USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The history of Pittsfield (Berkshire County), Massachusetts, from the year 1800 to the year 1876 > Part 33
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The embryo society then adjourned to the ninth of the next
1In the Massachusetts Agricultural Journal for 1824, Mr. John Lowell, one of the editors, in reply to a correspondent who was indignant that he had inti- miated in a previous number of that magazine, that the idea of agricultural shows did not originate in Berkshire-said, in substance, " that, although the idea had originated in Europe, he had always admitted that to the Berkshire Society belonged the unquestioned honor of introducing it here. But he liad personally seen and read, before any cattle-show was dreamed of in America, the proceedings of English and French shows at Smithfield, Bath, Lewes, Caen, and Paris, exceeding in splendor any of ours at present (1824). The French excel us, on such occasions, in speeches and dancing ; but we believe we are the only people who combine religion with these public festivals. Yet we would cling as zealously as any to the usages of our ancestors in this respect." In another article Mr. Lowell styles the Berkshire Society, " the nurse of agriculture in Massachusetts."
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May : and we hear no more of it. But, in the Sun of May 28th, Mr. Watson published an eloquent " Appeal to the Inhabitants of Berkshire." He stated that, having been a member of the New York State Agricultural Society, where the subject had been pagitated by the patriotic Livingston, his mind had been deeply impressed with the practicability, and infinite importance, of introducing the Spanish sheep. When he removed to Pitts- field -"foreseeing a heavy cloud evidently on the point of gathering over our land, and the probability that we should shortly be compelled to seek within ourselves a supply of articles of the first necessity, especially woolens - he made every suit- able effort to awaken public attention to that important source of national wealth." He explained the advantages of agricul- tural societies very clearly ; said that several of the states had already experienced great benefits from them ; and declared that to such institutions England owed her surprising superiority over other nations in agriculture.
He informed the farmers that, in February, he had obtained the refusal, for a limited time, of sixty-seven full and half-blooded Spanish rams - the whole of Chancellor Livingston's spare flock - intending to give over the refusal to individuals or to an agri- cultural society in the county, "in the pleasing expectation of . secing extensive woolen-factories rise up in different parts of the county, the basis being first laid in an increasing supply of an improving raw material." But the languor attending the organ- ization of the society so discouraged him, that he had given up his bargain. He announced, nevertheless, that he had hazarded the purchase of forty of the flock, which he offered to any who should make application to Colonel Danforth, postmaster of Pitts- field, before the fourth of July. Colonel Danforth was to retain one dollar from the amount paid for each sheep, and to pass it over to an agricultural society, if one was formed that summer, as the nucleus of a fund for premiums upon broadcloth made in the county from the wool of these sheep, and those bred from them.
Mr. Watson promised that the rams should be delivered to Colonel Danforth's order, on the first of September, and eight or ten more from his own flock on the first of October. This would make two for each town, and he estimated that, with proper management, there would be about five thousand sheep from this
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source alone, in the county, the next spring; preparatory for a second cross with full-blooded rams, which could probably be procured the ensuing season. The second year sufficient wool for extensive manufactories of superfine broadcloths might be produced in Berkshire. This wool, he thought, would be supe- rior in quality to the imported, as the best of foreign growth was retained for home-consumption. Finally, the product of Berk- shire wool would so increase in quantity beyond the means of manufacturing in the county, that there would be a considerable surplus, to be sent profitably to market.
The address, of which the foregoing is an abstract, exhibits the arguments by which Mr. Watson constantly urged his favor- ite schemes of sheep-culture and a county agricultural society upon the Berkshire public; and they met with great success, although to his ardent mind it seemed to come slowly.
Mr. Watson's biographer states that at this time he stood almost alone in advocating his projects, "exposed to the shafts of ridicule and satire." But he does not seem to have suf- fered more in this respect than usually falls to the lot of the projector of any new institution. We have, to be sure, seen a newspaper-article in which some correspondent exposed his clumsy wit in an attempt to burlesque Mr. Watson's project, by a proposition to offer premiums for an improved breed of turkeys : a suggestion which has long since been carried out, and which, if it had been seriously made, would doubtless have been wel- comed by Mr. Watson. But this article stands almost alone in the columns of the Sun and Reporter, which were crowded with frequent arguments for, and eulogiums upon, the new scheme.
