878 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Nov, 
Cattle Show at Northampton. 
Eds. Cultivator —Agreeably to your request, I have 
the pleasure to inform you that the Fair of the Hampden, 
Franklin and Hampshire Agricultural Society, was held 
at Northampton on the 5th and 6th of this month, and 
proved an occasion of unusual interest to the large num¬ 
ber of farmers assembled on the occasion. 
The show of cattle took place on Tuesday morning, but 
owing to the protracted drouth, which dried up the pas¬ 
ture and caused the sale of the fattest and finest animals 
to the butcher, there were but few animals on the 
ground; it was thought there were four times as many 
the preceding year. The exhibition of articles of domes¬ 
tic industry at the Town Hall was very fine, and was 
thought to exceed any former exhibition. The display 
of fruit was large and of the finest qualities, embracing 
apples, pears, peaches, grapes, figs, prunes, &c. There 
were many excellent varieties of potatoes exhibited; one 
of them, the Lathrop Red, is a new variety which bids 
fair to be of great value, being nearly as prolific as the 
Rohan, and very superior to it for the table. The results 
of an experiment with pear trees were shown, which 
seems of some importance, and ought to be tried more 
extensively. Two trees were growing near each other, 
but both produced very poor fruit; it was small and 
covered with black knots. Some rusty iron was deposited 
around the roots of the one, the other being left un¬ 
touched. The fruit from the tree treated with iron rust, 
was nearly double the size of the other, free from black 
knots, and very superior in flavor, while the other tree 
produced a small inferior fruit, covered with black knots, 
and not worth picking from the tree. 
A great number of fine loaves of bread were exhi¬ 
bited in competition for the premium, by the ladies of 
these counties, with a receipt for making pinned to each 
loaf. These, with the exquisite golden butter and rich 
cheeses in large numbers, formed a very attractive por¬ 
tion of the show. There were a very large number of 
fowls exhibited, embracing all the varieties; among these 
I noticed some magnificent specimens of the Chittagongs, 
and Golden Pheasants. The prevailing opinion of the 
farmers seemed to be, that these large varieties did not 
pay as well as some of the smaller kinds. The Creoles or 
Bolton Greys seemed to unite the greatest number of 
suffrages in their favor. 
On Thursday morning there was a show of horses from 
half past 8 till half past 10 o'clock, A.M. Some of them 
were very superior; those of the Morgan breed appeared 
to be most esteemed in that region. 
After the exhibition of horses was concluded, the so¬ 
ciety marched in procession to the Edwards church, 
which ivas filled to overflowing by the farmers. An an¬ 
them was sung by the choir; prayer was then offered by 
Professor Fowler, of Amliert College; after which an ad¬ 
dress was delivered by John Stanton Gould, of Hud¬ 
son, on the cultnre of Indian corn, in which he attempted 
to trace the chemical and physiological history of the 
plant from the deposition of the grain in the earth to the 
ripened ear—availing himself largely of Mr. Salisbury’s 
valuable prize essay, and endeavoring to render that great 
repository of facts available for the purposes of the prac¬ 
tical farmer. 
After the exercises at the church were concluded, the 
the society marched in procession to the Agricultural 
Hall, where plates were laid for over 400 persons; these 
were all occupied, and the galleries running round on 
three sides of the room, were also crowded with specta¬ 
tors. A blessing was asked by Rev. Prof. Fowler, after 
which the company proceeded to discuss a most capital 
dinner. Speeches were made by W. 0. Gorham, Esq., 
Secretary of the Society, Gov. Boutwell, Edward 
Everett, Lieut. Gov. Cushman, Rev. F. Huntington, 
of Boston, and J. S. Gould of Hudson. The speech of 
Mr. Everett was, like all his speeches, a perfect gem; 
it not only sustained, but enhanced his reputation. The 
whole affair -was exceedingly well managed, and reflects 
great credit on the officers of the society, and I believe 
every one who was present, formed a secret resolution 
to be again at the fair of the ensuing year. N. N. D. 
-- 
Construction of Dairies. 
It is stated that some of the best dairies in Holstein 
are constructed and kept as follows, not so much on the 
grounds of elegance or taste, as of simple profit :—They 
are half under ground, are dry and not damp—always 
kept at 60°—the floor made of hard brick, cemented,— 
and supplied with little channels of water—free from 
the very semblance of dirt—walls smooth, whitewashed, 
and no dust allowed to adhere to them—air circulating 
freely,—the vapor from the milk passing off unobstruct- 
edly—the pans placed low down on the floor, and never 
on shelves—and no bad odor of the slightest nature al¬ 
lowed. 
Sale of Devon Cattle. 
Luther Tucker, Esq.—I send you a statement of my 
sales of Devon cattle, at auction, on Wednesday, 25th 
August last. There were 80 animals offered at auction, 
of which 29 ivere sold, at fair prices, taking into conside¬ 
ration the short crop of hay in this vicinity. 
Gen. Cadwallader of Philadelphia, purchased 17 head 
—Col. Watts, of South Carolina, four head, and the 
Messrs. Jones, of Atlanta, Geo., five head. They were 
the principal purchasers. 
Full blood cows sold for $75 to $100—one and two year 
old heifers, $75 to $125—calves from $85 to $65. 
I have now remaining, about 25 head of thorough-bred 
animals, principally cows to calve the coming spring, and 
young bulls. One of my cows, Ruby, for which I was 
awarded the first premium at the Hartford County Show 
this month, and the first premium atNew-Haven County 
Show, last fall, made in the month of April last, having 
dropped her calf in February, one pound 18 ounces of 
butter per day, equal to nearly 12£ pounds per week. 
Some of my stock was descended from the bull Champi¬ 
on, awarded the first premium at Utica last month, and 
now owned by Mr. Colby, of Scipio, whose portrait may 
be seen in the October number of the Cultivator—he was 
bred by Mr. Allen, of Black Rock, and sold by him, 
when a calf with the cow Venus, to R. S. Colt, Esq., 
of New-Jersey, of whom I purchased when three years 
old—and used Him two years in my herd. 
