UMASS/ AMHERST

31EDbb DEflS 15^7 3

C^OzyL^.

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT

SECRETARY

)asMc|usetts ^m)i of l^giiatltan,

TOGETHER WITH

REPORTS OE COMMITTEES

APPOINTED TO VISIT THE COUNTY SOCIETIES:

WITH AIST APPENDIX

CONTAINING AN ABSTRACT OF THE

FINANCES OF THE COUNTY SOCIETIES

18 6 7

BOSTON:

WRIGHT & POTTEE, STATE PRINTERS,

No. 4 Spking Lane.

1868.

STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

18 68.

MEMBERS EX OFFICIIS.

His Excellency ALEXANDER H. BULLOCK.
His Honor WILLIAM CLAFLIN.

Hon. OLIVER WARNER, Secretary of the Commonwealth.
WILLIAM S. CLARK, Pres. Mass. Agricultural College.

appointed by the governor and council.

Term Expires.

EPHRAIM W. BULL, of Concord, . 1869

LOUIS AGASSIZ, of Cambridge, 1870

MARSHALL P. WILDER, of Dorchester, 1871

CHOSEN BY THE COUNTY SOCIETIES.

Massachusetts,

Essex,

Middlesex,

Middlesex North,

Middlesex South,

Woixester,

Worcester West,

Worcester North,

Woi-cester North- West,

Worcester South, .

Worcester South-East,

Ilampshire, Franklin and

Hampshire,

Highland,

Hampden,

Hamp)den East,

Union,

Franklin,

Berkshire,

Hoosac Valley,.

Housatonic,

Norfolk, .

Hingham,

Bristol, .

Bristol Central,

Plymouth,

3IarshJield,

Barnstable,

Nantucket,

Martha's Vineyard.

LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, of Newton, . 1871
GEORGE B. LORING, of Salem, . . . 18G9
JOHN B. MOORE, of Concord, . . . 1870
ASA CLEMENT, of Dracut, .... 1871
JOHN JOHNSON, Jr., of Framingham, . 1869
THOMAS W. WARD, of Shrewsburj', . . 18G9
COURTLAND SANDERSON, of Phillipston, 18G9

. THOMAS BILLINGS, of Lunenburg,
. CHARLES C. BASSETT, of Athol,
. NEWTON S. HUBBARD, of Brimfield
. WILLIAM KNOWLTON, of Upton,
Hampden, H. S. PORTER, of Hatfield, .

. JOHN A. MORTON, of Hadley, .

. MONROE F. WATKINS, of Hinsdale,

. WILLIAM BIRNIE, of Springfield,

. II. S. AVARD, of Monson,

. E. W. BOISE, of Blandford, .

. IMLA K. BROWN, of Bernardston,

. ALEXANDER HYDE, of Lee,

. JOHN L. COLE, of Williamstown, ,

. T. D. THATCHER, of Lee, .

. ELIFHALET STONE, of Dedham,

. ALBERT FEARING, of Hingham, .

. AVERY P. SLADE, of Somerset, .

. NATHAN DURFEE, of Fall River,

. CHARLES G. DAVIS, of Plymouth,

. GEORGE M. BAKER, of Marshfield,

. GEORGE A. KING, of Barnstable,

. JAMES THOMPSON, of Nantucket,

. JOHN PIERCE, of Edgartown,

1869
1871
1871
1870
1870
1871
18G9
1870
1870
1871
1871
1870
1870
1870
1871
1870
1869
1870
18G9
1870
1871
1869
1871

CHARLES L. FLINT, Secretary.

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL EEPOET

SECRETARY

BOARD or AGRICULTURE.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Common-
wealth of Massachusetts.

The meteorological features of the past year have been some-
what remarkable. They serve to show how powerful an influ-
ence the character of the weather, especially that of the growing
months, has upon the practical work and the prosperity of the
farm. The variations in the seasons, the droughts of one sum-
mer, and the rains of another, constitute one of the obstacles
against which the farmer has to contend and introduce elements
of uncertainty in his calculations which do not exist in a more
fixed and uniform climate.

In a season of unparalleled vegetable growth, the hay crop,
so essential to a northern latitude, is, of course, abundant.
This, under ordinary circumstances, would reduce the price of
that important staple ; but the barns throughout the State had
become so completely emptied the last spring that the price of
this, as well as other feeding substances, has been strongly
maintained.

The cost of farm labor ranged high throughout the early part
of the year, while the frequent interruptions to work made it
more than ordinarily difficult to carry on permanent improve-
ments without expenditures which the results would not justify.

6 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE.

It is now confidently believed that the disease commonly
known as pleuro-pneumonia has been completely eradicated ;
and it is a subject for congratulation that the efficient elTorts on
the part of the Commonwealth have been attended with success,
so far as we can judge at the present time. The recent expe-
rience in Great Britain in the treatment of this disease, as well
as of the cattle plague — both dangerous contagious diseases —
has been sufficient to satisfy every candid, thinking mind in our
own State that our efforts and expenditures to purchase immu-
nity were well-timed and judicious. The Commissioners now
tender their resignation, and the following is understood to be
their

FINAL REPORT.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commomoealth of

Massachusetts:

The Board of Commissioners on Contagious Diseases among
Cattle, which has been continued in accordance witli the wish
of His Excellency the Governor during the year past, the object
being to guard against the introduction of the cattle plague,
(rinderpest,) which has caused so much loss in Great Britain
during the past three years, or the possible breaking out and
spread of the disease called " pleuro-pneumonia," which has
heretofore prevailed to an alarming extent in this Common-
wealth, congratulate the people upon the exemption from the
former, and the probable extinction of the latter, from our
herds.

From the latest reports it appears, through the energetic
action of the English government the rinderpest is nearly
" stamped out ; " consequently the fear that it would be brought
to this country is lessened. Should, however, the calamity
occur, it is to be hoped that the same rigorous measures adopted
by Massachusetts to extirpate pleuro-pneumonia, and Great
Britain the rinderpest, would be executed without delay.
These measures, together with the restriction placed upon the
importation of cattle by our government, have so far protected
us against the rinderpest. The active and timely exertions
made in our Commonwealth have saved our herds from the
devastation which was so seriously threatened by the pleuro-
pneumonia, so that by the expenditure of a very small propor-
..tion of the appropriations made in 1864 and 1866, we have now

CATTLE COMMISSIONERS. 7

entire confidence that it is eradicated ; and from what we now
know of the nature of the disease, we feel certain that it will
not again ajDpear among our herds, unless, as in 1859, imported
from beyond our limits.

As the commission has accomplished the work for which it
was appointed, in tendering to His Excellency our resignation,
we congratulate the people upon the success which has been
insured by the prompt action of the State Board of Agriculture,
and especially its Secretary, in connection with the legislature,
and with the co-operation of many of the leading agriculturists
and breeders of stock among our citizens, in eradicating one of
the worst forms of contagious disease which has been found
among the cattle. And we would at the same time congratulate
the breeders of stock that the investigations of scientific men in
relation to this, as well as other forms of disease peculiar to
animals, is tending in so large a degree to save them and the
country from such great losses as they would otherwise inevitably
incur.

The Commissioners have been, called in several instances
during the past year to examine diseased cattle.

In one herd only, and but for a few days, during which three
cows died, was there any evidence of a contagious disease
found. The character of the disease is unknown, as the animals
had been buried before our arrival at the farm.

E. F. Thayer,
Chas. p. Preston,

December 30, 1867. Commissioners,

PUBLIC MEETING OF THE BOARD

AT CONCORD.

The Annual Meeting of the State Board of Agriculture for
lectures and discussions, was held in the town hall at Concord,
commencing on Tuesday, December 10, and continuing three
days. The meeting was called to order on Tuesday, at noon,
by Hon. E. W. Bull, of Concord, who said : —

Gentlemen, — I find it devolves upon me, as Chairman of the
Committee on Meetings, to open the proceedings with what is
announced as an " address." I do not propose to give you a

8 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

set address, but a few general remarks upon the great interest
of agriculture ; for the address to which we had the honor of
listening last year, from Dr. Loring, of Salem, was so exhaustive
upon all topics of special interest to the Board, and with regard
to the history of the Board, as to leave nothing to be said in
those directions. Any resume of the agricultural doings of the
country during the last year falls more properly to our Secre-
tary, and will be done so much more efficiently by him, that I
do not propose to say anything upon that subject.

I propose to ask your attention, for a few moments, to the
history of the Board, and to the agriculture of the State during
the sixteen years or more the Board has been in operation.
During these years the Board has been organized, and the agri-
culture of Massachusetts has made a steady advance ; and this
advancement has been due, in part, at least, to the constant
efforts of the Board to promote and improve the art of farming.
It is emphatically a representative body, composed almost wholly
of delegates from the agricultural societies of the State, bring-
ing the various practices of husbandry in all parts of the State
to the criticism and discussion of its members in convention
twice every year, receiving from its various committees every
year exhaustive reports upon all the important branches of agri-
culture, which are published in the Transactions for gratuitous
distribution among farmers, and for exchange with other States
for their published experiences, so that the experience of many
of the States is brought within the reach of all who will take
the trouble to go to the office of the Secretary at the State
House. All these commend it to the farmer as his department
in the State organization — really the Department of Agriculture.
The Board has also aided, by the distribution of its Transactions,
and the personal efforts of its members, in the organization of
Farmers' Clubs, those effective institutions, which, wherever
they have existed, have greatly improved the farming in their
vicinity, and have done much towards demonstrating that farm-
ing is an intellectual pursuit, and thrives in proportion as
intellect is applied to it. In this town the crops have increased
twenty-five per cent, since the formation of our Farmers' Club.
On our light land over twenty bushels of prime wheat to the
acre have been raised by several persons during the last tliree or
four years. But this yield of wheat is light in comparison with

WHEAT IN NEW ENGLAND. 9

what lias been obtained by many practical farmers in tbe State.
Thirty years ago, two gentlemen in Dorchester, where I then
resided, raised thirty-five bushels to the acre without special
cultivation, and in the ordinary rotation of crops then beginning
to prevail. In both these instances the wheat followed potatoes,
highly cultivated. Thirty miles from here, on the line of this
railroad, Daniel Williams, a blacksmith, raised sixty-three
bushels and three pecks of Black Sea wheat from an acre of
ground, which went upon record, and was published in the
" New England Farmer " of that day. In that case, also, the
wheat followed potatoes, the potatoes yielding 300 bushels to
the acre — then a good crop, but not an extraordinary one.
And up among the hills of Berkshire it is the commonest thing
to have crops of corn reaching 100 bushels to the acre ; they
do not think anything of it, it is so common. Showing that in
Massachusetts the soil and climate, with intelligent cultivation,
are capable of producing as much as any other part of the
country, and that our agriculture is the main interest, and may
be made a very profitable interest.

In the great North-West, the sole purpose of the pioneer and
the new settler, (as they may all be called, for that is a new
country,) is to get as large a crop as possible without much
expense. He continues to crop that fertile land, therefore, in
the cheapest possible way, exhausting the soil. We have gone
through with that process. We have exhausted the land of
Massachusetts, and we can only restore it to proper fertility by
intelligent cultivation, by rotation of crops, by skilful applica-
tion of manure and all the arts of husbandry, now so much
better understood than ever before.

I said agriculture was an intellectual pursuit ; and if any
proof of that were wanted to-day, we find it in European the
older countries — where the exigencies of the case have com-
pelled them to apply science, skill, intellect, to their farming
that they may succeed. A writer in the " Revue des Deux
Mondes," in Paris, contrasting Germany with France, states
that up to 1833 farming in Europe was as it had been from the
time of Charlemagne — a rotation of two years in cereals and
one in fallow ; that since then there seems to have been, in
Germany, a change of system — two years of cereals alternating
with one year of potatoes, turuips, carrots and beets, and one

2

10 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

year fallow ; and there has been a great increase of stock and
manure, and a diminution of naked fallow from one-third to
one-seventh ; that France has gone on in the old way, the area
of fallow land being about the same as it was a century ago.
The writer has taken the live stock of Germany — the sheep,
horses, asses and swine — and reduced them to the value of
horned cattle, and he finds by the agricultural census of 1865,
in Germany, 100 units of such value for 138 inhabitants, while
France had only 100 units to 185 inhabitants. Going back forty
years, he finds that the position of the two countries was exactly
the reverse of what it is at the present time. Germany, as well
as France, manufactures nearly all her own sugar from beets.
In 1837 the product of Germany was three millions of pounds,
while in 1865 it had reached the enormous amount of three
hundred and seventy-five millions of pounds. Under the
improved system of agriculture, land has advanced, upon the
average, 150 per cent. Most striking is the difference in popu-
lation. From 1846 to 1860 — fourteen years — North Germany
added, in round numbers, one million to its agricultural popu-
lation ; while France, during the same period, lost seven hun-
dred thousand of its farming population. The writer inquires
into the causes of this marked divergence between the two
countries in agriculture — the constant growth of Germany and
the constant decrease of France — and comes to the conclusion
that it arises from the fact that Germany has adopted a system-
atic course of instruction, embracing the physical sciences and
political economy as well as mere farming. Tbis, with the
economical habits of the Germans, is the cause of the unex-
ampled prosperity of that country. Germany, as you know,
has instituted schools for instruction in farming — agricultural
schools — in which not only general agriculture, but all the
specialties of agriculture, the cultivation of the vineyard, and
all other branches, are taught by professors devoted to that par-
ticular duty ; and the result has been an extraordinary increase
in the production and in the wealth of that country ; and such,
I cannot doubt, will be the result here.

But perhaps the most brilliant discoveries of the day are those
of Prof. Ville, Professor of Vegetable Physiology at the Museum
of Natural History at Paris, who for more than ten years has
devoted his time to the discovery, if it were possible, of those

IMPERIAL FARM AT VINCENNES. 11

scientific laws which govern agriculture, so that a man may be
sure of his results — as sure, setting aside contingencies of
season, which affect all crops under any circumstances, as in
any other pursuit. Giving up the ordinary methods of analysis,
which have been found to be uncertain, and sometimes to have
led to fallacious results, even on the part of most eminent men —
as Prof. Liebig, for instance, who has had to modify his pub-
lished opinions many times, as men who grow will often have to
do — he took another method. Commencing with barren sand
and a flower-pot, he added to that barren sand certain proper-
ties necessary in agriculture — for instance, phosphate of lime,
potash, nitrogenous substances, and lime — lime only in the form
of humus. He found that when one constituent was added,
certain plants would grow in it, while others refused. Two of
these constituents being added, a still lft,rger number of plants
would grow ; and when, in short, all these constituents were
added, in their proper proportions, a full crop — an abundant
crop — was obtained. He found these proportions by these
various experiments, covering, as I say, ten years of active
labor, and finally went upon a farm at Vincennes, which the
French emperor set apart for his purposes. By the way, I may
say here that he met with the most determined opposition from
the savans of that day, who questioned all his positions, who
insisted upon the old science, and denied that it was possible to
find out any general law through this method — through the
making of the plant ; for that is what it was ; that was tlie lab-
oratory out of which the truth came finally. You know how
easy it is to dispute upon these matters ; you know how difficult
it is to make scientific men agree upon any proposition ; and,
in fact, it is only through continual controversies that the truth
is readied at last.

I was saying that the French emperor, satisfied that Prof.
Ville was upon the right track, put a farm into his hands, at
Vincennes, where he demonstrated all his propositions to be
true, and in the season of harvest invited all the country side to
come and see the results, which proved completely the truth of
his propositions.

Now, if that be true, we have found the key to a new hus-
bandry, which will give us assured success ; for whereas, under
the past and present systems of husbandry you have to substi-

12 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

tute for the old fallow manures, and are obliged, therefore, to
keep a heavy stock to make manures to enrich your farm and
get good crops, these artificial manures — ^your phosphates, your
potashes, and the various combinations of nitrogenous substances
— may be taken into the interior, to any distance, and the farmer
who cannot keep cattle, or has to commence without them, can
immediately proceed to fertilize his farm and get full crops. If
that be true, as it seems to be true, then concentrated salts, with
the addition of humus, and the small percentage of lime neces-
sary to make that humus accessible to the plant, will enable
you, as in the presence of manures, with the addition of the
other salts, to go on to success.

Of carbonaceous matters, it does not appear that it is neces-
sary to have a great supply, any further than to amend the soil,
so as to enable it to resist droughts and heavy rain. The soil,
in other words, must have a proper mechanical preparation ; it
must be in the nature of a sponge, which will hold the solution
you put to it, otherwise it might run to waste before the plant
could apply it to its own uses, and grow into stalks and grain.

Prof. Ville has published a little brochure, entitled " Six Lec-
tures on Agriculture." Some of you must have seen it ; some,
perhaps, have not. Let me read a few excerpts from the
translator's preface : —

" When agi-iculturists demand an analysis to test the richness of a
field, and repair its losses after each harvest, they lose sight of the fact
that each field has its own peculiar wants, and what will suit one may
not suit another.

" It is by stating the problem in these terms that M. Ville has arrived
at its solution. He has studied the appetites of each plant, or at least of
those three great families of plants upon which agricultural industry
is mostly exercised, viz. : the cereals, leguminous plants, and roots ; and
he has deduced from this study the formula of a normal manure. * *

" To operate with greater certainty, M. Ville removed every element
of error or doubt from his experiments, and proceeded by the synthetic
method. He took calcined sand for his soil, and common flower-pots for
his field. Ten years of assiduous observation and experiment led him
to recognize that the aliment preferred by cereals is — nitrogen ; by
leguminous plants — potassa ; by roots — the phosphates ; we say the
preferred, but not the exclusive ; for these three substances, in various
proportions, are necessary to each and all, and even lime, which humus
renders assimilable, must be added.

M. YILLE'S EXPERIMENTS. 13

" These facts, proved in pure sand by means of fertilizers chemically
prepared, were next repeated in the soil of a field on the imperial farm
at Vincennes, at the expense of the emperor. * * *

" During the past four years, curious visitors, drawn to the farm by
the report of M. Ville's experiments, have been shown a series of square
plots, manured and sown in conformity with rules laid down to test their
efficacy. Upon some of these plots the seed has never been varied ; the
same soil has been planted four times in succession with wheat, colza,
pease and beet-root ; giving them, at the commencement, a supply of the
normal manure, and adding annually what M. Ville terms the dominant
ingredient — that is to say, the special manure of the series. Upon the
other plots the seed alternated during the quarternary period at the
expense of the normal manure, by changing the dominant according to
the nature of each plant introduced into the rotation ; and under these
conditions the crops have reached to results of irrefutable eloquence.

" By adding, according to M. Ville's system, nitrogenous matter, phos-
phate of lime and potassa — thac is to say, a normal or complete manure
to calcined seed, the seed — wheat being equal to 1 — the crop is i-epre-
sented by 23.

" Upon withdrawing the nitrogenous matter from this mixture of the
four elements, the crop fell to 8.83.

" Upon withdrawing the potassa, and retaining all the others, the crop
only attained to the figure 6.57.

" When the phosphate of lime was omitted, the crop was reduced to
0.77 ; vegetation ceased, and the plant died.

" Lastly, upon abstracting the lime, then the crop, the maximum of
which was represented by 23, was only 21.62.

" From the above facts we draw these conclusions : that if the four
elements of a perfect manure, above named, act only in the capacity of
regulators of cultivation, the maximurfi effect they can produce implies
the presence of all four. In other words, the function of each element
depends upon the presence of the other three. When a single one is
suppressed, the mixture at once loses three-fourths of its value.

" It is to be remarked, that the suppression of the nitrogenous matter,
which causes the yield of wheat to fall from 23 to 8.33, exercises only a
very moderate influence upon the crop, when the plant under cultivation
is leguminous. But it will be quite otherwise if, in such cases, we
remove the potassa.

" If we extend the experiment to other crops, and successively suppress
from the mixture one of the four ageirts of production, we arrive at the
knowledge of the element Avhich is most essential to each particular
crop, and also which is most active in comparison with the other two.
For wheat, and the cereals generally, the element of fertility par excel'

14 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

lence, — that which exercises most influence in the mixture, is the
nitrogenous matter. For leguminous plants, the agent Avhose suppres-
sion causes most damage is potassa, which plays the principal part in
the mixture. For turnips and other roots the dominant element is
phosphate of lime.

" By employing these four well-known agents, M. Ville's system may
well replace the old system of cultivation. With him, the rule that
manure must be produced upon its own domain is not absolute. Dur-
ing four succeeding years, M. Ville has cultivated, at the Vincennes
farm, wheat upon wheat, pease upon pease, and beet-root upon beet-root ;
and he entertains no doubt that he could continue to do so for an indefi-
nite period, the only condition necessary to be fulfilled being — to
return to the soil, in sufficient proportion, the four fundamental elements
above named.

" Suppose we wished to cultivate wheat indefinitely. We should at
first have recourse to the complete manure, and afterwards administer
only the dominant element, or nitrogenous matter, until a decrease in
the successive crops showed that this culture had absorbed all the
phosphate of lime and potassa. As soon as a diminution in the crops
manifests itself, we must return to tbe complete manure, and proceed as
before.

" Suppose that, instead of an exclusive culture, it be desired to intro-
duce an alternate culture in a given field. We commence with the
agent that has most influence on the plant with which we start. If
that be a leguminous plant, we at first administer only potassa. For
wheat, we should add nitrogenous matters. If we conclude with tur-
nips, Ave have recourse to phosphate of lime ; but when we return to
the point from which we started, all four elements must be employed.

" As may be seen, this system differs radically from that hitherto
adopted. It has not for its basis 'a complex manure administered to the
soil by wholesale, in which we endeavor to turn all its constituents to
account by a succession of different crops. In M. Ville's system, he
supplie-! to the soil only the four governing agents of production, Avhich
are added gradually, one after another, and in such manner as to supply
each kind of crop with the agent that assures the maximum yield."

The translator does not speak of, nor does the text relate to,
the other essentials of farming in regard to drainage, quality of
soil, and the necessity of fermenting manures, as a sort of yeast,
to induce in the earth that fermentation which quickens vege-
tation so much. It will not supplant other manures ; it comes
in aid of them, and supplies the want of them, when they are
not present. All farmers are well aware that certain soils

POTASH AND SODA. 15

require perfectly raw manure to create fermentation in the soil.
Stiff clay is amended best in that way.

Professor Ville finds by experiment another proposition to be
true, which surprised me ; I am not farmer enough to be able
to say too, it will surprise other farmers. Ever since the alkalies,
potash and soda, were found to replace each other in the arts,
they have been supposed to have the same effect in agriculture.
Prof. Ville finds not only that that is not true, but he insists
that potash, if it is used, must be in the form of carbonate of
potash ; that in any other form it does not have the proper
effect upon vegetation, until, in the course of decomposition
and changes in the earth, it ultimately becomes carbonate of
potash.

I invite your attention further upon this matter only to the
harvest of 1864, upon the experimental farm of Vincennes.

" On the 31st of July, M. George Ville reaped and thrashed
his crops in presence of a large concourse of agriculturists.
The results were as follows : —

Wheat. — TJiird crop from the same land, without fresh manure since
the first application.

Crop per acre. Without manure. With complete manure.

Straw, . . . .704 lbs. 5,913 lbs.

Grain, . . . . 193 " 2,464 "

Total, . .^ . 897 lbs. 8,377 lbs.

"Wheat. — Fourth crop, without fresh manure since the first.

Crop per acre. Without manure. With complete m,anure.

Straw, .... 1,074 lbs. 4,629 lbs.

Grain, . . . . 316 " 1,760 "

Total, . . . 1,390 lbs. 6,389 lbs.

Colza. — Coming after tivo crops of Barley, without fresh manure.

Crop per acre. Without manure. With complete manure.

Straw and silicates, . 5,632 lbs. 7,700 lbs.

Grain, .... 1,320 " 2,410 "

■ Total, . . . 6,952 lbs. 10,110 lbs.

16 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The beet-root crop was 22,748 pounds, leaves and roots, with-
out manure, and 31,608 pounds with complete manure. He
states, in another connection, let me say, that the manufacturers
of beet sugar had found, that by reducing the remaining pulp
to potash, they greatly increased their profits, and that habit
prevailed somewhat extensively ; but in every case it was found
that what actually went back to the ground lessened the crop so
largely, as a consequence of the exhaustion of the potash, as to
bring the product down to a point that did not pay a profit, and
they had to give up their potash and go back to the old system,
in order to keep up the fertility of the soil. It is, I believe, an
established fact in all root-culture, that if the waste is carried
back to the soil, after having been fed to cattle, the crop not
only is not reduced, but in many instances increased. That is
one strong proof of the necessity of potash, and of the folly of
abstracting it, in any form, where we can possibly avoid it, from
the soil.

Prof. Ville gives a formula of the proper quantities of these
various elements to make a full crop. These tables are of great
interest, but as they can be examined at your leisure, I will not
trouble you with them.

All this does not change, in any degree, the necessity of a
fertile soil. It does not qualify the soil itself ; it only enables
you to get crops upon any soil. Many other matters come into
the problem also, as the effect of sunshine and climate and sea-
son, and the capacity of the soil to hold moisture in the proper
quanity for the growing plant. All these are agricultural prop-
ositions which are not disturbed by these results.

Prof. Yille's experiments led him very strongly to the conclu-
sion that the plant does obtain nitrogen from the atmosphere
when in a state of vigorous growth. He has made some very
curious experiments of that nature, which are worthy tlie exam-
ination of intelligent cultivators. If that be true, plants are
not so wholly dependent upon the putrefaction of vegetable and
animal substances for the nitrogen necessary to their growth as
has been supposed.

He publishes a table of the four agents contained in the crops,
and in the complete manure, per acre : —

A COMPLETE MANURE.

17

Weight of
the crops
dried, lbs.

Kitrogen,
lbs.

Phosphoric
acid, lbs.

Potassa,
lbs.

Lime, lbs.

CO J

CO i

1—1

" Spring wheat, .
Beet-root, .
Barley,
Pease,

6.080

8.972
7.058
5.145

73.03
289.53
108.89
148.17

26.36
40.59
33.22
35.60

38.02

134.21

72.06
82.39

17.80

67.56

35.86

112.93

Complete manure,

-

153.10 176.00

176.00

176.00

So that the complete manure, contained, in this case, for these
four crops, 153 pounds of nitrogen, 176 pounds of phosphoric
acid, 176 pounds of potassa, and 176 pounds of lime : the nitro-
gen being in the state of nitrate of soda or of sal ammoniac ;
the phosphoric acid in the state of phosphate of lime ; the
potassa in the state of carbonate of potassa ; and the lime in a
caustic state.

If, then, we shall have found, in this way, the key to the new
husbandry, science will have at last unlocked that secret arcana
which we have never yet been able to reach. All of us know
with what hope all intelligent farmers, in this country and in
Europe, turned to those scientific propositions issued by the
eminent chemists of Europe which seemed likely to lead to a
truly scientific and improved agriculture, whereby crops could
be increased, and the result made a sure one. After many
years, the results were found to be so uncertain in the way of
guidance, that intelligent farmers laid away their books, and
turned away from agricultural chemistry and the science of
agriculture as matters fit only for scholars to dispute about,
and went back to their practice. But if, as now seems likely,
we have found a truly scientific method, by the application of
which we can make certain the crops which we desire to raise,
we shall enter upon a new era, and the results must be
magnificent.

The diversified industries of Massachusetts lead to great
wealth, but, after all, our prosperity really rests upon agricul-
ture, and I cannot but think that we are not doing all that we
might in the way of supplying ourselves with the leading arti-
cles of consumption, instead of buying from the West. There
3

18 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

was a time, indeed, when they were purely agricultural, and
we were largely manufacturing ; we sold them our manufac-
tures, and bought their breadstuffs, and there was a reciprocal
benefit in it. But they buy less and less in proportion to their
population, continually, but we have to buy more and more
from them, for the habit has grown upon us, and we do not
raise our own breadstuffs. Massachusetts must pay twenty-
five or' thirty millions annually for breadstuffs. I have shown
• you that you can raise wheat in Massachusetts ; and if every
farmer would lay down a single acre to wheat, and let it go
into his rotation, it would save a great deal of money to the
State. There seems to be no difficulty in doing it. There is a
gentleman before me who has raised here in Concord some of
the whitest and finest wheat that has been seen anywhere, and
he does not find any difficulty in doing it on our light soil. If
we are to go into an intelligent cultivation of the soil, which is
the real basis of scientific agriculture, it seems to me a necessity
that we should raise our own breadstuffs.

With these few remarks, which only the necessity of the case
has called forth, I ask you to nominate a chairman for this
afternoon.

Dr. George B. Loring, of Salem, was nominated as Chair-
man, and the Board took a recess, until 2 o'clock, P. M.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

The Board was called to order at the hour appointed by
the Chairman, the topic assigned for discussion being Cattle
Husbandry.

The Chairman. I have been requested to preside this after-
noon, gentlemen, and I am sorry to say, that one object in
making the selection, according to the declaration of the com-
mittee, was, that I might open the debate on Cattle Husbandry.
Some one said, after a long debate at one of the finest agricul-
tural exhibitions ever held in New England, — the discussions
at which some of you may remember, — that the fault of the
chairman was, that he talked too much ; that he did not know
how to run an agricultural exhibition, because he was too much
given to talk. I do not know but that may be the case ; the

CATTLE HUSBANDRY. 19

charge was preferred against me rather sharply ; but I have
never yet repented of the course I pursued on that occasion ;
and considering the fact that the committee were somewhat
solicitous that I should open this meeting with similar talk, I do
not propose to be governed by that warning at all, but to do
what I can, in the best way I can, to commence the discussion
upon this important question. I know, and you know, that it
is the opening of a debate or a discussion which gives it char-
acter and importance. All that the opening speech contains
may not be true, it may all be false ; but whether it is true or
false, the more thorough and declared it is, the better oppor-
tunity it gives the meeting for discussion after it is over.

Now, this question of cattle husbandry is unquestionably the
most important question that can be brought before an agricul-
tural assembly. It lies at the foundation of our whole business
of farming. There may be those who are engaged in the raising
of root-crops, those who are engaged in the raising of tobacco,
those who are engaged in market-gardening, so-called, those
who are engaged in the raising of grass for sale in the market
as hay, but go where you will, the bottom of the whole business
is the condition, the quality and the utility of the cattle that
are used in every district. From them comes, mainly, the best
quality of manure that we can use. Every man who is accus-
tomed to cultivate the soil, and cultivate it well, knows that his
cattle really are the sources from which he can derive the best
fertilizers for his soil ; and they are the sources of the produc-
tion of meat for the market, and of all the products of the dairy ;
and I say the production of all these things really lies at the
foundation of almost all the most successful branches of farming.

When we remember all this, we must be aware that the
whole business of cattle husbandry differs as localities differ.
To one man, cattle husbandry means the breeding of animals of
a certain description for specific purposes up to the highest
standard of which they are capable. To the Scotchman, it
means the breeding of Ayrshires for milk and cheese. To the
Englishman, it means the breeding of Shorthorns and Herefords
and Devons, for the purposes of meat. To the channel islander,
it means the production of a choice and carefully selected herd
of cattle, for the purposes of the dairy alone, and not, as those
of you who know the channel islander well, understand, for the

20 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

purposes of meat. So that in one case, cattle husbandry means
breeding, with all the nice laws that control that business ; in
another case, cattle husbandry means merely the selection of
proper animals for feeding during the winter, or pasturing
during the summer ; in another case, cattle husbandry means
the selection of cows for the dairy, either for the summer dairy
alone, or for the production of milk during all the months of
the year. So that cattle husbandry really means tlie selection,
the breeding, and the feeding of cattle.

In the first place, in regard to selection. Are there any
rules by which we can be guided in the choice of animals for
our farm ? One man lives upon a clay soil, his land is adapted
to the production of grass and root-crops, and is situated near a
large city, where he has a market for milk. His business
seems to be one thing, and he selects animals that are adapted
to the purpose of supplying that market with milk, and with
that alone ; and his object is to select cattle that can be
wintered upon his land. Another man lives upon a hilly pas-
ture, remote from market. His lands furnish rich, sweet
pasturage, and the selection of animals with him is a different
thing. And so each man, each farm, each county, each State, ,
at any rate, each section of our country, requires a different
selection of animals ; one for one purpose, another for another
purpose.

I find, in looking over the statistics of the cattle of the United
States, that notwithstanding the vast amount of meat that is
produced in many sections, the percentage of cows predominates
very largely, in the New England States, over that of all other
cattle ; I mean, over oxen and steers, and other cattle that are
kept for stores ; and it is so in New York State, in the Middle
States, and even in the Southern and many of the South-western
States, where we are in the habit of thinking that meat alone is
the great product of the farm. It seems to me, therefore,
especially important that the American, and particularly the
New England farmer, should select cattle that are specially
adapted to the dairy ; perhaps not for that alone, but mainly
for that, so that when the production of meat is unremunerative,
he will be able to resort to the dairy as the means from which
he can run his farm.

ADAPTATION OF BREEDS. 21

Now, it is a very curiovis fact that there is no breed of cattle
universally adapted to any large tract of territory. We are led
to suppose that the Shorthorns are adapted to all parts of Eng-
land ; but it is not so. Some of the most careful and accurate
English farmers will tell you that it is impossible to raise Short-
horns in their region. A most intelligent gentleman from
Bruton, in Somerset, called on me the other day, who is a
breeder of Herefords, his father, who occupies the farm adjoin-
ing, being a breeder of Devons, and vfhen I spoke of raising
Shorthorns, he said : " The thing is impossible in Somerset."
And yet that man was breeding and feeding cattle simply and
solely for the production of meat. It is only in particular
localities in England that the Ayrshire, the West Highlander
and other breeds of that description are produced. Knowing
the fact, that even on that small island it is impossible to find
any one breed of cattle adapted to the whole business of farm-
ing there, how can we expect to find a breed adapted to any one
purpose in all sections of this country ? The thing is impossible.
There is a gentleman in Essex County who, forty years ago,
imported Shorthorns, and they failed entirely ; while at the
same time the farmers on the Connecticut River breed them
without difficulty, and have the best herds of cattle in New
England. So the Shorthorn went into some of the rich fields
of Maine, and into some of the fine pastures of New Hampshire,
and did well. But even that breed, with all the care with which
they have been long bred, are not universally adapted to the
purposes of ^farming. Neither is the Ayrshire, which really
stands next in the scale of artificial breeding for agricultural
purposes. I put the Shorthorn first, because there is no doubt
that the Shorthorn is the development of more care, more skill
and more intelligence, as a uniform breed of cattle, than any
other breed in the world. Next to that, I say, stands the Ayr-
shire. Now the Ayrshire, valuable as it is for dairy purposes in
Scotland and in many parts of New England, does not seem to
be equally valuable in all sections. Carried down into the
southern counties, where the pasturage is richer and stronger, it
does not do so well as on the hilly pastures of Scotland. In
Maryland it does not do so well as here. It takes on more
bone and a larger growth of flesh, but it does that at the

22 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

expense of the dairy qualities for which it is especially valuable
in this section, where it is particularly appropriate.

What shall we do, then ? One man tells you that the Short-
horn is the best animal he can breed, and why. Another man
tells you the Ayrshire is the best animal for him. Another
man says that he wouldn't own a farm that did not have a Jer-
sey cow on it ; yellow butter, not much of it, but good ; he
wouldn't have a farm without a Jersey cow. Another man tells
you. he wouldn't give sixpence for a farm if it wasn't stocked
with handsome, straight-bodied, nice-horned, rich-colored Devons.
Another man must see a white-faced Hereford looking over his
fence before he has any agricultural peace in his soul. What,
I repeat, are we to do ? I suppose the only rule we can adopt is
for every man to learn the quality and capacity of his farm, and
then make his selection.

Now, if I were to tell you that there was any farmer in Mas-
sachusetts who owned 520 acres of land, and the best land iii
the Commonwealth, who is capable of making meat here for the
market, and make money enough from it to. support his family
and educate his children, you would be astonished. As a gen-
eral rule, it is said that no man can feed beef to a profit in
Massachusetts ; and yet, right in the most expensive districts of
Massachusetts, where farmers are obliged to pay large rents for
their lands, high prices for grain, and from $70 to $80 a ton for
their oil cake, farmers are making the largest profits of any in
the world, almost, simply by the production of beef on their
farms. They know it ; they understand how it is done ; they
have ascertained the rule by which a pound of beef can be made
more cheaply than by any otlier rule, and they make money on
their farms in that way. They have selected cattle for that
purpose. It would be folly and nonsense for them to go into
that business and get a stock of Ayrshires and expect to turn
them into beef profitably, where they are making Hereford and
Devon beef to a profit. No Massachusetts farmer upon the
hillsides of Berkshire would think of undertaking to raise a
herd of Jersey cows simply for the purpose of supplying a few
wealthy customers with choice butter at seventy-five cents or a
dollar a pound. The transportation of the butter interferes
with the profit of the product ; it is impossible for him, and he
must turn his attention to something else — perhaps the mauu-

SELECTION OP ANIMALS. 23

facture of cheese — as the great source of profit on his farm, and
he secures animals adapted to tliat. Situated as I am near a
city, where every quart of milk I make is really made to a
profit — a small one, to be sure — it is idle for me to raise Short-
horns to produce meat. My pastures are short and sweet, very
well adapted to run dairy cows, and the market being close at
hand, I am able to make a profit from those cows. So, I say,
every man must be governed by the locality in which he lives,
and the quality and capacity of his farm in making his selection.

Now this selection is not by any manner of means an easy
thing. It is not every man who can tell what he needs in an
animal for beef, for butter, for milk ; you have got to be gov-
erned by nice rules in all that business. I insist upon that.
The man who can go into a stable or barn or into a pasture and
select from a herd of cattle the best animal to put into the stall,
the best cow for the production of milk, that man has cultivated
his powers of perception and judgment up to a point unequalled
by almost any other person in the world. It is astonishing how
quick, accurate, careful, precise, a man's eye has got to be in
order to settle that question. It is astonishing how few of us
have reached that point. You may talk about the exquisite
skill with which the manufacturer changes the colors of his
warp and woof, and all that, but I have never seen any men
with sharper perceptive faculties than the men who have been
successful in the selection of animals.

Now the question comes back to the question of breeding.
I said in the beginning that one part of the business was the
breeding of animals ; how you can breed animals adapted to a
certain purpose. You can purchase them in the market, if your
eyes are sharp enough and your purse long enough ; but how
are you going to breed them so as to have a better herd than
your neighbor, or so as to transmit the good qualities of your
own herd. In the first place, having ascertained for what
capacities your herd is intended, the business of breeding is
just as simple, plain and straightforward as the business of
ploughing or manufacturing. It only requires this : that the
females should be properly selected ; always taking it for
granted that the female will be influenced to a very great extent
by the first male which impregnates her. Always take care, if
you desire a certain specific ty^^e of animal, to begin with the

24 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

females in your own herd, and take them from no other. They
should be stamped there, and you will never have regularity
and uniformity in your herd until you are careful of the first
impregnation of your female animal.

If you are breeding for beef, you are doing what is a simple,
plain, straight-forward business. The female selected for that
purpose should be of a certain description, well known to all
farmers. Round-bodied, fine-boned, clean-headed, straight in
the back, straight in the rump, sharp, clean chine, good depth
through the heart, and a solid, firm, substantial brisket ; a firm
leg to walk upon ; a good, ample, luxurious mouth ; the
expression of a good feeding animal is always seen in the mouth
and in that part of the head which is devoted to the business of
feeding. All these points, added to a good mellow skin, should
always belong to the female out of which you intend to breed a
herd of cattle for the purposes of feeding.

For the purposes of the dairy, the cow unquestionably should
be of a different character. Somewhat deeper, less round in
the body, with a rib flat, — I do not mean dropping flat, but a
flat surface, with sharp edges, — springing gracefully from the
spine; loose shoulder, straight quarter, good lap, broad back,
great depth of carcase ; and with all that, a certain elasticity to
the touch which carries with it the impression of great secretory
functions. These are the things (with superficial veins, and
everything of that description) that you want in a female for
the purposes of the dairy, and at the same time, that description
of head of which I have spoken as belonging to a beef-producing
animal.

With respect to the males the rule is, — notwithstanding what
is said with regard to tlie resemblance of the male to the
female, — that the male should present precisely the same points
as the female, except in a masculine degree. No female lieaded
bulls for me. Talk about a bull that has a feminine head upon
him ! You might just as well talk about a man with a woman's
head on his shoulders. You want in the male of the breed of
animals that you are undertaking to produce to kill, every
thing that is in the female, double-distilled, multiplied tenfold,
because it is from the male side that the wliole vigor and power
and force of an animal comes, after all. So, when I describe a
c;)w for the purpose of meat production, and a cow for the

FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 25

purpose of the dairy, I always describe the bull as having the
same points, for the same purpose only added to, multiplied
and increased so as to make the animal strong and masculine.

There you have your male and female, and once having put
these two animals together, if either one is up to the point you
desire, do not abandon that line of breeding, and go out of it
into other herds for the purposes of increase. This business of
mixing animals — of turning one herd in with another — is all
idle and nonsense ; it is nothing but " confusion worse con-
founded." The best herds of Shorthorns ever produced have
been produced by a careful adherence to this rule, after bring-
ing it to the type desired. The most remarkable breed of sheep
have been produced in the same manner, and the best breeds of
horses have been produced in the same manner. All the preju-
dices against in-and-in breeding have long since vanished
before a skilful, careful and accurate mode of breeding. Feed
well and breed closely, and you can make the type you want.

Now, after having produced these animals — after having
brought them into your herd and established them — the next
question is. How are you going to take care of them ? What
are you going to do with them ? How are you going to feed
them ? The business of feeding animals is not an easy thing.
It is not every man who can take care of a cow after he has got
one. It is not every man who knows how to feed an animal,
no matter how thrifty he may be. One feeder will take ton
oxen, and make money on them ; another feeder will take ton
more, of the same kind, give them the same food, and lose
money on them. Why is it ? One reason is rathe-r a senti-
mental one, I grant you : it is that one puts himself in
sympathy with his herd, and the other does not. It sounds
sentimental, but it is true. Cattle are just like men ; they will
take readily, gratefully, from one man's hands, and indifferently
from another. The first thing, then, in beginning to feed
animals, is to put yourself in communication with them, some-
how or other, the best way you can, and then begin to feed
them. If you feed them right, there is no trouble. For the
purposes of the dairy, for carrying cows through the winter, I
have no question that in this country, the best kinds of food, in
the hands of a proper and judicious feeder, are the best English
hay, some form of root-crops, and any kind of grain that is

4

26 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

deficient in oil. You can feed a cow upon good English hay
unquestionably well, with the addition of mangolds or swedes,
say half a bushel a day, more or less, according to her size, with
fine feed, or oatmeal, and perhaps a little rye meal ; but not
corn meal nor yellow cake for a dairy cow. It is like brandy
and water for little boys.

Nothing will tear a dairy cow to pieces so fast as cotton-seed
meal. So I say, good English hay, corn-fodder, if you have got
it, softened a little with warm water or steam, roots and fine
feed, or oatmeal. Why is this ? Why avoid those oily sub-
stances, oil cake and cotton-seed or corn meal ? Simply because
they all serve to stimulate to a feverish condition that delicate
organization of the cow, by which she makes her milk. I say,
that delicate organization, because there is no living organiza-
tion, except that of the human brain, that I know of, that is so
delicate in all its structure as the lacteal system of a cow that is
brought up to the best standard of a dairy cow. It is more
easily thrown out of order than any other. It is a little too
hot, or a little too cold, the wind blows from the north-east or
the south-east, and your cow feels it. Every man knows this.
There comes up a shower, and a clap of thunder scares her half
to death; she comes home at night, and your pail is half full.
Do you suppose that an economy like that, which depends upon
the nice organization of all the tissues, and nerves and veins,
cannot be easily thrown out of order ? Certainly it can. The
oleaginous matter contained in cotton-seed meal throws that
whole system into such a feverish state that your cow is utterly
destroyed in the course of time. This is true, not only in this
country, but all the testimony I have had from breeders abroad
shows the same thing ; and I warn all men who have dairy
cows to avoid the feeding of these stimulating, oleaginous
preparations, that serve to put the system into a feverish condi-
tion. In feeding for beef, it is another thing. Plenty of food,
properly given, at proper times, not too much nor too little,
•always studying the capacity of the animal, with the ability to
know whether an animal is thriving or not, I think is the proper
way to feed an animal for the purpose of producing beef;
remembering, at the same time, that there is such a thing as
too much feeding for profit, as well as too little feeding ; and he
who knows his animal well enough, who has put himself in

STUDY THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 2T

sympathy with him enough to know what his capacity for food
is, will know when he is feeding him to advantage, and putting
money into his own pocket.

Now, to manage all these matters carefully which I have has-
tily gone over, it seems to me that we require, in this country,
a more accurate and careful study of the animal kingdom than
we have been accustomed to. I know there are men in New
England — I see them here in this room — on whose judgment in
the selection of animals I should rely implicitly. I should have
no question about it — not the slightest. But how many men
there are in this State and in other States raising herds who
know nothing about it ? You put them into a herd and they
look on in a sort of wholesale admiration. If the cattle are
colored well, they admire them ; and if they are big enough
they admire them ; the bigger they are the better they like
them. If they are handsome they like them. But how few
men there are who have a careful, accurate, discriminate
judgment — who will go along behind your cattle, put their
hands on them, and say, " That animal feeds well — that does
not ; that is intended for a good purpose — that for a bad one."
Now we have got to learn that in some way, or our young men
cannot run their farms to a profit. I know some young men
who can do it — who have learned the rules by which they can
do it — on their fathers' farms ; but we have not brought our
agricultural education to that high standard which will enable
every man, and especially every young man, to exercise this
discriminating judgment. I met young men in England who
carried on their farms to a profit ; but they had evidently been
schooled with the utmost care in regard to all these points.

Now it seems to me that one of the most important branches
of education which we have before us, is that kind of education
which will enable a man to judge well of the animal kingdom ;
to judge well of the cattle he is to have on his farm ; to judge
well of his herds — how to breed them and feed them ; to judge
well how to deal with even the vermin on his farm — the canker-
worms, the caterpillars, rats and mice — the whole animal
kingdom. It does seem to me, that one of the most important
branches of all agricultural education is a thorough knowledge
of the animal economy ; in other words, of the natural history
of the farm ; that sort of knowledge which will make a man

28 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE.

familiar with the natural history of the farm which he is culti-
vating ; which will enable him to understand his domestic
animals and wild animals, and enable him to put his eyes on the
various kinds of plants that are growing there, and judge of
their capacity, and judge of it well. I think, therefore, one of
the most important points of agricultural education in which
this Board can possibly engage, is the careful and accurate study
of all the natural history of the farm. And I come to that
natiirally, after having discussed the business of selecting,
breeding and feeding the animals that live upon the farm ; for
how can we select animals properly unless we have an accurate
knowledge ol their whole animal structure ? We must have it,
either by instinct or by careful study. How can we judge of
the best modes of breeding, unless we have carefully and accu-
rately investigated the laws which control breeding, by which
'we can arrive at the results we desire ? How can we best judge
of the condition of our pasture lands and our grass lands, unless
we know well, by accurate and careful study, what plants are
most nutritious, and what of the least use, and how to get rid
of bad ones, and how to cultivate good ones ? Is there any-
thing the farmer desires to know more than how he can rid him-
self of the insect pests of his farm, which invade his orchards,
and his grain crops, and his grass crops ; which are above
ground and under the ground, and invade him in the dry season
and in the wet season, and are really the cause of more expense
than all his family expenses, year in and year out ? Now, when
I say to you that this whole matter rolls in upon us under the
head of a careful and accurate knowledge of the natural history
of the farm, you will then understand the vast importance that I
put upon it ; and I trust that in discussing this question of cat-
tle husbandry, as part of the business of farming, there are those
here who will open this whole question of the education of the
mind of the farmer upon the natural history of the farm.

Now, gentlemen, the question is open for you to discuss, I
think I have laid out ground enough. I have made as many
points as I possibly could in a short discourse. I leave it for
the meeting to take them up, one after the other, and debate
them.

William Birnie, of Springfield. Speaking of this matter of
agricultural education, I attended a cattle show last fall, some

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 29

fifty miles from here, and heard a man who had been governor
of the State, and is now a member of Congress, [Hon. George
S. Boutwell,] say that all this matter of agricultural education
was mere nonsense. He stated that he had always said that the
Agricultural College would be a failure ; it could not succeed,
in the nature of things, for as soon as you educated a boy he
would leave the farm. Consequently, the conclusion he came
to was, that all the education a farmer got he would have to get
at the tail of the plough — or words to that effect. I never was
so much astonished in my life. I supposed it was some badly
reconstructed rebel. I have heard such doctrines down South
— that as soon as you educated labor you destroyed it for agri-
cultural purposes. The doctrine there has been, " Keep all
education away from the laborer ; you can manage him better."
I suppose that was the theory of the ex-governor — that you
could manage the agricultural population better by denying
them education. But from the remarks I have heard this morn-
ing, I should judge that education was necessary even for the
farmer. Mr. Bull says that a knowledge of chemistry is neces-
sary ; that chemistry would tell us what it is best to raise, and
all that. But I would not advise any farmer to go home and
sell his cattle. I think our most reliable source for manure,
(notwithstanding what we may derive from chemical sources,)
is found in cattle. I think the experience of every farmer liere
will bear mo out in saying, that only in those regions of country
where the largest number of cattle have been maintained have
they been able to keep up the fertility of their soil. We find
that in the great grain-growing sections the wheat crop has fallen
off largely, while the product of the dairy has kept pace with
the population. All through the State of New York we find
that the wheat-producing sections have fallen off in their pro-
duction a great many bushels to the acre, while the dairy-pro-
ducing sections have constantly increased their product. That
State produces one-quarter of all the butter and one-third of all
the cheese produced in the United States, but very much less
wheat than fifteen years ago. I think these facts are very
strong arguments in favor of keeping cattle, and I find that New
England farmers have profited by that experience. We find the
cows in Massachusetts increasing steadily at the rate of 1,400 a

30 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

year, right along, while I have no doubt that our production of
grain has fallen off very much of late years.

Dr. Loring has told us the method of selecting the best kinds
of cattle for our different localities. I do not suppose I can
say anything to improve upon what he has said, as to the
importance of care in feeding them and in breeding them. I
find most agricultural societies even now offering premiums for
grade bulls. It is astonishing to see a miserable black bull
take a premium at a cattle show, with no pretence that the
blood was worthy of notice at all. Now, I maintain that the
only method of improving our stock of cattle is by using males
of some one of the improved breeds. I think wherever you
find an improved bull, of what breed you please, you will find a
decided improvement in the stock of that section. If you have
a cow for sale that had an Ayrshire, or Shorthorn, or Alderney
bull for her father, you would not hesitate to ask ten or fifteen
dollars more for her than for an ordinary, native cow ; you
would maintain she was all that better, and no doubt she would
be. Well, if we can increase the value of our stock five dollars
a head, we have 240,000 head of cattle in Massachusetts, and
you see what an addition it would be to the agricultural wealth
of the State. And if we did that, we should increase the
annual product of those animals to a like amount.

I am satisfied that for Massachusetts, for dairy purposes, the
Ayrshire cow, as the doctor has told you, is the animal. There
are some localities, undoubtedly, where the Shorthorns will
thrive ; but for dairy purposes, in Massachusetts, the Ayrshire
is the animal ; and if we can improve the milking qualities of
our cows by the introduction of the Ayrshire stock, why do we
hesitate to do it ? If we get them, then the question is, how
shall we feed them ? I think there is a point where more is
lost in Massachusetts, than even in breeding these native
animals, if you choose to call them so. I have not the least
doubt, that ten or fifteen per cent, of the food given to cattle in
Massachusetts is wasted, trodden under foot, thrown away ; and
there is no one point where our farmers can improve so much
as in the feeding of their cattle. I do not pretend to say what
the method should be, but there is a general carelessness, a
general want of economy. And I agree with the doctor in what
he says in relation to the kinds of food. I have never used

PREPARATION OF FOOD. Sh,

much cotton-seed meal, but I am satisfied that Indian meal is
not the kind of feed for cows. In my experience, rye or wheat
bran produces very much better results than corn meal.

Charles L. Flint. It is well known to most farmers pres-
ent, that Mr. Birnie has experimented somewhat extensively
upon the methods of feeding stock, and I think when his
methods are studied carefully, it will be admitted that they are
judicious. At any rate, he has arrived at some satisfactory
conclusions in his own mind in reference to the preparation of
food for dairy cows. I think it would be exceedingly instruc-
tive and agreeable to everybody present to have him state,
somewhat in detail, the results, and his conclusions from his
experiments in the steaming and preparation of cattle food.

Mr. Birnie. I am not prepared to give any detailed account,
so far as respects weights and measures. It is well known that
I have practised steaming the food for my cattle for ten or
eleven years, and I am satisfied that I savis more than twenty-
five per cent, by doing it, though I am sorry to say that very
few of my neighbors have adopted it, but some have, with
satisfactory results ; and I notice that a gentleman in the State
of New York has given some very satisfactory account of his
experiments in that line.

I cut and steam almost all my fodder, feeding twice a day
with steamed food, and in the middle of the day with dry hay.
Corn stalks, rye straw, bog hay, anything I happen to have in
the way of coarse fodder, is cut and mixed with English hay —
perhaps one-half of the whole mess is good hay, the balance is a
mixture of the coarse fodder, with a little rye or wheat bran.
It is put through the cutting machine, then put into the steam-
box and steamed, and fed warm ; — taking care to keep my
cattle warm in the meantime. I make my stable just as warm
and comfortable as I can, and never let my cattle out, except on
warm days, when the sun is shining warm. Water is carried
into the stable, so that they can drink without going out.
Sometimes, in the coldest weather, they do not go out for a
fortnight. I think that is the better way, for turning them out
to exercise don't amount to anything. Turn a cow out into the
yard on a cold day, and she will stand in the same spot for
hours, unless you force her to move. Consequently, I do not
let my cattle out unless the weather is very pleasant.

32 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

I steam twice a week. I put into my steam-box about four_
teen hundred pounds of good hay, corn stalks or rye straw, and
one hundred pounds of wheat bran. That feeds all my stock
twice a day for three days and a half. I have forty-two cows
and animals that are over one year old ; six horses and ten head
of cattle younger than that. They are all fed out of the steam-
box, the horses getting a little in addition — bran when they are
not at work, meal when they are at work. I find that quite
young colts eat it eagerly. In the middle of the day they have
about one hundred and fifty pounds of hay. So that about five
hundred pounds of good hay and fourteen hundred pounds of
steamed fodder last that whole stock three days and a half.

In putting the fodder into the box, I intend to put in just as
much water as I can make it carry, the object being to make it
absorb as much water as possible, and reduce the mass to as soft,
pulpy state as possible. Of course my apparatus does not admit
of much pressure, and I boil as long as possible.

Professor Agassiz. Do you not lose a good deal of the water
which has been mixed with the food ?

Mr. BiRNiE. Not much. Sometimes there is a little leaks
out, and I have arranged to save that. I do not allow that to
go to waste. Whatever is not eaten is collected and thrown in
again. Sometimes, for a cow that is fresh in milk, I throtr in
a little oatmeal ; but I usually intend to feed my milch cows
half a bushel of mangold wurzels each a day.

A Member. How large is your steam-box ?

Mr. BiRNiE. Six feet square and about seven feet deep. I
have cultivated cabbage for a number of years for the purpose
of feeding it to my milch cows, and I feed it largely. I know
the theory has been that cabbage would taste in the milk, but I
have heard no complaint from my customers of that kind. I
give my cows as much as they will eat. I have found no green
feed that will put flesh on cows like cabbage ; consequently, I
cultivate several acres for the purpose of feeding to my cows.
After the cabbage is gone I feed mangolds.

A Member. Do you steam those roots ?

Mr. Birnie. No, sir. I have, but it requires a great deal of
labor, and I was not satisfied that there was sufficient advantage
to compensate for it.

STEAMING OF CATTLE FEED. 33

A Member. About how much hay do you consider enough
per day for a common milch cow ?

Mr. BiRNiE. I do not mean to give them more than two or
three pounds of hay, in addition to the steamed food.

A Member. About how much do you allow each cow, of the
steamed foQd ?

Mr. Birnie. I give them about two bushels each, varying
according to size and condition.

A Member. You do not exceed twenty pounds ?

Mr. Birnie. Not near so much. I don't think they get
fifteen pounds. I find horses grow very finely and colts thrive
upon it. They will leave nice English hay to get it.

Dr. Loring. Some very curious experiments have been
made by Mr. Mechi, with regard to steaming food, agreeing
very much with Mr. Birnie's statement. He says that his
horses were never in better condition than when he fed them
on steamed food. The only reason he ever abandoned it was,
that his foreman was unwilling to go into the labor of steaming.
His testimony is very strongly in favor of steaming. I have
tried steaming myself a good deal, and agreewith Mr. Birnie,
except in one particular, on which he does not seem to have
dwelt, and that is, the expediency of steaming good hay. I
have not found that it improved the quality or nutritive prop-
erties of English hay, — the best hay, — to subject it to the
process of steaming ; I have thought it injured it. But corn
fodder, coarse straw, coarse meadow hay, everything of that
description, is undoubtedly brought into a better condition, as
nutritive substances, by cooking, than without. I have no
doubt of it at all.

With regard to the cooking of roots, the Board will find
some very curious experiments recorded in an essay printed in
the Secretary's Report of 1861. They were selected by myself
from some experiments carefully made in Scotland, to test the
comparative value of steamed and raw roots as food for cattle.
The testimony there is very strongly against cooking roots for
feeding cattle.

Mr. Birnie. You will find a very good article on this subject
of steaming food in the last United States Agricultural Report,
by Mr. Stewart, of New York. He goes into the matter very
fully, and states that there is a saving of more than thirty per

5

84 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

cent. I have no doubt that he is very nearly right. His cattle
look better, their hair lies smoother, they are better in every
way. I differ from the doctor in regard to the effect of steam-
ing on English hay. I think it improves it. It seems to soften
the woody fibre and disengage the aromatic oils. Where I mix
it with the other feed, I find it flavors the whole mass. The
odor of the hay seems to penetrate the whole mass. Coarser
fodder, musty hay, that cattle would reject at once, will be
eaten by them with avidity, after it has been put into the steam-
box. It seems to destroy the musty flavor at once.

Professor Agassiz. It must save the secretion of saliva to an
enormous extent, and therefore relieve the animal from a physi-
ological labor which is very manifest. I have no doubt that
that must be the chief cause of the relief to the cattle, because
dry food must be softened in order to be digested ; and it must
be done by the secretions of the mouth — by the secretory sur-
faces of the alimentary canal, and, in fact, by all the secretory
surfaces of the digestive apparatus. Now, where does that
come from ? From the blood ; and if you supply the food so
far softened that the animal is relieved from that physiological
labor, you place your animal in a much better condition for its
work. I have no doubt that there is the explanation of your
results — that your steam performs a part of the operation which
your animal has to do itself by its secretions.

Dr. LoRiNG. I should have mentioned that, but I did not,
because I once said it at an agricultural exhibition at Newbury-
port, and was ridiculed for stating that it was worth while to
save animals labor in feeding.

. Professor Agassiz. If Newburyport is ignorant, it is no
reason why the fact should not be repeated here.

Mr. BiRNiE. Speaking of steaming roots, I will say that one
winter I cooked my mangold wurzels for a long time. I found
that in boiling them they gave out a great quantity of water,
and I had no convenient method of utilizing this water. It
discharged into the barn cellar. I had some pigs there, and I
found they drank it quite greedily. I tasted it and found it
quite sweet, and made up my mind that I was losing all my
sugar, and gave it up. I now cut them fine and feed them
raw.

EFFECT OF STEAMING. 35

Mr. Hubbard. When we get something new before the
Board, we generally consider the one who introduces it as a wit-
ness. I would like to question Mr. Birnie still further, and
inquire whether his business is making milk or butter ?

Mr. Birnie. Milk.

Mr. Hubbard. Then I would ask if the process of steaming
food would be equally beneficial for butter as for milk
■ making ?

Mr. Birnie. I have not the least doubt of it. I think Mr.
Stewart's business is butter and cheese making. My box, when
I first began to steam, held only enough for one day's feeding,
and I steamed every day. I did not like to ask my man to work
on Sunday, and so I fed cold feed on that day ; but I found that
one day's feeding of raw and cold food lessened the quantity of
milk very considerably. I consequently enlarged my box. I
ought to state that my man afterwards volunteered to steam
Sunday — he did not like to see the milk fall oif — and I paid him
extra until I got the box enlarged.

Another point of saving is in keeping up the animal heat. If
you draw off a pailful of milk from your cow, of course you
reduce the heat of the animal-; and then, if you fill her with
cold water and cold hay, perhaps, you get her pretty cold. I do
not give my cows cold water, but warm it a little, and feed them
this warm food — warm as blood — and consequently I return
something for the heat which has been drawn away from them.
I keep my barn as close as I can, keep my cattle in on cold
days, and the result is, that they look quite as well as my
neighbors, with very much less expense for food, I know.

Hon. Simon Brown, of Concord. I am very well satisfied,
from my own experience in feeding cattle for the last twenty
years, and, indeed, nearly all my life, that this subject of cattle
husbandry is very imperfectly understood, and the statement of
these experiments is exceedingly valuable to us on several
accounts, but particularly so because they come from our own
people ; people who live in our midst ; people on whom we* can
rely as practical men — men who understand their business per-
haps as thoroughly as any persons understand their business in
this State or country. I have listened, therefore, to these state-
ments with very great interest, and I rise to state a circumstance
which transpired a few years ago in the town of Waltham. A

36 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

friend of mine had seven cows, all valuable animals. He was •
making milk for the Boston market, and thought he would try
the experiment of steaming the food ; but as he had no appa-
ratus to do that, he procured a boiler which held two barrels
and boiled all the hay that he fed to those seven cows during the
entire winter. The statement which he made to me seemed an
extraordinary one, but he said that it could be verified by many
of the neighbors, who came in often to see his operations. He
said that the milk of each cow increased very materially, and
continued to hold out during the whole time that he made the
experiment ; that they ate the hay with great eagerness, and
seemed to like the water in which he boiled the hay better than
the hay itself. He said that on one occasion a cow drank five
common water-pails full of that water in the morning, at one
time, pailful after pailful. I stated these facts to the man who
purchased the milk and carried it to Boston* who had had a
long experience in buying and selling milk, and he said he was
aware of the experiments that were going on, and he was ready
to state that he never carried so good milk into the city as at
the time these experiments were being made ; that his custo-
mers— who were particular customers, who wanted a good
article and were ready to pay liberally for it — sought for it
eagerly, and he could not supply the demand.

Now we cannot all go to the expense of purcha?:ing an appa-
ratus for steaming the food for our stock ; a great many of us
would be glad to do it if we had the means. We are borne
down with the cares of the day ; we have not the skill or genius
to go into this thing ; we do not understand how it is done.
"What is the next best thing we can do ? I will tell you what I
think it is — and it is not mere theory, for I have practised upon
it for a great many years.

In the first place, I have two hay-cutters, of good size, (and
I would not recommend any man to buy a small one,) and I cut
all my fodder — cornstalks, meadow hay, straw, and everything
that I intend to use for feed — several tons at a time. My barn
is tight, and it is thrown on the floor, or on a mow, where it is
sprinkled over with water ; a little salt is added, and it is
suffered to remain there two, three or four days, until the whole
mass is moist. Then it is overhauled, mixed thoroughly, and
any grain which I have to use is mixed up with it. It is suffered

FEEDING OF STOCK. 37

to lie twenty-four hours, and then given to the cattle. I have
tried that experiment, in contrast with the experiment of feed-
ing long hay and long fodder, and mixing English hay and the
poor qualities, and without any accurate experiments, such as
weighing or measuring, (which I have not gone into, except in
one instance, where I weighed the food given to my horses,) it
seems to me that even that cheap and simple process saves about
one-quarter of the fodder ; and the cattle appear better, even,
than they would if the other kind of food was fed out. I have
been through that experiment so many times, that I have come
to the conclusion that that is the result of that process. I was
led to try it by the difficulty of getting hay. Fearing that I
should run short one winter, I went to one of my neighbors to
purchase some, and he asked such an exorbitant price that I
ordered a ton of oats and corn and had them ground together
and sent up to me. I then took all my fodder and mixed this
meal with it ; and instead of falling short of hay, I had a ton
or two left, after carrying my stock through completely, and
they never did better. I have no doubt that I saved by that
operation, after the commencement of the month of February,
two or three tons of good hay. We can all do that. We can
all purchase a hay-cutter, and can occupy the stormy days of the
winter in cutting iip the fodder, and carry through our stock for
twenty-five per cent, less than in the ordinary way.

Professor Agassiz. May I ask the gentlemen whether,
instead of giving their cattle water, they do not sometimes give
them a warm infusion of hay as a beverage ? We do not
always drink clear water when we are thirsty, but occasionally
take a glass of wine — when we like it, or approve of it, or we
take tea ; and that tea helps the constitution, acts as a tonic on
the digestion ; and I suppose that kind of tea given to cows,
instead of clear water, would improve them too.

Mr. Brown. Your question reminds me that I raise all my
calves on hay-tea. The calves are taken off after they liave
sucked two or three times, and as I make butter all the time,
summer and winter, the calves are fed with skimmed milk,
(what there is to spare,) mixed very largely with tea made of
English hay, just as some old women make tea in the teapot.
At first, perhaps, there is a pint of milk taken from the cow,
put in with the hay-tea, and the man teaches the calves to suck

38 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

by putting his finger into their mouths ; but it is not necessary
to do it more than two or three times. They will take the tea
very well. I have calves now which are living upon tea made
of English hay, and have had nothing else since they were four
or five weeks old ; and they thrive excellently upon it.

Mr. Bull. It has been suggested that there would be a
difficulty in this matter, on the part of farmers who own only
two or three cows, on account of the expense of this steaming
apparatus. I was much interested in a little invention that I
saw not long ago, which consists of a little boiler, with two
copper tubes, one inside the other, connected at the end ; the
fire goes through the middle pipe, the water surrounds that
pipe and steam is made very cheaply and quickly. A tube from
the steam chamber is led into a barrel or box, into which you
have only got to put what you want to cook ; and you can, with
the least expense, and little trouble, oook a barrel or two of
potatoes, or steam a hundred pounds of hay. That would be a
very cheap thing for a small farm. I think the whole expense
would only be about |15 and it would last a great many
years. Half an armful of wood would steam a barrel of
potatoes. The cover shuts the steam in, and the succulent root
is steamed in an incredibly short time.

Mr. BiRNiE. There is the Prindle boiler, made of cast iron,
which is used quite extensively for such kind of purposes.

Professor Agassiz. Allusion has been made to the desira-
bleness of instruction concerning the natural history of the
farm. That is a subject upon which I have reflected a good
deal, and with reference to which I should like to make some
remarks.

It has been stated this morning — and it is no doubt the
impression which everybody has — that science and practice are
frequently at loggerheads. I wish, if I can, to help remove the
distrust which exists among practical men, with reference to
scientific pursuits, because I know that there is no longer any
ground for it. I know that scientific men have long known
how valuable to progress in their own departments all expe-
rience is which they obtain from practical men ; and as I have
devoted all my life to scientific pursuits, I would, if I could,
contribute something towards establishing the proper relations
between him who follows the pursuit of what is useful in the

SCIENCE AND PRACTICE. 39

closet, and him who follows the same pursuits in the field ; for
that, I believe, is the only dijBference between scientific men and
practical men — that one does his work in the study, and the
other does it in the field. When, this morning, our friend, Mr.
Bull, alluded to Prof. Ville, and represented him as a man
who had met with the opposition of scientific men, I think there
was an impression given which is not altogether correct. I
know Prof. Ville. He was a young man, just out of school,
when I left Europe, but already aspiring to a position in the
scientific world ; and he was soon appointed to a position in the
Jardin des Plantes. There is no more exclusively scientific
institution in the world than the Jardin des Plantes, where he
has made all the experiments which have rendered his name
famous, and which have shown him to be so highly a practical
man, that great reforms even in agriculture are expected from
the application of the results he has thus far obtained. I think
there can be no better instance of the entire mistake of repre-
senting science and the practical purposes of agriculture, or any
other pursuit, as in antagonistic relations to one another.