Mr. Watson had much more to fear from apathy than from hostility or ridicule. Yet even this was far from universal. The gentlemen who participated in the meetings of 1808 were heart- ily sincere in the feelings which they expressed, and sympathized with him warmly, although with a zeal not quite equal to his own. The people generally of Berkshire and Pittsfield -as is their wont with new projects to this day - turned over his propo- sitions and arguments in their minds for a couple of years, and, when satisfied of their value, entered into his plans with enthu- siasm and vigor.
In the Sun of August 8, 1810, appeared the following appeal,
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signed by twenty-six of the most respectable farmers and intelli- gent gentlemen of the county : -
BERKSHIRE CATTLE-SHOW.
" The multiplication of useful animals is a common blessing to mankind."- Washington.
TO FARMERS.
The subscribers take the liberty to address you on a momentous subject, which, in all probability, will materially affect the agricultural interest of this county. Annual fairs, or shows of cattle, we are informed, are found in many European countries, particularly in Great Britain, of great importance, at fixed periods and places, at which point there is generally a large collection of the most intelligent farm- ers, exhibiting a show of prime animals. Some in view of obtaining prize-premiums, others in a view of sale or exchange, by which means the breeds have greatly improved, to the general benefit of the com- munity. The same advantages have also resulted from a similar prac- tice in several parts of the United States ; particularly in certain dis- tricts iu Pennsylvania, and in Dnchess county in the State of New York. Being fully impressed with the belief that a like practice in this county will have the same good effects, and in a hope of being instrumental in commencing a plan so useful in its consequences, we propose to exhibit on the square in the village of Pittsfield, on Mon- day the first of October next, from nine o'clock to three, bulls, oxen, steers, and other neat cattle ; merino sheep of the different grades, as well as other improved breeds ; hogs or swine of different breeds.
Farmers in this county or vicinity are respectfully invited to attend this first exhibition, with such useful animals as they see proper. It is hoped that this essay will not be confined to the present year, but will lead to permanent annual cattle-shows; and that an incorporated agri- cultural society will emanate from this meeting, that will hereafter be possessed of funds sufficient to award premiums, and thus promote an amelioration of valuable breeds of domestic animals.
Samuel II. Wheeler, Calvin Hnbbel, William Beard, Uri Bradley, Josiah Wilcox, Joel Bradley, Peter B. Curtis, Joseph Farnam, Ebene- zer Buck, Charles Morse, Daniel Brown, John Wells, Jr., Hicok Hub- bel, John Farnam, Wolcott Hubbel, Rosswel Root, Erastus Sackett, Solomon Sackett, Joseph Shearer, Lodowick Stanton, Elkanah Wat- son, John B. Root, Titus Goodman, Joseph Merrick, Samuel D. Colt, Thomas B Strong.
The last eleven signers of this call were citizens of Pittsfield : Messrs. Morse, Brown and Wells were of Cheshire; the others
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of Lanesboro. The exhibition took place at the appointed time ; and notwithstanding its limited character, and the meagerness of pleasing accessories, it attracted a large attendance of the prin- cipal farmers from the surrounding country : and, without the incitement of premiums, the show of animals was respectable ; comprising three hundred and eighty-three sheep, seven bulls, a hundred and nine oxen, nine cows, three heifers, two calves, and one boar; a large proportion of which were blooded stock. Among the more valuable exhibitions were a young Holderness bull which Mr. Watson had imported in 1808, and which was accompanied by some of its stock; and there was also some of the small-boned, short-legged pigs, of which the same gentleman had, in the same year, brought a pair from Duchess county, and which gradually supplanted the old slab-sided, plowshare breed which previously rooted in the soil of Berkshire. In the three hundred and eighty-three sheep, there were thirteen entries of exhibitors : Merrick and Colt (Joseph Merrick and Samuel D. Colt), two hundred and eighty-four; Root and Chappell (John B. . Root and Richard S. Chappell), thirty-six ; D. Humphries (Colonel Humphries of Poughkeepsie), eleven; Root and Willard (George B. Rodney Root and Josiah Willard), twenty-one; Daniel Couch, six ; Campbell and Goodwin (David Campbell and Joseph Good- win), four; Jonathan Chapman, four ; Samuel H. Wheeler, two; Arthur Schofield, Charles Morse, Levi Chittenden, Benjamin Luce, Asahel Buck, one each.
