USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The history of the Essex Agriculture Society of Essex County, Massachusetts, 1818-1918 > Part 3
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bought at a seed store. "On the part sown with thorough- bred seed there is scarcely an imperfect onion and the crop is the largest in the vicinity. On the part sown with good seed the onions are ten days later, of inferior qual- ity and less quantity and valued at twenty-five per cent less than the first." The product of the third kind of seed was estimated as fifty per cent less in value than the first.
But one suggestion of this wise counselor would fail of approval to-day. "Besides protecting our native song- sters that do so much to aid the orchardist, I must ear- nestly recommend the importation of English sparrows, whose principal occupation is to feed their numerous progeny with insects. I know of no way by which a portion of the income of this Society can be so profitably expended as by the importation of several thousand of these birds, to be distributed in different parts of the country."
1870-1880.
Noticeable improvements in farm wagons were made in this decade. In 1870 a horse-cart with small wheels forward was exhibited, which soon supplanted the old two-wheeled tip-cart, and with the later addition of a pole and the use of two horses, greatly facilitated the transportation of heavy loads. Webster Smith, the Ips- wich blacksmith, exhibited an ox-wagon for hay in 1871, regarding which the comment was made: "Probably in no other part of the country can such large, evenly laid, handsome loads of hay be seen as are hauled to Boston from Essex County upon these Ipswich hay wagons." In 1873 Frank H. Burnham exhibited his covered seat, and with this equipment the Ipswich hay teamers, in their great horse-drawn wagons, scoured the whole coun- try side as far as Hampton and Greenland for hay for the Boston market. The manure spreader appeared in 1879.
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The dairy exhibits in this period were of great import- ance. Francis H. Appleton of Peabody, William A. Rus- sell of Lawrence, and J. D. W. French of North Andover, all gentlemen of wealth who delighted in their farms and choice breeds of cows, began a series of exhibits which were continued for many years. Mr. Appleton brought his choice Ayrshires, Maud, with her record of twenty- two and three quarts a day, and Lassie, whose best yield was a twenty-five pound daily average for two months.
The famous Holstein herd of Mr. Russell came in 1876 and following years, Lady Clifden with a year's record of 16,274 lbs., or 21 143-363 lbs. a day; Maid Marion, with an average of 31.38 lbs. for 421 days; and Lady Andover, with 36.11 lbs. average for 273 days.
Mr. French's North Andover herd of Ayrshires in 1877 included Betty Burke, whose average for 308 days was 26.42 lbs., and Rosanna, with a record of 33 lbs. a day for 123 days.
Mr. D. F. Appleton of Ipswich exhibited his fine Cots- wold sheep and his herd of Kerry cows.
Coincident with these famous records was the introduc- tion of a new food. While visiting in Hungary in 1873 Gen. Francis H. Appleton saw a method of curing fodder corn by heaping the stalks in pits and covering them with earth. He was so much impressed with the evident value of this process which was already a well established ad- junct of the best Hungarian farms that he secured from his friend a statement of his method of "Sour Fodder Making," as it was called, which was published in the American Agriculturist in October, 1873. He was not confident of its popular introduction into this country. Remarking upon ensilage, its European name, in 1879, he observed: "I would say that it must be done with much care and expense, as well as on a large scale, to be successful, so that it probably cannot come within reach of the smaller sized farms of New England, unless some one person could prove it to be of true value and
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enough desirable to make a business of supplying the farms."
The Essex County seedsmen were making great con- tributions in these years to the man on the farm and to the pages of the Transactions. In 1879 Mr. J. J. H. Gregory exhibited 80 varieties of 17 different kinds of vegetables, and 210 varieties of seed. His collection of tomatoes was the largest and his method of culture, re- ported in 1871, had been reprinted in the State Report of the same year. Crosby's Early Sweet Corn and Stow- ell's Evergreen, his favorite varieties, are still standards. John S. Ives of Salem displayed 198 varieties of seed. Aaron Low of Essex made fine exhibits. Experiments with seedling potatoes were producing excellent results, and the use of phosphates and other condensed fertilizers had become general.
1880-1890.
