1860. 



NEVNT ENGLAND FARMER. 



509 



mens of great excellence wei-e exhibited — but the 

 farmers do not seem to have felt their usual inter- 

 est in this, which is really the essential part of 

 the Fair. I know that throughout the county the 

 corn and potato fields were seldom more produc- 

 tive, and yet this department of agricultural pro- 

 duce was not largely represented. The farmers 

 failed to do themselves justice. Several speci- 

 mens of good spring wheat and one of oats were 

 offered ; but none of rye or barley — crops of 

 which have been uncommonly large and fine. 



Domestic bread was abundant and of great ex- 

 cellence. It will be a memorable and hapjiy day 

 for the farmers when their wives and daughters 

 shall entirely discard salaeratus and soda, — as the 

 regulations of this society require, and supply their 

 families with wholesome, and well-made bread. 

 Butter, also, was more abundant than I have ever 

 seen here before, and of equal excellence with 

 that of any previous exhibition. I was particu- 

 larly pleased to observe the department of agri- 

 cultural implements, presenting many specimens 

 of the best construction and greatest utility. La- 

 bor-saving machines for domestic use, and car- 

 riages, for travel and for work, were among the 

 noticeable articles here. 



In the department of fancy and needle work, in 

 which the ladies of Norfolk have always excelled, 

 there was much that attracted and merited atten- 

 tion. 



An extensive and beautiful exhibition of the 

 more commonly cultivated flowers graced a large 

 table in the centre of the hall. Of rare flowers 

 and hot-house plants, none were exhibited. 



Like thousands of others, I was gratified by the 

 Fair. Yet it was plain that the Interest of the oc- 

 casion depended too much on the exertions and 

 contributions of a very limited number of persons, 

 and that the great body of Norfolk farmers were 

 not, as they should have been, represented by the 

 productions of their farms. Many of the farmers 

 were indeed there, but the evidences of their well- 

 known knowledge anfl skill were absent. I regret 

 this the more, because the fact is well established 

 that the influence of this society upon the agri- 

 culture of the county has been eminently and 

 extensively beneficial. 



Of the merits of the address by G. S. Hillard, 

 Esq., of Boston, it would be superfluous to speak. 

 Every one expected much, and I am sure that 

 none could have been dissappointed. Similiar re- 

 marks are also applicable to the speeches of Judge 

 Marston, the delegate of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture, and of President Feltox, of Harvard Uni- 

 versity. Such distinguished scholars and orators 

 can make no better use of their abilities and learn- 

 ing than thus to aid the all-essential art of agri- 

 culture. Observer. 



Keeping Apples. — It is well known, says the 

 Working Farmer, that apples keep longer after 

 having parted with a portion of the water they 

 contain. V/lien first taken from the tree, if laid 

 in a heap eighteen inches in depth, and covered 

 with a light cloth, or a little straw, they will soon 

 sweat ; when this operation has succeeded fairly, 

 the cover, or straw should be taken off, the win- 

 dows opened, and tl>e apples suffered to dry as 

 suddenly as possible. By this operation they will 

 lose five or six per cent, of Aveight, and if packed 

 in barrels and shipped, arriving at their port of 



destination before a second sweating shall occur, 

 they will be all sound, unless bruised in the pack- 

 ing or carriage. If dried immediately after the 

 second sweating, instead of being left closely 

 packed while damp, they are again prepared for 

 a still longer voyage before decay will occur. 

 Those who ship apples to Europe are well aware 

 of these facts, and use the necessary preventive 

 against decay. 



GOSHEN" CHEESE. 



From an article on the manufacture of cheese, 

 in the Ohio Farmer, we extract the following par- 

 agraphs on the celebrated Goshen cheese : 



There are towns in rocky, bleak New England, 

 realizing annually more profit from cheeses, 

 whether estimated per acre, per cow, or per 

 ])ound, than most western towns where the land 

 is far handsomer and apparently more favorable 

 every way for the service of a diary. We may 

 take, for example, Berkshire county, Mass., and 

 Litchfield county. Conn., which lie contiguous to 

 each other, and belong to that broken, rocky, 

 mountainous region, which extends northward to 

 the valley of the St. Lawrence. We shall encoun- 

 ter facts like the following. The town of Goshen, 

 in extent about nine miles by five, and not less 

 than a third of this barren rock, or swamp, will 

 exhibit an annual exportation of cheese ranging 

 from a million and a quarter to a million and a 

 half pounds. All this brings, in the best markets, 

 from one to three cents per pound above the price 

 of ordinary western cheese. It ought, however, to 

 be said here, that Goshen being the favorite name 

 in market, so far as this region of country is con- 

 cerned, (and that probably through the influence 

 of some enterprising cheese merchants of the last 

 generation,) the cheese-makers who reside near 

 the borders yet within the adjacent towns on every 

 side, as Winchester, Torrington, Canaan, Corn- 

 wall and Norfolk, quite generally prefer to sell 

 by way of Goshen, and in this way, of course, 

 swell somewhat the gross amount which passes 

 through the hands of the Goshen merchants, re- 

 ceiving their brand. 



There are in this region a considerable number 

 of manufacturers who keep few or no cows them- 

 selves, but buy the curds of the neighboring far- 

 mers. It is a curious fact, those farmers, or far- 

 mers' wives, (for the mistress of the house always 

 "runs the curd,") who know how to get the great- 

 est number of pounds of curd from a given num- 

 ber of quarts of milk, are also those who receive 

 the highest price by the pound for their curds ; 

 that is to say, the greater the amount of curd that 

 can be obtained from a given amount of milk, the 

 better will be the curd or the quality of the cheese 

 that is made from it. And this difference in 

 amount, under the management of the various 

 curd-makers, is considerable — enough to aston- 

 ish those who have no actual acquaintance with 

 the matter. It is said sometimes to equal a fourth 

 of the whole amount. 



Flavor — the great point in cheese-making — is 

 here carefully attended to. The farmers, however, 

 contend that there is something unusually deli- 

 cious in the grasses of these mountainous coun- 

 ties of New England, from the Sound to the St. 

 Lawrence; especially do they claim a freedom 