Of the exhibitors in the general department - other than sheep -there were, from Chatham, N. Y., one; Canaan, N. Y., one ; Pittsfield, seven ; Lanesboro, fourteen ; Adams, three; Cheshire, one ; Richmond, one; Dalton, one. Of the exhibitors of sheep, Poughkeepsie furnished one, Pittsfield eight, Lanesboro one, Richmond one, unknown three.
The announcement of the Pittsfield Fair, and afterwards of its marked success, excited a wide interest, not only in Massachu- setts, but in all the neighboring states; especially in New England, where it was the first essay of the kind.
At home, in Berkshire, it had the desired effect of giving a new impulse to the new sheep-culture. Immediately after the show, we find Root and Chappell, 'Mr. Watson and others, adver- tising merinos for sale ; John B. Root advertising for persons to board from ten to five hundred sheep by the year; and a general
42
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interest in the subject of wool and woolen manufactures every- where manifested.
While the fair was in progress, Hon. Jonathan Allen was in Lisbon purchasing merinos; an enterprise in which he had remarkable good fortune. Spain was at that moment agitated by the intestine wars engendered by the French revolution, and confiscations ruled the hour. Among the property seized were many of the superb flocks which had long been the pride of Andalusia, New Castile, and Estramadura. These, the Juntas administering the government- King Ferdinand being detained a prisoner by Napoleon - sent in immense numbers to clog the markets of Portugal.
From this source many of the finest sheep in Spain found their way to Great Britain and the United States. Among those sent to Lisbon were six thousand from the flocks of the Count of Mon- taco, of which Mr. Allen purchased one hundred.
Regarding the quality of these sheep, there is still preserved the certificate of the Spanish Consul at Lisbon, stating-on the authority of the secretary of the governmental Junta, of Estra- madura - that they were of the fine Transhumante 1 breed, from the confiscated flocks of the Count of Montaco, whose stock was of the highest credit in Spain, and also held in great estimation abroad.
Mr. Allen had a very stormy return voyage, in which he lost many of his sheep, and was himself so very sea-sick that he begged of the captain to throw him overboard. But, of those which he saved, he sold a sufficient number in Boston to defray the whole cost of his venture, some of the bucks bringing one thousand dollars each.
Forty remained, with which he returned to Pittsfield. Here he purchased of Titus Goodman, "vendee of David Campbell," the farm near Coltsville, afterwards owned by Phillips Merrill. Taking up his residence upon this beautiful, valuable and exten- sive farm, he entered with zeal into the business of sheep-raising, and contributed largely to the introduction of the fine-wool sheep.
In 1809, Samuel D. Colt was appointed agent for the sale of
1 Transhumante, or traveling race; so called because, althoughi carefully sheltered in winter, they were in summer kept almost constantly traveling for pasturage ; being distinguished in this respect from the Estantes, which do not migrate, and are of a somewhat inferior quality.
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Clermont merino rams for the State of Massachusetts. The ani- mals were to be delivered in Pittsfield on the fifteenth of August, the purchasers selecting from the flock in the order of their appli- cations. The stock of these rams was represented to be imported from France by Robert R. Livingston, who, when minister to that country, selected them from its best national flock. Mr. Colt's large exhibition at the cattle-show of 1810 indicated the spirit with which he entered upon this enterprise. Indeed, it was the foundation of an exceedingly prosperous business in buy- ing, raising and selling of sheep, which was conducted for many years by himself and his son Robert, in which they proved themselves among the most able and successful business men of the county.
Other farmers entered with zest into the raising of the im- proved breeds of sheep, and many more became interested in agricultural societies. And thus, within three years of Mr. Wat- son's humble. show under the Old Elm, the objects which he there set himself to accomplish were in a fair tide toward suc- cess. In fact, if there had been any dispiriting indifference regarding these objects previous to the success of 1810, after it public feeling seemed likely to rush to the opposite extreme. One enthusiastic correspondent, at least, proposed to establish, at Pittsfield, a grand fair, like those of Europe, for all the four states which approach each other at this point. He showed the great advantages of this location as a center, and would even have premiums offered annually for the agricultural and manufactur- ing products of the whole Union. And, indeed, the premiums offered at the early fairs of the Berkshire Society were, to a great extent, open to competitors outside the county and the state.
