124 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



OCTOBER 26. 183f . 



(From llie Worcester Palladinm.) 



■WORCESTER COUNTY AGRICUIiTURAl. 



SOCIETY. 



Repoiis of the Committees at the Exhibition, Oeto- 

 ber 5, 1836. 



PLOUGHING DOUBLE TEAMS. 



The Cominiltee to whom the Trustees assigned 

 the duty, pleasant but ditlicult, of examining and 

 determining the rcUilive excellence of tlie plough- 

 ing performed by double teams, respectfully ask 

 leave to re[>ort : — That eleven teams of beautiful 

 oxen, finished ploughs, ancj skilful ploughmen, 

 competed for the prizes ; and they would be hap- 

 py if their duty would be discharged by doing 

 justice to all, in saying that all performed their 

 work handsomely ; that on the present occasion, 

 at the very heart of the Commonwealth, power, 

 energy and skill have been exhibited, which can- 

 not fail to circulate through the whole system, im- 

 parting health and vigor to her agricidture. There 

 have been, and theie are, croakers in the land, 

 who can see no improvement from age to age, 

 who in their morbid souls believe that the world 

 is deteriorating ; that every generation is less wise 

 and less virtuous than its predecessoi'S ; from the 

 old lady who is sure that the very hens do not 

 lay so large and generous eggs as they did when 

 she was a girl, up to the inflated statesman who 

 considers the cotton-gin and steam-engine injuri- 

 ous to the commmiity — the one because it throws 

 so many laborers into other employment, and the 

 other because it saves so much time for other busi- 

 ness. But your committee think that from the 

 time of Moses, 'when a law was necessary to pre- 

 vent yoking the ox with the ass, or when EHsha 

 harnessed his twelve yoke of oxen to a crooked 

 limb of a tree, which he called a plough, and drove 

 them with a [lole eight feet long, having at one 

 end a goad and at the other a piece of flat iron 

 for clearing the coulter, down to the present time, 

 improvement has been constant though slow, not 

 only in selecting animals for the yoke, but in the 

 plough, the yoke and the goa<l, till the crooked 

 linrb of the tree has become an instrument of a 

 finish which Noah, the shipwright, could not 

 have excelled ; and the yoke, from a stick fasten- 

 ed to the end of the rude plough, had become a 

 machine, for the maker of v, hich a place would 

 have been assigned " in the valley of craftsmen ;'" 

 and the goad has been improved into nothing. 

 Your committee do but justice to the ploughmen, 

 the drivers, and the honest oxen themselves in 

 saying that they all ap[iearcd handsomely. But 

 the difficult task has been assigned them of se- 

 lecting the first among equals, and like the far- 

 mer, who in a yard of beautiful oxen, is called up- 

 on to make a selection, he examines each individ- 

 ually and pronounces each perfect, but being 

 obliged to make a selection, he looks again and 

 scrutinizes for imperfections, and if he is lucky 

 enough to discover one noble animal, the brusli 

 of whose tail is loo short for his convenience, he 

 has progressed one step in his business. Your 

 committee therefore proceed to say; that some of 

 the ploughs (lid not cut a furrow sufficiently deep 

 tor the generality of soils, and that their works 

 therefore, did not entitle the performers to a pre- 

 mium. Among those whose furrows were deep 

 and true, the committee were decided in award- 

 ing the first |)remium to Mr Arnold L. Allen of 

 Shrewsbury. In awarding this premium one of 

 your committee, Mr Allen, on account of the con- 



nection between himself and the ploughman, de- 

 clined expressing any 0|jinion, but the test of the 

 coujmittee feel themselves authorized to challenge 

 the world to produce better ploughing. 



Mr Stephen Marsh, Jr. of Sutton, we think en- 

 titled to the second premium, and we think Mr 

 Marsh would not hazard much in acce|jting a 

 challenge to plough with the best. 



To Mr Reuben Wbeelock of Sutton, we should 

 without any hesitancy, award the like premium, 

 if we had power to award two premiums of the 

 same amount; but since we are compelled to dis- 

 criminate, we feel obliged to say that Mr Marsh 

 is entitled to the second, and Mr Wheelock to the 

 third premium. 



Mr Simon Carpenter of Cliarlton, we think, has 

 rather stronger claims to the fourth premium than 

 any of the other competitors, and we accordingly 

 award it to him. 



In awarding the premiums the committee are 

 conscious 'bey may have erred, but they are happy 

 in knowing they have not erred widely, for the 

 difference was so slight, that if they had reversed 

 the premiums, they are confident that the good 

 judn-ment of many practical agriculturists, would 

 not have been offended. They regret there are 

 no more premiums to be distributed. All the 

 other teams were beautiful and the ploughing fine ; 

 and they recommend that the thanks of the socie- 

 ty be |iresented to Mr Jonas L. Sibley, on account 

 ofthe performance and perfect docility of his 

 steer-team, two pairs of beautiful three year olds, 

 which your committee flatter themselves they 

 shall asrain see as oxen, and doubt not they will 

 bear away the prize. 