The Address of Dr. James R. Nichols of Haverhill, in 1881, on the theme, "What Science Has Accomplished for Farmers," was a gratifying complement to the learned papers of his forerunner in the early days, Dr. Andrew Nichols, whose papers on Scientific Agriculture were a plea for and foretaste of the new agriculture which had now become a fact.
Dr. Nichols remarked that in his address to the Society in 1855, he had predicted chemistry would come to the relief of the farmer. Since that time vast stores of phos- phoric rocks had been found in Russia, Spain and the United States. The great phosphate beds near South Carolina, which had been discovered in 1867, had yielded in fertilizers shipped upwards of $2,000,000 in 1870. On his own farm artificial fertilizers had largely supplanted domestic manures. Speaking of strawberries and rasp- berries, he said, "I do not remember to have seen culti- vated varieties until long after reaching adult age. Now of strawberries there are more than 350 varieties."
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Dr. Nichols had made contributions of great value to scientific agriculture by his work on his farm near Lake Kenoza, Haverhill, which he had purchased in 1863. Under his skillful treatment an unproductive land yielded abundant crops. He established the Journal of Chemistry in Boston in 1866. His books, "Fireside Science," "Chemistry of the Farm and Sea," had wide circulation. "Whence, What, Where," published in 1883, had great popularity. He died on Jan. 2, 1888.
Gen. Appleton, speaking at Haverhill in 1882, was able to say that the French method of sour fodder, adopted in the United States, was already becoming popular, and that silos had been built on a large number of farms.
Benjamin P. Ware, in his address in 1883, recounted the possessions and achievements of the Society: no grounds, no trotting park, no show buildings, only a tent, some portable cattle pens, 1,200 exhibition fruit dishes, but an experimental farm of 150 acres, which brought an income of $300 to $500 a year besides expenses, a library of 800 volumes, and funds which amounted to $16,690.00. "It has never paid a dollar for speed since its organiza- tion, but has paid an average of $3,000 annually for pre- miums for the past ten years, and a total sum since the beginning of $44,271.54."
"The Society is supporting," he continued, "three scholarships at the Massachusetts Agricultural College for four years at $50 each, and has offered a premium of $100 for the best prepared student from Essex County who completes his course. Its present membership is 1,388. It publishes annually 1,600 copies of its Transac- tions, averaging from 120 to 220 pages."
The activities of the Society had now been manifest in a new field, the holding of Farmers' Institutes in vari- ous towns, at which valuable papers were read and prac- tical farm affairs discussed. The most significant evi- dence of the quickening influence the Essex Agricultural
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Society had exerted throughout the County was the rec- ord of local clubs and societies which had sprung into being in many localities, and were closely affiliated with the venerable Society in spirit and method. The Ames- bury and Salisbury Agricultural Association had been organized in April, 1856; the West Newbury Farmers' Club in December, 1856; the Ipswich Fruit Growers' Association in September, 1866; the North Andover Farmers' and Mechanics' Club in March, 1878; the An- dover Farmers' Club in November, 1879. There were also the Houghton Agricultural Society of Lynn, the Marblehead and Swampscott Farmers' Club, the Brad- ford Farmers' and Mechanics' Association, farmers' clubs in Rowley, Georgetown, Topsfield, West Peabody and Wenham. The farmers' instinct for clubs and societies being still unsatisfied, it was reported in 1886, that during that year Granges of Patrons of Husbandry had been organized in Amesbury, North Andover and Ipswich.
Gratifying interest in tree-culture and forestry was apparent. Major Ben : Perley Poore made the Report in 1883, reviewing the failures of the past, but urging to constant endeavor to replace the fast disappearing forests. His own planting at Indian Hill farm had been so suc- cessful that the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture awarded him a premium of a thousand dollars for his twenty acres of oak, chestnut, hickory, locust, fir and pine, on which every tree had been planted by his own hand. The Society had a Committee on Orna- mental and Wayside Trees as well.
At the Cattle Shows a sulky plough was shown for the first time in 1881. In the following year a trial of two or three ploughs was made in a very rough and stony field, with very satisfactory result. After the trial was over the committee requested Mr. Richard S. Jaques, a veteran ploughman, who had taken more first premiums than any other member of the Society, to turn one furrow with his "Lion" plough and four-ox team in direct com-
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petition with the sulky and one pair of horses. Though an old farmer is usually conservative regarding new in- ventions, his one rough and uneven furrow was enough to convince him, and he acknowledged on the spot, "The sulky is the plough of the future."
