S58 



N E W E N G L A N D FARMER, 



APRIL 89 r 4'. 



authorised to distribute 20 dollars for extra- 

 ordinary fruits a'nd vegetables, tliat may be 

 depcisited for exhibition. 



Manukacttrks. 

 Tlie Committee on Cloths and the must useful 

 articles of Household Manufaclurc, are au- 

 thorised to award in premiuuis, according to 

 their judgment of the comparative c^xcel- 

 lence and utility of the articles presented, $75 



Bonnets and Fancy Articles. 

 The Committee on articles of Usefulness and 

 Fancy, are authorised to award $50 



Inventions. 



The Committee are authorised to distribute fur 

 inventions and improvements in tlie s;ruc- 

 ture of implements oi agjioulture, &c., as 

 rewards of ingenuity, Jj'iO 



Committee are authorised tra distribute 8 vols. 



N V Par.""-- ""'1 ? ■^r Y-nkec F»^—-'. 



Cocoons and Silk. 



To the person who shall raise and exhibit tlie 



largest quantity of cocoons, $4 



For the next greatest quantity, 3 



For do do do . 2 



For every ounce of wrought silk raised and 



worKed in tne county, ten ceiiLs. 



P. S. — Cloths, fancy articles, products of the 

 dairy, cocoons and silks, articles of invention, fri:its, 

 vegetables, &,c., must be deposited in tlie Town 

 House before o'clock. A, iM, on tlie day of exhi- 

 bition. 



Articles manufactured out. of Plymouth county 

 not admiasable. 



Premums Claimable in Future Years. 



To the person w ho shall on the first day of 

 September, 18-11, have the largest quantity 

 of land in the best state of preparation for 

 Knglish mowing, which is now fre.=b mead- 

 ow or swamp land, $95 

 Second premium for the same object, 15 

 Third do do do 10 

 For the most a( curate and satisfactory experj- 

 ment in the application of manure, premium 

 payable in 1842, 25 

 Applicants for tills prenuum «'ill be required to 

 appropriate fiu- tITe experiment, one acre and a half 

 of land, as nearly of the same quality of soil as pos- 

 sible. On one half ncre, ten loads of manure, ora 

 larger quantity if preferred, must be spread on the 

 Bwaid; then let the whole field be ploughed^, and 

 on the next half acre the same quantity and quality 

 of manure be spread on the furrow ; let the whole 

 field be afterwards harrowed and planted witft In- 

 dian corn. Let every part of the field receive the 

 same attention and culture, and the crup on each 

 half acre be separately harvested and weighed. The 

 second year the field must be sowed with some 

 kind of spring grain and grass seed, and the crop 

 8S before measured or weighed. Tlie third year 

 will be grass, which must be cut and cured in the 

 same manner on each hnlf acre and separately 

 weighed. 



The three crops will probably shew which course 

 is most effectual, to burj mannre under the furrow 

 or apply it to the surface. And the produce of the 

 half acre not manured, will shew the benefits de- 

 rived from manure. 



Claims to the above premiums must be entered 



with Morrill Alien, of Pembroke, on or before 

 the first of May, 184(1. 



For the most extensive forest of ^ny sort of 

 trees suitable for timber, raised from the 

 seed, not less than 1000 trees to the acre, 

 which shall be in the most flourishing con- 

 dition and more than five years old, in Sep- 

 tember, 1645, $50 

 Second premium for the same object, 30 

 Third do do do 20 

 Premiums not demanded within one year, will be 

 considered as generously given to promote the ob- 

 jects of the Society. 



On all preminnis above five dollars awarded to 

 gentlemen not members of tiie Society, the Treasu- 

 rer is directed to make a deduction of 25 per cent, 

 111 increase the funds. 



The Trustees will not consider themselves oblig- 

 ed by the terms of the above offers, to give a pre- 

 mium in any case, when it shall be evident there 

 hno hnnr. ^■- '•onip"*''i'!r' nor more thnn ord'o-'y 

 exertion. 



All entries for premiums may be made by letters 

 post paid. Letters not post? paid, will not be con- 

 sidered. 



By order of the Trustees, 



MORRILL ALLEN 

 Brlilgewalcr, Janunry^ 1840. 



Fertile N. E. FarmiT. 



SCIENCE FOR FARMERS— ORNITHOLOGY 

 Mr Colman — Tlie next science which we shall 

 introduce as claiming the investigation of farmers, 

 is that of Ornithology, or the science of birds ^ and 

 surely, since we have the assurance that He who 

 guides the planets in their courses — who causes 

 the outgoings-of the morning and the evening to 

 rejoice — who, indeed " upholds, supports and gov- 

 erns all creation," wlio gave goodly wing to the 

 peacock, " hears the young ravens when they cry," 

 and notices the falling sparrow, — it cannot by any 

 natural, moral, or theological pretence, be inconsis- 

 tent for us who were created in our Maker's image 

 and endowed with the noble faculties which we 

 justly claim, to seejt kind acquaintanceship with 

 .iny of his works, es|iecially a part of his creation 

 which contributes so much to the varieties of our 

 temperament as the feathered race. 



