666 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



and actual merit ? This is undoubtedly often 

 done honestly by the judges, in consequence of 

 the superior faculty of one exhibitor over another 

 to make the excellences of his article obvious, &c. 

 Various things may operate to warp the judgment 

 of mortals acting as disinterested judges ; e. g., 

 the popularity of the inventor or maker of the 

 article; the popularity of the article itself; pe- 

 cuniary standing of the exhibitor, or his pover- 

 ty; cheap dress ; diffidence; political and reli- 

 gious preferences ; moral character, &c. But it 

 is believed by many that awards are often made 

 contrary to the dictates of the judgment. It is 

 hard to be obliged to think so, and in the coun- 

 try I hope the cases are rare ; but in cities where 

 there is great competition, in j'cars past, cases 

 were frequent; one man told me that a certain 

 premium cost his firm over $2000 ! 



Awards are often made, too, regardless of rel- 

 ative merit and importance ; e. g., a wealthy mer- 

 chant or lawyer, keeping but one cow, which 

 brings him a decent sort of a calf, causes it to be 

 fed and nursed, regardless of expense, till it is 

 three years old, when he exhibits it at the State 

 fair, and receives a premium of SIO ; nobody 

 claiming that this babied calf will ever be of any 

 material benefit to the town, State or country ; a 

 neighbor of his has been "hard at it" daily, and 

 some of the time nightly, for seven years, and 

 perfects and exhibits at the same fair an agricul- 

 tural implement, the use of which, in the estima- 

 tion of all intelligent farmers, would give an av- 

 erage benefit to all the farmers in the land of at 

 least $2 annually, and in the aggregate, millions 

 to the country, and he receives for his genius, pa- 

 tient labor and public benefit, the sum of $G ! 

 A wealthy mechanic succeeds in getting several 

 specimens of nature's best marble, polished in a 

 superior manner, a thing of not the least benefit 

 to any of the whole creation, but the rich, for 

 which he gets a premium of $15, the highest 

 award in the mechanical department ; a poor and 

 feeble man has at the same fair a buggy, com- 

 bining four separate patents, the result of his 

 own invention, during five years, for which he 

 has received the written recommendations of all 

 •who have used it, (several hundred,) as being far 

 superior to all others, practically, and yet light- 

 er and cheaper ; and although it was necessary to 

 ride in it, in order to test some of its claimed ad- 

 vantages, and the inventor was at the expense of 

 having a horse ready, yet' the judges would not 

 get into it, nor scarcely examine it at all, it evi- 

 dently being out of their line, and awarded him 

 for the four inventions, a diploma ! 



In connection with this last case, I wish to al- 

 lude to another thing, I guess a little questiona- 

 ble. In making the report, the committee repeat- 

 edly wished it to be distinctly understood that 

 they considered the diploma the highest award that 

 the Society gave for any thing ! The inventor of 

 the improvements in land conveyance having pre- 

 viously requested if the committee awarded him 

 anything, that it might be in money, after hearing 

 the report, called upon the chairman of the com- 

 mittee, and requested that if the diploma was the 

 highest premium, they would give him a little 

 money instead thereof! He replied that the fact 

 •was, he didn't see any great advantage in the pa- 

 tents, and so gave the diploma ! I guess such 

 consistency would not encourage or develop the 



inventive resources within the bounds of any so- 

 ciety, very much ! The same chairman, in his re- 

 port, regretted that the mechanical department 

 was so thin, and I guess his regrets would not be 

 any less another year, for such encouragement to 

 inventors, unless reflected off by large quantities 

 of polished marble. 



There are several things in the "fair" line that 

 I am prone to guess upon ; but I guess you will 

 guess this is not worth printing ; so I guess I will 

 wait and see, before I write more ; though I guess, 

 Mr. Editor, if you had seen and knew as much 

 about it as I giiess I do, you would get somebody 

 that was better able to do the thing justice. 



I had thought to say something about how to 

 remedy the evils alluded to, the crops hereabouts, 

 cement cisterns, the best horse hamper or poke, 

 canary birds, &c., but I guess I won't. 



Jonathan. 



LUCERNE. 



The cultivation of lucerne, as a hay plant, has 

 not yet become popular in this country. In some 

 sections, however, it has long been known, and 

 is highly recommended for its many excellent 

 qualities, being a vigorous grower, hardy, and on 

 suitable soil, a richly-yielding grass. Many who 

 have attempted the cultivation of lucerne, have 

 failed in consequence of not understanding its 

 peculiar habits. In the case of most grasses, we 

 consider the preparation of the surface soil of the 

 greatest moment ; but we rarely attempt to ameli- 

 orate the subsoil. In the preparation of a field 

 of lucerne, however, it is often necessary to go 

 below the vegetable stratum, and undertake the 

 improvement of the subsoil. Some have assert- 

 ed, and among the number Von Thaer, we be- 

 lieve, that in the cultivation of lucerne, the lower 

 stratum of the soil is of more consequence than 

 the upper. The plant, as it developes from year 

 to year, sends down its principal root, and still 

 continues so to do, as long as it finds food in its 

 progress, and hence It is essential that the soil, 

 for at least the depth of two or three feet, be of a 

 similar geological and chemical texture. Where 

 different strata occur, overlaying each other short 

 of this depth, it is important that the different in- 

 gredients of each be thoroughly mixed together. 

 This can only be effected at great expense, and it 

 is therefore better not to attempt it. There are 

 localities on almost every farm, which are -H'ell 

 adapted to the cultivation of this grass, and these 

 may be discerned by examination, and at a very 

 small expense. 



On suitable soil, free from excessive humiditj', 

 and tolerably warm, lucerne is no doubt suscepti- 

 ble of being made a very profitable crop ; but we 

 would caution all against the idea — prevalent in 

 some sections at present, and to the no small 

 detriment, we fear, of the interests of agriculture 

 — that any and all descriptions of soil may be 

 made to produce this crop by the aid of lime. 