Now, with reference to extending the instruction which
science has obtained in relation to domestic animals, in relation
to insects injurious to vegetation, in relation to all natural his-
tory bearing upon the prosperity of the farm, I feel that we have
a duty — that this Board has a duty — which ought not to be left
unperformed. There are colleges arising in every part of the
United States, the chief object of which is to foster improve-
ments in agriculture. There are mai>y of these institutions
which are exclusively agricultural colleges. The pupils of these
institutions are to be taught that which will improve their busi-
ness, and they are to be taught that which will be substantial
knowledge. We should have all the experiments of Prof. Ville
repeated in these colleges. But that is not all. We should
have all the experiments made by Magendie and Boussingault
upon the feeding of cattle, upon the nursing of animals ; we
should have all the experiments made upon breeding, upon
crossing breeds, and upon the whole animal economy of the
domestic animals. All that should be taught in these colleges,
in as advanced, as perfect and as comprehensive a form as the
information can be had. Well, we have no teachers competent
to do that. You may want to appoint them, but you cannot

40 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

find them. You must, therefore, (and this is the point to which
I want to call your attention,) you must organize something
like a normal school to fit teachers to give that kind of instruction
in all our agricultural schools and colleges, of which there are
already so many that the idea of organizing a normal school to
educate teachers in that direction is not out of place — is not
disproportioned to the object. I think that this object can be
reached sooner than you would anticipate, because you have
already more in the way of securing that result than you are
aware of. You may remember that eight years ago the State
granted $100,000 to build a Museum of Natural History at
Cambridge, and by private subscriptions and bequests that
amount has been increased to something like -1300,000. I have
been honored with the direction of that institution, and I have
done everything I could to make it what it should be — the
nursery of scientific and natural history studies. Let me say,
that it is the only institution now in the country where, the
whole year round, at all times, there are dissections going on —
not of human bodies — that belongs to the medical school — but
of animals of all classes ; that there are a few students learning
natural history there ; and that, at this moment, the work done
in that institution, of which Massachusetts knows very little, has
made such a mark in Europe, that yesterday I received a letter
from Prof. Leuckardt, one of tlie leading zoologists of the day,
and editor of the practical scientific journal of Europe, ia
which, alluding to what has been done in that institution, he
says : " The position ^f America in regard to these matters is
really wonderful, and excites my admiration. How miserably
small, in comparison with that, appear our university doings
and our efforts." That is what a European professor, the head
of one of the great European universities, writes respecting one
of your institutions, only a few miles from here.

Now, I ask, why does not that institution yield results for
home consumption ? Simply because it has not yet the means
of sustaining a sufficient number of teachers to enable it to apply
its capabilities to that specific object. But suppose that some
benevolent individuals, some association like this, or the State,
should grant merely the means of appointing one professor of
anatomy, applied to the study of domestic animals, and one
professor of entomology, applied to agriculture ; the building is

MUSEUM OP COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 41

there, the working rooms are there, the materials for examina-
tion are there ; and you could send any number of pupils to be
instructed there, and they would receive their education free of
all charges — for those are the terms on which I receive the
students who come there.

Now, I think it is worth while for the State Board of Agricul-
ture to consider whether it will not encourage the founding
there of specialprofessorships for those departments which are
needed to be taught in our agricultural colleges, and thus build
a nursery which shall prepare all the teachers we want, which
we have not got, and cannot get, and which we ought to educate
at home.

This is a mere appeal to your sympathy, and I think that the
institution in behalf of which I have made that appeal, deserves
that sympathy ; and I think that it is the only institution in the
country where such a thing can be done with a chance of
success, because it has all the appliances needed, but it has not
an income sufficient to connect with its present operations that
of teaching, in the way in which teaching should be done, for
agricultural purposes. The purely scientific purposes for which
it was especially founded are there carried on, and it requires
only some such extension in order to give it that practical
capability which would foster the progress of agriculture in the
various directions in which natural history is necessarily
connected with agriculture.

And let me add one word of a general character. I am fully
aware that agriculture needs no science, because men have
cultivated the soil before science existed. All antiquity raised
domestic animals, and plants which served as food, before the
raising of any of these things had been worked up into a scien-
tific form ; and therefore, any scientific institution, or any
individual who claims that science is absolutely necessary to
carry on these operations, would be guilty of an unwarrantable
exaggeration. But then, it is equally true, that agriculture
has made, under the influence of science, such progress, that
in our days of rapid movementj the community cannot afford
to discard scientific progress, and science will contribute to the
improvement of all departments of human activity ; and i4 is
just that beneficial influence that I should like to see penetrate
rapidly and more extensively all branches of practical business,
6

42 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

and agriculture in particular ; and there is nothing that would
stimulate that more than the special study of natural history,
in connection with agriculture.

Now, when I allude to that, I allude to a very comprehensive
field, for the natural history of agriculture embraces the knowl-
edge of all the larger domesticated animals — their anatomy,
tlieir physiology, the nature of their diseases — in fact, the
natural history of agriculture embraces that which forms the
foundation of the veterinary surgeon's science. Then it
embraces all that relates to those other animals, of less value,
and yet of considerable interest upon the farm — all the various
kinds of fowl, the economy of bees, and the characteristics and
habits of insects injurious to vegetation.

There is an erroneous impression abroad that science must
know insects, that science can therefore furnish all the informa-
tion needed to insure the destruction of insects injurious to
vegetation ; that books may be consulted, and that from books
you may get all the information necessary to obviate the
injuries done by insects. Well, if in Germany they have done
great things in the study of their insects injurious to vegetation,
if in France they have done something in that direction, what
have they learned ? To know the animals and insects that are
injurious to vegetation in those countries. But we have others
here, and we cannot do anything towards checking the injury
they produce until we know their habits. It is a new study to
be begun. When I get a letter from a man in the West, or at
the South, telling me that he has a worm or an insect on his
farm which does great harm, and he wants to know what to do,
it is as if a man in China should write that there are birds
about there which he would like to catch, and ask with what
bait he may catch them ! We should want to know first what
the bird was, before we could tell what bait should be used to
catch him. And so it is with our insects injurious to vegeta-
tion. The different sections of the United States produce
insects injurious to vegetation which are different from one
another. The insects injurious to vegetation in South Carolina
are totally different from those which damage our crops, and
therefore must be studied there ; and when they send to the
North for information, we can simply say this — " We know

GRADE AND SCRUB CATTLE. 43

nothing about it ; you must study that subject at home ; and
unless you have studied it at home, you can have no remedy."

Now, how will science help in this matter ? Just by giving
the methods by which the study can be made ; by just telling
how insects are studied, in a general way ; and with that
general information, the agriculturist of any district which has
not yet been investigated in that manner may go to work and
learn for himself, or through those to whom he may intrust
the labor, what to do for his particular locality. That is exactly
what I should like to have done in the way of preparing teach-
ers for our agricultural colleges. Give them that kind of
general knowledge relating to those animals which belong to
the -different classes from which are borrowed the useful
animals, and any which exist that are injurious to vegetation,
that with this general information, they may begin to carry
on the special study which will give them the means of checking
the injurious one, and of fostering that which is useful.

H. C. Meriam, of Tewksbury. It is perilous, almost, to
attempt to say anything on the subject of cattle husbandry, after
it has been nearly exhausted by others ; but its importance has
not been exaggerated. I believe the value of neat cattle in this
Commonwealth to-day cannot be much less than twenty millions
of money ; and I think there is no man who is in the habit of
visiting Brighton market, or knowing the prices at which cattle
sell there, who will not say that grade cattle bring from twenty
to thirty per cent, more in open market than scrub or native
cattle. I believe myself, that with a little care, our neat cattle
might be increased twenty-five per cent., at least, in value.
Agriculture in New England is somewhat general, and hardly
any farm in the interior is devoted to making butter and cheese.
Generally, where there are forty head of cattle, there are some
fifteen cows ; the farmer is raising calves, has a few heifers and
steers coming on, and some three or four year old steers with
which he does his Work, while the older ones are sent off; so
that I think the breed should be selected which is adapted not
only to the dairy, but to beef and working oxen.

It has been stated here that the first male put to a young
female has an effect forever upo.n her offspring. That doctrine
has increased in favor somewhat within the last twenty years.
I recollect conversing with the late Col. Jacques, wha was pei>

44 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

haps the most experienced breeder in this country, and he told
me that he thought there was nothing in it. I have been
engaged in breeding the greater part of my hfe, either for
myself or others, and I will state my experience, which satisfies
me there is nothing in the doctrine whatever.

As long ago as 1840, 1 bought a scrub bull to mate a Durham
bull. I worked my Durham bull to give him exercise, in order
that he might be a good stock-getter. By accident this scrub
bull got to a young Durham heifer, white, and she had a mon-
grel calf resembling the father. After that I mated her with a
pure Durham, and I never saw a single trace of that first
impregnation in her offspring. About that time I had an Afri-
can gander, which differs as widely from the Bremen as the
African from the Caucasian. The African gander has a broad
head, bill black, with a crown on tlie top, a long neck, and is
of rather a slate color. The Bremen is a sliort, thick, milk-
white goose. I mated this African gander with a white Bremen
goose, and her first brood resembled this African gander. Sub-
sequently I mated her with a pure Bremen gander for years,
and I never saw a trace of the African blood in feature, color or
anytliing.

Again. Somewhere about that time a friend of mine had
what was denominated a cross-breed hog — a very thrifty, large
hog, but the color was black. I at that time had a young
Mackey sow, pure white. Wishing to enlarge the size of the
Mackey, I put this pure black cross-breed boar to this pure
Mackey sow, and ever afterwards bred her to a pure Mackey,
and I never saw a trace — not a single trace — of the first impreg-
nation. And in breeding fowl, pigeons, dogs, geese, rabbits,
sheep, horses and cattle for thirty years, I have never seen a
single fact to convince me of the truth of the proposition that
the first impregnation influences the future offspring.

With regard to the feeding of animals, I think, with the
chairman, that there is no subject upon which individuals differ
more, in the expense and in the results, than in feeding cattle.
I have one neighbor who I think feeds his cattle full fifty per
cent, cheaper than his other neighbors. I was astonished at the
small quantity of food with which he carried his cattle through,
getting the usual quantity of milk, and keeping his cattle in
good condition. He adopted the practice of mixing up his

MIXING AND STEAMING FOOD. 45

English hay, meadow hay, cornstalks, shorts or meal, whatever
it was, and soaking them. Now common sense teaches us that
an animal, in order to thrive, must have the same amount of
nourishment to produce a given result. Then the question
arose in my mind, " If he feeds so little, how is it that the cattle
are in such good condition and he obtains such results in milk ? "
I accounted for it in this way. In the first place, by soaking
the food, you get a larger bulk. Every gentleman familiar with
breeding animals, and who has examined closely their excre-
ments, knows that a vast amount passes through cattle and
liorses which is not digested, and is therefore lost. Then there
is a loss, where the food is fed dry, in the coarse matter which
cattle reject. I think soaking the food is preferable to steaming
it. If you steam too much it has no resemblance to succulent
green grass, the natural food of cattle ; but when it is soaked
thoroughly — made to absorb as much water as it will — it is put
into its natural state, so that it resembles th3 natural food of
cattle in their wild state. Our cattle are fed, six months of the
year, in an artificial way. In their wild state they would
migrate, as cold weather approached, to a climate where they
could get their natural food — green grass or browse. I think
the reason that twenty-five or thirty per cent, of hay and grain
is saved by feeding them to cattle after they have been soaked,
still producing the same result, is because it is brought into the
condition of their natural food ; it all assumes a common
character and is eaten up clean.

Then there is another advantage. Men and animals fed on
one thing will not thrive. If you watch animals closely, you
will find that they take a great variety ; and by mixing this food
up, you give them a great variety. At the State Almshouse, in
our town, they steam the food for their cattle, and produce the
same result mentioned by Mr. Birnie. They not only feed their
cattle cheaper, but they get a larger quantity of milk from the
same number of cows than is obtained on any. farm in town.
And not only so, but they make better butter from their cows
in that way.

I was glad to hear reference made by Mr. Birnie to the speech
made at one of our agricultural exhibitions last fall in relation
to the Agricultural College, which has not been noticed by the
press. It was a very remarkable speech, but it was a very

46 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

illogical speech. It was a speech made, I think, for buncombe ;
but Mr. Buncombe was not there to hear. The audience did
not happen to be opposed to the Agricultural College. The
first position taken was, that the Agricultural College would
prove a failure ; and the next was, that an Agricultural College
was impracticable. Well, why should an Agricultural College
be more impracticable than a law school, a school of medicine,
or a commercial school ? But then gentlemen who read, who
know anything of the history of agricultural science and liter-
ature in Europe, know that the lights of Europe, practical and
scientific, have originated in those schools. It was said in this
speech that if young men were educated at the Agricultural
College they would not follow farming. That has not been
found to be the fact in Europe. Agricultural science — practical
agricultural knowledge — is in demand in Europe ; and those
who have graduated from the agricultural schools there have
become most valuable stewards on large estates ; have become
lecturers and writers ; in short, have become the lights of Euro-
pean agriculture. To be sure, some young men who study law
or medicine abandon the profession ; but generally, a man who
adopts a profession devotes himself to it, no matter how disa-
greeable it may be in some respects. See what Professor Agassiz
does for the cause of science. You could not find one Irishman
in a hundred who would go through what he does to obtain
accurate information. Will men who undertake to learn the
science of agriculture be any more likely to abandon their
purpose than the lawyer or doctor ?

Again, he said, teachers could not be obtained. Pray tell us
how teachers are obtained in law and medicine ? Do they
spring up out of the ground ? Are they spontaneous, like the
trees, or have they been educated ? Then he said further,
(showing himself very illogical,) the mass of the people could
not be made scientific. Well, I ask, applying the same means
to the same ends, is it not as easy to make one hundred men
scientific as one man ? But he says, the utmost that can be
done is to have some scientific lecturers go round among the
people and teach the elementary principles that the people may
adopt. Now, pray tell us where these lecturers and scientific
teachers are to come from, who are to go round among the com-
munity and give that instruction which the ex-governor thought

STUDENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 47

was so necessary ? Are they coming from the law schools, the
schools of medicine, or the commercial schools ? Are they
coming from Harvard College ? Is there a professorship of
agriculture there ? Pray tell us where they are to come from.
They have got to be made, like the teachers of every other
science. We have got the machinery to manufacture them, and
all we want is to put it at work. We cannot, of course, start
oif in an agricultural course as Harvard College does in its
literary course, but we can make a beginning. The only con-
clusion to which I can come, is that we can never have these
desirable teachers and scientific lecturers unless we have some
special school for their instruction ; and I do not know of any
special school better adapted to furnish the community with that
very necessary class of men which the ex-governor considers
indispensable, than the very college which he says is a failure
and must be abandoned. I would like to have the ex-governor
explain how he would get these teachers, unless we have some
college to make them.

Again, he said that the graduates of the Agricultural College
would not find remunerative employment. I ask, what literary
labor, what scientific labor, is in greater demand, and what men
enjoy wider fame or are more extensively read, than men deeply
versed both in the science and practice of agriculture ? I know
no literary labor, no scientific attainments, that can command
better prices than attainments in agricultural science and prac-
tical agriculture. I was surprised that a gentleman who had
been so highly honored in Massachusetts should make a speech
so well becoming the dark ages.

Professor Agassiz. Mr. Meriam made one remark to which
I should like to reply. I believe that a negative result never
destroys a positive experiment. The influence ^of a first copu-
lation has been tested in so many cases, that the absence of
such influence, even in a great many cases, would not show
that it does not occur. Of course, when it is affirmed (an^ I
will presently give the facts on which the assertion rests,) that
the first copulation has an influence upon the character of the
following generation, it is not maintained that fecundation is
done forever in that first connection of the sexes, or that what-
ever copulations may take place afterwards are to be always
influenced by that, but it has been ascertained in so many

48 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

instances, with reference to so many animals, in such different
countries, and in such different ages, that the effect of a first
copiilation is felt, not only in the product resulting from that
connection, but in the products which result from subsequent
copulations, that the fact cannot be denied. If we take it
historically it is a thing which was known to the ancients ; it is
a thing which was known to the Jews, and so well known, that
in their law it was incorporated in this form — that if a woman
lost her husband, she was bound to marry her husband's brother,
and the children resulting from that second marriage were to
be the first man's children ; and the laws of inheritance of
Palestine were based on the fact, that there was such an
unmistakable impress made upon the woman by the first
connection she ever had, that it was not much out of the way
to consider that her children, even by a second husband,
belonged in a certain way to that first dead husband, who had
nothing to do, apparently, with the procreation of the later
children. But let us let Jewish law alone, and come to
animals ; and I will mention some facts of which I have special
cognizance. A mare was covered the first time by a zebra — an
animal of a character never to be mistaken — it is a horse with
transverse stripes over the body and a black bar along the
middle line of the back. The offspring of that connection was
a mule, a half-breed between a zebra and a mare. After that,
that mare had colts from a horse, and they were striped.
Whence came those stripes ? Certainly not from the second
copulation, for after the birth of the first offspring, that mare
never saw another zebra ; but when she was put to a horse,
and had a second colt, that colt was striped. I have seen, in
Mobile, the offspring of a mare, which had been put to a don-
key, and which had bred a mule first ; and afterwards she was
put to a horse and had a colt, which had a black bar along the
back. That was certainly a mark of the donkey. We have no
horse which has never had that influence with that distinct
longitudinal bar along the back and cross-bar over the shoulder.
That colt, born from a mare by a horse, which mare had had a
donkey before, I have seen myself. So here we have an instance
where the effect of a first connection is unmistakable. I have
seen examples of the same kind in dogs, within my own per-
sonal experience. A bitch of one breed, connected with a dog

FIRST IMPREGNATION. 49

of another breed, having in the first litter pups which resembled
some of them the mother and some the father, in a second
litter, by a dog of another breed, had pups not only like the
moth^, and like the second father, but like the first father too.
Here, then, you see again the unquestionable influence. I do
not say that I do not know of a large number of cases where the
influence of the first male is not perceived in the subsequent
oflspring, and it may often not be perceived at all, because of
the great resemblance of the second father to the first ; but
whether or not the cases are more numerous than I am aware
of where no effect at all is felt, it cannot be denied that there
are cases where the effect is unmistakable ; and supposing that
only ten per cent, of animals receive by their first connection an
influence which is felt in the following offspring, would it not
be well to save a valuable animal from the possibility of being
subjected to a bad influence, to be carried through life, by
securing for the first male an animal which should, at all events,
not contaminate the female, and bring in the possibility of
bad offspring, in consequence of that unquestionable influence
which the first male has, possibly, not necessarily, on future
production ?

Mr. Meriam. The dog is the most uncertain of all animals
to experiment with. I could state probably twenty experiments
in my own experience as a breeder, covering over forty years,
as closely observing as I am capable of, where no such influence
was perceived. But speaking of mules, one evening I was
present where this subject was discussed, and one gentleman,
from Kentucky, distinguished for his scientific attainments, and
a close observer, said he did not believe anything in it. " In
our neighborhood," said he, " we put our young mares to jacks.
When they get more mature, we then breed them to our
thoroughbred horses, and out of a lai'ge number of horses bred
from mares which for their first foal had had a mule, I have
never seen a trace, in the hair, the form of head, or anything,
of the donkey." Now, no amount of general reasoning, no
amount of theorizing, would shake the result of my experiments
a particle. I do not believe there is anything in it. The doc-
trine is, that impregnated once is impregnated forever ; that the
influence of the first impregnation extends down through future
offspring. I have tried that on fowls of different kinds, and
7

50 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

various animals, and my occupation for forty years has been
that of a breeder, and I have not seen a trace of it. I am
confident tliat there is no person in this county capable of
speaking more confidently or truthfully than Colonel Jacques,
and he thought there was nothing in it.

Professor Agassiz. Facts are facts, and they are very stub-
born things. If I mention facts which I know, and you have
facts which are different, your negative facts will not annihilate
my positive facts. Mine are positive results. I mentioned
experiments with dogs. I have taken care that these animals
did not wander. I am not so careless, when I am making an
experiment, as to allow the animal that is experimented upon
to wander about and have connection with animals unseen. It
is kept in confinement. Now, when in such a case I obtain in
the second litter pups which have marks of the first father, that
is a fact ; it is no theory. That bitch' has not given birth to
pups like her first male in order to please me, but just because
she had been influenced that way, and she had to bring what
her belly contained. Those were the things I saw, and I cannot
say any more about it.

James Thompson, of Nantucket. A fact has just come to my
mind which illustrates what the chairman has said in reference
to the breeding of animals. Three or four years ago there was
a ship cast away on our island, on board of which there was a
very fine bitch — a large, beautiful animal, and a perfect water
dog. A gentleman on the island had a large black Newfound-
land dog that was always playing in the water. They were
coupled together carefully, and the bitch kept clear from every
other dog for months afterwards, so that it should be a sure
thing. The result was a litter of five pups, only one of which
was worth the hair that was on them for water. You could not
drive them into the water ; you could not teach them to go into
the water. These animals belonged to two distinct families,
apparently, and were brought together under such circumstances
as confirm the statement that it is best to continue breeding in
the family as much as possible.

I want to say a few words in regard to the breeding of cattle
and the stocking of farms. I do not wish to particularize any
breed of cattle, and I woufd not, only it seems to me that it is
not fair for us to go away with not a word said in favor of other

BREEDING FOR SPECIAL OBJECTS. 51

breeds than the two alluded to. I am in favor of all breeds of
cattle upon the farm, just as the chairman has said. I do not
believe that the growing of beef, in the State of Massachusetts
especially, is of any advantage to the farmer generally. The
subject was brought into the Board of Agriculture a few years
ago, and a committee appointed, who investigated the matter for
a whole year ; and the result of their investigation was, that it
cost about $29 to bring a heifer to three years old, and she
would sell for $29.50. They proved by facts obtained through-
out the Commonwealth that a steer, at three years old, cost
about $48, on the average, and would bring about $49. Now,
if these are facts, in reference to the production of beef in this
Commonwealth, what is the use of our always bearing testimony
to the value of a breed of animals that is good for beef purposes^
when we want them for dairy purposes ? As the chairman has
said, we want one kind of animals for one branch of the dairy
business, and another kind for another branch ; one set of animals
for one locality, and another for another locality. Every farmer
should try to ascertain what his farm is adapted to produce. If
a manufacturer were going to produce carpets or woollen goods,
he certainly would not put in cotton machinery.

The first thing I attempted to do, to fit my farm to make a
profitable income upon it, was to ascertain what kind of stock
would produce what I wanted to produce to the best advantage,
— that was butter, the whole year round. Then I wanted to
produce the crops that would feed those animals and produce
the greatest results in the line of manufacture which I wanted
to get from them ; these were hay and roots. I first experi-
mented with one cow that I had always had. Then I tried a
Jersey cow, three years old, and I had 336 pounds of butter in
one year. Last year, I had from three Jersey cows 906 pounds
3 ounces of butter. This year, my man at the farm, or his
wife, has produced 14 pounds of butter a week, and even up to
16 pounds, from one cow. Twenty-one pounds were put up
from two cows in one week, in the month of November, and
they furnished milk for three families and butter for two fami-
lies besides ; so that it was really raising 28 pounds of butter in
a week from two cows, in the month of November. Those
cows stand in my barn to-day. I do not find that they eat more
than common cows. I feed them upon roots and hay, and let

52 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

them do their own grinding. Why does a physician tell his
patient that he mnst not holt his food — that he must not have
his food ill such a condition that it will go into his stomach too
readily ? He wants him to masticate it, in order that the
salivary glands may operate, and the saliva fit that food to go
to the stomach and be digested. I want to know why a calf,
when you are raising him upon skimmed milk, needs a rope
hanging over his pen to suck, or he will suck the ears of the
other calves, or anything else ? Because it is natural for him
to produce' the saliva from his mouth, when he is nursing his
mother, to go into his stomach and assist in digesting the food.
I have looked into this matter with my young heifers. I feed
them in the morning with ears of corn, three and a half or four
quarts apiece, and it produces a great deal of saliva in the
mouth. They do not have over ten pounds of hay a day, and
they keep well, look well, are fat and hearty, and I have never
known one of them to have a sick day. At noon, I give them
a couple of quarts of corn apiece, and two quarts of carrots. A
horse, weighing 1,160 pounds, has two quarts of shorts at night,
from six to eight pounds of long hay, with this fine feed upon
it ; in the morning, he has perhaps four pounds of hay, with the
corn on the ear. That is all the feed that my horses have to
work iipon.

I endeavor to encourage a disposition in my cows that are in
milk to eat all the time. I want to give them food that they
cannot fill themselves with readily. In the morning, they have
fresh hay, or else go to grass. To be sure, everything that I
can bring nearest to grass for a milch cow will produce the
most milk. I do not believe in giving them food which will
not distend the stomach. AVhen I have cut the food, I have
found that the stomach of the cow was not so well distended as
when I have fed it uncut. I want to have the abdomen dis-
tended as much as possible, and have the cow eat as much food
as she can get into it.

As to breeds of cattle, I have nothing to say for one or
another, further than the results I have stated. It is for every
man to select the breed best adapted to the capacity and wants
of his farm, and which will give him the greatest results.

Mr. Flint. The chairman referred to one thing which I
think should receive a little more attention than it has. I

COTTON-SEED MEAL. 63

allude to what he said respecting cotton-seed meal. It seems
to me, from what I know of it, and from what I know of the
opinions of practical farmers in regard to it, that his experience
does not correspond with the general results obtained in feeding
cotton-seed meal ; and it may arise from the fact that his exper-
iments were made soon after the preparation of cotton-seed
meal was begun, and not within the last few years. It seems to
me that the article which he used must have been different
from that which is used now. It is known to most farmers,
perhaps, that when it was first brought into the market, it was
unhulled, undecorticated, and there were some positively
injurious results which followed from feeding that article.
Within the last few years, however, it has been decorticated,
the hull has been taken off, and it has gone into the market.
Now, Dr. Loring's experiments were made several years ago,
if I am not mistaken, and I am inclined to think that the
article was different from that which is in the market at the
present day. At any rate, it is the only instance that has come
to my knowledge where the result has not been satisfactory in
a very high degree. It is not a week since I heard a practical
farmer, speaking of its effect on dairy cows, say that the
increase of milk was very perceptible, to the extent of two or
three quarts, within a very few days. I allude to this point
now, in order to ascertain if any other farmer has found any
objectionable results to arise from its use.

An acquaintance of mine wanted to reduce a very rough,
bushy pasture, too rocky to plough, and the question was, how
to do it. Pasturing cows upon it, which had been done for
many years, did not effect his object, and I advised liim to stock
it very heavily with sheep — twice as heavily, perhaps, as the
pasture would naturally and easily carry — and then to feed the
sheep with a very small amount of cotton-seed meal once or
twice a day. He acted upon my advice, and put something
like sixty-five sheep upon a seventeen acre pasture — not more
than six or eight acres of which were open pasture, the rest
being bushes. I have watched that experiment very carefully.
It was made, in fact, under my own eye. He has fed some
four or five tons of cotton-seed meal to these sheep and to
another flock of fatting wethers, where I have had an oppor-
tunity to see the result, and so far as I can judge from my own

M BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

observation it has been entirely and thoroughly satisfactory.
The sheep have been kept in good store condition — it was not
his object to fat them, and he fed them only a small amount of
the meal, considering the number of animals and the character
of the pasture. Tlie sheep have browsed down the brush, so
that in the course of two or three years, I am quite sure that
very rough pasture will be reduced into a perfectly satisfactory
condition, for a rocky pasture, and with greater economy than
it could be done in any other way. He paid $45 a ton for the
cotton-seed meal, and fed them cheaper than he could with any
other substance that I know of — any other substance, I mean,
bought outside of the farm. He took a great deal of pains to
inquire the cost of refuse beans, damaged Indian corn, etc., and
found that cotton-seed meal, at $45 a ton, with the results it
produced, was a more economical food than any other substance.
I have known a great many instances where dairy farmers,
feeding for the production of milk, have used cotton-seed meal
with very great advantage and with very great satisfaction.

And this result corresponds not only with practical experience,
but with the investigations and deductions of science. Cotton-
seed meal is classed by feeders with linseed meal, though chem-
ists and scientific dairymen claim for it a superiority. When
fed to milch cows it increases the quantity and improves the
quality of the milk. It is a rapid flesh-former, and the manure
of the yard where it is fed is of a superior quality.

Prof. Voelcker, the distinguished chemist of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society, having given it a thorough and careful scientific
analysis and investigation, arrives at the following conclusions :

1st. The proportion of oil in all the specimens is higher than
in the best linseed-cake, in which it is rarely more than 12 per
cent., and 10 per cent, may be taken as the average. As a sup-
plier of food, cotton-cake is therefore superior to linseed-cake.

2d. The amount of oil in the several specimens differs to the
-extent of 5| per cent. — say from 13.50 to 19.19.

3d. Decorticated cake contains a very high and much larger
percentage of flesh-forming matters than linseed-cake, and it is
therefore proper to give to young stock and milch cows. The
dung also is very valuable.

4th. In comparison with linseed, there is less mucilage and
other respiratory matter in cotton-cake. This is compensated by
the larger amount of oil.

DR. YOELCKER'S CONCLUSIONS. 55

5th. The proportion of indigestible woody fibre in decorti-
cated cotton-cake is very small, and not larger than in the best
linseed-cake.

6th. And lastly, it may be observed that the ash of cotton-
cake is rich in bony materials, and amounts to about the same
quantity as is contained in other oily cakes.

Now, after all the scientific investigation which has been
bestowed upon it, resulting in all cases so strongly in its favor,
and after the approval of so many practical men who have used
it satisfactorily and with economy for years in feeding it to all
classes of stock, it seems to me we have a right to infer that its
failure to produce satisfactory results in particular cases may be
ascribed to over-feeding — to feeding in too large quantities.
We know very well that any rich food, like Indian meal, for
instance, when injudiciously fed, will prove too stimulating and
injure the animal. But this is not the fault of the article, but
the necessary consequence of want of judgment and care.

EVENING SESSION.

TRhe Board met at 7 o'clock. The chair was occupied by Hon.
E. W . Bull, who stated that President Clark, of the Agricul-
tural College, who had been announced as the speaker for the
evening, had been detained by his duties at the College, and
that his place would be supplied by Hon. Levi Stockbridge.

ADDRESS OF MR. STOCKBRIDGE.

Gentlemen of the Board, — I desire to ask your attention to
the few remarks which I may make as a plea for the agriculture
of Massachusetts, and for the agricultural education of the
farmers of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Agricultural
College. You are by law the overseers of that institution.
Being connected with it temporarily, as one of its officers, I have
been upon the ground ever since the first blow was struck the
present year towards putting up the buildings and getting the
institution in order for the reception of students ; and I have
been, to say the least, a very attentive observer of all that has
taken place there. I can, therefore, speak of the facts as many
others, who are equally interested but who were not upon the
ground, cannot speak.

56 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

In the first place, I find there is a great deal of ignorance in
relation to the institution. Why, a man who has a son in the
institution told mc in this room, to-night, that he had hardly
any idea that there was such an institution in the State, or that
there was to be one, before his son started to go to Amherst.
It is so, generally, throughout the Commonwealth. The people
have had no idea that we were really to have an Agricultural
College, notwithstanding the talk there has been about it, and
notwithstanding the money that has been appropriated for it.
They have had the idea that there would be no college ; that it
was all talk, and nothing else. Now, gentlemen, I can say that
there is an Agricultural College in Massachusetts. In the first
place, it is located, as you know, in the town of Amherst. We
have there, in my judgment, a beautiful farm for the institution,
of 400 acres, finely located in the valley of the Connecticut,
with a great variety of soil. We have alluvial soil, with clay
underlying it ; we have soil of a lighter cast, with quartz under-
lying it ; we have soil entirely free from stone, and soil like
some of your Middlesex County farms which we have passed
through to-day, covered with stone, and hard and difficii^t of
cultivation. The land is rolling, interspersed with brooks and
streams ; bounded on one side by quite a river, and there are
numerous springs upon the land, giving us great water privi-
leges. These will necessitate a large amount of under-draining.
The soil is fertile — there is no mistake about that. It is well
adapted to the growth of corn and rye. Wheat and tobacco,
(which is contraband so far as the farm is concerned,) grow on
that soil finely. The farm, although not very productive, is yet
a farm which, on the whole, has never been run out or abused
by over-cropping. Very few of those acres have been over-
cropped, and are what we call exhausted land. The trouble is,
it has been neglected. It is covered with brush. Last spring
there was a hedge about twelve feet wide all along the fenced
part of the farm, giving it a very offensive aspect, which disap-
peared as if by magic, the present year. I say, therefore, we
have got a farm, we have got a college, and we have the
encouraging feeling that we may possibly succeed.

Another thing — which I should have said first — we are
located in a spot entirely accessible to all God's creation. It
has been said that you could not get to Amherst ; or, if you

THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 57

managed to get there, you could not get away. Now, we are
within three-quarters of a mile of a railroad depot, at which six
trains a day stop, so that we have abundant opportunity to go
there and to get away. There is no trouble in getting to
Amherst or in getting away.

I located myself upon the farm the first of April. At that
time, we had no buildings ; the first blow, in fact, had not been
struck. We have erected the past season, in the first place, a
large dormitory building, four stories high, 100 x 50. The
lower story is divided into recitation-room, reading-room, and
cabinet ; the three upper stories are rooms for the students, of
which we have twenty-four, designed for two students each ;
giving each two students a sitting-room or parlor, 15 x 16 ;
each of them a fine bed-room ; each of them a fine clothes-press
or wardrobe. These are the accommodations we give our
students. We have erected a laboratory, so-called, in which is
to be placed the chemical apparatus of the professor of chem-
istry, and which is to be the working chemical-room. In the
upper story, we have a dining-hall, 50 X 16, where it is pro-
posed by the trustees of the institution, that all the boys shall
take their meals, if they desire it. We have erected a conven-
ient botanical building, with a recitation-room for the class in
botany, on the lower floor, and a specimen-room for the recep-
tion of all sorts of specimens in the hall above it. We have
erected a large conservatory, 100 X 70, with propagating pits,
and all the conveniences of the best modern houses.

These are the buildings which have been erected during the
past year. You will see from what I have stated with refer-
ence to our dormitory building, that the trustees have laid a
plan for a college of forty-eight students, and yet to-day, the
college building is full. Our term commenced the 2d of
October, and we have a Freshman class of forty-sis, with the
prospect of double the number for the next class. One of the
rooms is occupied by a professor, so that we are now full.

The question is often asked, " What are the terms of admis-
sion ? " The candidate for admission is examined in the com-
mon English branches, reading, writing, spelling, geography,
and arithmetic, and we mean that the examination shall be
thorough and exhaustive ; that the students shall be thorough
m those branches before they come there. We do not examine

58 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE.

them in Latin or Greek, for those languages are not taught at
the institution. We teach geometry, chemistry, physiology,
and practical agriculture ; and some of our students, this term,
have taken German.

The next question you will ask me is, " What have the boys
been doing in agriculture ? What have the boys been taught ? "
Before the school commenced, the plan was adopted that every
young man who came there should be taught to work upon the
land. Some, perhaps, knew how to work, some did not ; some
had no sort of acquaintance with agricultural operations. The
plan was adopted, I say, that every young man who came there
should work upon the land six hours in a week ; that the whole
class sliould work, upon the land, as a part of their regular
school education, two hours on Monday, two on Wednesday,
and two on Friday. And then we held out the inducement,
that if there were any young men in the Commonwealth who
desired a first-rate intellectual education and thorough disci-
pline (for that the trustees designed to give,) they would give
them wages for just such an amount of labor as they could
perform, witliout detriment to their studies. The consequence
has been, that we have some twenty students who have been at
work during the entire term for wages, from one up to four
hours a day, besides their two hours work with the class every
other day in the week.

Then the question comes, " How do you make labor and
study go together ? " I suppose that question will be asked
me, for it often is. If I should answer it in the off-hand way I
sometimes do, I should say, " first-rate." I am ready to
acknowledge, that before our students appeared there, I had
many misgivings in relation to the question of labor. I knew
the responsibility would fall upon me, and I dreaded to have
the day come when I should have from thirty to fifty young
men there, and be required every other day to take them upon
the land, and make a business of teaching them to work — in the
first place, planning the work ; and, in the second place, seeing
that they did the work like men, systematically and regularly.
But there has been no trouble about it ; it has come as a matter
of course, without arijr difficulty whatever. Having established
the system, it has worked like a charm.

LABOR ON THE FARM. 59

Of course, in these hours of labor, we are on discipline. It is
regular business, as much as the inside work of the institution.
At the appointed hour the roll is called, and every student is
required to be there unless he has a good excuse, from sickness
or some other cause. And I do not find them playing baby ;
I do not find them talking off; I do not find them trying to
shirk the duty. One reason, I suppose, is this, that the best
scholars in the school, those who regularly mark highest in their
studies, are the very best men we have in our labor companies.
They take hold, and then all the rest, as it were by their
influence, follow.

" What have you set them about ? " Well, they came at a
very unpropitious time of the year. They came in the fall. I
can imagine that I could interest them if they came in April,
when we were planting our gardens, and when everything was
starting with the new life of spring ; but when they came in the
fall, when our work was the hardest and least interesting, I did
not know what might be the result. Now, I have- put those
boys upon the hardest work — upon everything that has to be ,-.
done upon a farm. I have made no selection, taking that which
would be the nicest or the easiest, but they have been called
upon to do in these hours of labor, whatever there was to be
done. They have husked all our corn, some 1,800 bushels ;
dug all our potatoes and all our root-crops ; spread all our
manure ; and everything these boys did with the utmost
cheerfulness and alacrity. They took hold and worked like men.

W^hen the crops were harvested, what next ? We had upon
the farm some old orchards, whose day had gone by. The
trees had become worthless, and the boys were set to work
digging round them, digging up the roots, and taking the tree
down, stem, root and branch. They have made a clean sweep
of something like five acres, cutting up every tree in good
shape. Then, as I have said, our land was covered with bushes,
our pastures were overrun with brush. A large number of
bush-cutters were purchased, and the boys were turned out and
took out the bushes by the roots. They went into it with alac-
rity, and apparent pleasure, and something like nine acres have
been cleared of every bush by the boys.

I can report, then, in relation to this matter of labor, that the
system works well ; there has been no difficulty whatever. Of

Vl>

60 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

course we have boys of different characters and different capac-
ities. Some, are lively, some are smart, and some are the other
way ; but as a whole — as a class — they have far exceeded our
anticipations. No fault can be found with them. The thing is
a perfect success. But " one swallow does not make a sum-
mer," and one term cannot finally settle the question. I say
that, for to-day it is^ttled. I find, on comparing the marks of
the professor of agriculture with the marks of the professors in
other branches, tliat the two correspond identically ; that the
boy who has a clean record with the professor of agriculture
marks highest in every other department ; it is invariable.

Another question you will ask, is, " What have you taught
the boys in relation to agriculture ? " So far as my teaching is
concerned, I have taught them what the Board of Agriculture
have taught me. That I call pretty good teaching. Of course
we had no text-books on agriculture there. In the next place,
we had no. system of agriculture there. I am sorry to say
that here m Massachusetts to-day, although the Board of Agri-
culture has been at work for fifteen years, we have no system of
agriculture — nothing that a man can teach a class of students
and say, " This is the established, approved system of agricul-
ture for Massachusetts." We have jio such thing. Commenc-
ing with the soil, our course of instruction has been to give its
origin; the manner in whicli it was prepared for tlie purposes
of cropping ; the material in the soil by which plant-food is
formed ; tlien the influences in the soil which go to make that
raw material up into food for plants ; then the manner in which
the plants themselves take up and appropriate that food to their
own uses, and form their bodies and their roots from it ; next
the effect of cropping upon the soil itself — what the process is,
what the effect upon the soil is, and what the condition of the
soil is after a course of cropping, running down to exhaustion ;
next the methods by which the fertility of the soil can be
increased ; or how, without manuring, the soil can be restored
from barrenness to fertility ; next ploughing in green crops as
one method, under-draining, irrigation, the use of muck,
ploughing and stirring the soil, as sources of fertility ; then
animal manures, their character, their composition, how they
act in the soil, chemically, mechanically, &c. Tiiat has been
the course of instruction in the institution, and that is as far as

SUCCESS OP THE COLLEGE. 61

we have got; and if I have learned anything, I think the young
men have learned something in return, of agriculture, both
theoretically and practically.

I must say to you, gentlemen, familiar as you are with my
views in relation to an agricultural school in Massachusetts, that
from my knowledge of tlie people of this State, I feel assured
that the Massachusetts Agricultural College will be a perfect
success. Yet I have no very great amount of confidence in the
men who now have that institution in charge ; but my confi-
dence is based on the knowledge I have that there is a feeling
abroad throughout the Commonwealth that such an institution
is needed. The constant inquiry which is being made, and
which is spreading and growing more and more, day by day,
convinces me that the people of the Commonwealth have been
educated by the Board of Agriculture up to the point tliat they
feel the need of an institution to educate the young men of the
Commonwealth for agricultural pursuits. And here is my
faith — not in the men who are there to-day, for they may make
a failure of it ; but in the people of the Commonwealth, and
the felt need of the people of the Commonwealth for an institu-
tion of the kind. The men who are there to-day may fail of
success, but Massachusetts will find men wlio will make a suc-
cess of it ; for those men feel that whenever the old Common-
wealth wants men she will find them. True, we have no books
to-day such as that institution should have to instruct us in
agriculture, but I have faith that somebody in Massachusetts
will yet make the very book we need. There is no question
about that. We have no system of agriculture to be taught
there, but I have faith in the people of the old Commonwealth,
or in some of the men of the old Commonwealth, that they will
make a system of agriculture that shall be taught there; and
which shall be just the system we need.

Then, I say, I have faith in the permanent success of that
institution. I believe that an Agricultural College will succeed
in Massachusetts if it fails in every other State in the Union ;
for there arc elements of success in our State which do not exist
anywhere else. First, because our soil and climate are such
that, competing with the great West, we are from necessity
driven to a more intelligent course of cultivation. That is one
reason why an Agricultural College will succeed in Massachu-

62 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

setts, if it fails everywhere else. Another reason is this ; That
this Board of Agriculture have been for fifteen long years or
thereabouts at work to educate the people of the Commonwealth
up to the point that they shall feel the need of a school of
this kind. This college could not have been started twenty
years ago witli any prospect of success. Out of the desire of a
few individuals for an Agricultural College grew the Board of
Agriculture. That Board of Agriculture have been at work
educating the people, and they now feel an interest in the
school which will insure its perfect success.

Another thing. Through you, gentleman, as the delegates of
the agricultural societies of the State, the Massachusetts Agri-
cultural College is linked to every farmer in the Commonwealth.
Your societies will look to the Agricultural College eventually.
You yourselves, while occupying the position you now do, and
your successors after you, will look after the Agricultural Col-
lege ; and there will be a reciprocal influence from the college
to the farmers, and from the farmers to the college, which will
be highly advantageous, I trust, to both.

I will not occupy the time any further, but if any member of
th^e Board desires to ask any question in relation to the insti-
tution, I will answer it with pleasure, if I can.

Professor Agassiz. I have listened with the greatest interest
to the statements concerning the condition of the Agricultural
College, and I have no doubt, from what you have said, that a
success has been accomplished — a success which will continue
and increase, and do much to promote the welfare of the State.
I deeply sympathize with your efforts and with your success. I
know what it is for a teacher to meet with success. It is his
life, and it is that which stimulates him to greater effort. I
want, at an early stage of the progress of the college, that every
obstacle should be removed from its path, and that all the con-
, nections which have not yet been made should be so made as to
secure the more extensive usefulness of the college ; therefore I
should like to ask you a few questions.

We have now in the State an established system of common
schools ; we have iu the State an established system of high
schools ; we have in the State a number of colleges ; we have
several normal schools which educate teachers for these various
schools. Now here is a new kind of school introduced into this

PLACE IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. 63

general system of practical education, connected with the various
modes of educating the people at large. We have scientific
schools, also, which have a practical bearing upon the progress
of the higher branches of the mechanic arts and industry and
scientific research. Now, in what relation do you expect that
the Agricultural College will stand to the common school
system ; for, from what you say, I am convinced that you will
be overrun with students, and will be obliged to enlarge your
establishment in order to accommodate the applicants ? The
question will come up very soon. How are you to meet the
applications from the large number of students who will prefer
the education which you give to that of the high schools, or
perhaps to that of some of the more advanced schools which do
not reach the level of high schools ? Have you any idea how
the agricultural colleges which exist in other States are to be
provided with all the professors needed in the various depart-
ments, and how do you think it will be possible to educate the
teachers for all these schools ? In other words, what kind of
normal school for agricultural teachers do you contemplate in
the future ? for with the growth of your school, and with the
growth of other schools throughout the United States, this will
become as imperative a demand as normal schools have become
a demand with reference to our common schools. From the
broad and comprehensive plan you have laid before us, from the
evidence you have given us that the very life of the majority of
the public is interested in the enlargement of this agricultural
education, I do not suppose that in your mind you conceive the
present dimensions of the college to be its limit ; and therefore
I have hit, I believe, upon the very point — the very prospect
which the future must open. A wise man ought to look ahead
in order not to bej^cramped when the time comes.

Mr. Stockbridge. In reply your first question, " What part
the Agricultural College is to play in the educational system of
Massachusetts ? " I will say, that from my stand point (I may
be incorrect,) it will occupy the same position in relation to the
general system of education in Massachusetts that Cambridge
College does. It is an institution independent of the general
school system, exactly as Williams or Amherst or Harvard is.
Although it has been, and will be, I trust, aided by the State, it
does not form a part of the normal nor common school system

64 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

of the State, any more than Cambridge, Amherst or Williams,
all of which have been aided by the State.

The next question is, how shall we obtain teachers for our
own Agricultural College, and how shall teachers be obtained
by all the other Agricultural Colleges of the nation, that are
now springing into existence. That is a question that was
asked eight or ten years ago. I remember, in 1858, when I,
with some others, threw the Agricultural College ball into the
legislature, all hands began to knock it round with their clubs,
and the club that hit it hardest was, *' You haven't anybody
who has been educated to teach ! " The answer was, " You
must commence in the common schools. The common school
teachers must teach agriculture." That idea was started in
1860, or somewhere about there. Now, I must say that I am
just as much in the dark to-day, as then. I do not know how
we are to get the men, but I have faith in the men of Massa-
chusetts, that when a demand is made, the men will be found.
It was only last week that a gentleman from Iowa came to
Amherst, and said, " We are after men to start a college in
Iowa, and we have come to Massachusetts for them." I said,
" Wait four years. We are training men for your Iowa col-
lege. I have no doubt we shall make some good ones for you."
That is all I could say to him. I know we shall make some
good men, if they will only wait long enough. We have the
raw material ; I believe somebody will work it up.

Professor Agassiz. I believe there is an interest in agricul-
tural, scientific, commercial and military education, which is
now scattered, but which might be concentrated and made to
work much more effectively than now. That is what I wish to
reach. My question was with reference to the possibility of
contriving some way by which the efforts of the friends of these
various educational institutions, which are now organized in
different parts of this State and throughout the country, may
be combined, so that they shall help each other. In the scien-
tific school at Cambridge, we are just as much at a loss to know
what we shall do as you probably are, in reference to the future
when your pupils shall be increased. Our means are entirely
insufficient, and I suppose yours are entirely insufficient ; and
I think the time has come when we should make it known to
the community how in this age — which is an age in which all

PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF THE AGE. 65

education is changing, in which scholastic and monastic educa-
tion is vanishing, in which even literary education is waning,
to make room for more practical, for more active, for more
scientific instruction — I say I think the time has come when we
should make it known to the community, how they are to move
in that direction. I hold that even our common school educa-
tion, admirable as it is, tends too much to book learning — just
as much too much as our colleges do. The cry against mere
book learning in the colleges is already loud enough, but it
should not reach the college only ; it should reach the common
schools also, because there is a great deal of study of things
that might be introduced there. If the children of all the com-
mon schools could be taught to recognize and know by sight all
the stones upon which they tread ; if they could be taught to
know by sight all the plants and animals which are found in
their neighborhood, they would come better prepared to your
agricultural school than they do, and they would be equally
better prepared to come to our scientific school in Cambridge,
or to go anywhere. The foundation would be laid of a better
preparation for that practical training which our age demands.
I think that agricultural colleges will have somewhat the effect
to lead in that direction ; and we should, I think, from all
sides, press upon the community the need of learning in the
direction in which the wants of the active community go, not
merely in the direction in which an antiquated practice has led
us thus far. I would not lessen in any way the value of schol-
arly culture. I would not disgrace my mother — and letters
have been my mother ; I would not disgrace culture in ancient
lore even, impractical as it is ; but I think in the methods by
which these things are taught, there are savings to be made in
time which could be applied to things far more useful. When
our boys give so many hours to the study of Greek and Latin
grammar, I think that that is practically useless, because they
could learn a great deal more Greek and Latin, in a way which
would last better, even with less of that kind of teaching ; and
a little more natural history, and a little more of foreign modern
languages, would certainly be a very useful substitute. I think
that there lies the need of co-operation between all these institu-
tions which have sprung up to meet wants in a direction which
schools and colleges, as they have been thus far, have not

66 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

supplied, I look upon the Agricultural College as an auxiliary
now to the scientific schools of our colleges ; and I hope these
scientific schools will be friends of all these efforts in the
direction of the Agricultural College.

Mr. Stockbridge. In relation to making the knowledge of
science practical, I think the faculty and trustees of the Agri-
cultural College entertain views which are entirely in harmony
with yours. While they would desire to cultivate high science
there — while they desire to secure men as teachers who are
known as men of high science — they desire also to secure men
who have the talent to make that science entirely practical ; to
apply it to the common pursuits of life, especially agriculture.
I believe their views in this respect are in harmony with
yours.

In relation to the matter of fitting men for teachers of the
Agricultural College, if it is your idea that there might be a
school inaugurated at Cambridge, where we have the greatest
advantages, where almost everything that relates to human
science is gathered, which should fit men to be scientific teachers
at our agricultural schools, I am not certain but that is just
wliat the age demands, and that Cambridge itself might be the
place to educate the men whom we have failed to see coming.

Charles G. Davis, of Plymouth. I do not know whether it
is the intention of the Board that there shall be a discussion
upon this subject on which we have been addressed to-night,
but it seems to me we cannot better employ our time while we
are here than by dealing with some of the questions which have
•been suggested by the learned gentleman who has just taken
liis seat, with regard to the Agricultural College — its wants and
our wants.

It seems to me that the most satisfactory answer to the ques-
tion which the gentleman asks with regard to the future, and
with regard to the means by which teachers should be hereafter
supplied, is almost one of faith. I cannot say that I believe
exactly in destiny, but I believe in development ; and I think
the time has come when we who are assembled here, at least,
are grounded in the belief, are grounded in the faith, that
teaching is hereafter to be more practically applied, and at the
same time more useful than it has been heretofore, in more
scholastic times. I think, with the example of the gentleman

DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING. 6T

liimself before us, who has educated himself, who has been to no
normal school, but the school of nature herself, and who has fitted
himself to become the teacher of all mankind, we may rest
assured in the faith that the American mind, if not taught bj
normal schools, will train itself into teaching. No better example
occurs to my mind than that of the gentleman who has just sat
down. I certainly can say for one — and I think my fellow-mem-
bers upon tlie Board of Agriculture at that time will join me in
saying — that with the knowledge we had of that fine Yankee
common sense, that keen intelligence and that practical experi-
ence which the gentleman possessed, we did not expect, after all,
when we selected him, that we should find him so well fitted for
the practical task which he has taken upon himself, and which,
so far, he has proved himself so well qualified to perform. When,,
too. Prof. Chadbourne was selected as president of the college —
a man very little known to the mass of the people of the Com-
monwealth— it seemed to us, for a time, as if he was developing
himself, almost as by the providence of God, for the purpose for
which he was appointed. I think we can rest assured, there-
fore, if there is teaching to be done, that teachers will come ;
just as we can say that there was teaching before normal schools
existed.

In saying this, I do not mean to intimate for a moment that
we have no need of training for teachers ; because I think the
great danger in any college is, that the teachers will become
scholars merely, and will not have the ability to apply their
teaching in their own personal experience. The men who sus-
tain the idea of this college are men who do not feel as we do
who have thought more upon the subject, so much the necessity
of more accurate scientific knowledge, as they did the desire
that there should be a place where farmers' boys could be taught
farming in a more general sense. I agree that that is the great
want of the farmers of the Commonwealth ; but in saying that,
I do not mean to suggest that this is all that is needed ; but 1
mean to suggest that this is what we felt, who were more nearly
connected, as we supposed, with the wants of farmers and
farmers' sons, to be the want in their minds ; and it was for that
reason that it was thought, more especially by the gentlemen
connected with the Board of Agriculture, and more intimately
associated with the agricultural societies of the Commonwealth,

68 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

that that want would be supplied, although it was very necessary
that an equally great want, and a much higher one, that of a
school of all the arts, should be met. It seems to me, there-
fore, that we have to thank Congress for putting those words, ■
" practical manual labor," into the law. I think the sheet-
anchor of this college, as applied to the wants of the farmer^
rests in the practical application of science upon the spot, in so
far as it can be done.

I was very glad to hear a gentleman associated so intimately
with Harvard College as Prof. Agassiz, avow the sentiments
which he expressed with regard to the importance of more
practical teaching everywhere. I remember, sir, when I was at
Cambridge (having had the honor of graduating at that institu-
tion,) that when I studied astronomy, I could not ask where a
star was — it was against the law ; it was mathematics that I was
learning ; it was my mind that was being trained. I could not
ask to apply geometry or arithmetic to any part in surveying or
architecture ; it was mathematics I was studying ; and my
mind was cramped at the time — (not that my mind was any
more exploring or any more inquisitive than others) — and I
felt that the mind of the young man at Cambridge, in that
course of mathematics — and? to some extent it was true of all
the other studies — was made to germinate, it began to burst,
and then, in the very act of germination, it seemed as if it were
cramped.

Now, I think that the people of the Commonwealth — not the
scholiasts, not the mere scholars, of the Commonwealth, but the
people of the Commonwealth, agree fully with the spirit and
substance of the remarks of Dr. Bigelow in that most remark-
able common-sense lecture which he gave some two years ago,
I believe, in Boston. I think, if what are called literary colleges
do not change their methods in some respects, there will be
such a growth of institutions like the Agricultural College, that
they will have to look out for themselves. I do not know, for
one, that it was wise, so far as Amherst College was concerned,
to encourage the location of an institution like this' so near to
her own borders, because I doubt very much whether the child
may not be likelier than the mother in some early future day.
But I think these scientific schools, the school of Technology in
Boston, and the various groupings of men particularly inter-

WORK IN HAND. . 69

ested in agriculture during the last fifteen years in the Com-
monwealth, are indications of this popular feeling, that Greek
and Latin, sometime or other, are to be accomplishments, and
not the means alone of training the youthful mind ; and that
mathematics, that geometry, that astronomy, as they arc to be
taught hereafter, are to be taught by men who are endeavoring
practically to draw lightning from the skies, and devote knowl-
edge to some use, rather than to the purpose merely of training
the human mind.

. But it seems to me that we here have something practical to
do, if we agree in the hopes and the faith which have been
expressed by the gentleman who has addressed us this evening.
It is well known, and must have been perceived by the remarks
made by our friend, that this College is now in a position where
it must be dwarfed by the Commonwealth, and on the responsi-
bility of the Commonwealth, or it must be allowed to grow ;
and I .understand that the trustees propose to ask the legisla-
ture this winter for an appropriation for the purpose of building
a dormitory which shall be sufficient at least to hold the next
class, which, as has been suggested, will be as large, and prob-
ably larger, than the one which has already entered ; and I
think we, as gentlemen from varipus parts of the Common-
wealth, can do no better practical work than by seeing the
representatives and senators, with many of whom we are person-
ally acquainted, and witli so many of whom we can bring
ourselves into contact, and ask them to assist us in obtaining
such an appropriation. The State is now in a position from
which, it seems to me, it cannot withdraw itself with honor ;
and while there will be, and should be, a very great pressure to
reduce the expenditures of the Commonwealth, in all legitimate
ways, this year, and for many coming years, probably, I do not
see that there can be but one course for the Commonwealth to
pursue, in this emergency, with regard to the Agricultural
College, and that is, to give it a chance to breathe ; and I hope,
sir, that we may be able to exert, legitimately, such an influ-
ence upon the legislature as the gentleman who has put the
question has so often done by his own personal eloquence and
power, in behalf of the museum at Cambridge ; and that it may
result in such a grant to the college, as shall enable the tr\istees
to make the necessary, almost indispensable, addition.

70 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

I rose, however, more particularly to move a vote of thanks
to Prof. Stockbridge for his address, and for the information
that he has been kind enough to give us this evening.

The motion was carried, unanimously, and the Board
adjourned, to meet on Wednesday morning, at 9 o'clock.

SECOND DAY — Morning Session.

The Board met at the hour assigned, and the consideration of
the question of Cattle Husbandry was resumed. Captain Moore,
of Concord, occupying the chair.

J. M. Smith, of Sunderland. I regard this question as one
of the most important that can come before us. "We discussed
this question thoroughly at our meeting last year ; our discus-
sions have gone upon record ; they have gone abroad through-
out the Commonwealth ; the people have read them eagerly,
and they arc looking to-day to learn what shall be result of our
■discussions here. I asked myself yesterday. What have we
learned, or in what respect will our discussion be different from
what it was last year ? What new ideas have come to our
minds ; what advances have we made ? What have we learned
in breeding or in feeding ? It is well known that the old patri-
arch Jacob knew how to breed so that his cattle were regularly
streaked and speckled. Can it be said of us at the present day
that we have brought breeding to that perfection ? It is a ques-
tion which is often asked by ourselves, " How shall we breed at
will either of the sexes ? " and I have an idea that even our own
world-renowned Agassiz cannot answer that question. But it
will be answered, and fully answered, I believe.

The question of feeding has properly come up here, and it is
an important question. This subject is an important one, for
the stock of cattle in a community or on a farm is an index of
that section or that farm. The rearing of stock is an important
branch of farming, and feeding is an important branch of rais-
ing and rearing stock. Any farmer can fill his barn with hay
and grain, but not more than one in a hundred knows how to
feed out that hay and grain to a profit ; and I presume I can
say that but one in five hundred knows how to feed out his
crops so that he shall receive the market price for them.

FEEDING FOR MILK OR BUTTER. 71

I conclude, from my observation and experience, and from
what I learned here yesterday, that the quality of the food
affects the quality of the milk and also of the meat. It is well
known that the child who nurses an intoxicated human mother,
or rather inhuman mother, itself becomes intoxicated ; and I
have learned since I came here that one member of this Board
has been complained of for violating the prohibitory law by feed-
ing sweet apples to his cows and selling the milk ! If such is
the case — if the quality of the food affects the milk and the
meat — we should be very careful what we feed to our cows.
And we know that it is so ; we know that the least change in
our feed does affect the milk. I had this in my mind yesterday,
when I asked Mr. Birnie the question if his object was to make
butter or milk for the market. It seems to me that the feed
which he gives his animals would be better for producing milk
than butter. He recommended cabbages for cows. I recollect
that a year ago I mentioned to the Board the fact, that having
an opportunity at one time to purchase a lot of cabbages very
cheap, I bought them and fed them freely to my cows, and the
result was that they spoiled the butter. Butter-making is as
much an object with us as milk-producing in other localities.
One gentleman, a worthy member of the Board, who is a good
farmer, and whose wife is one of the best of farmers' wives, and
a good butter-maker, said he could not believe that cabbages or
turnips would affect butter. He had occasion to call at my
house afterwards, and brought me a little cake of butter, and
asked me what I thought of that butter. I told him it was
very good, but it smelt just as our butter did at the time I fed
the cows cabbages and turnips. It was not perfectly sweet.

Now, I say that the feed which has been recommended here
(we may call it trashy feed — it is light feed,) will produce the
greatest quantity of milk, but it is not the feed which will
produce the best and sweetest butter. Articles of food which
will answer for one purpose, may not answer for another. It
is not for me to say what particular stock shall be raised in any
locality. It is not for the farmers of Berkshire or Franklin to
say what stock shall be raised in Essex or Nantucket ; and it is
not for the farmers of Essex, or Barnstable, or Plymouth, to say
what stock we shall breed on the Connecticut River. It is not
for us to say that such and such articles are the best for dairy

72 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

purposes, when one dairy may be for producing milk, and
another for producing butter. My idea is this, that milk con-
sumers are not so difficult to please as butter consumers. Our
chairman of yesterday, Dr. Loring, spoke of Indian meal, and
any meal, which contains oil, as bad for dairy stock, and recom-
mended feeding with wheat and rye bran, etc. My experience
tells me that these are very good ; and I dwell upon this particu-
larly, because his object is to produce milk, while mine is to
make butter. My experience teaches me, that these kinds of
food will tend to produce a large quantity of milk, but will not
make a great deal of butter. If the farmers of the Connecticut
River wished to produce butter, white as the driven snow, they
would feed broom corn-seed and corn-stalks. It would take
twenty-four hours to bring the butter, but it would be white, as
I say, as the driven snow. If they wished to produce butter
which should be hard and yellow, they would give a mixture of
Indian corn-meal. I never have seen any ill-effects from feeding
Indian corn-meal, given to dairy cows in small quantities, and
my experience tells me that it will make better butter ; and it
is admitted by all, I suppose, tliat it will make more flesh.

Now, in regard to cotton-seed meal. The assertion was made
quite broadly that it was injurious to cattle, kept for dairy
purposes. I have fed tons of it with satisfactory results. I
have fed it the past summer to my dairy cows, and I am still
feeding it with satisfaction ; and I shall continue to feed it imtil
I see that it produces ill effects.

A Member. How long have you used it ?

Mr. Smith. Several years continuously. I remarked this
morning, privately, that I liad fed one cow — the best I have —
year after year with cotton-seed meal, and she does as well as
ever.

Dr. Loring. How much do you give ?

Mr. Smith. Three or four quarts a day, perhaps, mixed with
lighter feed. I am now feeding my dairy cows three quarts
each, once a day, half cotton-seed meal and half cob meal, and
once a day half a bushel of carrots each. I have one cow,
which I am not ^intending for dairy purposes, to which I have
given a very much larger quantity of cotton-seed meal. It is a
cow that I intend to make beef of before the year comes round.
I have fed it to all kinds of cattle — fatting sheep, fatting cattle,

OLEAGINOUS FOODS. 73

store cattle, breeding sheep, and ewes with lambs and without
lambs — and the only ill effect that I ever saw from using cotton-
seed meal was to early lambs ; but early lambs, (those fitted for
an early market,) are exceptions to all the rules of feeding.
They are like hot-house plants. They are forced forward for
the early market, and it is intended that the lamb, from the day
of its birth to the day it goes to market, shall feed freely and be
free to go and come. The ill effect I speak of manifested itself
last spring, when I lost several lambs, and I laid it to the cotton-
seed meal. The lambs appeared to have a secretion about their
intestines, and appeared to be dropsical. I have noticed, in
feeding sheep heavily upon cotton-seed, that it tended to produce
a too great flow of urine ; and I presume it was the same with
those lambs — that it produced too great a secretion of water,
and killed some of them.

Such has been my experience in feeding stock upon Indian
meal and cotton-seed meal. I have fed it for the reason that it
is the cheapest article of feed in the market. It is good for fat-
tening purposes, it is good for dairy purposes, and it makes the
best manure.

Mr. BiRNiE. Have you ever fed it to calves ?

Mr. Smith. I have, in small quantities, and I never saw any
ill effects from it.

Dr. LoRiNG. When I referred to cotton-seed meal, I was not
speaking with reference to cows or feeding for milk alone, but I
was speaking of the kinds of food most conducive to the health
and long life of cattle ; and I said that I considered oleaginous
food as injurious to cows, and I gave as a reason, that it produced
inflammation of those delicate tissues which were so remarkable
in the cow, and which were so easily affecCed by the accident of
climate or weather or food, and which rendered it imperatively
necessary, in order that a cow should live a long life of useful-
ness, and not be cut off in her prime, as Methuselah was, that
she should be fed with great care.

Now I have had experience with cotton-seed meal, and so
have others. I began early. I suppose I fed it as early as any
feeder in the State. Many years ago, when the Providence
Company first introduced decorticated meal — which must have
been as long ago as 1859, and perhaps 1858 — a quantity was
sent to me and I used it. I found it would produce milk and
10

74 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

fat. I was attracted by it, and the next year I began to feed it.
I did not feed so largely as Mr. Smith docs — not more than two
quarts a day j and out of fifty cows I was obliged to get rid of
thirty in two years in consequence of inflammation of the udder.
I found they were losing their capacity to give milk. And of
the remaining cows — many of which were pure bred Ayrshire
cows, which I did not desire to sell at any rate — were injured,
and it took me three years to bring them back to their former
condition. That was one experiment. It was manifest that the
cotton-seed meal produced that effect. Year before last I pur-
chased in Vermont, in the fall, some cows, intending to feed
them in the fall and winter and turn them in the spring.
They had just calved. I gave those cows five quarts of cotton-
seed meal for the purpose of keeping up a great flow of milk
and getting them in good condition for the butcher. Of that
lot of cows I retained two, they were so remarkably good.
They gave, at the time I wasfeedingthem, just after I purchased
them, from sixteen to eighteen quarts of milk a day. I kept
them through the next season, turned them out to grass ; they
calved again, but they never gave over six quarts of milk, and
I never got them into condition again. It seemed as if they had
been poisoned, or there was something the matter Avitli their
digestive organs which had been injured by the cotton-seed meal.
That was another experiment.

Now Mr. Smith says cotton-seed meal is cheap in the market.
What is the reason ? The English feeders are purchasing what
they call oil cake at double the price of cotton-seed meal — and
why ? Because their experience has shown them that cotton-
seed meal is injurious. It is not a week since I met one of the
most intelligent English feeders, a young farmer from Somerset-
shire, who is engaged in breeding Herefords, and whose father
is engaged in fatting Devons, and he gave me an exceedingly
interesting account of these two classes of animals. He said he
was making meat for the market. I asked him, " Do you feed
cotton-seed meal ? " " No, I don't." "Why?" "Because
half a dozen animals on our two farms have died from that
cause. The veterinary surgeon found that it had injured them
in such a way as to be destructive of their life. It threw them
off their appetite, made them dyspeptic, created accumulations
of bard, faecal matter ia the intestines, and the animal died."

STEAMING FOOD. 75

Not twelve miles from this place, I know an intelligent farmer
who has had the same experience witii cotton-seed meal. There
are always exceptions. " What is one man's meat is another
man's poison." One man may feed his cows gunpowder ;
another can't. I am talking of tlie general run of the thing
throughout. I have no prejudice against cotton-seed meal, but
I insist that the position it holds in the market as cheaper than
oil cake and other articles, grows out of the fact that so many
experienced farmers have ascertained that it is dangerous to
their cattle, or not good for them, at any rate. I state these
facts within my own knowledge and experience partly to sustain
the views I mentioned yesterday, and partly that the thing may
be fairly ventilated. I have no prejudice, I repeat, against
cotton-seed meal. I should be glad to have it succeed. If the
manufacturers will sell it for half the price of oil cake, every
farmer ought to be grateful to them for their philanthropic con-
duct. But the difficulty is, that it cannot be used with good
results.

Mr. Davis. In the cases you refer to, was the hull taken off?

Dr. LoRiNG. It was decorticated meal. Its effect is perfectly
apparent, and the careful observer can see it. It is like the
effect tluUyou see upon some men who have been through some
disease. It is evident to the experienced eye that their con-
stitution is injured, although you may not be able to tell
precisely what tlie difficulty is. But that cotton-seed meal is
injurious to the digestion of our cattle I do not hesitate to say ;
and while some may say that they can feed it with impunity, I
would not have it in my barn if I could have it for nothing. I
speak of this for the general welfare of the cattle business, and
it is one of those matters that ought to be carefully discussed
and investigated.

Mr. Smith. I can refer you to some of our best farmers, all
through the Connectiput Valley, who have fed it to their cattle,
and feed it still. I suppose the doctor and myself will have to
call it a draw game. I can see no objection to the use of
cotton-seed meal. It makes good butter; it makes good beef;
it makes the best manure, because it contains so much oil.

I intended to say one thing mow, in regard to feeding
steamed food. I do not know anything about it, except what I
hear, but it has never seemeel to me that steaming straw could

76 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

make it nutritions. I have wondered how you got nutriment
out of poor food by steaming it ; but the idea came into my
head yesterday that it was possible that by steaming, you got it
into such a state that the animal could draw more nutriment
out of it. That I gathered from some of the discussion yester-
day. I have no doubt whatever that warm food and drink are
better for an animal than cold ; they will produce a greater
flow of milk. But in order to get the best milk or the best
meat, we must feed the best food. That everybody will admit.
I think Mr. Horsfall does not agree with some of the statements
that were made here yesterday. I was reading an account of
the controversy, a few days ago, upon this very subject, and the
testimony of Mr. Horsfall was, that pork that was fed upon light
substances would " stink in the pot," (that is his expression,)
and that beef, fed upon steamed food, had not the hardness,
.had not the substantial qualities that characterize beef fed upon
more substantial articles of food. I have considerable doubt
whether you can produce so good meat upon steamed food as
you can upon dry food.