The horse was coming rapidly to the place of honor. In 1885 the Society offered its first premium for gentle- men's driving horses, and in the following year there was a notable display. Premiums were awarded for Stallions, first and second class, Brood Mares, Family Horses, Gentlemen's Driving Horses, Draft Horses, Pairs of Draft Horses, Pairs of Farm Horses, and for Colts for draft purposes in two classes, and for general pur- poses in two classes also.
At Peabody, in 1887, greater dignity than ever before attended the public exercises. A procession was formed of officers, members and friends of the Society, headed by the 8th Regiment Band, which marched to the Peabody Institute, where Dr. William Cogswell of Bradford de- livered the annual address. In the following year a more pretentious procession was formed, with all the oxen and horses and various teams in line, which paraded through the streets.
A singularly happy episode marked the close of this decade. At a Farmers' Institute at Peabody, December, 1888 ,a very appreciative essay on Whittier, the farmer's poet, was read, and a message was sent to the poet con- gratulating him on the health of body and mental vigor with which he had reached and passed his eighty-first birthday, and assuring him "that in no places are your poems read with more interest and pleasure, or your works of tenderest love cherished with a purer admiration than in the homes of the farmers of your native County of Essex."
The poet replied, expressing deep gratification with the message, and recalling that he had worked faithfully on the old Haverhill homestead until at the age of thirty
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years he was compelled to leave it, greatly to his regret. He continued :
No better proof of real gain can be found than the creation of pleasant homes for the comfort of age and the happiness of youth. When the great English critic, Matthew Arnold, was in the country, on returning from a visit in Essex County, he remarked that while the land looked to him rough and unproductive, the landlord's houses seemed neat and often elegant, with an air of prosperity about them. 'But where,' he asked, 'do the tenants, the working people live?' He seemed surprised when I told him that the tenants were the landlords and the workers the owners.
1890-1900.
Mention has been made more than once of the old-time Essex County cow, the Oakes cow of Danvers, nameless and without pedigree, whose record of 4841/2 lbs. of butter, besides suckling a calf four weeks and allowing a quart daily for family use, was unsurpassed in the county and far wider circles for a half century as a butter- maker. The record had been surpassed long since by the imported animals of choice breeds. But in 1890 the crown returned to Essex County. Mr. D. Fuller Appleton of Ipswich, merchant and farmer, who had exhibited his fine Cotswold sheep and his herd of Kerry cows in the seventies, had become greatly interested in the Jerseys, and had built up a choice herd. On April 22, 1889, he began a test with his Eurotisama, born and bred on his Ipswich farm. The test was ended April 21, 1890, and the famous cow had produced 945 lbs. 9 oz. of butter, the highest record yet attained by that breed, and Mr. Apple- ton became the owner of the "Challenge Cup."
It is interesting to note the successive stages by which the record was advanced to this great figure. Thomas Motley's imported Flora produced 511 lbs. 2 oz. in 1853. In 1866, in another quarter, the record was advanced to
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5741/2 lbs .; in 1878 to 705 lbs .; then by steady advances to 851 867 and 936 lbs. Eurotisama advanced the record to 945 lbs. 9 oz., notwithstanding a slight sickness early in the year, which caused a marked shrinkage in her milk for a time. She retained the place of honor for only a brief period. In the same year a Tennessee Jersey made a record of 1,028 lbs. 534 oz., and in 1892, in another quarter, 1,04734 lbs. was attained.
In September, 1891, the Society suffered a great loss in the death of Dr. George B. Loring. Besides his active endeavors to promote the finest methods of agriculture in the County, he had founded the New England Agricul- tural Society in 1864 and was its President for nearly a quarter of a century. He was the President of the Massa- chusetts Senate from 1873 to 1876, was a Representative in Congress, and was appointed United States Commis- sioner of Agriculture by President Garfield in 1881. President Harrison appointed him U. S. Minister to Por- tugal, but he resigned the office and returned home within a year.
