§8 
Orange Co. Fair—Kitchen Garden—Parsneps—Peas. 
Hogs.— The show of hogs was upon the 
whole decidedly bad. There were a few good 
ones. Captain Robinson of Newburgh had a 
white imported boar on the ground that attract¬ 
ed much notice, from his great length and 
size—his back was not good and lacked thick¬ 
ness. It was rumored at the fair that he was 
called another 4 white ’ Berkshire. It is hardly 
far enough West for ‘white’ Berkshires. The 
Brentnals of this county who were at the fair, 
and have some excellent hogs, but exhibited 
nothing, were, it is believed, the first to intro¬ 
duce Berkshires in the United States. They 
are not yet by any means common: indeed but 
very few have them in their purity. Those en¬ 
gaged in rearing them find a better market 
South and West, than to the neighboring far¬ 
mers, some of whom are prejudiced against the 
breed and color. But if it is true, and no good 
breeder that understands his business will denjr 
it, that those animals which improve the fastest 
are the most handsomely formed and the most 
beautiful to appearance, then I think the Berk¬ 
shire claims our preference, as lie is beyond all 
doubt or cavil, the most beautiful to appearance 
where he has been well bred. There was quite 
a show of farming implements, grain, roots, &c., 
for which premiums were awarded. A con¬ 
siderable number of the agricultural papers 
were very properly given in the place of small 
sums of money. 
The committee experienced great inconve¬ 
nience in selecting judges to act on the occasion, 
and have, at the suggestion of some of its mem¬ 
bers, determined to invite practical breeders liv¬ 
ing out of the county. 
Yours, &c., S. W. jr. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Parsnep. —This vegetable requires a deep, 
rich, mellow soil, free from stones and coarse 
gravel, A sandy loam is accounted the best. 
They may be raised from year to year on the 
same ground. As the seed is very light and 
vegetates slowly, it should be soaked or kept 
wet for several days before sowing. Let the 
ground be plowed or dug and worked deep, and 
well harrowed and raked over, so as to make a 
smooth, level surface. Sow the seed in drills, 
eighteen or twenty inches apart, and as early in 
the season as the ground can be prepared; the 
earlier the better, to insure a good crop. The 
seed may be covered an inch or more in depth. 
As parsneps require the whole season to come 
to maturity, and are not fit for use till ripe, other 
seeds that come off early, may be sown with 
them, such as lettuce, radishes, and beets or car¬ 
rots that are to be pulled early in the season, 
when the roots are small. 
# When the plants are two or three inches 
high, let them be thinned so as to stand from 
four to six inches apart. Hoe them and keep 
them clear of weeds till the leaves get so large 
as to cover the ground; after which they will 
need no further attention till you come, to dig 
them. Some let them stand in the ground 
through the winter, and they are generally con¬ 
sidered the better for it, provided they are dug 
as soon as the frost is out of the ground, for if 
they are left until they begin to sprout, their 
good qualities are much impaired. But if they 
are dug in the fall, they should be put. into a 
cold cellar or out-house and covered with dirt 
or sand, as they are liable to wilt in a dry 
room if left uncovered. They ought to be dug 
carefully, without cutting or bruising, nor should 
the tops be cut close, nor the side roots be cut 
off; otherwise they are apt to rot or turn bitter 
where they are cut or bruised. If put into a 
warm cellar they are apt to sprout, which soon 
spoils them; but frost will not injure them at 
all, neither in the ground nor in the cellar, if 
covered with sand or earth. 
Parsneps are often raised in fields to very 
good profit; for besides their uses in a family, 
they are excellent food for neat cattle, sheep, 
hogs or horses. Beef fatted on parsneps com¬ 
mand a higher price in England than fatted in 
any other w r ay. Milch cows fed on parsneps 
give richer milk, and yield more butter, than 
from any other food. Hogs are also said to fat¬ 
ten very easily on them, and to produce superior 
pork. Ail these things prove parsneps to be a 
very valuable crop, and well worth the farmer’s 
attention. 
Peas.— There are many varieties of peas; 
we however cultivate but four or five kinds. 
For the early kinds the soil should be strong 
and rich; and moderately rich for the later 
kinds. Fresh stable dung is considered inju¬ 
rious to peas. A sandy loam, enriched with 
decomposed vegetable matter will produce good 
peas. 
Swamp muck spread upon the ground and 
plowed in, is a valuable manure. For early 
crops, more especially, the soil should be light; 
and a dry, warm soil is the most favorable. All 
peas raised in a garden, in order to produce a 
good crop, should be supported with branching 
sticks or brush. They should be sowed in drills, 
the smaller kinds two inches in depth, at least, 
and the larger kind still deeper, four inches, 
some say six inches is none too deep, as they 
take better hold of the soil, which in a light 
soil is a great advantage. 
We commonly plant two rows, five or six 
inches apart, for one row of sticks The space 
between the rows of sticks must be regulated 
according to the size of the different kind of 
