandmen, practical agricul- 

 urists, or artisans and mechanics, either partial- 

 y engaged in agricultural labors or immediate!}' 

 ependent upon the cultivators of the soil for 

 ncouragement in their different occupations and 

 be means of subsistence. Upon the sea board. 

 I is true, we find multitudes, who having their 

 irms upon the ocean, cither in their own per- 

 ODS or through the instrumentality of others, 

 ather from its furrows the sources of wealth. 

 iS it respects however, the great body of the 

 opulation of New-England, four-fifths probably 

 f her citizens are mechanics and farmers, 

 .nd is it possible that societies like ours, nistitu- 

 sd expressly for their encouragement, with an 

 icome Ibroughout the commonwealth of many 

 housands of dollars, can do nothing for the 

 reat interests of manufactures or agriculture ? 

 Ind when too the perpetually varying wants of 

 oan, real or imaginary, are incessantly calling 

 or improvements in the one, and the earth, 

 vith its stores of wealth, is for ever inviting 

 lew efforts for their developement through the 

 igency of the other ? 



" Agricultural Societies, as it respects this 

 tate, may be considered, for the most part, as 

 if very recent origin. Their growth, it is true, 

 las been rapid beyond example, and if they are 

 IS yet destitute, in some degree, of the heallhv 

 iction and athletic vigor of mature life, thev are 

 •ather to be fostered as children of high piom- 

 se, than reproached f.ir not possessing in vouth 

 ill the characteristics of manhood. Perhaps at 

 iome future period, experience may djctatc im- 

 Jfovements in the distribution of our funds. 

 kVhile a portion of them is reserved for the ob- 

 ects now kept in view, a part may be appro- 

 jriated to the encouragement of the efTuils of 

 renius in the invention of new modes of appl}'' 

 ng advantageously the mechanical powers, or 

 Ji aid of societies or individuals, who may be en- 

 gaged, with a prospect of benefit, in the inves- 

 igatioa of the nature of sojIs. Suitable rewards 



may be held out for the prosecution of botani- 

 cal, mineralogical, or geological researches. In 

 process of time, indeed, such may be the char- 

 acter of the society, and such the correspondent 

 [irogress of intelligence on the part of its odi- 

 cers, and munificent liberality on the part of its 

 members, that the bcnctits, resulting from the 

 Institution may be too obvious to escape the ac- 

 knowledgment of the most incredulous, and too 

 intimately connected with the best interests of 

 the commonwealth to require a single ellort to 

 secure for it the cordial and hearty and perma- 

 nent co-operation of the public. 



"The members of the society will suffer us 

 to remind them, to whose beneficence we are in- 

 debted, as well for our beautiful scenery, fruit- 

 ful soil, and exuberant crops, as for the various 

 institutions, of a civil and religious nature, 

 which have given to New England its high [irc- 

 eminence ; and as we view with that compla- 

 cency of feeling, which even the Christian [lal- 

 riot mav indulge, the inheritance which has been 

 transmitted us, or the store houses and barns 

 our own industry may have filled, let us romcni- 

 ber with humble gratitude, Him who was our 

 father's God, and to whose kindness it is owing, 

 not only that otir pastures are clothed -with Jlocks, 

 and our rallies also covered Ti'ilh corn, but that 

 our instilutions are unimpaired, and our pros- 

 perity and happiness, as a people, unexampled. 



the most meritorious of those exhibited, might 



be presented in the following order : 



)!est pair working oxen, 5 years old, owned by Joab 



Owen, of Suffield. 

 ^(1 do. do. do. Col. T. Lcavitt, do. 



(to. Henry Owen, do. 



4 do. .1. Cornish, .Ir. ^^'ind9orr 



do. P. Stevens, Houthwick. 



do. J. Forward, GrAiiby. 



do. Apollos CJay, do. 

 do. L. Thompjon, Pinistiury. 

 do. P. Griswold, \\ indoor. 

 2 do. Col. S. Clark, Granby. 

 do. v.. Sheldon, Suffield. 

 do. R. 13arker, CJranby. 



1 do. E. Bates, do. 

 do. . Joini \'icts, do, 

 do. .lotl Clark, do. 



Much gratification was afforded upon the oc- 

 casion, by the attendance of several gentlemen 

 of distinction from dillorent towns in the county. 



