484 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



to the exclusion of other stock, although he knew 

 it to be profitable from experience. He thought a 

 stringent dog law was necessary for the protection 

 of sheep growers. Here followed some lengthy 

 remarks concerning the washing of wool before 

 shearing, in which the speakers generally concur- 

 red in the belief that such a process was not pro- 

 fitable to the growers, inasmuch as manufacturers 

 pay as much for oily and unwashed wool as they 

 do for clean dry wool. Resolutions presented by 

 Mr. Needham, asking the Legislature to enact a 

 dog law, and resolving to hold meetings each year 

 of the fair for the discussion of wool and sheep 

 matters, were passed, after which the convention 

 adjourned. 



The Second Day's Exhibition. 



The stock and articles on exhibition were more 

 numerous, and the attendance much larger than 

 on the first day. A pretty good idea of the num- 

 ber present may be inferred from the fact that 

 there were $odO worth of tickets sold at twenty- 

 five cents each, and there was a very large num- 

 ber of exhibitors who were admitted by passes. 

 In the horse department there were no entries for 

 the sweepstake premium of a diploma and $jO, 

 but there were numerous others as follows : Sher- 

 man Morgans, stallions, 12 ; mares, G ; Woodbury 

 and Bulrush Morgans, stallions, 8 ; mares and 

 fillies, 3 ; Hambletonians and other bloods, (in- 

 cluding all bloods not previously mentioned) stal- 

 lions and mares, '63 ; matched horses, 24 ; geld- 

 ings and mares, 4 ; foreign horses, 2. There were 

 only two entries of cattle for the sweepstakes pre- 

 mium of $25, which will probably not be awarded, 

 as the rules of the society require that there should 

 be at least three competitors. Of Durhams there 

 are nine entries, Devons, one ; mixed and native 

 bloods, 16 ; working oxen, 9 ; steers, 3 ; fat cat- 

 tle, 1 ; and of foreign cattle, none. There were 

 four entries of sheep for the sweepstakes jiremium 

 of $25 ; and of Spanish merinoes the entries were 

 bucks and ewes, 28 ; lambs, !(> ; ewes (stock of 

 twenty-five) 4 ; long and middle wooled, 9. The 

 premiums are to be awarded with reference to the 

 combination of the best carcass for mutton, and 

 fleece for manufacture. There were o entries of 

 swine, and 8 of poultry. The productions of the 

 dairy comprised 3 entries of butter and 6 of cheese. 

 The other entries are — field crops, 3 ; fruits, 6 ; 

 maple sugar, 7 ; vegetables, 4 ; mechanical depart- 

 ment, first class (including farm implements and 

 machinery,) 24 ; second class (including all other 

 manufactures,) 18 ; fioral department about 200. 

 Opening of the Third Day. 



The weather was very fine, and the people fiist 

 gathered upon the grounds. Amusements were 

 liberally provided for all, so that all could find en- 

 joyment, leaving no temptation for any to become 

 noisy and troublesome. 



Mr. Greeley's Address. 



There were 8000 people upon the ground to lis- 

 ten to the agricultural discourse of Hon. Horace 

 Greeley, of New York. Nearly two-thirds of the 

 male population in attendance were professional 

 farmers, and the gathering together of a more in- 

 telligent appearing class of men is seldom witness- 

 ed. It is well known that Mr. Greeley is exceed- 

 ingly popular in this vicmity, having been a resi- 

 dent of the county in his early youth j and possess- 



ing a natural taste for agricultural pursuits, he 

 was probably the most appropriate man to address 

 his admirers upon the subject. 



The chosen topic of his discourse was "Agricul- 

 ture in Vermont — Past and Future." At the com- 

 mencement he gave some personal facts, and re- 

 lated the backwardness of everything pertaining 

 to agriculture half a century since. More than 

 forty years, he said, have passed since I, a mere 

 child, a portion of the family and scanty worldly 

 possessions, all contained in a double sleigh, of a 

 poor and unsuccessful New Hampshire farmer, 

 passed through the town and halted in this county, 

 with our faces turned toward that great West, 

 which was and is the bounteous and hospitable 

 "land of promise" for the destitute and unlucky. 

 For the next ten years this section was my home ; 

 for the first five of them my time and my energies, 

 such as they were, were devoted to clearing away 

 timber and tilling the soil. During those five 

 years, though a most omnivorous reader, hunting 

 lar and wide for mental aliment, I never saw an 

 agricultural book, and I think not even a single 

 copy of a periodical devoted to farming. I did not 

 hear nor even read an address or a speech whereof 

 agricultural improvement or agricultural method 

 was the theme. I did not hear of a Vermont State 

 nor Rutland county fair. A town fair, or a town, 

 village or neighborhood meeting of farmers to dis- 

 cuss agriculture as a pursuit, or interchange ideas 

 and suggestions concerning their own vocation, 

 was never thought of in the varied circle which 

 bounded my daily life. If it had been suggested to 

 my neighbors and daily associates that agriculture 

 was a pursuit i-equiring for its wise and effective 

 prosecution a very large measure of general knowl- 

 edge — that it was a science demanding a profound 

 acquai]itance with and accurate knowledge of na- 

 tuie — of geology, chemistry and botany — I am 

 confident the most of them would have been as 

 thoroughly astounded as if they had been urged to 

 send their oxen to college and take their horses to 

 hear a course of lectures on astronomy. 



The agriculture by which people managed to 

 exist at that time in this vicinity was sheep and 

 grass, and they did not, and Mr. Greeley presumed 

 they do not now, grow as much grain as they con- 

 sun^e. The clay flats of Westhaven, as good grass 

 land as ever was, did not average a ton to the acre, 

 and some not half a ton, for the reason they had 

 been regularly mowed for forty years and ])astured 

 usually from September to May, and never ferti- 

 lized in any manner. Rye was the staple grain, 

 but there was not enough raised to sui)ply the 

 people with bread and whisky, which by many 

 were regarded the prime necessities of life. Many 

 fields were sowed with this unexhausting grain, 

 without fertilizing, until they did not yield five 

 bushels to the acre, although there was lime and 

 other fertilizers protruding all around. In some of 

 the townships cast and north of Whitehall the an- 

 nual products were so diminished that the inhabi- 

 tants had only a choice between emigration and 

 famine. 



The last forty years, however, have witnessed 

 great improvements in agricultural methods here 

 and almost everywhere else. In spite of the too 

 general sluggishness and inhospitality to new ideas 

 of the class of poor farmers, certain cardinal truths 

 have forced their way into the general mind and 

 will not be dislodged. Among these Mr. Greeley 