Mr,. Meriam. In reference to the views expressed by the
President (Dr. Loring) yesterday, in regard to in-and-in breed-
ing, I have no doubt that all the breeds of animals in which
great excellence has been attained — we will take the Durham,
for instance, among cattle, Ave will take the Leicester and the
Southdown among sheep — it has been due to in-and-in breeding.
The arguments and prejudices against in-and-in breeding have
grown out of divine and human laws, and the supposed analogy
between the human race and animals. My own conviction is,
that the deterioration in highly improved herds, which has been
ascribed to in-and-in breeding, has originated in another cause.
I believe that where highly improved herds have deteriorated, it
will be found to have arisen from the fact that the cattle have
been luxuriously fed and kept idle. If you wanted to find a
family of children, robust, vigorous and full of life, you would
not go among the rich and luxurious, those who fare sumptu-
ously every day, and take no physical exercise, but you would
go to some family in the comfortable middle class, where they
enjoy the comforts of life, and where the physique is fully and
perfectly developed by exercise. Now, I believe that where
improved animals have deteriorated, it has arisen, not from

THE ANGORA GOAT. 77

in-and-in breeding, but from breeding from animals whose
physical and nervous systems wera not fully developed. Hence
I maintain that it is necessary, in order to have a good stock
getter, to have an animal, a bull, for instance, that is fully
exercised, so that his physique is strong, vigorous and healthy.
I mentioned this subject to Mr. Griswold, who has probably the
best herd of Durham animals in New England, and he told me
his herd was taken care of by an Englishman, and that his bulls
had two miles of exercise every day. " Bohemia," the first
year after he was imported, got no stock — he was a high-fed,
luxurious liver ; and the next year, they made him cut his own
fodder, put him into the pasture, and gave him abundant exer-
cise, and he became a good stock getter. I liave always found
that a bull that is worked is a better stock getter, and gets
more vigorous calves than a luxurious, idle bull. I ascribe the
deterioration in many herds to luxurious, high feeding, and
idle habits.

I suppose this discussion is not confined to neat cattle, and
there is a subject in which Massachusetts is largely concerned,
to whidi I will briefly allude. The statement has been made
in the " New York Tribune," that the wool of the Angora goat
was coarse hair, unfit for anything — hardly fit to make a decent
pair of Sunday pantaloons; that the valuable shawls, cashmere
shawls, for instance, were not made from this fleece ; and that
there was no machinery in this country for spinning and using
this fleece. Now, the oldest of us recollect, that when the
Merino sheep were introduced, many farmers said they would as
soon have a skunk upon their farm as a Merino ram ; yet the
importation of that animal has added millions to our agricul-
tural wealth. It was the introduction of a new agricultural
and manufacturing staple; And it has not only done that, but
it has kept so much money at home. The introduction of the
Angora goat promises to furnish as valuable an agricultural
and manufacturing staple. The principle of the manufacture
is the same as that of lustre wool ; it can be spun in the same
way, and with similar machinery. To show that tliere is no
truth in the report of the " Tribune," I have with me three
samples of the first cloth, probably, ever manufactured in this
country from yarn spun by machinery. The Angora wool is
manufactured at Paterson, N. J., at Troy, N. Y., and at

78 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. •

Lowell. On the continent of Europe, they have usually used
imported warps. Li Vienna, they are weaving both sides of
mohair shawls at the same time, on the Jacquard loom, costing
about $35 there. A gentleman now travelling in Europe and
the East, to examine into the manufacture of this article,
carried over samples of »ur Angora wool, and he writes from
Vienna, that the manufacturers there declared it equal to any
they had ever seen, and it took equal rank at the Paris Exposi-
tion with the best specimens of the European wool. You will
observe that there is a lustre upon these cloths. The yarn was
spun to No. 32. It could have been run up to No. 50, but all
these fine lustre dress goods are made from cotton warps, which
are spun from combed cotton ; and in order to have them very
fine, they must be spun in rooms so protected from wind that
the threads shall not be affected by the air. No warp could be
found finer than No. 32, and consequently the mohair was
spun to No. 32. In order to make the finest fabric, the wool
must be assorted ; this was spun as it came from the fleece. It
was spun on the same machinery that lustre wool is spun on.
I have seen photographs of the original Cashmere loom of
India, and of the Jacquard loom, on which both sides of a shawl
are woven at the same time, and the fabric will compare in
beauty, softness and finisli with the finest shawls brought from
Cashmere. These were manufactured at Lowell, at the mills
of the Lowell Carpet Company, and I was told by a gentleman
there, who is perfectly familiar with the weaving of carpets,
that there is no difficulty whatever in manufacturing this fleece.
Mr. Davis. The gentleman who has just sat down has
brought up an inquiry, by a portion of his remarks, which I
intended to make, and that is, in regard to the use and manage-
ment of bulls. It is a matter of practical importance, of course,
to every farmer, and I find the question is often raised now
throughout the Commonwealth, whether the difficulty in getting
cows with calf may not be peculiar to some particular breed.
Yesterday and to-day, I have heard the remark made by several,
some members of the Board and some citizens of this town, that
a difficulty had been found in getting Jerseys with calf. I
never have experienced tliat difficulty, although I have had
them nine or ten years. The inquiry has also been raised,
which I should like to have answered, if there is any gentleman

MANAGEMENT OF BULLS. 79

here who knows anything about it, whether there has been any-
thing of that kind found to be peculiar to the Kerries. I think,
from what I have heard with regard to them, and from the
inquiries that have been instituted, that it will be found to be
the practical difficulty under which Mr. Austin has labored with
regard to the products of his importations. I have a Kerry
heifer, which is now five or six years old, and I have never
been able to get but one calf from her ; and it seems to me that
the suggestion of the gentleman in regard to breeding in-and-in,
leads us to a very important inquiry as to the general use and
management of bulls. It seems to be the idea of most farmers,
that a bull is to be treated as a gentleman, confined to the barn,
pampered, and never exercised ; I suppose that is the most
usual practice. In every case where I have seen a cow of the
Jersey stock which has been found difficult to breed from, she
has been either one of great capacity and considerable flesh, or
one which has not been exercised and for that reason has too
much flesh. For instance : I saw this morning, at Mr. Keyse's,
three or four animals, supposed to be of the Jersey breed —
bought as such, but showing in the hind quarters some marks
of the Shorthorn. He says he has found that same difficulty
with regard to getting calves.

I met a gentleman from Porto Rico, the other day, and he
told me that he had, in connection with his plantation, a herd
of bulls, and that the teams upon that island were made up of
bulls, which were as docile, as easily worked, and as easily
tpken care of when worked as any animal that we could con-
ceive of. They are universally used, I understand, on that
island, for drawing purposes ; working every day in teams of
four, six and eight. Now, we certainly suffer a great loss of
power in keeping bulls as we do throughout Massachusetts, and
if there is any well-settled rule with regard to the best mode of
taking care of these animals, which are, except in one respect,
the most unproductive consumers upon the farm, it seems to me
that all of us would like to know it. And if there is any
incapacity peculiar to any one of the imported breeds, it seems
to me that the inquiry to what it is owing, would be a very
important one in this connection.

Professor Agassiz. I should like to ask one question.
Whether, in connection with the various modes of feeding cattle,

80 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

measurements have been made to ascertain the quantity and
quality of the milk, so that tlie relation between the quantity
and quality of the milk and the different modes of feeding and
different articles of food should be ascertained.

Mr. BiBNiE. I doubt very much whether there have been any
accurate observations made.

Professor Agassiz. I think the instruments by which all
these observations may be made with the most perfect accuracy
are so easily obtained, that our studies on these subjects should
be accompanied by actual measurements, so that the results may
no longer be matters of mere general and vague impression. I
think a great service would be rendered to agriculture if the
lactometer were used to ascertain what is the quality of the
milk. There have been some very beautiful experiments made
of that nature, and from the reports, (I have not seen them
made,) I judge they were neither difficult nor costly ; and
therefore I think those who are interested in determining the
best modes of feeding should do something to ascertain what
they get by their different modes of feeding.

N. S. Hubbard, of Brinifield. I recollect one thing that came
up in connection with one of our cheese factories. On trying
the milk we found there was some difference in the quality, and
there was one particular dairy the milk from which they sup-
posed to be adulterated. It was tried from day to day and week
to week, until they were satisfied that water was added to the
milk, and means were taken to ascertain with regard to it defi-
nitely, so that one man should not bring adulterated milk to gp
in with milk that was pure. On getting at the exact facts, they
came to the conclusion that the milk was not adulterated, but that
owing to the quality of food this dairy had produced a poor quality
of nnlk. I had been engaged in the business of sending milk to
market for some fifteen years, before the establishment of cheese
factories. We fed tons and tons of shorts to our cows during
the winter season, so as to get the largest flow of milk ; but we
found that by feeding shorts we were running the cows too hard,
and that we needed something to support the cow as well as to
get a great flow of milk ; and we found, on feeding corn meal,
that the cow very soon improved, and the quality of the milk
improved. I know the men who bought milk in Boston had a
preference for particular dairies ; and it was owing, in, great

CABBAGES FOR COWS. 81

measure, to the mode of feeding practised in those dairies.
Take it in the summer season, cows fed in pastures that produce
clover luxuriously will always produce a better quality of milk
than cows sent to pastures where there is nothing but June
grass. And it is just so with feed, at whatever season of the
year. If cows are fed a good while on corn meal they will not
give so large a flow of milk as when fed on lighter foods. Lighter
food produces a larger flow of milk, but it wears down the cow
more than it does to feed a better quality of food. I think
there is the great difference. Of course the milk that the cow
gives is manufactured out of what she eats ; and if she eats a
better quality of food, the milk must be of a better quality.

Now, with reference to what Mr. Smith said with regard to
feeding various things, cabbages in particular. For some eight
or ten years I have fed cabbages to my cows in the fall of the
year regularly, in moderate quantities, and I have never discov-
ered anything, either in the milk or in the butter, (though we
have made butter but a small part of the year because we have
been engaged in selling milk and making cheese,) which indi-
cated the presence of cabbages. If the milk or butter does taste
of the cabbage, it must be cither because it is fed to them in too
large quantities, or fed to them when they have been in the
habit of having other food in large quantities. Fed to them
regularly, at the proper time, in moderate quantities, it will
increase the flow of milk ; and I have never discovered anything
objectionable in smell or taste.

Mr. BiRNiE. A few years ago I sowed a tobacco bed, and at
the same time sowed a cabhage bed. I had very few tobacco
plants that were good, but an excellent bed of cabbage plants ;
the rains came on, and it seemed to be a very favorable time to
set out cabbages, and I set them out every rainy day. The
result was, my piece was covered with cabbages and no tobacco.
I had some five or six acres of cabbages, and they grew tremen-
dously, and gave me the greatest crop of cabbages produced in
our neighborhood. They ripened and began to burst before I
knew it, and I commenced giving them to my cows, feeling, at
the same time, that tliere was some danger of their tasting in
the milk. I had that impression because I had some experience
when feeding the outside leaves occasionally to my cows ; the
milk tasted of the cabbage. But I began to feed them by the
11

82 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE.

wagon-load. I would carry as much as two horses could draw
to twenty cows ; and I found no ill effects, and heard no com-
plaint. My wife considers herself rather particular about milk ;
I did not say anything about it, nor did she ; and none of the
customers made any complaint. I fed a great many tons that
autumn — as much as two tons a day right along — to my cows,
and they grew fat and gave great quantities of milk. Since
then, I have raised cabbages every year for the express purpose
of giving them to the cows. They seem to begin to gain flesh
the moment they began to eat the cabbages.

I have fed turnips without discovering any ill effect ; but
when my cows have fed on turnip-tops as they pleased, then I
have tasted the turnips in the milk. But where turnips have
been fed moderately, in tlie morning, after milking, I have
never heard any complaint whatever.

I was very glad to hear the discussion in regard to cotton-
seed meal. I was questioning whether I should buy some for
the purpose of feeding my calves. I raise a great many calves
every year, and have been in the habit of feeding them oil
meal — at first putting a little of the oil meal into the milk, and
after awhile withdrawing the milk, and feeding them entirely
on oil meal. Calves grow and thrive exceedingly well on oil
meal. I have noticed that there is a difference of about flO a
ton between oil meal and cotton-seed meal.

Now, in relation to steamed food affecting the quality of the
milk. I have never heard of such an objection to milk pro-
duced by feeding steamed food ; and I do not believe there is any
such objection. For ten or eleven years, I have fed my cattle
with steamed food, giving them very little dry hay, and I believe
the milk is better, and the cattle are certainly better. They
look better ; they do not consume so much, and what they do
eat is more thoroughly digested ; less passes through them
undigested. I have often seen statements against it by scientific
men. My experience satisfies me that there is a great economy
in it, and I am very happy to learn from Prof. Agassiz, that it
is not antagonistic to science. I shall continue to practise that
method of feeding until I see that it is injurious.

Mr. Meriam. There seems to be a difference of opinion
here, among practical gentlemen, with regard to the effect of
feeding cabbage and turnips to cattle, some declaring cabbage

FEED CABBAGES AFTER MILKING. 83

to be very excellent, strong, wholesome food, and not injurious
to the milk, and others holding the contrary opinion. In my
neighborhood, the cabbage yields from forty-four to fifty tons of
green feed to the acre, and we keep it all winter. A furrow is
ploughed by the side of a wall or fence, the cabbages are set in
it and covered up, and furnish an abundant supply of green
feed for the winter. Cabbage will yield about fifty tons to the
acre ; that gives a large quantity of feed, and if it can be used
with safety to the butter and milk, it is certainly very desirable
to know it.

I have some very early English turnips which I began to feed
six or eight weeks ago, and it destroyed a churning of butter,
and the milk was injured. Mr. Birnie has stated a fact that
reconciles this difference of opinion. He states that he feeds
cabbages and turnips in the morning, after milking. I changed
my time of feeding from before milking to after milking, and I
was surprised at the result. The night's milk was not injured,
and we were never troubled after we began feeding after milk-
ing. I do not find any injury from feeding either cabbage or
turnip in that way, and I find them very valuable feed.

Mr. Brown. The suggestions of Prof. Agassiz in relation to
the necessity of inquiries to determine the quality of milk, are
very important to us ; and if the Board of Agriculture will come
to some conclusion in regard to the matter, and publish it, so as
to set our people to making experiments and investigating the
matter, they would do the country a very great service. I have
no doubt whatever that tlie quality of the food affects the quality
of the milk ; but I have some doul:)ts whether, by the test of the
lactometer we can discover the variations. It seems to me it will
require some nicer instrument. Now, if I want milk that will
give me a large quantity of butter, I send my cows away upon
the hills, where the grass is short and very sweet ; and if the
hills are stony so much the better. Cows feeding on such grass
will give milk that will make, I think, double the quantity of
butter that the same amount of milk will make when the cows
get into clover fields. But if I desire to make milk for our
Boston friends to use, I send the cows into the most luxurious
clover fields I can find, and then tlicy will give me brimming
pails. I have some facts, which I will not stop to relate, upon
that point, where exact experiments have been made from day

84 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

to day, and the variation in the quality of the milk has been
shown to be just as certain as the variation in going from one
pasture to another. There can be no doubt that the quality of
the food does affect the quality of the milk — in its richness, I
mean — and that is a point to which our attention should be
turned more than it has ever been. We need some well-settled
facts in relation to it, which it seems to me the Board of Agri-
culture can give us better than we can get them from individ-
uals, because we have the aggregate experience of a large
number of people ; and that is what we want.

Dr. LoRiNG. I want to say one word in regard to roots. Mr.
Hubbard alluded to the use of shorts as being injurious to cows,
stating that it " run them too hard." I want to call the atten-
tion of tlie Board to the fact, that I distinctly stated, in describ-
ing my mode of feeding, that I made considerable use of roots.
I can never say too much about the root crop. It seems to me
every firmer who is feeding cattle for any purpose should
remember that root crops really lie at the foundation of tho
most economical and profitable feeding. It is a most astonishing
thing to me that men shoiild have been laboring twenty years to
induce farmers to go into the raising of roots. We have got
machinery for planting the seed and cutting up the roots — every-
thing is prepared, and I do not see why it is so difficult to induce
farmers to engage in the cultivation of roots. The cultivation
of mangolds and swedes lies at the foundation of the most suc-
cessful farming. That is saying a great deal, but it really does
come to that in the end ; and why the sheep breeders of Vermont
are so slow in introducing the cultivation of swedes, and the
cattle breeders of Massachusetts so slow in the cultivation of
mangolds, I cannot imagine. The swedes are raised more easily
and cheaj)ly tlian any crop, and the mangolds, considering the
small amount of labor and manure required, are really the most
profitable crop you can raise for your cattle except swedes.

Mr. Flint. I should like to say one word more in addition
to what I said last niglit in regard to the use of cotton-seed
meal. We all know it does not do to draw general conclusions
from the result of one experiment, or two or three ; and previous
to the statements made by Dr. Loring, I think I had never
heard of half a dozen individuals, who had used cotton-seed
meal extensively, who had found any objection to it ; while, on

COTTON-SEED MEAL. 85

the other hand, I have known certainly hundreds of cases where
it has been fed with perfect satisfaction and with the best results.
I think there must have been some special causes, in those cases
where the result has been unsatisfactory, which were not, per-
haps, apparent. I alluded, when speaking of the subject yester-
day, to the reputation of cotton-seed meal in England, wiiere Dr.
Voelcker has investigated the nutritive qualities of cotton-seed
meal as compared with linseed meal ; and I know it has been
used there with great success. In a few cases objection was
made, and those cases were investigated by Dr. Voelcker and
other thoroughly competent scientific men, and it was ascer-
tained, upon getting at the facts, that the objectionable effects
resulted from feeding undecorticated cotton-seed. It was found
that the hulls collected in a large lump in the stomach, and of
course threw the stomach out of order. In every instance that
has come to my knowledge where any objection has been made,
the injury has resulted from feeding cotton-seed meal which has
not been decorticated, or from feeding it in too large quantities,
or what might be termed injudicious feeding.

I merely rose to state that I think we should not draw gen-
eral conclusions from one, two or three cases ; that the subject
is worthy of more careful experiment and investigation ; and
that, before we condemn cotton-seed meal, we should wait until
we have a larger number of experiments ; for so far as I have
heard of its use, in hundreds of instances, at least, the result
has been satisfactory.

I think we have upon the Board one of the largest feeders in
the State, and I would like to hear what his experience has
been. It has been suggested that we cannot feed beef cattle in
Massachusetts. I understand he has eighteen head of beef
cattle feeding now.

H. S. Porter, of Hatfield. In regard to cotton-seed meal, I
have been using it for the last ten years with very great success,
not only for dairy purposes, but more especially for fattening
purposes. I have used it in small quantities — three quarts a
day, mixed with Indian meal and shorts, and I have found it
very beneficial ; so much so, that I continue to use it, and I
have never perceived any bad effects from it. I once thought
I lost a very nice calf, that I proposed to push pretty hard, by
over-feeding with cotton-seed meal ; but for fattening purposes,

86 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

I have never seen anything equal to it. I find that those cattle
that have been fed with cotton-seed and Indian meal always
weigh the best, and so far as my experience goes, feeding with
cotton-seed meal has been a great success. I have also used it for
fattening sheep. I usually have about one hundred and fifty
sheep in the winter, and I feed them a mixture of a quarter or
third cotton-seed meal and the rest shelled corn. My neighbors
have used it as much as I have, perhaps more, and in no case
have I found any objection to it, except where, as Mr. Flint
says, unhulied cotton-seed was used. Some thought they hurt
their animals by using that, and they stopped at once. But
where the genuine hulled seed has been used, I have seen
no ill effects from it. • I have used from ten to fifteen tons
a year, and my neighbors have used it in larger quantities.
One of my neighbors has bought twenty tons for use this
winter.

Although I have never had any trouble where the cattle
were fed with tliis meal, I have a neighbor who fed cotton-seed
meal very extensively to two cows. They were very nice cows,
and he kept them in a high state of flesh, feeding them as much
as eight or ten quarts of cotton-seed a day. The consequence
was, he had a great flow of milk and made a large amount of
butter. He claimed that he made eighteen pounds of butter a
week from each cow. The consequence was, that in two years,
he had to turn them into beef. It dried them up. They were
cows that took the first premium at our sliow, and one of them
went as high as nineteen and one-half pounds of butter a week.
He thought he was doing a very nice tiling that winter, but the
next year, he turned one of them. I a!?ked him, witii some
surprise, " Why do you turn that cow into beef? " He rather
hesitated, hung down his head, and said, " I can't do as well
this winter as last." " Why ? " "I guess I forced them a
little too hard." If he had fed his cows a reasonable quantity
of cotton-seed meal, say three quarts a day, with shorts or
Indian meal, I think his cows would have been good now.

Mr. Smith. I will ask the gentleman a question : If he can-
not crowd an animal harder by feeding a mixture ? That has
been my^ experience. I have not experienced so much danger
of over-feeding or cloying an animal when I have a portion of
cotton-seed meal. In regard to the two cows he has mentioned,

TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT. 87

I have no doubt the same effect would have been seen if they
had been fed so high with anything else. I well recollect a very-
nice heifer that I was satisfied I spoiled by feeding her shorts. I
am somewhat persistent in this, because I am strongly in favor
of cotton-seed meal from the experience I have had. As I said
before, I have used it for several years, and I have seen no
unsatisfactory results.

FKUIT CULTURE,

The subject of Fruit Culture was then taken up, and the
discussion opened by the Chairman, Captain Moore, who said :

Fruit culture, the subject assigned for discussion to-Jay, I
need not say to this Board, is one of the leading interests of
farmers and gardeners in Massachusetts.

According to the returns of Industry of Massachusetts for
1865, the value of fruit returned amounts to $1,713,240. This
does not include the small fruits, but is confined principally to
apples and pears, and was compiled from the returns made in a
year of a failure of the apple crop to a large extent, and is prob-
ably underestimated. To this might safely be added a sum
sufficient to swell the whole amount to $2,000,000 for small
fruits ; this would be the estimated product of fruit for the
State.

The amount consumed is very much more than produced,
particularly of apples, peaches, grapes and strawberries, most of
which are brought from distant places to supply our markets ;
and this fact shows that there is still room to extend the culti-
vation of almost all varieties of fruit now grown here, with a
reasonable prospect of remuneration to the producer.

"With land well adapted to the production of the apple, is
there any good reason Avhy we should not only produce suffi-
cient for home consumption, but for export also ? I know that
some persons say that the apple is failing ; that they do not
produce as much as formerly.

That there has been a partial failure of the crops for three
or fqur years is true, but is there any crop grown by the fai-m-
ers of this State, weeds excepted (which never fail if you give
them a chance,) which has not at times been a partial failure?
Have we discarded potatoes because they rotted extensively, or

€8 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

given up growing English hay when the crop has been ahnost
worthless from drought, or given up the growing of the differ-
ent grains because they have suffered from blight, rust, or
insects ? Not by any means, but we have endeavored to find a
remedy for the trouble.

And now, while I do not think that it would be advisable to
plant apple orchards on good tillage lands worth one or two
hundred dollars an acre for other purposes, I am well satisfied
that there is a large amount of land, well adapted to the apple,
that is not so accessible, free from stones, so well adapted to
other farm crops or so valuable, that might well be planted
with apple trees and made profitable to their owners. I will
not undertake to give any reason for the small crops of the last
four years, but can only say that there are a few instances
within my own knowledge, where, having high cultivation, very
fair crops and quite profitable ones have been grown the last
three years.

Then would it not be safe advice to give, in view of the fact
that we consume more than we produce, and that the old
orchards, having fulfilled their mission, are fast going to decay,
to plant such cheap lands as I have described, with the apple,
not only for home consumption but for the market ? I certainly
think that it is.

The pear, which it was considered of doubtful expediency to
plant largely for profit, has become one of the standard fruit-
crops, second only to the apple in value for general cultivation.
This is largely due to the introduction of better, more produc-
tive and desirable varieties, for which we are indebted to the
liberality and public spirit of a few eminent horticulturists,
more particularly to a former member of the Board of Agricul-
ture, Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, and to the influence of the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society. These have done a great
deal for the public benefit by importing and disseminating new
varieties, and by showing the fruit, thus enabling those desiring
to plant to make a proper selection of varieties, which, with a
good soil and high cultivation, are three of the most important
requisites in" pear culture.

I will not name any methods of cultivation, as there are others
here who will take part in the discussion who are much better
qualified to describe the best methods than myself.

MILDEW ON THE GRAPE. 89

As to grapes, they have suffered the present year from the
extreme wetness of the season ; and although in amount a fair
crop, they were not well and evenly ripened, and they have
suffered very much more than usual from mildew. On some
varieties both fruit and foliage, on others the foliage alone
was affected. The fruit also has been injured to some extent
by rot.

Mildew, contrary to all former experiences, and to the theo-
ries of writers upon the subject, who usually assign it to low,
damp, close and humid places, has developed itself much more
extensively on the most high and airy parts of the vineyards.

The west sides of the vineyards in the vicinity of Concord
have suffered more than the east. This is the greatest pest of
grape-growing, and neither sulphur, nor any other application
that I am aware of, has been able entirely to prevent its ravages
the present season.

I will not undertake to advance any theories of my own about
mildew, and although I have watched it carefully through all
its phases, I am honest enough to say that I know but little
about the precise causes for its appearance, or the best remedies
to apply.

However, this year is an exception in this respect, and may
not be repeated for some seasons to come. The safe course
will be to cultivate principally such varieties as are comparatively
free from mildew.

The following varieties have suffered from mildew in the
order named, commencing with those affected the most :

1st " Crevelling," (lost all the foliage, the new wood mostly
dead ;) 2d, " Delaware ; " 3d, " Diana ; " (nearly as bad as the
first-named ;) 4th, '' lona ; " 5th, " Israella ; " (both these lost
a large part of their foliage, the wood of both, however, is
apparently alive ;) 6th, " Rogers," No. 15 and 3, (both badly
affected, not only on the foliage, but to some extent on the
fruit ;) 7th, " Allen's Hybrid " (about one-half of the foliage
destroyed ;) 8th, " Hartford Prolific " (a large portion of the
foliage injured, none on the fruit;) 9th, " Concord " (one-half
of the foliage of the hi^h part of the vineyard was destroyed, on
the low parts, but very little ;) 10th, The " Martha," the
" Black Hawk," the " Clinton," (hardly any.)

12

90 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Most all kinds have been injured by the rot to some extent,
but still with all these drawbacks it will take more than one
unfavorable season to change my opinion about the entire
practicability of grape-growing here.

But, gentlemen, the subject of small fruits is the one that we
should more particularly urge upon the cultivators of our State.
Not that the former are not important, but that they have
already a good start, and are more prominent before the
people.

I hold that every person who cultivates a garden, should
raise the small fruits to some extent for family use, and coming
as they do in the hot season, at the time when such food adds,
particularly by its cooling nature, to the healthy action of the
stomach, they promote health and are also agreeable to the
palate, and save money by keeping away the doctor.

The strawberry is one of the varieties of small fruits, of which
every one who has a garden should have a bed sufficiently large
to supply an abundance for the family, and when near the
market is a profitable crop to raise to sell. The same may be
said of the raspberry. Both require good soil and high cultiva-
tion to succeed perfectly, and when grown for market, no larger
extent of surface should be planted than can be easily handled,
both in the cultivation, picking and marketing.

Mr. J. F. G. Hyde, President of the Massachusetts Horticul-
tural Society. The remarks of the chairman suggest to us
many things in regard to fruit culture. He has glanced over
the whole field, and has touched upon one subject in which I
feel a great deal of interest ; that is, the failure of the apple.
We all remember when apples were as abundant as any crop
produced on our farms. Then apples sold for $1 or $1.25 a
barrel, and cider was produced for $2 and perhaps less a barrel ;
while now we are paying $6 a barrel for Northern Spys, and
cider is bringing $12 or $14 a barrel. The question naturally
arises, " Why this state of things ? " A writer in the " New
York Tribune " says that New England can no longer produce
apples ; her soil is worn out, and therefore we must look to the
West and the Middle States for our supplies of that fruit.
This seems to me to be nonsense. If our lands have been
exhausted of those elements which are necessary to the growth
of the apple tree and the production of its fruit, is it not possible

FAILURE OF THE APPLE. 91

to supply that which has been taken from the soil ? Is it pos-
sible that at this late day there is no man among us, (and we
have the most scientific man in the world in this meeting,) who
can tell us what to apply to those soils, and that we must remain
open to that charge, that our soils are worn out and can no
longer produce fruit ? I will not admit it for a moment.

My theory about the cause of the failure of the apple crop is
this. It is well known that we had, three or four years ago, two
years in succession, the greatest droughts that were ever known
in this part of the country. So extreme were these droughts,
that hundreds of thousands of forest trees, where the soil was
not deep, were actually killed. I say my theory is, that during
these years the apple trees suffered to such an extent that they
have since then been incapable of producing fruit. They made
very little wood in most cases, and had all they could do to sus-
tain themselves and keep alive without making fruit. In proof
of this, I give two or three facts that have come under my obser-
vation. One is, that a year ago last spring we had a consider-
able number of blossoms, and although the season was wet, the
blossoms dropped off in many instances, and in others the fruit
dropped after it had got to be some considerable size. How do
you explain this, you ask ? My theory is, that the tree had not
become sufficiently strong to carry the fruit ; that it wanted
more time to recuperate. In proof of this position I give this
fact. Three years ago I visited quite a large orchard in Newton,
where I live, in a sheltered position, and I found several
Nonsuch trees full of fruit. I said to the owner of the orchard,
whom I know very well, " How is this ? " Said he, " Those
trees were watered regularly." " Is it possible that you watered
those trees, large as they are ? " " Yes, I carted the water and
watered those trees, so that they did not suffer from the drought
last year." In the second year of the drought, when the apple
was an entire failure in our section, his trees were full of fruit.
There was no other reason for the difference. If you say it was
protection, I say there were other trees, protected in just the
same way, with scarcely an apple. I give that for what it is
worth. I know it to be so. I think the trees were unable,
having suffered in that way, to bear fruit ; but they went on
recuperating their energies to get into good condition. Last
year was not a bearing year, and therefore, if the season had

92 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

been favorable, we could not have expected a large crop, and it
is true that there was not a large crop.

It may be asked, " If the apple tree has suffered to that
extent, why has not the pear ? How are you going to account
for the fact that the pear tree has given us good crops ? " But
it is not true that the pear tree has given us, during the last
three or four years, such large crops as in favorable seasons.
Another reply that I would make is, that the pear tree does not
require the moisture that the apple tree does. It does not
spread itself like the apple tree ; it does not make the same
amount of wood or foliage. And then, again, the pear, in nine
cases out of ten, perhaps forty-nine out of fifty, has better treat-
ment than the apple. In many cases it is mulched or otherwise
protected ; in many cases watered, and when watered, good
results have followed. Again, many pear trees about Cam-
bridge, Roxbury and other places are planted on low, moist soil,
where their roots penetrate where there is moisture. I believe
it is true of the apple tree that it requires a damper soil than
the pear and takes up more moisture because of the larger
amount of foliage and wood.

It seems to me that we have thousands of acres lying remote
from cities, and yet close enough to railroads to secure cheap
transportation, where apples can be grown profitably, if we can
have such crops as formerly, for 11.50 a barrel. Why, then,
should we go to New York or Michigan and pay |5 a barrel,
and then not have them in ao good condition as we should get
them here ? I agree, it would not be good policy to plant apple
trees, where land is worth $5 an acre for smaller fruits. In
fact, I have taken up splendid Baldwin apple trees from my
land, and put them on land that was less valuable. It seemed
too bad, but my land is more valuable for grapes and other
small fruits. But still, there are thousands of acres that can
be profitably devoted to apple culture. I do not feel discour-
aged about it, any more than I do about my grapes, because my
grape crop was a perfect failure. I predict that we shall have
next year, a fine crop of apples. The two past wet seasons
have put them in condition. I have never seen them in better
condition than they are at the present time. I think no one of
us who writes at all for the papers should let down a particle
in regard to the apple crop. I want to know what people

THE PEAR. 93

remote from the seaboard could engage in more profitably than
apples ? Pears do not do so well, but apples do even better
there than here. There are formidable enemies to the apple,
about cities, especially the canker-worm. This pest remains
for a time, and then disappears. I know that the caterpillar
has got to be a formidable enemy in some places, but a little
vigilance (yes, a good deal is required sometimes,) will relieve
us of that. I can show you whole orchards of a thousand trees,
where not a nest can be found ; but they belong to industrious
men, who are up in the morning looking after their trees. I
believe these things can be remedied.

We need more light on the failure of the apple. If there are
reasons which have operated, and will continue to operate,
against the raising of apples, it is important we should know
them ; and if there is no reason why this failure is to continue,
then it is important we should know that, for it is a fact, that
there are fewer apple trees planted in Massachusetts now than
ever before, and the result will be, if we go on discouraging, as
some have during the past few years, the growing of apples in
different parts of the State, we shall be obliged to send our
money out of the State for this fruit, which it seems to me we
ought not to do.

Mr. Brown. How is it with regard to pears ?

Mr. Hyde. This year has been one of the worst years for
pears that I remember. Certainly, I never have experienced a
worse one since my orchard has been in bearing. I have a
small orchard of 400 standards and 600 dwarfs, and the pears
were so poor in flavor as not to be worth anything ; and the
same was true of thousands of other orchards, in different parts
of the country. In Southern Illinois, they had the same trouble.
I think it must have been owing to the wet season. I have
never known pears to crack as they did this year. Clapp's
Favorite, a variety only about twelve or fourteen years old,
cracked in my place badly. You will see that age cannot be
the reason ; there must be something besides that. Take the
Belle Winsor. That does not usually crack, but it cracked this
year badly. I never knew it to before. The Buerre Diel
cracked all to pieces, so that you could actually see the seeds.
Why was it ? I cannot tell. I think it was owing to the pecu-
liarity of the season. I cannot give the philosophy of it, I

94 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

cannot tell how it was, but I know that many trees lost their
leaves before August. The Flemish Beauty was good for noth-
ing with me this year, and I fed them to the pigs ; and I think
they were foolish pigs to eat them, they were so poor.
Although my land is rather dry soil, and sufficiently drained,
as I think, yet these were the effects that I observed. Even the
Bartlett cracked — a variety that I never saw crack before. I
cannot account for it in any other way except from the extreme
wetness of the season. Tiie season has been one of the most
remarkable, take it all together, that I ever remember. It has
been cold and wet, and very unfavorable for the full develop-
ment of fruits. There have been but few varieties that have
retained their flavor. There is one variety that I remember
particularly, and take pleasure in mentioning, because it is one
of the best varieties on the list. The Seckel, the best pear in
flavor, cracked, but Dana's Hovey did not crack, and retained
its flavor. That is a remarkably fine pear.

Mr. Brown. I want to make one remark. I will not discuss
the matter at all. The gentleman who has just taken his seat
says that the season has been a peculiar one. I think we have
all experienced that, and are satisfied of the fact. But what is
the peculiarity of the season ? Who knows anything about it ?
We expect a dry, hot summer in order to get a good crop of
Indian corn ; but we had, the past summer, one of the best
crops of Indian corn, through this region, that we have had for
many years. This year our fruit has been exceedingly poor. I
have not eaten half a dozen pears of really good flavor ; they
have been insipid, and some of them almost tasteless. The
remarks that the gentleman has made with regard to the worth-
lessness of fruit this year are entirely correct, and I think they
are applicable to fruit in all this region. Now, in what does
this peculiarity of the season consist ? I wish some of the wise
ones would tell us that, so that we may know how to shape our
course another summer, when the season is the same. We have
got the corn in perfection, and yet we have not got the fruit.

A Member. I would inquire if the tendency to crack in
pears has been increasing during the dry seasons ?

Mr. Hyde. There are certain varieties that always crack
more or less ; but this year has damaged some theories that
have been entertained by fruit-growers. The Beurre Diel, one

THE CRACK IN PEARS. 95

of the best pears, if we can grow it smoothly, has cracked badly
this year. The theory has been, that in a dry season, the rains
coming on, the moisture has been furnished so suddenly that
the skin could not expand quickly enough, and consequently it
was broken. Now we have had rain enough this season, and
yet they never cracked so badly as this year. The St. Michael,
the Stevens Genesee, the Flemish Beauty and the Beurre Diel
are varieties that have always cracked with me, more or less ;
they are subject to that defect ; but I cannot say that I have
noticed that the Seckel, the Bartlett, the Clapp's Favorite, the
Lawrence or the Vicar have shown any tendency to crack until
this year in my ground ; so that it must have been owing to the
peculiar season.

Mr. Bull. One thought suggests itself to me in regard to
the exemption of Dana's Hovey. That is a new variety, and for
the first three or four crops a tree is less liable to disease than
at other times. After it has got well established, if the begin-
ning of the season should be dry, there will be a tendency to
crack. I think the cause of this defect is that the grown tree,
with abundant fruit, losing part of its roots in a dry season,
becomes incapable of supplying the abundant foliage with sap
as fast as it consumes it, and at the same time keep up a healthy
growth of the fruit. It has got to adapt itself to the new con-
ditions. • It must make new roots ; then it has got to make its
wood and fruit-buds ; and so you will find, after the tree has
been barren for a couple of years, that it begins to bear again.
Now, when a pear tree is young, has just got established, the
balance between root and top is in good proportion, and it is
exempt from this tendency to crack and from other diseases ;
but when it has got large and well established, these things come
in to affect it. Some of these new varieties, at first exempt,
come at last to crack. I suppose that may be the explanation
of it.

With regard to corn, we had, during the whole of the fore
part of the season, wet weather. The corn started well, and
did not suffer from drought. It continued to grow, and the
latter part of the season was warm and dry, and ripened the
crop well. The late pears were the best. All I got that were
fit to eat were those that ripened late, and were not too forward
when the warm weather came.

9G BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Our chairman has very truly said that this has been a most
unfavorable year for the grape. Mildew has affected varieties
in localities where they have never before been affected ;
(I think all varieties have been occasionally affected, in certain
localities, though generally exempt.) But this year, none were
exempt. The season was peculiarly unfavorable. It has been
truly said, that some of the circumstances attending the pres-
ence of mildew go to upset many of the theories of the text-
books in regard to it. Suppose we look at that subject of
mildew for a moment. I confess, I have never been able to
satisfy myself that there was any peculiar cause for it. I believe
there are various causes operating, some at one time and some
at another. I am most inclined to accept Dr. Fisher's theory,
that it is due to hygrometric changes. He tells me, that up to
the 9th of July — and you will remember the season was, up to
that time, cool and wet — his grapes had no mildew upon tliem.
At that time, we had two or three bright and hot days, which
they improved to make their hay, and immediately the mildew
appeared. It took the upper leaves on his trellises, and was
instantly apparent. Immediately after these two or three days,
the cool, moist weather returned, and the mildew stopped.
That is a very remarkable fact, for according to the generally
received opinion, a wet season makes mildew ; and we have
always believed that the spores of this fungus in the air, in
continuing wet weather, found favorable circumstances to grow,
and establish themselves. My experience was the same ; I had
no mildew until that time, and then I found it, as the doctor
did, upon the upper leaves. That is one theory. Prof. Silli-
man, I think, wrote an article upon mildew, which appeared in
the " Horticulturist," in which he expressed his belief that it
was a constitutional defect, inherent in the vine. I do not
think that can be exactly true. I think I can say, that if there
is any constitutional defect, if there is a weakness in the vine,
it would be peculiarly predisposed to that disease, and so it
might ensue under circumstances of such slight provocation as
would not affect healthy vines, without that constitutional
defect. I think that view of the case is strengthened by the
fact, that our weak-growing vines are generally most subject to
mildew. I find it to be the case with some of these slow-grow-
ing, tender vines, that they lose their leaves in the summer

ROT IN THE GRAPE. 97

without mildew, perhaps from want of natural force. It does
not seem to be sunburn. We are, after a time, possibly, to get
rid, through our united experience, of the notions which we
have accepted as facts heretofore, and to establish the true rule
of the case, according to our experience. Sunburn rarely
occurs, but sometimes it does. If the foliage is very thin and
tender, an intensely hot sun after a shower will affect the leaves.

I think we have a habit of calling all diseases whereby plants
finally lose their leaves, mildew ; but I have an idea, (and I
think it must be true,) that there are various reasons why the
leaves fall, and that it is as improper to say " mildew " for all
these troubles, as it is, in my judgment, to say " rot " for the
loss of the berry. There is a form of disease which is rot.
There is a kind of blight which falls upon the tender grape
when first established, upon a certain change of temperature,
and prevents it from growing, and finally it falls. The whole
vine is very rarely affected in that way, but usually one or two-
thirds will be. Dr. Schroeder says the remedy for the rot is
continual reproduction, by what he calls the double reverse
system, which is only the old system of renewing from the old
root, by putting down layers, so that new roots may take the
place of the old. Prof. Kirtland, I think, says he is convinced
that the Catawba rots because of close pruning and over-crop-
ping. That suggests a solution ; because, if you prune close
and crop heavily, while you have a well-established vine and
large roots, you must disturb the functions of the plant. And
it is an indisputable fact that young vines escape the rot better
than old ones. I believe there is no instance where a vineyard,
in its first or second year of bearing, has shown tlie rot in its
fruit.

Let us look at that a moment. I have said to you, gentlemen,
before, that we prune too much. If you have large root-power
a great quantity of crude, unripened sap is taken up. It is the
raw material to make sap of. It goes to the foliage and is there
elaborated and changed into true sap, so as to be made into
fruit, wood and root in the proper and healthy way. Suppose
you have a vine and confine it to a stake, say six feet high, year
after year, or to a trelKs which is six feet high, with lateral arms
six feet long, (which is generally the space allowed,) and you
have root-power sufficient to carry it forty feet in every direction,
13

98 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE.

it is clear that if you do not give it extension you cannot have
the foliage to elaborate that crude sap into true sap. What
happens ? Why, this crude, unripened sap surcharges the
grape, (and it is precisely for the purpose of getting large grapes
that this pinching is practised.) When this crude sap has once
got to the grape, the circulation of the sap in the vine and all
its natural processes are impeded for want of foliage, and the
berry is engorged with unripe sap. There is only one alterna-
tive. If nature cannot evaporate the unripe sap from the sur-
face of the grape, if the sun cannot ripen it, it is surcharged
with unripe juice, which, when the finer functions of the grape
come into play, changes the tissue, rots it, and the grape perishes
and falls.

Let me illustrate in tlie light of experience — not my own
simply, but that of others. In the spring of 1861 I planted a
vine against the west end of my cottage, which I wanted to
cover up rapidly. I did not prune it because I wanted the
shade. That vine measured, at the end of last August, eight
inches and a quarter in circumference six inches from the
ground. It covered a trellis 25 by 15 feet. The ends had to
be pinched to keep them from extending too far. That vine has
given me, for two or three years, two bushels of ripe grapes —
about 120 pounds — a very large crop. During these few brief
years it has grown to that size, and I have had these crops. It
did not, this year, have any defect of berry, not even mildew,
which perhaps was due to the vicinity of the house. I do not
think that would save you wholly from mildew, but it would
save the grapes from rotting. Other vines were affected to some
extent, but without exception, my largest and finest vines,
bearing one hundred pounds or more, escaped.

Mr. Breck, the worthy ex-president of our Massachusetts Hor-
ticultural Society, and a grape- grower of many years' experience,
has a Concord vine which he planted near an apple tree for the
purpose of allowing it to have its own way and extend as far as
it pleased. It has now covered the tree ; it escaped mildew,
even this year, and all disease, and gave him one hundred and
seventy-five pounds of grapes, which ripened perfectly.

There is another illustration given by Dr. Schroeder. His
vineyard of Catawbas, after bearing sound and healthy fruit for
two or three years, was affected by the rot. He layered from

AGE OF THE VINE. 99

the old vines into the intervening spaces and rooted them, and
when they got strong enough to bear, the second year, he sepa-
rated the new plant from the old root upon which it had been
feeding, took up the roots of the old vines, and got two or three
successive crops, entirely free from rot again. So he has, by his
system of renewal by alternate layering into the intervening
spaces, kept his vines young. Now, if you will dwarf your
vine, I think you will find yourselves under the necessity of
replacing it with a young plant if you want entire success.

This subject is worthy of consideration. I dare say others
have had the same experience that I have had in the matter ;
that young vines of those kinds which are liable to mildew and
to rot will bear for two or three years, and then, as they get
older, will fall into these defects. Therefore, it has come to be
a saying among grape-growers all over the country, " True, this
new grape is exempt now, but let us wait and see. All others
have broken down, and this may." I think all ^ur strong-
growing grapes would break down unless renewed or allowed to
have sufficient extension.

Denman speaks of a vineyard in Italy one hundred years old,
with 100 vines only to the acre, yielding a product of 431
gallons of wine — or four gallons and three-tenths to each vine.
It was always in perfect health, or it would not be a hundred
years old. The crop comes up fully to the average of all Italy.

If you go into the Burgundy district, in France, where they
grow the famous Pineau, which makes the finest wine in all
Europe, you will find (as I learn from the same work,) that the
vines are planted only twenty inches apart, and they find them-
selves under the necessity of renewing every year with new
vines, one-tenth of an acre, so that their vineyard is never but
ten years old. When you consider the well known fact, that
the vine in France does not bear fruit until it has been planted
five years, you see they get crops only five years before renew-
ing. They find themselves under this necessity, because they
dwarf, and they dwarf because it brings the fruit nearer the
ground, and it is supposed to ripen better. They know, of
course, from their long experience, that it does ripen better,
and makes better wine. Not that the grape will not grow to a
large size. Chaptal mentions a vine that he says was six feet in
circumference. That was probably the Muscat of Alexandria,

100 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

which was one of the most ancient vines in Europe. It split
open and died in the severe winter of 1792. Now, the Muscat
is grown in the vineyard in the same way as the Pineau — it is
somewhat larger, bearing a full crop. Their experience illus-
trates what I have said, that there must be a proper balance
betweeen the root and the top ; that there must be sufficient
extension to obtain foliage to elaborate all the sap which the
root takes up. If the root is large, the top must have extension
in proportion. While it is young, the vine makes its own
balance, and for two or three years, you may do pretty nearly
what you please with it ; but when it has got strong and well
established, it justifies what Chaptal has said of it, that it is
intractable, and obstinate in its habits ; and justifies the remark
of our friend on the lake shore, William Griffiths, " When I go
into my vineyard, to prune, after twenty years' experience, I
feel like taking off my hat, and saying, ' If you please ! ' "

J. F. C.^Hyde. It seems to be still an open question whether
any money can be made by the production of grapes. Every
one should grow them for his own use, because everybody
can do it, but I do not feel satisfied that it would be profitable
for our people to engage in it as a branch of business. I look
forward to the time when we shall have a variety of the gi'ape
that we can grow ; but I feel pretty certain that we have not
got what we want yet. It may be said, " Why, you can make
money at twenty cents a pound." I agree to that. Assuming
three tons to the acre, make your own figures, and you see it is
profitable. But I can remember selling good Isabella grapes,
many years ago, for six cents a pound. Can we grow grapes
at six cents a pound, at a profit ? A gentleman from Roch-
ester, said he would agree to deliver them for three cents a
pound, and make it profitable. I undertake to say he cannot
do it — nobody can do it. I think five cents a pound is the
lowest, and wine-makers will give that for them. When this
fruit gets down to six cents, we can make no money by raising
it round Boston. We can put our land to a better use. Still,
it can be grown in other parts of the State. There are some
vineyards in the State, in choice locations. It seems to me the
greatest care and judgment should be exercised in planting
grapes. The most famous vineyards of Europe are situated in
choice locations, along the Rhine, on steep declivities, where the

GRQWING THE GRAPE. 101

terraces are built with stone, to sustain the soil. The estate
where the famous Johannisberg wine is made, which brings
fabulous prices, and is consumed only by the crowned heads
and a few noblemen of Europe, is one of very limited extent.
What there is in that soil which makes such peculiar wine, I
cannot say. But there are choice and peculiar locations, where
grapes will do exceedingly well. Grapes have been planted in
uncongenial soil and unfavorable locations, and there we may
expect failures. I have no doubt that grape-growing will be
condemned because of these failures, but the fault was not in
the grape ; it was in the location, or perhaps in the nutriment
the vine received.

Now there are any number of theories and any number of
modes of practice in regard to the management of the grape.
I feel as though I did not know but little about this matter,
though I have been engaged in the business all my life. I will
give you a few facts. Twenty-five years ago we had in the rear
of our house a plum tree, so situated that it had only the morn-
ing sun until ten or eleven o'clock. On that plum tree grew an
Isabella vine. It never was pruned ; it had its own way ; it
extended all over that tree, and during all the years that I
remember of its fruiting it never failed to ripen. I will say, in
that connection, that I never have succeeded in ripening the
Isabella so well but once since, with all our improved methods
of training. It was protected by the house, and I do not think
the mildew or rot ever affected it.

I have on my place a native grape — I mean a grape taken
from the woods — planted there about fifteen years ago. It runs
over an old black cherry tree. I never have failed to get a
good crop from that vine. It never has received any treatment'
whatever. It takes care of itself — never mildews, never rots,
and always ripens its fruit more perfectly than any vine I have
had ; and I have had two thousand. Right opposite, and within
twenty-five feet of it, I have the Concord, which I have relied
upon as the most valuable, take it all in all, in the country.
That proved a perfect failure this year — a complete and down-
right failure ; the grapes were not worth picking. I planted at
the rate of eight hundred to the acre, trained spirally to posts
six or seven feet high. My crop was a complete failure ; I did
not sell five dollars' worth of grapes, and I should have had two

102 BOARD OF AGRICULTIJRB.

or more tons. The foliage mildewed, the grapes rotted, and
there was bunch after bunch with not one perfect berry upon
them.

Take the Delaware. And right here I wish to say, that the
theory that the vine makes too much wood, and is more apt to
become diseased when over-cropped and over-pruned, will not
apply to the Delaware. It is a slow grower — makes but little
wood. I do not have to trim my Delaware extensively, and yet
the Delaware mildewed with me so that I did not get a ripe
bunch of grapes. It has mildewed, so far as I have heard, all
over this part of the country very badly. About the Crevelling,
I say, nearly as my friend the chairman has said, that it does
not ripen its fruit well, and it does not yield as it did, though I
admire it as a grape. Rogers' 15 has worked badly with me.
It is a very rampant grower indeed. It will not bear cramping.
You cannot confine it to a stake and have it do anything at all,
I am perfectly satisfied. I know a vine that yielded seven hun-
dred bunches of perfectly well-developed fruit that ripened
nicely ; and yet my large vine, that I cut in on the spur system
and train spirally fails entirely. It makes an immense amount
of wood and foliage, produces grapes that set sparsely upon the
bunch, and then rot and drop off. It is as utterly impossible to
grow them on a post as it is to grow some other of the more
rampant growers in that way, and I should not recommend it.
If a man wants to plant one of these vines he must give it room
— allow it to grow.

Rogers' No. 4 did not ripen. It is no earlier than the Con-
cord with me. Where it will ripen, I think it is one of the
best market grapes — not for quality, but for appearance. No.
19 resembles it very closely, and rotted badly. No. 3 rotted
badly. No. 7 mildewed so badly, that I have thrown it off the
list. It will lose every leaf before the first of August. Nos. 3
and 9 I have thought considerable of, though I find that No. 3
mildews. With regard to the lona, it has never mildewed very
badly, but I have never ripened its fruit so that it was good.
It is a grape of rare excellence — in the mere matter of quality,
behind no grape in the country. My Israellas are not well
established, but even they mildewed badly. My Hartford
Prolifics, which have never shown any unfavorable tendency
until this year, about the last of July showed a kind of rot that

PRUNING THE GRAPE. 103

I did not see on any other variety. It had spots of black, bitter
rot, and my Hartfords did not more than half ripen their fruit
this year. These Hartfords were on stiff, gravelly soil, well
drained — a poor soil, and yet a soil that I regard as favorable
to the grape — and a year ago, I had a magnificent crop. There
were bunches weighing a pound on my vines, and I found that
the grapes averaged about fifteen pounds to the vine. The
vines were four years old — three years planted. That was
excessive cropping, and may account, in part, for the failure
this year.

One word in regard to summer pruning. I plant my vines
six feet apart, and you see I cannot allow a great deal of space
to each plant. I have therefore been in the habit of pinching
back to the first bud beyond the last bunch. I do that, usually,
two or three times during the summer. This year, I thought I
would adopt a different plan, and allow the vines to make more
wood. They made laterals six feet long, and ran into each
other. I have failed this year ; whether owing to that or not,
I cannot say ; I think not. My object was to strengthen the
vine and let it make more wood, and not confine it and cramp
it, as some caution us against doing.

I have tried some experiments in regard to manuring grapes,
and 1 think we should manure very sparingly indeed. You
cannot get any Diana fruit, if you manure it at all. I took the
waste bristles from a brush factory and used them as a mulch —
I did not dare to plough them in, because, as you know, they
are very rich in nitrogen. I used them as a mulch, but after
they had been there one year, I became satisfied that they were
injurious, and raked them ofi". I would not apply coarse
manures, but bone-dust, ashes, and old, thoroughly decomposed
stable manure can be used with good eflfect.

I am satisfied that it is not best to work the soil frequently
during the summer in the vineyard. I am satisfied that I
injured my grapes last year by cultivating the soil frequently
among the vines during the time of the growth of the berry.
It is necessary, of course, to keep down the weeds ; but I do
not believe that it is well to go through the vineyard in the
summer, when the roots are near the surface, even with the cul-
tivator, which runs only two or three inches deep, for it will
tear up the roots. I believe it is better to give them a thorough

104 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

cultivation in the spring, and keep down the weeds by mulching.
About this matter of mildew in the foliage, I am at a loss to
account for it. I am not in the habit of doing anything to pre-
vent it. Sulphur is very highly recommended, and I have tried
it, but did not see any very great benefit resulting from it. It
is a very singular thing that in certain places there is no mildew.
I was at Washington a while ago, and I went down to the exper-
imental gardens. They ha^'e a very competent man in charge,
and he has tried the experiment of building a roof over his
vines, which protects them from the drenching rains, and from
dew at night, and, to some extent, from very sudden changes of
temperature. Wherever that roof was I noticed that his vines
were free from mildew ; and I have seen a communication pub-
lished by him since, in which he says that the vines were entirely
free from mildew where they had that protection, but his other
vines mildewed. I have no doubt that this is the explanation
of the healthy condition of the vine to which Mr. Bull referred
as growing upon his house. That is just what the grape wants.
It is not subject there to the alternations and fluctuations of the
weather. For instance, the sun being in the west, its rays fall
upon the house, the wood absorbs the heat, and the grape is
kept all the time warm. I am confirmed in this theory by the
fact that there is no difficulty in raising Allen's Hybrid, the
Sweetwater and Black Hamburg, in some instances, in the city,
which I cannot do anything with in the country. Grapes need
protection, and if you give them that protection you will see
beneficial effects. Some four or five years ago my men were
digging up some stones in a lot where we had some melons
planted, and about one hill they piled the stones six or eight
inches high. I told them to take them away, but they said they
wanted to try an experiment, and they did, and taught me some-
thing. Those vines were as large again, at the end of ten days
or two weeks, as the vines about them, everything else, appar-
ently, being the same except these stones. They absorbed a
great deal of heat and kept the melon vines warm through the
night. The same is true of grapes. My friend Brown has his
Concords trained over the rocks back of his place, and his
grapes are all right ; he will never fail to have crops. So in
Boston you get not only the direct heat of the sun, but the
reflected heat from the walls of buildings.

EXPERIMENT WITH GRAPES. 105

Now, I am going to try this experiment. You will laugh at
me, perhaps, but I do not care if you do. I am going to put a
pile of stones a foot deep round some of my vines, and I am
going to put an acre of vines into trees. My object is to get
fruit, and if I can do it by letting the vines run into trees better
than in any other way, then I will do that. " Is it feasible,"
you ask, " to grow trees for that purpose ? Will the vines grow
there without injuring the trees ? " They do it in Italy, and
why should not we ? I am satisfied of one thing, that we prune
too much. There is no question about it. The Concord grape
will not bear all these processes of pruning to which we subject
it. That is rather a rampant grower. I am satisfied that that
is one of the causes of my failure this year with the Concord.

One word more. I do not condemn the Concord. More
than half my vineyard consists of the Concord grape. I say it
is the best grape, take it all in all, for market purposes, but I
say that the grape for the vineyard is yet to be introduced here.
It seems to me we want a grape of the size of Rogers' No. 4, of
the quality of the lona, of the hardiness of the Concord — and
more so, because that rots in certain seasons.

Mr. Bull. You ask for a good deal.

Mr. Hyde. I do, aiid I am looking for just that good deal.
When we get a grape like that, we can grow grapes with more
certainty than at the present time ; but, meanwhile, we must
work along and take the best we can get. There are parties
who advertise that they have 300,000 seedling grapes, and
everywhere we find seedling grapes. May we not hope that out
of all these we shall get the grape we want ?

Mr. Brown. Reference has been made to the effect of the
morning sun. What is the value of the morning sun, say until
ten o'clock, as compared with an equal time later in the day ?

Mr. Hyde. I cannot answer very accurately. I am of the
opinion that the morning sun is the best. A single word in
regard to mildew. My experience agrees with that of others.
It follows upon sudden changes in the weather. If we have a
hot, scorching sun, and then a shower, you wiU see mildew.

A Member. Does not this morning sun produce these
sudden changes which you dread ?

Mr. Hyde. No, sir. I do not think we can improve on
nature in that respect. The Almighty has arranged that matter
14

106 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

a great deal better than we could. We have the sun gradu-
ally growing warmer and warmer, until it has attained its
highest temperature. It is not that. But you take a day in
summer, with the wind south, and your thermometer way up
among the nineties ; then comes a shower, the wind shifts to
the north, and your mercury goes down until at night it is very-
chilly. Tliese are the changes to which I refer.

It seems to me the mildew must be accounted for by the wet
season. You will find that the mildew extended back into the
interior as far as Syracuse, N. Y. At Rochester, they had an
exceedingly dry season, and they had no mildew. The Dela-
ware ripened perfectly. I was in Missouri, in September, and
it was very dry all through that section of country. At Mr.
Husmann's place, the vines were free from mildew. The
Catawbas in the older vineyards were rotting badly. They had
been spurred in very close. The new vineyards, that had only
borne three or four years, bore healthy fruit ; and I think in
all directions where they had a dry season, there was very little
mildew — scarcely any at all.

I was up at Madison, Wisconsin, and I never saw a finer
display of fruit than I saw there. Rogers' Hybrids were very
promising. The Delaware grew finely ; ^some one went so far
as to say that it grew more than the Concord. Coming back
East, I found the grape was a total failure. The excessively
wet season must be the cause.

Professor Agassiz. I was born, and have lived two-thirds of
my life in a grape-growing country, and I feel deeply interested
in the question, how the grape shall be grown here successfully.
But I think it cannot be grown with perfect success until a
prejudice which exists throughout the whole country is over-
come. It is because I know that it is a prejudice that I would
openly speak about it. Wine-growing countries are the regions
where temperance prevails ; where there is no drunkenness.
They are countries where the traveller is helped to a glass of
wine to warm and strehgthen him ; they are countries where
the clergyman holds it to be an act of charity to give a glass of
wine to him who needs comfort. That is the character of wine-
growing countries. Here, the use of wine is considered a sin,
and mei^ who use it are considered men not deserving to be in
the company of gentlemen. Now, I will say, that before I came

THE USE OF WINE. 107

to this country, now twenty years ago, I had never taken a
glass of water over a meal in my life ; and I will say another A
thing, that as long as I have lived (and I am sixty,) I have
never been flushed by the use of wine ; I will not speak of
drunkenness. I know that my mother gave her children
(myself among the rest,) wine as soon as they were weaned,
and I know that I have done the same with my own children.
But, gentlemen, until you have overcome the prejudice which
exists throughout the country against the use of the pure juice
of the grape, as a daily beverage, you will never bring the
cultivation of the grape to its right foundation, and you will
not receive from that crpp the return you are entitled to obtain.
In countries where the grape is cultivated as the principal crop,
the product from the sale of the grape is not the chief reward
for the culture, it is the wine ; and you will not be thoroughly
successful, you will not have that variety of grape, you will not
have those diversified modes of cultivation, which will secure
its production on a large scale, until you have introduced the
use of wine as a daily beverage in every household, and as the
most wholesome beverage that can be added to any other
manufactured article of food.

Mr. Keyes. I think we can say that we are getting bravely
over that prejudice in Massachusetts.

Professor Agassiz. I wish not to be understood as saying
that the use of liquor is a thing uncommon in wine-growing
countries. It is only in those places where wine cannot be had
cheap that brandy or alcohol in various shapes is taken as a sub-
stitute. That is not what I advocate. The evil results of the
use of distilled liquors I know as well as any other man. I do
not suppose that I need to insist upon that, in order to justify
the remarks I have made in reference to the use of the unadul-
terated product of the grape in the shape of pure wine.

Mr. Bull. I was thinking, after I sat down, that the pruning
of the grape has a very close relation to the disease of the vine.
For instance, our friend, Mr. Hyde, who has closely pruned the
Concord, has sujEfered severely — worse than any other person I
have heard of. In my experience, those vines which were not
pruned heavily escaped. Now there is a proper relation in this
matter which I do not think, up to this time, we have been able
to understand ; and one reason for it is the different habits of

108 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

the different kinds of grape in the matter of growth. The slow-
i^growing Delaware should scarcely be touched with a knife ; and
yet some slow-growing vines must be pruned in moderation in
order to get hardy and mature wood, or you run into mischief.
"Weak wood will grow scanty fruit, will not mature it properly,
the evil grows worse and worse, and you lose your vine at last.
These things all require observation, experience, skill, on the
part of the grower, and, as I say, they are so qualified by differ-
ent circumstances — hardiness of grape, vigor of growth, length
of season required to ripen its wood and mature its fruit ; in
one word, you have to adapt your method to each vine so abso-
lutely that no fixed rule can prevail.

Now, then, if pruning the vine will affect its health, that is
an important subject to be considered. Let us look at that a
moment. The best Delaware grapes that were exhibited at our
cattle-show, in October, Avere brought by a plain farmer who
knew nothing about grapes, who had not pruned it at all, but
let it grow up into an adjacent tree. He said it had got out of
his hands, and so, instead of trying to restrain it, he took a
whole cartload of compost and tipped it up on the root. (The
Delaware must have high feed or you cannot do anything with
it.) That vine grew remarkably, bore a large crop for a Dela-
ware, (which does not grow a large crop,) and the finest and
largest bunches I have ever seen.

Pruning must depend, to some extent, also, on how you train
yourjvine. If you train it on a pole you are limited to your six
feet ; or, say you have two stems, to your twelve feet. You are
immediately brought into this difficulty, that you must prune
closely, because you have not room for your branches to extend ;
your vineyard would be a swamp, and you could not get among
the vines ; you must continue to summer pinch, also, whicli is
the very thing you want to avoid, except the first pinching,
which is legitimate. When your branches are only one or two
feet long, and your blossom buds are set, you can pinch off the
end and the sap is sent back to the bunches, and the growing
leaves, then young and able to expand easily, will grow broad
and large. Now the end bud pushes again, and what do you
do ? You pinch it again. Your mischief begins then. You
must let it grow. For that reason I do not use the pole. You
must have extension. I think the pole will do for the Delaware,

PRUNING THE VINE. 109

and as it does not make much wood, the fruit will not be shel-
tered by the foliage so much as to intercept the rays of the sun.
But if you have a strong-growing grape, like the Rogers' or
Concord, you must adopt another method. Take tlie espalier.
Let it run north and south, if possible, because you get more
heat to the root in that way, and then train on the espalier, one
arm or two, as you please. In the method copied from France,
which has recently been popular, the several arms from the vine
are led off diagonally, one above the other, commencing near
the ground, and going on until the upper arm, in its diagonal
course, reaches the top of the espalier ; the next one will be, of
course, a little under it, and so your espalier is all covered, and
you spur that whole length. Now, then, whether you have two
arms or one, whether these diagonal branches are single or
double — going both ways — these spurs will make long shoots in
the summer time, which, if you do not pinch them, will grow
into these wide spaces, and ultimately they will nearly or quite
reach the middle of these spaces between the espaliers. When
you come to the time of pruning you must not prune your spurs
too close, for if you cut back to one or two eyes, or even three,
if the wood is strong, you will find you will not get so much
fruit the next year, nor the best fruit. Let me speak of the
Concord in particular — the variety I have had the most expe-
rience with ; but the same argument will apply to all the strong-
growing kinds. You should leave your spurs far enough apart
to prevent their crowding each other the coming season. They
should be, if possible, twelve inches apart, and not less than five
buds should be left. I have left the whole of the fruit-bearing
wood on some of my old vines this season, and from my expe-
rience I believe it is the best way. Now, then, the coming year
these spurs, which are extending out from the espalier, should
be led out laterally, on the line of the espalier, so that they
shall not go forward into the open space so much as to crowd it.
Again, your upper branches, which formerly lay upon the upper
bar of the espalier, will grow into this space if you do not sum-
mer pinch them. You see the reason, then, for these spurs
being put so far apart as twelve inches, so that the leaves will
not lie upon each other, and so perish for want of air. If mil-
dew appears, and your upper leaves go, you have a large body

110 • BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

of foliage on the long-growing shoots below them, which have
been saved from mildew by the shelter of the upper ones.

Let me say, in regard to the Concord, that np to this year I
have ripened my whole crop without rot, except here and there
a berry, and without mildew. This year one-third part, perhaps,
of a bunch would be unripe and unfit for market. The unripe
berries were scattered in the bunch ; they ripened unequally, so
that they were not marketable. Still this is the eighteenth year
since my Concord first bore, and it is the first year it ever failed
to ripen its whole crop. It has never failed to give me a crop
during the whole eighteen years.

Let me say a word, in passing, about the profits of grape-
growing. I have had considerable experience in that direction.
I find it the most certain crop I grow. It never has failed. I
expect, confidently, from five to seven tons to the acre ; I do not
think I ever made so small a crop as half that. Suppose you
take three tons to the acre, at ten cents a pound, there is $600
an acre ; at five cents a pound, $300 to the acre. A constant
income, observe. The crop does not fail. It did not fail this
year ; it suffered. In those two instances where the destruction
was absolute, it was clearly to be traced to the imperfect method
of culture ; scientific, I grant you, according to the books —
quite too much so, but not the best method, in my judgment.
Take half a crop, three tons to the acre, at five cents a pound,
and you have a constant income of $300 to the acre. Tell me
what husbandry will pay so well as that ?

Mr. Hyde. A great many things will pay better. Straw-
berries will pay a thousand dollars an acre.

Mr. Bull. I will not combat your proposition, but I will
state what I have learned about it, upon inquiry. You will
observe, the grape requires very little labor, very little care.
You plough in spring and keep down the weeds in summer ;
your vine is hardy ; you never take it down ; there is no tying
up, it fastens itself there ; you let it run into space. You do
not put on much manure. You want a little dressing — lime,
phosphate, in some form, wood-ashes, and, if your vine grows
weak, some nitrogenous manure — perhaps guano and ashes
would be the best. The cost, then, of manuring and keeping
your vineyard up to the time of harvest (I am testifying from
my long experience, and other grape-growers will corroborate

PROFITS OF THE GRAPE. Ill

the statement,) is not greater than that of making a corn crop.
When you come to the harvest, your grapes may be picked by
invalids, old people, children, just as well as by strong men.
It costs you very little to harvest. After harvesting, if you
want to make your grapes into wine, you can make 600 gallons
in a week or so, going through all the processes, with an
ordinary press, like a portable cider press. If you send the
grapes to market, you would want them picked carefully, and
it would be more trouble. They have brought in the market,
when perfectly ripe, twenty cents a pound. The market broke
down this year, not with an over supply (because there was not
an over supply, nor so many as last year,) but because they
were really not fit to eat ; the season had spoiled them.
Persons who ate them found that, instead of being digestible,
healthful, comforting, they were the opposite, therefore they
would not buy them, and therefore the market broke down.
I have no idea that so low an average price as ten cents a
pound can ever be reached. I have no idea of it, because
I remember that, thirty years ago, the market price of ripe
Isabellas was but ten cents a pound, and now, with the abun-
dant supply that we have from the West, they sold, last year
and the year before, for ten and twelve cents a pound ; in
some rare instances, very perfect bunches sold for a shilling
and twenty cents a pound. Now, the Concord, or any other
grape, should ^e sent to market only in its best condition.
Your best and handsomest bunches are the profitable ones to
sell ; they will bring you the most money. The remainder you
should make into wine. There are many reasons why you
should do this, I think. In the first place, it saves you from all
loss from imperfect bunches ; they are turned into money,
through the wine. You want to sell the wine ; but if every
man makes his own wine, out of his own vineyard, from the
imperfect grapes which he cannot send to market, my word for
it, you will not drink those intoxicating drinks which it is the
habit of our people now to use, because, as I think, they do not
have these wholesome drinks of domestic manufacture. You
have had testimony to that effect from gentlemen who must be
accepted as authority in this matter. In the work I have
quoted, Denman's work, on " The Vine and its Uses," there
are abundant quotations from eminent travellers, physicians

112 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

and others, in wine-growing countries, all going to prove that
where the vine is found, in most abundance, there is no intem-
perance ; that the people are healthy, temperate, thrifty and
cheerful. A clergyman of this State, who passed two years in
France for his health, going all over it, for the most part on
foot, told me that in all the wine districts he found temperance,
but the moment he got into those districts where the grape
could not be grown, where they drank beer and brandy distilled
from the potato, and froilf beet-waste, there he found intemper-
ance immediately. And that is the universal testimony. Now,
all the world will have stimulants, for necessities ; for debility
arising from sickness, or age, or that form of disease — if it is a
disease — dyspepsia, where you cannot digest your food. Physi-
cians prescribe stimulants, and until an abundant supply of
wine is made, these noxious drinks will be used. It seems to
me that it is not only better for us to use wine, but better for
the cause of temperance. I believe that, and I have acted upon
it. My cellar is full of wine. I will not sell it against the law.
If the law never permits mo to sell it, it will stay there until
my friends help me to drink it. I might have received as much
money, perhaps more, for my fruit upon the spot, but I thought
I would work out the problem for the benefit of the State, and
for the benefit of temperance. I was once an ardent temper-
ance man, and believed and said that spirits should never be
used by anybody, sick or well. I believed it, ^lonestly, and I
urged it upon our people. By-and-by, I fell sick myself, and
my physician said, " You must take spirit with your dinner."
I objected ; said I could not do it ; that I did not believe in it ;
that I had always preached the other doctrine, and I would not
do it. 1 did not do it ; for a whole year I suffered, until I was
finally driven to it, and then I began to jthink that possibly I
might be mistaken. Now, since it is certain that stimulants
must be had, it would seem to be wise to supplant those which
we have, which lead to intoxication, and have a wholly different
effect upon the system from pure domestic wines, by wines
made in our own land. They will be light. Wine cannot be
transported unless it is strong, and therefore the foreign wines
are strong.

