1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



561 



road, though its nominal value would be. As 

 some account of Mr. Balis's farm, stock and gen- 

 eral management, was published last year in the 

 Fabmer, it is less necessary to enter into details 

 at this time. As we rode over his fields, which 

 are surrounded by excellent fences, we were re- 

 minded of the estates of the English noblemen, of 

 which we have read descriptions. And we do not 

 see why the possession of these broad acres, which 

 had been acquired from the proceeds of farming, 

 and by one who has "worked his passage," thus 

 far in life, was not as good evidence of "nobility*' 

 as are the estates of English land-holders, whose 

 title descends from father to son. At any rate we 

 think it mmt be regarded as an exception to the 

 general rule that farming is unprofitable in New 

 England. 



Farm and Stock of BoUin Gleason and 

 Father, Benson. 



While looking about in this neighborhood we 

 saw a herd of Devon cattle on one farm, that at- 

 tratt?d our attention. On inquiry we were told 

 that the stock and farm belonged to Roilia Glea- 

 son, E q., and his father, — the latter having re- 

 signed the management mostly to his son ; and 

 were told that we should see some fancy stock, 

 worth looking at, by calling on them. This we 

 subsequently took occasion to do, when a closer 

 examination of their Devons fully confirmed the 

 favorable impressions they had made when seen at 

 a distance. The Messrs. Gleason have several herd 

 book animals of great excellence, and others that 

 will appear in the forthcoming volume. 



Their stock bull, "Helena's Huron, 6th," which 

 received first premium at New York State Fair, 

 1869, as a bull calf, was by Queen Ann's Huron 

 (32U,) by Huron (604,) by Exeter (198;) dam 

 Helena 16th (148,) by Omar Pasha (513) imported 

 by C. S. AVainwright, Rhinebeck, N. Y. 



Also, with W. R. Sanford, of Orwell, they own 

 "Meriden" (67,) sire Cornet (162 ) dam Fairy (G95,) 

 both the latter imported by Linsley Brothers, 

 West Meriden, Conn. 



A fine cow "Coles Helena 4th," sire Iroquois, 

 bred by Hon. E. G. Faile, Cayuga, N. Y., 2d sire 

 Cayuga ('287 ;) dam Nemophilla, by Omar Pasha, 

 (473) 2d dam Norina (1521) by May boy (71.) 

 This cow had a fine bull calf by her side, a few 

 weeks old, by Queen Ann's Huron (320,) the style 

 of which we think must please the admirers of 

 Devon stock. 



They have other stock descended from W. R. 

 Sanford's old imported Beauty (504). Their whole 

 stock are Divons, and the character and style of 

 their herd may be inferred from the few animals 

 thus particularly noticed. 



But these Devon cattle were not the only "fancy" 

 gto:k we found on this farm. Here were the lusty 

 Cotswold sheep and lambs from the flock of T. L. 

 Hart, of West Cornwall, Conn. ; as well as Lel- 

 cesters and Oxfords from Huntington, Can., but 



name of breeder not recollected. They were in 

 fine order. 



But while trying the coarse wools and mutton 

 breeds, the old-fashioned Merinos are not aban- 

 doned nor neglected, as a flock of 150 head are 

 still kept on this farm of some 200 acres. These 

 sheep, from the Hammond and Sanford stock, 

 were at pasture, and we did not see them. 

 A Live Three. thousand-dcllar Buck. 



We did see, however, at the barn, a venerable 

 representative of one of the "best families" of the 

 American Merino. On another page we present 

 a truthful likeness of this animal, for a half inter- 

 est in which fifteen hundred dollars were once re- 

 fused ! Look at the picture. Could an ar;ist per- 

 sonify Meditation more successfully, to say no- 

 thing of those "points" on which the fancy of 

 breeders may have been somewhat unsettled of 

 late ? After giving his visitors a hasty look, his 

 buckship nearly closed his eyes, and apparently 

 resumed at onee the broken thread of his cogita- 

 tions. But what the drifc of his meditations were, 

 we will leave for solution by those who have more 

 time to study his physiognomy in the picture, than 

 we had when we saw him in the body. Po-sibly 

 he was thinking, ^as others have had occasion to 

 think, — of the instability of earthly glory and 

 popular applause; or of the vanity of praise and 

 admiration generally ; or of friends more abun- 

 dant in prosperity than in adversity ! 



But cattle and sheep were not the onlv "fancy" 

 stock on the Gleason farm. And if we were not 

 making our story longer than our visit, or in dan- 

 ger of being "too familiar on short acquaintance," 

 we should like to say something about a fine 

 Blackhawk mare for single driving; of pure bred 

 Chester White pigs, from F. Stinson, a careful 

 breeder of Brandon, Vt. ; of a splendid stock of 

 Light Brahma fowls, from J. S. Ives, of Salem, 

 Mass., which at the time we stood in the yard 

 were just going to roost, in a neatly fitted up poul- 

 try house, with the low roosts which befit birds 

 which carry the avoirdupois of poultry that was 

 under their feathers; but this would lead us to 

 say something of the substantial and convenient 

 character of the other buildings, of the nice gar- 

 den, neat wood-pile, door-yard, and of the orderly 

 condition of everything about the premises of these 

 "fancy" farmers; and we should want to notice 

 some 200 bushels of "Bresee's Peerless," or No. 6 

 potatoes, some 300 of the Early Rose, the corn 

 crops, and the like, — and where should we stop, if 

 not right here, and just now ? 



Marbleized Slate. 



During our visit in Benson, our young friend, 

 John Balis, Jr., made up a party for a day's excur- 

 sion. The two-horse family carriage was well 

 filled with gentlemen and ladies, including Fran- 

 cis Pratt and family — (Pratt; & Whitney, machin- 

 ests,) Hartford, Conn., and Nathaniel M. Pratt, of 

 Philadelphia, with a vacant seat for ourself, and 

 the essentials for a picnic, whicia was enjoyed on 



