1848, 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
207 
ties ? Evidence enough is already obtained to answer 
this question affirmatively. 
The inquiries instituted by the Secretary of the So¬ 
ciety, clearly establish the fact “that a very large s 
portion of the butter marked 1 Goshen ’ (and sold as 
such] in the New-York market, is actually made out 
of Orange county*” and, as is observed, it is but justice 
that credit should be given to the counties where it is 
made. From the information given by several of the 
most extensive dealers in butter in New-York, it is found 
that “there is hardly a county in the State ” from which 
some excellent butter is not obtained. But the Secre¬ 
tary’s correspondence shows that from the counties of 
Chemung, Broome, Chenango, Tompkins, Tioga, Dela¬ 
ware, Sullivan,Ulster and Greene, largequantities of but- 
ter are annually obtained of a quality equal to that made 
in Orange county—that a large portion of it is in fact 
sold by dealers as “ Orange county butter.” It is only 
marked “Orange” or “Goshen” to conform to cer¬ 
tain prejudices. One large dealer says:—“ The butter 
made in the county of Chemung is equal to that made 
in Orange county, and will stand the southern climate 
as well. Also, that made in Tompkins county, is well 
suited for shipment south, and stands the salt air as 
well as any butter we receive here” I find that wes¬ 
tern dairies sell as well as the best ‘ Goshen butter/ 
when sent south, and in many cases better, as it has 
more color.” 
Another dealer who, we are told, has an establish¬ 
ment in New Orleans, to which he has been in the 
practice of sending butter from Western New-York, 
speaks of the butter from several dairies in Chemung 
county, which he states has been “ sent south,” and 
stands the climate equal to any from the Orange county 
dairies, and fetches as high a price as any from that 
county. 
Another speaks of a dairy in Chemung, the butter 
from which for the last fifteen years, has not sold for 
less, with one exception, than eighteen cents per pound, 
“ and for the most part has brought from twenty cents 
to as high as twenty-eight cents ” for the whole quan¬ 
tity made. He adds:—“there are several dairies in the 
county that bear the same high character, and will com¬ 
pare, to say the least, with the best that Orange does, 
or ever has produced .” 
Now the great fact to which all this information 
points, is, that good cows, good pastures, good wa¬ 
ter and good air, with an observance of proper rules 
in the management of milk and cream, will insure good 
butter, whether the dairy is located in the county of 
Orange or elsewhere. In regard to pastures, it may be 
observed, that rather elevated situations, affording “fine 
sweet grass and cold springs,” would be preferred. 
Fortunately, in our extensive country, districts which 
possess ail the natural requisites for the production of 
butter and cheese, are neither few nor small. Both of 
these departments of husbandry are becoming every 
year of more importance, and when we consider the 
great demand which exists for dairy products of prime 
quality, and the great difference in the price of such 
and those of inferior or ordinary quality, it certainly 
behooves all engaged in the business to aim at perfection. 
MEMOIE OF THOMAS GEEEI FES§EI©EI. 
BY F. HOLBROOK. 
Editors of the Cultivator:— The plan adopted 
in the Cultivator, of giving a short record of the life 
and character of men distinguished as friends of the far¬ 
mer, by their able efforts in the promotion of agricul¬ 
ture, meets my cordial approbation; lor as you have 
rightly said,—“ the exhibition of such examples can¬ 
not fail to exert a salutary influence on society.” We 
may all learn from the life and labors of such men, that 
the"Agricultural profession is not, as has too generally 
been supposed, a menial employment, but one affording 
full scope lor the exercise of the best intellectual pow¬ 
ers. And we further see, strikingly exhibited, the fal¬ 
lacy of the sentiment so generally indulged, that farm 
in<r is a sort of stereotyped business, long since brought 
to perfection; and that ail we have to do, is to follow 
the practices handed down through a long line of an¬ 
cestry, unaltered and unimproved, regardless of all light 
elicited either from the developments of science, or en¬ 
lightened practice. 
Among the distinguished laborers in the field of ag¬ 
riculture, no one is worthy of more honorable notice 
than our respected and lamented friend, Thomas G. 
Fessenden, for fifteen years editor,of the New-Eng- 
land Farmer. The limits afforded in your journal are 
necessarily so circumscribed, that we shall not be able 
to present more than a very brief sketch of the life and 
character of our friend; but though brief, it shall be the 
tribute of admiration for his amiable and generous na¬ 
ture, and respect for his many and valuable public ser¬ 
vices. Biographical sketches of Mr. Fessenden were 
written soon after his decease by N. Hawthorne, Esq., 
and Mr. Colman, to each of whom we are indebted for 
the principal data of this sketch. 
Thomas Green Fessenden was born in the year 
1771, at Walpole, New Hampshire, and was the eldest 
of nine children of the Rev. Thomas Fessenden,—a man 
of distinction in his profession, and long settled in the 
ministry at Walpole. His early education was such as 
the district school of those days afforded. He soon evin¬ 
ced those habits of inquiry and close application which 
so much distinguished him in after life, and rende*red 
that life so valuable to the agricultural world. His 
active and inquisitive mind turned to the best account 
the facilities afforded by his father’s library, and so 
rapid was his progress in study, that, at the early age 
of sixteen he became himself the instructor of the vil¬ 
lage school. Most of his time in the summer months, 
however, was given to labor on his father’s farm towards 
the support of a large family, in moderate circumstances. 
His dexterity and efficiency in the use of the scythe, in 
his younger days, was a matter of much honest pride 
with him in after life; and it was his frequent custom 
for several years after he left the paternal roof, to spend 
the haying season with his father, assuming the brunt 
of the labor himself. 
Soon after the age of manhood, Mr. Fessenden en¬ 
tered Dartmouth College, where he supported himself 
by his own industry, without calling upon his father for 
assistance. This was done mostly by the wages earn¬ 
ed in teaching district schools, and classes in sacred 
music, during the winter months. He was equal to 
the performance of any of the sacred music of those 
days, playing one part very efficiently with his bass-vi¬ 
ol, and carrying another with his voice; and it was im¬ 
material which part, he being always ready to sustain 
the weakest. 
In his “ Jonathan’s Courtship,” a truly original effu¬ 
sion produced while in College, we have early evidence 
of that witty and humorous turn which, a few years 
after, was the source of so many fanciful sentiments 
and poems. He was remarkable too for his satirical 
..humor, and lie possessed a singular combination of the 
