354 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



OUB AUTUMNAIi CATTLE SHOX^S. 



These annual festivals have been taking place 

 through the month of Se])tember in every portion 

 of our State, and a few are still to be held in this 

 month. The attentive reader may have observed 

 that we have not encumbered our columns with 

 detailed accounts of any of them, and in some 

 cases have not referred to them, only to publish 

 the time of their taking place. 



There was a time when these shows were of un- 

 questionable advantage to the farmer — when 

 ploughs were heavy and awkward, and when men 

 were seeking to construct them upon more scien- 

 tific principles, and needed to witness their work- 

 ing in the hands of many different persons who 

 best understood the art of ploughing ; when the 

 principles of hreeding had scarcely been introdu- 

 ced to the mass of our farmers, and it became 

 necessary to call their attention to them by some 

 new and attractive expedients— when the advan- 

 tages arising from the drainage of our tcet lands 

 had been declared, but the princi;iles involved had 

 not been explained and established — when the va- 

 rious modes of seeding grassland were not well 

 understood — and when the rotation of a-oj^s, the 

 cidture of grain and roots, the modes of managing 

 orchards, reariiig of sheep, horses, swine and jJoid- 

 try, were all conducted without system, and with- 

 out any definite knowledge of the princi])les to be 

 regarded in order to produce each profitably, and 

 the best of its kind. 



So the structure and location of farm buildings, 

 was imperfectly understood, and consequently, a 

 waste of material, of time and of labor, was the 

 result. Evidences of this are scattered all over 

 the State — the more modern buildings, and the 

 more convenient arrangement of them afi'ording 

 to the beholder a striking contrast between them 

 and those erected a generation or two ago. 



For twenty years now just passed, all these 

 things have received the most careful attention, 

 80 that, so far as theorg -Aud jJruciiceixre concerned, 

 the farmer stands very well. 



Deep prejudices, however, still exist with regard 

 to some things. That against the employment of 

 machinery, is still stubborn and deep-rooted in the 

 minds of many persons — and nothing but the su- 

 perior success of their neighbors, who use it, will 

 ever break it down. They must, eventually, come 

 to the conviction that, wherever the muscles of the 

 horse can be convenientlj*used on the farm, the 

 muscles of man must not be employed. He must 

 preserve his physical, and put forth more mental 

 power in his business. He must know the rea- 

 sons whj he does all his work in order to produce 

 a desired result. When he understands this, his 

 labor w'l' not be a labor of chance, so much as it 

 now' s 



lie object of our Cattle Shows is Improvement. 



The bounty of the State has been liberally award- 

 ed to encourage effort, and stimulate the farmer to 

 reach a higher standard in his profession. This 

 he has done, in ploughing, for instance, so that any 

 tractable farmer's sou, at eighteen, may be as good 

 a ploughman as it is desirable to be, He has ac- 

 quired nearly a perfect knov.ledge of the art, and 

 it may be continued from father to son for all 

 coming time, and there is no longer any necessity 

 for awarding another [iremium on that branch of 

 farming. And so it isjwith regard to most of the 

 branches included in the premium lists. Reports, 

 by scores, have been made upon them, year after 

 year, until every thing is known of them that can 

 be known by any superficial attention. The game 

 is played out — and instead of a wholesome stimu- 

 lus being excited among farmers, by the bounty of 

 the State, jealousies and dissatisfaction are too 

 often generated, because so large a portion of the 

 premiums are borne off by those who have been 

 receiving them for a long series of years ! 



In order to 23rogress and improve, and make the 

 State bounty and individual effort bear fruit wor- 

 thy of the cause, some new and untried expedi- 

 ents should be adopted that will arrest attention, 

 and result in the general good of all. The old 

 routine should be abandoned, and something more 

 worthy introduced in its place. It can be done, 

 and should be done, or the State bounty be dis- 

 continued. 



We know that others — persons who have well 

 considered the mattei* — think with us on this sub- 

 ject, and look at the large sum annually expend- 

 ed in these shows as being expended without re- 

 turning a fair equivalent. We fully appreciate 

 the social aspect of the case, believing that, as 

 things are at present, this is tlie most impor- 

 tant. But even that may be greatly enhanced 

 upon a proper system being introduced. We trust 

 that something will be done by the Trustees of the 

 several Societies at their business meetings, that 

 are to take place to arrange matters for the next 

 year, that will ensure a new and better order of 

 things. 



SKETCHES OF NEW ENGIjAND. 



One of our correspondents recently sent us a 

 brief sketch of the town of Leominster, Mass., in 

 which he spoke of its social condition, business, 

 schools, churches, — population, surface, streams, 

 ponds, &c. 



We shall be glad to receive similar sketches of 

 other towns. Written concisely, they will prove 

 interesting and useful. What say our correspond- 

 ents in some of the dairy towns in Vermont, or 

 the sheep and wool growing towns, or where the 

 sons of Nimrod produce the finest horses of the 

 world ? 



Brief statistics of these, or any other depart- 

 ments of industry, with allusions to manufacturing 



