118 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



OCTOBF.n l7, l>i3>i. 



Ruth Aldon, Duxbury, 

 Lydia Allen, Eii.st P.riilgewater, 

 Elizabeth UeeJ, do 



H. H. McLauthlen, do 

 Clarissa Reed, do 



do 



do 



qiiilt, 



do 



do 



1 50 



1 00 



1 50 



1 00 



50 



Hannah Bachus, Middleborough, counterpane, 2 00 

 Elizabeth B. Ilayward, do 1 50 



Lucy Clap]), Scituato, do 1 00 



Lucinda M. S. Keitli, E. Bridg'r do 50 



Ruth Backus, Middleborough, table linen, 1 50 

 Lucy Clapp, Scituate, do 1 00 



Cynthia Porter, Halifax, do 50 



H. H. McLauthlen, E. Bridg'r do 50 



William Eames, Duxbury, woollen yarn, 1 00 



Mary Wood, Halilax, lot of yarn, 1 00 



Catharine Bonney, Pembroke, do 75 



Betsey Tillson, Halifax, do 50 



Elizabeth Bates, Kingston, highland shawl, 1 00 

 Darius Wentworth, Bridgewater, lining leather, 50 

 Ruth Alden, Duxbury, pair worsted gloves, 25 



Cyrus Morton, Halifax, pair dog's wool mittens, 25 

 Solomon Hayward, Bridg'r, bbl superfine flour, 3 00 

 MORTON EDDY, Chairman. 



AND gardener's JOURNAL. 



Boston, Wednesday, Octobee 17, 1838. 



WORCESTER CATTLE SHOW. 



The annual exhibition of Worcester Agricultural Soci- 

 ety took pl*»e at Worcester, Oct. 10th. The day was 

 cloudy, and rain anticipated, but it held off until evening, 

 giving a favorable opportunity for the display, and mul- 

 titudes of the hardy and intelligent yeomanry of the 

 county, were present to participate in the business and 

 festivities of the day. 



Two long ranges of substantial pcn.s, 120 or 130 in 

 number, were filli;d to overflowing, at an early hour of 

 the dav, with a fine display of neat cattk, ?heep, swine. 

 &c., and many cattle were lied outside for V'aht of room 



Among the working cattle we noticed a number of 

 pairs of beautiful oxen and steers, which appeared to be 

 the pride of their owners, aed well they may be proud of 

 such fine creatures, for they seemed to partake of the in- 

 tolli"once of their owners, and were perfectly obedient 

 to their voice, and quick at the word of command, to 

 haw and gee, to back and forward, &c. In fact we 

 never saw oxen belter trained tlian some of them were. 

 $150 per yoke were a.sked for some of this description, 

 and others, wc suppose could liardly be bought for money. 

 One pair of twin steers belonging to Mr Lovett Peters, of 

 ■Westborough, attracted much attention, being a perfect 

 match, large, and of good shape; iheir wciglitas marked 

 on the yoke was 3333 lbs., one of ihem about Sio lbs. 

 heavier than the other, their age about 3 1-2 years. 



Wo noticed a number of lots of cows and heifers of 

 good symmetry of shape, but we did not see so many fine 

 animals of this description as we could have wi^sbed. 

 Of bulls there was a number of different ages and blood, 

 some of them fine looking creatures. There were also 

 good specimens of fat oxen. One of the most interesting 

 S)"ht3 was a family oT Sswine of the Bedford breed, from 

 the Insane Hospital, whose weight would average, prob- 

 ably, 400 lbs each when dressed. They appeared to be 

 an oblong mass of fat with a little short nose slicking out 

 at one end and a tail at the other, standing upon legs 

 hardly long enough to clear their bellies from the ground, 

 of a clean white, without striprs or spots,— we saw none 

 of the striped breed upon the ground. There was in an- 

 other pen a fine sow with a family of ten lieauliful little 



spotted pigs. Utbcr pens contained a variety of boars, 

 breeding sows, pigs, &C. The sheep were also pretty 

 well represented. We noticed the Merino, Dishley and 

 other breeds. 



The ploughing match was a scene of considerable in- 

 terest. It took place at 9 o'clock, about obc mile from 

 the hall on Union Hill, from wliich there is a bird's eye 

 view of the flourishing and pleasant town of Worcester, 

 bounded on all sides by beautiful, and highly cultivated 

 swells of land, presenting a landscape of indescribable 

 richness, which was enlivened at this time by the large 

 assemblage of people on ihe ground, and by the long 

 irregular line in scattering groups which dotted the 

 route from the village to the hill. The scene of action 

 had been markod out and prepared beforehand, and a 

 furrow thrown up on two sides of the field and stone walls 

 on the otlrer sides which were the boundary lines for the 

 numerous spectators. The plot of ground was divided 

 into lots of one eighth of an acre each, and each lot num- 

 bered. The competitors first drew lots for choice of 

 ground, and then with iheir respective teams took their 

 stations accordingly. There were 6 single and 9 double 

 teams engaged in the match. At the word of command 

 the teams started together. It was gratifying to notice 

 that the oxen were managed by the drivers with much 

 quietness, and with little use of the whip. The work 

 was done in an admirable manner, evincing great skill in 

 the ploughmen. 



We thought It would require great discrimination and 

 good judgment on the part of the committee to know how 

 to decide who was entitled to the premium. 



The hall was well filled with specimens of domestic 

 manufactures, such as hearth rugs, carpets, counterpanes, 

 and a hundred nameless, useful and fancy articles, the 

 handy work of ihe thrifty housewives and their daugh- 

 ters. 