During this decade the burning question was: Shall the Society continue its peripatetic course about the County or secure a permanent abiding place? It was warmly discussed at an Institute at Peabody in January, 1891. The advocates of a permanent location maintained that under modern conditions the people could be brought to the show more easily than the show could be carried to the people. It was claimed that as $400,000 was invested in horse stock farms in Essex County, their owners were entitled to fair consideration. The conservatives opposed the scheme, scenting a horse trot as the underlying purpose.
The drift of opinion was so pronounced in a few years, that a Committee, chosen by the Trustees to consider plans for a permanent location, reported in September, 1894, recommending that the Society establish itself permanent- ly in Danvers, where the citizens had pledged a contribu-
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tion of a thousand dollars toward the purchase of land. A large Committee was chosen and authorized by a vote, 81 in the affirmative, 11 in the negative, to bond or pur- chase, grade and fence land and erect suitable buildings for the use of the Society, paying for the same out of the Society's funds.
Locations in various parts of the County were sug- gested and carefully studied, and in the end purchase was made of ten acres, centrally situated in the town of Pea- body. Buildings were erected, a quarter-mile track laid out, and the annual Cattle Show was held there in Sep- tember 1895.
The Transactions of that year included a full state- ment of the reasons which made the new departure a wise venture. The annual receipts had been falling off largely for a number of years. The free exhibit of live stock remained popular but there was a marked diminu- tion in the attendance at the Hall Exhibit which involved the payment of a small admission fee. Consequently the expense of the Cattle Show exceeded the total revenue from admission fees, from the funds and the annual grant of $600 by the State and the funds had been depleted largely. It was believed that as the location in Peabody was the geographical center of a large population, the financial situation would be greatly improved.
Some economies were urged, curtailing the size of the Transactions which seemed larger than the requirements of the Society warranted, and the number and liberality of the premiums, which far surpassed those of any other Society in the State. "The possibilities of an exceedingly good show next year, with attractions of an interesting and harmless character, can be introduced to advantage."
A vigorous and very successful effort was made in 1896 to inaugurate a new era. A hundred head of cattle in the exhibition pens were a reminder of the palmy days of the Society. Nine yoke came from the State Lunatic Hos- pital at Danvers, which made notable contributions each
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year. An unusually good collection of fowls, more than five hundred, received much attention. The exhibits in every department were large and fine. On the second day of the Fair, the citizens of Peabody, Salem, and other towns joined in a street parade, which included the horses and cattle and extended over a mile in length. The weather was favorable and great popular interest was aroused. The delegate from the State Board remarked in his report: "Without a horse trot or other outside attrac- tions aside from a bicycle race and firemen's muster, the attendance was very large, the entrance fees amounting to over $4,000." It was estimated that ten thousand people were on the grounds.
Hon. George von L. Meyer in his Address in 1897, re- marked upon two recent or recently improved inventions, which were destined to work great changes in farm life, as in society generally.
Fifty years after the arrival of the first passenger train, a thoroughly successful horseless carriage was run through Salem over our Essex roads, and I venture to predict that some of us who are here today will live to see the time when it will be as rare to see carriages drawn by horses as it is at present to see street cars drawn by horses. I noticed in Paris last Winter the automobile as it is there called is becoming quite a frequent sight. Bicycles are now so cheap that they are within the reach of mechanics and farm laborers.
In 1898 the new order had commended itself so well that Gen. Francis H. Appleton declared, "We must have more land for a grand stand that shall have seating capacity to rest our visitors and patrons and from which they can view a half-mile track to find entertainment." The annual deficit had now been replaced by an annual profit.
But the exhibition of 1899 was visited with heavy rain and consequent shrinkage in attendance and in revenue. Rev. J. M. Pullman, D.D., of Lynn, delivered the Address
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at the Peabody Institute, the last apparently of the long series which reached back to the very beginning of the Society. Not only was it the last, but it was not honored with a place in the greatly abridged Transactions of that year, the first omission of the kind since Col. Pickering's first address was printed in 1818.
1900-1910.
THE PEABODY EXPERIMENT.
