340 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



LETTER PBOM THE FARM. 



Concord, Sept. 19, 1863. 



Gentlemen : — The Middlesex Agricidtural So- 

 ciety held its annual Exhibition on Thursday, Sept. 

 17, in this town. The day was fair, but extremely 

 hot. A large number of persons were in attend- 

 ance -who seemed to enjoy the occasion, and among 

 them I was glad to notice many ladies, 



This Society was established in 1793, and, con- 

 sequently, is now seventy years old — the oldest in 

 the State, by several years, and has undoubtedly 

 had a large and beneficial influence upon the agri- 

 culture of the county, and perhaps beyond the 

 1 mits of the county. 



The exercises of Thursday were the usual ones. 

 The Ploughing-Match was contested by eigld two- 

 horse teams. Jive two ox-teams, and two double, or 

 four ox-teams. The work, was well performed. 

 The first premium for two-horse teams was award- 

 ed to Jubez Gowing, of Concord ; the second to 

 Henry A. Parmenter, of Wayland ; single teams, 

 first premium to George M. Baker, of Lincoln ; 

 second to A. H. Wheeler, of Concord ; double 

 teams, first premium to Samuel M. Thomas, of. 

 Wayland ; second to Elijah Wood, of Concord. 



. There was a good show in number of very fine 

 cattle on the ground. The Dutch cattle presented 

 by W. W. Chenery, of Belmont, consisted of five 

 bulls, ten cows and heifers and four oxen. He al- 

 so exhibited some Angora goats, imported from 

 Asia Minor, and sheep of the Texal breed, import- 

 ed by him from Friesland. 



Mr. J. L. Hurd, of Concord, exhibited fine spec- 

 imens of pure Jerseys, and Wm. Mackintosh, a 

 bull of the same breed. Mr. George M. Barrett, 

 of Concord, exhibited fine Ayreshire stock. 

 Grades were also on the ground of Devon and 

 Ayreshire. Wm. Buckminster, of Framingham, 

 exhibited some fine Devon stock. B. W. Gleason, 

 of Stowe, offered a yoke of fat oxen, weighing 

 2606 and 2437 pounds respectively. Among the 

 other exhibitors of neat stock were Asa G, Shel- 

 don, of Wilmington, Jonas Viles, of Waltham, 

 Wm. Hastings and A.S. Lewis, of Framingham. 



The Swine exhibited were excellent, but the 

 number small. The Chester county breed exhibit- 

 ed by Mr. Blinn, of Lexington, were as clean, sym- 

 metrical and perfect as any swine we have ever 

 seen. They attracted much attention. There 

 were several coops of very beautiful Poultry, 



The exhibition of horses was large and included 

 some excellent animals. 



That of Apples was not as large as is usual in 

 our show — but some of the specimens were fine. 

 I had the pleasure of showing twenty varieties, 

 some of them new in this county. Pears and 

 Grapes were not in abundance, but still some very 

 fine ones were on the tables. Mr. Morse, of Cam- 



bridge, entered about a dozen varieties, Simon 

 Brown, of Concord, seventeen varieties, and sev- 

 eral others in smaller parcels. 



The display of Bread and Btdfer waa very at- 

 tractive. All the samples of butter which I ex- 

 amined I should pronounce of the best kind, — and 

 I was glad to see so much of it presented. The 

 bread, also, was pronounced excellent by those 

 who had opportunity to examine and taste it. 



The display of articles of Domestic Industry 

 gave ample evidence of the fine taste, as well as 

 the industr)' of the women of Middlesex County. 



There was no dinner by the Society, and no 

 written address, — but after the examinations and 

 exercises were concluded on the grounds, the 

 Town Hall was thrown open to all, first to hear 

 addresses and then to choose officers of the So- 

 ciety for the ensuing year. The speakers were 

 the President, E. W. Bull, John C. Bartlett, 

 of Chelmsford, Geo. B. Loring, of Salem, L. 

 Wetiierell, of Boston, Simon Brown, of Con- 

 cord, J. M. Usher, of Medford, Mr. Grout, of 

 Framingham, President of the Middlesex South 

 Society, and Mr. Bradford, President of the 

 Worcester North Society. The speeches were 

 generally short, pertinent, and energetic. 



Oflicers were then chosen, as follows, which 

 closed the exercises of the exhibition for the year 

 1863. 



W. W. CuEN'ERY, Belmont, President. . 



Annisox Gage, West Cambridge, ( y- presidents 

 Asa Clement, Dracut, ^ '^"^^ i-resiaenis. 



John B. Moore, Concord, Secretary. 

 RiCUARD Barrett, Concord, Treasurer. 



In this exhibition, which has just closed, I was 

 sorry not to observe any specimen of grain, with 

 the exception of a few traces of Lidian corn. The 

 vegetables, also,Avere quite limited in quantity — so 

 that these prime articles, including the small ex- 

 hibition of fruit, seem almost to have lost the im- 

 portant position which they once held in this an- 

 cient Society. Indeed, in the amount of stock, of 

 every kind, exhibited, as well as fruits, vegetables, 

 grain, and inventions and implements, there has 

 been a decided fixUing off in our exhibitions in lat- 

 ter years. I well know, by long experience, what 

 cost of labor, of vigilance and energy it requires 

 to sustain these annual exhibitions, and that when 

 these yield, the interests of the enterprise will suf- 

 fer. 



The Potato Rot. 



I am informed that this disease has been dis- 

 covered in many fields in this region, and in some 

 cases, to a very considerable extent. 



The haying season — even of the first crop, — is 

 not over yet. Many tons are now lying in cock 

 within view from my window. 



Beans Still Running. 



1 have a piece of rich land jdanted with the 

 white pea bean — the smallest bean we have, I be- 

 lieve. The vines have i-un from one to eight feet, 