In conclusion, your committee congratulate the 



society upon the splendor of the Ploughing Match, 



and assure the ploughmen that the only sure place 



of finding the " yellow dust " is under the soil. 



By order, 



C. R. IMILLS, Chairman. 



SINGLE TEAMS. 



The subscribers, the Committee on the Plough- 

 ing Match of single teams, report that with great 

 pleasure we are able to state, that there were 

 fourteen Teams entered, and notwithstanding the 

 inclemency of the weather, eleven Teams appear- 

 ed and performed their work in the following or- 

 der and time. 



^'Ige of oxeti. Time. 

 Wm. B. Harrington, Grafton, 4 yr'.s. 27 min. 

 Hey wood & Rice, Worcester, 7 " 37 " 

 Leonard Wheelock, Gralton, 5 " 39 " 



John Newton, Milbury 6 " 39 " 



Tyler Carpenter, Sutton, 5 " 39 " 



Jabez Rice, Worcester, 6 " 43 " 



Reuben Carpenter, Sutton, 5 " 44 " 



David Carpenter, Charlton, 4 " 45 " 



Jonas W. Allen, Shrewsbury, 46 " 



Lincoln & Shattuck, Worcester, 7 " 43 " 

 Nath'l C. Moore, Worcester, 5 " 50 " 



The work was done in a superior style, and 

 with little or no noise or use of the whip ; and we 

 were never more gratified with a jierformance of 

 the kind. The Ploughs were all of a superior 

 quality, manufactured by Mr Nurse of Worcester ; 

 and the Teams all appeared to be under excellent 

 discipline, and of docile disposition ; and although 

 our judgments were severely taxed, in deciding 

 to whoin the jireminms ought to be awarded, yet 

 we were much gratified to find that the whole of 

 the work was so well done. 



We have endeavored to form the best opinion 

 we could, and have concluded to award the pre- 

 miums as follows, viz : — 

 To William B. Hariington of Grafton, 

 the first premium. 



For Plough, $8 00 



Himself, Ploughman, 4 00 



To Hey wood & Rice of Worcester, the 

 second premium. 



For Plough, 6 00 



Newell Rice, Ploughman, 3 00 



To Jabez Rice of Worcester, the third 



premium, — For Plough, 6 00 



William Ear.ies, Ploughman, 2 00 



The fourth premium to Tyler Carpen- 

 ter of Sutton, — l''or Plough, 4 00 

 Ploughman, 1 00 

 The fifth premium to Leonard Whee- 

 lock of Grafton, 



Plough and Ploughman, 3 00 



In awarding the first premium to Mr Harring- 

 ton, we took into consideration the time in which 

 the work was performed, and the age and size of 

 the oxen, and the apparent ease with which they 

 performed the work. We did not think the work 

 was done any better than several others. 



If it be consistent with the Rules of the Socie- 

 ty, we would recommend a gratuity of three dol- 

 lars to David Carpenter of Charlton, as the work 

 was so well done, and by a pair of four years' old 

 oxen, that we found it difficult to decide b«tween 

 him ami others ; and inasmuch as he lives some 

 distance from Worcester. 



All which is submitted. 



SETII LEE, Cliairman. 



WORKING OXEN. 



The Commiltea appointed by the Society to 

 decide upon the merits of the several Teai is of 

 Working Oxen, exhibited this day, most respect- 

 fully reiiort that 21 Teams were entered with the 

 Secretary, of which number, only 17 actually ap- 

 peared to contest the premiums offered. 



To Stephen Marsh, Jr. of Sutton, the Commit- 

 tee awarded the premium of $12 for his four year 

 old cattle. 



To Waters Putnam of Sutton, the Society's 

 second premium of $10, for his Ibur year old cat- 

 tie. ^ 



To Wm. B. Harrington of Grafton ; the third 

 prewiium of $8, for his four year old cattle; and 



To Peter Putnam of Sutton, the Society'.^ 

 fourth premium of $5, for his five year old cattle. 



In awarding these several premiums, the com- 

 mittee had regard to the age and docility of the 

 cattle, as well as to their general size and appear- 

 ance. 



They cannot refrain however from express ng 

 the high gratification they derived from witness- 

 ing the strength and docility exhibited by the four 

 year old cattle of Arnold L. Allen of Shrewsbury, 

 and the five year old cattle of Nathaniel C.Moore, 

 of WorcPKter, to the former of whom the commit- 

 tee would recommend the Society should bestow 

 the gratuity of $4, and to the latter that of $3. 



'i o David Carpenter of Charlton for his four 

 year old cattle; To Lyman Putnam of Sutton for 

 his four year old cattle ; — To Jacob Stevens of 

 Charlton, Tyler Carpenter of Sutton, and Mar- 

 shall Pratt of Oxford, for their five year old cat- 

 tle, the Committee would unanimously recom- 

 mend the gratuity of .$2, as a small testiinonia 

 of the excellence with which their work wj» 

 done. 



