148 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



KOVBMBER 10, 1*:<'' 



THE FARMERS' PESTI » At.. 



The followisig are a few of the sentiments of- 

 fered at the table at the recent Exhibition of the 

 Agricultural Society. Many of the volunteers 

 were peculiarly pertinent and happy, but not hav- 

 ing been furnished with copies, an attempt to re- 

 peat them from tlie recollection might do injus- 

 tice to their wit and technicality, — as well as to 

 the zest and hilarity which they gave to the feast. 

 .Igricultural Socidies. — They harmonize the 

 conflicting spirit of all other societies, and jireseut 

 a fleld where all may labor with increasmg devo- 

 tion to the public good. 



.Agriculture ami Horticulture. — The first suhsti- 

 tute to our progenitors for the loss of paradise, and 

 the best solace to their posterity for the evils they 

 entailed. 



Internal Improvement. — Jlay it be as conspicu- 

 ous in the fruits and flocks which cover our fields, 

 as in the Railways and Canals which intersect 

 them. 



Yankee Enterprise. — Inspired with zeal and 

 guided by discretion, may conduct to right ends 

 by just means. 



All real AVokki.nq Ml.\, whether they work 

 with the head, or the hand — May they not suffer 

 the fruits of their labors to become the "spoil" 

 nf those who work ( n!y with the Jlatlering tongue. 

 The President observed, that the Society had> 

 from its earliest institution, been greatly indebted 

 to the countenance and encouragement given to it 

 by the oflicers of the Massachusetts Society forthe 

 promotion of Agriculture, and that our pens, on 

 this occasion, exhibited rich proof of the liberality 

 of that Society in the introduction into the County, 

 at great cost, of a most valunl)le animal particular- 

 ly adapted to the improvement of the Dairy Stock 

 of our farms, the use of which, for one year had 

 been most generously given to the Society of Uiis 

 County. He had addressed to the Trustees an 

 acknowledgement the of sense which he enter- 

 tained of this benefaction, and also forwarded to 

 the venerable President an expression of the grat- 

 ification which the members of this Society would 

 derive from the opportunity of manifesting to him 

 and his iissociates, on this occasion, the respect 

 and gratitude in which their contributions of per- 

 sonal attention, and the useful application of the 

 funds and means of their institution, to the ad- 

 vancement of the Agrictdtural interest, were here 

 regarded. He regretted that engagements in the 

 cit}' had prevented the expected attendance of 

 some, and doubtless the inclemency of the weath- 

 er that < f others, but he had the pleasure of sub- 

 mitting to the con)pany a letter from the Hon. 

 John C. Gray one of the Board, in recognition of 

 the Festival, to wliich was appended the following 

 sentiment : 



The Steam Engine. — It has labored, for yeai-s, 

 in the service of our Commerbe and .Manufactures 

 — May it soon be as actively and generally en- 

 gaged in transporting the products of our Agri- 

 culture. 



The President then announced, from the Tius- 

 tees of this Society, the following: 



"The Massachusetts Agricultural Society — 

 The Heod which animates the Heart, and invigo- 

 rates the extremities of the Commonwealth " — 

 which was received with enthusiani. 



The City oj Boston, and its western suburbs ; — 

 Indissohibly connected by a chain of interest, and 

 bars o/" iron, their union will affbrd a safe deposit 

 for the surplus revenue of the Farmer. 



To this sentiment the Attorney ^General, Col. 

 Austin, being present as a guest, made an eloquent 

 and most ai>propriate acknowledgement in a brief 

 speech, and concluded >vilh a complimentary toast 

 to the annual exhibition of the intelligent men of 

 the County of Worcester. 



The President alhnied to the presence, as a 

 guest, of his Excellency, the Governor of New 

 Hampshire, and announced the following senti- 

 ment. 



Our .\'eighbor Farmers of .V«« Hampshire. — 

 As granite is the best enduring foundatfon to edi- 

 fices of strength and elegance, so are a hardy in- 

 dustry, frugal habits, intelligence and moral wortiv, 

 the sure basis of the prosperity of an independent 

 yeomanry. 



Gov. Hill responded in some brief, pertinent, 

 and highly acceptable remarks, and proposed the 

 following sentiment : 



The State of Massachusetts. — First in Literary 

 Cultiv.ition — first in Agricidturul and Manufac- 

 turing Enterprise — the County of Worcester is 

 truly the Heart of the Commonwealth. 



The Stale of Connecticut — where "steady hab- 

 its" have secured the steady progress of intelli- 

 gence and prosperity. 



To this toast. Gen. Isham, State Attorney of 

 Connecticut, made a ha|)py response, in which he 

 alluded to his naiii'if^ within the State, and the 

 jileasure he derived, in this unexpected and whol- 

 ly accidental manner, of meeting a repreiitation of 

 its intelligent citizens on a most interesting occa- 

 sion. He said he was born on the soil of the old 

 Colony, and made allusion to his profession, as 

 often excluding those who were engaged in it, 

 from the gratification of their taste, in agricultural 

 pursuits. 



