1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARJIER. 



371 



fallows before chess or cockle had ripened ; atul 

 after a few jears they were so much reduced in 

 quantity, that, without taking much time, my men 

 at liarvest pockdcd cvcvij spenr iltcy could find, 

 and it was iuhen to the house and burned. Now I 

 think I have, in this matter, about arrived at the 

 goal I liave so long been seeking, viz: a farm free 

 from chess and cockle. Farmers sometimes say, 

 "I don't think it will pay to take so much pains, 

 1 raise chess and cackle, and get as much for 

 my wheat as any body." Well, I am sorry to 

 say that tliis is too much the case — buyers do not 

 make the difference in the price that they should; 

 bul'during the ])ast year I have got as high as five 

 cents a bushel above the market price for wheat 

 that had not received any cleaning except that 

 which was done by tlie separator when it was 

 thrashed. Then, again, if five or six thousand 

 bushels of worthless stuff is annually taken to the 

 market v.ith the wheat raised in this State, sotnc- 

 hody is the laser therelj/. 



For tin: AVff England Parmer. 

 CHARLTON. 



Mr. Editor : — Having been much interested 

 in the vivid picture of Leominster given by your 

 correspondent from that place, I venture to offer 

 a few words relative to anotb.er ancient town in 

 Wc^rcester county, to which I recently paid a 

 visit. 



CliarKon is situated thirteen miles southwest 

 from Worcester, and is intersected near the north- 

 ern boundary by the Western railroad. It is near- 

 ly as old a town as Lecmiinster, having been in- 

 corporated as early as Hob, and from that day to 

 this has been almost exclusively an agricultural 

 community. No whirr of spindles is heard iiere, 

 no sound of forges, only the shrill whistle of the 

 ])loi;ghman. One boot factory and a small auger 

 factory are the only exceptions to the leading pur- 

 suit of the ])eoi)le. But do not conclude from this 

 fact that we have nothing interesting to relate. 

 Charlton is a perfect type of rural enterprise and 

 prosperity. With one exception (Barre) it is the 

 largest town in Worcester county, occupying an 

 area of 25,878 acres. The lands are elevated and 

 somewhat rough, but the soil is strong and rich, 

 and well adapted to agricultural ])urposes. ^Lmy 

 small streams rise in the highlands and form the 

 head branches of the Quinebaug river, by which 

 the southwestern part of the town is watered. 



The farmers of Charlton do not risk their suc- 

 cess on the fickle shiftings of any one source of 

 profit, but by a happy combination of all the dif- 

 ferent branches of agriuuliural investment ihey 

 manage to secure a bountiful harvest of some sort 

 every year. A few raise stock ; some make l)eef ; 

 many give their attention to the dairy, while oth- 

 ers pay more or less attention to each of these 

 branches. Of the latter class is Mosks D. Wil- 

 liams, whose farm is situated on a belt of the el- 

 evated land extending east and west through the 

 town from Oxford to Sturbridge. This belt is 

 probably as fertile a tract of land as can be found 

 in the county. Mr. Williams is one of the lead- 

 ing farmers of the town, both in respect to the 

 extent of his operations and the energy wiih 

 ■which he prosecutes them. Possessing a rich, 

 strong soil, his farm is admirably adapted to dairy- 

 ing and beef tnaking, both of which inteiests, 

 judging from the long rows of cheeses, and the 



whisperings of neighbors in regard to enormous 

 prices obtained for certain pair of fat oxen, are 

 carefully attended to. 



Considerable attention is being paid here to the 

 improvement of dairy stock. On the farm of 

 Col. Caim;n I saw a thorough bred iJurham bull, 

 weighing 20jO pounds, which took the first premi- 

 um at the late fair at Sturbridge. And of native 

 stock there are some as handsome steers in this 

 town as any boy ever swung whip over. In short, 

 if any man wishes to see Yankee farming as it is, 

 wishes to see what enterprise and industry can do, 

 wishes to .':ee tasteful farm buildings, comfortable 

 school-houses, good roads and few paupers, let 

 him spend a day in old Charlton. Viator. 



Worcester, Oct., 18G3. 



For the y'ftr Fni;laiid Fnrruer. 



BREEDS OF SWINE AND THEIK MAN- 

 AGEMENT. 



An essay read before the Concord Farmers' Club, by N. H. 

 Warren. 



Thomas G. Fessenden, in his book entitled the 

 "Complete Farmer," says, "Notwithstanding their 

 evil propensities, filthy and mischievous habits, 

 and insatiable voracity, swine are very profitable 

 animals to a farmer." I tlunk we shall all agree 

 that this is true, and that the hog is to the farm, 

 what the rag-bag is to the ju-udent housewife. I 

 am aware that there is much prejudice in the com- 

 munity against the hog, so that very many delicate 

 l^ersons who can drink a glass of wine stam])ed 

 out of grapes by the bare feet of a dirty perspiring 

 man in the south of Europe, cannot eat a piece of 

 nice fresh pork, because the hog is so gross and 

 filthy. Then others believe that some diseases are 

 aggravated, or brought on by eating meat as fat 

 as the lean of a good hog. But if these hog-, 

 haters will give the hog his due, and not ascribe to 

 his flesh what is due to hereditary taint, or their 

 own excesses, I am satisfied that the hog will come 

 out of the trial unscathed. 



Of the breeds of swine which have been kept in 

 this vicinity within my remembrance, nearly all 

 have died out as pure breeds. Twenty years ago, 

 in order to have a good pig, you must have a Berk- 

 shire. 



They were speckled black and white, and very 

 pretty pigs, but were discarded, I believe, because 

 the hind quarters were thin and light. Then a 

 breed called the Middlesex has had some attention 

 paid to it in this vicinity. They are a large breed, 

 and said to be remarkably quiet, and the sows will 

 rear a larger proportion of their young than any 

 other breed. 



After these, I do not recollect any distinct breed 

 that were generally introduced with us excepting 

 the Mackay and Suffolk. The Mackays were very 

 popular, and it is quite likely that our common 

 breed have a strain of this blood. The Suffolks 

 are the beauties. No hogs ever had so many good 

 qualities before, but it was found by experience 

 that although they were very handsome, they were 

 not very profitable ; that although they would 

 take on fat readily after two months old, that it 

 was very difficult to get them up to that age. In 

 short they were poor breeders, which is a very un- 

 hoggish trait, and which has caused them to nearly 

 disappear from our midst. There is a breed of 

 swine which is attracting considerable attention 

 in the western part of this State, that if one-half 



