94 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEK. 



March 



MTDDLESEX AQRICULTIIRAIi SOCrETTT. 



The annual transactions of this old society, for 

 1S62, have been promptly and beautifully printed, 

 by Mr. Benjamin Tolm.\n', of Concord. Its last 

 was its sixty-eighth anniversaiy. The leading pa- 

 per ia the pamphlet is the address of Dr. George 

 B. Loring, of Salem, which opens with a most 

 loyal, eloquent and touching reference to our 

 brothers and sons who have gone to the war, and 

 to the honor, perpetuity and glory of our country. 

 He said he could not discourse of cioltivation and 

 crops, of cattle, and the various economies of the 

 farm. It is around the altar of our countr}", said 

 he, that we linger. Upon her, our thoughts vriU 

 dwell. Her cause is ours. Her fate guides our 

 own. If she fall, we fall ^vith her. And, if she 

 rises with new strength from her distress, we are 

 purified, and elevated and renewed. In speak- 

 ing of our diplomacy with England, and our influ- 

 ence upon that powerful nation, he said : " The 

 export of 27,000,000 bushels of wheat, 5,000,000 

 bushels of com, 644,000,000 pounds of cotton, 

 most of it to England, did more than millions of 

 arms, and tons of powder, and labjTinths of dip- 

 lomacy, and all the eloquence of peace societies, 

 to preserve our amicable relations with that pow- 

 er." The address is an eloquent and instructive 

 one. The orator did not aim to discuss the man- 

 ipulations of the farm, but to look at agriculture 

 in a national point of view, and to call the atten- 

 tion of farmers to the glory which our countrj- 

 has attained, to the influence she has upon the civ- 

 ilized world, and to the dependence which some 

 of the great powers openly acknowledge to have 

 upon us. 



The society- is particularly fortunate this year — 

 probably through the exertions of the Secretary-, 

 in obtaining several valuable reports, which are 

 as follows : On Breeding Mares, by Wm. F. 

 Wheeler ; on Colts, by S. H. Rhoades ; on 

 Farm Horses, by WrssLOW Wellington ; on 

 Family and Matched Horses, by John' CuinnNGS, 

 Jr. ; on Roadsters, by Elij.\h Wood ; on Swine, 

 by Dr. Joseph Reyn'olds ; on Grain, by Simon 

 Brottn ; on Farms, by Messrs. MoRSE. Ersxis 

 and Marsh ; on Apples, Qass 1, by E. H. W.VR- 

 REN ; on Apples, Class 2, by Asa Clement ; on 

 Pears, by Andrew Wellington ; on Plums, 

 Peaches and Melons, by Samuel H. Pierce ; on 

 Grapes, by J. B. Moore ; on Vegetables, by J. 

 R. Kendall ; on Flowers, by Minot Pratt ; on 

 Milch Cows and Blood Stock, by Peter Lawson. 



Some of the statements which accompany these 

 reports are unusually full and intelligible ; for in- 

 stance, those in reply to the questions put bv the 

 Committee on Farms — one from Mr. CuM^ilNGS, 

 of Wobum, on fruit, one from Mr. T. F. Hunt, 

 of Concord, on grapes, and one from Mr. J. B. 

 Farmer, of Concord, on experiments with ma- 



nures. There is a definiteness and clearness about 

 some of these, that are quite refreshing. The re- 

 port on swine, by Dr. Reynolds, is among the 

 best we have ever read. It is statistical, clear and 

 convincing — showing not only a knowledge of the 

 subject upon which he is wTiting, but a classical 

 mind, strengthened with stores of cm-rent events. 

 It is full of sound suggestions, which every farm- 

 er who is keeping s^vine, should carefully consid- 

 er. It brings the matter down to the true point 

 of rearing and fattening, that of profit and loss — 

 and this is just what we wish to know in regard 

 to all our farming eSbrts. 



In the report on grapes, ^Ir. Moore, of Con- 

 cord, says : Mr. Hunt plants 8 feet by 7, which 

 is 56 square feet to a vine, and nearly 778 vines 

 to an acre. They are yet only small vines, trained 

 to a stake like a common bean-pole, but have al- 

 ready produced on an average 15^ lbs. of grapes 

 to a vine the present year, with only ordinary cul- 

 tivation, making 12,059 lbs. to an acre. At 12-^ 

 cents a pound, which is no more than the aver- 

 ' age price the last few years, this amounts to 

 I $1,507 37i ; and at 10 cents a pound, the price for 

 which large quantities could be sold, Sl>205 90. 

 This will well repay the grower. 



None of the transactions of the year 1862, that 

 have come to our hands, equal this in the value of 

 its reports, with, perhaps, the exception of those 

 of Essex county. The oflBcers elected for 1862-3, 

 are as follows : 



Ephraim W. Bull, of Concord, President ; 

 Winthrop W. Chenery, of Belmont, Asa Clem- 

 ent, of Dracut, Vice Presidents ; John B. Moobe, 

 of Concord, Secretary ; Richard Barrett, of 

 Concord, Treasurer. 



FITCHBUHQ RATT.FvOAD. 



AVe have, of late, received several inquiries 

 in regard to the statute law, or laws, in relation 

 to the fences on the line of this road. The ques- 

 tion at issue, seems to be, " AYho is legally bound 

 to make and keep the fences in repair on each side 

 of the track?" A letter from a correspondent, 

 on another page, we believe states the facts in the 

 case — ^which letter please read. 



It appears that railroads constructed before the 

 year 1846 are not under obligation to make and 

 keep in repair the fences on their sides. In the case 

 of Moses Stea7'ns vs. the Old Colony and Fall Biv- 

 er Railroad Company, it was stated by Judge 

 Chapm.\n, we think, that " the statute of 1846, 

 chapter 271, requiring railroad corporations to 

 erect and maintain fences upon both sides of any 

 railroad which they might thereafter construct, 

 does not apply to a railroad which was located and 

 partially constructed at the time of its passage. 



" A railroad company, which is not bound to 

 erect and maintain a fence, is not liable in dama- 



