534 



NEW ENGLAOT) FARMER. 



Nov. 



From our Special Rrporter. 

 ESSEX CO. MASS. AQ'L FAIR 



The fiftieth exhibition of this society has just 

 been held in the ancient and pleasantly situated 

 town of Ipswich. In some respects this soci- 

 ety diifers from the majority of county asso- 

 ciations. It has no exhibition grounds, no 

 haW, no track for the trial of speed, and but 

 liftle of the paraphernalia of those societies 

 •which have permanent locations and buildings. 

 It has one tent for the show of implements, 

 and a ff/w portable pens. With these it circu- 

 lates about the county, holding its fairs in the 

 cities and larger towns, and relies for other 

 accommodations upon the halls and meeting 

 bouses of the place where the fair is held. It 

 chargt's the very moderate sum of fifreen cents 

 for admission to the fruit, flower and vegeta- 

 ble display. Small as this income may seem, 

 it generally exceeds its yearly incidental ex- 

 penses. The society has no debt, and its 

 fund yearly increases. As might be expected, 

 where the fair of a society itinerates, the ma- 

 jority of the exhibitors are from the immediate 

 vicinity of the town having the fair; therefore 

 none of the Essex fairs should be legarded as 

 the show of the whole county. 



At the late fair the cattle exhibited were 

 chiefly of foreign blood, — the Jerseys and 

 Ayrshires being the most numerous. H Dow 

 of Hamilton had 22 head of Jerseys. Proba- 

 bly not many readers of the Farmer are aware 

 how rapidly this breed is increasing in the 

 eastern part of this State. There is something 

 about Them that pleases amateurs, and as many 

 people here keep but one or two cows, they 

 can give them the best of care and feed, and 

 as quality rather than quantity of milk is de- 

 sired, the demand for the Jersey is good. 

 The principal exhibitor on this occasion has a 

 herd of 32. Mr. Adams of Belmont has up- 

 wards of 70, and numerous herds are found in 

 all the principal towns. 



Horoes are rapidly superceding oxen in this 

 county, and it does not pay to fatten cattle 

 here, as a business,^ which fdct may account 

 for the small show of fat oxen and steers. 



The swine were chiefly of the Chester 

 County and other large breeds, while a few 

 )ears ago the Suffolk predominated. 



Messrs. Appleton & Dane, by their large 

 display of excellent Cotswolds, showed what is 

 meant by long-wooled and heavy sheep. 



The horses were mostly young, not numer- 

 ous, but of good quality. In looking at these, 

 and those ot the throngs of visitors, one could 

 not help noticing their generally superior ap- 

 pearance, — horses, carriages, harnesses, style 

 of driving, all indicate progress and a decided 

 improvement over what would have been seen 

 upon a similar occasion half a generation ago. 

 Truly it shall not always be said, that farmers 

 are known by their poor horses, old-fashioned, 

 rickety carriages and dilapidated harnesses. 



Ploughing has been made by this society a 



specialty. All kinds of ploughs and teams 

 are used and tested, — common ploughs, deep 

 tillers, side-hill, &c. Latterly ploughing by 

 boys has been introduced, through the gener- 

 osity of the President of the society. The 

 matches excite a lively interest ; they come 

 the nearest to racing of anything tolerated at 

 these fairs. As an illustration of the intere>t 

 in this exercise, it may be stated that one of 

 the competitors this year has taken part in the 

 matches forty years, and another, thirty-five 

 years. On this occasion there were fewer en- 

 tries than usual. 



Among the implements, there were two 

 which are comparatively new, and deserve 

 mention. One was a Pulverizing Harrow. 

 This is made of two pieces of wood, in the 

 form of the old-fashioned A harrow, but has 

 for teeth revolving wheels or cutters, like 

 those upon ploughs. These cutters are set 

 just a little from the line of draught, in which 

 position they make a wider cut and stir the 

 ground more than the thin blade of the wheel 

 or knife would, if placed in or parallel to the 

 line of draught. These literally cut and pul- 

 verize, without tearing up the sod, and leave 

 the surface light and fine. There is a seat for 

 the driver to ride. The few who have used 

 them in this vicinty, speak of them in the high- 

 est terms of commendation. 



The other, Sargent's Monitor Seed Sower, 

 is an invention of a mechanic of this county. 

 This machine drops the seed at such intervals 

 as the sower de.^ires, — that is, it drops seeds 

 half an inch apart, one inch, or one and a half 

 inches, and so on, up to three inch intervals. 

 It has no brush or agitator, and does not cut 

 or bruise the seed. It has two wheels upon 

 the axle, and the rows are marked by tracking 

 one of them in a rut made in sowing the pre- 

 vious row. Except the handles, it is made 

 entirely of metal, and is compact, strong, dur- 

 able and of very simple construction. It has 

 been thoroughly tested by onion raiser sin sev- 

 eral towns, who pronounce it the best they 

 have ever used. It is manufactured in New- 

 buryport. 



Last year the delegate of the State Board 

 pronounced the exhibition of fruit tuperex- 

 ctllent, — the apples surpassing the display of 

 the State Horticultural Show. A distinguished 

 pomologist said the same was true this year, 

 and yet only a few towns were well repre- 

 sented either year. Were there a general 

 contribution from the whole county, tbei-e 

 would be a collection which it would be hard 

 to beat. Any one who has attended tbe.>-e 

 fairs fifteen or twenty years, will notice a 

 change in this department. Then it seemed 

 to be the aim of exhibitors to show the largest 

 variety possible. A few nursery men and am- 

 ateurs would occupy most of the table room. 

 One, and even two hundred varieties were sent 

 in by one person. I^rom one to five specimens 

 only of each variety would be upon a plate. 

 Thu fruit was of all colors, shapes and sizes. 