That birds are subjects of much annoyance to 

 farmers, is a fact too evident to i'all for particular 

 investigation. They pull up his grains, devour his 

 fruits, in short give exercise to the current of his 

 feelings, which might otJierwise flow more equally 

 and agreeably in a thousand way.s. 



What can be more at variance with the even 

 tenor of a m.an's spirits, when his cornfield has been 

 planted with much care and watered by much 

 " sweat of his brow," than to hear a detestable crow, 

 as if its heart was as black as its own plumage, 

 cawing over the field where a golden harvest is ex- 

 pected as a remuneration for earnest labors, and 

 anon seeing him alight under guard of a dozen of 

 his fellows, whose habits of industry they prove in 

 a manner no wise unworthy of human emulation, 

 puUing it up as though it were wholly an aflfair of 

 t'lcir own .' 



After all, the crow is not so much to blame for 

 the invasions he makes upon the farmer's premises. 

 The rich leasts which the golgotha where his dead 

 animals are deposited, offer his craving stomach. 



invite him to protract his s.tay through the long pe- 

 riod of winter, and if his stores fail on tlie return of 

 spring, who can wonder that if, after the liberality 

 with which he has been fed in ihe inclement season 

 he shall feel himself qbile 'at home,' when the sea- 

 son of brighter hopes returns ? Yet for his familia- 

 rities there is ample remedy ; for notwithstanding 

 his courage in diving into the depths of air, and 

 the apparent self-possession witli which he enters 

 upon our cornfields, he is still a coii'arrf, and is often 

 frightened from his purposes by the most simple and 

 inoffensive means; for he usually avoids "the 

 man of straw," and his ideas of ropes and halters 

 are so odious, that if but simply a very small cord is 

 extended around the premises where his mischievous 

 visits are intrusive, he has the prudence to keep a 

 proper distance. Their habits are also said to be 

 rather favorable to the "striped pig" system, and 

 that some fanners have availed themselves of this 

 weakness of their nature, and brought them into 

 fearful dnrov hv snaking nrtiins in "the ardent" 

 and strewing them over their cornfields. 



But with all his failings, the cro# is not so bad 

 a bird as he might be, neither is his heart so black 

 as his plumage indicates; but in various ways 

 proves himself an article of utility to the farmer, 

 by waging war upon the worms and many other 

 evil doers of insect royalty, which would gladly 

 duiej.1 Ills luuors. Tiie caiue :..»i.. In, -aiu of other 

 birds which send forth their warbling notes to con- 

 tribute to our cheerfulness, when nature puts on 

 her rich attire. They may n'.l of tUeiii appear to 

 us as rather mischievous creatures, when in fact 

 they are our efficient laborers, doing that for us in 

 a short time in the destruction of our little insidi- 

 ous enemies, which we might never accomplish, or 

 which if we did, it would be at an expense of time 

 and labor which might be much more profitably and 

 agreeably devoted to other objects. W hy should 

 we then complain if now and then a robin light up- 

 on our cherry trees, and pluck a portion of their 

 rich fruit, to satisfy the longings of its ow n palate, 

 whjn in fact one may be indebted to the same bird 

 or some of its family, for the fruit we gather, if not 

 from the same tree, from some other of Pomona's 

 bowers? The same may be said of other birds: 

 most if not all of them are useful to the farmer, and 

 would be found to be so if he would study into 

 their nature and habits. But we are too apt to be 

 guided by first impressions, and for the want of this 

 investigation, we conclude if we see a luckless 

 bird light upon a grain field or a fruit tree, at a sea- 

 son when they may take from us a part of the spoil, 

 that it is a thief, and belongs to a race of bandits, 

 and that we should unhesitatingly wage war upon 

 the whole posse. What an inconsistency ! Man 

 rebel against his laborers, when all the remunera- 

 tion they ask is a part of their board — now and then 

 a meal of the fruits they have so nobly and disin- 

 terestedly aided him in raising! "Alas for the 

 weakness of poor human nature," when it prompts 

 us to rise in such tiital rebellions as the sacrifice 

 of our friends — friends too, that teach us such 

 powerful lessons of industry, economy, forbearance, 

 constancy and many other virtues, as the birds of 

 the air inculcate. L.et us study their habits more 

 effectually, and we shall be enabled to appreciate 

 their worth more fully, and shall learn from them 

 many more lessons of practical utility than they 

 have yet taught to their most zealous amateurs and 

 careful observers. 



Aflerallthe powder and lead which has been 

 wasted in attempts to annihilate the feathered race, 