On Gen. Ishman's resuming his seat, the com- 

 pany were reminded by the Chair, that between 

 the old Colony and the profession of the law there 

 seemed to be some close affinities; that our own 

 Chief Justice and one of the Associate Justices, as 

 well as the gentleman from Connecticut, and a late 

 distinguished Senatoraud lawyer from Maine were 

 living proofs of the productiveness of that section 

 of our Commonwealth. The following toast was 

 then announced from the Chair : 



The sandy soil of the old Colony, which if it 

 yields well nothing else, bears richly, the fruit of 

 geod men, as well for exportation, as domestic 

 use. 



The President informed the company that he 

 had received an invitation, addressed to him, in 

 his oiKcial relation to the Society, to attend the 

 Cattle Show of the Middlesex .Agricultural Socie- 

 ty, at Concord, this day, which, from his duties 

 and engagements here, he was constrained respect- 

 fully to decline. In acknowledging the honor 

 done this Society, by tlie recollection and atten- 

 tion manifested towards its presiding officer — he 

 had ventured to promise a favorable reception here 

 of a sentiment which he had communicated, and 

 which he would take the liberty to re|)eat : 



The Fanners of .Middlesex, who cultivate with 

 the Ploughshare the soil which iheir Fathers de- 

 fended with the Stoord — May they now reap a 

 full measure of profit, from fields, which once 

 yielded a rich harvest of glory. 



The Orator of the day — He has offered golden 

 fruit from the tree of knowledge, of which he is 

 well known as a successful cultivator. 



Mr Carter replied to the compliment conreyed 

 in this sentiment, in a felicitous manner, and of- 



fered a sentiment, with a copy of which, as of 

 his remarks, we regret not to have been furnished. 



The following volunteer was sent to the Chair : 



The Farmers of ff'oreester Cnunty — By their 

 Exhibition of Stock this morning, they have shown 

 that they arc not easy to bediiven off their ground 

 — and some one audibly added, — and by their 

 Ploughing Match, in the deluge of rain, that they 

 were not afraid of being drowned upon it. 



The Native Stock of the County of H'orcester — 

 the Governor of New York, the Governor of New 

 Hampshire, and the two Ex-Governors of Massa- 

 chusetts. Although hitched to different teams and 

 hauliug in difierent directions, yet each works 

 well in his own way. 



Many appropriate and happy toasts were offer- 

 ed, with which we have not been furnished, par- 

 ticularly by the Hon. Oliver Fiske and Wm. S. 

 Hastings, Mr Bangs, late Secretary of the Com- 

 monwealth, Mr Boylston, Mr Salisbury, Col. Lin- 

 coln and others. Notwithstanding the disappoint, 

 ment occasioned by the uncommon severity of the 

 weather, the Festival went off with spirit, and we 

 believe to the general satisfaction. — Worcester Pal- 

 ladium. 



RAISING PEAS. 



Mr Holmes : Having proved sucessful in rais- 

 ing Peas the season past, I have concluded to give 

 a statement of my mode. I ploughed, harrowed, 

 and prepared my land as early in the spring as it 

 was dry enough to render it suitable to work on, 

 it being rather a sandy loam. I then sowed a half 

 bushel of marrow fat peas, so called in drills, two 

 feet asunder on about half an acre of ground, the 

 land not made very rich with manure, but it was 

 a perfect thistle bed. After the peas had come to 

 the proper size I hoed the ground over, and this- 

 tles come up once only between the rows or drills. 

 On another piece I sowed a half peck of very 

 early small podded peas in the same manner. 

 The last named ones were fit forthe market the last 

 days of June as unfavorable as the season was. 

 The others followed the fore part of July. From 

 the t\\ o i)ieces I carried to market and sold forty- 

 seven dollars and twenty-seven cents worth, be- 

 siilcs what we eat in the family and some we ac- 

 commodated the neighbors with — after which I 

 mowed and thrashed one bushel and a half of dry 

 ones. It may not be amiss to mention that the 

 thistles which grew among my large ones served 

 to prevent the necessity of sticking them. They 

 were thus kejit up, which perhaps is the only ben- 

 efit which ever resulted to farmers from thistles. 

 In this case in picking my peas, and not having 

 my ha'ids annoyed by the thistles, was a little 

 trouble, though not much. If any of my brother 

 farmers should profit by this I shall be pleased. 

 ■ Eliphalet Folsom. 



Mammoth, Oct. 1% 1836. 



Advantages OF Railroads. — During the last 

 war, a Company of volunteers left Balti'nore for 

 the Capitol — and by forced marches reached 

 Bladensburg in two days and a half! A few days 

 since, a volunteer Company left Baltimore in the 

 morning in the rail road cars, arrived at Wash- 

 ington, and spent a greater portion of the day in 

 that city, and returned home at an early hour in 

 the evening. This circumstance shows the im- 

 mense advantage which would result from the use 

 of rail roads, in the event of a war with a foreign 

 power. 