But I am wandering from the question. There are other
aspects of this question which I should like to touch upon,

RAISING SEEDLINGS. 113

especially that to which my friend Hyde has referred, in his sug-
gestion with regard to the necessity of getting, through repro-
duction by seed, better grapes than we have got now. I should
like also to toucli upon the question of cross-breeding, or hybrid-
ization ; but I have already occupied a good deal of time, and
as the usual time of adjournment has arrived, I will move that
we adjourn until 2 o'clock.

The motion was carried, and the meeting adjourned until the
afternoon.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

The Board met at 2 o'clock, Capt. MooRE'in the chair.

Mr. Brown. I would like to ask Mr. Bull one question —
whether his poor grapes make good wine or not ?

Mr. Bull. No, sir ; it takes the best grapes to make good
wine. Poor grapes will make the best vinegar. Vinegar made
from wine is superior to that made from cider. It carries the
flavor of the grape, and is generally worth twice as much in the
market.

Our friend Mr. Hyde says he wants a grape that shall be
hardy, handsome, large and excellent. Well, we shall have it
in time ; but that is a work of time. Your seedling is a good
many years coming into fruit, and when you get it it may have
some qualities that you do not want. I think we have good
ground to hope that we shall find it in the end, for out of the
many thousand seedlings which I have raised, I have twenty or
thirty, all of which are better than the Concord and an improve-
ment upon the parent, and some of which, grandchildren of the
Concord, are of exquisite quality, perfectly hardy, and ripen
before the end of August. I take this method. If I have a
grape which is eminently large and handsome, but not of quite
so good quality as I want, I plant the seeds of that grape,
(making a proper record of it,) and grow them, in the expecta-
tion of getting equally large grapes among its seedlings, and
some one of better quality. If I have one emhiently beautiful,
but not equal in other respects to what I want, I plant the seeds
of that by themselves, (keeping the same- record.) So I follow
up all divergencies just as you keep the record of each family
of your blood stock when breeding them. I keep each variety
by itself, instead of promiscuously throwing them together. I
15

114 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

keep the white grape by itself, the black grape by itself, the
early by itself, the large and handsome by itself, and each
quality by itself. I follow them all up and put them upon the
record, and breed in successive generations from that point for-
ward. In that way you may be sure of hardy vines ; in that
way you may ultimately get, I hope, all those qualities in the
grape which are so much desired.

It has been recommended that the seeds be put, in the
autumn, into a pot, and placed in the greenhouse, where they
will vegetate readily, to gain by that method the winter growth.
But I do not think it a wise method. I think a seedling born
in a hot-house and nursed in that atmosphere is very likely to
be debilitated. I know that if they grow in the open air they
are almost certain, (in my experience I should say absolutely
certain,) to be hardy, at least, and of vigorous growth. The
quality will be various, to be sure, but you will be sure of that
prime necessity, hardiness.

My method is this. In the autumn, I prepare a bed with the
spade, turning over the ground to the depth of the spade. I
enrich it with phosphate of lime, with wood-ashes, and with
nitrogenous manure. You may use saltpetre or nitre. Night-
soil, well composted, is perhaps equal to any other. I make
the bed rich, so that when the young seedling starts, it may
find abundant nutriment. I plant my seeds in this bed. In
the spring, when they start, the young leaves are very tender,
and must be shaded, at first, from the hot sun. After they
have two or three leaves, they require no more care, except, if
the season prove very dry, an occasional watering. I leave
them in that seed bed usually two years, during which time
they make strong roots, get well established, and make a good
piece of ripe and strong wood. Then I transplant them. They
need not be more than two feet apart, because they will shield
each other from the hot sun at that distance, and you will have
so many to reject, that there will be space enough for the
remainder. The soil is prepared as you would prepare it for
corn, with the addition (which must not be forgotten,) of phos-
phates and wood-ashes. There they grow, two, three, or four
years more. I have had them remain ten years sometimes,
before bearing, but rarely. In the fifth or six year, they will
bear, and when they get their first bunch, you will be able to

DIANA AND CATAWBA. 115

say pretty nearly what they are going to be ; — not quite,
because, as they grow older, the quality, etc., improves. If it
is good at first, you may be sure it will be better afterwards.
But among them you will find a great many which will revert
back to the wild stock from which they sprung. Some of them
will be wilder than anything you ever saw before, in the first
generation. I had some of the Plymouth County white grape
sent to me — beautiful to look upon, and very good to eat ; and
I expected confidently to get from them a lax'ge, fine and
improved white grape. I obtained two hundred seedlings ;
I had fifty fruitful ones, and not one of them was white. They
were black, mostly ; two or three were red or brown. Some of
them were sweet, but not a sufficient advance to prompt me to
go on with that experiment, because I had already got beyond
the second generation with the family I was experimenting
upon.

Let me say another word about famous grapes. There is not
to my knowledge, in this country (though hundreds have been
raised,) a seedling from the Isabella equal to the parent. It is
not, in other words, a good breeder. That has been true, until
recently, if it is not true now (I believe it to be true now,) of
the Catawba. Though it has given seedlings bearing larger
berries, it has never yet given a grape equal to itself for the
table or wine, unless the seedling which Mr. Poesel the German
wine-maker at the West, has on trial should prove to be a better
grape than the Catawba.

Mr. Hyde. The Diana is from the Catawba.

Mr. Bull. It is ; but the great majority do not consider it
equal to the Catawba to-day. I like it ; it has a peculiar flavor,
most agreeable to me ; but I never saw a Diana equal to the
Catawbas we had on the dinner-table to-day.

Now the Catawba is better in some localities than others ; and
so, also, the Diana. It is claimed for the Diana that at the
South it is superior to the Catawba. I can well imagine that to
be true, because soil and climate have great effect upon the
quality of the grape. I have seen Isabella grapes grown in one
location so sour you could not eat them ; and I have seen
Isabella grapes grown in another location — in Boston, on the
side of a house — that were exquisite. Location, season, soil,
vigor of vine, mode of pruning — all those go into the quality of

116 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

the fruit at last. But wherever a family of grapes is found that
does produce better grapes than the parent, that would be the
best to work with. The Concord has already produced, in other
hands than mine, admirable grapes. Mr. Miller, of Pennsyl-
vania, has grown, from seeds which I sent him in 1856, a large
white grape, described as sweet as honey, and large and hand-
some in bunch. I have seedlings from the Concord better than
it, and grandchildren better than the children.

Now if, in four generations, I have made that constant
improvement, then I think we may be encouraged to believe
that sometime in the future, though we may not see it, in the
course of half a century, perhaps, we shall have grapes equal
to the choicest of those in Europe. An eminent French gentle-
man told me, after eating some very ripe and fine Concords at
my house, that he believed we should have the best grape in the
world and the best wine in the world. It would not be like the
wine of other parts of the world, but it would be better. He
explained that the too pronounced flavor of our grape would be
ameliorated to a rich flavor, that would surpass the simple
sweetness and delicacy of the European grape. I think our
friend Mr. Flint, who saw the White Riessling in Germany, has
stated that he found it harsh ; and yet is a good wine grape.
That seems to be true of the grape — that if it be harsh for the
palate, and even unfit for the table, it may yet make excellent
wine. That is the case with the grape that makes port wine.
It is almost inedible it is so rough, yet the wine, when old
enough, is the finest wine in the world.

Now I want the members of the Board to help me work out
this problem, because, in the multiplied instances of reproduc-
tion, we shall be more sure to meet with perfect success. If
you grow a seedling in soil like mine, and a location like mine,
and where all the circumstances of climate and weather are the
same always, it gets fitted to these conditions, perhaps, and
accomplishes what it is equal to under them ; but if it be grown
under other circumstances, in other soil, some of which would
be more favorable, in a different climate, if, in short, you bring
it under the effect of different influences, you would be likely
to have a different and possibly better result. You multiply the
chances of success.

HYBRIDIZATION. 117

I met a veteran pomologist in Boston who had recently been
to the West and to Europe, who is pretty confident that the
Concord is a hybrid, and who believes in hybridization as the
only method of improving the fruit, and that seedlings appar-
ently not hybridized have been accidentally hybridized by birds
or in some other way. He believes that the improved pears are
to be the result of such hybridization, either done on purpose or
by accident. Now, with regard to the pear and other large-
blossomed fj'uits, it is very possible, because large insects can
get into them, and, going from one to the other, may carry the
pollen of one, when it is ripe, to the stigma of the other, the
pollen of which is not ripe. Btt with the grape it is different.
Not only is the blossom so delicate and frail that it will not sup-
port an insect of any size, but the pollen is ripe, almost uni-
formly, before the calyx is thrown off; and in the act of throw-
ing off the calyx the pollen is distributed upon the stigma, and
it is instantly impregnated by that act. The warm sun in mid-
day gives the calyx a sudden impulse and it flies off; if you
have a magnifier in your hand you can see a delicate cloud of
dust in the air ; and if there is a grain of pollen deposited upon
the stigma it is instantly impregnated. Occasionally the elonga-
tion of the anthers will throw off the calyx before the pollen is
ready, and in that case you can impregnate it ; or if by any
accident the pollen from another grape vine should fall upon it,
it would be impregnated. These circumstances would very
rarely, if ever, occur together ; but still, it is not impossible.
There are other cases where spontaneous cross-impregnation is
possible, without the aid of man. Suppose you take an Oporto
grape, which has naturally defective stamens ; they do not seem
to have vigor enough to throw off the calyx in due season, so
that oftentimes there are but three or four berries set upon a
whole bunch ; and yet the germs were there, and the stigmas
were ready to be impregnated. Now those unimpregnated stig-
mas might have the pollen from another vine shaken upon them
by the wind, or in some other way, and thus cross-impregnation
takes place.

I think the better method is, to watch your vine until some
of the calices begin to fall, and then, with a delicate pair of
tweezers take them off, and with a pair of sharp scissors cut
away the stamens, and impregnate artificially. That can be

118 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

done, with the aid of a powerful magnifier. I have explored
this matter pretty carefully. I have observed witli great
patience, in two cases, this very thing. I have raised hybrids ;
and I found it necessary to go through all this careful method.
I have spent the ti!ne, under glass, where I could see, from that
moment in the morning, when, under the stimulus of the
advancing sunlight, the blossoms began to throw off the calices
until that time in the afternoon, when they ceased to be thrown
off (usually from nine o'clock until four,) with a powerful
magnifier, and an assistant to help me, watching this process,
and attempting to effect this artificial impregnation ; and I
have seen that in nine cases ouH of ten, there is instant impreg-
nation. In the tenth case, whether you take off the calyx your-
self, or find one where the pollen on the anthers has not
effloresced, but is close and compact, you will introduce the
pollen from the other grape. You cut away these stamens,
and with a delicate camel's hair pencil, put the pollen on the
stigma. In two hours after the pollen has been put upon the
stigma, you will see the germ, which was before perfect in form,
begin to swell irregularly, so that, under a powerful magnifier,
it will look like a swollen specimen of the Duchesse d'Angoul-
eme pear. If not impregnated, it will retain its form until it
perishes.

Hybridzation, then, is possible. It is a work of skill and
patience, but is not impossible. I stated to you at Greenfield,
that I suspected that Mr. Rogers had not succeeded in hybrid-
izing, but that he had done exactly what I had done ; that he
had taken a seedling from the wild grape, and raised seedlings
from that, which he supposed hybridized, and got, in the second
generation, those successes, as I had got the Concord in the
second generation from my experiments. That was the opinion
expressed by Mr. Hovey, and the opinion entertained by
eminent grape-growers throughout the whole length of the
country. I supposed that to be true at that time. But I am
perfectly sensible now, from long experience with Mr. Rogers'
grapes, that he did hybridize the vine. It is much to his honor
and to the credit of his skill that he has succeeded so largely
and so well, that he has done the public such service.

Suppose you have hybridized, however, you have crossed your
native, vigorous stock with a foreign stock, to obtain the fine

PROTECTION IN WINTER. 119

, quality of the foreign stock. But you do more than that ; you
infect the native vigor of the original vine with the delicacy of
constitution of the foreign vine ; and accordingly it happens
that these hybrids, so far as my experience goes, without excep-
tion, require protection in the winter. Some of Mr. Rogers's
hybrids are hardy without protection in some places ; but I have
not yet seen an instance, among all my acquaintance, where
they have stayed out all winter without losing their wood. I
have to cover them. They are fine grapes and are worth the
trouble. But, as I have said before, in vineyard culture you
cannot afford, where labor is so costly, to take them down by the
acre and cover them up. I do not know but that it may be
possible, in time, to raise a grape adapted to our climate out of
the foreign stock, even ; and I ought to say here, that a seedling .
from the Black Hamburg is growing in the open air in Bel-
mont which has borne fruit as large and handsome, and, the
originator thinks, as good as the Black Hamburg. He says he
covers it carefully in winter, but it grows in the summer and
ripens its fruit — late, to be sure, but still it does ripen it. I
suggested to him that in a favorable season, when he got a per-
fectly ripened bunch and well ripened wood, that he should take
the seeds and put them in the ground, and so continue to try to
acclimatize the grape. Such a tiling seems possible, though the
process would be slow. I would prefer the other method of
dealing with our native stock, which has the vigor and adapta-
tion to the climate which are necessary for us in this rude North.
I should prefer to ameliorate that by successive reproductions
from seed.

Now, of the pulp which surrounds our native grape, I will
say that, in my belief, it is nature's provision to secure the con-
tinuance of the species. It is a placenta-like substance, which
nourishes the seeds when, at the end of our short season, the
grape falls prematurely. My belief is strengthened by the fact
that the Concord, grown at Jacksonville, Fla., as a friend there
advises me, has no pulp at all, and is, to use his precise words,
" of exquisite quality, and more agreeable to his palate than
the Hamburgs which he grows." If so, then, when we shall
have a grape early enough to ripen in the heat of the season,
at a time when the climate is like that at Jacksonville, that may
attain that quality here. If we can ripen the grape in August,

120 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

we get rid of the pulp. That is no longer a problem. I have
done it. I have grapes -without a particle of pulp and of great
delicacy of flavor which ripen in August, but I have not a late
grape which does not have some pulp ; and this year, which was
cold and wet, the Concord had more pulp than I ever saw before.
The pulp melts away, in other words, in those climates where
the season is long enough to ripen it to perfection, and where
nature is no longer put to the expedient of surrounding the
seed with it to accomplish her purpose of reproduction. Now,
if that be true, we have only to get at the right stock ; and
beginning with the earliest and best specinjens possible, follow
reproduction from that until we get a grape that will ripen in
August. I think the prospect is full of encouragement. Man
. passes away, but plants remain ; and when we have all passed
away from this stage and this time, when so many are in doubt
whether vineyards can yet be planted here to profit, our descend-
ants will see this Massachusetts planted with vineyards, furnish-
ing grapes of excellent quality and an abundance of wholesome
wine.

Mr. BiRNiE. I see several gentlemen who can talk to us very
sensibly on the subject of apples and pears. Some of us would
like to hear something on that subject.

The Chairman. The subject is open. I think the members
of the Board would like to hear from Mr. Clement.

Asa Clement, of Dracut. I do not know that I can say any-
thing that will be interesting to any one. It was intimated to
me that something might be expected from me, and I set myself
at work thinking over the matter, to see if there was any branch
of the subject, pertaining more particularly to apples, which I
had not touched upon during the last three years, in some of
the meetings of the Board. I could scarcely think of anything ;
and then, my experience during the last year has not been very
encouraging. My apple crop has been the poorest I have had
for several years. I had no new varieties which came into
bearing, although I had grafted many, which I was hoping to
introduce to the notice of the Board and others ; but my hopes
were blasted. Consequently, I have no new varieties to remark
upon, nor have I tried any experiments during the last year
which could throw any light upon the question of the cultiva-

THE APPLE CROP. 121

tion of the apples or give any encouragement to any individual
in relation to the raising of apples.

But I will remark upon one point which was touched upon
by my friend Mr. Hyde, this morning, namely, this dry weather
theory, as affecting the apple crop. I have heard it broached
before. Gentlemen have said to me, that owing to the two dry
seasons that we had in succession, the tissues of the wood were
not sufficiently matured, and consequently the fruit buds were
not in a state to bring forth fruit, although they would blossom.
I thought, at first, that possibly there might be something in
that ; but I remembered distinctly that I had a row of Hubbard-
ston trees, on the upper side of an orchard, which I planted
some seventeen years ago, and on the dryest part of the whole
ground, which gave me, last year, the best crop I ever had.
There certainly had been no water carried there by any artifi-
cial means. I have no doubt the ground there suffered
immensely, and the trees suffered, by the drought of the preced-
ing year, yet they gave me this large crop. There was no
extra cultivation. It is true, the land was cultivated twice or
thrice during the season. I do not let the grass grow round
the trees, and cultivate the ground to keep it in a tolerably
loose condition about the trees, and all over the surface, tliat is
all. Tlien in the same orchard there was one Minister tree,
which I planted for experiment, and which had not failed, up
to tliat time, to produce excellent crops in alternate years — it
had not overborne, but just enough to have a good substantial
crop, and they grew very large. Gentlemen wlio have been in
the habit of attending our exhibitions for the last ten years will
remember seeing some very large Minister apples wliicli I
exhibited on several occasions on the table here. In 1866, this
Minister tree produced the largest crop it ever had. They
were small apples, to be sure, but there was not room for them
to grow. I went and pulled off a bushel when they were the
size of walnuts, but I did not get off quarter enough. The
crop, consequently, was almost a failure, because of the inferior
size, and quality also. They were never so inferior in quality.
Then I had other varieties which produced excellent ci'ops.
"What I call the Russet Sweeting, for instance, known in some
localities as the Cathead, in some as the Ladies' Sweeting ; an
apple resembling the New York Russet more than anything I
16

122 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

know of, but sweet. It is an enormous bearer, and worth
cultivating for the sake of feeding the apples to stock, if you
could not sell them ; but the last few years, I have had no
difficulty in selling all I could raise. These cases seem to
upset, in my mind, this dry weather theory, in relation to the
destruction of the apple crop.

I must confess that I do not know, I cannot imagine, why
the crop has been a failure. I have no idea of the cause. I
have observed as closely as I could, and I have tried to find out,
for my own gratification and for the benefit of others, if I could,
but I have come to no conclusion in relation to the matter
which is at all satisfactory to me, or can be to anybody else.

A Member. Were not those trees shaded ?

Mr. Clement. They were pretty well shaded. The Hub-
bardston is a tree which is inclined to spread, not an upright
grower, like the Northern Spy, but it branches low, and inclines
downward. The branches of the tree shade its own roots to a
considerable extent, more so, perhaps, than some other varie-
ties ; but I should not think that was enough to make any
material difference ; I should not judge it would.

Mr. Hyde suggested that the apple required, perhaps, more
moisture than the pear. That may be true. It is possible that
it does require more moisture, but still, I am not able to say
that distinctly. It is pretty well known that the apple strikes
its roots near the surface. It does not penetrate the earth so
deeply as the pear. I believe everybody who has had any
experience will acknowledge that as a fact. Consequently, in a
dry time, the roots of the apple tree must necessarily be very
much sooner affected than the roots of the pear. This very
Hubbardston tree to which I have alluded belongs to a variety
whose roots almost always strike out very near the surface. I
think I alluded last year, at Salem, to the difference in rooting
of different trees, and stated that I had noticed this difference
in the nursery, when I have been growing trees. When the
trees have been growing three or four years, I find there is a
vast difference in the roots. The roots of the Blue Pearmain,
for instance, strike downward, and root strongly. Sometimes
it is rather difficult to get it up with good roots. That is my
experience. The Hubbardston may be in the next row, in soil
just precisely the same, as near as you could imagine, will

THE CURCULIO. * 123

spread its roots on the surface, and be vastly better rooted for
the purpose of removal. I do not know how to account for
that difference. But there is an analogy in the growth of the
head also. That is another thing that I have observed. Some-
times I find a tree inclined to stretch upward, and not to
'branch properly, so that I have to cut it in order to make it
form a symmetrical head. I find very frequently, almost
invariably, that these trees have roots corresponding with the
top. I do not know why it is so, but I know it is so, in a great
many instances ; but you will find that trees which spread their
heads and incline to branch, are trees which incline to throw
out their roots horizontally, and which are easily lifted from the
nursery.

In regard to insects, I will say that the curculio is about as
troublesome to apples, sometimes, as to anything else. I know
they often damage the crop very materially. Quite frequently
you will see the ground covered with apples fallen prematurely,
when" they are the size of cranberries or a little larger. They
contain the worm which contains the embryo curculio, which
becomes a perfect insect pretty soon after the fruit falls. I
remember making some observations upon that point not many
years ago, with regard to some Washington plums. They got
very nearly grown, but still continued to drop until the crop
was gone. They were pretty large, and I knew the embryo
insects would have time to mature in them before they would
shrivel up, and I put a few of them on a little clean sand and
covered it with pots. At the end of ten days I looked at them
very carefully, and found the curculios in various stages of
development. Some of them had begun to go through with the
transformation ; on some we could see the legs starting out ; on
others the wings, but they were white. Others had got so nearly
matured that they had got a sort of grizzly complexion, and
were nearly ready to fly. Now 1 have no doubt that the first
ones that go to seed, (if I may express it in that way,) are
ready to go into the trees and do mischief as a second crop. I
do not know how many they will breed during a seaf.on.

Then there is another thing which I have tried to learn — and
that is where the curculios are during the autumn and winter.
I have not been able to satisfy myself where they are. They
are evidently somewhere, because we can shake them from the

124 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

trees and secure them just as soon as they can get a plum to
taste — before the blossom is off the skin. Then I have observed
that they seldom deposit their egg until the plums get a little
larger size. They begin to work upon them, cutting and slash-
ing round ; but I have never seen them sealed up until they got
to be of a larger size.

In regard to borers, I remember that I went into that subject
at a previous meeting, and recommended the protection of a
class of birds, various woodpeckers, which I know feed upon the
larvae of these insects. I have frequently seen where the wood-
peckers have taken out the borers ; and as they destroy no ber-
ries or other fruit, but are entirely carnivorous, if I may use the
term, I think it is well to protect them. With respect to some
other birds, my sentiments have been somewhat modified ; but
of that I do not wish to speak at present, perhaps not at all.

I do not think of anything more in relation to the apple
which can be of interest to any one ; but if any gentleman has
any question to ask, I will try to answer it.

Mr. BiRNiE. Have you any remedy to suggest for the
curculio ?

Mr. Clement. Yes. It is one which will require consider-
able patience and perseverance. It is to pick up the fruit and
destroy it by some means. Perhaps you may boil it for the pigs
or throw it into the river. Get rid of it in some way. Let the
children, or anybody who can attend to it, pick up the fruit
which contains the worm, and which will eventually contain the
curculio, and destroy them. This plan will not destroy them
all, it is true, but it will diminish the number. I once had a
plum orchard of some seventy-five trees that began to bear very
nicely, and I raised them in spite of the curculio. I bought
some cheap sheeting and made some large square sheets, with a
split half way up in the middle, and went around twice or
thrice a week, with the children ; one of the sheets was held up
round the trees, and I kicked the trunk with rubber boots, and
jarred the curculio down and killed them at once. We could
thin them out in that way. A little attention would save an
abundant crop.

Mr. BiRNiE. What time of day would you recommend ?

Mr. Clement. Almost any time except midday. This mat-
ter of fastening cotton round the trunk of a tree is all humbug.

THE PEACH. 125

The curculio flies as much as the bee does, or any other insect,
and I think very few of them are ever tangled in cotton round
the trunk of a tree. Possibly there may be one caught
occasionally.

Mr. BiRNiE. Do you think they take refuge- in the ground
during the winter ?

Mr. Clement. I believe it is the general impression that they
do, but I have never been able to find them there. The curculio
is a very cunning little insect, anyway. The moment that you
frighten them in any way they coil themselves up and look like
a minute dead body. You have to look closely to discover the
difference. But they will soon scamper away. I am unable to
say whether they burrow in the ground or are lodged round in
crevices on the rough part of the tree, or in walls, where they
can find shelter.

A Member. Do hens eat the curculio ?

Mr. Clement. I have noticed that people have sometimes
inclosed their plum trees in their hen yards, and have saved the
fruit thereby. Whether it is in consequence of the hens eating
the insects, or whether the insects themselves have an instinct
which leads them away, I am unable to determine. I have
observed this : that where plum trees hang over a brick wall or
anything of such a nature that when the fruit falls the worm that
comes from it cannot crawl into the earth, the curculio does not
injure the fruit half so badly as in other places. Indeed, I have
had crops escape that were hanging over a wall where there was
nothing but a pile of boards put up, and then a temporary roof-
ing put over them by laying short pieces down and then batten-
ing the boards up, to shut off the rain partially. My impression
is, that the insect has an instinct which teaches it that that is an
unsafe place to deposit its eggs, where the fruit is going to fall
upon any substance where it cannot be sheltered. I do not
know how that may be.

I did intend to touch upon peaches briefly, for the reason that
peach trees have nearly all failed in Massachusetts. There are
but very few in the State, and I think none, six or seven years
old, which are in a perfectly healthy condition. My experience
has been, that after peach trees have been bearing a few years,
or even if they are young and vigorous, if there comes a very
severe winter, it almost freezes the vitality out of them. They

126 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

sometimes live along and bear a few peaches, but you will find
that they are brittle, a little touch will snap them, and you will
observe that the heart is all dead ; there is just a tliin skin
round the surface — the rest appears to be dead. I think that
the bulk of the peach trees in this city are in that condition.

Now, peach trees fruited pretty well last year — what there
were of them — in the vicinity of Lowell, and in other localities.
The trees bore pretty well, produced good specimens of fruit,
which brought a good price. I have some neighbors and
acquaintances in the town of Tyngsborough, who had an excel-
lent crop and obtained a very high price for them. Other
neighbors in Pelham and Hudson were in the like condition.
The demand for peach trees last spring was considerable, and
many wanted to plant who could not obtain them. If the fruit-
buds are not winter killed the present winter, but come out all
bright next spring, the demand for trees will be great — you
may rest assured of that. I have noticed this for twenty years
— that if the peach crop is a failure, the next year there will be
little demand for trees, and if there is a good bearing year,
there will be a great demand the next season. It is so in a
measure, with regard to the apple, although that is not so
fluctuating. I find it takes but little to discourage us with
regard to any enterprise. It is just so with the grape. A
nurseryman came to my nursery last fall, who did not have so
many grape-vines as he wanted, and told me one of his neigh-
bors was going to set out some, and he wanted 500 for him,
and thought he should want 500 for retailing. I showed him
round, and told him, " There are three thousand Concords, two
years old, and you may have them thus and so." He told me
to write him when we got ready to lift them, in October, and I
did so. In a day or two, I got a reply, saying that grapes were
so bad, that the man had abandoned his plan entirely, and was
not going to have any. It is remarkable that such things do
discourage men. I have not lost my crop of grapes for ten
years. No other crop has done so well ; no other crop is so
sure, iinless it is the currant, and that I do not consider of any
consequence. This year my grapes were a total failure — not
worth gathering. I might have made vinegar, I suppose, but
I 'had plenty to do, and I let them rot on the ground. It
seems to me folly for persons to get discouraged in relation to

PEACHES IN POTS. 127

any crop of fruit, because there is an occasional failure. I
expect it of any and all my crops. I never expect to get a crop
of everything I plant, in every year. We are not so wonder-
fully favored as that, and I am not sure that it would be the
best thing that could take place for us ; at any rate, I never
look for it. Of course, when I plant the seed, I expect a crop,
but I expect an occasional failure. We cannot tell whether
our buckwheat will fail or not. We may sow it early, and it
may blight badly. Our rye may blast or rust. We cannot tell
about these things ; we can only plant the seed, and hope for
the best. If we do not succeed in everything, I do not think it
is best to feel the disappointment heavily ; I do not think it is
best to lay it to heart, or let it bear us down, give us the blues,
or do anything else which shall disturb our equanimity.

A Member. Can you give us any remedy for the difficulty
with peaches ?

Mr. Clement. I do not think anybody can give any remedy,
by which we can save all the peaches. I remember when at
the exhibition, at Framingham, a year ago last autumn, I saw
only one plate of peaches on the table, and they were raised in
Middlesex County. I asked the gentleman who raised them
how it happened, and he said he had a tree one of the branches
of which lay along almost horizontal, very near the ground, and
in the autumn he threw a load of corn shucks all over it, and
hence the fruit buds were not killed. When spring came, he
uncovered it, and that one branch bore a fine crop of peaches.
I say it is possible, practicable and feasible to so train these
trees, by beginning early, that the branches may be protected
in that way during winter, and a good crop secured.

Mr. Hyde. What do you think of cultivating them in pots,
and taking them in ?

Mr. Clement. I think it is safe, but it is, of course, a little
more expensive. Still, it is worth trying. A peach is regarded
as a great luxury, and if by planting a dozen trees in tubs or
pots — any cheap article — so that they can be taken in in winter,
and placed where they shall not be injured by our severe
seasons, we can secure a crop, I think it would be better to
have them. My experience is, that a little freezing will not
Imrt them, but I am not sure of that. I know peaches are
raised in that wav. I have seen them on the tables of the

128 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and it is a very beautiful
sight ; exceedingly ornamental. A little tree, the size of a
whip-stock, three feet high, trained symmetrically and hand-
somely, with four or five dozens of early Crawfords upon it,
looks beautifully. I do not know why people who raise things
for ornament should not go in for peaches as well as everything
else. They certainly would be ornamental.

Mr. Hyde. Why not profitable ?

Mr. Clement. I have no doubt they would be, to raise for
the Boston market, where they pay such high prices. I learn
that some of the fairest peaches sell for a dollar apiece.

Mr. Hyde. Three dollars.

Mr. Clement. Three dollars ? Well, I believe they could
afford to grow at that price. I suppose there are some people,
probably enough to take all we can raise at present, who are
ready to pay these high prices. I know there are men who
have to contrive ways and means of spending their income, and
it is fortunate for us poor people that there are such.

I think our friend Mr. Hyde alluded to mulching grape-vines
with bristles from a brush factory. I hardly approve of mulch-
ing grape-vines under any circumstances ; there may bo excep-
tions. Of course, if you mulch a grape-vine with bristles or
leaves or rubbish of any sort, you shade the ground ; it will be
a little cooler, it will be more moist, of course ; it will attract
the roots up there, so that you cannot cultivate the ground
without taking off certainly many thousand fibres ; and I like
to have the sun shine upon the soil round a grape-vine.

Mr. Hyde. That was only an experiment.

Mr. Clement. It was very well to try it, but you would not
recommend it after trying it ?

Mr. Hyde. No, sir.

Mr. Clement. I should not recommend mulching grape-
vines, except perhaps under some peculiar circumstances.
Where the roots come very near the surface, and there is great
danger of drought, perhaps an occasional mulching might
preserve the vine.

The matter of pruning grape-vines has been alluded to, and
I had intended to say a word in relation to it. I wrote to Mr.
Bull a year or two ago, and told him that the remarks he had
made at one of our meetings — I do not remember now where—

MANAGEMENT OF THE VINE. 129

more nearly concurred with my views than those of any other
gentleman I had heard speak upon the subject. I do not
believe that this eternal pinching and nipping and cutting and
slashing is any benefit at all to our rampant-growing vines like
the Concord and the Hartford. I have tried some experiments
for the purpose of testing that matter. Two years ago I had a
row of Concords, each vine tied to a single post — no trellis, no
rails, no wires, but each vine was simply tied up to a single post.
They were equidistant, and so far apart that I could prune any
one in such a way as I pleased, and leave another. I intended
to try an experiment with that row, and I continued last year,
as I had done the year previously, to pinch every alternate vine
about the time the blow showed, leaving the others to take their
own course. They were late about starting. I remember that
it was not until about the Fourth of July that the grapes began
to show. It was late, but still they looked healthy, and started
fairly, with large clusters, as I thought. But the frequent rains
we had, followed by a scorching sun, affected the leaves badly.
They seemed to be water-soaked and tender, and the sun seemed
to scorch and crumple them up, and they began to drop off
pretty soon, and before the grapes were nearly grown some of
the foliage began to drop, so that my experiment was entirely
broken up. About the tenth of July I went to look at the vines,
and found they had begun to mildew in the bunch ; not every
vine nor every bunch, but a large share of them were mildewed ;
they looked mouldy, and they were so far gone, and so large a
proportion were affected, that I thought it would be useless to
attempt to check it. I found it did not spread any more, and it
is my impression that it was all done in a day or two — about the
time that Mr. Hyde described this morning, when we had those
sudden changes from dry to wet and from heat to cold ; three
or four in the course of twenty-four or thirty-six hours. It was
all done during that time. And it stopped almost as suddenly
as it came. It was pretty general, also. There were scarcely
any vines that escaped except those which we regard as worth-
less, like the Clinton, (which retained its foliage until it froze
up in October,) the Early Strawberry, (which is another of those
wild natives,) and one or two others, which I do not think of
propagating now ; but I have one or two vines of these varieties
upon the place, and keep them there, because they have been
17

180 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

bearing for a number of years, and I dislike to cut them up. I
can sell them for making jelly, and I am about as sure of them
as Mr. Hyde was of his wild vine ; and sometimes I think them
about as profitable as anything on that account.

I should recommend, most certainly, if any one was planting
a vineyard, whether large or small, the selection of dry, warm
soil, and a location not liable to frost. Take a side hill, with a
southern slope — no matter if it is dry. I have observed this
fact — that a grape-vine will endure about as much dry weather
as any plant in the world. It will grow in sand that is very
dry, and hold its vigor and its green foliage, and not wilt during
the middle of the day when the sun plays down upon it. Hence
I would recommend the selection of warm, dry soil. Do not
make it too rich with manure. I think that land which will
carry a good substantial crop of corn is rich enough for a crop
of grapes. ',

Mr. Brown. I want to say a word or two about peach trees.
That interests me, because I think the peach is the best fruit
that grows in this country, and I believe that it is considered
the best fruit grown in New England, by common consent ; and
it grieves me sorely that we cannot raise it abundantly in this
State. However, I feel impressed with the conviction that we
shall have a plentiful crop of peaches again. I have tried
various ways of raising them. I have raised them in pots, and
am doing it still. Very fine peaches can be raised in that way,
but they require greater care than a common farmer, who is
engrossed by his everyday duties about his farm, can bestow
upon them. That the climate is not suitable for them we must
all agree. Most of us get peaches, almost every year, from
branches that lie on the ground and are covered with snow.
Therefore the tree needs protection. Now how shall we get that
protection ? A farmer living in the town of Acton, three miles
from here, in 1855 received -loSO net from two hundred peach
trees on one acre of land. The trees were placed in a young
apple orchard, between the apple trees, on land that is high, very
stony and gravelly. Last year the crop was very light indeed.
This year his peaches netted him $100. One entire horseload
that he took to town brought him nine dollars a bushel. I was
up in New Hampshire in July and went into a peach orchard of
eight hundred trees. The trees were about twenty feet apart

MULCHING THE PEACH TREE. 131

each way, and there was not a tree in the whole eight hundred,
as the man told me — and I went through the orchard in every
direction and think he was correct — that did not have some
peaches on it, and most of them had a great many. As he went
along he would pull tlisem off and throw them on the ground,
without paying much attention where he took them from. Said
I, " What makes this success ? I do not understand it. Here
you are thirty miles north of where I live, and you frequently
get good crops of peaches. How is it ? " Said he, " That is
the question almost everybody asks me when they come into this
orchard. I can see only one thing ; " and he pointed to the
mulching which I saw round those trees. They were about
eight feet high, and so level that you could look across the tops
of the trees. They were almost as level as a floor, he takes such
pains to head them in. The branches were eighteen inches
long, but the peaches were up next to the stem of the tree. He
cuts out the middle shoot, and lets the two side shoots go ahead.
He keeps the whole tree headed in, and the top twigs come
down within eight inches of the ground. I have not heard from
him since, as to how the crop came out, but it looked then as if
it would be very good.

This discussion has taken a very wide range, and we have had
a great many pleasant theories and statements that are inter-
esting and worthy of remembrance by all of us who mean to
engage in the cultivation of fruit. But it seems to me what
we want is some facts to show how we can obtain fruit under
present circumstances. Is it possible for us to obtain fruit,
even though circumstances are against us as much as they are
here. I believe it is. Nature is very prolific indeed. The
first effort of the vegetable kingdom seems to be to propagate
itself. So it is with the animal kingdom. A single plant will
produce enough to seed a whole acre. So you see what efforts
nature makes to be sure the plant ^hall not go out of existence.
The moment we prune a tree, we make an artificial thing ; it
is no longer a natural thing. Then it comes under the care of
man, and he must deal with it in a manner entirely different
from the way in which he would deal with a tree in its natural
condition. What shall we do when we have an apple tree ?
The apple tree grows profusely ; it fills up its head, if we leave
it a few years. Then we head it in. So with the grape. It

132 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

grows ill the most rampant manner. We head it in, choke it.
What else shall we do ? When the fruit is set, jou will find
that it is impossible for the plant to perfect all of it. Then the
next thing is, to go to work and thin out in the most liberal
manner. Go to your grape-vine and reduce the number of
bunches from one-half to three-quarters, and you will have
grapes ; I have no doubt of it whatever. So it is with pears.
Let them remain as they set, and you have very rarely perfect
fruit. They will not attain to their full size and flavor unless
you relieve the tree of the burden that . it has imposed upon
itself. I think these are plain, practical, simple rules, which
we can all adopt, and by following them, we can get fruit, even,
under all these disadvantageous circumstances.

Then, one word more. The common opinion is, that people
cannot raise fruit under glass without great cost and care. I
think that is a mistake. I do not think there is a farmer who
has the skill to manage ordinary carpenter's tools who cannot
put up a structure in which to raise Black Hamburgs at very
little cost. The common expense has been ten dollars a run-
ning foot. There is no need of it. Go to work and lay out
your ground ; set standard posts that will be lasting, put in
your sills and build your building with common unplaned
boards, let them come together without matching, but close as
they will in the state in which they come from the mill. Then
you may nail laths across these boards, which will prevent
currents of air from passing through. You have then got your
outside. Then put on your roofing. There is no necessity
that it should all be glass ; the lower part may be all boarded.
In that case, you would insert pretty large panes, which would
be just as cheap in the long run, unless you broke one. There
you have your building, which will answer all the purposes of a
cold grapery. I think you can raise your Black Hamburgs
there profusely, and scarcely ever fail of a crop, when you
would be likely to fail in out-door culture. Why not try it ?
There is no better grape, take it all in all, than the Black
Hamburg. The only drawback is in thinning it. When the
berries are about the size of pease, then you must thin it, or
you will utterly fail in your object. It is futile to think of
getting a crop unless you thin it ; say, if there are five berries,
take out three. That is the only difficult operation in the whole

SHELTERING THE PEACH. 133

thing. That is a hard and painful job. It requires a slender
pair of tweezers, because the bunches ought not to be bruised
in the slightest degree. When you have done that, water your
plants until about the first of June, and that is about all the
work there is to be done. When it gets to be about the first of
November, and the leaves are falling from the vine, then trim
them, which is a simple thing. Cut off close the stems which
bore fruit this year, and leave every other. Then paint them
over with a paint made of soap and sulphur, lay them down,
and cover them up with pine boughs. In that way you raise
the best grapes in the country, at very little expense. You can
raise peaches and grapes, if you will only assist nature a little
in her efforts.

James Thompson, of Nantucket. I will say a single word in
confirmation of what the last speaker has said with reference to
peaches. In the garden of the house next to mine, a peach
tree came up, close to the house, blossomed and bore fruit
once, and never bore any more. The old lady who is there
alone in the house, shut a blind back against one of the
branches, and it grew up behind the blind. It was not
disturbed until the first of October, and then, when she shut
the blind, that branch was found to be literally loaded with
ripe fruit, as big as my fist, and delicious in quality. There
was not a peach to be seen on any other part of the tree.

A Member. I want to ask one question of a practical nature.
Allusion has been made to the raising of peach trees in pots, to
be sheltered in winter. I want to inquire what sort of shelter
is necessary. Will sheltering these pots in a barn answer the
purpose, or must they be carried into the cellar ?

Mr. Brown. I put mine in the barn cellar, where I keep my
farming implements. Last spring, you never beheld a more
beautiful sight than those peach trees were. They were as
beautiful a bouquet as you ever saw in your life. I told the
man to take them out at once, but unfortunately there came a
nipping frost, which nearly ruined them all, for fruit.

A Member. I have no doubt they would be sufficiently
protected in the cellar, but what I ask is, would it answer to
put them on the barn floor ?

Mr. Brown. I do not think it would. They need an even
temperature.

134 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

A Member. The simple inquiry is, the degree of protection
that is needed ; because, if the ordinary shelter of a barn or
shed is sufficient, we can cultivate them easily ; but if they
have got to be carried into the cellar, where we have but little
room, it would be a great deal of trouble.

Mr. Manning. In Washington, I was told by Mr. Sanborn,
that the only protection given to his peaches was by placing
them under a shed.

Mr. Clement. Mr. Wilson's peach orchard, in Jersey, is on
very high land ; it is my impression that there are mountains
on the north and west from his orchard. It is not long since
he had quite a large peach orchard ; there came a cold spell
one winter, when the ground was naked, and killed a large
share of the trees at the root. I presume the root will not
bear so many degrees of cold as the top will. They are quite
sure to freeze to death if the mercury runs down to ten or
fifteen degrees below zero, when the ground is naked. Once,
Mr. Wilson mulched his trees, partly for the purpose of prevent-
ing freezing, and partly to save cultivation. Peach trees should
be always on high ground — always. It is no sort of use to plant
them in a valley.

PLOUGHING.

The question of Ploughing was then taken up, Mr. J. M.
Smith, of Sunderland, occupying the chair. The Chairman
opened the discussion as follows : —

The subject of ploughing is an important branch of farming,
and there has been, during my day, a diversity of opinion in
regard to it. There are advocates of very deep ploughing, and
deep ploughing, and others who advocate shallow ploughing,
and there are also advocates of subsoil ploughing. It seems to
me that there is room and opportunity for discussion and argu-
ment on either side. I have been inclined to the opinion that
the advocacy of deep ploughing may have been carried too far
by some individuals. It has been my experience, that unless
heavy land, clayey land, is thoroughly drained, it is of no use
to plough deep ; but on land which is dryer and in a high
state of cultivation, deep ploughing may be beneficial. I have,
in my own short experience, come to the conclusion that I have

DEEP AND SHALLOW PLOUGHING. 135

ploughed too deep, and I do not plough so deep as I did ten
years ago.

I will throw out another idea, because I presume it will pro-
mote discussion. My land was alluvial and rather dry, and I
know I have injured it by subsoiling. What is the proper depth
of ploughing, then, is the question that would arise, and what
are the benefits of subsoiling ? I have heard my father tell how
shallow a piece of land he owned was ploughed at one time, on
which he planted Indian corn. It was turf land, and it was so
shallow ploughed that but little loose dirt could be made, and
the harrow went waupety-waupety, as we say. The result was
a very heavy piece of Indian corn. I am inclined to believe
from that, and from my own experience, that we ought not to
plough very deeply for Indian corn as for some other crops.

I simply nlake these remarks to present some leading points
of discussion. There is opportunity now for any gentleman to
present his views.

Mr. BiRNiE. You say a piece of land was injured by sub-
soiling. What was the character of that land ?

Mr. Smith. I stated it was alluvial. It was clover land, and
had been mown one season. I intended it for wheat. It was
our common meadow land on Connecticut River. I ploughed
it, and followed it with the subsoil plough, and the result was,
it took several years and many loads of manure to bring that
part of the land — one-half the piece — back into as good a state
of cultivation as the other half, and into good crops.

Mr. BiRNiE. I do not understand still. Did you turn up the
subsoil ?

Mr. Smith. No, sir, only to flie bottom of the furrow.

Mr. BiRNiE. With a mould plough ?

Mr. Smith. Yes, sir. I have subsoiled on other pieces of
land which were fallow, without any apparent result whatever.

Mr. BiRNiE. It was damaged by loosening the soil some inches
below the furrow ?

Mr. Smith. That was all.

Mr. Hubbard. That brings to my mind a remark that I
made to a man that I hired. The first job I set him to do was
to plough a certain field. I told him where to go, and he went
out and ploughed the field, and I found he had ploughed it
very deep — deeper than I had been in the habit of ploughing.

136 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

I was very mucli incensed, and told him that his first day's work
had nearly ruined the field. The result was, I never had a
better crop than I had that year.

We plough for two purposes. "We plough to save a great
deal of labor through the latter part of the year, in the first
place. When the land is not properly ploughed during the
early part of the year, of course there is a great amount of labor
to be expended upon it during the season, to get it properly
cultivated. There has been a great demand for improvement
in ploughs, in order that the ground may be properly ploughed.
I can recollect, that in ploughing green sward, with the old-
fashioned plough, we had a vast amount of labor to do after-
wards in order to cultivate the field, because it could not be
properly turned over. But with the modern improvements, we
can turn over our green sward in such a manner, that, so far as
my experience goes, that kind of land requires less cultivation
than any other. But one question that will arise in the minds
of individuals is, at what time in the year is it most beneficial
to plough the land. There is a diversity of opinion in regard
to this. I have heard individuals say that they would not have
land ploughed in the fall, for the reason, that when the ground
is not covered with snow, a great deal of the soil is blown off.
Now, I have found, in my experience, in the cultivation of
certain crops, that the fall is the best time to plough the ground,
especially if I put my manure on and plough it in ; and for this
reason : that if the manure is put on in the fall of the year,
and the ground ploughed, I can work it much earlier in the
spring. I think all will concede the fact, that the land, if it is
heavy, clayey soil, can be worked much earlier in the spring by
putting the manure on and ploughing it in in the fall. For
raising cabbages, turnips and such crops, I have for several
years adopted the plan of putting on the manure in the fall. I
do not care how soon it is put on, after the crop is taken off.
Spread it on and plough it in ; and so far as my experience
goes, I have got a better crop in that way than by allowing the
land to remain until spring, and then putting the manure on
and ploughing it in.

So far as ploughing for a crop is concerned, when we turn
over green sward, for a crop, it is a question with many as to
which is the better time to plough, in the fall or in the spring.

CULTURE OF WHEAT. 137

So far as my experience goes, I would rather plough it as late
as I can in the spring. If I am going to raise a crop of pota-
toes, I let the land lie until I am nearly ready to plant. Then
the grass roots get a little start, and if it is well turned over, I
find less work in cultivating it, and I think I get a better crop
than by ploughing at any other time of the year. That is
because I do not break the turf. The land which I plough in
the fall is land which I wish to cultivate by completely pulver-
izing the ground. I do not think there is any danger of our
ploughing too much. We are in the hab?t, many of us, of
ploughing only once, in the raising of our smaller grains, and
formerly, I used to plough only once, but I now invariably
plough twice. Ploughing the first time as early as I can,
harrow the ground o\er, let it lie until it is in a suitable condi-
tion to put in the seed, and then plough the second time.
There is one crop, wheat, that I think should be put in early,
whether the ground is in good condition or not. If it is in
condition so that we can possibly work it, I think the testimony
of almost every individual is, that it is better to put in the
wheat crop early. But that is a crop that is not raised to a
very great extent. The question has been mooted here, whether
we can raise it in Massachusetts. I think we can raise it in
Massachusetts just as well as they can in other parts. As I
have said, if we will give a little attention to it, and each farmer
put in from one to three acres, we shall save a great amount of
money that is expended for breadstuffs brought from the West.
I hope and trust, that we shall give more attention to that
subject than we have, and make the trial, and see if we cannot
do more in the matter of raising wheat than we have heretofore.

Mr. Clement. In connection with this matter of ploughing
and subsoiling, I would like to remark, that some years ago one
of my neighbors had a subsoil plough, and I thought I would
try it on my own ground. I was then working a piece of sandy
soil, and I subsoiled it as deep as I could. I saw no beneficial
results arising from that, and I do not know that it could
reasonably be expected from land of that character.

As has been previously remarked, I do not believe in plough-
ing heavy soil very deeply. I think, if you plough heavy soil
deeply, and bury your manure deeply, and then plant corn upon
the surface, you will scarcely perceive any benefit at all from it,

18

138 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

and you will lose the manure at the same time. I have tried
planting corn on heavy soil, on a small scale, for use in the
family. I did last year. Well, I liad occasion to work that
ground over, after taking the crop off, and I found that scarcely
any of the roots penetrated three inches deep. You cannot
make corn roots run down into cold soil ; it is not natural. I
believe the corn will starve to death before it will go down any
depth in search of food. Therefore I would not plough deeply
at all on cold, undrained soil. My soil being of this rocky,
sandy, character, I do not believe I could derive any benefit
from subsoiling. I have no soil where there is clay. I do not
know that there is a ton of clay on my ground anywhere ; I do
not think there is. I am sorry there is not ; I should like it
much if I had some clay that I could use on my sandy soil to
improve it mechanically, and make it more retentive of moisture,
and enable it to hold manures better. But there I am. Hence
I have never used the subsoil plough but little, and those exper-
iments which I made did not prove satisfactory, and I gave it
up ; and the gentleman of whom I borrowed this plough has
never used it much. I think it has lain in his tool-house some
twelve years, and has not been used much, and probably never
will be again. His soil is very much like mine.

I can see, that where a gentleman has a stiff, clayey subsoil,
and not many rocks in it, so that he can put on a team and
break up this hard substance beneath the surface, it will be an
advantage ; but I cannot see that it will be any advantage to an
ordinary soil, where there is none of this stiffness of subsoil.

Mr. BiRNiE. When I first began to farm it, I had an idea
that deep ploughing was everything, and I made up my mind to
put the plough right in ; but I confess I have modified my opin-
ions very much by experience. I do not plough now over six
inches deep. I am satisfied that the roots of the crops we culti-
vate come pretty near the surface. I want my manure just as
near the surface as possible, and have it mix with the soil, after
harrowing it or ploughing it in. I think, if you put manure on
the surface and plough it in deep, it will never get to the crop.
I have been most successful by putting the manure on the sur-
face and ploughing it in very lightly. I have a subsoil plough
that I used years ago, but I use it very seldom now, except for
my root crops. I find it an excellent implement to be used in

THE SUBSOIL PLOUGH. 139

that connection. I find that the mangold wurzel does not go
very deep into the ground, and I do not plough over six inches
deep for mangolds ; but after the land is marked out, I run my
subsoil plough where I intend to plant my seed, and it loosens
the ground. I run it between the rows, and I find it loosens up
the soil very finely. That is the only use I make of the subsoil
plough.

In relation to tlie season of ploughing, I like to plough in the
fall, because it helps along the spring work.

A Member. How deep do you run the subsoil plough ?

Mr. BiRNiE. I run it down to the bottom of the furrow — no
deeper. It seems to raise the ground up — soften it. I turn
over the ground just as early in the autumn as I can. If I can-
not turn it over early, I prefer to let it lie until the next season
and plough it as late as I can, when the grass has started. I
prefer to get just as mucli growth to the roots of the grass as I
can before it is turned over. I put oats in the ground as early
as possible. I raise several acres of oats every year. I plough
in the autumn, and then sow before the ground is dry enough
to plough in the spring.

Tpiomas W. Ward, of Shrewsbury. There are but very few
farms in my neighborhood, that have cultivated fields upon
them, that do not have more or less small stones — cobble stones
— and they are a very great nuisance to the cultivator. Where
fields were ploughed as our forefathers ploughed them, they
became pretty much clear of these stones, so far as my observa-
tion has gone. That was the case on the farm where I lived,
and our fields were generally in a very good condition, so far as
these stones were concerned. I am on a farm that was culti-
vated by my father, and before him by his father, and it was
owned by his father ; I am tlie fourth generation on the farm,
and I well remember that in my father's lifetime he ploughed
when it was convenient for him to plough. If it was convenient
to plough in the fall, he would plough then ; if more convenient
in the spring, he would plough then ; but he always ploughed.
He didn't put his plough in very deep. He never wanted his
grass land ploughed more than from four to five inches deep,
and I do not know that he ever failed to get good crops — good
crops of corn, and good crops of grass following the corn. Now
the grass crop is a very important crop to all farmers ; it is (Jne

140 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

tliey look at more than they do at the corn crop. We are all
aware that grass does not root very deep, and, as has been
remarked, corn does not root very deep. I think it does not
root so deep as the potato. If I was going to plough deep for
either crop, it would be for the potato. When I took the man-
agement of the farm, which was after my father's decease, the
word among farmers was, " plough deep." Older men than
myself said that ; it was a story of their telling, and without
their experience I thought it might do for me to follow their
counsel, and I put in the plough deep. I did not stop at five,
six or seven inches. Now wiiat was the result ? That ground
had been cultivated year after year continually, and probably
had not been ploughed more than five inches deep, and all the
goodness tliat had been carried there, except what had been car-
ried off in the crops, was near the surface ; and when I put in
the plough deep I turned that all under out of the way. What
sort of a crop could I get from that subsoil ? Where I ploughed
in that way it spoiled my field for years. The next time I had
to plough deep, so as to turn up w^iat I had ploughed down ;
then I was pretty careful not to plough deep after that, but let
my manure lie on the surface, and then I got good crops again.
But that is not the end of it. In ploughing to this depth, I not
only turned down to a considerable depth what was on top, but
I turned up a great many cobble stones. I lost my crop by
ploughing deep, and also made myself labor by turning up
stones. Now where was the advantage ? I consider that I sus-
tained a very severe loss in that manner of ploughing. Since
then I have not usiially cared to exceed five inches, and get my
manure worked in at that.

I have ploughed in the fall. I think much depends upon the
ground you are to plough whether it is possible to plough in
the fall. If you have a tough, hard piece of ground that you
desire to break up, it is better to plough in the fall ; the frost
has considerable effect upon the hard soil, and I do not think
there is any very great loss by the wind blowing off the surface
soil. It will take away some, unless the ground is covered by
snoWf but I think the loss is not to be compared with the gain
that you make in letting the frost operate in pulverizing it. I
think there is great gain there. I think a light soil may as well
be ploughed in the spring as in the fall, and I think it is quite

FALL AND SPRING PLOUGHING. 141

as good for the crop, especially if you are going to put in corn.
I think the corn crop is quite as good upon a piece of ground
turned over twice in the spring, as it will be upon a piece of
ground turned over in the fall. But there is a great deal
of advantage in fall ploughing. Our teams are generally then in
full strength, and in much better condition to do this work than
in the spring, when the warm weather is coming on. They
have been in the barn all winter, and when you take them out
to exercise them, it takes them a good while to get the use of
their limbs and recover their wasted strength, and they feel this
work much more in the spring than in the fall. Therefore, I
think fall ploughing, where it can be done, is very much better
than to let it alone until spring.

Mr. Thompson. I called up this subject to learn instead of
to teach. When I was a boy, I carried on farming, and worked
at it until I was seventeen years old, but it is but recently—
within three or four years — that I have commenced handling
the plough again, and I do ;iot mean to handle it much myself
now, but I like to know the best way that it should be handled,
and the best season of the year to handle it, because it is
the duty of the man who either holds or drives, to know all the
minutiie of ploughing.

In my younger days, we ploughed, usually, quite early, and
with the best ploughs we could get in those days, and along
through my later life, up to within three or four years, I have
read a great deal on ploughing, from every source that I could,
and it has been " deep ploughing," it has been " top dressing,"
and it has been " get the manure down as deep as you can ; no
fear but that it will come to the surface." Now, it comes to
about this : Every man should seek to know the capacities of
his soil, and the requirements of the crop which he intends to
put upon the piece of ground which he ploughs. My expe-
rience has been, in the last three years — and everything I do is
a sort of experiment, because I. look at the result of everything
I do — the result of my observation and experience is, that if
you have a pretty tough piece of land, your team, as the gentle-
man who spoke last said, is in good condition to turn over that
tough piece of land in the fall, and I would turn it over as deep
as six inches. Of course, on your tough piece of land, the soil
is a little deeper than it is on a light piece of land ; therefore, I

142 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

would turn it six inches, and I am now working upon that
principle. After the land is turned, and through the winter,
the manure is to be applied to it, and there it lies, until the
spring comes round, about the time when I want to plant the
crops ; then I usually turn the manure under three of four
inches. That is, for my root crops, for spring wheat, for barley,
and SHch crops, I should put the manure on in that way. We
generally put our corn upon quite light land, because sandy
land is worked much better than heavier lands, and the corn
crop will do better there.

Now, this subject leads us to inquire what plough we had
rather use. We must have a plough to plough with. I have
tried a great number of ploughs, and I have watched the differ-
ent ploughing exhibitions throughout the State for the last five
years pretty carefully, to see the kinds of plough used, the
manner of ploughing ; and I have always noticed that a plough
with a short mould-board, if the mould-board was very concave,
and the land stiff and hard, would throw the top edge of the
sward off before it was ready to leave the convexity of the
mould-board. It will roll along, leaving a place where a horse
would break his leg if he undertook to go crosswise of the
piece, if he put his foot down into that deep hole. I saw the
ploughs at the exhibition here this fall, and the Michigan
seemed to work better than some others on hard soil ; but our
lands are light, sandy loams, and the Michigan would- be of no
use. If you put two or three inches of the surface down seven
inches, you would never hear of it again. You have got to wait
until you can make some new soil above before you can get a
crop. Therefore, I do not like that. There was the Morse
plough, which seemed to be just convex enough. From the
time it lifted the sod, it continued to give it a regular curve
until it turned bottom up. I obtained one, and tried it in
competition with the Doe plough and the Universal plough.
There were over twenty men in a lot where the sward had not
been turned for the last six years, and the last time, or the time
before the last that it was cultivated, it raised sixty-five or sixty-
seven bushels of shelled corn to the acre, and it would cut three
tons of hay to the acre. You can see that that must have been
good soil, and therefore the sward quite deep, and full of
twitch-grass. I had two horses, one four and a half years old.

DEEP AND SHALLOW PLOUGHING. 143

I put that pair of horses on the ploughs alternately, and tested
the ease of draft and the best turned furrow. I found my team
would go twenty per cent, easier with the convex mould-board
on the Morse plough than with either of the others, and turn
just such a farrow as I wanted — wide enough at the bottom to
enable any horse or ox to walk easily and freely. Down our
way, we have an abundance of sea-weed, and we sometimes
enrich our land by filling the whole furrow full. As the team
goes along, two or three men can follow it and put in sea-weed
enough to fill it full, and turn the next furrow on to it. I have
seen land enriched in that way, so that it would bear any
amount of crop that you had a mind to ask it to bear. Down
in Fairhaven, I have seen very stony land reclaimed, with sea-
weed. Therefore, we want a plough that will give a wide berth
for the horse to travel in, in order to fill up with sea-weed. I
would plough those lands about six inches deep usually.
I would plough in the fall for root crops, and turn in the
manure three or four inches in tlie spring. I should rather
have it three than four — either with a cultivator or with a
horse-hoe. Then, when you run your seed-sower, you have a
well pulverized soil, and you have the manure in immediate
contact with the seed, to give it a vigorous start, and your seed
has an opportunity to come along in time to enable you to thin
the plants and weed, before the weeds become so strong as to
interfere with them.

M. F. Watkins, of Hinsdale. I would inquire if the depth
the furrow should not vary according to the soil ?

Mr. Ward. I believe I stated that in deep, heavy soil I
would plough deeper than in light soil. It depends altogether,
I think, or very much, on the nature of the soil whether your
ploughing ought to be deep or shallow, or whether you should
plough in the fall or spring.

A. P. Slade, of Somerset. I feel interested in this subject,
because I lost a crop of corn last year in consequence of making
a mistake about ploughing. I will simply tell how it was done.
I manured a piece of stubble ground very liberally, thinking I
would produce a piece of corn that should be entitled to a pre-
mium, without letting any one know about it until I had raised
it. I applied any quantity of the best manure. The land was
ploughed in the fall. • 1 sent my man to plough in the manure,

144 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

and he asked me how deep he should plough it. I told him
just deep enough to cover the manure handsomely. I was very
busy, but after a while I went to see how he was getting along,
and found he was ploughing it just about eight inches deep. I
planted the corn with poudrette in the hill. It came up very
handsomely, and grew until the poudrette was exhausted, and
then plodded along, as we might say, through the season. It
never amounted to anything. I think I can account for it, for
after I had made up my mind that my crop was lost, I studied
into the matter. Knowing that it was a very wet season, I sup-
posed that the roots of the corn had not penetrated the soil as
deep as the manure was put. On examination, in company with
a gentleman who was visiting me at the time, I found that the
corn roots ran almost oii the surface of the ground, and that it
was a rare thing to find the fibres extending down more than
two inches. This was rather an exception to the usual growth
of corn roots, for I have known them to run down nine inches,
and have known a heavy crop of corn raised where the manure
was plouglied in nine inches deep ; but owing to the character
of the season, it. being so very wet, the roots were encouraged
to follow the surface, and the manure that I put on to get that
crop of corn was lost. But I am in hopes to get a good crop of
potatoes there anotlier year.

I will just mention another incident that occurred last year.
I purchased a new plough last spring, just as Mr. Thompson
did. I used a conical plough, and when we were ploughing our
onion bed, the plough was running so nicely that we ploughed
it ten inches deep, where we usually plough only eight. It put
in the manure very handsomely, but it turned up on the surface
a sort of lifeless earth, that of course was a stranger there and
never should have been brought there. And just to show that
a certain theory in relation to the growth of onions is true, I
will make this statement. It is well known among onion-raisers,
that when they plant a piece of new ground, the onions the first
year are very liable to have scullions, and that, the longer you
continue to plant the same piece with the same crop, the more
perfect will be the product. In consequence of ploughing this
piece two inches deeper than it had been ploughed for the last
six years, one-third of the onions were scullions. I have learned

VALLEY OF THE AMAZON. 145

from these facts that an onion bed should always be ploughed to
a uniform depth.

On motion of Mr. Clement, the Board adjourned, to meet
again at 7 o'clock in the evening.

EVENING SESSION.

The Board met at the hour appointed, Captain Moore, of
Concord, occupying the chair, to listen to a lecture on

THE AGKICULTURAL FEATURES OF THE AMAZON.

BY TROFESSOK AGASSIZ.

•Gentlemen of the State Board of Agriculture, Ladies and Gen-
tlemen,— We meet here to exchange our experiences, and it has
lately been my good fortune to visit scenes which are not very
familiar, and an account of which I have supposed might not be
unwelcome on this occasion. Moreover, an event has taken
place within three months which will have a decided influence
upon the progress of industry and commerce, and it is connected
with the scenes to which I shall allude. Therefore, of that event
and its influence upon the progress of agriculture I propose to
speak to-night.

On the 7th of September last the Amazon was opened to
the commerce of the world. It is an event of great importance,
and yet it has passed almost unnoticed. Its importance arises
from the fact that an immense extent of territory is now open
to traffic, which thus far has benefited not even the natives.
And yet that region is fertile beyond description. It produces
articles of consumption of various kinds which are in extensive
demand, and upon which, in short, depend the progress of
industry. I will only mention one. India rubber is one of the
natural products of the valley of the Amazon ; and where would
many branches of human industry be now if India rubber could
not be procured, and where would much of the progress which
we anticipate in the future be, if the supply of that article was
not daily increasing ? Therefore, you perceive, how desirable it
must be that we should know something of the growth and pro-
duction of India rubber, and that we should know exactly how
far that article may be produced in the quantity needed by the
progress of our daily avocations. I have seen the plant grow-
19

146 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

ing ; I have seen the harvest gathering ; I have seen the way in
which it is stored ; and I propose to say something to you of
that and of other branches of tropical agriculture.

One word, in tlie first place, on the country itself, for if it was
a dangerous land to visit, if it was so sickly that to travel there
would be the death of a man from the North, it would be hardly
desirable that such a land should be thrown open to free inter-
course with all nations. But there never was a country which
had a bad repute which deserved it less. The idea generally
is, that the valley of the Amazon is a malarious land, pestilen-
tial, almost intolerable on account of the insects and poisonous
reptiles, and dangerous on account of the wild population. It
is not so. Though under the equator, the valley of the
Amazon stretches, parallel to the equator, extending a few
degrees to the north and a few degrees to the south of the
equator, but mainly under the equator — from the foot of the
Andes to the Atlantic Ocean, in a straight line of over two
thousand miles, and over a width varying from five hundred to
seven hundred miles. We should expect, under such circum-
stances, an exceedingly hot climate. Let me say, that the
climate is more temperate than New England. There are no
winters such as we have ; I saw no such hot days as we have.
Our New England climate is what the natural philosophers call
" an excessive climate ; " that is, a climate in which the tem-
perature of winter sinks as low as anywhere, and in which the
summer heat rises as high as anywhere ; the consequence of
which is, an average temperature which passes for temperate,
because the extremes are so far apart that when combined, the
result is a moderate average. On the Amazon, it is very differ-
ent. The highest tsmperature experienced there is 90° or 91°
Fahrenheit. I have been told that the thermometer has shown
91° only once in ten years. I have observed the thermometer
myself daily during eight months, and I never saw it rise to 90°.
It never falls below 77° or 78°. You see the range is very
small. You would therefore expect that the temperature
would be very uniform, very monotonous. But there is another
circumstance which modifies that in a remarkable degree. The
Amazon, emptying into the Atlantic under the equator, faces
the trade-winds. The trade-winds blow over the Atlantic for
its whole width, and sweep over the valley of the Amazon, from

BAD REPUTATION ILL DESERVED. 147

Para, at the mouth of the Amazon, to the foot of the Andes.
The natural consequence is, that tliere is an enormous evapora-
tion, daily, from that extensive water surface, which produces
such a cooling of the water, that in many places, when bathing,
I have found it rather cold. And the natural consequence is,
that while, during mid-day, when the sun is high, the tempera-
ture is .very high, the sea-breeze tempers the heat constantly,
and when the sun is under, there is a succession of reductions
of temperature, which makes the nights cool. In the valley of
the Amazon, though under the equator, we have a regular
alternation of not over one day's heat, with cool nights. Such
a delicious climate, I believe, exists nowhere else on earth.
The natural consequence of these physical conditions is, that
the fertility of the land is unbounded.

Now, you may ask, how is it, then, that the Amazon has such
a bad reputation ? — that all travellers who visit those countries
speak of malarious diseases, speak of intermittent fevers as
reaching everywhere, speak of a population who look like skele-
tons, in consequence of their exhaustion by the climate ? There
is a great deal of truth in the statement that these things occur
there, but they are not the consequence of the climate ; they
are the natural consequence of the mode of life of the natives.
There are frequent rains, and these rains are very agreeable ;
I can say there is nothing more agreeable than to receive a
shower in the open air ; it is a natural mode of bathing, and
the inhabitants go and take their bath in tlie shower, every day,
but instead of changing their clothes, they allow them to dry on
their bodies. They will do that twice or three times a day,
without taking any precaution to keep dry, and in those alter-
nations between dryness and moisture, even though the climate
is fine, you see at once there must be a predisposition towards
fever ; and if, in connection with that, the diet is insufficient,
the population will be unhealthy. The indolent character of
the population leads them to take very little care. Tliey are
not provident ; they do not accumulate a sufficiency of whole-
some food in the right season, and the natural consequence is,
that in a land of plenty, where all the productions of nature
tliat may be converted into food for man abound, the natives
die literally of hunger, and you see starving populations every-
where. Of course, these results will not always be referred to

148 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

their true cause, and the natural consequence is, the bad repu-
tation which that country has — which, moreover, is entertained
by the oiScials of the country. The president of one of those
provinces, sent out by the government at Rio, to administer
justice, and to see to the interests of the country along the
Amazon, is considered an exile, in an uncivilized part of the
realm. He is desirous to go home as soon as possible, and it is
for his interest to represent the country as unhealthy, that he
may the sooner be greatly rewarded for his devotion. The
natural consequence is, that all the officials of the provinces of
the Amazon decry the country, and contribute to create and
maintain at the capital of the empire, the impression that the
valley of the Amazon is an unhealthy country.

