506 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



Besides plows and cultivators, he showed also 

 his Yankee churns, one with, and the other 

 without the air pump. Hardly the thing, I 

 should say, — not force enough in the dasher, 

 and too small for this butter-making district. 

 Mr. J. A. Burns had a strange looking ma- 

 chine, — a root digger and cutter. 



Mr. Simeon Pierce, of North Norway, a 

 minister, had the best display of vegetables 

 and root crops. Among many noble things, 

 beans with pods a yard long ; snake cucum- 

 bers, ditto, and some beautiful Colorado wheat, 

 all proving that minit-ters can practice as well 

 as preai'h about the dignity and Christianity of 

 labor, and not disgrace the precept either. 1 

 had expected a better show of squashes, as 

 another minister. Rev. Mr. Dunham, of Wood- 

 stock, has been raising some monsters, one 

 weighing over 200 pounds. I wondered also 

 that hops were not viisible, as O.xford county 

 has raised, it is estimated, $150,000 worth. 

 Bethel alone raised neai'ly $40,000 worth of 

 this unnecessary article. 



Witherm V. Gralferm, of Sumner, had the 

 best result in slock, forty- two animals being 

 presented. A full-blooded Durham calf, four 

 months old, weighing -150 pounds, also a Dur- 

 ham and Herefoi'd bull calf, six months old, 

 weighing 630 pounds, attracted much atten- 

 tion. 



Stock raising appears to be but little fol- 

 lowed in this part of the State, and I wonder 

 at it, where the farmers own so many acres. 

 With Maine farmers, "ten acres enough" is 

 neither a fact, nor a principle. Many of the 

 farms are so far from a good market that land is 

 very cheap, and labor being high, the farmer 

 seems to have a mania for owning as much of 

 this cheap, unimproved land as possible, and 

 he is not always particular in choosing the best 

 land either. He invests all he can in accumu- 

 lating acres, — perhaps runs in debt for a part. 

 This hampers him, and the want of a market 

 prevents good sales and thorough cultivation, 

 and the man is always poor, — the mortgage 

 never removed. There is a place not far dis- 

 tant called Hungry Hollow, and it has tor- 

 mented me ever since I've seen it. Down an 

 almo.st perpendicular hill, rocky and danger- 

 ous, and covered with thick undergrowth, at 

 tlie risk of overturning the wagon and break- 

 ing our necks, we descended into a rocky, 

 scrubby valle)-, and found a rude, half-finished 

 shanty, occupied by a fat, lazy farmer, wife 

 and two delicate children, who had been there 

 for years. ' After passing with difhculty the 

 house, and struggling up the steep declivity 

 of the 0[)posite side, we halted on the simi- 

 mit and looked back. A stream meandered 

 through this rocky place, and here and there 

 were cultivated spots, but no wiiere a good 

 field of corn or potatoes. The frost touches 

 here early in tht; tall and late in the spring, so 

 crops are ol ten a failure ; but the man seems 

 contented to raise only enougli for his family, 

 look at his roclts, and let the wind sift through 



his house. Rocks, rocks, rocks ; and the more 

 he owns, the more he wants to own. I will 

 not say that all farmers like such a barren 

 place, for there are rich farms here, and prac- 

 tical workers ; but I've ascertained that this 

 man's head is as hard as his rocks, and his 

 mind as deep with barren satisfaction as his 

 valley. 



But I'm digressing far from the Fair. Pass- 

 ing by the base ball games and side shows, — 

 one exhibiting a majestic piece of manliness, 

 seven feet ten inches high, weighing 410 lbs., 

 and a freckled fat woman of 580 lbs., — I will 

 mention a race that occurred the third day, for 

 the Society's purse for the best horse raised 

 and owned in the county, won by Meddlesome, 

 owned by America Andrews, of Paris. First 

 half made in 1.21, and the heat in 2.43. In a 

 volunteer trot, a horse, five years old, belong- 

 ing to Mr. Ileald, of Sumner, won, making 

 the heat in 2.39. This horse has had only 

 three weeks' training, his owner but lat?ly dis- 

 covering his Heetness. In the ploughing 

 match, Charles H. Durell tried the Western 

 plan of harnessing three horses abreast, and 

 with a Hussey plough, made the dirt fly 

 briskly. 



Fairs are pleasant places to see human am- 

 bition and practical poetry. The theories 

 worked into facts are astounding to the doubt- 

 ing vision, especially in the machinery that 

 saves so much labor, yet doubles farm profits. 

 If our fathers and mothers could rise from 

 their graves and take a walk through our fair 

 grounds, when in full operation, they would 

 wonder where the spirit of invention was when 

 they existed. Theo. Williston. 



Norway, Me., Oct. 3, 1867. 



FALL AND WINTER CARE OF SHEEP. 



Now is the time to prepare lambs for winter. 

 They should be kept growing every day. 

 There is a dilTerence of opinion whether they 

 will do best on old pasture, or on the after 

 growth of meadows and new seeded stubbles. 

 Our opinion is that they will do well enough 

 on either, provided there is an abundance of 

 fresh, sweet feed. If put on old pastures, they 

 should be those which have been well fed 

 down, and then allowed to start up fresh and 

 green. It is the opinion of most successful 

 tiock masters that as soon as the grass begins 

 to be rendered innutritions by frost, it is expe- 

 dient to give tegs a little extra feed. They 

 grow finely on pumpkins or roots. Wheat 

 bran is one of the very best feeds for them, 

 and it can be mixed with a few oats as the 

 grass grows poorer. 



It is a decided mistake, however, in our 

 judgment, io pamper tegs in the fall. If fed 

 high at this season, they feel their winter feed 

 less ; and it must be increased to an extent 

 which renders their wintering less safe. We 

 have, it is true, seen many a tlock of them 

 very highly kept in winter which went through 