On the turn of the century preparations had been made for the largest and most attractive exhibit the Society had ever held. The ancient and honored name, "Cattle Show," had given place to the less rural and more compre- hensive "Fair," and it was a significant evidence that not only had the cattle disappeared, but the old-time gathering of farmers with the products of their farms had ceased. In the hope of making good the recent financial losses the Society had established itself perma- nently in one of the busiest manufacturing centers, with a large and compact population within easy reach. The plan was now adopted of drawing a large gathering by attractions manifold and various.
To further this end the retiring President, Hon. George von L. Meyer, had borne the expense of a grand stand. The members of the Myopia Hunt Club gave an exhibition of hurdle-jumping ,and many fine horses competed for the various prizes. The various departments on the grounds and in the hall were full of interest. But heavy rain again interfered seriously with the attendance and the financial return. Similar disappointment befell the following year. Thursday, the great second day of the 1901 Fair, was the day of President McKinley's funeral, and the nation was shrouded in gloom. Heavy rain inten- sified the difficulties of the situation. It was no wonder that great discouragement was evident in the scant re-
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ports of the Fair of 1902. The Society was in debt and facing annual deficits. Only twelve new members had been added during the year.
But great preparations were made for 1903, and beau- tiful weather favored the success of the Fair. On the opening day a coaching and automobile parade gave great eclat to the occasion. Led by mounted marshals, a line of open barouches, bearing the officials of the Society and the City, followed by a long train of four-in-hands, dog and pony carts and automobiles, all beautifully decorated, formed on Salem Common and moved to the Fair Grounds in Peabody. It was estimated that ten thousand people passed through the gates in the afternoon. Band con- certs, hurdle-jumping, vaudeville shows, and bicycle races entertained the crowd. Gasoline engines in operation at- tracted much attention. The receipts were $3,000, less by two hundred than those of the preceding year.
The records of the following years vary little. Rain on the evening before the parade caused a meager turnout in September, 1904. A balloon ascension and parachute de- scent had been added to the attractions, but repeated at- tempts met with exasperating failure. There were fire- men's races and hurdle races and a mimic Midway. The great event, however, was the stirring address of Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge at the dinner.
New features characterized the exhibition of 1905. The public schools were closed and children were admitted free in the afternoon of the opening day. The Salem merchants organized a Trade Bazaar in a large tent. The show of live stock was the largest made on the new grounds, working oxen, fine herds of milch cows, swine and poultry.
At the dinner of the Society in September, 1906, Hon. Robert S. Rantoul delivered a just eulogy of Benjamin P. Ware, who had died on February 7, 1906, at the age of eighty-four. His long life had covered nearly the whole period of the existence of the Agricultural Society,
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of which he became an active member in 1848. He soon came to a leading place in its councils, and filled with honor the office of President for sixteen years. For many years he held many important official positions in agri- cultural societies, wrote much on farm topics, and was a constant exponent of the best methods of practical farming.
In 1907, 1908, 1909, the exhibitions were very credit- able. James C. Poor of Andover sent his herd of choice Holsteins; T. Jefferson Coolidge of Manchester his fine Guernseys. There were fat cattle from Charles J. Pea- body's Topsfield farm, interesting displays of manufac- tures, and the Merchants' Bazaar. The Midway had now become a grotesque feature of the attractions, with its merry-go-rounds and Ferris wheel, ring-tossers, fortune tellers, African dodgers, novelty boards, fakes and fakirs of every sort. The horse show, hurdle races and firemen's contests had more dignified place on the track. The bal- loon, fireworks and vaudeville were constant features. But the financial situation grew more acute each year. There was a constant popular demand for the horse race as the thrilling thing which would draw the crowd and fill the treasury, and equally firm insistence by the officers of the Society that the track was not suitable, that it could not be introduced without large initial expense, that the Middlesex-Reading Fair, with its big grand stand and half-mile track, had proved a financial failure and had held no Fair for two years, and that every Agricultural Society making this venture faced bankruptcy.
The Fair of 1909 involved a deficit of $314, and it was patent that a radical change of policy was necessary. A mortgage of $6,000 had been placed upon the Fair Grounds. The amusement of the multitude was in danger of becoming the principal factor in the plans of the Society. Already there had been great departure from the primary design of promoting agriculture. There
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