It is believed that exhibitions of this nature 

 are well calculated to excite a sj)irit of emula- 

 tion among agricullurisls,«and to improve our 

 stock. ^ 



It is thought worlby of notice that James 

 Forward, F,sq. exhibited a water-melon raised 

 in his i,arden this season, the weight of which 

 was 47 pounds, when taken from the vine. 



Mr. 



Iron and Steel 



From tlie Connecticut Courant. 



GRA.XBY, {Turkey Hills Society) Oct. 23, 1822. 



Agreeably to previous appointment, the Cat- 

 tle ^^how and Fair was attended at this place. 

 The working oxen and steers in yokes, were 

 collected on the green near the Meeting-house, 

 at lU o'clock, A. M. There were present 30 

 yokes of 5 years old — 37 of 4 — 75 of 3, and 37 

 of 2 years old ; in the whole 175 pairs. They 

 were all in good working order, and generally 

 well matched. After an appropriate Address, 

 delivered by Mr. Alfred Owen, to a numerous 

 auditory in the Meeting-house, the whole of the 

 cattle, by assistance of the marshals, were con- 

 nected in one line, making a team of a full half 

 mile in length. In this order they moved about 

 three-quarters of a mile on to a beautiful plain 

 lot in Windsor, belonging to Isaac Owen, Esq. 

 where they were termed into a hollow square, 

 exhibiting a parade novel and highly interest- 

 ing. The Committees of arrangements and in- 

 spection, vvlth their Secretary, accompanied by 

 several gentlemen of respectability from neigh- 

 boring towns, were conveyed to the |)arade 

 ground, (not in coaches with si-.tes,) but in two 

 substantial carts, fitted up with benches, and 

 drawn by three hundred and seventy oxen and 

 steers, in a style vastly superior to monaiclis 

 and their minions. 



The committee of inspection, as well as many 

 spectators, viewed with pleasure the great im- 

 provement visible in the beauty and quality of 

 the cattle, since the last annual Show, in Oct. 

 1821. Much praise is due to the owners and 

 drivers of the cattle, for the laudable spirit man- 

 ifested, and for the good order preserved b}- 

 them. 



Among so many fine animals as were here 

 exhibited, the inspecting committee felt a de- 

 gree of delicacy in making very great distinc- 

 tions between several pairs of superior excel- 

 lence. They were, however, of opinion, tliat 



Itlans' method of preserving 

 Jroin Rust. 



Greasy and oily, or resinous substances, have 

 hitherto formed the basis of the different prepa- 

 ratio»s proposed and employed for this purpose ; 

 but \i the former, when rancidity comes on, an 

 acid is produced, which corrodes the iron; and 

 llie letter, when dry, are apt to crack, and thus 

 afford an inlet to moisture. But melted caout- 

 chout, or India rubber, Mr. Atkins has found to 

 possess peculiar advantages in preserving the 

 surface of iron from bein^ acted upon by the at- 

 mosphere, irising from its little susceptibility 

 uf chemical change, when exposed to the air ; 

 from its treqcly consistence under all ordinary 

 temperatures , from its strong adhesion to the 

 surface of iron or steel: and, at the same time, 

 from the facility wilh which it is removed by 

 a soft bru^h charged with warm oil of turpen- 

 tine. The finger or a soft brush are the most 

 convenient imidemerits for applying the caout- 

 chouc ; and, as soon as the article has been cov- 

 ered, it ought to be set \ip on end, in order that 

 the excess may drain avKicIi will take place in 

 a day or two. The temperature for melting 

 caoutchouc is nearly equal to that required for 

 the effusion of lead. — Monthly Alag. 



A'cn.' mcihod nf Weaving Mats. 

 This method consists in dispi sing in a cheap 

 and coarse kind of loom, a double series of plain 

 and colored lines of longitudinal stripes of twine 

 — the stripes being at intervals consider.ibly 

 apart from each other. These threads of twine 

 being opened in the manner of a warp, by means 

 ol' the treddles and harness of the loom, either 

 Dutch rushes or the leaves of Typha lalifvlia or 

 greater cat-tails, torn into >hreds, are to be in- 

 Irodiiced from time to time, with a wooden nee- 

 dle, having an eye or opening at one end of it 

 In receive the rushes, to form the shoot, and 

 the twine is closed over them by the continued 

 action of tlvo loom. In this manner, a clieap 

 and u-eful matting is fabricated, the use of 

 which is now become yerv considerable amongst 

 u«, although the invention is of a very recent 

 diic.—Engli;li paper. 



