1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



367 



in a park of lofty trees, where there was little 

 or no underbrush, lying down and quietly 

 chewing the cud of contentment on the green 

 sward beneath them. 



From this farm we passed to what I believe 

 is called the South Cheese Factory, where we 

 saw some parts of the process of cheese-making 

 that we could not see in our morning visit. 

 The curd was now ready to go to the presses, 

 and its quality was liberally tested by most of 

 the party. It certainly was inviting both in 

 taste and smell. As in the other, every thing 

 here was the perfection of neatness and order. 



Thence to the house of Mr. J. T. Ells- 

 worth, where some fifteen to twenty sat down 

 to an excellent dinner, and proved that they 

 were as accomplished as trencher-men as they 

 were in any other duties of the farm. After 

 the heroic exercises had been gone through 

 with at the table, including a glass of pure, 

 home-made wine, JSIr. E. showed us his stock 

 of dairy cows, some thirty in all. As a whole, 

 they were superior to any herd we had seen. 

 Some of them were beyond criticism in symme- 

 try. One of the party pointed out a two-year old 

 heifer, and offered $100 for her, and to incur 

 the cost of getting her home. The same sum 

 was offered for another of the same age, a half 

 blood Jersey, but he declined both. He had 

 recently received nearly $500 for a pair of 

 beef cattle, and the cow alluded to in my letter 

 last summer, dressed nearly 1,300 pounds! 

 His barn is 132 feet by 46 ; and is annually 

 filled with hay and gi-ain from about forty acres 

 of land, which is all he has under cultivation. 

 His buildings, fences, roads, &c., are in excel- 

 lent condition. His whole stock amounts to 

 about fifty head. 



Mr. Ellsworth has great faith in the land ; 

 thinks it a good place for the investment of 

 capital, and finds a reasonable profit from it. 

 Believes in progress, in entertaining visitors 

 and going a visiting ; in purchasing the best 

 stock, even at high prices, and in the applica- 

 tion of science to the operations of the farm. 

 The only evidence of sticking to old notions 

 I discovered about his place, was a decrepit 

 Manny Mowing machine, which I suppose he 

 preserved on the principle of speaking well 

 of a bridge that carries us safely over, — that is, 

 he has never got killed on it, and, therefore, it 

 is a very good machine. Mr. E. is evenly 

 yoked to a charming person who presides in 



the house, and who takes an intelligent interest 

 in all the affairs of the farm ; who once assisted 

 her dairy-maids in making one or two hundred 

 pounds of cheese each day, but who finds great 

 relief and comfort now in seeing the milk start- 

 ed off for the cheese-factory. Under this easy- 

 going system of order and harmony, farm life 

 is relieved from many of the almost intolerable 

 burdens which once oppressed and shortened 

 the lives of so many women. "Worcester 

 county cheese," said Mr. Ellsworth to me, 

 "has sent more Worcester county women to 

 untimely graves, than all other causes com- 

 bined !" 



The next and last call was at the farm of 

 Mr. S. E. Bates, and we had time to look 

 only at his herd of cows, which was worthy the 

 highest praise. Two or three of them sur- 

 passed in form and product any we had seen. 

 He had recently paid $221 for a two-year old 

 heifer, a short-horn grade. One of the older 

 cows gave 63i pounds of milk per day, for ten 

 consecutive days. He has thirty-one cows. 



At dinner, and during a portion of the time 

 of our perambulations, we had the company of 

 J. H. GoDDARD, Esq., the editor of the 

 Barre Gazette, who, though speaking through 

 type and quill, is decidedly interested in pro- 

 gressive farming, and informs his readers of 

 advances in the art, and frequently places be- 

 fore them suggestions for still greater improve- 

 ments. 



At 5 P. M., we took leave of Barre, sensi- 

 bly impressed with the beauty and fertility of 

 the town, and with the cordial attentions of its 

 intelligent and agreeable people. 



Ambling along at a pleasant pace, the party 

 reached the Wachuseit ^fountain House, in 

 Princeton, at 7, now rounded and perfected by 

 the presence of Barre friends with their ladies. 

 Late as it was, one of our number scaled the 

 mountain and returned before 9, laden with 

 wild flowers. In the neat and commodious 

 parlor of the bouse, various topics were dis- 

 cussed, anecdotes related, music attempted 

 by some of the gentlemen, but with exceed- 

 ingly poor results. The evening waned into 

 night, and night into morning, before the party 

 became prone and quiet. 



At 9, on Wednesday, the whole party ascend- 

 ed the mountain and had a fine view of the 

 surrounding country. Having descended, the 

 Barreans departed to their pleasant town, and 