Here were to be seen also, fine lots of butter and 

 cheese, big squashes and pumpkins ; rohan potatoes and 

 other .vegetables ; agricultural implemenls, including a 

 corn planter, which attracted much attention. The op- 

 erator sits in a sort of gig and drives his horse over the 

 field, and while he is taking an airing and smoking his 

 pipe, (if he has a fancy for it,) he is planting his corn. 

 There was also in the hall a highly finished barouche, 

 manufactured in Worcester, and many other articles too 

 numerous to mention. 



Al eleven o'clock a procession was formeil at the Wor- 

 cester House, which proceeded lo the Calvinistic church 

 to hear the address from the Rev. Henry Colman. The 

 meeting was called to order by the Hon Levi Lincoln, 

 the presiding officer of the day. He remarked that they 

 were celebrating their 20th anniversary. After giving 

 some account of the progress of the society and of the 

 present exhibition, be adverted to the state of the funds 

 of the society, and regretted to say, that in consequence 

 of losses sustained, and the e.xtra expense incurred by 

 the erection of new pens for the cattle, tire funds had 

 been reduced from an amount something over $9,000 to 

 a sum less than $-<,000. He called upon the young men 

 of the county lo come forward and sustain the society by 

 becoming members, and thereby increase the funds and 

 imparl new energy to the society. It appeared by the 

 remarks made, that the young men had been rather back- 

 ward in the performance of this duly, and were suffering 

 their fathers to bear the heat and burden of the day, and 

 as a necessary consequence, unless they came to the res- 

 cue, the society would soon be on the wane. We trust 

 the appeal was not made in vain, and hope that before 

 another anniversary day shall come round, every young 

 man in the county who is in any way connected with 

 agriculture will put his hand to the plough, nnd pledge 

 himself not only lo sus'.iiin the high reputation of the so- 



ciety, but also endeavor to increase its usefulness a hun- 

 dred fold. 



Mr Lincoln regretted the prevailing disposition on the 

 part of many young men, to be dissatisfied with N. Eng- 

 land, and their desire to emigrate lo the far west. He 

 remarked that he had been placed in situations to know- 

 full well the trials of the New England emigrant in the 

 west, and was well satisfied from what be had seen and 

 from facls which have come before bim, that in a great 

 majority of cases, their expectations were far from being 

 realized, and that numbers had awakened from their 

 dreams of ease and plenty, and would gladly return to 

 the good society, good institutions, and healthy climate 

 of New England if it w'ere in their power. He spoke so 

 eloquently and so much to the point on this subject that 

 we were persuaded that if any present had the emigration 

 fever, they would al least consider the subject a little 

 further before they bid adieu to the land of their pilgrim 

 fathers. • 



The Rev. Mr May, of Leicester addressed the throne 

 of grace. Mr Colman's address was listened to by a 

 crowded audience, apparently with deep interest. As it 

 will probably be published we will not mangle it, by at- 

 tempting a sketch. From the meeting house the compa- 

 ny proceeded to witness the trials of the strength of work- 

 ing oxen, which was tested by drawing loads of stone up 

 rising ground, by backing and manccuvering in various 

 ways ; but owing to the great crowd, we did not gel a 

 chance to witness this part of the ceremonies. 



Al three o'clock a large number of gentlemen sat down 

 to a bountiful dimier, which was provided in good style 

 at the Worcester House. The festivities of the board 

 were enlivened by sentiments and addresses from a num- 

 ber of distinguished guests. 



But to conclude, we must say that we were highly 

 ■ratified with tlie various exhibitions and performances of ■ 

 the day, and from what we witnessed, are well satisfied 

 that a body of men .so intelligent as the gentlemen who 

 compose the Worcester Agricultural Society, will not 

 suffer the cause of agriculture to languish, but that this 

 chief comer-stone in the foundations of our national 

 prosperity, will as far as they are concerned, be laid as 

 strong as the hills which beautify the county they in- 

 habit. J- B- 



After the above was in type we received a belter ac- 

 comit of tlie cattle show at Worcester from Mr Colman 

 than what we have written. We are sorry it was not 

 received a few hours sooner, but as it is, we must omit 

 the greater part of it, giving some extracts. 



Speakins of the ploughing match he says,—" We can- 

 not particularize, if we were so disposed, for we did not ; 

 learn a name, which we can recall ;_ but the work of the 

 single teams on the same field was as good, as deeply 

 ploughed and as well ploughed as any done bv the double , 

 teams. The order of the field was perfect. Tlie specators 

 were not suffered lo come on to the work nor to break the 

 line. This is a matter of particular importance, bec.iuse 

 oxen, especially not being blinded, are very Uable in a 

 crowded field lo be disturbed as they come lo the end of 

 furrow by the spectators, who are apt lo press lo that 

 point ; and the ploughman is unable to bring out his fur- 

 row in a straight line, and to square his corners. Besides 

 this the committees are left wholly unembarrassed in the 

 discharge of their duties. So far as we could see, there 

 was scarcely a loud word spoken on the field ; there was 

 no hallooing nor scolding, nor swearing, nor whippmg. 

 It was in no respect a race. It was not ploughing against 

 time ; and the work was executed in a fine manner. 

 The exhibition of live slock embraced 377 entries. 



We should do no justice bv any attempt to give what 

 might be called an account of them ; that would require 

 much more time than was afi'orded us for the examination. 



The fat cattle were respectable but not extraordinary, 

 with the exception of a fat cow from Barre, weighing 

 1560 lbs. We have rarely seen her equal. She wasa| 

 cross of the Durham Short Horn ; but bow fed we re. 

 ccived no iiifonn;Uion. There were some bulls of tbii 



