NEW ENGLAND FARiMER. 



165 



y of generally malvinganew agricultural im- 

 meiit, according to their fashion, which fre- 

 •ntly resembles almost any thing better than 

 ; article designed to be imitated ; a common 

 nion prevails, that this implement costs us 

 le or nothing, because we pay for it after 

 nths, and often years of delay, in some kind 

 agricultural product — or, because, as it con- 

 utes an item in that unlucky thing culled a 



ksmith's account, it is never paid for at all. 

 lero is so wide. a difference hetween this meth- 

 of obtaining our agricultural implements, and 

 ying what is emphatically called " actual cash" 



them ; that the Solomons of our tribe, who 



never surprised into the juvenile indiscre 

 n of neing, the tir^t to try a new thing — es- 

 C'allv if it comes from a distance, and " cos's 

 meij ,•" can scarcely yet forego the propheix 

 jasiue of shaking their wise heads at, and con- 

 ning to ruin the man who dares to violate this 

 ■ilinal maxim of their rural ecoiiomy. Noth- 

 r is better calculated to banish these ridicu- 

 js prejudices ; and nothing more facilitates 

 e general adoption of agricultural implements, 

 every kind, than the frequent recurrence ol 

 ectacles of a similar character to the present. 

 >r, on such occasions, we become eye-witnesses 



most ol' those inventions, vvhich mechanical 

 ill and ingenuity have devised for our use ; 

 ,d of which, we either might not hear for 

 !ars; or if hearing, might discredit, provided 

 e confined ourselves, as many do, to our own 

 rms, nearly secluded from all intercourse with 

 IF fellow citizens, but such as live next door 



us. That mmd has never yet been formed, 

 beleive, which could bear such seclusion, with- 

 it being contracted, and materially impaired 

 it. Another advantage, and by no means 

 e smallest, evidently resultmg from such as- 

 cialions, is, that we learn to appreciate more 

 stlv, the capabilities of our art, when occular 



oof is exhibited to us of what can be etfecte.l 



those who follow it assiduously, uniier tht- 



fluence of those powerful, because voluntary 



icouragements, held out to them by agricultu- 



I societies. Hence, we are naturally led to 

 it.mate more highly the power, resources, and 

 onorable character of agricultural pursuits, in 

 jmparison with any other, instead of underval- 

 ing them, as far too many of us appear to do. 

 len, in fact, must respect themselves and their 

 rofession, to obtain the respect of others. And 

 oless our agricultural people evince their re 

 ard for their own occupation, by always assert- 

 ig the rank to which they have a just claim, 

 1 the great scale of national interest, they may 

 ount with certainty, upon being degraded, not 

 nly in public estimation, but likewise in their 

 wn. 



As to the feelings and views of those who at- 

 end such exhibitions as the present, in the 

 haracter either of spectators, contributors, or 

 ompetitors for premiums, I will now olTer a 

 ew remarks. Of the first, I shall only say, that 



take it tor granted, they have come well dis- 



osed to be pleased with the humble effort made 

 o interest them ; and to engage their good 

 vishes, for the success and continuance of our 

 indertaking. In regard to the second, although 



confidently trust, that we all think much alike 

 m the subject of our institution, yet 1 cannot 

 brbear to suggest, that, if they notice any thing 

 Which falls short of their expectations, they 

 nust not too soon be discouraged ; nor suffer a 



small failure at first, to deter them from an- 

 other effort to get up a Show and Fair, which 

 shall be worthy of the extensive and fertile 

 country, over which our society has already dif- 

 fused itself. In one year more, we may hope 

 for such an accession of members, (the annual 

 contribution being only two dollars,) as will 

 considerably augment the premium fund, which 

 we shall zealously appropriate, in the best man- 

 ner our judgments can devise, for promoting 

 o\ir good cause ; and if ine fail^ (a misfortune 

 1 will not anticipate,) it shall not be the fault of 

 the Agricultural Society of Fredericksburg. 



And now, before I conclude, I must make 

 free to suggest a few hints, for the consideration 

 of those who mean to compete for the premi- 

 ums which we have already offered. 



As our society in making this offer, have been 

 prompted solely by their wishes to promote the 

 general good, they have studiously endeavored, 

 ill selecting their committee of premiums, to se- 

 cure such awards as will bo equally disinterest- 

 ed and exempt from all local or partial consid- 

 erations. Should any individual competitor, 

 therefore, be inclined to question the correct- 

 ness of their decision in this particular case, I 

 must be permitted to express my hope, that he 

 will deem it better, silently to acquiesce in a 

 determination which, although it should be 

 erroneous, cannot proceed from any but correct 

 motives ; rather than impair the utility and gen- 

 eral good effect of agricultural premiums pub- 

 hckly awarded, by arraigning either the judg- 

 ment, or the equity of men, who must necessa- 

 rily decide right in many more instances than 

 they determine wrong. We cannot expect 

 those who fail to obtain rewards to be equally 

 pleased with those who gain them; but we may 

 Si do calculate on the competitors for our premi- 

 ums being true and genuine friends to the cause 

 of agriculture. And if they are, we can rely 

 fuUv on those who may be unsuccessful, making 

 all due allowances for their respective failures; 