While the cattle-show of 1810 was in progress, it was deter- mined, at a meeting of the leading farmers in attendance, that the institution should be made permanent, and, for that purpose, to apply to the next legislature for an act incorporating a county agricultural society. In accordance with this action, the legis- lature granted a charter to Elkanah Watson, Ezekiel Bacon, John B. Root, and Thomas B. Strong of Pittsfield, Caleb Hyde of Lenox, John Chamberlin of Dalton, and Samuel H. Wheeler of Lanesboro, with such as might be joined with them, as "the Berkshire Agricultural Society for the Promotion of Agriculture
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and Manufactures." The society was authorized to hold property whose annual income should not exceed five thousand dollars, and was invested with the powers requisite to carry out its objects.
The first meeting was held on the 1st of August, 1811, when a code of by-laws was adopted. One of these required that there should be two meetings of the society annually ; one at Lenox on the first Wednesday of the spring session of the supreme court, the other at Pittsfield on the last Tuesday of September. The latter date was also that of the cattle-show and fair, which it was provided, should be held in Pittsfield and should include "an exhibition of neat cattle, sheep, hogs, all kinds of seeds, roots, samples of compost, manufactures, patent-rights, improvements in agriculture, machinery, and useful inventions of all kinds."
Another by-law provided that new members should be elected by ballot, and, under this rule, the following were chosen : Wil- liam Walker, Jonathan Allen, Timothy Childs, H. H. Childs, Hosea Merrill, R. S. Chappell, David Campbell, Josiah Bissell, Rossell (Roswell) Root, Arthur Scholfield, S. D. Colt, Joseph Mer- rick, Thomas Gold, Lemuel Pomeroy, James Brown, John Diek- inson, and Oliver Partridge Dickinson. In September this rule was repealed, and the secretary and treasurer were authorized to receive members who signed the constitution and by-laws, and paid the admission fee of one dollar.
The officers of the society, chosen at its first meeting, were Elkanah Watson, president ; William Walker and S. H. Wheeler, vice-presidents ; Caleb Hyde, corresponding secretary ; Thomas B. Strong, recording secretary ; John B. Root, treasurer; Joseph Shearer, Ezekiel Bacon, and Jonathan Allen, trustees. At a sub- sequent meeting, Thomas Gold, S. D. Colt, Roswell Root, David Campbell, Arthur Scholfield and James Brown were added to the list of trustees.
In the Sun of August 10th, Elkanah Watson as president, and Messrs. Shearer and Allen, a committee of the trustees, announced that the society had determined to hold a cattle-show on an exten- sive scale, at Pittsfield, on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of the ensuing September. They stated that, should funds be pro- vided in season, premiums would be given; but, in the mean- while, they advised farmers and manufacturers to select and prepare choice specimens of their respective products, and machin- ists to have ready models of useful inventions. All members of
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the society were requested to appear clad in American manufac- tures.
In the last issue of the Sun previous to the days appointed for the show, premiums were offered of ten dollars each for the best bull, and for the best full-blooded merino lamb ; five dollars each for oxen, cows, heifers, sheep of mixed blood, common sheep and swine.
The first day of the fair proved one of those delightful days which almost invariably characterize the last week of September in Berkshire. The streets and public square early took on that lively appearance which subsequent cattle-shows rendered so familiar. People from the neighboring regions, in all sorts of vehicles, began, almost with the rising of the sun, to pour into town, mixed with herds of cattle, sheep in wagons or flocks, a few swine, and some mechanical inventions.