I wanted this to be well understood, because I hope to see the
day when our New England backwoodsmen will go to the
Amazon and take advantage of the endless richness and value
of the precious woods which grow there in the greatest profusion,
and which are allowed to rot on the spot, without being of any
use to anybody. All that is needed, in order to reap the benefit
of this rich production of the valley of the Amazon, is to go
there and take possession ; for those extensive forests are almost
everywhere nobody's land, and might be taken possession of by
any new-comer ; and I know it is the intention of the Brazilian
government, as it is in accordance with their interest, to facil-
itate the settlement of that part of the country, and give every
encouragement to the establishment of industrial occupations
along the borders of these waters.

Now to travel there is as easy as can be. There are lines of
steamers plying between the sea-coast and tlie foot of the Andes
regularly. Twice a month tliere is a steamer from Para which
goes into Peru ; and since I left that country the means of com-
munication with several of the tributaries of the great river
have been increased ; and every day, as commerce is developed,
no doubt the communications will be multiplied. I trust it will
not be long before small steamers will be run on all tliose great
rivers. At present it is mainly on the main stream of the
Amazon that the steamers run ; its tributaries have only been
incidentally visited by steamers. Of the magnitude of these
water communications it is impossible to form an idea without
seeing them, they are on such a grand scale. I am afraid to

TRIBUTARIES OF THE AMAZON. 149

state my impressions, for fear of appearing to exaggerate ; but
I will give you some figures. The front of fresh water which
pours into the Atlantic frona the mouth of the Amazon is one
hundred and fifty miles wide. This fresh water front is divided
into two branches by an island, Avhich is in the mouth of the
Amazon, called the island of Marajo, which is half as large as
Ireland. The opposite shores of the river above the island are
so far apart that it is utterly impossible for the eye to see the
two shores at once. You may ascend the Amazon a thousand
miles before you have a plain view of both shores, with the
exception of a single spot, at Obidos ; yet the whole tract is so
interspersed with islands that it gives the impression of an
archipelago in a fresh water ocean ; and when ascending the
great river you seem constantly to be between shores, when in
reality you sail between a succession of islands. The tributa-
ries are on a scale of magnificence which compares with the
main stream. The mouth of the Tocantins, (which is tlii first
great tributary of the Amazon, on ascending from Para, on the
south side,) is seventeen miles wide where it pours into the
Amazon ; and the Tocantins is not one of the larger tributaries
of the Amazon. The Rio Purus, which empties into the
Amazon over a thousand miles above its mouth, is navigable for
steamers drawing twelve or fifteen feet, for a length of five hun-
dred miles above its mouth. The Rio Madeira is another of
those giants which may be compared only to the large rivers of
the world, and is of the utmost international importance, since
it will one of these days furnish a communication not only
between the valley of the Amazon and the other parts o£ the
Brazilian Empire, but be a highroad between the Southern
Republics of South America and the more northern provinces ;
for through the Rio Madeira it is possible to establish a direct
water communication with the Rio Paraguay, and through the
Paraguay with the Parana ; and therefore a river circuit might
be made from Para, up the Amazon and the Madeira into the
Paraguay, and down the Paraguay and Parana to Buenos Ayres,
and back again. You see, then, what prospects there are for a
country which has such a territory, and over which flow such
rivers. And it is, perhaps, more than my words have impressed
upon your minds, for we generally consider a rivei* as a mass of
water which iiows between banks, is encased between these

150 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

banks, and has a definite course, beyond which you cannot pass.
It is not so with the great South American river and its tributa-
ries. The whole slope of the valley is so slight, that from the
junction of the Rio Negro to Para, a distance of some fifteen
hundred miles, the slope is only two hundred and odd feet ; and
therefore the whole course of the Amazon is, properly speakings
an extensive plain, over which flows an immense sheet of* water,
which covers an extensive tract of ground. That water has an
annual rise and fall of from thirty to thirty-five, and even forty,
feet ; and on the southern and northern sides of the main river
the rise does not take place at the same season. It is in Sep-
tember and October that the southern tributaries of the Amazon
swell ; their nicrease of water pours into the Amazon in Novem-
ber and December ; so that there comes a flood from the south
side of the Amazon during the autumnal months, which spreads
over the whole of that part of the country, and presses the
waters«of the north side further north and encroaches upon them
regularly. In the early spring — in January and February, and
even in March — the northern tributaries swell, and press back
the waters towards the southern side of the valley ; so that the
whole is, as it were, like a sheet of water which, in the main,
flows eastward, but swinging to the north and to the south
•alternately, establishing cross communications between all the
watercourses to such an extent that it is possible to come down
from the Upper Amazon to the neighborhood of Para without
ever entering into the main course of the Amazon, on the south
side as well as the north side ; and these channels arc navigable
at all seasons. Therefore there is over this immense plain a net-
work of roads established by nature, which forever will be main-
tained in running order, without any expense whatever to the
country. All that is needed to get the advantage of that
immense fertility all over the country is to put on steam vessels
that may be adequate to the work to be done in the different
parts of the valley.

Imagine what^facilities there must be ; and yet, in the whole
of that country, at this moment, there are not more than 250,-
000 inhabitants. It is a vast desert, unoccupied, the natural
products of which rot on the ground, from want of hands to
collect the crop. And that crop is of immense value, and is as
varied as you can well imagine. I have been told by gentle-

PRODUCTS OF THE COUNTRY. 151

men who have lived many years on the borders of the Amazon,
that of India rubber alone, not one-tenth was gathered, from
want of hands to pick it up at the proper season. And so it is
with all the other products. The mode of gatheiing is even
more astonishing. The trees are destroyed for the small fruit.
There are no saw-mills in that country, and when the people
want to build, they cut down just the most beautiful tree, and
shape to the dimensions of the piece of wood they want, with a
hatcliet. And these woods — what are tliey ? They are the
most exquisite in grain, the most admirable in color and in
variety, and the most precious for all possible cabinet work,
and for constructions of all kinds ; woods as hard and as dura-
ble as grow anywhere in the world, and which, I say, are not
even used in the country itself, and form no part whatsoever of
the exports of the country. It is this rambling, careless, indo-
lent population to which I have already alluded, which at
certain seasons wanders through the woods and gathers the
harvests. It is in that irregular manner that all tlie products
of the Amazon are collected — the sarsaparilla, the caoutchouc
or India rubber, the Brazilian nuts, and the hosts of fruits and
of fishes, which are used only to a very limited extent, but
which are already in some use for various manufactures, either
in the small towns along the Amazon, or at Para.

In conversation with intelligent inhabitants, I have ascer-
tained that the planting of the India rubber tree, for instance,
would yield immeasurably larger returns than those which the
gathering of the natural product has thus far secured ; and
everywhere would these plantations be as easy as possible.
Life is so easy there — hardly shelter needed to be comfortable —
the variety of natural products through which life may be sus-
tained grow so profusely, that between fruits and grain and fish
and game and wild fowl, there is only a selection needed in
order to sustain an extensive population ; and I suppose that
the only reason why the country has not increased largely in
population is, because of the fact, that until recently, it has been
shut against intercourse with foreign nations ; but the great
fact to which I have alluded, which took place on the 7th of
September last, has laid the whole open, and according to the
laws of the land, the settlement of foreigners in Brazil is made

152 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

so easy that I trust the riches of that country will not be left
ungathered by our active and enterprising population.

Having said thus much of the general productiveness of the
country, I suppose it will not be out of place if I allude to some
of the products themselves. The family of plants most exten-
sively growing there, and from which the largest variety of
products is obtained, is the palm. Tliere is an endless variety
of them, and the articles which are furnished by each one are
numerous also. But before I proceed to that, let me give you
some idea of the character of the river communications of the
Amazon.

Here we have the course of the Amazon [representing it on
blackboard.] Near Para, we have two great branches, which
surround the island of Marajo, and here comes the Tocantins,
which descends from the table land of Brazil, and pours into
that southern branch of the Amazon. The Araguay comes
next ; it does not come as a body in the Amazon, but sends off
branches which pass into the Rio Tocantins, before it has
reached the Amazon, and so that inter-communications are
established of which I spoke before. And here comes the
Tapajoz, uniting with the Amazon at the place where stands
the city of Santarem. That, too, sends off branches, and these,
again, establish inter-communication with the Amazon itself;
so that you have a network of rivers communicating with one
another over a width of at least sixty, eighty, one hundred, and
one hundred and twenty miles ; and that constitutes, properly,
the bottom of the river system. Higher up, these inter-com-
municating branches are not so numerous. But let me go one
step further. Here is the Madeira. Now, the Madeira sends
off a branch which comes to unite with the Tapajoz, receiving
itself a number of large streams. The Rio Andira, which empties
into this branch of the Amazon's stream, is, at the point of its
junction, ten miles in width. Thus one branch of a branch of
the Amazon is, where it pours into the Rio Madeira, ten miles
in width, at the time when the river is full. This land here
[representing an island,] is known as the island of Tupinam-
baranas, and it is a network of islands and lakes which is very
striking. Now, I come to the Manhes, which is a lake here.
Then here is another river, the Rio Negro, one of the great
rivers which comes from the table land of Guiana, which has

THE RIVER SYSTEM. 153

another branch here, the Rio Parana. We came down the
Amazon to the island of Tupinambaranas, on a government
war steamer. These waters had never been navigated by a
steamship, and the question was how far it was possible to
navigate them ; but the captain, judging from the general sys-
tem of inter-ramification of these rivers, had no hesitation in
putting into this network of rivers, passing across the island of
Tupinambaranas, reaching the river Ramos, ascending the
river Manhes, and landing us at the town of Manhes, after a
navigation of over one hundred and twenty miles, through
regions which have not been explored, which have not yet been
sounded. They go there with their steamers as they go into
tlie open ocean, so much has the wliole of this valley the
character of an open sea, interspersed with islands.

Now here is another river, the Trombetas, which joins the
Amazon near the city of Obidos — a river, the name of which,
probably, has hardly been heard in New England, but which is
navigable by the largest steamers ; and higher np there are sim-
ilar branches, extending in the same direction, with extensive
courses, which enable one to come down from the Rio Negro to
the Trombetas without entering into what may be considered as
the main valley. Now, to give an idea of the dimensions of this
network of rivers, I will say that it covers a surface of from
one hundred and twenty to one hundred and sixty miles in
width. But that is not the only characteristic of these singular
watercourses. The main river sends branches to its tributaries ;
and no better proof can be given of the slight difference in level
which exists between them. After ascending all day, by steam,
the Rio Negro, above its junction with the Amazon, we came
upon a branch coming from the Amazon itself. See how that
could be ascertained without a survey. The Rio Negro is a
black water river — that is, a river carrying clear water, darkly
colored by the decomposition of vegetation, and not flowing
through muddy banks, and therefore in no way turbid — carry-
ing no whitish deposits ; while the Amazon itself — the main
stream — and the Rio Madeira and some others, carry an immense
quantity of mud, and the water is turbid, wliitish — so much so
that you perceive the Amazon over a hundred miles at sea
before you enter its mouth. Now, after travelling a day up the
Rio Negro, suddenly we saw a large stream of whitish water

20

154 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

emptying into it, and, on inquiry, we were told by the pilot, who
was familiar with that region, that it was a branch of the
Amazon which poured into the Rio Negro, which Rio Negro
is itself a tributary of the Amazon.' And higher up you have
tlie same phenomenon repeated in the Japura, which sends
branches into this network to which I have referred, but which,
higher up, receives its branches from the Amazon. Therefore
these tributaries of the river, near their junction, are so nearly
level with the general surface of the whole land, that while they
pour the bulk of their water into the main river, they receive
branches from the main river ; and this especially at the time
when the rise of the mass of the waters alternates from the
south to the north.

I will now, as I have this diagram before me, just recall what
I said concerning the alternate rise and fall of the waters.
From September to December all the tributaries of the Amazon
which are on its southern side rise gradually. By December
this flood has reached the axis of the valley, and pushed to the
north all the water from those northern tributaries, which at
that time are at their lowest. In the latter part of January and
in February and March, all these northern streams swell and
rise, and press against the southern rivers, which by that time
have emptied the bulk of their waters into the Amazon, and so
the northern waters are now pressing south. And it is this
swinging of the great mass -of waters right and left, (this is,
north and south,) while it flows east, which has established all
this network of inter-communications which is the characteristic
feature of the Amazon, and in which that river differs from all
other rivers known.

The first indication of this singular and striking system was
obtained when Humboldt visited South America, when from the
waters of the Oronoco he passed, without interruption, into the
waters of the Rio Negro. There is a stream known as the Cassi-
quiare, which, after flowing from the east westwards, divides
into two branches, one of which flows northwards and empties
into the Oronoco, while the other flows southwards and empties
into the Rio Negro. Now Humboldt ascended the Oronoco to
the point where it receives the north branch of the Cassiquiare,
and, ascending that north branch, passed into the south branch,
and thus reached the Rio Negro without interruption. Now

DRIFT ORIGIN. 155

snch communications, which, when first mentioned, we hardly
believe to exist, form the character of the whole river system
which we know by the name of the Amazon. And it is not a
particular feature, only to be found in the connection of the
Rio Negro with the Oronoco through the Cassiquiare, but it is a
general fact ; it is the character of the inter-communications of
this great river system. All the water from the tributaries of
the Amazon, passing from so low a level, covers such an exten-
sive tract, that as the water rises or falls, the main river sends
branches into its tributaries, as the tributaries send their water
into the main stream.

It requires hardly a further illustration to show how easy
must be the communications in that country ; but it is to be
forever a water communication. There are such small tracts of
continuous land above the water through the whole year, that
railroads will forever be out of the question in that country ;
and even common roads cannot be used there for extensive
travel. Tbe land is generally low. That is one of the peculiar
characteristics of the whole country — even and low. Where
the banks of the river are most abrupt, where the river has cut
new channels, and where, in consequence of these erosions,
masses of land have fallen in and formed steep banks, they rise
hardly more than thirty or forty feet, at most sixty feet, above
the level of the river anywhere. It is probably the most exten-
sive and most even plain in the world, unless the great, desert of
Africa has as extensive and flat a surface as the valley of the
Amazon.

Geologically speaking, it is the most curious country known
to science. The whole of that land consists of materials ground
and carried along by the same cause which has accumulated our
drift. It is drift, and the similarity to our drift is most striking.
All these drift-beds which cover New England, and which form
such a rich soil after the large masses of pebbles have been
taken out from it — rich because it is the result of the attrition
of the most diversified rocks — all that drift is of the same char-
acter as the materials which form these Amazonian plains ; and
you see at once what singular vistas it opens into the past when
we consider the probable causes or forces which have ground
these materials to their present condition ; for if our drift has
been ground by glaciers, the drift of the Amazon is so like the

156 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

drift of the North, that there is no escape from the conclusion
that even these tropical regions were once under the ice sheet.
But I will not here dwell upon a topic which is foreign to the
subject on which I desired to speak, but only state that there is
this remarkable resemblance between the loose soil of the North
and the loose soil of the tropics ; and whatever may have been
the plough which has ground our rock to make it fertile soil for
man to dwell upon, that same agency has been at work upon the
plains of the valley of the Amazon, and has produced the same
results. Everywhere it is drift which is the most fertile soil all
over the surface of the earth.

There is only one tract of land which has hills of some strik-
ing dimensions, and that is between the mouth of the Xingu
and the mouth of the Rio Trombetas. On the north side espe-
cially, there are remarkable hills, and on the southern side
somewhat lower ones, but equally striking in appearance.
These hills are particularly impressive because of their form.
All mountain ranges everywhere have undulating crests, have
inequalities on their summits, and changes in their direction ;
but these hills of Obidos and Almeirim are flat-topped, with
sides as even as the gable of a house ; and these flat-topped
mountains extend considerable distance. They were for some
time supposed to be spurs of the table land of Guiana, or the
table land of Brazil, and had never been accurately measured.
It was during my journey that, for the first time, I suppose, the
means for measuring them were brought to their summits, and
we ascertained that they are much lower than they appear.
The impression is, when looking at those mountains from the
centre of the river, that they are many thousand feet high ;
they stand so abruptly, that the eye is deceived, and the impres-
sion is so grand that you might suppose that there was a very
high mountain range rising on the borders of the horizon. But
when actually measured, they were found not to be above nine
hundred feet high. It is very curious how the eye, in attempt-
ing to measure dimensions on so large a scale, is deceived. It
would at first appear, that owing to the very extensive plains,
high mountains might produce the impression of low hills.
There it is exactly the reverse. Hills not reaching a thousand
feet in height, make an impression as great as that of the Alps.
The scenery, in fact, recalled to my mind the familiar views of

BRAZILIAN NUTS. 157

the Alps, in Switzerland, the lower hill on the opposite side
reminding me of the Jura.

Now, in those hillj regions, there are extensive grazing
grounds, and very large herds might be raised there. It will
one of these days be the pastoral district of the Amazon, and
there will be, probably, the rural district of the country, when
the raising of cattle has become a regular occupation. At
Erer^, a little village among those hills, I have tasted mutton as
good as I ever tasted in New England, showing that the quality
of the grass is favorable to the raising of animals ; and that
region, owing to its hilly character, is so temperate that it would
form a most desirable place for agricultural settlements.

You know the Brazilian nuts which come to us from that
country. They grow on one of the most majestic trees known
in creation. The tree which bears the Brazilian nut is one of
the giants of the vegetable kingdom. It belongs to the myrtle
family, and its appearance is very peculiar. It grows like a
large, closely formed pyramid, and towers above all the other
trees of the forest. That and the Sumanmeira, form the two
choicest trees in the Amazonian region, and are the trees which
give character to the forest and the landscape. Tlie Suman-
meira, which is a kind of mallow, rises above the forest in the
shape of a tall stem, at the height of eighty and more feet,
frequently having a diameter of ten or twelve feet, and its
crown spreading like an umbrella over the forest ; so that, from
a distance, these flat-topped trees give one the impression of
umbrellas in a crowd, on a rainy day, one spreading over the •'
other. These trees give a peculiar character to a part of the
forest, and between them, we have these close cones of dark
green foliage, which are the Brazilian nut trees. There are no
two trees so impressive as these. The Brazilian nut is a large
nut, not unlike our ordinary walnut in external appearance,
only the bark is somewhat smoother, about the size of your
two fists, and containing some twenty or thirty or more nuts
inside. Now, all the products of that tree which come into the
market are merely the accidental gatherings from the ground.
Hardly anywhere is the tree cultivated ; it is only what is
gathered by chance off the ground, which is brought to market.
In two places only on the Amazon have I seen cultivated nut-
trees, and these had been planted for ornament in front of houses.

158 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

A few words about palms may contribute to give you some
idea of the peculiarity of the vegetation of those regions.
Palms themselves differ from all other plants in their growth.
The stem is regular, remarkably straight, and the leaves are
generally in a tuft at the summit. That is the appearance of
' most palms. The leaves themselves exliibit two types — one in
which the leaflets are of the same length, and spread like an
open fan, and another in which the midrib is elongated, and in
which the leaflets are placed right and left on the side of the
midrib, like the barbules of a feather. These two types extend
through the whole family of palms. There is no intermediate
form ; but the palms themselves differ from one another in
their dimensions, in the combinations of their leaves, in their
arrangement, in the character of the wood, in the character of
the bark, in the height and shape of the tree, the appearance of
the flower, in the appearance and size of the tree, and in the
character of the fruit.

To give you some idea of the various kinds of these palms,
I will describe some of them. The Miriti, for instance, which is
one of those from which the largest number of useful materials
is derived, is a palm, the stump of which is about the diameter
of my body, and it shoots up straight to the height of fifteen,
eighteen and twenty feet, and on the summit spreads the fan-
like leaves, not very many in number, but of colossal dimen-
sions. I was desirous, when I first saw that tree, to obtain a
leaf, and I sent a man up the tree, with' a hatchet, to bring
me down one. He sat in the angle of one leaf, in which he
was as secure as he would have been in the forked branch of
an oak tree, and chopped away with his hatchet for many
minutes before he had cut through the leaf stock, which brought
down a single leaf; and when that leaf was on the ground, it
was hard work for a man to raise it. That is the kind of foliage
which that particular species of palm produces ; and it has
bunches of fruit which are not unlike in their arrangement a
bunch of grapes. I have plenty of these things at the Museum
in Cambridge, but they are at present accessible only to myself
and one or two persons at a time, because they are so crowded
that there is no possibility of going between them ; but one of
these days, they will be visible to all. Now, one spike of the

THE PALMS. 159

fruit of this tree to which I have referred, is so large that it
could hardly be laid on this desk. It has branchlets nearly two
yards in length, and each one of these branchlets supports a
nut about the size of a large egg ; and when in full bearing, one
single bunch is so heavy that it is a good load for two men.
I have one such bunch at the Museum, from which the fruit has
dropped, it is true ; it is like a bunch of grapes, the berries of
which have been taken off; but the bunch itself is there to
show the dimensions, and a barrel of fruit which wa^ hung up
on that bunch stands by its side.

Now this fruit contains an oil which is of great value ; it has
a pulp which is very palatable ; it has a fibre which is invalu-
able for the manufacture of cordage ; and the wood itself is of
very great durability and beauty, and may be used for a great
variety of purposes. I am told by a friend from Brazil,, who is
just at this moment with me at Cambridge, and who was
recently at the great Exposition at Paris, and saw there an exhi-
bition of all the woods of Brazil, that nothing excited admiration
and wonder so much as one dish, in which the different varieties
of palm woods and their products were brought together. I
have myself seen an exhibition at Para, in which the products
of the Purrines were brought together, and where the palm and
its various products formed the principal objects exhibited, and
astonished me by their variety. I am told that the English
have begun to appreciate the value of this palm fibre for cord-
age, and that at this moment an exportation of palm fibre has
commenced for the manufacture of cables for the English navy.
These fibres have one peculiar characteristic, which renders
them of great value for such purposes : they are so light that
the cables do not sink, but float. You see at once the impor-
tance of such a fibre — so strong as to be superior in tenacity to
all other textile fabrics, and yet so light that it will not sink in
water.

Now other palms have a totally different aspect. There is,
for instance, the Little Marajah. It is a palm only six, eight or
ten feet high, a stem not thicker than my thumb, growing in
marshy ground and rising like water-bushes from the water, and
coming to be about two feet above the level of the water when
the fruit is rip^, throwing out bunches of flowers and then
bunches of fruit, which, when ripe, are so like our Black Ham-

160 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

burg grapes that they are served after dinner on the table in the
place of grapes. And their taste is as diversified as possible —
f;;r more so than are the different varieties of grapes. Some of
these bunches are purplish in color, some are sweet to the taste,
and some have an aromatic flavor besides, and indeed a variety
which is quite surprising ; while others are farinaceous, and
really remind us of the different kinds of nuts which we use for
the table ; and in addition to that they have a fleshy envelope,
which gwes an appearance to the fruit exactly like that of a fine
peach. There is one kind of palm, known under the name of
Pupunha, which the English of Guiana have called the peach
palm, which produces bunches of fruit about a foot and a half
in length, each bunch containing from thirty to fifty fruits, and
each fruit about the size of an ordinary peach, delicious to the
palate — a singular combination of the sweet and mealy taste —
which is capable of being prepared in various forms. Tliey are
eaten whole, they are eaten cooked, they are prepared in various
forms, and they make a most exquisitely transparent and
aromatic oil.

While these palms are so striking, some of them, for their
regularity of form, tliere are others which constitute vines,
creeping like our smilax among the bushes, and extending for a
great length in that way, while the stem is hardly thicker than
the little finger, and so flexible and so durable that in most con-
structions the Indians use them in the place of cordage. They
use these slender stems of palms as we use rope, and they
may be applied for all similar purposes to great advantage. It
i« of them, also, that they make a variety of tissues, and it is of
the more pliable and finer fibres that they weave their hammocks
and tlie different fabrics which they wear. So that the palm
supplies the native Indians, the inhabitants of those forests, with
everything. It gives him the rafters for his house, the wood for
his canoe, the fibre for all the uses to which he is capable of
applying it ; it gives him the various articles of food he wants ;
it gives him the means of covering himself; and many of them
furnisli in addition a kind of wax, of great excellence, which, if
introduced into our commerce, would be of great value for the
manufacture of candles and the like.

I know of nothing that is more attractive than this family of
palms and the great variety of their products ; and I believe it

EASE OF ACCESS. 161

would be worth while for one who is familiar with the various
branches of industry which would be benefited by a new supply
of materials, to visit that country and examine its resources
from an industrial point of view. All I have told you of these
things, I have gathered incidentally. It was not the object of
my journey. I observed these things when I had nothing else
to do ; or rather, as I could not help seeing them while I was
doing other things. I have no doubt that any one who would
go there for the purpose of ascertaining what are the various
useful materials which might be gathered there, what are the
places where the gathering might be done to the greatest advan-
tage, what are the places where settlements could be made
which would be most appropriate for the objects in view, would
render an immense service to our community. For these things
are used ; we receive them only accidentally, as it were, because
they have never been regularly cultivated, and because the
supply which comes to us is one which cannot be regndarly
depended upon. As soon as cultivation should replace this
accidental gathering — as soon as the endless variety of products
to which I have not even made an allusion should be brought
into the market — I have no doubt that the valley of the Amazon
would be one of great interest to us. Remember, that it will
bo more advantageous for our northern population to go there
to gather this wealth than to any other parts of the tropical
region, on account of its proximity, to begin with, and on
account of the character of the climate. In eleven days from
New York you can be in Para ; in a fortnight after leaving New
York you can be at the junction of the Rio Negro with the
Amazon, a tliousand miles above the mouth of the Amazon ; so
that it is at our door, and the facilities of communication are so
great, that we should take advantage of this source of valuable
traffic, now that it is thrown open to all nations, before others
have taken the cream from the field. And it is because I see
tlie immense advantages to be derived from this opportunity
that I have ventured to introduce here a subject so foreign, on
the whole, to the regular occupations of the members of this
Board. #•

Let mo only add, that besides the articles to which I have
alluded, there is a variety of dyestutfs as great as the various
kinds of wood of which I have spoken. There is a variety of
21

162 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

most delicious fruits, also, winch are never exported to our
markets, but which might be sold here regularly. Instead of
those diminutive, insipid pine-apples, which we get from the
West Indies, wc might have those magnificent fruits which
grow in "the valley of the Amazon, which are pine-apples on
a gigantic scale ; so sweet, that sugar would only spoil them ;
so fragrant that they exceed all that is known among fruits ;
and they can be easily brought to us. When I left Para, I
bought one of these fruits for two cents, and brought it with me
to Cambridge. It was seen in New York by some of my
friends, who said they would give twenty or a hundred dollars
to be able to present on festive occasions such a fruit upon their
tables. Now, that fruit can be bought for two cents apiece at
Para, and can be brought to our market with the greatest ease,
for I have done it myself. And what is true of fruits, what is
true of dyestufifs, is equally true of a variety of oils which all
these plants produce, and which would probably supply a great
deficiency in many articles of manufacture.

But I will not trespass upon your time any longer. I thank
you for your attention.

Dr. LoRiNG moved that the thanks of the Board be presented
to Prof. Agassiz for his able and interesting lecture, which
motion was carried, and the Board adjourned.

THIRD DAY — Morning Session.

The Board met at 9 o'clock, Mr. Alexander Hyde, of Lee,
in the chair.

Before resuming the consideration of the subject of plough-
ing, some discussion took place with reference to the appoint-
ment of a chairman for a year, instead of a day, and also as to
the propriety of limiting the time to be occupied by the speakers,
which terminated by the adoption of a motion, submitted by
Mr. George A. King, of Barnstable, that the general subject be
committed to the committee appointed last year, and that they
be requested to report upon the subject the first day of the
meeting in January.

On motion of Mr. Porter, Mr. King was added to the
committee.

DISTINCTION OF SOILS. 163

On motion of Mr. Slade, it was voted, that at the close of the
afternoon session, the meeting adjourn sine die.

The Board then resumed the discussion of the subject under
consideration at the adjournment last evening, that of
Ploughing.

Mr. Ward, of Shrewsbury. I find that I was grossly misun-
derstood in some remarks that I made yesterday. I find, too,
that I do not use the same dictionary as some other people.
For instance ; in conversation with a member of the Board, in
relation to certain ground, he said to me, that in his vicinity,
they were ploughing up their meadows. That was the idea he
conveyed — perhaps not the precise language. Now, in my
neigliborhood, where I was born and brought up, we call no
grounds meadows, but wet land. In certain other localities in
the State, all grounds that are mown are called meadows. In
the few remarks that I made yesterday on the subject of plough-
ing, I spoke of ploughing light soil, and said I would plough it
shallow. Now, by light soil there, I intended to be understood
as referring to soil that is gravelly, and has but very little
surface soil ; and by heavy ground, I meant to be understood
as referring to clayey subsoil. I find that the remarks I made
were not in exact accordance with the views of some members
of the Board, who understand light soil to be sandy soil, and
that that soil should be ploughed deep. I desired to make this
explanation, in order that, if there be any record made of what
was said, there may be a perfect understanding. I think that
every man who holds the plough, or who controls the plough,
must be the judge of his own soil. We cannot lay down any
definite rule that will precisely apply to every locality, and every
farmer must be the judge of his own soil, and of the necessity
of ploughing deep or shallow.

Mr. Clement. I think it exceedingly desirable that our
discussions should be distinctly understood by ourselves, at least,
and that they should be so conducted that the thousands who are
to read them hereafter may really know what we mean by
them. It seems to me that when we discuss any particular
matter, it ouglit to be presented in such a way that it shall go
out in a form implying a recommendation (if not directly
recommending,) of some particular mode or system that may be
adopted ; although I am perfectly aware that it is altogether

164 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE.

out of the question for us to recommend any particular rule to
be applied to ploughing throughout the State generally. As
Mr. Ward has said, a man must be his own judge ; and a man
who cultivates the soil ought to have a good share of practical
common sense, which will enable him to judge how deep to
plough, and whether it is best to subsoil. I do not think it
would be wise for this Board to say anything which would look
like a condemnation of subsoiling, in toto ; for I suppose every
one of us can imagine soils which would be benefited by sub-
soiling ; and, on the other hand, all of us would have no diffi-
culty in seeing that there are soils which cannot be benefited
by subsoiling — it would be labor wasted ; and a great propor-
tion of the soil of this State is of such a character that it
cannot be benefited by subsoiling. And while this matter is
being discussed, I would like to have something go from the
Board which shall look like a sort of recommendation that
certain soils be subsoiled, and certain other soils not, so that, in
reading our discussions, those who did not hear them, and were
not able to listen to the minute explanations which we make,
shall gain some light thereby. For the reports, which used to
be little used years ago, are now sought for with avidity. I
think it is very important that we should endeavor to make
them instructive and interesting, so that any one who comes
here shall be improved by what has been said. As was said
last year, we all want to improve from year to year, to grow
more intelligent from day to day, and be gathering new facts
all the time. I am sure that is my desire, and if I did not feel
so, I would not hold a place on this Board, because I have
plenty of business at home to engross all my care and attention ;
but I desire to lear'n from what is said by others in these
debates, and from what is read here, in the shape of essays, and
I desire to take part in discussions. We are so constituted
that all these things, I trust, operate beneficially upon each and
every one of us.

But I have wandered away from the question of ploughing.
My own view of ploughing is this : that on our light, sandy soil
we want to plough pretty deep, in order to extend the influences
of air and moisture through the open, porous subsoil. The
roots of all plants will run deep in such soil. If you will raise
the turf carefully, where a piece of such land has been in grass

PLOUGHING IN MANURE. 165

for a few years, you will see that the grass roots extend very
deep in all dry soil, where they go for moisture, and for nourish-
ment aside from moisture. Then, again, on hard, stiff soil,
where the suhsoil is gravelly and coarse, and not worth bringing
up for the sake of improving it, I should plough shallow.

Then, in regard to the burying of manure, I do not know
that it is very material to cover the manure deep in sandy soil,
or otherwise ; but it should be covered. I am in the habit
sometimes of planting what we call pine plains. The soil is
very light and porous ; we can hoe the corn immediately after
a shower and there is no sticking of the soil to the hoe. It is
mere boy's play to take care of the crop on such soil. It is true
the fertilizing properties of manures are soon exhausted on such
soil.

Mr BiRNiE. Do you plough deep or shallow ?

Mr. Clement. We plough deep, because if we did not, the
leaves would roll in a fortnight. I have never perceived that
corn was very much injured by rolling a little, if it did not get
so dry that it did not unroll in the night ; but if you find the
leaves rolled in the morning, after having had the dew upon
them, you may depend upon it, it has suffered. Now, if you
plough the soil deep, and plough in the manure deep, the
moisture is retained longer, and the crop seldom suffers.

A Member. How deep do you plough ?

Mr. Clement. Seven or eight inches. We generally plough
in the manure, and we get the benefit of it the first year. If we
plough in fresh manure, even, from the stable, the next spring,
if we plough again and sow grain broadcast, we scarcely see
anything of the manure ; it has rotted and gone into a soluble
state, and the bulk of it has been taken up. At any rate, it
seems to have been diffused into the soil and taken up by the
■crop, even if buried deeply. If you should plough that depth
in heavy, clammy, tenacious soil, you would scarcely receive
any benefit from the manure — it would be lost. Then there are
medium soils — soils which are moderately wet — which I think it
will do to manure pretty deeply — what we would regard as an
ordinary good corn soil. We know that a heavy soil is not
appropriate for corn. As I remarked yesterday, corn will nOt
penetrate to cold earth ; it is against the nature of the plant
altogether.

1G6 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

These are th^ rules by which we are governed in ploughing
in our locality. Light soil we plough pretty deep, and more
shallow as it approaches a heavy, tenacious soil, unless there is
something in the subsoil which leads us to think the land will
be improved by subsoiling or turning up something more. But
in our locality the soils are of such a nature tliat the subsoil
does not seem to be much. "We do not have clay. There is
scarcely a farm in our locality where there is any clay percep-
tible. In some places there is just enough to show itself, if you
stir a little puddle, by whitening the water, but not enough to
improve the soil materially.

Now, whatever may be said hereafter in relation to this sub-
ject, I hope we shall be able to agree upon something, so that,
as I remarked before, those who read these discussions, sliall
obtain some information from the remarks that are made here.

Mr. Cole. The whole tenor of the remarks made here yes-
terday, was to the effect that shallow ploughing was best ; and
the remark of Mr. Ward, that he ploughed from four to six
inches, was contrary to the idea of deep ploughing ; and I would
like to ask him if his results would not have been more satisfac-
tory if, instead of ploughing up four or five inches of soil that
had been turned up before, he had brought up, at each plough-
ing, an inch or two of the soil below ? When I was a boy, my
father ploughed shallow. I have seen furrows ploughed upon
our farm not exceeding three inches ; as Mr. Smith said yester-
day, it made the harrow fly round pretty lively. My father
came to the conclusion that it might be improved by deeper
ploughing, and at each breaking up it was ploughed a little
deeper ; and where it was then sandy soil we now get good
crops of hay and fair crops of corn. We plough it now six or
seven inches. I have now another piece of stronger soil, very
stony, (the first piece to which I referred is free from stones,)
which I ploughed with three horses as deep as I cc>uld. I
ploughed it, I think, about nine inches, and should have
ploughed it deeper if I could. Then the last time it was
ploughed it was ploughed deeper than it had ever been, and the
result was, we had the largest crop. I do not know but it may
be wrong, but that experience proves to me that tlie better way
is to plough deep, and instead of going down only three or four

PLOUGHING CLAYEY LAND. 16T

inches to bring up an inch or two at each ploughing of the
subsoiL

Mr. Ward. I cannot say that I think the crop would have
been improved if a little of the virgin soil had been turned up,
because, just as you add the virgin soil you have got to add
manure enough to bring that up to the fertility of the original
soil. Therefore I do not think it advisable to plough up any of
it.

Mr. Johnson. I like the remarks of Mr. Clement and Colonel
Ward, and also of the last gentleman who spoke, and I agree
with them as a general thing. I think there can be no rule
established in regard to the depth of ploughing, because the
soils vary so much, even upon any one farm, in my locality, that
we can establish no rule there for the depth of ploughing. On
some of our gravelly, sandy soils we plough pretty deep ; on
clayey soils we do not plough so deep. We have forty acres of
land that is clay bottom mostly. It has a good many stones in
it. About three acres of that land we have spaded with the
narrow Irish spade. I spaded down into the clay, turned it all
over, harrowed it, briTshed it, and it has produced good crops
for the last two years, with two top-dressings.

When I first commenced ploughing upon clay land I ploughed
pretty deep. I ploughed in the fall, and in the spring it troubled
me to cultivate it and get it ready to plant, it was so wet and
soggy. Lumps as big as my fist were scattered all over the
ground, and it was almost impossible to work it. Then I com-
menced ploughing that land not so deep, about five inches, and
ploughed it in the spring, about three days — sometimes only one
day — before I put the manure upon it ; but it worked nice and
mellow, and I got much better crops than when I ploughed in
the fall and ploughed deeper. I find that with fall ploughing
the ground does not work so easily as it does when ploughed in
the spring. My mode of ploughing is to plough as near the
time of planting as possible. I like to get in my grain from the
10th to the 15th of May, if the land will permit of it ; if not, it
has to go in later, but as soon as I can do it. I plant my corn
and potatoes the first of June, generally. I spread my manure
on and harrow it in with a two-flanged harrow. It does not put
the manure in very deep unless it is very fine, and mine is
usually rather coarse. Then I strike it out with a striker and

168 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

plant it. If I have time in the fall I plough the ground and
let it lie and take the winter freezings, and in the spring I
plough it with a pair of horses and harrow it. In the course of
a few days I cross-plough it with a light plough and seed it. On
my old ground, where I plant one year with seed, I put my
manure broadcast ; then I plough with two horses and let it lie
from two to ten days, just as it happens. I plough that also
twice before seeding. The second time of my ploughing, after
seeding, I plough a little deeper than the first time, so as to get
up a little of what Colonel Ward calls the virgin soil ; and the
second ploughing mixes it up with the soil, and I have better
results than I otherwise should. I think I want some of that
soil, but not too much of it. After ploughing it the second
time I bush it, and then I sow it and re-bush it. That is my
habit in seeding my ground.

I once took up a piece of ground where clay did not predom-
inate so much as it does in some parts of my ground. I
ploughed it ten inches deep. It had not been ploughed for
twenty years, certainly, and I am not certain that it had been
for forty years. I manured it thoroughly* broadcast, planted it
with potatoes, and got a very light crop. I ploughed it again,
and manured it as usual — let the plough go down seven inches,
but usually I think my ploughing would be only about six
inches deep — but I never have got a very good crop from it yet.

Mr. BiRNiE. How many years ago was that ?

Mr. Johnson. Probably 1852, or 1853. The last time I
seeded it was three years ago. I mowed it twice and it has not
recovered ; it is not as good a piece of mowing as the piece
adjoining it. It did not give so much grass this year as the
piece adjoining.

Mr. BiRNiB. It is rather a stiff soil ?

Mr. Johnson. It is, but not so much so as most of this forty
acres.

A Member. Did you plough the second time seven inches
deep ?

Mr. Johnson. No, sir ; I ploughed about six inches deep.

Mr. Hubbard. We shall all readily see that ten inches is
enormously deep. We are very likely to think that we plough
deeper than we do. I find by actual measurement, on land
that I should say was ploughed seven inches, that it is not

CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES. 169

ploughed so deep. Now, to plough ten inches is enormously
deep — it is certainly three or four inches beyond what is termed
deep ploughing. I have no doubt in my own mind tliat if we
should plough our ground by measurement ten inches deep, we
should suffer exceedingly from it. I should call six or seven
inches deep plougliing, and if I should go three inches beyond
that, I should expect to suffer exceedingly from it. The char-
acter of the season makes a difference in this respect. If the
season is dry, and we plough shallow, we shall suffer very much
quicker than if we ploughed deeper.

Mr. Cole. If six inches is deep ploughing, I would like to
have Mr. Hubbard define shallow ploughing.

Mr. Hubbard. Six or seven inches I said. I must say, that
I should consider nine and ten inches enormously deep.

Mr. BiRNiE. I question if we have many places that will bear
ploughing ten inches deep. I know one of our most successful
farmers,, located on a sandy plain, who puts his plough right
down to the beam, and it is an extraordinary plough. He
cultivates one part of his land as a market garden. His argu-
ment is, that the land retains the moisture, and he has never
any fear that his crop will suffer in a dry season, and he gets
tremendous crops. But my experience, on my land, would
be like Mr. Johnson's ; so that it is very evident that circum-
stances must control this matter. We cannot lay down a rule,
for all parts of the State, that a certain depth of ploughing is
necessary ; we must be governed by circumstances.

Mr. Johnson. In regard to the team I used, I will say, that
at that time, I had been taking out the stones from some low
ground, and it required a pretty heavy team. I kept six heavy
oxen at work upon that land, and I cleared it pretty much of
stone. I put four of these oxen on a large grass plough, and
all my endeavor was to keep the end of the beam out of the
ground, I wouldn't be surprised if I ploughed some as deep as
twelve inches. It Avent very deep, and it did not turn the
furrow over entirely, but it laid up, and some was rolled over.
It was a coarse piece of ploughing. I let out a piece of this
ground to be planted. The man was a firm believer in deep
ploughing, but I persuaded him not to plough too deep. He
ploughed that ground, I should judge, about eight inches deep,
and planted it with a crop of potatoes, and there was not a

22

170 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

weed on that field during that whole year. But the crop didn't
pay for hoeing, to say nothing about ploughing. The man
performed the labor very well, and subdued the land thoroughly,
and I had to make him an allowance, because he couldn't afford
to lose the crop. I have ploughed the field twice since, from
five to six inches deep, and I have got crops of potatoes and
corn ; a heavy crop of potatoes for us. Not such a crop as
this gentleman from Williamstown has been raising, but heavy
as potatoes have gone for the last few years. Ten or twelve
hills made 'a bushel ; and they were all large and nice. This
experience evidences to me that that kind of soil will not allow
of deep ploughing.

Then I have another piece of ground — a sandy, gravelly soil
— which I ploughed, several years ago, when I first. bought it,
deeper than I do now, for I found deep ploughing was recom-
mended, and planted it with corn, and did not realize half the
crop I have realized since by shallow ploughing, on that land.
I say, therefore, it is impossible to lay down any general rule
for ploughing. Mr. Demond was here yesterday, and would
have been glad to have spoken upon this subject. I know of
one instance which occurred near our institution, on ground
belonging to Mr. Butler. Mr. Demond ploughed it eight or
nine inches deep, and Mr. Butler found fault, because he said
land ploughed deep did not produce so well as that which w^s
ploughed shallow. Mr. Demond went upon the ground in the
fall, and it turned out that where he had ploughed there was
the best crop of corn. That is sandy soil.

Mr. Cole. The southern part of Berkshire has raised such
crops of corn that the eastern delegates are a little doubtful
about the truth of the stories ; and I call upon Mr. Thatcher.
1 tliink he can tell us something about how they plough there,
where they raise such crops of corn.

Mr. Thatcher, of Lee. I should present the same results
which Mr. Johnson has stated. We are now using, in southern
Berkshire, a plough which turns over the sod from six to seven
inches, with a subsoil attachment running from two to four
inches still, which does not lift the virgin soil the first year to
the surface. This attachment, running behind the mould-
board to the depth of four inches, usually stirs the whole width
of the furrow to that depth, after we have turned over the sod.

SUBSOIL ATTACHMENT. 171

Our idea is, that by loosening the subsoil by this attachment,
we enable the rains to soak down through, which they would
not do, our subsoil being clay, (which will not take in water,
unless the earth was loosened,) and our corn roots run down
there to get their moisture. The effect of the manure is felt
there ; and the second year, when we come to plough up
again, after this stirring of the subsoil, we drop our ploughs
down and throw up part of this subsoil. I can illustrate the
effect of that, perhaps, in this way. If you take a small box,
and fill it five inches deep with ashes, and turn on a certain
quantity of water, enough to make the ashes extremely wet,
you will see at once that there will be a caking of those ashes,
that is, a hardening process, which would not be felt if the same
quantity of water were poured upon ashes eight inches deep.
The roots will run down into that soil, or the ashes (as I am
using that illustration,) and the water will be retained through-
out those ashes, of that depth, longer, and be more beneficial to
the crop, than it could in ashes four inches deep.

I used one year a steel plough with this subsoil attachment,
and I turned over my green sward six inches, with the subsoil
attachment running under four inches. I think we certainly,
in that northern country, derive a benefit by stirring the soil the
first year, and very great benefit, without lifting it to the sur-
face, and then lifting it to the surface, and mixing it in the
succeeding ploughing. I have in my mind now a six acre
piece, which I am confident, in fact I know, would not lialf feed
a cow tlu'ough the season. We could not get more than four
or five inches of soil before we came to a hard clay subsoil, that
retained the water upon it, making the land cold, backward,
and sour. After ditching that land, and putting in some under-
drains (which of course benefited it, without ploughing,) we
commenced ploughing this land in this way, to get a deeper
soil ; not using the subsoil attachment that time, because we
did not have it, but using a common plough, following the
furrow afterwards, and lifting one or two inches at a time. I
am speaking within bounds when I say, that the second year,
the crop of corn paid twice Gver for the labor of ditching and
double ploughing. It is as good a piece of land now, I thiukj
as can be found in the town of Lee,

172 BOARD OF xiGRICULTURE.

These ploughs are used in almost all parts of southern Berk-
shire, and I think, where they are used, they are exceedingly
well liked. The subsoil, as I have said, is not lifted to the sur-
face the first year, but stirred, giving an opportunity for the
rains to penetrate it — and of course the heat of the sun will
penetrate it during the summer more than it would if not
stirred — and it is lifted in the subsequent ploughings.

Mr. BiRNiE. You spoke of ditching. How thoroughly was
it ditched ?

Mr. Thatcher. I put in ditches within two rods of each
other, in which I put under-drains. Over the widest part of
that piece, I think I put in eight drains. The piece was twenty-
six rods wide. On one side, I did not put any drains ; it was
rather dry land. I did not use tiles ; I used the stone on the
piece, covered with straw, and then sod.

I should agree with Mr. Johnson exactly, that in turning up
that subsoil to the depth of ten inches, I should not expect to
get a crop the first year. My plan of ploughing for corn is to
turn in the manure in the fall to the depth of six inches ; and I
always mean to use something to start the corn in tlie hill the
first part of the season. I had a very good crop of corn this
last season. I ploughed in a good quantity of manure, and
took a great tablespoonful of superphosphate of lime tq the hill.
I start it with this in the spring, and the roots then descend and
get tlie benefit of this manure which I ploughed in in the fall.
I am very much in favor of this subsoil attachment, which we
are using very extensively in that part of the State. I should
use it on clay lands, certainly. I am in favor of deep soil.
The deeper soil I can get the better my crops are. If I am
going to raise carrots I want a good depth of soil, where they
can run down without bringing up against any rocky surface.

Mr. Porter. I can readily coincide with the remarks just
made by Mr. Thatcher in regard to ploughing deep, I am a
very strong advocate of deep ploughing ; not less than eight
inches — from that to ten. I have used the same attachment to
which he refers for the purpose of loosening the subsoil, having
an attachment that will go down as deep as twelve inches. Our
soil is not very clayey. It is a sandy, clayey loam, some parts
of it. The Connecticut River soil is not like the soil of the
mountain towns. Our mode of ploughing now is very different

DEEP PLOUGHING. 173

from what it was when I was a boy. Then our fathers always
ploughed from four to six inches deep, and their crops of com
went from twenty to thirty bushels to the acre ; if they got forty
bushels they thought they had an enormous crop. We have
increased the depth of ploughing, from the time I commenced
to farm, from five and six up to nine and ten inches. I have
invariably perceived the best results where I have ploughed
deep. In dry weather it stands the drought better ; in wet
weather it stands the moisture better, for the water has a chance
to soak away ; and I always have the best crops.

In regard to the kinds of ploughs we use, I have a plough
which has been introduced but a few years, and there are but
very few of them with us, manufactured by the Collins Manu-
facturing Company in Connecticut. It is a steel plough, with
which we can turn just as nice a furrow as we formerly did
with a cast iron plough six inches. We always plough our
tobacco lands two or tliree times — never less than twice, and
oftencr three times, in the spring. Our first ploughing is slight
— from five to six inches. The object of this is merely to get
the manure out as early in the spring as we can, and get it into
a state that will fit it to feed tlie plant as soon as possible after
it is set out. Then just before setting the plants, from the first
to the fifteenth of June, we plough it again, and plough it
deeper — eight or ten inches — depending upon the character of
the soil.

Mr. Barrett. The Rev. Mr. Clark, of Waltham, wlio is
here to-day, has had some experience in deep ploughing ; we
should be glad to hear from him.

Mr. Clark. I am very much obliged to my friend for giving
me an opportunity to say a few words, and I will say but a few
words in the presence of the " assembled wisdom of the Com-
monwealth " on the subject of agriculture. I have myself sup-
posed that this question of the depth of ploughing must be
settled by circumstances, and that it depends very much upon
two considerations : one of them is the quality of the soil to be
cultivated, and the other is the kind of crops we propose to
raise. I recollect that last year, at Salem, Mr. Benjamin T.
Ware, of Marblehead, a very intelligent cultivator of the soil in
the line of market gardening, said tlio only use he found for a
subsoil plough was in loosening up his carrots, so that he could

174 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

get them out of the ground easily in the fall. I was struck with
that remark, and have remembered it, because it was not quite
in harmony with my own views upon the subject. I am not
much of a farmer myself, though I try to cultivate some few
acres of land, and do it somewhat thoroughly. I am more in
the habit of spade husbandry than of ploughing very exten-
sively ; and I have noticed this, that where I have told my man
to spade the land two spades deep, and undertaken to raise car-
rots, it has required two or three years to recover from the
effects. It raised so much of the subsoil to the surface, that
even with very liberal manuring I have found it required two
years for the land to recuperate itself.

I have had occasion sometimes to dig out rocks, when a great
deal of the subsoil was necessarily thrown on the surface ; and
I have always noticed that land so treated requires some two,
three or four years to recover itself from the effect of that
operation. In the end it is doubtless a great advantage to have
these stones removed ; but the life of the soil, for the time
being, has seemed exhausted by that process. "We bring to the
surface a cold, gravelly soil, and it takes a long time for the
dews and the rain and the sun to turn it into fertile soil ; and
yet they will do it in the end, and therefore it is better to have
these stones removed.

Three or four years ago I had occasion to build a sidewalk
near my house, of heavy stone. No soil was put upon it, but
there has sprung up there a fair crop of grass, made there by
the heavens — by the action of the sun and the rains, and the
attrition of those particles of stone upon one another — ^for the
walk is not travelled much by passers-by. I think, therefore,
that bringing this cold soil to the surface, although it is injurious
for a few years, is ultimately highly beneficial. We thus
deepen the soil, and I think it is very important, especially if we
want to cultivate root crops, to have the soil very deep,

I wish we could harmonize the different views with reference
to the use of the subsoil plough, which we hear from the gen-
tleman from Berkshire, and those which are entertained in this
part of the Commonwealth. In Berkshire they have a very
deep soil — an excellent farming region. Here around Boston,
where we live, especially in Waltham and that region, nature
has not done much for us. What we get there we have to get

DIFFICULTIES IN FARMING. ^ 175

by the use of money and science, and then we do not get very
large crops. I do not think the subsoil plough is of much use
with us, until some few years have passed away ; then I think
perhaps the results of it begin to appear, and it may be said to
be a very useful implement for the farmer to use, on the same
principle that deep spading is useful, thoiigh not for the first few
years.

Mr. Brown. The difficulty with regard to ploughing; is of
the same character as all the difficulties which attend the busi-
ness of farming. Unlike all other business, we have no precise
mathematical rules which we can apply generally to our busi-
ness. The carpenter has his square and his rule, and scarcely
strikes a blow in the course of the day that he does not strike
on rule ; and when he lays out his work in the morning, he can
see in his mind's eye just the result of his day's labor. He
knows just how that door or that window-frame must come out,
and it will come out just as he sees it. I want to know if any
farmer can tell me he anticipates with any such confidence the
result of his labors ? There is not probably a farmer on the
face of the earth who can do it. Tlie business of farming is
the most abstruse and the most difficult business men ever
engaged in. It requires more learning, more experience, and
closer application, than any business that ever devolved upon
man to perform ; and therefore we can see the necessity of
having this Board of Agriculture in the State, to harmonize as
much as possible, as Mr. Clark and Mr. Birnie have said, these
conflicting views, that in going on with our labors we may do
the work that will secure the best results.

Mr. Birnie and Mr. Clark have said, in their remarks, and it
is true, that the depth to which land should be ploughed
depends upon circumstances. Now, if I were to ask how deep
you would plough for a crop of carrots, there is not a man who
would say less than twelve inches, and some would say two
feet. Then, if I were to ask how deep you would plough for a
crop of corn, there are many wlio would say five inches is
enough, six at most, and others would go as high as eight or
even ten inches. So it would be with regard to ploughing to
get a good crop of English grass. Now, what I beg of you is
(because we are looking to you for light from all parts of the
Commonwealth,) not to go from one extreme to the other. In

176 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

all parts of the Commonwealtli, a few years ago, they advocated
deep ploughing. Now, I see you are going on the other side.
You are inclined to swing, as Prof. Agassiz told us last night
the waters of the Amazon do, first to the south and then to the
north. I say, avoid these extr.emes.

I have no doubt you must be governed in this matter by
circumstances — by the nature of the soil, and the nature of the
plant you are going to put into that soil. If you go to an exca-
vation where they arc cutting for a railroad, and find a place
where herdsgrass and redtop are growing upon the top of the
embankment, you will find that the roots of these grasses run
from one to six feet. I think I can show you illustrations, in
this town, that will satisfy you that roots will run down two or
three feet, under favorable circumstajices. "What would you
do with soil where you go down five or six feet before you come
to the hard pan ? What would the grass do, and what would
the root crops do ?

Then the effect of drainage is to deepen the soil. The
elements of fertility are profuse in the subsoil. Even if it is
clay, it is full of the elements of fertility. I heard a gentleman
state yesterday that he dug a well twenty-three or twenty-four
feet deep, and threw out the gravel, which was spread round
the house, and before the month of October, that gravel was
completely covered with grass, without any seed, or manure, or
anytliing. Would that grass have grown, unless the elementg
of fertility were in that ground ? By no means. I really hope
that you will endeavor to keep the happy medium, and lead us
on in it, who are to read your publications.

To illustrate this matter : A few years ago, people went mad
about breeds, especially about breeds of pigs ; and one man
was so taken up with the matter that he went and got a Suffolk
pig, and he said, there was nothing like it ; that he would eat
more and produce more profit than any other man in the
world. One day, ho tried him, to see how much he would eat.
He gave tlie pig an entire pail of milk, eight or ten quarts, and
he drank it all. " Then," said he, "just for the notion of it,
I took him up and dropped him into the pail, and the little cuss
didn't fill it half full." Let iis be able to rely upon what you
say, and then you will do good as a Board of Agriculture.

STIRRING THE SOIL. 1T7

A Member, What could we do with asparagus, in the culti-
vation of which our people engage so largely, if we did not
have deep soil ?

Mr. Brown. If you want to deepen your soil, stir it, as Mr.
Thatcher says he did. That is the true principle, in my opinion.
Then your plants have an opportunity to run down in search of
moisture, and there is an opportunity for the water to pass
away. Do that gradually, and instead of deep ploughing hurt-
ing the soil, my opinion is, you may plough it twelve inches and
keep tilling it for several years, and you need not add a particle
of manure ; the heavens will make it into good soil ; from slate
color it will become, in the course of a few years, as black as
your hat, only let it have access to the heat of the sun. What
we want to do is to harmonize these things, so that what is done
in various parts of the State will all be applicable to the work
in hand ; so that we shall not be at work, as half of us are,
without any result, losing our time and money. The business
is a most intricate one, requiring all the skill and .patience and
industry we can command ; and it is the most exalted labor,
too, that man ever engaged in. I am delighted to find this
Board going al)out the State and calling the people together to
discuss tlicse important questions ; and I feel ashamed that our
people in this town do not appreciate it more, and come here to
take part in your deliberations.

Mr. Watkins. I should like to ask my friend Mr. Smith how
he spoiled his land by subsoiling it, as he mentioned yesterday
afternoon ? I would like to get these points together, so as to
harmonize them, if possible, as Mr. Brown suggests.

Mr. Smith. I have been an interested listener to the discus-
sion upon this subject ever since it commenced, and I had come
to this conclusion in regard to the matter, which has been
expressed by two or three of the last speakers, and thought it
entirely unnecessary for anything more to be said : that it
depends altogether upon circumstances — upon the nature of the
soil, upon the weather, and the plants which we wish to put
upon that soil. Although we may not agree upon the topics on
which we speak, it makes no difference. It will not be expected
that we shall agree in all tilings, coming as we do from all parts
of the State. With the different soils we cultivate — with the
different crops we raise — it is not to bo expected that we shall

23

178 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

agree in all respects ; and although our record may not agree —
although it may seem to some that those who shall peruse what
we say here will gain no information therefrom — yet we must
take into consideration our different localities and our different
circumstances, and, as the saying is, each one " pays his money
and must take his choice."

I did not expect that the few remarks which I made yester-
day would be concurred in by the majority of those present.
I made them to draw out discussion. I said that in my opinion
the prevailing notion of the community was not so much in
favor of deep ploughing as formerly. That I suppose to be the
case, and it Is our nature, as has been expressed here, to go
from one extreme to the other ; too much so. We should
endeavor, as has been said here, to guard against going so far
the other way that we shall retrograde instead of going forward.

From the discussion yesterday and to-day^ I have formed the
opinion that the majority of those who have spoken arc against
very deep ploughing ; but I have also come to the conclusion,
as I have already said, that it depends altogether upon cir-
cumstances. We need to know the circumstances in these
several cases that have been mentioned. With regard to Mr.
Thatcher's experiment, we learn that until that piece of land of
six acres was underdrained, the satisfactory results were not
obtained. This should be taken into consideration. I cannot
recommend deep ploughing upon heavy or wet soil until it has
been underdrained ; and not only underdrained, but heavily
manured. That is the case with Mr. Porter's lands. They are
rich. If he manures for corn, it is very heavily, and also for
tobacco ; and that is the reason why he has such good success
with deep ploughing, and why he can follow the practice of
deep ploughing.

With regard to subsoiling, I almost regretted that I stated
yesterday what I did, because I was not willing to have it' go
abroad that the opinion of the Board, or my opinion, was
against subsoiling, because I am not convinced that it is injuri-
ous to the land, if adopted under proper circumstances and on
proper occasions ; and as an opinion seemed to be expressed
opposed to subsoiling, after I said what I did, I said I regretted '
throwing that out. The circumstances under which my exper-
iment was made I mentioned yesterday. The land was level —

ESSAY ON MANURES. 179

our river bottoms — in a fair state of cultivation. I was fitting
the piece for wheat. It was thoroughly ploughed. I followed
afterwards with a subsoil plough, and raised and loosened the
soil, and let it fall back again into its place. The result was, it
took several years, and many loads of manure, to bring that
part of the field (for I tried the experiment on only one side of.
the field,) into as good a state of fertility as the other. But by
no means would I condemn the practice of snbsoiling ; for we
all know, as has been remarked by Mr. Brown, that by continu-
ally exposing the subsoil to the air, we render it fertile. This
we all admit, and we need to stir our soils more, we need to go
deeper and deeper every year, we need a more thorough culti-
vation, and above all things, we need to talk upon the subject
of underdraining. Water is the great drawback on the farm.
Our lands are too cold. We may till those lands at any season
of the year, still it is no advantage, essentially, if we are to be
troubled with water in the subsoil.

Mr. Clement. I would like to have Mr. Porter state whether
his soil is level or not. I understood him to say he would
recommend subsoil ploughing on all land, of whatever character.

Mr. Porter. It is level.

]M A N U R E S .

The subject of Manures was then taken up for discussion, and
the Chairman (Mr. Hyde, of Lee,) opened the debate by
reading the following paper : —

Manure lies at the foundation of agriculture. It is the raw
material from which the farmer manufactures his products. So
highly is it prized by the Belgians, that they call it " the god of
agriculture." The increasing estimation in which it is held in
our own country is manifest from the increased price Ave have
to pay for it. In New England the price has doubled within the
last ten years. We are not sorry to notice the enhanced market
value of manure, for the tendency will be to induce every one
to husband his resources in this respect more carefully, and the
agricultural products of the country will be increased propor-
tionally. The waste of manure is the crying sin of all new
countries. Much as we have improved in New England in the
increase of our fertilizing resources, there is still a wide margin

\

180 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

for farther improvement ; and on the virgin prairies of the
West wc have seen the torch applied to the stacks of straw in
order to get it out of the way ; atid in many places the piles of
manure around the barns are considered a nuisance, and if
Hercules' mode of cleaning the Augean stables were possible, it
would doubtless be resorted to. "We have seen, during the past
summer, a sewer constructed in one of our large villages with
its mouth terminating in a brook, so that the refuse which
should go to fertilizing the surrounding country is now carried
to that great reservoir of fertility, the ocean. The inevitable
absorption by the sea of the fertilizing material of the land
would seem to be sufficient, without our adding to the loss by
turning our sewers in that direction. Possibly the upheavings
of nature, in the course of time, may bring to the surface the
vast deposits now being made in the ocean ; but it is not worth
while to make too large investments where the returns are in
such an uncertain future. We think we are speaking within
bounds when we say that not half the resources of manure, even
in our favored New England, are as yet developed. The object
of the present paper is briefly to allude to some of these unde-
veloped or partially developed resources, and, if possible, to stim-
ulate to a more careful husbanding of the life-blood of the farm ;
and if allusion is made to the writer's own experience, it is
hoped the reference will not be attributed to self-glorification,
but to a desire to make that experience available for the benefit
of others.

The first resource we will mention is the muck swamp. This
is a reservoir of vegetable matter, the slow deposit for centuries
of wood-leaves, moss and herbage, for the most part submerged,
so as to prevent rapid decay. Possibly these muck swamps are
the incipient states of future fields of coal, and may by pressure
and heat bo converted into that concentrated form of carbon.
Be this as it may, they seem to have been reserved by a kind
Providence to supply the rapid waste of vegetable matter which
always occurs in dry, cultivated lands. As the coal-fields are
the great wood-houses of nature, so the muck swamps are her
great manure-beds ; and as the development of the one has
vastly increased the manufactures of the world, so the use of
the other tends to supply the demand for the products of the soil
which manufactures create. These swamps were formerly

USE OF MUCK. 181

looked upon as so much waste, and dreaded as the hot-beds
of miasma ; but by draining they have not only been clotlied
with sweet herbage themselves, but have been made to con-
tribute to the beauty and fertility of the uplands. As a basis
for the compost heap we have never found anything equal to
muck. In a dry state it is exceeding porous, and consequently
a great absorbent of gases. A dead horse buried in it gives
forth no effluvia, and shovelled over at the expiration of a year
■will give half a dozen loads of fertilizing material, rich in
ammonia and all the elements of vegetable life. " We speak of
what we know, and testify to what we have seen." For a quarter
of a century we have used more or less muck every year ; and
although keeping little stock, the farm has steadily increased in
fertility. We would not recommend applying it directly to the
soil, unless of a sandy or gravelly nature. Muck is a greal
absorbent of moisture, and is therefore naturally cold, and
should not be applied to moist clay or loam lands till it has
been chemically changed by coming in contact with ashes or
fermenting manure. If raised from its wet bed in the swamp
and exposed to the air, it gradually loses its cold, sour nature,
and may be applied without composting, and witli benefit to
almost any soil not already abounding in vegetable matter. In
this state it is very similar and acts very similarly to chip
manure. To get the quickest returns from muck, however, it
should be placed in the pig-pen, barn cellar, yard or compost
heap.* The catalytic influence of the fermenting manure upon
the muck is wonderful. It is much like the influence of leaven
in a mass of meal. As with a proper degree of heat and mois-
ture all the meal is leavened, so, with the appropriate adjuncts,
the muck undergoes speedy fermentation and decay, and
becomes fit food for the growing vegetation. Thus the round
of nature from death to life and life to death is accelerated.
No definite rule can be laid down for the proportions of a com-
post heap. The more manure, the quicker is the fermentation.
As a general rule, two-thirds muck to one-third manure we have
found a good 'ratio. If ashes are used instead of manure to
cook the muck, one bushel of unleached or two bushels of

♦ An occasional layer of muck on the pile of horse manure to prevent fire-
fanging and add to the amount and value of the pile, cannot be too highly
recommended.

182 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

leached are sufficient for five bushels of muck. Lime, also, acts
favorably on muck, and one bushel, slaked with brine, will
sweeten and render fit for use ten bushels of the vegetable mat-
ter. The mechanical effect of muck on the soil must not be
passed by unnoticed. A loose, gravelly or sandy soil is rendered
more compact and moist, and a stiff clay more friable and less
likely to bake and crack.

As the second neglected source of manure, we will mention
the refuse of the sink and the slops of the house generally.-
As we see them carelessly thrown around many houses, they
are redolent with the seeds of death, but appropriately used are
abundant with the elements of vegetable life. To dispose of
them in the most ' sanitary and economical manner, should
demand attention from every householder. Health and thrift
equally require this. Few substances ferment more rapidly
and produce a more vitiated air, than soap-suds and the slops
of the chamber. The very fact that they taint the air so badly,
is proof positive that they contain the elements of fertility, and
it is a pity that so few heed the admonitions of that delicate
chemical instrument, the nose, and pay so little attention to
this source of fruitfulness for the soil and sickness to the
family. When the premises are so situated that it can conven-
iently be done, the best mode probably of disposing of this
refuse, is to conduct it by a drain to the barn cellar, where it
can be absorbed by muck, charcoal dust or other absorbent.
Where the barn is located at too great a distance or elevation, a
cess-pool should be dug at some convenient point, and if kept
well lined with some absorbent, the amount and quality of
manure that can be thus manufactured will surprise those who
have not tried it. Care must be taken to furnish the outlet of
the sink with proper valves, so that the gases from the pool may
not return into the house to the disgust of the olfactory nerves
of all the household. The manure thus made is good every-
where, but we have found it specially efficient in growing
cucumbers, squashes, &c.

Another neglected source of fertility is night soil. Partly
from ignorance of its value and partly from prejudice, night soil
has never received that attention in this country which its merits
deserve. By most families it is considered a nuisance, to be
abated as best it may, often by a bonus to any one who will

NIGHT SOIL. 183

remove it. Handling it, is indeed, not as pleasant as gathering
roses, but the roses may derive from it their exquisite coloring
and fragrance. It is one of those fragments that should be
gathered, if we desire that nothing be lost. We carefully save
the deposit of the stable, and shovelling amidst the filth of the
barnyard seems to us but play, as we are accustomed to it and
know that what has fed our cattle must go to feed our crops, or
farm and farmer will alike be impoverished ; but the richer
deposit of the vault is neglected, and the aggregate waste is
immense. No manure we have ever tried will compare in
cheapness and fertility with night soil. The value of animal
manure depends greatly on the quality of the food which the
animal consumes, and as man is the most richly fed, so his
excrements are of the richest nature. In the vault is found
fecal matter derived from flour, eggs, butter, beef and pork,
all well salted and peppered, and necessarily containing the
elements fitted to reproduce this highly concentrated food.
Theory and practice agree in placing poudrette at the head of
animal manures. Johnston says, dried night soil is equal to
thirty times its bulk of horse manure. This is the calculation
of the chemist. Our experience with it for many years may
not justify so high an estimate, but from no manure have we
derived so satisfactory results. Living near a populous village,
we have had an opportunity to obtain an abundance, and have
not been slow to improve the privilege. Our practice has been
to compost it with muck or the refuse charcoal of a neighboring
furnace. Coal ashes, sods from the roadside, or leaf mould from
the forest will answer a good purpose for the base of the com-
post. We have also tried pure sand in composting, and when
the manure is to be applied to clay-loam nothing is better.