 so far at least as to acquit our committee of any 

 design to thwart their particular efforts to gain 

 the prizes at which they have aimed. 1 feel 

 the more solicitous on this subject from my anx- 

 ious wish that in this our first attempt of the 

 kind, no circumstance should occur, either to 

 produce disagreement among ourselves ; or to 

 throw the slightest obstacle in the way of our 

 future exhibirions. Not that I fear either the 

 competency or inclination of our committee to 

 decide correctly : But the same thing »io^ pos- 

 sibly happen here, which I see by the public 

 Journals has taken place in one of our sister 

 states; and I would willingly guard against it by 

 a timely caution. The case alluded to, is one 

 of an individual, evidently interested, coming for- 

 ward to arraign either the judgment, or the jus- 

 tice, or both together, of certain judges, as ev- 

 idently disinterested, who were selected by one 

 of our sister societies to form a committee of 

 premiums. This being a common cause to all 

 agricultural societies, I must take the liberty 

 to offer one or two general remarks prompted 

 by the occasion. Any such instance of palpable 

 selfishness, so far from engaging public sympa- 

 thy, cannot fail to excite unqnalified disappro- 

 bation. The public, whose sense of justice, will 

 always lead them to right decisions in the end, 

 will never take part with an individual" who 

 complains of what he only conceives to be an in- 

 jury, and that to himself alone, in opposition to 



the decision of numerous aud obviously rmpar- 

 partial arbiters, who are so circumstanced, as to 

 have no possible interest, either direct, remote, 

 or contingent in deciding against Iiim. At the 

 worst, such a ilecision can only be an insulated, 

 and single mistake, unaccompanied by any of 

 tho.se general consequences, which threaten in- 

 jury, either to the community at large, or to 

 any portion thereof, considered as a separate 

 class. 



I must now, my friends, bid you farewell 

 We have all met, as 1 sincerely trust, with feel" 

 ings such as should ever govern men engage 



n a common cause, and bound together by th ' 

 ties of a common interest. Let us all part i^ 

 the same spirit, to meet again, twelve months 

 hence, with increased hopes and wishes for the 

 prosperity of our Agriculture, as the true basis, 

 and best security for the permanent welfare and 

 'lappiness of our beloved country. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ESCLAND FARMER. 



I was pleased to see in thy paper of Nov. 

 16th, a demonstration that my rule for guaging 

 is true. The rules of the author of that piece 

 are ingenious and correct, yet far more tedious 

 than the mode by which I discovered my rule, 

 which 1 now consider myself in duty bound to 

 explain and render intelligible to any person, 

 master of the common rules of arithmetic. 



1 must first premise that it is demonstrated by 

 Euclid that the contents of all circles are in 

 proportion to the squares of their diameters. 



Second, that any division may be performed 

 by multiplication, and frequently requires fewer 

 figures. The performing of division by multi- 

 plication is founded on the neutral properties 

 of an unit or one, which none of the authors on 

 arithmetic appear to have explained, or per- 

 haps fully to have understood ; — for to multiply 

 one by one, or to divide one by one, the pro- 

 duct and quotient will be the same ; therefore 

 as one can neither be increased nor diminished 

 by multiplying or dif iding by itself", it is a sta- 

 tionary number in either rule. For instance, 

 suppose we wish to divide 8 by 2, by multipli- 

 cation, divide 1 by 2 and the quotient will be 

 ^5 — then multiply 8 by ,5 and the product will 

 be 4, and the same rule will hold equally good 

 in any larger numbers. Then as it is proved 

 by Euclid that the contents of all circles are in 

 proportion to the squares of their diameters ; 

 say by the plain Rule of Three, as the content 

 of any circle is to the square of its diameter, so 

 is 231, the cubic inches in a gallon, to 294, the 

 number to divide by to find the gallons, if we 

 take the square of the diameter in place of the 

 content of the circle — but as 294 is a tedious 

 number to divide by, perhaps the division would 

 be more readily perlbrmed by multiplication ; 

 therefore divide an unit or one by 294, and you 

 have ,0034 for a quotient to multiply by to find 

 the true content. 



As the ingenious gentleman " Hhd. alias 4 

 Bbls."' has demonstrated the same thing in a 

 very dilTerent and more tedious manner, it ap- 

 pears that we are both correct, and 1 would 

 wish for a further correspondence with him on 

 various Theorems, not doubting but many use- 

 t'ul rules may be discovered, more short, plaio 

 and easy than what they have been laid dowD 

 by European Authors. 



SAMUEL PRESTON- 

 Stockport, Pa. JVov. 29, 1822. 



