522 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Not. 



Swine. — The show of swine was excellent, 

 though the specimens were not numerous. One 

 among them weighed 911 lbs., and though so 

 heavy was symmetrical, compactly built, and 

 looked as though a proper portion of him would 

 savor a pot of beans excellently well ! 



Of Poultry, there were good specimens. 

 Some Embden and Bremen geese were especially 

 beautiful. 



The Houses were numerous, but I did not see 

 a pair, — and but one single animal — that were 

 particularly attractive. There were, however, a 

 great many excellent horses on the grounds, in 

 which were combined the qualities which make 

 up a good family and farm horse, — and these, af- 

 ter all, are the best horses we have among us. 

 All the space allotted to horses and carriages on 

 the grounds, the sides of the highways for a 

 long distance, and the door-yards were filled 

 with these horses and substantial family car- 

 riages — and I looked upon them as a fair index 

 of the homes from whence they came. 



The display of Vegetables was grand, as it 

 has been at all the exhibitions which I have at- 

 tended, or heard from this autumn. The pota- 

 toes were especially nice. A. P. Benson had 71 

 varieties of beans. 



The show of Fruit was good for this year. 

 That of Pears, the best I have seen. Gustavus 

 Gilbert, of Plymouth, had 29 varieties, among 

 them the Winter Nelis in perfection. He had 

 four varieties of grapes. B. Hedge, Plymouth, 

 made a fine show of the Seckel, Golden Beurre 

 Flemish Beauty, and other varieties of less note. 

 All grown upon pear stocks. 



There was a pleasant display of Grapes, 

 among which were the Concord, Catawba, Per- 

 kins, Union Village, Delaware and others. Col. 

 Wilder sent in No. 4 of Rodgers' Hybrid 

 Grapes, which is described as a dark purple — 

 clusters large, with shoulders ; berries large ; 

 flesh tender, with sweet rich flavor ; earlier than 

 the Isabella ; hybridized from the Native and 

 Black Ilamhurg, and No. 15, hybridized with the 

 Sweet Water, and described as a light amber col- 

 or ; bunch of medium size, shouldered ; berries 

 large, skin thin, flesh tender, of a rich aromatic 

 flavor ; vine vigorous and productive, ripening 

 same time as Diana. There were many fine spec- 

 imens of the Concord. 



Of Apples, there were only a few plates, and 

 those of an ordinary character. Better might 

 have been shown, because I saw them on trees 

 within a mile or two of the tables. Mrs. Martha 

 K.EITIT, of Bridgewater, presented a lot of dried 

 apples, the cleanest and nicest I ever saw. 



There were several specimens of butter and 

 cheese. I tasted nearly every package of the for- 

 mer, and found no one that I should call "first- 



rate." Some of it was excellent in itself, but 

 was too highly salted. Other packages were in 

 stone jars that retained the flavor of other sub- 

 stances, such as lard, cake, or something else, 

 while some were a little strong. It is singular 

 that the art of butter-making remains so imper- 

 fectly understood. The annual loss to farmers of 

 New England in this article is immense, because 

 the butter is not made and packed properly. Good 

 butter is so delicate that it catches and retains 

 almost any other flavor that comes in contact 

 with it, or near it. It must be made absolutely 

 sweet, then properly packed in perfectly clean and 

 sweet vessels. Such butter will always command 

 a high price — say from 25 to 37 cts. a pound ! I 

 am sorry to make these criticisms upon the han- 

 diwork of the dairywomen of old Plymouth, but 

 cannot aff'ord to be unfaithful in anything. I 

 hope they may lead to greater care in the making 

 of this delicious and prime article of our tables. 

 I did not taste the cheese, the honey, the wine, 

 the preserves, nor the cold soap ! 



I am but a poor judge of "dimities" and "crin- 

 olines," "patchwork" or "paintings," but had 

 very clear convictions that the manufactured ar- 

 ticles from the fair hands of the women, were 

 decidedly excellent. They certainly appeared so, 

 and felt so to the touch, when they were not so 

 delicate as to forbid my placing a finger upon 

 them. 



At the table there was a reasonable feast for 

 both mind and matter — body and soul. Five, six, 

 perhaps seven hundred persons were at the tables, 

 half of them women, — thanks to Old Plymouth. 

 If this has been effected by the presence and en- 

 ergy of a middle-aged gallant President, whose 

 accomplished wife works kindly in the same 

 yoke with him, why then all our Societies will 

 know what kind of enginery to set in motion in 

 order to get five hundred ladies at the dinner ta- 

 bles ! I frequently saw Mrs. D. mingling with 

 the crowd, and ever doing what was appropriate 

 in her sphere to promote the progress and har- 

 mony of the occasion. 1 cannot omit saying, 

 gentlemen, that this feature of the Exhibition, — 

 the attendance of so many women looking upon 

 it in all its departments — is the most encouraging 

 feature of all. For when the farmer's wife and 

 daughters take their proper place in his occupa- 

 tion, honoring and cherishing it with their intel- 

 ligent industry and approbation — giving to it 

 dignity and attraction by their interest in all its 

 operations, and encouraging their sons and broth- 

 ers to develope its mysteries and make it a labor 

 of scientific inquiry as well as a physical task, 

 then he will soon spring to that position which 

 those engaged in the pursuit may deserve. It is 

 partly his own fault, if he has been outstript by 

 other professions, — partly his own fault, if the 