Night soil is adapted to all kinds of crops. We have never
known it to fail wherever applied. As it is the result of the
decomposition of many varieties of food, so it contains the
elements for the recomposition of many. As a nation we are
beef consumers, even to a greater extent than John Bull him-
self, and as all flesh is grass, or mainly derived from grass, we
might conclude the compost of night soil would be good for the
meadows, and so we have found it. For corn and roots it seems
equally efficient. It is so good for every crop, that we are at a
loss to decide where its application is best. As so many thou-

184 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

sauds of barrels of flour yearly come down the Erie canal, into
New England, and pass through the alimentary canal into the
vault, we should suppose poudrette would be specially adapted
for raising wheat ; but of this we have had no experience. A
prejudice exists in the minds of some against the use of night
soil, arising from its odor, and a fear prevails that its presence
in the soil will taint the growing crop. Nature's laboratory is
too skilfully managed to give any occasion for such apprehen-
sion. Every pile of manure is a mass of filth and is full of
disgusting odors, but placed in the soil, the living plant sepa-
rates and sublimates the particles, with a skill which distances
all science, and returns them to us, glowing with life, beauty
and fragrance, every Avay adapted to supply the wants of man
and the inferior animals. Tiiis resurrection of these vile parti-
cles, so purified, is analogous to the resurrection of which Paul
speaks : " It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual
body ; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power."

Much night soil is wasted by not frequently coating the vault
with some absorbent. Economy and health alike demand that
this should be done. In warm weather especially it decomposes
rapidly, and the gases, noxious to man but vital to the plant,
pass oft' abundantly, unless retained by some absorbent. A fre-
quent sprinkling of plaster or charcoal dust will save this waste.
Muck, sods, sand or any soil will answer for an absorbent, and
will serve as a deodorizer, so that the contents of the vault can
be removed with less discomfort.

Another neglected source of manure is the hennery. We
send vessels around Cape Horn to import the deposits of the
birds on the Pacific islands, but think lightly of the equally val-
uable deposits of our domestic fowls. Distance lends enchant-
ment to the view of guano on the Chinchas, while the home-made
article seems too homely to be noticed. Fowls are high livers.
Their bill of fare is meat and vegetables for tlie first course,
grain for the second, and fruits for dessert. Their excrements
are therefore rich, abounding in urate of ammonia and phos-
phate of lime, the two most valuable substances in manure. If
exposed to winds and weather, much of the value vanishes into
thin air. It doubtless comes back to the earth again in the
rains and dews ; but is more likely to fall on some neighboring
farm or State than on the land of its rightful owner. It is not

THE HENNERY AND PIGGERY. 1^

much less a mistake to permit the droppings of our fowls to lie
under cover, but uncovered with some composting material.
In this situation there is less waste from decomposition ; but we
have found the dry excrement filled with vermin of various
kinds that make their abode in it and feed upon it, and conse-
quently diminish its value. It is wonderful to see the provis-
ions which a kind Providence thus makes for turning all forms
of decaying matter again into animal life, and keeping the air
pure and the world full of the higher order of organized exist-
ence. We would not counteract this benevolent plan of the
Creator, but rather be co-workers with Him, and turn all this
vile, decaying matter, first into such vegetation as we may
choose, and thence into such animal life as we may select. This
is man's legitimate province, and herein he exhibits his skill.
We have found the best mode of preserving the droppings of
our domestic fowls is to keep the floor or ground under their
roosts well littered with muck or earth of some sort. As both
the solid and liquid excrements are voided at once, this litter is
very essential for its proper retention ; and the quantity of the
manure is greatly increased without much diminution of its
quality.

We might speak of the hog yard as a manufactory of manure
on a large scale, but we fear prolonging our subject too far ; and
so much has been said on the capacity of the pig for working
our manure, that a reformation has been effected in the manage-
ment of the piggery. The hogs of New England are no longer
the public scavengers, foraging at large, but are boarded at
home, and in pay for their board shovel over the compost heap,
furnishing their own tools. The barnyard and the barn cellar
have also received greater attention and improved management
of late years, so that there is little occasion for referring to these
sources of manure. No good farmer now allows his cattle in
winter to poach his fields in search of water and dry forage, but
they are fed, watered and made comfortable at the barn, so that
their droppings are not scattered from Dan to Beersheba, iind
half their food consumed in the search for it, and in keeiDing up
their animal heat.

As the last neglected resource for manure, we desire to call
attention to tlie refuse of our manufacturing establishments.
Around most of these there is an accumulation of highly fertil-

24

186 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

izing material, which is often left to pollute the air, or thrown
into the river to be wafted to a bourne from which it will not
return in this generation. If we expect the agriculture of
Massachusetts to keep pace in the march of improvement with
its manufactures, we must avail ourselves more thoroughly of
the fertilizing refuse of tliese manufactures. Tlie hair parings,
spent bark and liquids of the tannery, the shoddy and washings
from the woollen factory, and the refuse of the soap-boiler are
only instances of the undeveloped resources in this direction.
The waste of the woollen mill, which even the shoddy manufac-
turer rejects, will raise the temperature of the compost heaps to
bloodheat, and rapidly disintegrate the muck and sods mixed
with it. We have had more experience with the waste of
paper-mills, and cannot too highly recommend the refuse sizing
which these mills furnish. It is the residuum, after the sizing
or glue has been extracted from the skins of animals, and con-
sists of hair, undissolved skin and small bones, all rich in the
food of plants, too rich for direct application to the soil without
first being diluted. Some twenty years since we noticed this
refuse lying around the mills, a scourge to the neighborhood,
and immediately made arrangements to try its powers on the
farm. We found its virtues so great that we have been able to
sell the bulk of the hay crop and still keep the farm up to
concert pitch. We have uniformly composted it with muck sods
or charcoal dust, and prefer to let it remain a year before it is
used. We have applied it in the autumn, mainly as a top-dress-
ing to grass lands. Fields thus coated in the fall, start early in
the spring, furnish two crops of hay, and remain green till the
severe frosts of winter. The luxuriance of fruit trees is so
great under its stimulus, that we have questioned whether the
great growth of wood was not at the expense of a crop of fruit.
Both the skin and the hair contain more nitrogen than flesh,
and as the hair decomposes slowly, they make not only a pow-
erful but lasting manure. Much of the sizing of our paper
mills is still thrown into the river. It decomposes so rapidly in
warm weather, and the odor is so offensive, that the manufac-
turer is glad to dispose of it in the most expeditious way
possible, and he does not look at it, as an Irishman once
remarked, with the nose of a farmer.

PEAT MUCK. 187

"We have thus briefly glanced at some of the neglected
resources of manure, treating the subject from a practical stand-
point, and giving mainly the results of our own experience.
The subject is by no means exhausted. Our hills and valleys
abound witli leaves, bones, and other substances, concerning
which it would be well to ask the question propounded to
Ezekiel, " Can they live again ? " We may not see the miracle
which the prophet saw, but these decaying objects, now so
loathsome to the senses, are all destined to assume new forms of
life, and it is our privilege to aid in the transmutation.

Mr. Clement. I must say that the essay of the chairman has
pleased me very much, and I presume it has every gentleman
present. I was glad to hear him speak with so much emphasis
against the monstrous waste of fertilizing materials which are
swept from our cities and large villages into the rivers and
ocean. The time will come in this country, though we may not
live to see it, when there will be those who will be glad to save
everything that can be converted into food for plants. I have
no doubt of that. It is time now for us to begin to save every-
thing which can be made plant-food. I was glad, also, to hear
the chairman speak so strongly in relation to the value of peat
meadows ; and I was particularly impressed with that, for I
have no peat meadow — no bogs to which I can resort ; hence I
have to buy. I purchased on one occasion half an acre, in
order to cart the soil off, and I did cart it almost all away, and
was well satisfied with what I did. Then, again, more recently,
a neighbor wanted to cut the peat in an adjoining meadow, and
I purchased the surface soil. There is a foot, more or less, upon
the surface which is not peat ; it has been frozen and thawed so
many times that it is all pulverized, and we use that as a com-
post for manure, for absorption in the vault, in the pig-pen, and
under cattle, and so on.

In this connection, let me say, that last spring I found myself
with quite a lot of pigs on my hands, like some of my neighbors,
and some one remarked that he found them about as profitable
as female pups of an ordinary breed of dogs. But in order to
make the most of them we possibly could, I made a pen under
my cattle, and carted this surface soil from the peat meadow in
there. I cleared up all the manure I could in June, and early

188 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

in September we used one hundred loads more that was made
in the interval in that way, by the droppings from the cows,
horses and pigs, all worked together. The pigs would tear a
load of this surface soil all to pieces in a day or two, and then
we would throw in another, or two or three, sometimes ; and on
a rainy day, we would throw in four or five loads. It was my
intention to make a good cart-load — thirty bushels — every day.
In September I ploughed some five acres of pretty good grass
land, and dressed it with this manure which we had made in
that time, and seeded it down immediately. It looked finely
before the snow came, and I expect to get a good crop of grass
there next year.

I have reflected a great deal upon this subject of manure, and
I am very confident that we have all of us got to be more care-
ful, or most of us, at any rate. I suppose there are some gen-
tlemen who are as careful as they can be, or think they are ;
and yet I apprehend they are not, after all. I think that, none
of us is quite so careful as he ought to be, in saving all these
fertilizing materials.

Mr. Hubbard. I think we shall all derive great benefit from
the essay which we have heard from our worthy chairman. It
brings to my mind, what needs to be brought to the mind of
every farmer in the Commonwealth — the great law of compen-
sation that is forever operating. If we are continually taking
from the lands of New England, we have got to supply that
waste in some way. Well, if we will just consider the matter,
and save all we may save that is taken from the soil of New
England, and return it again to the soil, we shall obey that law
of compensation, and supply the waste we have occasioned.

The gentleman has referred to one thing which brings up in
my mind this idea : that not only may we save all that we take
from the soil of New England, and return it again, and thus
make it productive, but, in addition to that, we may save what
is brought here from the West. New England is not wholly a
farming section of country, but, as has been said, it is the great
workshop of the country ; and we go to the far West, to those
soils which are very productive, and which, as the chairman has
said, do not need, at the present time, this compensation for
what is taken from them, — we go there for much that we con-
sume, and, as I have said, in addition to all we can save of what

SHEEP MANURE. 189

is produced by the land of New England, and return it again,
under this law of compensation, to the soil, wo can save these
products that are brought here from the West and consumed ia
New England. If we can save that, and return it to the soil,
we sliall go on continually improving the soil by cultivation. It
is often said that this is a hard, rugged and unproductive soil;
but if we bear in mind this law of compensation, and return to
the soil all we can of what is produced here, and also all we can
of what is brought here from sections outside of New England,
I think the farming of New England can be greatly improved
beyond what it is at the present time.

This is an idea which should go forth, and which should
engross the thoughts of the farming community upon this
subject. We all know that we cannot take from the soil with-
out returning to it something to supply the place of that which
we take away in the crops ; and if we will give our attention to
the ideas that have been thrown out by the chairman of this
meeting, and see to it that we save what can be saved, and
return it to the soil, we shall do much towards promoting the
interests of agriculture in our communities.

Mr. Smith. I am very glad to see so much readiness on the
part of those who have spoken upon this very important ques-
tion. It is broad enough to give occasion for an interesting
discussion, for it may take in all sorts of manures — the excre-
ments of our stock, the guanos, phosphates, and artificial
manures of all kinds. Now, if we agree in regard to tlie differ-
ent kinds of manure, I am afraid we shall disagree upon the
modes of their application, for we are confined by the subject to
no particular description of manure, but it may include
everything.

It has been suggested by the essay before us, which is a very
valuable one, as we shall all agree, that the strength of manure
depends a great deal upon the food of the stock. That is an
important consideration. I am often asked the question —
" Which do you make the most manure from, your sheep or
your cattle ? " My answer is this : if you feed light food to
different animals, you will have the same kind, the same
amount, and the same strength of manure, provided you save
it all. One great advantage in keeping sheep is, that we are
more apt to save the urine, the liquids as well as the solids.

190 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

If we were as particular to use absorbents to save the liquids of
our horned cattle, as we are to use bedding and absorbents to
save our sheep manure, my answer is, we shall have equally
strong manure.

Where I live, manure is " the chief end of man ; " it is our
" staff of life ; " it may be considered, perhaps, what we live
for. For what do we farmers do but to raise our grain and our
hay to feed our stock, to make our manure, to feed our crops,
to teed our stock — and so it goes, year in and year out ; and
the great, absorbing question with us is, what shall we do to
make more manure ? I hope that this question will be fully
discussed by all present, that we may take it in all its branches,
and be profited thereby.

The Chairman. Will Mr. Smith give us his mode of
application.

Mr. Smith. " Where doctors disagree, who shall decide ? "
the saying is. The Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture
has adopted measures to provide for experiments to ascertain
what is the best way in which to apply manure to different
crops, biit it has left out of the calculation the peculiarities of
season, and a thousand other things, upon wliich the answer to
the question in great measure depends. I am satisfied, that in
most cases, the best way to apply manure is to apply it near the
surface, yet a gentleman on my right ploughs it in to the depth
of five, six, seven, eight and ten inches. You ask my own
method. I am of opinion that we do not lose so much of the
strength of the manure by evaporation as we have formerly
considered, and as I have said, for most all crops, I put it at
or near the surface. For my corn crop, I plough either in the
fall or spring, the time depending upon circumstances. I am
in favor of the fall, because the teams are in better condition,
and I gain so much time, which is of great importance, with all
we have to do in our short seasons. In the s'pring, I haul my
manure on, and harrow it in two or three inches. I am satis-
fied that is the best way for the immediate crop, and for the
crops wliich will follow that. My farm is so situated, that some
parts of it, I do not tliink it advisable to plough at all. Those
lands I keep in grass, and upon them I put yearly a deposit of
compost manure ; and I am satisfied tliat by so doing I receive
the greatest profit from the grass tliat I could get. The quality

PEAT AS MANURE. 191

of the hay is better than where we re-seed oftener. But upon
other soils, which are more easily ploughed and more easily
worked, I am accustomed to apply manure to the corn crop,
and either seed after the corn, and then follow witli grass, or
perhaps grain.

Mr. Brown. In the first place, Mr. Chairman, I want to
thank you sincerely for the texts you have given us in your
paper — texts sufficient to keep us in discussion three days, and
a profitable discussion, too. I think if we should devote the
whole time to one topic, it would be the best thing we could do,
and that is, the value and uses of peat. It makes no difference
whether it is coarse or fine, I presume. I notice that Prof.
Johnston and other chemists call it peat, no matter what' its
condition is — whether it is in an advanced stage of decomposi-
tion, or whether coarse enough to cut and burn for fuel — as it
often is on the meadows. I think the hopes of a progressive
agriculture in a considerable part of the State of Maine, in the
eastern portions of the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts
and Connecticut, depend entirely upon their peat swamps, and
the peat in the valleys between high hills, which is infinitely
better than the peat of the bogs. You find low places or tracts
of high land between ranges of hills, and there are the best
deposits of peat to be found in the country. It has been accu-
mulating for ages, thousands, perhaps millions of years, from
the vegetable matter of the hills, leaves, decayed branches, dead
grass, and all sorts of herbage ; and at the same time that these
have been decaying, some of the elements of the hills, the
manures, I would say, are washed down into these low places,
and you find a deposit from one to ten and twenty feet deep.
There we get the best peat that is to be found anywhere ; and
that peat is manure itself.

Now, is not this worth carting on to your lands, which have
been rolibed of thess valuable materials ? Prof. Dana, says, in
his Muck Manual, that he made experiments over and over
again with pure cow manure and with peat, and the results
were just the same. That is, not precisely the same, but so
nearly, that they need no questioning ; and they show us, that
it is just as well to go to these peat deposits and take them up
to our barns, or on to our lands, as it is to accumulate the
droppings of cows, at a much greater cost than peat.

192 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Now wliat is the result ? I see a gentleman before me now
who called my attention, two or tliree years ago, to a field of
some fifteen or sixteen acres, as we were looking over his farm
one pleasant afternoon, and asked me if I could see any differ-
ence in the vegetation upon the surface. Said I, " It is distinct
to anybody. Any person who can see at all can see that here is
a line just as distinct as can be. On the right liand the herbage
is larger, greener, and has a different appearance from that on
the left hand side. What has caused it? I suppose you have
cultivated and manured that side more than the rest of the
land ? " " No," said he ; " for thirty years that whole field has
been manured and cultivated and cropped alike, as nearly as we
could do it, and with the same rotation of crops — corn, grass
and grain." " Well, then, what can have caused it ? " Said
he, " Thirty years ago I hauled peat from that meadow on to
the right hand side of this field." I think he said about one
load to the square rod. Thirty years ago that was done, and
there was the evidence of it two or three years ago, and I pre-
sume it is there to this day. That peat was used in a crude
state, although it was found equally excellent hauled up there,
spread and ploughed in.

Then, as an adjunct to your manure heap, there is nothing
equal to it. There is no other material which is so valuable.
For instance, in the autumn, haul into your barn a quantity of
peat tliat was taken out of the muck hole two or three months
before, piled up, and the water drained from it ; haul it into
your barn cellar and make a large winrow of it in front of the
droppings of the cattle, and then cover those droppings every
Saturday with that peat, but do not fail to do it. What is the
result ? Once a week, (twice a week would be better, but once
a week will answer very well,) you cover these fresh droppings,
liquids and solids, with this black peat ; the droppings are
thoroughly mingled with this peat, and every spoonful of liquid
is absorbed as it falls, and absorbed as it is warm, too, which is
very important indeed, and therefore there is no odor in evapo-
ration, or very little indeed, and your barn is just as sweet all
the time as this room, although you may have a stock of twenty-
five or thirty head of cattle. This is a result that can be shown
in many instances in this town. You thus save everything.
I would cut all tlie fodder, and have it fine. When you como

SURFACE MANURING. 193

to remove the pile, you can shovel it much as you would cut a
large rich cheese. Take a good steel shovel, and cut clear
through, and the mass is hlack as your hat, and rich as any-
thing you can put in the ground. I agree with Prof. Dana,
entirely. I am perfectly convinced of the fact, that two loads
of peat, mixed in that way with the manure — making three
loads, with one load of pure droppings — is equal to any three
loads of pure droppings that can be preserved. I have not a
doubt of it, from an experience of twenty years, with the most
careful observation, and attending to the matter myself. Peat
is the most powerful absorbent we have, and, next to charcoal,
it is the best thing we can use to keep everything about our
premises sweet and clean. As I said before, I hope this matter
will ])e dwelt upon by everybody who speaks upon the subject
of manures, for I repeat, I believe the hopes of a progressive
and profitable agriculture in these three States, or in portions
of them, depend upon the peat swamps which a kind Providence,
as the chairman has said (I was glad to hear that,^) has kept in
store for us.

Mr. Clark. With regard to the application of manures, I
perceive evidence of a diversity of opinion among practical
farmers as regards the depth at which they should be placed.
Some would plough in their manure four or five inches deep ;
others would place it at or near the surface. Now, I think in
settling a question of that kind, which is one of the deepest
interest to us all, we ought to study with a very critical eye the
operations of nature. I noticed, in one of our agricultural
papers, a few weeks ago, a very singular expression, which
contained, I thought, a great deal of philosophy, on this point.
The writer said that he had been out West, and he noticed that
the Lord raised much larger grass than we could, with all our
skill, and the Lord never owned a plough, but did it all by top-
dressing. That last phrase, " does it all by top-dressing,'^
seems to me to contain a vast amount of practical philosophy
on this subject. " Top-dressing " is the method of Providence,
or nature, as we say. I think that manures placed near the
surface are much more eft'ective than if placed very much below
the surface. My opinion on this subject has changed very
much within the last ten or twelve years. I used to be in the
habit of ploughing in manures, and the deeper the better, I
25

194 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

thoiif^ht ; but I find they did not do anything ; I seemed to
lose the wliole ; and for tlie last few years I have been in the
habit of placing them in very near the surface, harrowing them
in, or, if I plough at all, ploughing very lightly indeed. I
think the chemical operation by which all our vegetables are
grown takes place just at the surface of the ground. There is
where the air, the rains and the dews act most effectively —
right on the surface of the ground ; and I believe that a tap-
root, like a carrot or parsnip, does not so much draw its
nurture from the deep soil below as from the surface. I
believe that there is where the process is going on that drives
the root down, because there are no little fibres about these
things — or ought not to be, where they are raised as they should
be — to draw nutriment from the ground, as we say ; they are
almost entirely smooth, and the smoother we can get tliem, the
better. If they grow at all, it seems to me the process of grow-
ing must be carried on at the surface, between the top and the
commencement of the root, and it is there where the manure
needs to be put. But in raising an elm, we do not want to do
that, for the elm has a large top, and the roots run a great
distance ; tiiough there may be this same chemical action right
at the surface also, (and I presume there is,) yet its roots,
nature teaches us, draw much of their nutriment at a distance
from where this chemical action is going on. My own impres-
sion is, that we lose much of our manures by ploughing them
in deep. "When I came to Waltham, eighteen years ago, I
bought twenty-five acres of land, which was not worth anything.
It had been occupied by the Lyman family a great many years,
and would not bear anything but sorrel, and not a great deal
of that. I do not profess to have been much of a farmer, but I
have purchased a thousand bushels of grain a year, for the last
ten years, to be eaten by my stock ; and in addition to that, I
have purchased from two to three hundred cords of manure,
besides all I have made myself; and now I can raise a thousand
bushels of vegetables with the utmost ease, on land that would
hardly bear sorrel eighteen years ago. I had a very good crop
of corn this year. I do not profess to come up to the farmers
of Concord, who speak of raising a large amount of corn to the
acre, but I had two hundred and twelve well packed baskets of
corn from less than two acres of land this past season. That is

MUCK ON SANDY SOILS. 195

no great amount, but it is sometliing more than is usually
raised throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I
think, therefore, that we need to do all we can to make
manures, and when we get them, to apply them with the utmost
care and discrimination, so as to lose nothing that we get.
They are too valuable to be lost, and too valuable to be
misapplied.

Mr. Hubbard. It has been said by Gov. Brown, that there is
nothing which requires so much skill as managing a farm, and
he has alluded to our muck beds. I wish to ask him one
question. Supposing the soil on which he wishes to use his
manure is a dark, heavy soil, inclining more to clay than sand,
which would he prefer, sand or muck, to mix with the manure
to go on to the soil I speak of?

Mr. Brown. I think that on a granitic soil, generally, I
should prefer a certain portion of sand ; and yet my experience
has been, that even on heavy granitic soils, with clay under-
neath, the muck has worked to a charm — admirably. There
are lands lying near here which would, I think, illustrate that
remark. On uplands that are moist, such as we call " runs "
in New England, I should rather have a top-dressing of what
we find under a granite surface frequently. It is not trap sand ;
it is flint sand, perhaps mixed with a portion of clay. I should
greatly prefer that as a top-dressing. But on sandy loams, and
on decidedly sandy land — that is, eighty per cent, of sand — I
should want clay, too ; but I should begin with peat, until I had
got the sandy land colored somewhat, and then, unless clay cost
too much, I should certainly add clay. It is really wonderful
what may be accomplished with sandy land by the application
of a portion of clay.

This discussion is so interesting to me, and so valuable and
important as regards getting a good living in this world, that I
never know when to stop talking when I get upon this subject.
I believe we can enrich any land without applying a spoonful of
manure ; the atmosphere is at work for us all the time.

Mr. Hubbard. I speak of this because I know many farmers
who have gone to sand holes for the material to make a com-
post that is better fitted to the kind of soil I spoke of than
muck, and they have obtained better results from the sand.

196 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Mr. Brown. Yes, sir. That land is supplied with vegetable
matter already, and they apply sand or silicates.

Mr. Thatcher. I tiiink we are better provided, up in Berk-
shire County, with these muck beds, or peat beds, than some
other parts of the State, on account of our lying between eleva-
tions, where have been formed, I think, as Mr. Brown has said,
our best peat beds.

There are different ways in which we can prepare peat, and
some very simple ways, perhaps not thought of by many. We
have now arrived at that point where most of our farmers have
underground cellars to their barns. Years ago, when I com-
menced farming, we did not have these cellars, as we do now.
Our stables then were on a level with the ground. Perhaps
people now have their stables in the cellars, and do not use, as
they may use, this muck to save the urine in their stables. It
has been my practice, for twenty years, to take up, twice a year,
the floors where my cattle and horses stand, unless those floors
are over my cellars, and dig out under them to the depth of two
or two and a half feet, filling up under these floors with this
peat muck. I remove it in the fall, and also in the spring ; at
any rate, twice a year under my horses. The cattle not being
in the stable so much in the summer, it is not necessary to
remove it in the fall under the stable -wliere the cattle are. I
can call to mind an instance where I put some of this muck
that had been lying under my horse stable six months, upon a
a piece of grass land, and after I had put it on it looked exactly
as if fire had run over it and burned the grass, the muck was so
strong, with nothing but the urine from those horses. I put
this dressing on after I had taken my crop of grass from the
ground, and the next year I had a very heavy crop of grass. I
have never experienced any difficulty, and certainly the strength
of this muck showed me how much we lose in not using this
means to absorb these droppings.

Where I now live I have none of these muck beds, but I have
them within about a mile of me, and I have made a contract,
within a week, for a year, to draw muck from there, at twenty
cents a load, and I expect to haul a large amount this winter,
where I can get at it next summer.

Tlien we have had, near where I now live, a lake, which has
been a reservoir, but the dam has been raised, so that it is

A MARL BED. 19T

spoiled now ; but some twenty-five years ago, when the water
was low in that reservoir, we dug down to the depth of eight
feet, drawing off the muck, until we got to what we call there,
marl, which consisted wholly of fine shell, which may be found
in very many parts of the muck beds ; if you take a spoonful of
it, and throw it into a basin of vinegar, it will cause an efferves-
cence equal to saleratus. We hauled that off and put it upon
the land without^ any mixing with manure. I know that
twenty-five years ago, we drew a large quantity of that marl,
and put it on the south side of an orchard, and I think if I
could take gentlemen there next summer, they would see a
striking difference, notwithstanding twenty-five years have
passed since the application was made, in the appearance of
that land over the adjoining lands. It was a heavy loam, but
it made that land light to work, and we. have received the
benefit of it down to the present time.

With regard to the application of manures, we may differ,
and shall differ, according to our locations, the same as we do
about ploughing. Mr. Clark spoke of the elm. I think the
corn crop would differ from the carrot crop the same as the elm
differs from the carrot crop. There is a growth, which must
be a growth of the root, to sustain the stalk running up, which
will descend to gain strength to support that stalk, which will
give me to understand that I want to put my manure at some
depth on that soil, in order that those roots may have a vigor-
ous growth. I do not believe in ploughing deeply for corn, and
covering my manure deep, with nothing to make the corn start
in the spring ; but if I can have the manure there, so that when
these roots start, they shall reach it, and thus gain strength to
sustain the stalk during the high winds we have, I think I gain
something.

Mr. Clark. Do not the roots of corn come very near the
surface of the ground ?

Mr. Thatcher. Yes, sir ; but you will find that they also
extend very deep. If you plough up the stubble, you will find
the roots extend down six or eight inches, I think, without any
doubt at all.

Mr. Ward. I ara situated on a farm sloping to the east and
to the south. At the foot of the descent is a basin of some
twenty acres, which undoubtedly was once a pond. In that

198 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

basin is a peat bed, I can't tell yoii how deep, for I never have
found the bottom, although we liave oftentimes dug down
several feet, and have never reached the bottom of the peat.
There is also on the farm a hill of sand. Tliey are both very
convenient to the barn, and to our stables. I have in former
years been more in the habit of using peat than I am at present.
In the fall of the year, after having cleaned out my cellar,
which is forty by sixty-five feet, I cart into it perhaps sixty or
seventy loads of just what I please to put in, and I please to put
in sand or muck, according as I am going to use the manure on
one portion of my land or another. If I am going to put it on
stiff or low land, I cart in sand ; if I am going to put it on my
liglit land, I cart in muck, and I put some in my yard where I
herd my cows. But I have turned my attention more, of late
years, to manuring my low lands and turning my uplands
into pasture. My practice in manuring is this. In the spring,
I take off the top of my manure heaps, and place it upon my
planting ground. I do not plant so much as many farmers ;
I do not receive that benefit from the use of the hoe that many
farmers do. I usually put on my planting ground some thirty
cart-loads to the acre, and our carts usually hold from twenty-
five to thirty bushels. My former practice was to plough it in
rather deep, but I came to the conclusion that I did not reap
that benefit from the manure that I ought, and therefore I now
lay it nearer the surface. As time has progressed, I have been
laying it nearer and nearer to the surface. I am now getting
out of the way of the hoed crops, for the reason that I cannot
make them pay, and I have this fall laid upon my old fields —
fields that have been cultivated fields, that bear what we term
herdsgrass or timothy — about as much manure as I would if I
was going" to plant corn. I think I shall receive more benefit
from my manure in that way than from a hoed crop. Root
crops I have nothing to do with ; they are a hoed crop, and I
cannot make them pay.

My cattle stand on each side of the barn, my driveway goes
through the centre, and I have a leanto on each side. I have
often noticed in the spring, when I have had sand in the cellar
through the winter, that the liquids that have passed down
through the floor have so saturated that sand that it is discol-
ored clear to the centre. Although it may be clean, good sand

VALUE OF HEN MANURE. 199

when it is carted in there, when it comes out it is all discolored ;
and oftentimes I find a puddle of urine that has worked out
from the manure heap in the centre of the cellar. Now, when
I prepared my cellar, I cemented the floor, and there is no leak-
age, and the liquids are all retained. I value the sand that is
filled in that way quite as highly to go on my low lands as I do
the droppings from the cattle.

There are various ways, as has been suggested, in which the
farmer may increase the quantity of his manure. I was rather
surprised myself, this last season, at the effect of certain
manures upon the ground. I ploughed up a piece of ground
of about two acres, and carted on about thirty loads to the acre,
and at planting time I took the hen manure that had been made
during the year and dropped it into the hill — perhaps as much
as a man would take up in his fingers. What my hens made
during the year carried me over an acre of ground, perhaps.
When we came to use tliis hen manure, I put in three rows of
potatoes through the field, and planted the rest of the field
without anything in the hills ; but the field otherwise was
treated all alike. Upon gathering the crop, we estimated that
we got sixty per cent, more where the hen manure was put
than where it was not put. You perceive it was a very great
increase in the crop — altogether from the use of that hen
manure. That might have been increased in quantity, as sug-
gested by the chairman, by scattering loam or something under
the hens at the time of the droppings ; but there was a query
in my mind, when the remark was made, whether it would be
any essential benefit. We should be simply carrying dirt to the
hen-roost and carrying it back to the field, and it would require
a greater quantity when the manure was put on, so that we
should lose the transportation. All the good qualities of the
manure were retained in it, and we could not get any more than
that by putting in the dirt.

All the manure that is dropped by my cattle and horses goes
directly into this cellar. I am not in the habit of housing my
cows in summer ; I let them lie in the yard, where they have
shelter, and there they make something like a hundred loads of
manure during the season. That goes to my grass, also, and
my hog manure I put upon my cornfield. I think that is far
better than what we could make at the barn for increasing the

200 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

growth of the crop. It is a strong manure — made from better
substances.

Mr. Clement. There is one other subject about which I wish
to make an inquiry. It is in reference to gas lime. It is simply
oyster-shell lime, through which the gas has- been strained. It
has a very offensive odor, and is very powerful in something
poisonous. I do not know whether it is worth carting. We'
can buy this in the city at a merely nominal sum — a cent or
two cents a bushel. I have used a thousand bushels one year,
I spread some of it on grass land, and my man was not suffi-
ciently careful when he distributed it, and some of lay a little
too thick and killed the grass. If you throw a little round
bushes it will kill the foliage, and if you pile up a heap of it, it
will kill the foliage on trees twenty feet off, on the side next the
heap. There may be some gentleman present who can give
some light in relation to that, so that we may know whether to
use it or not. I have not tried enough experiments with it
myself to enable me to determine accurately whether it is worth
purchasing and carting it out of the city three, four or five
miles.

Mr. Thatcher. What is your idea ?

Mr. Clement. My own idea is this. I don't think I derived
much benefit from it where I spread it upon grass, but I did
derive benefit from it upon land planted with potatoes. I
should say seventy-five bushels is an abundant dressing for an
acre," and you see the expense is but slight. I thought tlie pota-
toes were better, but I tried it only one season. Of course one
experiment of that sort will not enable any one to determine
accurately. I would not say, distinctly, that it was a benefit,
but I think so. I will say this, also, that in working the soil
since, I frequently turn up a little lump of this shell ; it is now
pulverized ; it is not shell. It is not much pulverized at first ;
there are a good many shells, at any rate, but these soon
crumble to pieces. I have certainly got the impression, from
my reading, that oyster-shell lime was valuable in many
respects as a dressing for crops ; and I had hoped that I might
hear from some gentleman present who had had a larger expe-
rience with it, who could give us the details, which would
enable us to determine more accurately in relation to the value
of it.

GAS LIME. 201

Mr. Smith. A neighbor of mine was accustomed to nse this
gas lime for quite a number of years, and I had the testimony
from him that he used it with good success. He used to apply
it to his corn lands and to his grass lands, being careful to
spread it thin, as my friend Clement has mentioned, because it
will destroy the grass if applied in lumps. But he does not
use it now. I was induced through his influence to purchase a
quantity of it, four or five years since, because of its not costing
much, and put about a cart-load of it upon an acre, but I have
never seen any advantage from it. I am of opinion that I either
applied too much, or else it is of no benefit. I am of opinion,
and I have heard the same opinion expressed by others, that no
benefit is gained by the passage of gas through the lime ; that
if there is any advantage in it, it is because of the lime nature
which it contains, being oyster-shell lime.

Mr. Clark. About six years ago, the gas company in
Waltham offered me a large quantity if I would take it away.
I thought they made me a grand offer, and sent my man over
and got a large quantity, and put it on my land ; and that is
the last I have seen or known of it. I don't think it does any
great good.

Mr. Smith. One of my neighbors put it on a piece he was
going to sow with onions, and I tried it myself, and neither he
nor I were able to obtain any onions, because it was so strong
that the seeds would not germinate. I did not put it on so
bountifully as I did on the other piece.

Mr. Thompson. I have seen this gas lime tried for a number
of years, and the operation of it was injurious to the land. The
only use made of it in our place is to put it on roads to make
them hard ; it is very fine for that. We have composted it with
different kinds of material, but never found any good effects ;
it has always been more or less useless or injurious.

In listening to the gentleman on my right (Mr. Ward,) who
spoke about discontinuing the use of peat, and taking up the
use of sand, as a material for composting in his cellar, it
occurred to me that if he had used liis peat in the proper places,
he would have had good results ; although I would use peat
myself anywhere as a compost with manure. As Mr. Brown
said this morning, I would rather have two loads of peat mixed
with one load of clear excrements from the cows, than have

26

202 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

three loads clear from the cows. It may be that we would
apply the cow manure too thickly, and thereby it would be
injurious to the crop ; or, if you put the cow manure very near
the surface on ploughed lands, if it is very rich, not composted
well, you will find it will dry up, and there it will lie inert, and
your crop will be very little benefited by it the first year, at any
rate.

It seems to me that this use of sand is only the loss of one
carting. If you cart it into your barn cellar, you have got to
cart it out again, and we all know sand is pretty heavy to cart.
It may be an absorbent, and may be beneficial, but we find in
our neighborhood a yellow loam that is immediately below the
surface of the pure, white gravelly sand, two or three feet, and
cart that on to our meadows, and it is almost as good as
manure. I have driven by, all summer, two lots, belonging to
one man, one of which he manured with barn manure, and the
other with sods, which he stole from the waste land — of which
there are thousands of acres in the neighborhood. They
are grand mowing lands, and on one he carted this poor,
sandy soil, which is on high lands, which you would think
would not support the grasshoppers, and he had as good a
second crop upon that piece as he did upon that next to it,
which he dressed with barn manure. If that be a fact, what is
the use of carrying the soil into the barn cellar and then carting-
it out again ? I would cart all but very ricli sods in as absorb-
ents, but I don't think it is of any great benefit to cart sand
into a barn cellar. I would put it upon the meadows without
carting it in ; then I would compost my manure with peat
muck, which is valuable in itself, and if I had any high land,
put that on, and it will produce as good a crop exactly as if it
was all clear cow manure. For instance, I have in my mind a
spot of land of half an acre, that three years ago was barren
sand. Right below it, ten rods off, is a peat hole, in a very
beautiful mowing lot. The man digs some of that peat out
every year, and carts it across the highway upon this barren
sand to dry, and that lot, in three years, has come into mowing,
and gives a good crop. Nothing in the world but muck has
done it. That strikes me as evidence that peat is very valua-
ble. I think it is the best material to compost with that I have
ever seen. My method is to collect the peat and compost the

MANURING SUBSTANCES. 203

sods and seaweed from the first day of January, to the last
day of December. I am satisfied that by next sprmg, I shall
have made six hundred loads. I have carted seaweed when
a man could do but little else but cart seaweed. Well, I
bought a farm that had been partitioned off by fences into
small lots, and those fences I removed. The old custom always
was to plough toward the fence, and of course it has made
ridges three feet high and five feet wide. When I removed the
fences, and made the lots in a different shape, these came right
in the way of the mowing machine ; and if I undertook to
plough, they would be very poor places to plough over. Con-
sequently, I have hauled them off into the hog-pens and the
barn cellars. This fall, I have collected hundreds of loads of
sods from those ridges into a heap, to have' it ready when I
want it hereafter ; for we all know that for many vegetables
and plants, and grape-vines, rotted and decomposed sod is the
very best material that can be found — much better than any
manures. For strawberries, I know it is better than any
ammoniacal manures.

It seems to me, from my experience, that farmers should
always be collecting everything in the nature of manure. I
throw but little peat into my hennery, but I have the manure
taken out frequently and composted with peat and covered peat
over it, so as to save it all. I do the same with the contents of
my privy. It is about seven feet long by twelve feet wide, and
so placed that everything runs out of the vault but the solids ;
and therefore I throw in peat every little while, and once or
twice a year it is taken out and composted. I make every year
enough to manure a whole acre of land — as much as I should
have to pay fifteen dollars for if I bought guano. You can
make ten dollars worth of manure a year from twenty-five hens,
if you have the peat or good rich sods such as I have to com-
post with it. We all know that if we can make a load of
manure, twenty bushels, it is worth a dollar or a dollar and a
half ; and we know that if we do not have this manure we have
no vegetables. The gentleman spoke about root crops. Of
course we want to raise a root crop and a hay crop, and that is
about all. I can buy corn cheaper than I can raise it. I can
raise roots equal to nine tons to the acre — certainly that is a
paying crop — when I can raise but three tons of hay to the acre.

204 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

My roots have cost me nine cents a bushel, and they are cer-
tainly a valuable crop. But unless you manure well you do not
get a root crop. You wq,nt to plough first and then put the
manure on, two or three inches below the surface, then plant
your seeds immediately, and you have the effect almost instantly
upon the seed as it germinates, and it does not seem to lose that
growth. There is a stimulus in it when it is so near the sur-
face. The light and heat of the summer sun are acting upon it
and the surface soil to such a degree that you have a thrifty
growth of leaves all the time. I have grown ruta-bagas this
year on a piece of clear sand that has accumulated on the south
side of a fence until it is four feet high the whole length of the
fence. I ploughed there and put on a good coat of manure,
and I have had ruta-bagas six or seven inches in diameter this
year.

Mr. Thatcher. Will you be kind enough to state how much
stock you have, to make those six hundred loads of manure ?

Mr. Thompson. Twelve head of cattle, three horses and
about twenty hogs — that is, grown hogs and pigs growing all the
time. AVe have carted in everything we could get hold of ;
everything that would be called refuse round the barn and
farm.

Mr. Thatcher. I must say, that if the statements are true
that have been made here this morning, in regard to the quan-
tity of manure that may be made, we farmers who are outside
the peat bogs are exceedingly unfortunate. It does seem to me
that tlie question is, not the quantity of manure that we make,
but its quality. I know that it has been stated here, by pretty
good authority, that one cord of solid excrement from a cow is
worth no more than one-third of that cord, composted with two-
thirds of a cord of peat ; but it -seems to me, if I were offered
my choice between a cord of solid excrement from a cow stable
and a cord of manure composted in the way I have spoken of, I
should prefer the former. I know this much, that for all heavy
crops that are raised, at least in our part of the country, the
less there is of compost about the manure the better. I do not
want my manure composted if I am going to raise a big crop
of anything ; I do not care how near it approaches the solid
excrement. I never have found the trouble to which Mr.
Thompson alluded, of its drying up when it is turned into the

QUALITY VERSUS QUANTITY. 205

soil. The idea suggested by Colonel Ward was significant. He
said he might have made more manure from his hennery — he
might have increased the quantity — if he had been so disposed,
but he did not think it worth while ; he thought he should not
get anything more by putting loam in there and carting it
back to the field, than lie would if he carted the manure out
without it.

Mr. Slade. Mr. Thompson tells of making six hundred loads
of manure from the amount of stock that he keeps. I keep about
half as much stock, and I cannot make three hundred loads of
manure ; if I make one hundred loads of what I call manure I feel
pretty well satisfied. I know I have neighbors who make twice
as much manure from the same amount of stock, but it does not
tell on the growing crops ; and my idea is simply this : that
farmers perform a great amount of labor which does not jmy
them, in carting in and carting out. Now the use of Peruvian
guano proves very conclusively that it requires but a very small
quantity of the right kind of manure to produce a crop. Take
three hundred pounds of guano and scatter it over an acre
where you sow rye and oats, and you will see its effects immedi-
ately and magnificently. How much of that guano lies on a
square foot of the surface ? Now, to produce similar results
from a compost heap, a man must take a team and work all
day, and then perhaps he will not do it.

During this discussion, a conversation occurred to me that I
once had with a very intelligent gentleman in Bristol County, a
very extensive raiser of premium crops of corn — Mr. James
Leonard, of Taunton. For quite a number of years he has
competed, and always successfully, for the first premium on a
crop of corn. He has succeeded in raising one hundred bushels
to the acre. He has raised two hundred and ninety bushels to
three acres, and has never entered for a premium when he did
not raise over ninety bushels. Some neiglibors of his, in an
adjoining county, with a better soil than he had, were very
anxious to raise as big a crop as he did, and tried it year after
year, without success ; and finally, two years ago, one of tliem
came to Mr. Leonard and requested of him the secret of raising
his corn. Well, he told him just how he did it. Said he :
"Your land is as good as mine, if not better; I use so much
manure to the acre ; I plant such a kind of corn ; and my mode

206 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

of tillage is thus and so." " That corresponds," said the gen-
tleman, " with my mode, and I don't understand why I can't
get as good a crop as you do." Well, he told him he didn't
know. A year ago last spring he was invited to go over to one
of the Bridgewaters, where the experiment was to be tried for a
premium crop. As soon as he got there, he says he told the
gentleman : " The secret of your failure is simply this : it is not
in the kind of corn ; it is not in your mode of culture ; but it
is in the manure to which you resort to carry that crop through."
Said he, " You make your manure ; it is made from the drop-
pings of your cattle and what you put into it. What you put
into it is not manure. I buy my manure ; it comes from such
a stable in Taunton, and there is nothing in it but the droppings
of fatted cattle. You use just as much as I do, and when you
will use the same kind of manure you will produce just as big
a crop of corn as I do." I believe that.

Mr. Johnson. I am one of those fortunate individuals who
can agree with almost everybody here, and it is because my
soil is so varied. I perfectly agree with the idea advanced by
the last gentleman who spoke, and also with Mr. Thompson.

If I could have all the sand that I would like in my compost
heap for my clay soil, I would have at least one-half sand, and
prefer it to the manure. I have tried manure upon that clay
bottom, spreading upon the top, side by side with it, clear sand
and the wasliings of the road (which was sandy,) which had
been collecting for years, and' which contained a mixture of
vegetable matter undoubtedly, which had collected there, and
made a black deposit. I spread that upon that meadow (as we
will call it,) and more grass was grown from the application of
that soil than we ever got from the application of compost from
the manure heap. Not more than a fifth part of that compost
heap would be the collections of the soil. Yet it grew more
grass and it lasted longer tlian the manure did. Now, I pro-
posed, a week ago, to buy an acre more of that sand, to cart on
that meadow this winter, and I would rather have it than to
have stable manure to go on that land.

Then, again, if I am going to cultivate any class of soil that
we have, I prefer nearly clear manure. I do not want to cart
the dirt from the field, and run the manure through it, and
then cart it all back again. I see no sort of use in it, except to

ADAPT MANURES TO SOILS. 207

hold the urine ; and that is sufficient ; there we get a good
mixture. But in the otlier case, I want the sand ; I don't want
the clear loam. There is some property about the sand which
produces grass there. So that I can agree perfectly with the
last speaker, and with Mr. Thompson.

Then, again, we cannot tell exactly how much dirt or sand
to mix with the manure until we see the soil ; then we can
judge pretty nearly how to mix it. That seems to me the only
safe way. As my friend Clement said, this discussion is to go
out to the public, but it decides nothing. Can we decide any-
thing ? I do not see how we can decide anything, or settle the
question how deep we are to plough, how much peat it will
do to put into the soil, or anything else. I have no peat. My
neighbors have it, and have used it pretty extensively, but they
have left off using it now, the expense of carting lias got to be
so heavy. We have to pay two dollars a day for labor, and it
costs so much to cart the peat that they have given it up. It
is used mostly for orchards. One near me, consists of two
hundred and fifty trees. They have been in the habit of tipping
up peat on tliat ground, and now it is stocked down with clover,
and produces very heavy crops. It has had no manure
whatever for twenty years.

Mr. Smith. I wish to make a statement to correct what I
have said before. I think I said I applied gas lime to one acre.
I should, have said two acres instead of one.

Mr. Davis. I merely rise to corroborate, so far as my opin-
ion goes, some of the remarks which have just fallen from Mr.
Johnson. It seems to me that the more important question for
us, in regard to manure, is, the kind of manure that is to be
applied to particular soils. I merely wish, in that connection,
to state my experience upon that matter. I have a peat
meadow, where the peat is some twelve feet deep. A few years
ago, when a portion of it was laid down, being ploughed once,
I put some gravel upon it, and got a heavy crop, which in two
or three years fell off into fine, very thick set meadow grass,
without stamina, very hard to cut ; it could not be cut by the
mowing machine, on account of the fineness of the grass and its
want of stamina. I thought this want of stamina was entirely
owing to the want of silicate in the soil ; and in order to test
the matter, as far as I could, I last year put on a heavy dressing

208 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

of green barn manure. That added, of course, to the growth
of the crop, but the same difficulty was found to exist this year.
It was fine, and hard to cut. I have now covered it with fine
sand, which I think will be of more effect than manure, for
land in the condition whicii that is in.

It seems to me, sir, that that point, the application of the
proper manures to particular soils, and the application of various
soils as manure to other soils — is one that is not sufficiently
dwelt upon by us, or sufficiently considered by farmers. I
have had the same experience as Mr. Johnson in regard to
putting peat upon uplands. I find it is better to put on even
the poorest peat, and let the sun and air act upon it, rather
than not put on any at all.

It seems to me that something might be said with regard to
the formation of compost heaps, so universally recommended.
I know it is dangerous to say anything which may be misunder-
stood, with regard to composting, but I think the matter is
generally misunderstood. My experience with regard to com-
post heaps — I mean, composting barn manure with peat — has
led me to the conclusion that it is altogether useless work ;
that with the present cost of labor in this country, and more
especially in this portion of the country, it does not. pay. I
have come to the conclusion, that next to top-dressing, which
on most soils is the cheapest mode of manuring, the application
•of green manure, ploughed in, and peat ploughed in, leaving
the composting to be done by the action of nature, is just as
effectual as the formation of compost heaps, with the recom-
mendations of which the agricultural papers are filled. It
seems to me we do not discriminate enough, and that one-half
the compost heaps recommended are a mere loss of time.

Adjourned, to meet at 3 o'clock.

AFTEENOON SESSION.

The Board met at the hour appointed, Mr. Hyde in the chair,
and the subject of Drainage was announced as the topic for
discussion.

DRAINAGE.

Mr. Brown. As I hinted this morning, in some remarks
which I made here, this subject of drainage is one of great
importance to us as farmers, and one of exceeding interest to

DRAINING LAND. 209

everybody, whether farmers or not. We have with us a gentle-
man who has had a great deal of experience in laying drains,
and who has written a work on the- subject which I think
most of you may have read with pleasure and profit, and I
would be very glad to have him speak upon the subject. I refer
to Judge French.

Henky F. Feench, of Concord. Seeing the subject of drain-
age announced, I came in, hoping that I might gain some infor-
mation, as I have recently recommenced my agricultural life by
purchasing a farm in this neighborhood. I was not aware, until
now, that I should be called upon to speak. I have no objection
to talking upon the subject, because, as has been said, I have
given to it a great deal of attention, both theoretically and
practically. When I went to England, ten years ago, I was
charged by the person who then had charge of the Agricultural
Department at Washington to collect information upon that
topic, and I went out of my way a good deal to make the
acquaintance of drainage men in England, engineers and the
like, and to visit the best specimens of drainage that could be
found in Great Britain. Since then I have been constantly at
work upon the subject. I have always owned land, and have
constantly been practising. It is a subject that one can hardly
be expected to take up in a general way ; and if any gentleman
will suggest what particular topic connected with drainage he
would like to hear discussed, I should be very glad to be directed
in that way.

Mr. Brown. I think the first thing we need to know in
regard to drainage, is what kinds of land need drainage ?
Some persons say, if you drain a sandy piece of land, you not
only do it no good, but harm. I think that is a very important
question, at the outset.

Mr. French. Some people, I think Horace Greeley is one,
are of opinion that all lands would be benefited by draining.
I am inclined to think that is not so. Where no stagnant
water stands during the whole season, that land would not be
benefited by drainage. Any land, in which water stands at
any season, stagnant, within two or three and a half feet of the
surface would be benefited by drainage, somewhat. One of
the chief advantages is, that you lengthen the season. I am
speaking of New England, where the season is short, and we
27

210 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

have not time enough to do our work. Whenever your land is
wet in the spring, whenever you are late in ploughing, your
land is benefited by giving you additional time. I had a piece
of land in Exeter, N. H., lying on what looked like upland — a
springy hillside — so wet, that cranberries grew and ripened
there every year. That land, on which no crop would grow, I
drained four feet deep. It was sand and clay, mostly sand, but
coming down to clay after awhile. That land is now some of
the very earliest in that part of the country. The effect of
drainage upon land of that character is very valuable. The
water is not only taken away from the surface, but it is taken
out of the subsoil, so that land which has been wet and miry
heretofore, will be dry as early as any land you have ; — not,
perhaps, so warm as sandy land, but as early, and that is a
great advantage.

Now, besides the merely mechanical effect of composting the
soil, and making it so you can work it, you gain an advantage
in another way, in the warmth of the soil. You know perfectly
well that heat does not go downward in water. You cannot
heat water by the application of heat to the surface, in any
way. You may put a hot fire over a vessel of water, and keep
it there until the water evaporates, and you will not warm the
bottom. Heat is propagated in water by the movement of the
particles. You warm it at the bottom, and the heated particles
rise, and the cold ones fall. Two particles of water do not
impart any heat to each other by contact ; it is merely by
motion that heat is propagated from the bottom. Your soil,
being full of cold water in the spring, of course you may have
ever so hot a sun upon it, but no heat goes down ; you may
have a warm spring rain, and it may lie on top of the ground,
but it will not warm the water in the ground ; it cannot ; there
is no motion there. Whereas, if you have an under-drain, four
feet below the surface, when the winter begins to break up, the
cold water falls and goes off, the warm water that comes down
in rain takes its place. You lengthen your season in that way,
and you will find that an advantage in every respect.

That, perhaps, is not a direct answer to the question that is
suggested, What lands require drainage ? but it suggests that a
great many lands that are ordinarily not thought to require
drainage will be benefited by it somewhat. Of course, it is not

LENGTHENING THE SEASON. 211

always advisable to do it. It is often a question whether it is
worth while to drain land, upon which you can raise a crop of
grass, for the purpose of putting in other crops. There is a
great deal of low land that will yield a very heavy crop of grass,
that is not fit for corn land or for market gardening. But if
you want to put in corn, or make a market garden, you can do
it. You can drain that land and drain it so that you can
plough it early. Whether that land requires drainage, can be
answered by asking another question, " "What do you want of
it ? " Whether it will pay or not depends upon the locality of
your market and the value of your product.

In all land that you desire to plant for corn or for market
vegetables, the water should be out so that you can work it in
the sprhig as early as any land can be worked, and so that it
will keep dry until it is frozen, so that you can go on with
cattle and horses in the fall. Upon the point, whether drained
land freezes more or less than land undrained, I will say that
I have no doubt that drained land freezes deeper than land not
drained ; and for this reason. Land that is wet is ordinarily
supplied with water from springs, and springs are warmer than
snow. That is, they are above the freezing point, and they
generally keep those swamps and springy land from freezing
deep. If you take the water out four feet deep, very likely the
frost will go much deeper than formerly. But one thing has,
I think, been fully ascertained, that the frost will come out of
drained land much earlier in proportion to the depth of frost,
than undrained land. Undrained land freezes much more
solid, there being a great deal more water in it, than drained
land, and it takes longer for it to come out ; and besides,
immediately, when there is any movement of the water below,
the moment there is any thawing, it thaws at the top and
bottom both, and usually the water will be out at the bottom as
soon as it is out at the top. I am speaking now of lands that
are not springy. There are lands so full of springs that they
remain comparatively open all the year. In fact, many swamps
do not freeze at all.

Mr. Flint. Tliere is a question I would like to ask Judge
French, now that he is up, in regard to the most economical
method of side-draining in low, marshy lands and wetmeaJows.
I suppose it is generally considered that an open centre ditch is

212 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

the main thing, but it often happens that in addition to that it is
necessaiy to have certain side ditches, so as to lead the water at
a distance to the main drain ; and in order to avoid inconven-
ience in ploughing and handling the land, it is desirable that
these side ditches should be covered, if possible. Now the ques-
tion in my mind is, how we can most economically construct
these side ditches to lead into the broad, open ditch on a wet
meadow. Supposing a man had a sufficient quantity of large
flat stone, as is the case on the formation which geologists call
gneiss, near at hand, which can be easily handled, and which
sometimes a man wants to get out of the way, would it be prac-
ticable or economical to lay these flat stone at the bottom of a
ditch, supposing it to be of soft mud, and then set up stone
edgewise, one upright and another leaning obliquely upon it,
the way we naturally would in building a drain ? Whether
there would be much liability to sink ; whether that method
would be practical and economical as compared with the attempt
to lay tile drains ; or, if tiles would be better, what would be
the best way of laying tiles under such circumstances ; whether
they should be laid on scantling or not, or in what other way,
so as to secure their permanent efficiency ?

Mr. French. My first proposition, in answer to the inquiry,
would be, that I would never use stone if I could get tiles at a
reasonable price. I never would use stone on my farm if I
could obtain two-inch tiles for $15 or -^16 a thousand, delivered.
If the stone lay on the ground, I would haul them away and
use the tiles instead. I could demonstrate to any person who
would give me his time and follow my mathematics, that it is
cheaper for him to pay $1Q a thousand, or a little more than
a cent and a half a foot for the tiles, than to use the stone that
are lying scattered on the field ; that he can pick up the stone
and take them away cheaper than he can open ditches, lay the
stone and cover them in, because tlie labor of excavating a
ditch for a stone drain is more expensive tlian the whole expense
of excavating and putting in tiles, and the labor of laying stone
is much greater than that of laying tiles.

Mr. Flint. That would be the case on hard soil ; but on
peat soil, you would have the material, wliich you would want
to use. Tliat objection would not hold so strongly where the
farmer wanted the material for top-dressing.

LAYING TILE DRAINS. 213

Mr. Feench. I think a person accustomed to use a mowing
machine would avoid all open ditches, if he possibly could. I
think nobody who has had any experience in ditching would
leave an open ditch, if he could have the surface smooth.
There is once in awhile a large meadow where you are obliged
to have an open centre ditch ; but it is not often that there Ilj a
place where five-inch tiles, or two perhaps, laid side by side,
will not carry all the water off. It is not often, therefore, that
you are obliged to have an open ditch. All this land which
lies full of open ditches, can be covered up as even as this
floor. You had better take up the earth by the shovelful, from
the general surface, than dig it out of the ditches.

The way I would drain is this. In the first place, get a centre
ditch through the middle of the lot. That may be an open
drain, if you cannot do any better. Then you want to run
your side-drains up the slope, without much regard to anything
else. Don't undertake to cut off the water as it comes down
the hill, but run into the hill ; then you are always lower than
the water. Have some regard to system, because you want
maps and charts of your drains, so that you can find them.
Use tiles, if you can get them. I have generally put in a board
at the bottom where the ground is soft. You will avoid this
necessity, if you can strike the bottom of your peat, as you
generally can by going four, five or six feet deep, and by getting
one drain below the bottom of the peat, you will sink the whole
meadow so tliat it will be compact enough to bear your tile.
But I have never seen any land so soft that tiles would not lie
well enough upon a board six or eight inches wide. You can
use any kind of old boards that you happen to have, put them
in in that way, and cover them up. The objection to using
stone, besides the expense, is, that you cannot make perfect
joints, especially in land that is soft ; you will leave open places
where you can put your fingers in. You cannot help it. You
might with brick and mortar, but otherwise you could not
exclude the mud and silt that comes in with the water, and the
moment that gets in, your drain is done. With tiles, where
the ends are fitted carefully together and the joints covered,
you have something that will exclude the mud, and you can
ordinarily keep the drains open ; and I should very strongly
recommend to gentlemen to buy, as I and my neighbors are

214 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

doing, tiles, even at a cost of twenty or twenty-two dollars a
thousand for two-inch tiles, rather than undertake to use stone.
There is a great deal of difficulty in working on that land with
stone. In the first place, you have your stone to haul there.
"Well, four oxen, with a cart, can carry but a very small quan-
tity of stone on an ordinary undrained meadow. It will take
several cart-loads to make even one rod of stone drain in almost
any meadow ; whereas, with a wheelbarrow, you can carry tiles
enougli to lay six or seven rods. The tiles weigh about three
pounds apiece, and one hundred of them will go a hundred
feet. Ordinarily, you do not have stone on these meadows.
You may have it in the neighborhood, as Mr. Flint says, but all
land does not afford you stone on the surface.

A Member. How deep would you lay them ?

Mr. French, I would lay them four feet deep, if I could
get them in. That is one thing that it is almost impossible to
make farmers believe, or practise ; and for this reason, that
they will try draining by laying their drains two feet deep, and
they say they drain the land enough, for no man ever laid a
drain through a piece of land that he did not see the benefit of
it. If he does not go deeper than a foot and a half, he is
amazed to see the improvement he has made ; if two and a half,
he thinks that is enough. That is one point that has been
dwelt upon very much by English engineers, and there is but
one opinion about it in England. I think the best drainage
engineers all advise, as a general rule, the putting of tiles four
feet deep, if you can get a fall that will carry the water away.
The advantage is, not that you want to carry the water off four
feet below the surface, because the crops would grow well
enough if you kept it two feet below the surface, but this is the
advantage : we have sometimes a rain-fall of three, four or five
inches in twenty-four hours ; it is not an uncommon thing to
have two or three inches, and I think we have had, in one
instance between five and six inches within twenty-four hours.
In England, one inch is an extraordinary rain-fall. We have
twice as much rain as they do. In the middle counties, they
have twenty inches ; we have forty and forty-two. Now, sup-
pose you have a piece of land in which you have laid tiles four
feet deep. In a dry time, all the water that will run off has
settled down to that depth. After a long drought, there comes

DEPTH OF DRAINS. 215

a rain-fall of three or four inches in twenty-four hours. You
have four feet of dry soil. The rain goes all through that soil,
and it will hold it, without leaving any on top. Now suppose
your drain is just two feet deep ; you get three or four inches of
rain-fall ; the water is within two feet of the bottom of your
tiles, and when the rain begins, it fills you right up at once, and
floods your potatoes or corn which you have just planted. It will
stand two or three days, and your seed is all rotted ; whereas,
if you had gone two feet deeper, the soil would have been dry
enough to have held all this rain-fall, and you would have saved
your seed. In this regard, it is very important to get your
drains deep. And then, they are out of the way of the subsoil
plough, out of the way, substantially of the working of moles
and mice, and out of the way of roots. And that is a point of
very great importance. You will find practically (and there
are some gentlemen here who know about it,) that drains are
very often obstructed by roots ; even tile drains, laid just as
close as you can get them, and four feet deep. I have seen the
roots of the trees in an apple orchard running to any extent
inside a drain — little fibrous roots, that go like the air, any-
where. Even mangold wurzel roots have been known to go
into tiles laid four feet deep. They get in through the cracks,
and if you put your tiles in only two feet deep, you would be
very likely to get your drain stopped up by roots.

Mr. Keyes. What is the lateral effect by increasing the depth
of a drain ?

Mr. French. It increases the effect laterally. Water always
seeks the lowest point. Gravity carries it down. You dig a
hole in the ground, and all the water in the neighborhood tends
down to it. It goes to the lowest place. You dig a two-foot
drain, and a four-foot drain beside it, and the water all goes
into the four-foot drain. The four-foot drain runs the soonest,
and the two-foot drain will carry no water unless the foflr-foot
drain is full. The deeper a drain is, the further it will drain,
because the slope is moderate throughout the bottom of it. Of
course you may get a drain so deep that it will not drain the
surface at all. I think the English authority is satisfactory
upon the point that four-feet drains, even in that climate,
where they have less rain than here, are attended with the best
results ; although I will state here — which I have had occasion

216 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

to show by pretty careful mathematics elsewhere — that it costs
twice as much to dig a drain of four feet as it does to dig one
of three feet, for the reason that you have to open your ditch
wider at the top, throw out more earth, lift it higher, and ordi-
narily it will be harder to move, and you work at a disadvan-
tage. Still I have practised, as far as I have been able, putting
my drains fully four feet deep ; and I have, in my Exeter farm,
found them wonderfully successful. Before I tried tiles, I tried
all sorts of things. I tried bushes, and loose stones, and flat
stones, and in all these ways I had good results temporarily.
For a while they would drain sufficiently, but in a few years
they would fail by getting filled up.

Mr. Keyes. a single question further. How near together
should side drains be ?

Mr. French. Of course I give nothing but an approximate
answer to such a question. From sixteen to sixty feet would be
given as the outside limits. In England, in clay lands — and
that means clay in England ; it does not mean what we call clay
around here sometimes ; it means blue clay, or brick clay — in
such lands they sometimes put their drains as near together as
sixteen feet. On ordinary loamy soil, or in peat swamps, I
think you may put your drains from thirty to forty feet apart,
and be pretty sure of good results if you get them four feet
deep. I tliink that is ordinarily near enough. I have put
drains in forty feet apart that have done excellently well. The
deeper they are, within reasonable limits, the further apart they
may be. In clay lands there is a singular effect produced by
drainage, which I have witnessed myself, and writers on the
subject speak of it. You may take clay land — brick clay — that
will hold water, and put drains into it four feet deep, and in
two years' time it will become full of cracks, so that the water
will pass readily down through it ; you will not find half an
inch square that has not a crack in it ; and this clay land
becomes open, friable, so that its character is entirely changed.

The worst obstacle you will find will be from the drains filling
with what writers call " silt," by which they mean a very fine
sand — clay, so fine that it will pass almost anywhere where
water will pass. I think people who have failed (and I don't
think there are many,) in tile drainage, have failed by not being
careful enough in securing the joints or in selecting the tiles.

LAYING TILE DRAINS. 217

They are generally a little crooked, and when put together will
leave places that you can put your finger through. These
places should not be left open. In clay soil or sandy soil a
crack as large as a quarter of an inch should never be left. If
you do leave such an opening you are very likely to have some-
thing work in that will obstruct your drain. But the obstruc-
tion of drains by filling depends very much upon the slope. It
requires a great deal of care to lay a drain where there is but
little fall. You may lay a drain well enough with five or six
inches fall in a hundred feet, if you will lay your tiles with a
continuous slope. If you have water running in your drain
when you are laying the tiles you can lay by that. But, ordi-
narily, you should engineer more carefully than that. You
should draw a chalk line above the drain and keep the slope by
measuring downward from that. If you lay two or three by
guess you will be surprised to see how much you get out of the
way — frequently two or three inches, without perceiving it at
all. If you rise but two inches, and sand enters, it will most
likely fill up until the drain is completely stopped ; whereas, if
you have a continuous fall, ever so little, it will keep itself clear.

Where I could get spent tan from a tannery, I have generally
found that as convenient as anything to cover the joints. Throw
a shovelful upon the joint and let the men tread it down. If
you cannot get that, get turf, and press it down and secure the
joint in that way. The object is to secure it, in the first place.
All the water that comes in is merely what soaks in at tlie bot-
tom. If you can once get your drain fairly in and the earth
packed down and settled, there is no difficulty afterwards about
their filling. The great difficulty is, that you put the tiles in
carelessly, and the first heavy rain that comes breaks in from
the surface, and you meet with your misfortune generally very
early in your experiment.

A Member. Would not sawdust answer as well as tan ?

Mr. French. I should think it would. There is this advan-
tage in using this kind of material, that if it gets into the drain,
it will float out. It is very objectionable to pack in a parcel of
loose stones about the tiles, because that merely keeps an open-
ing above them, which is just what you do not want. There is
one thing you may depend upon — you oauuot keep the water
out of tiles unless you cement them. You may put on any-
28 . ■ • .

218 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

thing, even puddled clay, and you cannot keep the water out,
because that will soon crack and let the water through. The
question every man asks about tile-drainage is, ^ How is the
water going to get into the drain ? " I can say, from my expe-
rience, as well as from reading, that if you can keep the earth
and sand from getting in, the water will take care of itself.

The only form of tiles made here is the egg-shaped tile, flat
on the bottom. No doubt the round tiles are better, for this
reason — that you can turn them over and fit them better ; but
they are not made here. I have never seen any in New England.
1 have seen some in New York, where they are used in the
Central Park.

A Member. Have you ever used cemented tiles ?

Mr. French. I never have. I never have seen any u§ed for
draining land. I saw some in Hadley used for carrying water
from one place to another, but not for the purpose of draining
land.

A Member. Do you know whether they are manufactured at
Northampton and Springfield ? I have heard, lately, that there
were some manufactured there.

Mr. French. I know nothing about that.

Mr. Manning. I recollect once building a stone drain in
a piece of land where was, generally, only a foot and a half of
mud, thovigh in some places it was four feet deep. In digging
down into that, it would cut off readily, but in some places it
would cleave off and fall in. I put in a stone bottom and stone
sides, and laid stone over it and covered it, about a foot and a
half from the surface ; but the sand kept constantly running
down, and in a little while there was a place where it caved in
at the side ; and finally the stone washed away and it caved in.

Mr. French, As experience is always more satisfactory than
theory, I will say that I had occasion to lay a drain through a
piece of land that looked on the surface like dry land. I put
in four inch tiles mainly, and there was a run of water that
filled this drain full, and I had to put in plank to support the
drains in order to get the tiles down. I laid this drain in 1852
or 1853, and the last time I was there, the whole thing was
working just as well as it did originally. I should not expect
that stone could ever be used, in a place like that, so as to
exclude sand.

RESULTS OF DRAINAGE. 219

Mr. Brown. I should be glad of an opportunity to say a few
words in relation to this subject, because it interests me greatly.
The effects of drainage upon soils will be as surprising to per-
sons who have not looked into the matter as any operation of
the farm in which they have ever engaged, and, I am inclined
to think, more so. It is one of those curious operations that
sometimes work by contraries. In the first place, it makes cold
land warmer ; in the next place, it makes wet land dryer ; in
the third place, it makes dry land more wet; in the fourth
place, it makes heavy land light ; and, in the fifth place, it
makes light land, in some cases, I believe, a little more com-
pact. Now, if that is not working by contraries, apparently, I
do not know what is.

In the first place, I say, it makes cold land warm. You will
all ask me how. There is nothing that the roots of plants
dislike so much, probably, as to stand over stagnant cold water,
and if they can by any possible means run away from that cold
water, they will do so. They will follow almost any course to
escape going down into that cold water. Now, in the case of a
drought, you will find that the plants on low, wet lands, fail the
soonest ; just where people who have not looked into the matter
would suppose they would fail last. After there has been a
drought of two or three weeks, if you look into what are called
the low runs, you will find that the young maples and some
other trees — the black alders, perhaps — are shedding their
leaves. And why ? Because the young maple grows on wet
land, where the water is cold underneath, and stands within a
few inches of the crown of the root ; and it never throws a root
downward to penetrate into that cold water. It will not go
there. It skims along on the surface. You will find it only
two or three inches below the surface ; not much more than
■ covered up. Consequently, when the drought comes, these
roots, being right on the surface, feel its effects the soonest, and
therefore, plants growing in lands that are ordinarily wet, are
the very first plants to suffer. By taking that cold water away,
you warm up the land. How do you do it ? There are several
ways, one of which is this. If the cold water is drawn off from
below the surface, when the rain falls, it brings down with it a
good deal of heat, and instead of running off in streams on the
surface, it passes directly down, carrying the heat along with it.

