1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



159 



about the first of April. How many will be 

 forgotten ? This work should be done early. 

 Sometimes it is done on the late snow, when 

 the seed can be seen as it scatters, which is (juite 

 an assistance in getting it evenly distributed. 



Mowing Fields ought to be visited and all 

 brttsh from apple trees and rubbish of every 

 kind gathered up so as to have clean work in 

 haying. 



Drains. Whej-e drains are laid, each out- 

 let should be examined to see that it is open, 

 as frogs like to occupy tliem, and where water 

 backs up grass and small sticks are likely to 

 accumulate. It will be well to look at the 

 whole line of the drain to see that it is in good 

 order. 



Stones on lands laid down last year ought 

 to be taken away. It is not a mark of the 

 best husbandry to see them standing in miu- 

 iature pyramids all over the field. They are 

 greatly in the way when mowing with a ma- 

 chine and when raking up the hay. They 

 also occupy valuable ground, and often get 

 scattered about again. 



Ploughing. Soils ploughed while they are 

 wet and heavy are likely to dry in lumps which 

 become hard and are then unfit to prepare 

 food for plants. If ploughing is delayed un- 

 til the surface soil is sufficiently dry to fall to 

 pieces when turned over by the plough, it 

 will remain in that friable condition through 

 the summer. It will then allow rain to pass 

 freely through it, catching the ammonia con- 

 tained in the rain, and letting in the air to give 

 breath and activity to the soil. It seems bet- 

 ter to be a little late in ploughing, than to 

 plough when the soil is too wet. Plough deep 

 should be the rule, excepting on lands that are 

 mostly sand. 



Barley and Oats afford better crops 

 when got in early in April, if the soil is in suit- 

 able condition. It is a singular fact, that these 

 crops rarely do as well if sowed as late as the 

 middle of May as they do put in by the mid- 

 dle of April. There is something in the tem- 

 perature of April congenial to them which they 

 miss in late sowing. 



The Door-Yard is an index to the farm. 

 There will be little need for the traveller to 

 pause and visit the barns and fields. He may 

 find the counterpart to them around the 

 house. 



The Woman need machines of some kind 

 in the house, as much as the man does in the 



fields. A good husband, who regards his wife 

 and children as his greatest earthly good, will 

 consider their wants, and supply them, sO far 

 as in his power. It is hard to keep the bloom 

 and elasticity of youth, with the physical pow- 

 ers worn with too constant labor, and the mind 

 perplexed with ceaseless cares and petty an- 

 noyances. Sweet tempers and sunny smiles 

 in the household are worth more than bank 

 shares or United States bonds, even at gold 

 interest. 



ESSEX COUNTY, MASS. 



We always look over the Transactions of the 

 Agricultural Society of this count}- with great 

 satisfaction. There are no records of big purses 

 awarded to the owners of fast horses; no items of 

 money expended on the grading or repairing of 

 "the best Ti-ack in the State," nor for fitting up 

 the Grand Stand, or for keeping in order expen- 

 sive buildings used only two or three days m a 

 year ; and, perhaps stranger than all, in these pro- 

 gressive days, no appropriations for the payment 

 of the debt of the association ! 



But we do find statements of premiums paid to 

 exhibitors in the amount of $'1183.50; of funds in 

 the hands of the treasurer amounting to §']3,066.24, 

 which was increased by the sum of $'.386.14 the 

 past year. The society" also owns a farm worth 

 $7000; a valuable library, and the necessary fix- 

 tures for a genuine old fashioned rotary Cattle 

 Show, to which the farmers of the whole county 

 contril)utc ; while most other counties in the State, 

 in which the parent society has put up permanent 

 buildings with the ubiquitous half-mile track and 

 other local fixtures, have been divided and sub- 

 divided, until there are from two to six societies in 

 eacli county. 



Aside from all this, the addresses, reports of 

 awarding committees, statements of competitors 

 for premiums, &c., are more instructive and satis- 

 factory than those given in the Transactions of 

 most other agricultural societies of the State. The 

 following are the officers of the Society for 1871 :— 



President — William Sutton, of Peabody. 



Vice Presidents — Geo. B. Loring of Salem; E. G. 

 Kellej-, of Ncwburyport : John Kceluy, of Haverhill; 

 Benjamin P. Ware, of Marblehead. 



Treasurer — Edward U. Payson, of Salem. 



Secretary — Charles P. Preston, of Dan vers. 



Trustees — One from each town, and as Honorary r 

 Trustees, J. W. Proctor, of Peabody ; Allen W. Bodge, 

 of Hamilton, and Joseph How, of Methuen. 



At a meeting, Nov. 1.5, the Trustees voted to con- 

 tinue the offer of fifty dollars for a scholarship in 

 the Massachusetts Agricultural college to any 

 young man of the county who can pass the re- - 

 quired examination. 



Ashes of Hard and Soft Wood. — It is gener- 

 ally supposed that the ashes of pine wood is not so 

 rich in alkalies as that of hard weod. In his 

 "Muck Manual," Dr. Dana says that, "in equal 