The public square boasted but a single tree besides the Old Elm, and around the latter was an inclosure for the live stock. The remaining space and the neighboring streets were soon thronged with an excited and expectant crowd; many of them females, although the ladies did not honor the occasion with so numerous a representation as in later years. Booths for the sale of refresh- ments and Yankee notions had sprung up like mushrooms. The venders had already learned their trade at general musters and the celebrations of the fourth of July ; but neither of these holi- days ever brought them so rich a harvest as they found in cattle- shows. The committee had announced that innocent amusements would be allowed, and enterprising geniuses provided them in abundance ; especially the "fandango," or, as it was then called, the " aerial phaeton," which has never since failed to offer its dizzy pleasures to the youths and maidens who resort to cattle- shows. In this earlier time it often remained stationary for weeks in the open space adjoining Captain Pepoon's tavern on the south side of the park.
The proceedings and pageants of the day, under the direction of the society, were unique and imposing, and the whole occasion formed one of those gala days in which Pittsfield has always delighted. At eleven o'clock the members met at the town-house, where Mr. Watson delivered a brief but very interesting address. After apologizing for reading his remarks, as he was unaccustomed to extemporary speaking, he argued the value of agricultural soci-
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eties from the good they had accomplished in many European countries. He dwelt particularly upon their effect in England, where the knowledge which they had collected and diffused, and the emulation which they had excited by the example of success- ful farmers, and by liberal prizes, had overcome the obstacles which nature herself seemed to interpose to successful agriculture in an island lying ten degrees north of our latitude. There was no country in Europe so generally, so well and so profitably, cul- tivated as England. To this, and to their numerous manufac- tories, he attributed the astonishing power which she had recently displayed in the Napoleonic wars; and, although, as a good dem- ocrat, he was bound to think that she seemed then sinking, com- paratively, with a mill-stone around her neck, yet her energies and endless resources were the theme and the astonishment of mankind. Turning " from blood-stained, guilty Europe, to our more peaceful and more virtuous borders," and particularly to Berkshire county, he found himself in a latitude parallel to that of the most luxuriant countries of Europe, but far behind them, and at least a century behind England, in the profitable product , of our soil. The natural vigor of our virgin soil, which had hitherto supplied in some measure the place of artificial manures, was now abated, as was remarkably evinced in the culture of win- ter wheat, which was once so congenial to our land, but which had in a manner disappeared.
The remedy for this declining agriculture he expected to find in this society whose duty, as a body and individually, was to col- lect and diffuse useful information, to make experiments, suggest improvements and excite a spirit of honorable competition.
Cattle-raising was then the primary object of the Berkshire farmer, and having a limited experience in that department, he quoted from Lawrence Sickel, president of the Pennsylvania Soci- ety : " Although the cattle of the northern states'are the best in this country, and make as fine beef as the world can produce, yet there is much room for improvement. Even in England, notwith- standing their successful exertions for the last fifty years, good cattle are extremely scarce and command high prices. The pres- ent time is peculiarly favorable for a change in our stock. For the purpose of knowing what cattle of improved breeds are among us, and to give an opportunity for the more easy diffusion of valuable stock, the society have resolved to establish cattle-
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shows in the vicinity of Philadelphia. This, and giving premi- ums are the most powerful means of improving cattle in the United States."
Mr. Watson commended this example as apposite to the aims of the Berkshire Society. He had introduced an improved breed of swine which he hoped, by the aid of the society's committees, to extend throughout the county. By a fortunate accident he had also been enabled to introduce a species of wheat lately brought from France, and a superior variety of potatoes, some of which would be delivered, during the winter, to the members of the society in each town of the county. He was cultivating madder-an important dye-stuff previously imported from Europe, although natural to our soil and climate, and easily cultivated. He would be able in the spring to supply a considerable number of sprouts for general cultivation. He called the attention of the society also to the importance of cultivating woad or pastel, a plant similar in its nature to indigo.
Of manufactures, he said :
In my view, there is every rational probability that this county is destined to become eventually, and probably in a much shorter period than is generally imagined, a respectable manufacturing county, in all those branches where the excessive dearness of labor can in some meas- ure be obviated by the powerful application of machinery. And as no branch is so susceptible of this application as the manufacture of wool- cns, there can be little doubt, especially under the aspect of the times, but the future wealth and respectability of the county of Berkshire will be built on that substantial foundation. Owing to the fortunate intro- duction of a new and invaluable species of sheep, we shall, to all appearance, be abundantly supplied with a precious raw material to go hand in hand with the increase of our manufactories ; thus mutually propping and supporting each other.
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