220 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE.

As it passes down, the earth, being a great robber, robs the
water of all the heat it contains, and keeps it to itself ; so that
if you should put a thermometer in where it falls, and find just
where it stood, and then go to- the outlet, forty or fifty rods
distant, you would find it stands ten degrees colder than when
it fell. That warms the land, and drainage enables this rain to
penetrate the soil, and therefore it makes cold land warmer.

I said also that it makes wet land dry. You see that must
take place by what has been said already. Water seeks the
lowest level all the time, and when a drain is made two, three
or four feet below the surface, there .is a level which must be
found, and the water percolates that ground until it finds that
level, and consequently the land becomes dry.

I said, in contradistinction from that, that dry land is made
wet. How is that done ? When you have drained the water
off, your land is dry, and in case of drought, if you make the
surface fine, you make it dry ; but if, by means of your
machinery or your hoe, you keep the surface fine, you have it
continually watered by the atmosphere. We could not live
five minutes if the atmosphere was not moist, but it is full of
moisture all the time. A great wet blanket, as it were, is
imparting its moisture to that fine surface, which receives it
into its many million mouths, and passes it along to other
mouths ; down it goes, down it goes, continually robbing the
atmosphere of its moisture, until it gets down where the earth
is a little cooler than the atmosphere, and then it condenses
into water. Just exactly as water condenses on the outside of
your pitcher on a hot day, when you go to the well and fill it
with, cold water, and set it on the table. In a few moments,
the outside is covered with drops of water, and you say " it
sweats." But there has not a particle of water passed through
the pitcher. It is only the colder surface of the pitcher that '
condenses the vapor in the atmosphere into drops, and it trickles
down the pitcher, and wets the table-cloth. I think it is just as
clear as anything can be, that draining m,akes wet land dry,
and dry land wet.

I believe you can cultivate a piece of land that is thoroughly
drained — if it is anything like hard land — at about one-half the
cost that you can wet, heavy land. The operations of tilling

A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION. 221

the soil are infinitely more easy than they would be if the land
were compact, were hard.

Now, all lands, I think, have inherently, the power of self-
recuperation. I do not believe there is a rod of land in this
town that cannot be brought into fertility without adding one
particle of manure. Heaven has been more favorable to us
than to leave land in such a condition that it will always be
barren ; it only requires a fair chance. If it is skimmed over
with a crust, it may remain for a hundred years, and not become
fertile ; but if you remove that crust, and get it into a fine
tilled surface, it will improve from year to year, vegetation will
spring up on it, and grow luxuriantly. Now, one of the effects
of drainage is to give land a chance to do something for itself.
That will help it much, without the aid of ploughing, manuring,
or seeding, or anything of the kind. I could show you, within
half a mile of where we stand, a meadow that was covered with
hassocks from three to ten inches high — the whole meadow
nearly covered with those hard, unsightly, inconvenient has-
socks. A ditch was dug through the entire length of that
"ineadow, and a stone drain built. It lasted about seven years,
and it operated precisely as Judge French has said. A mole
would work its way down or up into the drain, and then would
come a heavy shower, and wash the fine mud down there, and
one winter, after the drain had been laid seven years, I noticed
a circle about six feet in diameter where the grass was just as
green in January as it was in June. I went up to see Avhat was
the cause of it, and found a warm stream bubbling up and
spreading all over this surface. The ditch had become filled up,
and the water had broken through the ground, and was suffi-
ciently warm to melt the snow and keep the grass green through
one of the severest winters we have had for fifteen years. Then
a tile drain was put down by the side of this stone drain, and
there has been no trouble since. One side of this meadow was
drained by lateral drains, and these were about twenty feet
apart, and four feet under ground. You see how rapid the
process must be, where you put drains down in that way. The
consequence was, that in the course of two or three years,
without carrying a plough upon the piece at all, or one particle
of manure or seed, every hassock disappeared, the ground
became smooth and beautiful, and timothy came up there four

222 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

feet high, and some of the heads measured nine inches in
length. That was the effect, I say, of draining the land. On.
the other side of the ditch, where no lateral drains were made,
the hassocks remain to this day.
■ This is certainly one of the most interesting subjects relating
to farming operations, and I think that our people ought to give
it more attention. I feel obliged to the Board of Agriculture
for introducing it here, and hope it will be fully discussed.

Mr. Ward. This is a subject on which I am entirely igno-
rant, and I would like to ask Mr. Brown if, in connecting his
pipes, he makes them close, so that there shall no water work in
in at the joints ?

Mr. Brown. No, sir, you cannot get them so close together.
As has already been said, they are a little crooked, because they
are dried standing up edgewise. But if you should make the
joints perfectly tight, the water would get through. Suppose
you suspend a brick by a string and pour water upon it ; in
half an hour you will find the water upon the other side,
because the brick is porous. The tile itself is porous, and the
water would pass through, even if the joints were perfectly
tight. But you cannot make the joint so tight as to prevent the
water from getting in. When I lay my drains I pick up all the
old pieces of tin and sheet-iron I can find — sheet-iron stoves and
tin kitchens — and cut them up into strips, and when I have laid
a couple of tiles, I put a strip of this tin or sheet-iron over the
joint, of course covering carefully with straw, or brush, or any-
thing I can get, before I throw the earth on ; and never yet,
though I have some drains that have been in ten or fifteen years,
have I found a tile-drain filled up.

The Chairman. I will ask Mr. French if he has had any
experience in the manufacture of these tiles ?

Mr. French. The first tiles I used, in Exeter, N. H., I
bought in Albany, paying $12 a thousand for them there, and
transported them at an expense of $12 a thousand more. Not
liking to buy them at that price, but finding, by that experi-
ment, that tiles were what I wanted, I went to a potter in the
town, and asked him if he would burn me some tiles. He said
he would, and I sent and got a machine to mould them, and
went into the manufacture myself. After a little while some of
my neighbors — the man who owned the clay and somebody else

TILE-MAKING. 22?

— said they would like to buy the machine and take the business
out of my hands. That was all T wanted. They did so, and
another person set up opposition, and erected a regular set of
tile works, which are there now. That was perhaps fifteen years
ago. I will tell you this, as the general conclusion to which I
have come in regard to it, that you can make two-inch tiles,
which are the best size for ordinary use — for large drains you
will want a larger size, but nine-tenths will be of that size — at
just about the same price as ordinary brick. That, of course,
varies from four or five dollars a thousand to fifteen, with the
different localities, but I think that is a fair estimate. They
require less clay^ being lighter than brick, but the manufacture
is a little more expensive, because they are not so compact and
not so easily handled. The transportation will be a little more,
because they are more bulky. There is no sort of difficulty in
making them. Anybody who knows anything about handling
clay could take up the manufacture and go along with it. In
England tiles are frequently put into a brick kiln and baked
with brick. Any gentleman who is near brick works can help
himself in that way, by getting a machine and getting the brick-
makers to burn the tiles for him.
Adjourned, sine die.

ANNUAL MEETING IN BOSTON.

The Board met at the office of the Secretary, in Boston, on
Thursday, the 30th of January, at 12 o'clock, M.

Present, Messrs. Baker, Billings, Birnie, Cleaveland, Clement,
Cole, Davis, Durfee, Fearing, Hubbard, Hyde, Johnson, King,
Knowlton, Loring, Moore, Porter, Saltonstall, Sanderson, Sewall,
Slade, Smith, Thatcher, Thompson, Thomas W. Ward, H. S.
Ward, Watkins and Wilder.

Colonel Wilder was requested to preside, and accordingly
occupied the chair.

After the reading of the records, a committee was appointed
to consider and report the order of business for the session, con-
sisting of Messrs. Saltonstall, Davis, and Ward of Shrewsbury.
This committee subsequently submitted the following :—

1st. Report of Examining Committee of the Agricultural
College, and all other business coming before the Board as
Overseers of said College.

224 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

2d. Reports of Delegates.

3d. Reports of Committees.

4th. Essays on Special Subjects.

This report was accepted, and Mr. Hyde, chairman of the
examining committee of the Agricultural College, presented the
following Report of the committee appointed to attend the
examination of the

MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.

The Committee appointed by the Massachusetts Board of Agri-
culture to attend the examination of the Agricultural College
at Amherst, having attended to that duty, respectfully submit
the following Report : —

The first session of the college commenced October 2, 'with a
class of thirty students, and closed December 17, at which time
the class had increased to forty-six. It was our pleasure to be
present on the last day of the session and to hear the class
review the studies to which they had given their attention during
the term. The examination was conducted by Prof. Snell in
geometry, by Prof. Goodell in physiology and gymnastics, by
President Clark in chemical physics, and Prof. Stockbridge in
practical agriculture ; and in all these branches the students
showed proficiency, especially considering that only one short
session of eleven weeks had been devoted to study, and that
many of the students labored under the disadvantage of com-
mencing late in the term, and both professors and students had
entered upon a new enterprise, in which were few precedents to
furnish light for their guidance. The first glance at the class
showed a company of bright, intelligent faces, such as would do
honor to any literary institution in the land, and such as we
might expect among the sons of the most enterprising yeomen
of Massachusetts. Their age varied, we judged, from sixteen to
twenty-five, and though this disparity might seem to be a hin-
drance to their pulling evenly together, still, during the exer-
cises of the day, both physical and mental, we did not notice
but that the younger kept up well with the older. A glance at
the class also convinced us that order, the first law of schools,
as well as of heaven, had been enforced upon the students, not
by despotic power, but by the magic which a candid, calm, but
firm and decided will of the superior always exerts upon the

THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 225

inferior. A more extended observation only served to strengtlien
our first impressions. Tliere was a manifest sympathy between
teachers and scholars, which led them to feel that they were a
unit — partners in a grand enterprise — the success of which
depended upon each man's doing his duty. This power of
enlisting the sympathy and controlling the public opinion of a
school is the great secret of success in its management. We
had but to shake hands with President Clark to feel that he was
enthusiastic, and all the manifestations of the examination
proved that his enthusiasm had diffused itself among his asso-
ciates and pupils.

The recitation in mathematics was good, considering the short
time that had been devoted to this study, and also the fact that
few of the students, probably, had been previously trained to
habits of investigation in this exact science. Pure mathe-
matics are dry fodder for most minds, even when well disci-
plined, but to take boys from a farm and put them to the study
of geometry, is like taking cattle from foraging in a green
pasture, and confining them to be fed on dry hay. The exam-
ination in chemistry showed that this science had been pursued
with a better relish, and had been better digested. Probably
many of the students, while pouring over the demonstrations of
Euclid, had asked, " What is the use of this ? " but while
pursuing the less abstract science of chemistry, its practical
bearings on their future business were so manifest, that they
were encouraged in their course by seeing the goal so plainly in
sight. Many older heads, on looking over the list of studies in
the college, have asked us, " Why is the course of study so
comprehensive, and the time for study extended to four years ? "
The impression on some minds seems to be that lads can go to
an Agricultural College, and graduate, much as our clerks do
from our commercial colleges, after taking twelve lessons in
writing and six in book-keeping. We might put boys through
our Agricultural College in the same style, giving them a few
lectures on chemistry, and a lesson or two in digging potatoes,
and they would graduate dunces, having acquired little
knowledge, less mental discipline, but much conceit by their
college course. But if we v/ish to elevate the business of farm-
ing, if our aim is to develop true manhood, and lay the founda-
tion for intellectual strength in the students of the college, then

29

226 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

we must have a comprehensive course of study, and ample time
to pursue the allotted studies. Possibly the designated time of
four years, may prove, on trial, to be too extended, but we are
happy to learn that most, if not all who have entered the first
term, have enlisted for the full course. It is well to ha^'e the
standard high, and it will be an easy matter to reduce the time
to three years, if on trial, it is found expedient. We were
particularly gratified with the exercises in gymnastics, under
the direction of Prof. Goodell. These exercises tend not only
to develop muscle and promote health, but also induce a gentle-
manly bearing and a graceful motion, qualities in which farm-
ers are sometimes accused of being deficient. The elasticity,
precision and grace of manner '^ which are usually taught in our
fashionable seminaries by an expensive course of dancing les-
sons, may as well be inculcated in a thorough gymnastic course.
Dancing, indeed, is only one form of gymnastics, and if neces-
sary, can be incorporated into the course ; but so far as we
could judge from the lithe and manly motions of the young
men under Prof. Goodell's training, it will not be necessary to
put them through the mazes of the polka and schottish. We
hope to see the graduates of the Massachusetts Agricultural
College as distinguished for their gentlemanly habits and
polished manners, as are the graduates of West Point. Rustic-
ity should not be derived from and associated with life on the
farm. There is no reason why a farmer should not be a gentle-
man, in the highest sense of that word, — gentle, both in thought
and manner ; and one of the advantages which we hope will
accrue to the farming interest from the establishment of the
Agricultural College, will be an improvement of manner in our
rural population, so that rustic shall no longer be synonymous
with clownish, as Webster now has it.

The examination of the class by Prof. Stockbridge, upon his
teachings of practical agriculture, both in the field and the
recitation room, proved that the strong common sense and keen
observation of the Professor, had made an impression upon
his pupils. The class had labored under the disadvantage of
having no text-book, adapted to their wants in this fundamental
part of their education, a deficiency which we trust some of the
learned professors of the college will remedy ere long.

COLLEGE BUILDINGS. 227

Interspersed through the foremeiitioned recitations, were
exercises in composition and declamation. This department is
also under the care of Prof. Goodell, and the pupils showed
good training in the forum as well as in the gymnasium. The
ability to communicate thought by written and vocal language,
is one of the highest God has given us. The power which the
orator has over his fellow-men, convincing their understandings,
and swaying their feelings, is the highest which man possesses.
We were glad to notice that this power is cultivated in our
Agricultural College. Farmers as a class have not given that
attention to rhetoric which its importance demands, and conse-
quently have not exerted that influence to which they were
otherwise entitled by their numbers, wealth and sound
judgment.

The little leisure that was given us after the close of the
examination, was spent in looking over the college buildings
and grounds. We will not detain the Board with repetition of
information on these points which can be better obtained from
the report of the Board of Trustees, The farm is large and
will require all the knowledge, ability and energy of Superin-
tendent Stockbridge to bring it into a model condition. The
buildings are good, so far as they go, but their capacity is
exhausted by the present class, and a new dormitory and a
larger boaj-ding-house will be needed for the accommodation of
the freshmen of next year. An appeal will probably be made
by the Trustees to the legislature for aid in the erection of these
buildings, and we trust will not be made in vain. The present
dormitory only furnishes accommodation for forty -eight students,
giving a sitting-room and two small bedrooms for each couple.
We looked into some of these rooms, and found them
comfortable and orderly.

Our attention was particularly called to a conservatory, built
by the liberality of one of the members of our Board, and
mostly filled by the liberality of two others. This conservatory
is adapted both for the rearing and propagation of plants, and is
built on the plan of two octagons, forty and sixty feet respec-
tively in diameter, and connected by a glass house twenty-five
feet in width. Grouped around these octagons are compart-
ments for different kinds of plants requiring different amounts
of light and heat. In the centre of one was being built a tank

228 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

for the reception of the Victoria Regia, with different aquatic
plants ranged around its sides. In the centre of anotlier, a large
variegated century plant, cultivated for thirty years by Dr.
Hitchcock, was already thriving in its new home. In the centre
of another a fine specimen of the banana was to be seen. We
are not connoisseurs in these matters, but the arrangements of
the building and the thrift of the plants were evidently a source
of great delight to the eye of President Clark, and in his skill
and taste we place implicit confidence.

In conclueion, we congratulate the Board and the State gen-
erally that Massachusetts has at length, after long throes and
struggles, produced a live Agricultural College ; and if " the
child is the father of the man," the promise for the future is all
wo could desire. We know that other similar institutions in
our country have generally proved failures, and that governors
and other wise men still predict the failure of this experiment ;
but having been on the ground and seen the vigor with which
this young institution comes into existence, we have high hopes
that it will re.ach maturity and have a long and useful career.
It may need careful nursing, but we have faith in its present
guardians, and faith in the State by which it must be supported.
Massachusetts has ever taken the lead in charitable and educa-
tional institutions, furnishing models for the other States, and
we hope now to see a model Agricultural College. We have in
comparison with many other portions of our country, a sterile
soil and a rigorous climate ; but if we cannot compete with
some of our sister States in raising Shorthorns, we can raise
what is infinitely preferable — we can raise men-; and Amherst
affords excellent facilities for their education.

Alexander Hyde.
Wm. Birnie.

This Report was adopted, when it was unanimously
Voted, That the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, as Over-
seers of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, are desirous of
uniting with the Trustees of the College, in petitioning the gen-
eral court to make an appropriation for the erection of such
additional buildings as are absolutely necessary for the uses and
the prosperity of the college.

HEDGES AND FENCES. 229

Voted, That the Secretary be instructed to communicate a
copy of the above vote to the Trustees, to be communicated by
them,' if they see fit, to the legislature. .

Voted, That the subject of the connection of the Board with
the Agricultural College be referred to a committee of five, to
be appointed by the Chair, to consider and report upon it to
the Board.

Messrs. King, Saltonstall, Davis, Hyde, and T. W. Ward.

Messrs. Porter, Sanderson, Clement, Billings, Stockbridge and
Durfee presented their reports as delegates respectively to the
Worcester South-East, Hampshire, Hampden, Hampshire,
Franklin and Hampden, Franklin, and the Martha's Vineyard
Societies.

SECOND DAY.

The Board met according to adjournment, Colonel Wilder in
the chair.

Reports of delegates were submitted as follows : By Dr. Lor-
ing upon the Middlesex South; Mr. H. S. Ward upon the
Essex ; Mr. Hyde upon the Worcester North ; Mr. Johnson
upon the Hampden East ; Mr. Knowlton upon the Norfolk ;
Mr. Cole upon the Bristol ; Mr. Watkins upon the Bristol Cen-
tral ; Mr. Hubbard upon the Plymouth ; Mr. Thatcher upon the
Barnstable ; Mr. T. W. Ward upon the Nantucket.

Mr. Slade submitted the following Report on

HEDGES AND FARM FENCES.

The planting of hedges and the building and maintaining of
farm fences is ti'uly a very important item* of farm husbandry.
The amount annually expended for these purposes forms no
small item in farm accounts.

As this class of improvements does not directly contribute to
the yearly income of tlie farm, in many sections of the State
they have been sadly neglected.

To see a farm neatly and handsomely fenced, while travelling
in almost any direction, is an exception to the general rule ;
while a reeling rail fence or a dilapidated stone wall is a prom-
inent feature in almost every landscape. Yet there is no invest-
ment which gives a more real or permanent value to the farm
than that which is made for the purpose of neatly and substan-
tially inclosing its fields.

230 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

A farm tliat is well fenced, though its soil be but moderately
productive, is almost certain to attract the attention of a pur-
chaser as well as traveller. Aside from this, such improveinents
greet and gladden the eye of the occupant from day to day, and
afford him the agreeable satisfaction of feeling that his culti-
vated crops are secure against the ravages of his roving herds.
Fences built of stone are undoubtedly the most durable, sub-
stantial and economical ; and for this purpose nature appears
to have furnished a large majority of the New England farmers
with ample material for fencing their farms into fields of con-
venient size. When a stone wall is to be built, a trench should
be dug below the frost line and wide enough to take the bottom
of the wall. This should be filled with small stones, and the
foundations of the wall laid near the surface. This not only
secures the wall against the action of the frost,' but at the same
time accomplishes a certain amount of drainage, which of itself
will fully compensate for the extra outlay and expense. If such
a wall be not over four feet in heiglit, and be built in a work-
manlike manner, it will not be likely to need any repairs from
the present generation, to say the least. We frequently err in
building farm walls too high. High walls are much more expen-
sive to build, more liable to fall after they are built, and by the
roadside are in exceeding bad taste. To a certain extent they
break off the view from the adjoining fields, giving to the high-
way a sort of dreary and monotonous aspect, at the same time
making it a complete receptacle for all the snow which a driving
storm can deposit between its walls.

Where, from a scarcity of stones, it is necessary to construct
fences of wood, it becomes a matter of considerable importance
as to how posts and stakes^ may be rendered most durable. A
chestnut post six inches in diameter will not ordinarily last more
than ten years in a dry soil, and if the soil be moderately wet it
will decay and fall down in a much shorter time. White cedar
will stand perliaps fifteen years. The red cedar, or juniper,
and the locust are undoubtedly the best kinds of wood to resist
the action of the weather, and therefore for fencing purposes
are almost invaluable. The juniper is usually found on rocky
hillsides and stony pastures, and therefore is seldom used for
fencing purposes in the neighborhood where it grows.

TO SECURE DURABILITY. 231

The scarcity of the locust in this latitude, and the constantly
increasing demand for building and other purposes, far exceeds
the supply, and the consequent high price prevents its use to
any great extent for common fence posts. Various expedients
have been resorted to, to prevent the decay of wood, when
exposed to the weather or buried in the ground. As yet, we
believe, nothing has been discovered which renders it com-
pletely impervious to the action of the elements. The process
of kyanizing is practised to a considerable extent for the preser-
vation of railway sleepers, and we believe is found to well repay
the expense. Experiments also prove that the ends of posts
and stakes dipped in hot coal tar and then covered with coarse
sand, are rendered quite indestructible for a long time. This
very cheap and simple operation we have practically tested,
with the very best results. And we would here state that a
post or* stake, inserted in the ground with the top or little end
down, will last nearly twice as long as when the big or but end
is put in the ground. Wood dipped in crude petroleum, or
allowed to remain in it a few hours, is said to become exceed-
ingly durable. Where there is a lack of fencing material,
hedges may be planted, and, if properly cared for, can in a few
years, be made to answer all the purposes of a fence. There
are but a few shrubs, however, which are well calculated to
make a close and impenetrable fence. For farm purposes, the
Osage orange and the buckthorn are without doubt the best,
although the former is not well adapted to the climate of New
England. The buckthorn may be grown from the 'seed or
plants, and with proper care, little or no difficulty will be found
in making them live. A hedge, to be of practical use, must be
thick at the bottom and therefore should be closely cut back,
while young ; and often pruned, in order to force out lateral
shoots near the ground. When it has attained the desired
shape and size, it will require an annual pruning, the best time
for which is in July or August. When a hedge is grown for
protection or for ornamental purposes, which is more frequently
the case in New England, we prefer some of the evergreens,
such as the American arba vitas, Norway spruce, or hemlock.
They are rapid growers, perfectly hardy, easily pruned, and
form a delightful contrast with those deciduous shrubs or trees,
which are robbed of their foliage seven months of the year.

232 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The privet, thougli not an evergreen, makes a very beautiful
hedge. It does not grow large, and if tastefully trimmed is
truly ornamental. ' Its blossoms and its berries give it a charm-
ing appearance, and it holds its leaves till the near approach of
Avinter. Avery P. Slade.

The Essay led to some discussion, after which it was accepted.

THIRD DAY.

The Board met at 10 o'clock, Mr. King, of Barnstable, in the
chair.

Mr. Thompson presented a Report as delegate to the, Middle-
sex Society.

Mr. Smith presented the following Report, upon

MANURE AND ITS APPLICATION.

Manure, Webster says, " is anything which fertilizes land or
furnishes food for plants." With this definition the subject
under consideration takes a broad meaning, and may be applied
not only to the productions of the barnyard, but to what are
called special manures, (some of them,) and also to those mate-
rials, either vegetable or mineral, whicli are used either directly
or indirectly for manurial purposes, such as muck, marl, clay,
plaster of Paris or gypsum, salt, lime, gas lime, ashes, and veg-
etable matter in the form of green crops ploughed in. Thorough
cultivation, drainage and irrigation will be allowed to be classed
under this head also.

It will be a waste of words and of time at the present day to
say one word in regard to the importance of making and saving
manure. " Without good manure successful farming is impos-
sible."

The farmers of New England do not build their barns over a
stream of water, or practise moving their buildings to rid them-
selves of the manure accumulations. But there are practices
in some (too many,) localities in which the loss is very great, if
not as great, as in those above mentioned ; one of wliich is that
of driving tlie stock to the brook or spring to water, wliereby
the animals are exposed to the storms, and very much manure
is lost.

WASTE OF MANURES. 233

This " waste of manures," of fertilizing matter, which if
applied to the soil would make our impoverished farms as rich
in production as a garden, is enormous. The amount of wheat-
producing material which is yearly lost to agriculture and to
the world, demands our attention, and the day is approaching
when this waste upon our farms, and more especially in the
cities, the waste of sewerage, shall be converted into fertilizing
matter, to be used for agricultural purposes.

One writer upon this subject estimated " that every family of
five persons annually created refuse matter sufficient to manure
one acre of land ; and that the fertilizing matter annually
wasted in Boston was sufficient to restore 30,000 acres of poor
land to fertility." It is estimated that the money value of this
waste of fertilizing matter in the city of New York, exclusive of
the products of the immense number of animals, amounts to
$5,475,000 annually.

Experiments have been made to a small extent with the use
of this sewage upon diffi3rent plants with great success.

The question is frequently asked by the progressive agricul-
turist, " How can we make more manure ? "

Those living near cities, or stables, resort to them for elements
to supply to the soil that which their crops exhaust. Those
living more in the interior, resort to muck beds, clay pits,
scrapings from the roadsides, and to commercial fertilizers to
help eke out their scanty supply.

In the tobacco growing regions, large quantities of hay, grain
and oil cake are bought and fed to animals for the secondary
purpose of obtaining the manure. And if it is true that the
value of the manure does not depend upon the animal, but
upon the food, then we are led to conclude that those who feed
such quantities of fat-producing material as cotton-seed, rape
and linseed cake, must have manure of great value. For
according to Prof, Lawes, than whom there is no better author-
ity, one ton of cotton-seed cake is worth $27.86, and one ton
linseed cake $19.72, for manure.

Allowing these figures to be correct, and if these articles can
be so fed that fair returns can be made in beef or mutton, we
see the desirableness of depending more upon the manures of
the farmyard, and less upon the worthless trash sold for
fertilizers.

30

234 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Of the importance and value of farmyard manure, Dr. Cam-
eron, of the Dublin Chemical Society, says, " Farmyard manure
is the best manure which can be applied alone, inasmuch as it
contains all the elements required to nourish every kind of
cultivated plant." But it is of little consequence what the
value of the solid or liquid excrements are, unless they are
husbanded. If manure heaps are exposed to the wash of rains,
or if the drippings from the eaves to our buildings are allowed
to run into the barnyard, until the yard is filled with water,
and finally run off into the highway, or if no absorbents are
used to save the liquids, but they are suffered to leach away,
and so are lost. Bedding of some sort or other, whether it
be of sawdust, sand, muck, or straw, when put under the stock,
serves a twofold purpose, that of keeping the animals from
filth, and to absorb the liquid manure. Too much cannot be
said upon the importance of saving the urine of all our stock,
for we are told by those who ought to know, that it is of equal
value with the solids.

Those who have recently adopted barn cellars, or barnyards
entirely covered, tell us that they can see a difference in the
strength of the manure, which I account for by the fact that it
is all saved, both liquid and solid; none is lost by the wash of
rains.

MUCK.

Of the materials which are used as fertilizers, which are
composed of vegetable matter, muck, or peat, may be considered
as standing at the liead, not only because of its value of itself,
but because of its abundance.

Although muck may not be found on every farm, yet there
are but few towns in which there are not large quantities.
There is in the town in which is the residence of the writer, a
number of muck swamps, some large and some small. One of
these is situated some five hundred feet above the Connecticut
River, and contains about twenty acres, and will probably
average ten feet in depth, and consists wholly of vegetable
matter, easily cut and free from stone or stumps. Now if it
is true, as claimed by Prof. Dana, that two cords of muck,
when mixed with one cord of stable dung, will make three
cords, each of which will be of as great value for manurial

MUCK IN THE COMPOST. 236

purposes as the one cord of stable dung, then what a mine of
wealth is contained in this one muck bed.

Muck may no doubt be applied improperly, and it must be
better adapted to some soils than others. In order to be in
good condition for use, it ought to have been dug a year, that
it may be exposed to the frosts of winter and the heats of
summer.

An individual of my acquaintance once carried from this
swamp, before spoken of, to a field consisting of a soil quite
light and sandy, a large quantity of raw muck at considerable
cost, without producing very great results. Muck can be more
advantageously used than to be used alone. When dry, its
power of absorption is very great, and for this reason when,
used in the stables, or hog pen, or under the sink spout, or in
the privy, large quantities of valuable manure can be made at
a comparatively small cost.

It is especially adapted for use in composting with manure,
and when mixed with ashes makes a compost coming nearer to
stable dung than anything else we have. I witnessed last
season an experiment with muck and ashes in the drill for
English turnips. A large portion of the field was manured
with a compost of barnyard manure. A small part of it had
muck and ashes mixed, applied in the same manner as the
manure ; four bushels of ashes were mixed with twenty-five of
muck. The crop exceeded the other in luxuriousness and
yield.

Too much can hardly be said of the importance of a free use
of muck upon all soils which are sandy or gravelly, to be placed
in the barnyards, and mixed with manure.

Farmers in some parts of the State have, during the past few
years, expended large sums of money for what are called for-
eign manures — the phosphates, Peruvian guano, Mexican guano,
African guano, sea-fowl guano, muriate of lime, flour of bone,
ground bone, and a host of nostrums which have been conjured
up to deceive the farming community and put money into the
pockets of the vendor. If one-half of the money which had
been expended for these articles which are sold for fertilizers
had been laid out in draining or in better cultivation, or in labor
in composting with muck, or in saving some of the " waste of
manures," the farmers would to-day be better off. We do

236 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

not utterly condemn the whole list of special manures, but we
do say that animal or homo made manures must be relied upon
as the main stay of the farm. Others may be used as stimu-
lants or helps. For instance, some plants which are slow to
start, or feeble in their early life, may be benefited by a small
dose of phosphate or guano ; or it may be seen, after the plant
is up, that it is not coming forward fast enough to mature in
our short season ; then an application of some quick-acting ferti-
lizer may be u^ed with profit, and the plant may have new vigor
given it.

I have become satisfied that the most advantageous way of
using special manures, unless it is in some particular cases, as
previously stated, is in connection with barnyard manure.

If the object is to increase the value of your manure pile by
the addition of some special manure, then thoroughly mix it
with your barnyard manure, adding thereto some muck or loam,
as the case may be.

An experiment came under my notice a short time since,
which I will relate. A field consisting of ten acres was to be
planted with corn. The autumn previous muck was carted on
the field in several piles, at tlie rate of fifteen loads of thirty
bushels each to the acre, and fish guano mixed with this muck at
the rate often hundred pounds to the acre. The following spring
■barnyard manure at the rate of six loads to the acre was thor-
oughly composted with this muck and fish, it being worked over
three different times. The land was ploughed, the compost
spread, and worked in with the harrow. The result was seventy
bushels of corn to the acre.

I have also known fish guano to be composted with barnyard
manure of a dirty character, and spread on mowing fields in the
autumn, to be followed with good results.

PLASTER OF PARIS A MANURE.

Plaster of Paris, or gypsum, Avhen used on sandy loam, con-
taining organic matter, generally gives satisfaction. It seems to
be especially adapted to clover fields, applied to the clover and
not to the soil, and also to be used on the manure pile and with
manure. AVhen, how and where to use these articles should be
the constant study of the farmer.

SALT AND GREEN MANURING. 237

I recollect hearing an observing man state at a meeting of a
farmers' club, of his applying a small quantity of plaster of Paris
to the hills of a piece of Indian corn, after the plants were
up ; but before he had finished, he was driven from the field by
a shower of rain. After the shower he returned and finished the
piece, but those rows which received the dressing before the
shower were very much benefited by the application, while the
others were not.

•

IS SALT MANURE?

If the testimony of distinguished agriculturists, both English
and American, is of any weight, then common salt, used as a
manure, is not sufficiently appreciated.

Sir. John Sinclair, whose practical knowledge and sound
judgment are well known, Avrote, at the commencement of the
present century, as follows : " It is proved by a variety of exper-
iments that sea salt, properly applied, acts as a manure." " It
is particularly useful when mixed with a dung-hill or strewed
over farmyard manures at the time when they are carried out
into the field." It increases the crop of mangolds two or three
tons per acre. Mr. John Johnston, the celebrated Scotch farmer
of Western New York, says, in regard to an experiment with
salt : " The line of demarcation between the salted and the
unsalted portion is very distinct throughout the whole length ot
the field. It is some four or five days earlier."

Other instances might be given to prove the benefit of using
salt, either on mowing or pasture lots ; and it is the testimony
of others that it is especially adapted to wheat crops, giving a
brighter and stiffer straw and heavier grain. The quantity
recommended to be used to the acre, both in England and this
country, varies from three to twenty bushels.

GREEN CROPS PLOUGHED UNDER FOR MANURE.

This manner of increasing the fertility of the soil is not new.
We read of its being practised by the ancient Romans and
Grecians. It is practised now to a greater or less extent by
almost every country.

John F. Wolfinger has written quite an elaborate report upon
" Green Manuring and Manures," which was published -by the
Agricultural Department at Washington in 1864, in which the

238 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

plants best adapted for the purpose are treated upon, and the
testimony of distinguished gentlemen is given in favor of this
mode of fertilization, as also some of the objections to green
manuring are stated, such as the expense of seed for the growth,
and the disadvantage arising from the acidity which green plants
give to the land.

With this, as with everything else, circumstances must govern
the practices we adopt. If lands be situated at a long distance
from our barns, so as to make the expense of cartage to and
from considerable, it may be well to adopt some plan of this
kind ; but with hay at from twenty to thirty dollars per ton, it
seems to me that there would be more profit if the crop grown
were clover, to make it into hay, feed it to stock, and apply the
manure to the soil.

Clover is a valuable crop to raise for feed and manure. Prof.
Lawes tells us that one ton is worth $9.64 for manure ; but one
of the greatest advantages in ploughing in a crop of clover, in
my opinion, lies in the value of the roots of the plant.

IS LIME MANURE ?

This question can be easily answered in the affirmative, if it
can be proT^ed that it tends to increase the fertility of the soil or
furnish food for plants. There is a wide difference of opinion
among farmers as to the benefits to be derived from the use of
lime as a fertilizer. For while one man who makes an applica-
tion of lime to his land finds his crop nearly doubled, another,
with a similar application, finds the produce of his field not at
all increased. Although a large number of instances might be
cited where individuals had found an application of lime bene-
ficial, I will mention only one, which is the one alluded to by
Mr. Huntington, in his " Agriciiltural Survey" of Hampshire
County, which may be found in Flint's Report of 1865-6, p. 301.
The case is that of Mr. Green, of Hadley, who used lime with
marked success, bringing his mowing fields from beds of moss
to fertility, and to yielding good crops of hay.

Lime of itself will not give fertility to the soil, but acts as an
indirect rather than as a direct nutrient matter to crops.
Neither does it bring plant-food into the soil, but prepares that
which is there for plant-food.

GAS LIME AND ASHES. 239

Lime has been condemned by many because of its having
been put upon poor soils, so that it had nothing to operate upon.
William Bacon says : " Lime is extremely valuable for lands
which have acquired too much acidity." It is often used in
composting with muck, and may tend to correct the acidity
which is frequently found in that article. Lime should never be
used with manure, unless the manure is immediately ploughed
under.

IS GAS LIME MANURE ? •

The testimony of the members of this Board as given at the
meeting at Concord, December, 1867, was in favor of the nega-
tive. But I am inclined to think that it may have been used
improperly. From what I can learn from the statements of
individuals, it should be used in small quantities. Mr. Whit-
man, of Little Falls, N. Y., in speaking of gas lime at a meeting
of the farmers' club at that place, says : " Gas lime can be
turned to good account if properly applied. We this year
spread 1,000 bushels upon our meadows with good results, we
think, paying largely in the increase of crop. At first we did
not know how to apply it, and by putting it on too largely the
plants were destroyed. Judgment is need in the application of
all fertilizers, and especially with a material like gas lime."

Mr. Horace Russell, a farmer of North Hadley, has used gas
lime quite extensively upon his mowing and grain fields, with
satisfaction. He has stopped using it because of the expense of
getting it, having to freight it some twenty miles by railroad,
then carting it five miles in addition, to his home.

ASHES ARE MANURE.

They work admirably on some soils. It is a common remark
in the Connecticut River Yalley, that " a bushel of ashes will
make a bushel of corn." A very good farmer of my acquaint-
ance, who likes the idea of raising his corn cheaply, is accus-
tomed to raise his corn on turf land, applying a few bushels of
ashes in the hill, and succeeds in getting good crops of corn,
which he follows the next year with tobacco, manuring bounti-
fully, afterwards following with wheat, then with grass. Very
good crops of corn are grown on turf land in a fair state of
cultivation, with an application of ten or twelve bushels of

240 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

aslies to the acre, in the hill. Ashes seem to be well adapted
to mowing fields ; the result of the application is to bring in
clover. Onions are raised with success where ashes arc applied
together with manure. I would not be understood as recom-
mending the mixture of ashes with manure in this case or any
other, unless the mixture be immediately ploughed under ; the
result being similar to the mixture of lime and manure, it tends
to dispel the ammonia in the manure.

Plaster of Paris when mixed with ashes and put in the hill
for corn, produces excellent results.

Thorough cultivation and pulverization, are important meth-
ods of increasing fertility. Jethro Tull's theory was, that
minute division, and pulverizing, without the application of
manure, would maintain the fertility of the soil. And exper-
iments have proved the value of pulverization. In ploughing,
merely turning over the soil should not be the only aim, but to
break it up and fine it. Continued stirring opens the earth to
the influence of the sun and air, the earth is warmed, and
chemical changes are produced, and each time the soil is stirred
adds to its fertility.

But how can wet soils be pulverized ? Ploughing tends
rather to press together, and render them more compact, and
less penetrable by air and water.

This leads us to ask the question,

IS DRAINAGE MANURE?

What are the effects of drainage ? Thorough drainage
deepens the soil. Of what use is it to plough deep and manure
heavily, while the soil is full of water. The roots of plants will
not go down into stagnant water. The elements of plant food,
are not all on the surface, many of them have been washed
down by the rains, some of them are found in the decomposing
rocks themselves. Take away the water and the roots will find
them.

Drainage lengthens the seasons. In our climate this is an
important point to be gained. If by drainage, one or two
weeks could be gained, it Avould be quite a relief in our back-
ward springs, when there is so much to be done in a short
space of time.

DRAINAGE AND IRRIGATION. 241

Drainage increases the effect of the application of manure,
the soil being drier, is more easily worked fine ; the manure is
also more evenly distributed. The water also passing through
the soil, carries fertilizing matter down to the roots of plants.
When there is stagnant water, manure must decompose slowly
if at all ; but let the water pass off, the air is admitted, and
decomposition takes place.

What observing man is there who does not know that his
crops are improved in quality, by drainage ? Sweet English
grass and clover take the place of sedge and rushes.

IS IRRIGATION MANURE ?

The author whom we have already quoted says, " Irrigation
(in agriculture,) is the operation of causing water to flow over
lands for nourishing plants." That pure water, when properly
caused to flow over most of our soils in some seasons of the
year, will cause a greater growth of vegetation, none will deny.
But it has been clearly shown by some of our most distinguished
agriculturists that the application of fertilizing matter in the
form of liquid manure to tlie soil, was the best that could be
used for the growth of plants. And there is no agricultural
question more important than that of the improvement of the
soil by irrigation, if by this means the rich organic and other
matters which are now carried into the sea could be saved to
agriculture.

The application of manure to the soil, so as to ue of the most
benefit to the crop and land, is a subject which circumstances
have much to do with. Our soils, climate and seasons vary so
much that no rule can be laid down which shall be applicable to
all localities and crops. How much of the manure is lost by
exposure to the elements, and how much by what is called
leaching, are questions which are commanding the attention of
practical and scientific men at the present time. And in what
condition tlie manure shall be applied — whether in its fresh,
green state, or when partially decomposed, after fermentation
has taken place ? The proposition which was laid down by a
former member of this Board, that " farmyard manure never
possesses more of the elements of plant-food than in its original
unfermented state," is no doubt true ; for whatever advantage
fermented and rotted manure may have over unfermented, it is
31

242 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

not claimed that by the process of fermentation it receives any
addition, but that these are changes in the forms and combina-
tions, that render the elements more available ; fresh manure
contains the elements of plant-food, but not the food itself.

S. W. Johnson, says that fresh manure is not a fertilizer,
and cannot be appropriated to any extent. And Dr. Voelcker,
shows that the amount of ready formed ammonia in fresh
manure is very trifling, and that the proportion of soluble
matters, both organic and mineral, is very small.

A vs^riter in one of the late agricultural periodicals in speak-
ing upon this very subject, says : " Tliis accounts for the com-
paratively slow action of such manure," " and shows the need of
such management as will best prepare the elements for the use
of plants. This preparation is due chiefly to fermentation and
decomposition."

Admitting it to be a fact that this fermentation must take
place before manure becomes plant-food, and admitting it to be
a fact that this fermentation will take place in the soil when
applied in its green state, does it follow that the soil is the most
suitable laboratory for its decomposition ? Or, that when so
applied the greatest benefit is derived therefrom ? The slow
and comparatively slight action of fresh barnyard manure in
many cases, would seem to indicate that there was but little
fermentation in the soil.

And may not this be one reason why we so often hear after a
heavy coat of green manure has been ploughed in rather deep,
that it produced little or no effect ?

This is particularly the case in soils which are wet and cold.
For it is admitted by all that manure in the soil can decompose
only when the soil is favorable, neither too wet nor too dry.
Now, if manure is buried too deeply in a cold soil, it must
remain a long time inert, or, decomposition takes place so
slowly that the succeeding crop receives no benefit from it, nor
does it seem as if there was ever any perceptible advantage
derived from the manure. I heard a gentleman of very much
common sense, and candor, state not long since, that he
ploughed in a heavy coat of manure ten inches deep, and that
he believed that it was entirely lost to him. Now manure
buried so deep as that, would not be very apt to lose its ammo-
nia by evaporation, and as we do not believe in manures leach-

LOSS BY EVAPORATION. 243

ing, unless in very loose soils, the question will arise, what did
become of it ?

It may be said of dry soils, that the manure may be lost in a
great measure, because of the lack of sufficient moisture to
cause decomposition ; in such cases the manure should be
placed at such a depth as that it will decompose in season for
the wants of the crop.

There is a fear in the minds of a good many farmers, that if
the manure is spread on the surface, that there will bo a great
loss by evaporation. But it is the opinion of Dr. Voelcker
" that the loss by evaporation of ammonia is very small when
the manure is spread on the ground, the loss by evaporation of
ammonia is when the manure is piled, and rapid fermentation
is going on," and further he says, " that the great loss is by the
washing of rains," and that the most advantageous way of
applying manure would be on the surface, that it may be
washed into the soil, by which means its distribution is more
uniform than when ploughed in.

There have been some advocates of winter spreading manure.
I was very much interested in reading a short piece written by
the editor of the " Country Gentleman," published in that paper
of the date of January 16, 1868, upon this very subject, a part
of which I will quote : —

" We often hear the objection that manure will wash away
and be lost. We have found this objection to be groundless,
unless it is spread in the bottom of hollows, or swales, or in the
channels of streams. As soon as the snow melts or the rain
falls, there is always enough of unfrozen soil at the surface to
absorb the dissolved manure. Even when placed on steep hill-
sides we have never found the enriching effects of the manure
to extend down the surface more than three feet on grass lands.
Those familiar with the process of irrigation are aware that the
large quantity of water used for this purpose has its fertilizing
portions quickly abstracted from it by the grass among which
it runs. After several years' trial, we have become satisfied that
winter manuring is much better than applying just before the
plougliing is done. At the same time that the injury to the
soil in spring by drawing heavy loads upon it is avoided."

Although it seems to be the opinion of most sensible farmers
at the present day, that surface application is the most benefi-

244 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

cial, yet it appears to me that if long or coarse manure is to be
used at all, it should be buried so deep that it may receive -that
cliemical action which is constantly going on in the soil in order
to reduce it to a condition that shall render it perfectly adapted
to the nourishment of the growing crop.

Thus it seems we can make no rule for the application of
manure, which shall hold good in all cases. The true way will
be to follow the example of the painter, who " mixed brains
with his paints ; " we must mix brains with our manure.

Jno. M. Smith.

This Essay was followed by a" lengthy discussion, which con-
tinued till 1 o'clock, when it was laid on the table, and the
Board adjourned.

FOURTH DAY.

The Board met at 11 o'clock, A. M., Mr. Sewall, of Medfield,
in the chair.

Mr. Hubbard submitted the following Report, upon

THE HAY CROP.

In calculating upon the agricultural interests of any section
of country, one of the first things to be considered is, what
crops are best suited to the soil, and at the same time what ones
will bring the greatest returns for the amount of capital and
labor expended.

On the fertile prairies of the "West the farmer makes the
wheat or corn crop a specialty, because he finds the soil better
adapted to those than to any other crop he can cultivate. With
the Massachusetts farmer, generally, it is far different. There
are some sections, near our large cities, where the soil is easier
of cultivation, where it can be highly manured, and where veg-
etables can be easily and with small expense put into the
markets ; there the cultivator of the soil will find gardening far
more profitable than to give his attention to the raising of stock,
or to the cultivation of those crops that are needful for their
support. But with most farmers the grass crop is the important
one, and the one to which he must devote a good share of
attention if he would succeed in his business.

THE HAY CROP. 245

In considering this subject, there are three important things
which should receive attention, viz. : the importance of the crop ;
how it can be improved ; and the best mode of securing it.

Statistics show that the value of the hay crop in Massachusetts,
in 1865, was $13,195,274, and the value of neat stock, horses,
mules, asses and sheep, was $19,854,580 ; so that for every
dollar's worth of stock there was less than sixty-seven cents
worth of hay, which will at once be seen to be a small allowance
when we consider that there is a large number of horses and
many cows and oxen that are fed on hay and other articles of
food almost and many of them the entire year. This deficiency
must be made up from other articles of food, and to a great
extent from corn and the smaller grains, some part of which are
raised in our own State, at a much greater expense than the
same value of hay. But large quantities are transported from
the South, and much larger from the West.

Taking into account the number of animals in Massachusetts
and their value, which are dependent to so great an extent on
the hay crop for their support, I think no one will for a moment
question its importance, or fail to exclaim that this truly is an
important one, and should receive a greater share of attention
from the Massachusetts farmer than heretofore, and that he will
not only endeavor to increase the quantity, but also the quality,
and at the same time its value.

Hay, lor the support of stock, is what manure manufactured
upon the farm is to the farm — the foundation of its productive-
ness. It is the chief food to be relied upon for the support of
our animals while the earth is bound by the frosts of winter, or
ceases to furnish herbage to be cropped by the animals
themselves.

Statistics show that in 1865 there were in the State 682,284
acres of grass land mown, and that the product was 622,671
tons ; or about 1,825 pounds per acre, if we take the entire
crop of the year. This shows a small yield, and far less than it
might be. It was stated by a member of this Board, that a man
owning four acres of grass land cut from it last year twenty-
eight tons of well cured hay. This may seem a large statement,
but it was further stated that he kept fifteen horses, and put all
the manure made from them upon this piece of land. The crop

246 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

was taken off three times during the season, which shows what
can be done under a high state of cultivation.

All our grass land cannot be thus highly manured or be made
to produce in such large quantities. But with proper attention,
and improving all the resources of the farm for making and
saving manures, no one will for a moment doubt the quantity
can be greatly increased, and at the same time the quality
greatly improved. One great difficulty arises, and that is from
neglect. There is a continual cropping, and nothing returned
to supply the waste.

The great law of compensation requires that where there is a
continual taking from, there should be something added, to
supply the deficiency. Everything about the farm for manufac-
turing and composting manure, should be carefully attended
to, and the application be made to the grass lands, not however
to rob the other crops, but to give this that share of attention
which its importance demands. It is a common practice with
many, to get what they can from year to year from their grass
land, without doing anything to increase its productiveness, or
to restore its constant exhaustion. If nothing else can be done,
and the soil is suitable for it, let there be applied yearly, or
once in two or three years, a small quantity of plaster, which
will richly repay for the expenditure. Wood ashes, lime, or
some other fertilizer may be applied with beneficial results ;
not, however, to lose sight of the manure to be made upon the
farm.

Wet meadow lands are greatly improved by drainage, and
the application of sand, or a sandy loam, with a further top-
dressing of manure ; and at the same time a sprinkling of grass
seed. In this way the quantity, and at the same time the
quality are greatly improved. I have known land that did not
produce enough to pay the expense of cutting the grass, that by
drainage, and the application of sand, was brought nnder the
plough, and made to be exceedingly productive ; and some that
was drained and top-dressed simply, that produced two boun-
tiful crops a year, and also of an excellent quality. Let
farmers who have such lands consider this subject, and apply to
practice wliat their own good judgment dictates.

When the gras^ crop is grown, this question arises, What is
the best time for cutting, and the best mode of securing the

TIME TO CUT GRASS. 247

crop ? Steamed hay is said to be more valuable for animals.
Now there is no doubt but what the nearer the hay is to the
grass, the more nutritious and valuable for food. It is a com-
mon remark, that rowen is the most valuable hay for milch
cows ; and why ? Because it is cut when tender, and possesses
more of the nutritious qualities. Tiiis seems to be conclusive
evidence that the first crop (and on most of the grass land the
only one cut with the scythe, or machine,) should not be
allowed to stand too long, until it becomes tough, and woody,
and looses a great share of its nutritive qualities. It is a com-
monly received opinion, and probably a correct one, that the
best time to cut grass is when it is in blossom.

It is evident that all cannot be cut at the most suitable time,
so that it becomes the farmer to consider whether the loss by
standing too long, will not be greater than by cutting too early.

I am decidedly of the opinion, that many farmers suffer
greatly by letting grass stand too long, until it becomes tough
and wiry, and loses most of its nutritive qualities. Economy
demands that the work of haying should be commenced in
season ; that a suitable amount of help be procured, and the
work .pushed forward with energy. With the mowing machine,
tedder and horse-rake, the work is carried on with greater
ease and rapidity, securing the hay in many instances in
much better condition. The hay should be dry enough to keep,
but overdrying proves injurious, by lessening the nutritive
qualities, and rendering it stiff and wiry.

Great care and the exercise of judgment need to be brought
into requisition in order to secure the crop in the best condi-
tion. This cannot always be done on account of the unfavor-
able condition of tlie weather, but it should claim our special
attention. I have not spoken of the different varieties of grass,
or the time and mode of seeding, as these will vary in different
localities. But if I have said anything to call attention more
particularly to tliis branch of farming, or to quicken the ener-
gies of any so that they may cause their lands to produce two
blades of grass where but one grew before, I shall be satisfied,
and feel that I have contributed my mite to improve the
agricultural interests of Massachusetts.

Newton S. Hubbard.

248 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

After some discussion, the Essay was laid over for its second
reading under the rule.

Mr. Moore then submitted the following Report, upon

SPECIALTIES IN FARMING.

The Committee upon the above subject submit the following
remarks upon it : —

In considering the best methods of farming, the cost of pro-
duction, the economy with which a crop can be grown without
too great exhaustion of the soil must be taken into account, for
herein partly consists good and economical farming.

Now it is well understood, and does not require an argument
even to convince the public, that it costs more in proportion to
produce one bushel of wheat, corn or other grains, or one bushel
of any of the varieties of vegetables, or one box or barrel of any
of the fruits, than it does one thousand or more ; and there is
also nearly the same labor in cleaning and finishing up after a
small quantity as there would be from a large one. If this prop-
osition is true, and there is no doubt of it in the minds of your
Committee, it would follow as a certainty that it would be better
to produce a smaller number but larger quantities of one or
more special crops, for by that means the cost would be less, and
leave a larger margin for profit to the grower. To use the
words of one of the ablest sons of Massachusetts, " success is a
duty," Now, to be successful, it will, we think, be necessary to
direct the attention to a less number of the various branches of
this, the oldest and most extensive business in the world.

Can you expect any person, even of great ability, to succeed
and attain that proficiency in all the different branches of farm-
ing that he otherwise would if his attention was directed to a
few special crops ?

Suppose a person undertakes to breed sheep, cattle, horses
and swine, any of which, to be successful in producing the finest
animals, requires a long experience, a partial knowledge of
anatomy, or conformation of tlie animals, so that he may be able
to select proper animals for breeders, and a knowledge of feed-
ing in all its details, to be able to rear the progeny to greatest
perfection ; to have a dairy for supplying the market with milk,
or for the production of butter or cheese, which would require
a different method of feeding to produce those articles most

SPECIALTIES IN FARMING. 249

economically ; to grow all the varieties of grain, potatoes and
other roots, which would require a knowledge of the special
wants of each of those crops, including soils, manures, varieties
and cultivation ; to cultivate the various sorts of fruits, the
production of which in perfection requires that a man be some-
thing of a horticulturist ; and to attempt market gardening,
which is really a full trade in itself.

Now to be able to do all the foregoing to perfection would
require more energy and brains than falls to the lot of any man ;
and we should at once decide that no one could do all that we
have mentioned, and do them well, or could attain to that
degree of perfection which should be our constant aim.

In the mechanic arts it was found necessary, a long time ago,
for the purpose of becoming skilful, to divide the subject into
many trades. And successful manufacturers have found it
advantageous to subdivide still more, as by that means their work-
men can attain a greater proficiency in their business, and do it
better and more economically. This the chairman of your
committee found well illustrated in a recent visit to an extensive
machine shop, where, in the making of a simple cotton spindle,
one man forges, another fits, and still another grinds it, so that
each spindle goes through at least three hands before it is set
up in the spinning frame.

Now we claim that the business of farming is at least as
extensive, varied, and requires as much skill for success as the
mechanic arts. In the latter it has been found necessary to so
divide the business that a man may become master of one
branch. Should we not follow their example, and devote our
time and attention to fewer branches of our business, and
thereby master some particular branches and make them a
specialty ?

As another illustration, we will take the cabinet-maker, who
undertakes to make a chest or bureau ; he measures and cuts
his lumber, planes and fits the pieces, puts them together and
completes his work. This is a certain amount of skill applied
to the raw material, and will produce a certain result, accord-
ing to the skill applied ; there is no element to step between
and prevent it.

But how is it with the farmer ? Can he measure the amount
of rain he desires for his crops and have it from the clouds and

32

250 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

no more, control the degrees of heat and cold, the quantity of
sunshine, wind, and the length of the season to mature his
crops ? Certainly he cannot. He can only bring into use his
long experience and observation. He does some brain work,
and the result is, if he has made a specialty of some crops, and
has studied their habits and particular wants, has indeed
mastered his subject with those particular crops, he will suc-
ceed : but if he undertalves to dabble in every branch of farm-
ing, he will not be likely to attain any great skill in producing
any particular crop.

How is it in the professions ? Does any one siicceed and
become eminent until he has devoted almost his entire energies
to his particular business ? Certainly not. Such application is
required to make Choates, Jacksons and Beechers, who, if
they had undertaken all of the professions, very likely would
not have attained much eminence in either.

Husbandry, like mechanic arts, means many trades combined
under one name, too many for any one man to perfectly master ;
therefore, let him give his attention to some few branches as a
specialty.

When we desire information about any particular crop, to
whom do we go to get it ? Why, certainly' to the man who has
studied its habits and wants, and made it a specialty. Who
succeeds the best with any particular crop ? Is it not the man
who raises it largely, and gives his attention to it, who knows
its habits, and how to grow it ?

We are aware that it has been popular to advocate mixed
farming, or in other words to raise a little of everything, which
oftentimes in its results, means not much of anything. We are
satisfied that it would be better to raise a smaller number of
crops, and those in larger quantities. We find in all farming
there must be some leading articles to sell, for money must be
had to pay for labor, groceries and other articles, and that can
be got more readily where some crop is grown largely for that
purpose. And therefore we have come to the conclusion that
the quicker our farmers devote their attention to a few leading
articles, studying their habits and wants thorouglily, and mak-
ing them a specialty, the better and more successful will they
be individually as farmers. John B. Moore.

Avery P. Slade.
Chas. C. Sewall.

THE APPLE. 251

The Report was laid over, under the rule.

Mr. King, from the committee on the connection of the
Board with the Agricultural College, submitted the following :

Whereas, The Massachusetts Board of Agriculture desires by-
all means in its power, to secure to the people such an
agricultural education as will enable them to develop the agri-
cultural resources of the Commonwealth, and as it desires
especially to promote the welfare of the Agricultural College,
and insure its success ; therefore.

Resolved, That Charles L. Flint, the Secretary of this Board,
be authorized to deliver a course of lectures at the Agricultural
College, or to discharge such duties connected with the instruc-
tion of the students at that institution as the trustees may
assign to him : provided, that such services do not conflict with
his duties as Secretary aforesaid.

Resolved, That it would be conducive to the interests of the
Agricultural College, and add to the efficiency of this Board, to
hold one meeting annually during the summer, at the college.

Resolved, That such portions of the library at the Secretary's
office, as may be useful to the students and are not required in
Boston by the Secretary for his own use, be transferred to the
Agricultural College, and' that Marshall P. Wilder, Charles L.
Flint and Levi Stockbridge, be a committee to determine what
portion of the library shall be removed.

The Secretary is instructed to certify a copy of the Resolves
to the trustees of the Agricultural College.

This Report was unanimously adopted.

Mr. Hyde, of Lee, then submitted the following Report, upon

APPLE CULTURE.

Fruit is so comprehensive a term, and an essay on fruit must
either be so general in its statements or so lengthy in its details,
that the Committee to whom this subject was intrusted for inves-
tigation have ventured to confine their attention to that repre-
sentative fruit, the apple. By this neglect of the other fruits
we intend no disparagement to them. We love a buttery pear
and a fragrant peach, and the plum and cherry and the smaller
fruits are always welcome at our table, and we regret that our
time will not allow us to pay our respects to them all ; but for
the present we must confine our attention to the king of the

252 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

fruits, the apple. As bread is the standard among articles of
diet, so the apple is the standard among fruits. Other fruits are
good in their season, but their season is comparatively short.
The apple lasts through the year, the Roxbury Russet often lin-
gering with us till the early harvest puts on the yellow tinge of
maturity. True, for the past four years the apple crop in New
England has partly failed ; but this failure is the consequence
of causes which are temporary, and we doubt not that the
promise that " seed-time and harvest shall continue to the end
of the world," is as applicable to fruits as to grains. Without
stopping to discuss the causes of failure, we may say, in passing,
that the preponderance of testimony of the keenest observers
favors the belief that the severe droughts of 1864-5-6 so robbed
the apple-tree of its juices that it failed to perfect the fruit ;
and so much was the constitutional vigor of the trees affected by
these successive dry seasons, that the wet summer of 1867 found
them too feeble to bring forth much fruit, or even to blossom
freely, though the liealth of the trees improved greatly under its
moist skies. We make no pretensions to the ken of prophets, but
we confidently expect another year will witness a bountiful crop
of apples. The loss to the orchardist during these barren years
has, however, not been so great as might be supposed. With
apples at five and six dollars per barrel, and cider at eight and
ten dollars, the producer has little cause for complaint, though
he harvests only half a crop. Tlie little, knotty, refuse apples
commanded a higher price for the manufacture of cider the past
autumn than was paid for good dessert fruit in the years of plenty.

OLD ORCHARDS.

The first point to which we wish to call attention is the reno-
vation of the old orchards, planted by our fathers, some thirty,
some sixty and some an hundred years since. Such orchards
may be seen all through New England, with ugly, dead branches
projecting out here and there, with trunks moss-bound and often
rotten at the core, apparently cumberers of the ground, and
certainly a deformity to the landscape. The question is, Shall
we dig about and dung them or cut them down ? Tliis question
does not admit an answer of universal application. Though we
cannot put an old head on young shoulders, we may put a new
head on an old apple-tree ; but whether it will pay or not

SOAP AND OLD ORCHARDS. 253

depends upon the quality of the apples, the condition of the
trees and their former culture. If the orchard is one of grafted
fruit, that has been well cared for and still shows manifest signs
of decadence, it may as well be consigned to the woodhouse.
There is no doubt but that grafted fruit, in elaborating its large
size and delicate flavor, makes large drafts both on the tree and
soil, and therefore sooner exhausts the energies of both. Like
the roue whose vital powers have been exhausted by a life of
wanton pleasure, when once the constitution gives way, no med-
icine can restore it. The native trees, on the other hand, not
having been thus exhausted, have, even in their dilapidated con-
dition, a reserve of constitutional force, and may be rejuvenated,
by pruning, grafting and tillage, so as to pay well for the
expense. A new top can as easily be put on an apple-tree as a
new covering on an old umbrella. We have only to cut away
the old, decaying branches and let some of the most vigorous
suckers take their place. These suckers furnish just the right
stocks for grafting, care being always taken to leave sufficient
branches to furnish breathing apparatus for the tree. At the
same time the old branches are lopped off, the trunk should be
thoroughly scraped with a hoe, the suckers around the roots
removed, and the whole tree washed with strong soapsuds. We
have found soft soap as acceptable to trees as to men. We have
sometimes used the pure article, and have never known any
damage arise from its use on the trunks of old trees ; but our
more common practice has been to dilute the soap with half
water. The effect of soapsuds on a tree is much the same as on
a dirty urchin's face. As the unkempt and unwashed boy is
hardly recognized after a thorough scouring, so the washed tree
puts on an entirely different look. The bark becomes smooth
and glossy, and is no longer the home of insects which formerly
preyed upon the juices of the tree, but performs its designated
office of aiding the leaves in their inspirations and expirations.
The bark has much the same relation to the tree that the skin
has to the animal. As we do not expect an animal to thrive, the
pores of whose skirt are stopped by dirt, scabs and vermin,
neither must we expect a vigorous tree when the bark is scaly
and full of cocoons and insects. If the soap is applied so freely
as to run down among the roots, it will not be lost. It is one of
the best stimulants that can be given to these roots, and acts on

254 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

them as beneficially as the wine recommended to Timothy " for
his often infirmities." We have sometimes seen whitewashing
recommended for apple-trees, but we should as soon think of
whitewashing a man. Lime may destroy some insects, but it
Btops the pores of the bark and deranges its respiratory func-
tions, and must induce disease. We have found the latter part
of May or the first of June the most propitious season for apply-
ing the soap, as at this time the bark lice are just being hatched
out and are destroyed most effectually. The beetle, also, which
lays the eggs for that terrible pest of the apple-tree, the borer,
is at this season prowling about seeking where he may puncture
a nest for his ovum, and turns up his nose in disgust at the vil-
lanous smell of soft soap. If by chance the eggs are already
deposited when the soap is applied, their vitality is destroyed.
We have never been troubled with the bark louse nor with the
borer when we have thoroughly soaked our trees, and at the
proper time. If the bark lice are not totally destroyed by the
washing in May, a second crop is hatched out the latter part of
July, and another washing at this time may be necessary.

Some recommend ploughing an old orchard as a sovereign
remedy for the disease of its old age, and we grant that the
first year after an orchard is ploughed, it generally bears well,
but it is like the flickering of a lamp just before it is extin-
guished. Our observation has been that the ploughing of an
old orchard does not give it permanent vigor. The severe root-
pruning to which it is subjected by the action of the plough,
induces the formation of fruit-buds, and a large crop of fruit
follows for one and possibly for two years, but the trees muti-
lated in their roots, are soon exhausted by over-production, and
speedily decay. The plough is a rude instrument for root-
pruning. As Ik Marvel says, " It makes butcher work where
nice surgery is demanded." The suggestion of Holy Writ, to
dig about and dung the trees, is far preferable. This " nice
surgery " is more expensive, but whatever is worth doing is
worth doing well.

Some form of manure is absolutely essential for rejuvenating
an old orchard. A tree cannot, like an animal, rove around in
search of food. It does indeed send out innumerable little
rootlets, and they are most diligent foragers, but their range is
limited, and foraging for fifty or a hundred years in the same

OLD AGE REJUVENATED. 255

locality finally becomes poor picking, unless the soil is often
replenished with the food which the tree may need. In a state
of nature this supply of food is furnished in a good measure
from the tree itself, in the decaying leaves and fruit ; but if we
carry this fruit to the cellar and carefully clear the ground of
the leaves, it is robbery, unless we return some equivalent in
the shape of compost. What this compost should be must be
determined in part by the nature of the soil. An universal
panacea has not yet been discovered, either in medicine or
agriculture, but we are inclined to the belief that wood ashes
contain most of the ingredients which apple-trees require.
Certain it is, that a compost made of one part ashes and three
parts muck, has answered a good purpose in our own orchard.
Some soils might require an addition of more lime than is
found in wood ashes, and in such case if the refuse plastering
from old houses can be added to the compost heap it will
prove a benefit as well as an addition. Many of our old
orchards are doubtless past recovery. Neglect and old age
have so reduced their vigor, that no medicine will avail for
their restoration. Good nursing will, however, do more for
these old settlers than we are wont to suppose. We know of
an old orchard in one of our mountain towns, how old we
cannot say, but it looked old to our youthful eyes some forty
years ago, that for the past twenty-five years has been made to
produce very fair crops of good fruit. The original trees were
chance seedlings, planted by one of the good clergymen of the
olden time, probably with a view of furnishing a little cider for
himself and guests, for not one tree in twenty furnished any
fruit fit for dessert. When this orchard came into the posses-
sion of the late Lieut. Gov. Hull, he dug around the trees,
dumped a load of chip manure around each tree, gave them a
liberal sprinkling of leached ashes, pruned and grafted, planted
potatoes around each tree in a circle of some twelve feet in
diameter, so as to insure a stirring of the soil, and some return
for his labor, and the result was not only a large yield of pota-
toes, but the rejuvenation of the trees, and for a series of years
some of the finest fruit that had ever been raised in the town.
But we cannot depend upon our old orchards forever. This
would be as unwise as depending upon our Shaker brethren " to
multiply and replenish and fill the earth." There is a limit to

256 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

the producing energy of trees, however well cared for, and we
must resort to planting

YOUNG ORCHARDS.

Where shall we plant them is the first question. We answer
briefly, in a good soil and a sheltered situation. The apple is
hardy, has a wonderful power of adapting itself to any soil and
situation, is never " staky," but puts forth its best energies
wherever planted. We have admired sometimes seeing the
seedling apple-trees struggling for existence among the rocks,
or by the side of the road, browsed upon by the straying cattle,
but never saying " die." It is a mistake, however, to suppose
that the apple has no choice of location. There is a congenial
home for the apple as well as for man. Whatever soil will pro-
duce a good crop of corn, will also produce a good crop of
apples ; but as the roots of trees penetrate much more deeply
than those of corn, it will generally be found expedient to
underdrain most* of our sites for the orchard, certainly if the
subsoil is of a cold, clayey nature. We were so unfortunate,
some twenty years since, as to have a railroad laid out through
a young orchard, just coming into bearing condition. The soil
was of a gravelly nature, and on removing the trees and espec-
ially on removing the soil for the use of the road, we were
surprised to see the depth to which the roots ran. They were
luxuriating at the depth of six and eight feet. In a clay soil
they might not have penetrated so deeply, but they should
certainly have the liberty of wandering whither they please.
We have read of a Pennsylvania farmer placing a flat stone
under his apple-trees, in order to keep the roots near the rich
surface soil, but this is not in accordance with " the freedom of
the will," and we doubt not, when the roots reached the
extremity of the stone, they turned downward in search of
moisture and nourishment. Certainly here in New England
we have little occasion for planting stones when we plant our
apple-trees, but have need rather to remove every obstruction
to the free wandering of the roots. There is very little of our
New England soil that will not be benefited by a liberal applica-
tion of manure, before an orchard is planted upon it. Some of
our western fruit-growers complain that their soil is so rich
naturally, that their trees luxuriate in a growth of wood and

SETTING OUT TREES. 257

foliage to the exclusion of fruit ; but we hear of no such com-
plaint at the East. The site for an orchard should be deeply
ploughed either with a Michigan or subsoil plough, and tlie
manure thoroughly incorporated with the soil before the trees
are planted. No subsequent culture will atone for the want of
this previous preparation. The balance of testimony is in favor
of keeping the orchard under the plough for a few years, either
letting it lie fallow or raising root crops, but no grain. This
has been our practice generally, but we have tried keeping ono
orchard in grass, digging around the trees occasionally with a
spade, and top-dressing the grass annually, and the experiment
has succeeded beyond our expectation. The trees may not
grow so rapidly nor come into bearing so early as where the
land is ploughed, but the trees are very healthy and have
produced as generously as other orchards, though we have not
failed of cutting two crops of grass annually from the same
land. When so much is taken from the soil, generous returns
must be made. If we cannot get something for nothing, we
certainly ought not to expect two somethings for a cipher.

TRANSPLANTING.

How we shall plant our trees, is well answered by that poet
of nature, Bryant : —

" Come, let us plant the apple-tree.
Cleave the tough greensvvai'd with the spade ;
Wide let its hollow bed be made ;
There gently lay the roots, and there
Sift the dark mould with kindly care,
And press it o'er them tenderly,
As round the sleeping infant's feet
"We softly fold the cradle sheet :
So plant we the apple-ti-ee."

