1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



603 



madversion. Its novelty was only equalled by its 

 absurdity. Gov. Boutwell, then Secretary of the 

 Board of Education, was present at the delivery of 

 the address to which I refer, and expressed his dis- 

 sent from the positions which the speaker main- 

 tained and asserted. He declared that the first 

 step in education Avas to learn to read, and that 

 this was a prerequisite to all future study. 



I consider it a great mistake that those who are 

 selected to address farmers at our agricultural fes- 

 tivals, are either clergymen, lawyers or physicians, 

 men M'ho have no practical acquaintance with ag- 

 riculture, and who have no sympathies with the 

 farmer ; mere theorists, who cannot say anything 

 Avhich comes home to their business and bosoms. 

 Accordingly the addresses on these occasions are 

 insipid, uninteresting, and unsuited to meet the 

 wants and wishes of the farming community. I 

 had rather read the N. E. Farmer or the Plovgli- 

 man, than to listen to the doctrines and positions 

 which they aim to inculcate. If we Avant infor- 

 mation on any point connected with theology, law 

 or medicine, we look to those who are profession- 

 ally engaged in the study. Upon the same prin- 

 ciple, farmers are best qualified to instruct us in 

 farming. 



I have thought, in the present state of the coun- 

 try, that there is a topic of surpassing interest and 

 importance which ought to be presented to our 

 agricultural societies. In the great struggle in 

 which we are engaged everything cannot be 

 achieved by our forces on sea and on land. The 

 agricultural fraternity have a part to perform in 

 the great work of redemption. I wished that 

 some one might be permitted to give utterance to 

 this sentiment, but the prejudice against farmers 

 is so violent and excessive that if an individual in- 

 timates a wish or a willingness to express his 

 opinion, (though no one has ever been more back- 

 ward or unwilling than he, to do it before,) he is 

 laughed at for his presumption, or denounced for 

 his folly. 



I know it may be said that this is not always 

 the case, and that Dr. Loring is a practical far- 

 mer, and yet he has often been called upon to act 

 in this way. He is indeed an exception, but a sol- 

 itary one, and his case does not invalidate the 

 general truth of the fact. Dr. Loring is a gentle- 

 man of learning and ability, and he has been emi- 

 nently practical in his addresses to farmers, but it 

 is believed that there are other educated men, who 

 if they do not equal him in talent, might, in these 

 times, give an address, v/hich v/ould be acceptable 

 and satisfactory. It has been said that the Essex 

 Society have never gone out of their county to 

 obtain an orator for the cattle show, and it is a 

 shame and disgrace to the commonwealth, that 

 while Essex boasts of her independence, almost 

 every other county in the State has been more or 

 less dependent on her. 



Twenty-four years ago the editor of the Ploiigh- 

 man delivered an excellent address at the Concord 

 castle show. It was listened to with intense inter- 

 est, and gave universal satisfaction. Since that 

 time not more than one or two farmers have been 

 invited to officiate at this festival. How is it, Mr. 

 Editor, tliat we have never had a discourse from 

 your prolific \)e\\ ? You could give us one quite 

 equal to that of the Editor of the Plouglimaii. Is 

 it possible that you have never had an invitation? 



In conclusion, I will answer the question of Es- 



sex. I believe the cattle shows, as at present con- 

 ducted, are of little practical value. If they were at 

 once abolished, I think it would not perceptibly af- 

 fect the advancement of agriculture. For myself 

 it is a matter of no personal interest. From the 

 infirmities of age, I have ceased to go to the cattle 

 show, and to say the least, it is exceedingly doubt- 

 ful whether I attend another. I notice that the 

 North Middlesex Society have dispensed with 

 their show for this year, and declined the State 

 grant of six hundred dollars. As the Slate and 

 nation need all their resources of men and money, 

 would it not be well for the other societies to 

 make a like sacrifice during the continuance of the 

 war ? We are contending for everything dear and 

 sacred, we need to buckle on all our energies in 

 behalf of the great cause. Let us rally round the 

 flag of the Union, and inscribe on our banners, — 

 our country, our whole country, and nothing but 

 our country. "Liberty and Union now and forev- 

 er, one and inseparable." a. 

 South Acton, September 22, 1862. 



Remarks. — We thank our correspondent for 

 his communication, and agree with him in most 

 that he has said. We certainly believe with him 

 that some radical improvements are necessary in 

 the management of our agricultural societies in 

 order to make them worthy recipients of the State 

 bounty. The same things are being done over and 

 over again, and the State's money exhausted upon 

 them, until the intelligent public have lost inter- 

 est in the old stereotyped routine, and demand a 

 reform. This, we think, should take place, or the 

 bounty of the State be discontinued. 



Fvr the Neio England Farmer, 

 HUNGARIAN GRASS, 

 Messrs. Editors : — If the little experience of 

 one season is of any value, I freely give it, not ex- 

 pecting "recompense or reward." I have seen a 

 variety of opinions expressed in the journals in 

 regard to the successes of different experimenters 

 in their reports upon raising Hungaiian grass as 

 a substitute for the more common approved grass- 

 es. To tell as straight a story as my decaying fac- 

 ulties will admit of, I bought eight quarts of Hun- 

 garian grass seed, and sowed it upon half an acre 

 of thin-soiled land, where corn had grown the 

 year befor-e. This half acre was dressed with a 

 light coat of compost of animal manure and mud, 

 and plowed, the seed sowed and harrowed in on 

 the 16th day of May, 1862. It being a new thing 

 with me, I watched it from day to day ; its prog- 

 ress was rather slow at first, but my curiosity 

 svvfelled into astonishment when I beheld on the 

 20th day of August something like three tons to 

 the acre (after cut and cured) mowed for fodder 

 from my "Wilmington land." According to the 

 best estimate we could make by weighing a part 

 while green, there were over seven tons to the 

 acre. This first cut was purposely for fodder be- 

 fore the seed had matured ; the last of August we 

 cut a small part of what was saved for seed stand- 

 ing, and on the 9th of Se])tember we finished the 

 lot left for seed. The seed from that harvested 

 20lh of August was very light, and its germina- 