Transplanting is trying to the constitution of trees, however
carefully " we sift the dark mould ; " but in the rougli manner
it is usually performed, the trees have much occasion to say,
" spare us from our friends." Our radical reformers do not
uproot society more cruelly than some rude hands transplant
trees. They seem to forget that a tree is a thing of life, tliat
the rootlets are tender as " infants' feet," and that every mutila-
tion of the trunk is as bad for the tree as phlebotomy ever was
33

258 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

for man. The secret of transplanting is to handle the young
trees as carefully as we do sleeping infants, and they (the trees,)
can be put from one bed into another without knowing it.
Their new bed should be made wide and deep, and if the slats
are made of old ribs and other bones, all the better. Over these
bones the soft mould should be sprinkled, and if the roots are
carefully laid upon this and well tucked up with surface soil,'
our word for it, the trees will grow like willows of the brook.

VARIETIES.

Of the thousands of varieties of apple-trees in the catalogues
of our nurserymen, which shall we select for a New England
orchard ? The answer to this question must vary somewhat
with circumstances. The theory generally has been that winter
fruit paid much better than summer ; but if a sufficient market
is near by, our experience is in favor of cultivating a due pro-
portion of summer apples ; and whether near to or remote from
a market, enough Early Harvests, Red Astrachans and Early
Sweet Boughs should be raised for family use. In the bilious
dog-days of July and August, nothing is more grateful to the •
stomach than the acid of the apple. It is cheaper than pills
and powders, and (begging pardon of the doctors on the Board,)
far more effectual. A quarter of a century since some city
cousins were making us a summer visit, and very naturally
wanted some apples, and we scoured the home orchard and
neighboring orchards in vain for some palatable fruit, and we
resolved that another decade should not find us in this destitute
condition. It was a mistake of our fathers that apples in the
summer were unhealthy. On the contrary, ripe, juicy fruit is
never more healthful than in the warm season ; and that nature
craves it is manifest from the multitudes of lawless boys and, we
are sorry to say, men, that are so eager to club the trees as soon
as the fruit, by its tinge of red or gold, shows signs of matu-
rity. The market demand for fruit at this season has also
greatly increased, so that we are inclined to think a good sprink-
ling of early apples in the orchard will be found profitable.

For autumn use, the Early Strawberry, Golden Sweet, Grav-
enstein. Fall Pearmain, Porter, Pameuse and Fall Pippen we
have found to thrive well, and are essential in every well-
appointed orchard. To the above named dessert fruits we wish

VARIETIES OF APPLES. 259

to add the Drap d'Or, as a cooking apple of the most hardy and
productive kind. During these late years of barrenness the
Drap d'Or has never failed to yield bountifully, and the Dutch
Mignonne has been like unto it. The trees of both these sorts
seem to possess a constitutional vigor that enables them to bear
fruit even in unpropitious seasons.

The name of good winter apples is legion, for they are many.
We put the Rhode Island Greening first, as the tree is vigorous,
produces an abundant crop annually, and not biennially, as does
the Baldwin, and the fruit, both for the dessert and cooking, if
not first-rate, falls but little short of it. The Spitzenbcrg has a
far higher flavor, and for cooking is No. 1, but is too hard and
indigestible for a dessert friiit, and the tree has not so vigorous
a constitution as to warrant planting it in lai'ge quantity. The
Hubbardston Nonsuch is excellent, but we are not ready to
yield it the title of Nonsuch if that title means none so good.
The Yellow Belle Flower is also excellent, if planted in a sandy
soil. The Northern Spy is a great accession to our winter
fruits, as it is a crisp, well-flavored fruit, good in January, is
a late keeper, and the tree seems hardy ; but with us the fruit
has not been uniform, some specimens being large and fiiir and
others small. The King of Tompkins County also promises
well, but we have not tried sufficiently to pronounce with con-
fidence upon its character. " Confidence is a plant of slow
growth " among apples as well as among men. We are aware
that we have left out the Roxbury Russet, Tolman Sweet and
many other winter apples in the above list ; but time would fail
us to notice all that deserve honorable mention.

We desire to add a word about the preservation of apples,
and their conversion into that much abused, but when taken
temperately, most healthful beverage, cider, but we fear we
have already transgressed our limits. We must however
express our honest convictions that the manufacture of cider is
worthy of a more careful consideration by the farming commu-
nity than it has hitherto received. The juice of the apple is
capable of being converted into a beverage little if any inferior
to that manufactured from the grape. The aroma of cider is
not equal to wine, but the acid is congenial to most stomachs,
and is a great promoter of digestion, and so far as health is
concerned, we place cider above wine. When the price was

260 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE.

one and two dollars a barrel, much care in its manufacture for
a market was not justified, but now that the price is quadrupled,
■we hope to see unripe and rotten apples rejected from the
pile which is to be ground for cider, and the use of musty
straw entirely dispensed with. Tiie musty barrel has also been
tolerated equally with the musty straw. Let the principles of
cider manufacture be studied as carefully as the principles of
manufacturing wine — and they are nearly identical — and this
branch of farming will take rank where it deserves.
For the Committee,

Alexander Hyde, Chairman.

The Essay having been read and discussed, was laid over.
Mr. Birnie presented his Report as delegate to the Middlesex
North Society, which was read and accepted.
Mr. Porter presented the following Essay, on

DRAINAGE.

The practice of draining is still in its infancy in this country,
yet the time is not far distant, when it will be looked upon as a
very important part of our agricultural operations. Thousands
of acres in New England still remain unproductive, for the want
of thorough draining.

In the management of soils it is necessary to their fertility to
cause the rain water falling upon the surface to filtrate equally
and readily to a proper depth, and to convey it away without
allowing it to accumulate there. This is the object of draining.
And it is accomplished in case of stiff soils, by causing the clay
to shrink and become pervious through the joint action of the
drains and evaporation, and in other wet soils merely by carry-
ing off the surplus water below, thus enabling the quantity
added above to penetrate regularly downward. When this
result is attained, all otlier necessary improvements may be
successfully carried out and the most profitable system of
cropping adopted. A saving of seed, labor and manure will
then be effected, and the numerous advantages arising from a
dry and more friable soil will be secured.

The object sought to be obtained by various operations, as
well as the circumstances to which such operations are appli-
cable, would be made plain if the principles upon which the

THOROUGH DRAINAGE. 261

success of each operation depends were understood. The
merits of subsoiling or deep ploughing, for instance, are often
argued without reference to any principle whatever, and
erroneous conclusions are no doubt frequently formed in conse-
quence. Whereas, if the data necessary to lead to a correct
view of the subject were examined, it would be observed that
all soils liable to become too firm, require perhaps the applica-
tion of all the means at the command of the farmer, to keep
them open and to bring and return all their parts to the
required depth under the influence of air and wat:?r.

The great object of draining and other improvements, is to
promote fertility ; and subsoiling, and deep and perfect mixing
and comminution of the surface soil must, as auxiliaries to
thorough draining, be highly beneficial. If these prove inade-
quate, other means, such as the admixture of matter, will be
required in addition.

If the soil is light and naturally porous, all its parts must
be already more or less under the influence of air and water,
and it possesses the advantages which subsoiling and deep
tillage are calculated to confer. These operations would,
therefore, be likely to prove less beneficial than in the case of
stiffer soils.

Many soils, though absorbent in their natural state, are much
benefited by deep ploughing or subsoiling, especially when
green crops are to be grown, so that the ready filtration of
water through them without draining is not an imerring test,
as everything depends upon their nature, specific gravity, their
locality, and the system of cropping and management. It is
certain that some light soils require no deep stirring to keep
them open, or to bring them into their utmost state of produc-
tiveness ; but, on the contrary, they often require compression
and careful management to make and keep them sufficiently
firm ; hence a heavy dressing of clay or marl which assists in
consolidating them and increases their capacity for retaining
water, as well as in supplying inorganic matter in which they
are deficient, is often found to contribute greatly to their
fertility, and to enable crops to be grown upon them, for which
they would otherwise have been unsuitable. Thorough drain-
ing, liowever, by which the soil can be made perfectly absorbent
and dry throughout, is of much greater importance than any

262 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

other metliod, or than all other methods combined, as the
necessary improvements can in most instances be effected by it
alone.

This mode of draining has already been productive of
immense advantage in those districts where it is generally
applied, and on its extension and perfection the future success
of farming in many places depends. Hence the importance not
only of thorough draining being undertaken on all wet soils,
but so as to make it fully and permanently equal to tlie purpose.

The first thing to be attended to in draining is to procure an
outfall to carry off the water from the drains at any season.
"Without this they must be partially or totally inefficient, and it
is scarcely possible that tliey can be permanent. In most places
the only difficulty in providing an outfall, where one is not
already provided, is the expense, which would often be consid-
erable.

Draining, as a general rule, should be commenced at the
lowest part of the ground ; and when the water is effectually
cleared away therefrom at all times, a good outfall will be easily
obtained for the higher lands.

When the land is level it is important that ditches should not
only be so situated as to allow the water to be easily and natu-
rally brought into them and readily carried off afterwards, but
that they should be cut to a regular inclhiation in the bottom,
and their width suited to the quantity of water to be conveyed.
The main ditches should be as straight as possible. Evei-y devi-
ation from the direct line increases the distance to the outlet
and lessens the rate of inclination.

Every portion of the country appears to be abundantly sup-
plied with materials of some description for draining. Where
timber is scarce, stones are abundant ; or, if both are wanting,
then there generally is an excellent deposit of clay from which
tile may be made. It is an established fact that under-draining
will pay all reasonable expenses incurred in its construction in
the course of three or four years, and not unfrequently the first
year alone, by the increased productiveness.

It therefore behooves the farmer to consider well what kind of
drains his present means will justify him in making. The dig-
ging and filling will cost about the same for any kind except
tile. The difference in cost then will depend upon the material

NEW KIND OF TILES. 263

employed. If stones are to be hauled two or three rililes, then
perhaps wooden drains would be cheaper, and will last five or six
years. But if stones are abundant on the field to be under-
drained, or in the adjoining fields, it would perhaps be a matter
of economy to employ the stone, for two reasons. First, stone
will make a drain which will serve the object intended ; and,
second, the surface of the field will be cleared of a great nuisance
and hindrance to a more perfect system of cultivation. Stone
drains should never be made less than three feet deep and one
foot wide at the bottom. Stone should be filled in to the depth
of one foot at least, and then be covered with brush, straw,
leaves, or some such material, so as to prevent the dirt from
falling in and filling up the interstices.

The manufacture of drain tile has of late been very much on
the increase, so that where material for the manufacturing is
easily obtained they can be furnished at less cost than stone, and
when laid down answer the object sought for perhaps better than
anything. The cost at present is about two dollars and a half
per hundred for three-inch tile, and less according to the size.

There is a new method of making tile from cement and gravel
that I think supersedes all others for the main drain and out-
let. These are- made two feet in length, of any size, perfectly
round, and when properly cured will last a lifetime. These are
better adapted for conveying off surplus water than for drain-
ing, they being not so porous as those made with clay, and
after being made a suitable time become very hard, almost
like stone. The cost of these at the manufactory is considera-
bly more than clay tile, perhaps twice as much ; but considering
their durability, I think them the cheapest for the main drain
and outlets.

Perhaps, at this point, I can better illustrate this subject by
giving an extract from the experience of one who has for over
thirty years been intimate with all methods of draining. I
refer to Mr. Johnston, of Geneva, N. Y. At one time esteemed
a fanatic by his neighbors, he has come of late years to be gen-
erally known as the father of tile-drainage in America. After
over thirty years of precept and twenty of example, he has the
satisfaction of seeing his favorite theory fully accepted, and to
some extent practically applied throughout the country. Mr.
Johnston is a Scotchman, who came to this country over forty

264 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

years a^, and purchased the farm he now occupies, on the
easterly shore of Seneca Lake, a short distance from Geneva.

With the pertinacity of his nation, he stayed just where he
settled, through ill fortune and prosperity, wisely concluding
that, by always bettering his farm, he would better himself,
and make more money in the long run than he could by shift-
ing uneasily from place to place in search of sudden wealth.
He was poor enough at the commencement ; but what did that
matter to a frugal, industrious man, willing to live within his
means, and work hard to increase them.

His farm, the first purchase, was one hundred and twelve
acres of land, well situated, but said to be the poorest in the
county. He knew better than that, however, for although the
previous tenant had all but starved upon it, and the neighbors
told him sucli would be his fate, he had seen poorer land
forced to yield large crops in the old country, and so he con-
cluded to try the chances for life or death. The soil was heavy,
gravelly clay, with a tenacious clay subsoil, a perfectly tight
reservoir for water, cold, hard-baked, and cropped down to
about the last gasp. The magician commenced his work. He
found in the barnyard a great pile of manure, the accumula-
tion of years, well rotted. This he put on as much land as
possible, at the rate of twenty-five loads to the acre, ploughed it
ill deeply, sowed his grain, cleaned out the weeds as well as he
could, and the land on which he was to starve gave him forty
bushels to the acre. The result, as usual, was attributed to
luck, and anything but the real cause. To turn over such deep
furrows was sheer folly, and such heavy dressings of manure
would not fail to destroy the seed. But it didn't ; and let our
farmers remember that it never will, and if they wish to get rich
let them cut out this article, read it often, and follow the
example of our Scotch friend.

This system of deep ploughing and heavy manuring, wrought
its result in due time. Mr. Johnston, after seventeen years of
hard work, at last found himself ready to incur a new debt,
and to commence laying tile drains. Of the benefits to be
derived from draining, he had long been aware ; for he recol-
lected that when he was only ten years old, his grandfather, a
thrifty farmer in Scotland, seeing the good effects of some stone
drains laid down upon his place, had said, " Verily the whole

FIRST EFFORTS AT DRAINING. 265

airth should be drained." This quaint saying, which needs
but little qualification, ma^de a lasting impression on the mind
ot the boy, that was to be tested by the man to the permanent
benefit of his country. Without sufficient means himself, he
applied for a loan to the bank of Geneva, and the president,
knowing his integrity and industry, granted his request. In
1835 tiles were not made in this country. So Mr. Johnston
imported some as samples, and a quantity of the horse-shoe
pattern were made in 1838, in Waterloo. There was no
macliine for producing them, so they were made by hand, and
moulded over a stick. This slow and laborious process brought
their cost at twenty-four dollars per thousand ; but even at this
enormous price Mr. Johnston determined to use them. His
ditches were opened and his tile laid, and then what sport for
his neighbors. They made fun of the deluded man ; they
came and counselled with him, all the while watching his bright
eye and intelligent face, for signs of lunacy. They went by
wagging their heads and saying, " Aha ! " and one and all said
he was a consummate ass to put crockery under ground, and
bury his money so fruitlessly. Poor Mr. Johnston ! He says
he really felt ashamed of himself for trying the new "plan ; and
when people riding past his house would shout at him, and
make contemptuous signs, he was sore-hearted and almost ready
to conceal his crime. But what was the result ? Why, this :
that land which was previously sodden with water, and utterly
unfruitful, in one season was covered with luxuriant crops, and
the jeering skeptics were utterly confounded that in two crops
all his outlay for tiles and labor was repaid, and he could start
afresh and drain more land. The profit was so manifest as to
induce him to extend his operations each succeeding year, and
so go on, until 1856, when the labor was finished, after having
laid 210,000 tiles, or more than fifty miles in length. And the
fame of this individual success going forth, one and another
duplicated his experiments, and were rewarded according to
their deserts. The horse-shoe tile was used by Mr. Johnston
almost exclusively, for the reason that they were the only kind
to be procured at first, and on his hard subsoil he found them all
he wished for. He has drains that have been laid more than
twenty years without needing repair, and are apparently as
efficient now as they were when first laid.

34

266 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

His ditches are dug only two and a half feet deep, and thir-
teen inches wide at the top, sloping inward to the bottom, where
they are just wide enough to take the tile.

Mr. Johnston says, tile-draining pays for itself in two seasons
sometimes in one. Thus, in 1847, he bought a piece of ten
acres, to get an outlet for his drains. It was a perfect quag-
mire, covered with coarse aquatic grasses, and so unfruitful,
that it would not give back the seed sown upon it. In 1848 a
crop of corn was taken from it, which was measured and found
to be eighty bushels per acre, and worth at that time, one
dollar per bushel ; this crop paid not only all expense of drain-
age, but the first cost of the land. Another piece of twenty
acres, adjoining the farm of the late John Delafield, was wet,
and would never yield more than ten bushels of corn to the
acre. This was drained at a great cost, of thirty dollars per
acre. The first crop after this was eighty-three bushels an acre.
It was weighed and measured by Mr. Delafield, and the county
society awarded a premium to Mr. Johnston. Eight acres and
some rods of this land on one side averaged ninety-four bushels,
or the trifling increase of eighty-four bushels per acre, over
what it would bear before those insignificant clay pipes were
buried in the ground.

Mr. Johnston says he never saw one hundred acres in any
one farm, but a portion of it would pay for draining. Mr.
Johnston is a hard-working Scotch farmer, who commenced a
poor man, borrowed money to drain his lands, has gradually
extended his operations, and is now at seventy-five years of age,
written to by strangers in every State in the Union for informa-
tion, not only in draining matters, but all cognate branches of
farming. He sits in his homestead, a veritable Humboldt, in his
way, dispensing information, cheerfully, through our agricul-
tural papers and to private correspondents. His opinions are
therefore worth more than those of a host of theoretical men,
who write without practice.

Henry S. Porter,

For the Committee.

This Essay was read and laid over under the rule, when the
Board adjourned.

DEEP PLOUGHING. 267

FIFTH DAY.

The Board met at 10 o'clock, A. M., Mr. Birnie, of Spring-
field, in the chair.

The annual meeting of the New England Society being held
at the same time, at the rooms of the Board of Trade, it was
voted to adjourn to 3 o'clock, P. M., to give members an oppor-
tunity to attend.

The Board again met at 3 o'clock, when it was voted to
appoint a committee of three to appear before the Committee on
Agriculture .of the legislature, with reference to the bounties of
the agricultural societies. Messrs. Wilder, Thatcher and
Watkins.

Mr. Birnie presented the following Essay, on

TALL AND SPRING PLOUGHING.

Such is the diversity of soil and condition of the farms of
Massachusetts, that it is impossible to lay down any definite
rules for ploughing, which is, undoubtedly, one of the most
important operations in the cultivation of the soil. The success
or failure of the crop depends very much on the time and man-
ner of its accomplishment. Much has been said, and at one
time it was quite fashionable, to recommend on all occasions
deep ploughing ; but in more recent discussions on this subject
we notice that our most successful farmers advocate the medium
depth of six to seven inches, under ordinary circumstances.
But each cultivator will be governed by the nature and condi-
tion of his own soil and crop. "When a greater depth than
seven inches is desired for drainage or for some kind of root
crop, we would recommend the subsoil plough, rather than turn-
ing the soil to a greater depth. It is the result of our observa-
tion that the roots of most of the crops cultivated in New
England will be found within five inches of the surface ; the
tap-roots of some penetrate to a greater depth for moisture
only ; the nourishment of the plant is obtained in the warm
surface soil. Hence the advantage of applying the manure as
near the surface, as it is possible to incorporate it thoroughly
with the soil ; manure buried eight to ten inches deep is of very
little benefit to the growing crop. We are aware that it is
the practice of some of the most successful tobacco-growers
of the Connecticut Valley to ploug'\ to that depth ; but the

268 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

quantity of manure applied is proportionately large, so that
there is an abundance within five inches of the surface to supply
the wants of the crop, and the balance is brought to the surface
at the next ploughing. Their soil is a deep, sandy loam, with a
subsoil that differs very little from the surface, except in its
admixture with vegetable matter and cultivation.

In our climate, where we have but a few weeks in the spring
to perform the various operations of carting out the winter accu-
mulation of manure, ploughing and preparing the land for the
crop, planting, sowing, &c., it is very desirable to do as much in
the autumn as possible to relieve the pressure on those few
exceedingly busy weeks. For that reason, if for no other, we
would jecommend to every New England farmer to do as much
of his plouglnng in the fall as he can find time to accomplish.
Then he is comparatively at leisure, his teams are in good con-
dition, the weather is cool, and both man and beast can perform
more labor with less fatigue than in the spring.

Greensward should be turned in August or September, when
the grass roots are in full vigor, and the weather is warm
enough to produce immediate fermentation and decomposition
of the vegetable matter contained in the sward. If not done as
early as September, it should be left until late in the spring,
when the grass is well started. We have for several years pre-
pared our ground for oats and early potatoes in the fall, and
have consequently been able to sow and plant as soon as the
ground has thawed to a sufficient depth to allow the use of the
harrow. The result has always been satisfactory. The earliest
sown oats, other things being equal, have never failed to produce
the best crop.

No doubt something may be done in the way of destroying
worms and insects injurious to vegetation, that take up their
winter quarters in the ground, by ploughing late in the fall.
In that case, it is desirable to expose as much of the soil to the
action of the frost as possible. In all fall ploughing we have
found the best results from laying the furrow slice as nearly on
edge as possible, or in other words, to expose the edge as well
as the bottom of the slice to the action of the atmosphere. If
any manure is left about the buildings, this is an excellent time
to apply it to the newly ploughed ground. The frost and rains
of winter will thoroughly dissolve and incorporate it with the

ECONOMY OF NIGHT SOIL. 269

surface soil, andall that remains to be done in the spring is to
harrow and put in the seed.

Heavy clay soil should not be ploughed when too wet. If
stirred when in that condition, it is apt to cake or press into
hard lumps, which it is almost impossible to reduce until again
exposed to the action of the frost. Such soil requires a very
nice discrimination to determine at what degree of moisture it
is proper to introduce the plough. If too dry a great addition
of power is required to perform the same work.

We have a piece of land that was ploughed last autumn when
too wet, and to aggravate the difficulty, the water stood on a
portion of it until quite late in the spring. The result was
that the surface ran together and baked to such a degree, that
it was found impossible to pulverize it, and the crop notwith-
standing a very bountiful supply of manure, was a perfect
failure. Wm. Birnie.

After some discussion, the Essay was laid over for its second
reading.
Mr. Clement then presented the following Essay, on

NIGHT SOIL.

In this paper we shall assume, or rather affirm that great
negligence is manifest on the part of many persons, and whole
families even, in not using the precaution which sanitary meas-
ures alone obviously require, in order to protect their homes
against an atmosphere rende red offensive to the nostrils, pes-
tiferous, malarious, through the proximity of putrescent matter.

Decaying vegetables, or fermenting and dissolving animal
manure, unprotected, emit quite as much effluvia of that nature,
and more even, than a tolerably well bred and reared gentle-
man can endure for a brief period of time without experiencing
unpleasant sensations. Of necessity there must be either large
or small accumulations of human excrements somewhere in the
vicinity of every one's dwelling-place ; hence the importance of
having a suitably constructed vault under every privy.

While we are ready to admit that on the part of some, much
precaution and good judgment has been exhibited in the prepa-
ration of this not to be omitted adjunct to every man's domicile,
we as unhesitatingly assert that with many this sanitary

270 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

measure seems not to have exercised their thoughts in the
slightest degree.

" Little houses " we have not unfrequently observed standing
out in bold relief and without any sort of an excavation in some
instances, and in others the merest apology for one. Li our
judgment all such places should be complained of, or com-
plaint entered against them under the act to protect the
community against nuisances.

We have deemed it our duty to write somewhat pointedly
because of the downright and palpable want of respect for and
compliance with the laws of decency and propriety, which every
one should observe, but to which many pay but little heed.

Let us now turn our attention to another aspect of the case.

That night soil is one of the more powerful stimulants to
vegetable growth, it would seem to be an act of supererogation
on our part to attempt to prove, for it is a fact conceded by
every practical agriculturist who has had experience in the
matter.

If proof should be demanded we can give our own experience
and that of a score, more or less, of farmers who have used the
article for many years.

That failures sometimes occur, in anticipated results, from its
use may be attributable to two or more causes.

1st. The amount applied to a given amount of land may be,
and in some instances has been too large. If there has not
been much commingling of rain water or other weak liquids Avith
the genuine article, we should say that one-fourth or one-third
the amount in bulk which would be required in ordinary stable
manure would be equally as good for an immediate crop.

2d. If for instance, a man, or men and team are sent to the
city, being out two-thirds of the night and return with some-
thing like half a cord of slops, seven-eighths of which, or even
more may be rain water or sink slops, and one-eighth or less the
article which was sought, the result so far as paying for the
labor is concerned will not prove in an eminent degree satisfac-
tory. Again, if the application is made to warm and sandy
soil and tlie season should prove dry, as we express it, probably
a partial failure would ensue.

We have witnessed excellent results from an application to
grass land as top-dressing ; but from observation and experience

APPLYING NIGHT SOIL. 271

we are led to believe that the safer and more economical, cer-
tainly the more sanitary, method of using, is to bury it in the
soil with the plough, after mixing thoroughly with earth or peat,
and just enough of either to facilitate the spreading evenly over
the surface. Some prefer adding water and distributing broad-
cast directly from the cart, rather than compost before spread-
ing. Some labor is saved by the last named method, which is
worthy of consideration ; and unless the material to be used
contains some fertilizing properties, or the mechanical condition
of the soil is improved by the addition, the extra labor may as
well be dispensed with.

Every effort should be made on the part of citizens who
expect tillers of the soil or others to act the part of scaven-
gers, while they (the citizens,) are quietly resting on their
couches, dreaming pleasantly, to facilitate the operation of
clearing vaults by giving easy access, and also keeping tightly
closed that water may not enter from the outside. It would
seem to be the dictate of common sense that no pains should be
spared in a dense population to prevent the escape of noxious
odors which are liable, when neglected, to emanate from such
depositories. When appropriate means are used to keep down
offensive exhalations, the manure is correspondingly enhanced
in value, so that two points are gained while aiming to secure
the one which a salubrious state of the surrounding atmosphere
imperatively demands.

Comparatively few, we apprehend, are aware of the great loss
which is sure to ensue when the clearing of vaults, as they are
ordinarily constructed, is not attended to in the spring or on the
approach of warm weather, at which time fermentation and
decomposition of privy deposits commences and progresses more
rapidly than with any other manure. We have known instances
where this clearing was omitted till autumn, and the additions
were continually made through the summer ; so large an
amount had escaped by decomposition, evaporation and filtra-
tion, that scarcely more was then secured than might have been
in the spring. Besides the waste and loss of nutriment to the
soil which ought to have been saved and appropriated, the
amount of air tainted by such exhalations will make a thought-
ful and sensitive man shudder. Careless heedlessness, stench

272 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

and waste are not productive of pleasant reflections, and we
turn from them in disgust.

We have heard of a man whose family comprised four per-
sons, and whose possessions in real estate consisted of one acre
of land and dwelling-house upon the same. The land was
mainly garden, on which the owner raised "truck" for the
family, and the whole lot was kept in a good state of fertility
with the excrements of the four bipeds composted with two cords
of peat yearly. A supply of the last named article was kept
constantly on hand, so that the vault received frequent additions.
The chamber slops were all saved with care ani thrown into
the same general receptacle.

It need not surprise any one that two cords of excellent com-
post could be yearly made in that way, or that an acre of land
could be kept in fine condition for tlie reception of seed by the
yearly application of such a dressing.

Does any one complain tliat such is small business — that it is
devoting much attention to a little matter.

Let us see how that is. Our wives, our daughters or our
servant girls are continually engaged in what may appear in
themselves as little matters. Sweeping a chamber, cleaning up
a grease spot here, brushing down a spider's web there, washing
a few dishes or taking a few stitches with the thousand and one
little etceteras which have to be daily attended do, may not be
regarded as of much consequence when separately considered,
yet we all know that those things must be attended to promptly
and in detail in order to make home appreciable. Now we are
not sure that the gentleman of whom we have written devoted
any more time or attention to his compost heap than sanitary
measures would seem to demand. He certainly avoided all
danger of complaint by the health officers, which cannot be said
of all those who have " little houses."

In our limited travels we have seen many of those " houses "
which were a big nuisance, and if complaint was not entered
against them, somebody neglected a duty. Farmers, to be sure,
are not, often visited by health officers, but we do not believe in
such a shadow of an apology as tliat for permitting what would
be regarded as an intolerable nuisance in the city, to remain
about their premises.

USE OF ABSORBENTS. 273

In this connection we will venture some wholesome advice in
relation to this subject. If practicable, every farmer should
have a large vault under his privy, the bottom and walls of
which should be cemented and made water-tight. Let the vault
be large enough to hold from one to two cords, according to cir-
cumstances, and extend back one way from the wall of the privy
so far at least that a man can stand therein and shovel with con-
venience to himself. Let a pile of peat be kept at hand, that a
little may be used often, by raising the trap-door or scuttle to
the vault, and closing the same after use.

"We write of peat because we regard that article as among the
cheapest and best deodorizers and absorbents that can be
obtained for such a purpose. Where peat is not to be obtained
without great cost use any earthy substance which may be
procurable. Better use dry clean sand than nothing ; but
whatever may be used let there be as little water in it as is
practicable. The more free from water the substance used the
less will be required to absorb the liquids. If shelter from
storms cannot be provided for the material to be used, have it
thrown in after a few days of dry weather.

Coal ashes may frequently be had in a dry state, and make a
very good absorbent. Vast quantities of coal are used in all
our cities or wherever fuel is purchased, used in furnaces in
cellars and the ashes sifted in the cellar or shed, and may be
preserved in barrels or boxes for winter use when other articles
may be difficult of access. While there may not be much in
the ashes alone to recommend them as a manure, they will
serve to retain the nutritive properties of night-soil.

Wc would be particular in relation to using something with
which to cover up, and that quite frequently the contents of
our vaults, for two reasons : First, we know that great loss in
fertilizing properties is the legitimate result when this is
neglected \ and secondly because that masses of putrescent
matter in a state of fermentation fill the air with odors offensive
to the nostrils and deleterious to liealth, all of which can and
should be avoided.

If a family of four persons can keep an acre in a productive
state, it follows that a family of eight souls could fertilize two
acres with the same facility.
35

274 . BOARD OP AGRICULTURE.

Scattered over the hills and through the valleys of Massachu-
setts there are hundreds of families, each containing eight or
more persons, neither of which families save dressing enough in
the manner indicated, to fertilize a small garden patch, never
dreaming hy day or night of improvidence, waste or stench.
Thus, it should not be. Much of our soil is fast losing its
productiveness through the " skinning " process ; soil, too,
that would now be yielding abundant harvests but for the
shabby treatment bestowed upon it.

Large tracts of land, and smaller, are already run so low that
we know of no conceivable way to renovate them, other than
give them over to the growth of forest trees, which is a slow but
rather sure process of renovation.

Massachusetts farmers, New England farmers should awake
to this subject much more generally than they do, and see to it
that not only the night soil but everything which can be made
to nourish growing plants, is saved and in a manner that the
vitalizing air which we must all inhale is not unnecessarily
contaminated with hurtful effluvia.

The half civilized Chinese are at least a century in advance
of us Yankees in some practices pertaining to agriculture.
Careful are they to collect and save every material which will
fertilize the land, even to the hair and shavings from the
barber's shops. Is it a wonder that the whole surface resembles
one vast garden ? Or that where the people are so thoughtful
about gathering all materials which could possibly taint the air
or enrich the soil in which it is buried with care the appellation
of " celestials " should be applied to them ? The difference
between the Yankees and celestials in this respect may be
accounted for, in the fact that the former have had a large
amount of virgin soil to resort to, while the latter are compara-
tively circumscribed as to territory, and are obliged to husband
all their resources in order to support the people of the empire.
With flour at eighteen dollars per barrel, eggs at fifty cents per
dozen, butter at fifty cents per pound, sirloin steaks at forty
cents, board at the house of a publican (common at that,)
three dollars and fifty cents per day, would seem to indicate
that the time has arrived when Yankees may as well husband
their resources, especially those which will pay in a sanitary

COMPOST OF DEAD ANIMALS. 275

point of view, besides rendering the products of the soil more
plentiful and cheap.

If, in this writing, we have introduced subjects not strictly
relevent, our apology must be that in our earnestness and zeal,
whenever the matter of enriching the soil is discussed in our
presence, rises almost to enthusiasm ; aye, quite up to that
point, when we are permitted to participate in the discussion.
We cannot now close without making one earnest appeal to our
city friends to be more provident and careful to save what is
named at the head of this writing, and in a manner that it may
be conveyed to the soil without loss to him who performs the
(in some respects,) disagreeable labor, or cease to complain of
high prices of farm products.

We firmly believe in a law of compensation ; that God has
wisely ordered that the ground on which we tread shall produce
an abundance for the use of man and beast so long as an appro-
priate return is made therefor ; that this return is to be made
in just such materials as is not healthful or agreeable remaining
above the surface of the earth. Decaying vegetables and plants
of almost every description can bo used for plant-food. The
excrements, both solid and liquid, of all animals are at present
our great dependence.

Dead animals, not to be used for food, should always, if prac-
ticable, become an ingredient in the compost heap, and well cov-
ered and encircled all round with earthy substances. Decom-
posed flesh is the most powerful of all fertilizers, and next that
which is available to us in quantities which renders it of much
account, in point of concentrated fertility, is night soil. We
therefore urge upon all, whenever and wherever practicable and
feasible, to let as little of the article be lost, and save as much
as possible under existing circumstances.

Cheap and wholesome food is by the middling and poorer
classes always received gratefully, and it is those classes which
in the main produce the wealth of the nation, drawing it directly
or indirectly from mother earth. Let us therefore keep up the
reciprocity, returning to the mother all which she has a right to
claim in order that she may yield an abundance for the suste-
nance of her children.

Asa Clement,

For the Commillee.

276 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The Essay, having been read, discussed and laid over, Mr.
Bull was appointed a Committee on Credentials of new members,
when the Board adjourned.

SIXTH DAY.

The Board met at 10 o'clock, A. M., Dr. Loring in the chair.

Present, Messrs. Baker, Bassett, Birnie, Boise, Brown, Bull,
Clark, Clement, Cole, Durfee, Fearing, Hyde, Hubbard, John-
son, King, Knowlton, Loring, Moore, Morton, Pierce, Porter,
Saltonstall, Sanderson, Slade, Thatcher, Thompson, T. W. Ward,
H. S. Ward, Watkins and Wilder.

Mr. Bull, from the Committee on Credentials, reported as
follows : —

The Committee on Credentials have attended to the duty
assigned them, and respectfully report the following as duly
elected members of this Board : —

Leve.rett Saltonstall, by the Massachusetts Society for Pro-
moting Agriculture.

Asa Clement, by the Middlesex North.

Newton S. Hubbard, by the Worcester South.

John A. Morton, by the Hampshire.

Imla K. Brown, by the Franklin.

C. C. Bassett, by the Worcester North- West.

E. W. Boise, by the Union.

Albert Fearing, by the Hingham.

George M. Baker, by the Marshficld.

George A. King, by the Barnstable.

John Pierce, by the Martha's Vineyard.

Marshall P. Wilder, appointed by the Executive.

(Signed,) E. W. Bull, Commitlce.

The Report was accepted.

A Committee, consisting of Messrs. Bull, Hyde and Moore, to
which was referred the mode of ascertaining the yield of crops
by weighing and measuring, submitted the following amendment
to the printed blank to be used by each society : —

" Tlie committee to whom is intrusted the award of premiums
on field crops, may award the premiums according to their judg-

TIMES OP HOLDING FAIRS. 277

ment ; but, for the purpose of furnishing accurate statistics for
the benefit of agriculture, shall select certain of the crops, and
require the owners thereof to measure the land and weigh the
crops accurately, and give all possible information thereon over
their signatures, and return the same to the secretary of the
society, to be published in the annual transactions."

This amendment was adopted.

A Committee of three, consisting of Messrs. King, Fearing
and Sanderson, to fix and determine the time of holding the
Fairs of Societies, reported as follows : —

The Union Society, at Blandford, shall begin its exhibition on
the Wednesday after second Thursday of September.
The Hingham Society on the last Tuesday of September.
The Marshfield on the first Thursday of October.
The Worcester North- West on the third Tuesday of September.
The other societies on the dates hitherto assigned by the Board.

George A. King, Chairman.

The Essay on Manure and its Application was taken from the
table, discussed and adopted.

The Essays on Hedges and Farm Fences, on Night Soil, on
Fall and Spring Ploughing, on Fruit Culture, on Specialties in
Farming, and on the Hay Crop, were severally read a second time
and adopted.

The Report of Mr. Cleaveland, as delegate to the Hoosac
Valley Society, was presented and accepted.

Mr. Johui-on presented the following Essay, on

IMPROVEMENT OF STOCK.

The subject of farm stock is one of the highest importance to
the farmers of New England.

To secure that degree of improvement in the cattle of this
section so desirable to our highest interest, and to approach
that state of perfection which characterizes the stock of Eng-
land, Scotland and Holland, this subject must more engage the
attention of our farmers, and the principles of close and special
breeding be studied with greater care, and carried with more
precision and persistence into practice.

I am aware that many, and perhaps most of our farmers, do
not regard similarity of color, style and general appearance of

278 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

their herds, as worthy of that consideration which the English
breeder deems a matter of great importance. But visit a herd
of recently imported Jerseys, and observe that striking similarity
of color, with those general characteristics which distinguish
this breed in its purity, and we cannot withhold our admiration
nor pass by this peculiar attraction as one not worth preserving
— but which, if lost through two generations by inattention to
those principles in breeding by which they may be retained,
cannot be regained but by a new importation.

This loss, perhaps, may not particularly detract from the
dairy qualities of the animals — but who would not prefer to pay
a higher price for those selected from a herd where this simi-
larity, characterizing any desirable breed, is most perfect ?

How may these distinguishing points in similarity of color,
general appearance and character be preserved ? This may be
secured, in my opinion, with great certainty, by sedulously
keeping our herd composed only of animals of the same breed,
entirely separate and distinct from the society and influences,
and, as far removed as possible from the neighborhood and view
of other breeds of cattle ; thus endeavoring to close every
avenue whereby any species of contamination may creep into
and disturb its peculiarity, purity and that uniformity so highly
pleasing to the eye.

Have we not observed that, when cattle of different breeds,
however pure and beautiful in their distinctive external traits,
occupy adjoining pastures, or the same barnyards, or are tied in
the same stable-range, although copulation between the different
breeds is entirely prevented, still, that under these circum-
stances, and by these influences, the offspring of either breed,
in many instances, do not very closely resemble the parents in
point of feature and mark, but partake of those which belong
to, and distinguish their companions ?

With this disregard to the influence of society upon the
character of our herds, we cannot reasonably hope to retain
that similarity among them which distinguishes those of Eng-
land and Scotland where each breed is kept separate and
distinct from other cattle.

In the selection of a breed of cattle we should first consider
the adaptation of our climate and soil to any particular breed,
together with our market facilities.

BREEDS OF STOCK. 279

If we decide to make beef we would not select from the
Jersey as favorable to our object, but rather adopt the Short-
horn, Devon or Hereford ; our selection from either of these
varieties being influenced by our ability to feed large or small
cattle most profitably.

If milk in large measure is desirable the Devon will be passed
by, and our attention arrested by the Ayrshire, a variety
which has been bred with regard to this specialty during the
last seventy-five years, and which doubtless promises a larger
return for the cost of keeping than has hitherto been obtained
from any other. But if circumstances indicate that butter may
prove more remunerative than either milk or beef, no one would
hesitate in making a choice, since I think it is acknowledged
that the Jersey, for quality of butter, and for peculiar richness
of milk desirable for family use, stands as yet unrivalled.

Our choice of breed having been decided, we should be
governed, in the selection of the animals to compose our herds,
for whatever specialty designed, by certain rules. First, we
should look for those possessing similarity of color, style and
general appearance ; whose skins are thin, soft, silky and elastic,
and whose eyes are large, mild and bright.

Those intended for milk sliould carry the unmistakable
external appearance, in every point of form and development,
of being good milkers ; and each should be selected from a line
of ancestors, through many generations back, that have been
bred and fed with a view to this specialty, and to develop this
quality in its highest degree of perfection.

Indeed, I believe the special character and quality of all
breeds of stock, in large measure, depends upon the food they
receive, together with their general management during the
period of breeding, and continually through a succession of
many generations.

Breeders for the dairy should be fed with regard to this
specialty, and that their offspring, even during the period of
gestation, may be brought under all the influences tending
toward this result.

Calves should nurse until the udders of their mothers are all
right ; and then, on weaning, should receive milk and oatmeal
gruel until dry meal or some oats, with water for drink, may be
allowed.

280 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

On dispensing with milk, still continue oats in some form,
allowing rowen, fine clover hay and some roots for a time ;
then, on being turned into an inclosnre of sweet grass, so near
the barn that shelter, during night and storms may be easily
afforded, dispense with hay and rowen, but continue feeding
with small quantities of oats or roots, and a trifle of Indian
meal through the summer and autumn.

During the first winter they should receive careful attention ;
being provided with warm, cleanly and well ventilated stables,
and fed on clover hay and rowen with oats in some form daily,
together with a supply of some kind of roots ; adhering strictly
to the principle of regularity in times of feeding.

Through the succeeding season care should be taken to pro-
vide for them pastures yielding plenty of nutritious grasses to
assure their rapid growth and free development.

Similar care is requisite during the second winter, and a
continuance of the same kinds of food should be allowed, with
such increase in quantity as advancement in size and circum-
stances demand.

Thus, I would feed both male and female from the first day
of birth, with a view to secure a full development of milk-pro-
ducing qualities. In this manner a large growth, in most cases,
will be attained at two years of age.

It is preferable that heifers, having attained sufficient growth
by this mode of feeding and management, should come into the
dairy at two years of age. But in this case it is advisable to
suffer them to rcihain farrow during the succeeding year for the
purpose of affording greater opportunity for development, and
the acquirement of a higher state of maturity than would
otherwise be attained. But I would avoid raising the calves of
two-year-olds, as I would those from old and exhausted cows ;
believing the practice in either case, if continued, will produce
specimens of stock wanting in the essential of vigor and strength
of constitution, and must be attended by fatal deterioration and
consequent disappointment in the character of our stock ;
differing materially from that raised from parents having
attained the most perfect period of life.

Males do not acquire the highest degree of vigor, strength of
constitution, and power to transmit the most perfect qualities of
their blood to offspring, until in most instances, they are four or

PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 281

five years of age ; and hence should be held in reserve for
purposes of breeding until this age and peculiar condition of
fitness have been acquired.

At this period of maturity we may bring them into use "with
great assurance of realizing our highest hopes and most reason-
able expectations in the gift of purity, beauty of type, precision
of color, excellence of quality, and that high future promise to
their progeny, so gratifying to every tasteful breeder of stock,
and every seeker for the highest certainty of success and
improvement.

The physical system and constitution of very young males is
undeveloped ; and in their use we constantly breed weakness,
and are sure of reducing the standard of strength and vitality
of our herds.

We should never be shy of keeping a good bull because no
immediate income is derivable from him. He is surely the
foundation, the corner-stone and source of all improvement in
our neat stock, and no one animal pays so well ultimately for
keeping, or occupies a station on the farm so important or
responsible.

No stock-bull should be allowed to serve more than fifty cows
during a season.

With due regard to care in the management and feeding of
stock, and by close attention to the principles of breeding, it
will not be many years before the farmers of this country may
secure breeds of cattle which will well compare, in points of
purity and excellence of quality, with those of Jersey or
Ayrshire ; and in some respects must prove superior.

The same care is requisite in selection of stock to fulfil the
intention of butter or beef; and each herd requires to be fed
with a view to secure the particular specialty desired.

All farmers may not wish to raise and keep blood stock ; but
there can be no doubt that the dairy, either for the product of
milk or butter, is by far the most profitable department for the
farmers in the eastern part of Massachusetts to pursue, and
therefore, deserving their especial consideration.

That we have already achieved great improvement in farm
stock, no doubt can be expressed when the facts set forth in the
statistics are examined.

36

282 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

In 1855, the valuation of the cows and heifers in the State
was, 14,892,291 ; and in 1865, it was $6,537,634 ; showing an
increase in ten years of $1,645,343.

In 1855, the value of the product of dairy cows, in milk,
butter and cheese, was $2,898,696 ; and in 1865, it was
$3,091,462 ; showing an increase in the products of the dairy
to the amount of $192,766. It is probable that the increase in
the products of beef and veal have been equal to that of the
dairy. This sum, added to that in valuation and income, above
recited, amounts to $2,030,871.

In view of this achievement within ten years, embracing that
unhappy period of time when the war necessarily engaged much
of our attention, bearing heavily upon our energy and means,
and the advancement of our farming interests, what may we not
anticipate will be the results of our efforts in this direction
during the next ten years, which we sincerely hope may be
crowned by the blessings of smiling peace.

Some farmers, as we have observed, are not disposed to raise
pure blood stock. But, surely, all must desire to improve the
herds we already have. Indeed, I incline to the belief that,
wherever much improvement upon our original stock is noticed,
close inquiry will disclose the fact that a blood bull has been
entertained in those districts to the exclusion of an inferior
" scrub ! " The latter should be more generally discarded by
our intelligent farmers.

We know that even a veal calf from a blood bull commands
a higher price in the market than one from an ordinary speci-
men, to say nothing by comparison in regard to the marked
superiority of those intended for the dairy who carry a large
strain at least of pure blood.

The maxim in breeding, that " Like produces like," being
obviously true, it is, therefore, highly important that we intro-
duce blood bulls into the society of our herds, whereby we may
secure a large infusion of the best blood. We know that grade
cows are vastly superior for the dairy to those bearing no
relation to purity of blood.

By bringing our best cows thus under these influences of
improvement, feeding at the same time with especial regard to
this object, we shall obtain results decidedly favorable to our
advancement, and highly satisfactory.

APPOINTMENT OF DELEGATES.

283

But, suppose it may cost more to raise stock of this improved
character, to furnish our farms with the requisite number,
than to purchase promiscuous specimens in the market, as some
farmers argue, the superior quality of those raised under our
own management, will more than balance the extra expense of
raising, if any attends the practice.

The motto of every intelligent farmer should be that he will
raise his own stock ; and, as far as practicable, all those products
of the soil required for the maintenance, and conducive to the
highest state of development and profit of his herd.
Respectfully submitted,

John Johnson, Jr.

Framingham, February 1st, 1868.

This Essay was accepted.

Voted, To assign the delegates to attend the exhibitions of
the year as follows : —

Essex, at Newburyport, Sept. 29 and 30, ... .
Middlesex, at Concord, October 1, 2 and 3,

Middlesex North, at Lowell, Sept. 23 and 24, .

Middlesex South, at Framingham, Sept. 22 and 23, .
Worcester, at Worcester, Sept. 17 and 18, .
Worcester West, at Barre, Sept. 24 and 25, .
Worcester North, at Fitchburg, Sept. 29 and 30,
Worcester North-west, at Athol, Sept. 15, .
Worcester South, at Sturbridge, Oct. 1, .
Worcester South-east, at Milford, Sept. 29 and 30,
Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden, at Northampton,

Oct. 1 and 2,

Hampshire, at Amherst, Sept. 29 and 30, .
Highland, at Middlefield, Sept. 10 and 11, .
Hampden, at Springfield, Oct. 6 and 7, ....
Hampden East, at Palmer, Oct. 13 and 14, .

Union, at Blandford, Sept. IG and 17,

Franklin, at Greenfield, Sept. 24 and 25, .
Berkshire, at Pittsfield, Oct. 6, 7 and 8, . . . .
Housatonic, at Great Barrington, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 and 2,
HoosAC Valley, at North Adams, Sept. 22, 23 and 24,
Norfolk, at Dedham, Sept. 17 and 18,
Marshfield, at Marshfield, Oct. 1 and 2, .
Bristol, at Taunton, Oct. 6, 7 and 8, .
Bristol Central, at Myrick's, Sept. 17 and 18, .
Plymouth, at Bridgewater, Sept. 24, 25 and 26, .
Hingham, at Hingham, Sept. 29 and 30,
Barnstable, at Barnstable, Oct. 13 and 14,
Nantucket, at Nantucket, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, .
Martha's Vineyard, at West Tisburj^, Oct. 20 and 21,

I. K. Brown.
Nathan Durfee.
George B. Loring.
James Thompson.
Albert Fearing.
M. F. Watkins.
C. C. Bassett.
Leverett Saltonstall.
T. D. Thatcher.
J. Pierce.

C. G. Davis.
E. W. Boise.
A. P. Slade.
William Knowlton.
George M. Baker.
J. A. Morton.
George A. King.
Thomas Billings.
E. W. Bull.
H. S. Ward.
N. S. Hubbard.
Asa Clement.
C. Sanderson.
William Birnie.
H. S. Porter.
T. W. Ward.
Alexander Hyde.
J. Johnson, Jr.
J. L. Cole.

284 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The Examining Committee of the Agricultural College was
constituted by the appointment of Messrs. Agassiz, King and
Moore.

Tiie Essay on Drainage was then read by its title, and
adopted.

The Committee on Meetings was constituted by the appoint-
ment of Messrs. Clark, Hubbard, Moore, Birnie, and the
Secretary.

The Committee on Printing was constituted by the appoint-
ment of Messrs. Porter, Knowlton, Moore, Loring and the
Secretary.

Adjourned.

SEVENTH DAY.

The Board met at 10 o'clock, A. M., Mr. Thompson, of
Nantucket, in the chair.

Mr. Johnson, fi'om the Committee appointed to consider and
report a list of subjects for investigation, and to assign such
subjects to appropriate committees, submitted the following : —

Abortion in Cows. — Messrs. Brown, Billings and Thomas W.
Ward.

Theory and Practice. — Messrs. Saltonstall, Bassett and Boise.

Amending Soils by Mechanical Means. — Messrs. Sanderson,
Morton and Baker.

Cultivation of Cereals. — Messrs. Knowlton, Clark and
Pierce.

Climate as affected by Soil and Location. — Messrs. Bull,
Hyde and Thompson.

Preparation of the Soil for Seed. — Messrs. Watkins, Davis
and Durfee.

The Best Method of Feeding Dairy Stock. — Messrs. Thomp-
son, King and Hyde.

The Time of Cutting and Mode of Curing Hay. — Messrs.
Johnson, Fearing and Moore.

Road Building and Repairing. — Messrs. King, Ward of
Monson, and Cole.

The Small Fruits. — Messrs. Slade, Thatcher and Birnie.

Sand for Bedding and Compost. — Messrs. Birnie, Knowlton
and Billings.

SUBJECTS FOR INVESTIGATION. 285

Domestic and Factory Dairies. — Messrs. Thatcher, Hubbard
and Porter.

Improvement in the Management of our Agricultural Societies.
— Messrs. Lorhig, Johnson and Brown.

The Breeding and Training of Horses. — Messrs. Porter,
Ward of Shrewsbury and Sanderson.

The Potato Crop. — Messrs. Hyde, Slade and Watkins.

Waste of Manures. — Messrs. H. S. Ward, Cole and Davis.

Farming as an Occupation — its Advantages as compared with
other business. — Messrs. Hubbard, Brown and Bull.

Commercial Manures. — Messrs. Clement, Morton and Boise.

Relation of Manufactures to Agriculture. — Messrs. Durfee,
Fearing and Baker.

Fruit Culture and its Preservation. — Messrs. Wilder, Clement
and Pierce.

Draining^ its Effects upon the Soil and Crops, and the Cost of
the Different Methods. — Messrs. Moore, Loring and Pierce.

Nature's Methods of Distributing Plants. — Messrs. Clark
and Wilder.

This Report was accepted and adopted.

Voted, To appoint a committee of three to examine and
report upon the construction of a barn.

This Committee was constituted by the appointment of
Messrs. Hyde, Loring and Moore.

After referring all unfinished business to the Committee on
Printing, the Board adjourned.

THE FAIRS.

The exhibitions of the various agricultural societies have been
numerously attended during the year, and their influence has
been as widely felt as in any former period of their history.
These fairs oflfer the most ample facilities for bringing to the
knowledge of the people the vast improvements which are taking
place in all the departments of farm economy.

In looking over the returns of the county societies, it is grat-
ifying to find that the department of agricultural mechanics has
by no means fallen behind any other in extent or interest. Nov-
elties are not, to be sure, always improvements ; but every
improvement implies a novelty, whether it be in a new principle

286

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

applied, or in an old, well-established principle applied in a new
form, or to effect a new and hitherto unattained object. The
fact that our ingenious inventors and our skilful mechanics
appreciate the advantages which the exhibition affords of bring-
ing their implements to the knowledge of the public, is fully
shown by the large number of entries in this class on the books
of the societies.

In implements for stirring the soil, the plough still maintains
its position as the fundamental implement of husbandry. The
iron has, in many instances, been substituted for the wooden
beam, and it is probable that the time will come when the objec-
tions to it will be removed from the minds of our farmers. It
is somewhat heavier, to be sure, but that scarcely increases the
draught, while the strength and durability attained must be
regarded as an advantage. Still it is evident that, for the
present, we shall adhere to the wooden frame as being the least
costly, more yielding and flexible, and somewhat lighter to
handle.

At the discussion at Concord, some members of the Board
spoke of the practical utility of the Doe plough, which has
reached a high reputation in some sections of the State.

DOE PLOUGH.

This favorite plough, if not the best as a stubble or as a sod
plough, has a wider range of adaptation than many others, and
has the credit of doing admirable work in a great variety of
soils and circumstances. The farmer cannot always afford to
own a plough especially and perhaps best adapted to stubble and
another particularly suited to sod ploughing. He wants one
that will do good work wherever it is placed. This plough took

NEW IMPLEMENTS.

287

the first premium at the New England, and at some of our
county fairs. It is manufactured by Whittemore, Belcher
& Co., at Chicopee Falls, and sold at their warehouse, 34
Merchants' Row, Boston.

A very neat and efficient seed-sower was exhibited and took
the premium at the Essex Society. It is known as the Improved
Danvers Seed-Sower, manufactured by G. E. Herrick, of Lynn-
field Centre, and sold by Messrs. Parker, Gannett & Osgood, at
49 North Market Street, Boston.

IMPROVED DANVERS SEED-SOWER AND HOE.

It sows onions, turnips and other similar seeds with great
uniformity, and mangolds and other varieties of beets, and
parsnips, carrots, <fec., as well as any machine with which I am
practically acquainted. It is to be recommended for its sim-
plicity and cheapness, a feature of no little importance, as it
insures its use in many hands where a more expensive machine
would not find its way.

Our hoes have generally been thought to be all that could be
desired as respects lightness, beauty of finish and durability.
As compared with a similar class of implements that I have ever
seen in any other country, they are unsurpassed. But it is well
known that a hoe that is well adapted to a man or to a tall per-
son is not always so conveniently worked by a boy. An attempt
has been made to remedy this difficulty by attaching an adjusta-
ble shank by which the hoe can be " set " or adapted to different
statures.

By this simple arrangement the hoe can be made to hang to
suit the operator, and held firmly by a nut. In other respects
it is like the common hoe, light and substantial. It appears
to be a convenient invention, and has received the sanction

2S8

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

of a premium by the New York State and the New England
Agricultural Societies. It is patented by Dr. J. C. Plumer,
of Boston.

,'-''/

'/

PATEi^JT

Variation of ]Blade
3 Inches.

1
3

ADJU3TIBLE. 3

r 4

PLUMER S ADJUSTABLE HOE.

Another simple but effective and valuable implement is a
weeding hoe invented by George P. Allen, of Woodbury, Conn.

It is a scuffle hoe to be worked back and
forth between the rows of vegetables,
or in garden or other walks, running
just beneath the surface. The zigzag
or serrated edges of the blade greatly
increase the cutting surface, and
make it easy of operation and useful
ALLEN'S WEEDER. lu dcstroyiug weeds.

No branch of agricultural mechanics, if we may judge from
the implements exhibited at the fairs, has made greater progress
in improvement than that of machines designed for the hay har-
vest, the cutting and curing of grass. Power in this direction has

WOOD'S JOINTED-BAR MOWER. 289

been vastly multiplied by machinery within the brief space of
ten or fifteen years. These improvements, moreover, have been
steadily progressive. We now have mowers of easy draught
and that do the work well — most of them, in fact, better than
it could be done by the hand-scythe.

The past year has recorded the triumph of American
mechanics at the Exposition at Paris. It was an American
machine that took the lead of all others on the field, and won
for its ingenious inventor, Walter A. Wood, of Hoosick Falls,
N. Y., not only the grand gold medal for perfection of work
and another for superiority of mechanical construction, but also
the decoration of the Imperial Cross of the Legion of Honor.
This must be regarded as a national triumph in which every
American must feel a just and natural pride. [See Frontispiece
to the Abstract of Returns.]

This new jointed-bar mower runs upon two driving-wheels,
each of which has an internal gear which connects with ratchet-
gear wheels, making each an independent driving-wheel. These
wheels are so placed as to run in the tracks made for them by
the track-clearer so as to avoid running over the grass that has
been cut. The spring seat is so placed that the driver's weight
balances the weight of the tongue, leaving no pressure upon
the necks of the team. A new lever arrangement is attached to
raise the finger-bar in passing obstructions and to hold it at any
height, raising both ends of the bar at the same time. The
arrangement for throwing in and out of gear is also very simple
and convenient. The guard-fingers are made of malleable iron
faced with steel plates riveted securely and attached to the bar
by bolts, by means of which they can be readily removed or
replaced. The frame is of wood, this having been found by
experience to be altogether the best material. The bar is
sufficiently strong to stop the team in case of striking any
obstacle, and still elastic enough to fly back to its position when
the strain is removed.

This machine took the first premium of the Essex, the Berk-
shire and other fairs. Fully a hundred thousand have been
built and sold, and it is estimated that at least fifty thousand
were used in the harvest of last year. It is made at Hoosick
Falls, N. Y. The Boston agents are Messrs. Whittemore,
Belcher & Co., 34 Merchants' Row.

37

290

BOARD OP AGRICULTURE.

Many improvements, also, are noticeable in the celebrated
" Buckeye " mower, a machine well known to the farmers of
this State. The draught has become easier, while the strength
and efficiency are retained. It was built the last year from
entirely new patterns, adopting a new style of inside shoe, and
doing away with the spring keys for fastening connection with
the scythe, new ratchet lever for raising the finger-bar, new
gearing throughout, narrower sections, increase of speed, and a
new shipper for throwing out of gear. The result is a smoother
cut, a lighter draught, and greater ease in raising the finger-bar.
The liability of breaking the finger-rods is also lessened, and it
is easier to take out and replace any parts when necessary.
This machine took the prize at the great trial of mowers and
reapers at Auburn, N. Y., in 1866, being awarded the gold
medal as the best mower at the trial.

THE BUCKEYE MOWER

The knives of the Buckeye are tempered by a process which
secures uniformity, all being alike, a result which cannot be
secured by the ordinary process of tempering. The advantage
of this cannot be overestimated.

THE BUCKEYE MOWER. 291

The Buckeye is manufactured by the Buckeye Mowing
Machine Company at West Fitchburg, under the practical and
skilful hand of A. B. Barnard, Esq., the works themselves being
a marvel of ingenuity. The Boston agents are Parker, Gannett
& Osgood.

The hay tedder naturally follow^s the mower. This is a com-
paratively new machine in our hay fields, but the advantages of
its introduction have become so apparent that it has rapidly
gained favor, and the number of machines sold has been large,
and is increasing every year.

The new system of hay-making which Was inaugurated by the
invention and use of the horse-rake and the mower, was not
complete without some other machine to enable the farmer to
cure the large amount of grass which the mowing-machine
could readily cut. There was still more or less dependence
upon hired men, notwithstanding the immense saving of labor
in cutting and raking. The hay tedder comes in to meet this
difficulty, and it has relieved many a household of the care and
labor and anxiety which always came with this busy season of
the year. Those who have used a tedder, so as to be able to
appreciate the immense saving of labor which it secures, and
the many incidental advantages which this saving has brought
with it, are unanimous in the opinion that it is of nearly equal
importance with the rake and the mower ; and I have heard
farmers declare that if they must dispense with either, it would
be with the mower rather than the tedder.

The first machine of this kind used in this State, so far as I
am aware, was imported from England. But, like most English
machines, it was of heavy draught and unnecessarily cumber-
some. It was used sufficiently, however, to show the importance
of such an implement. Spreading swaths and turning hay,
though light, is slow work ; but it is precisely this kind of work
where animal power comes in to multiply the power of hand
labor many times. The tedder, for instance, will do the work
of from twelve to fifteen men in the same time, so that the
necessity of extra help is dispensed with, and the hay is cured
with greater rapidity and greater certainty, often, by this means,
avoiding exposure to showers or wet weather and the injury to
result from it.

292

BOARD OP AGRICULTURE.

i:l////iif'^/;ig|ifc

THE AMERICAN TEDDER.

293

In fair weather, for instance, a boy and a horse can cure all
the grass that can be mown by the machine in the morning, so
that it will ordinarily be fit to go into the barn in the afternoon
of the same day. Grass kept lightened up to the sun and air
dries quickly. The tedder may be put into the field as soon as
the mower has left it, and kept in operation till the whole crop
is properly cured, giving ample time to rake and load. Indeed,
when the advantages of this implement are better known, it will
probably come into very general use as an indispensable labor-
saving machine.

The American tedder is mounted on two driving-wheels. It
is rigged with sixteen spring forks, attached in an ingenious
manner to a light reel. The forks revolve very rapidly even
while the horse is going at a slow walk, and it runs without
noise. It is so simple that a boy can operate it, nothing being
required but to sit and drive with both hands free. The
draught is easy. This machine is manufactured by the Ames
Plow Company, and is for sale at their warehouse at Quincy
Hall, Boston.

The horse-rake was one of the first inventions designed to
relieve the severe labor of hay-making, and it must be regarded
as one of the most important, second only to the mowing-
machine. Many patents have appeared, each one possessing,
no doubt, some advantages peculiar to itself. Two or three new
claimants for popular favor appeared at the fairs last year, and
they are worthy of mention. One of these is the Whittemore
Self-Locking Rake.

SELF-LOCKING RAKE.

294 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

This is a simple and effective macliine that may be worked
either by the foot or the hand. A lock-lever is arranged to hold
the , teeth to the ground in the raking of heavy grass, where
many machines are inclined, to rise and scatter the hay. It has
an easy spring seat secured to the axle, so that the weight of
the driver does not press upon the horse. By means of the
self-locking arrangement it can be set with the teeth a little
above the surface of the ground, when it becomes a very effi-
cient gleaner in grain stubbles. The teeth act independently,
and it is furnished with cleaners which secure the instant
unloading of the i-ake when lifted. It is manufactured by
Messrs. Whittemore, Belcher & Co., at Chicopee Falls, and is for
sale at their warehouse, 34 Merchants' Row, Boston.

No farmer can afford to be without a good horse-rake. It
saves time and labor at the busiest season of the year, and often
when without its use it would be impossible to avoid injury from
exposure to bad weather. It is almost as essential on the farm
as the plough itself.

The Bay State Rake also appeared at the exhibitions last year
in its perfected form. This rake had been known for a year or
two previously as the Barre rake, having been invented by S. R.
Nye of that town ; but from a slight defect in mechanical con-
struction it had not fully justified the expectations which were
at first entertained of it. This objection having been entirely
overcome, it entered the hay-fields last year and won the most
enthusiastic encomiums from those vvho are most capable of
judging of its practical value and working capacity.

This rake is mounted on high wheels. It is a steel tooth,
each tooth being hinged to the axle and pressed down by spiral
springs. Each tooth operates independently of the others in
passing an obstruction, while the draught is light and the mate-
rial and workmanship are unsurpassed. The ease with which
it is worked is something wonderful. The driver has only to
touch a spiral spring with his foot, with a slight pressure, which
any boy can apply, when the rake is lifted by the horse, and by
means of cleaning rods frees itself at once of its load. It is
set so high that a large windrow can be gathered, and if desired
the windrow can be cocked ready for loading. This rake is
manufactured by the Buckeye Mowing Machine Company, at
West Fitchburg.

THE BAY STATE KAKE.

295

296

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Improvements have not been confined to the mowing, spread-
ing and raking of hay. They have extended to the means of
loading and unloading, and have effected an immense saving
of physical strength and of time. Of the patents for loading
hay I have not had an opportunity of seeing those which have
met with the greatest success, and am not able to speak from
observation.

Of the horse pitchforks for unloading and mowing away hay,
several have been introduced into this State, and have been
worked with more or less satisfaction. They have also been
exhibited at the fairs, where they have been examined by large
numbers of observing, practical farmers. One of the cheapest,
most compact and simplest contrivances that I have seen is
Walker's patent.

This is a novelty in the way of invention.
Walker was the inventor of the original har-
poon fork which he introduced and worked
with success ; but he became satisfied that he
could improve upon it, and now has brought
out what is known as Walker's Improved Horse
Pitchfork, as shown in the annexed cuts.

This fork is made entirely of iron, so that it is
durable and light, the weight not exceeding ten
^ pounds. Its simplicity of construction would
seem to avoid the liability to get out of order.
It has no tines to catch and no braces to break,
while it is easily operated. Its strength and
grappling power are sufficient to take up as
much hay as the horse can raise over the beams. It may be
worked rapidly. When thrust into the hay it is a straight,
spear-like implement, till, on pulling a spring or bolt in the
handle, a prong or hook is thrust out to grapple the hay, and
thus lift large quantities from the load. This fork is manufac-
tured by Messrs. Wheeler, Melick & Co., of Albany, N. Y.

A new invention has been applied to the hand-fork, by which
the tines, in case of breakage, are easily removed and replaced
by others. It is known as the Montgomery fork, manufactured
by the Montgomery Fork Company, at 254 Pearl Street, New
York City. The mode of securing the tines will be readily
seen by the annexed cut. A ferrule is held by a screw clasping

THE MONTGOMERY FORK.

297

tightly around tlie end in which the tines are inserted. On
loosening the screw and knocking back the ferrule the tines can

be put in without difficulty, when
the ferrule is driven back to its place
and screwed fast. It is well known
that in attempting to repair a
broken tine the other is usually
spoilt, so that practically on the
occurrence of an accident of this
kind the whole fork is thrown aside
as worthless. With this fork any
number of extra tines can be had
at a low cost, to be used when
needed ; or should the handle
break, the tines can be fitted to
another handle in a few minutes'
time, and the fork is as good as ever. The handle is not tapered
at the end where the tines are inserted, so that the whole
strength of the wood is left. The tines are of steel, uniformly
tempered. The weight is no greater than that of the common
fork. The manure forks, with both long and short handles, are
especially neat and strong, and there can be no danger of the
tines working loose in either hay or manure forks. This
appears to be a very useful improvement.

THE MONTGOMERY FORK.

Hay and fodder cutters have become quite indispensable in
the barn and the stable. Much as the question of the economy
of cutting or chopping food for stock has been discussed, few
farmers would be willing to be without a strong and good
machine ; because, whatever may be the individual opinion as
to the matter of cutting hay and some other kinds of food,
there are many coarser substances, like straw, corn stover, swale
hay, &c., about the cutting of which there can be no question
of economy. If they would be utilized at all, it is often almost
a matter of necessity to cut them in order to feed them out
with the greatest economy and advantage, especially when the
greater facility of handling the manure is taken into account.

One of the best hay-cutters with which I am practically
familiar is known as the National. This machine is made of
several sizes, to meet the wants of large and small farms. The
38

298

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

smaller ones are worked by hand, and the largest may be
driven by horse or steam power. This machine runs easily
and cuts uniformly. This is a very important feature in a hay
or straw-cutter. It is not liable to clog, and it possesses other
advantages which give it a decided superiority over many other
machines that I have examined.

NATIONAL FO D DER - C U TT K R.

It is manufactured by J. D. Burdick & Co., of New Haven,
Conn. Joseph Breck & Co., at 51 North Market Street, are
the Boston agents.

A good root-cutter is another essential labor-saving imple-
ment. No good farmer would think of keeping a flock of sheep
or a stock of cattle without a liberal supply of roots. The tur-
nip, swede and mangold crops are almost as important, in point
of economy of farm management, as the hay crop itself ; and it
will be found very difficult to keep up and improve the fertility
of a farm without them. More than seventy-three tons of man-
golds to the acre have been raised in this State, and crops of
fifty to sixty tons are not uncommon. If there is any other
crop which is of equal value that can be raised with as little
labor, I do not know what it is, especially when it is used as a
change in the spring of the year, and when it is considered that

THE EXCELSIOR ROOT-CUTTER.

299

store pigs can be kept well on raw mangolds alone from Novem-
ber to March. The amount of manure which the root crop is
capable, under judicious management, of returning to the soil,
is quite remarkable.

But every farmer who has fed fruit or vegetables of any kind
to stock, understands the importance of reducing them to small
pieces before feeding them to animals, except, perhaps, horses,
or such as have front teeth in both jaws, by means of which
they can nip and reduce their food. Cattle and sheep, in eating
pumpkins, carrots, turnips, potatoes, &c., must receive them of
a size which they can readily take between the double teeth, or
else they are liable to choke. Besides, many an animal's teeth
are poor, and it is a great exertion in such cases to break down
coarse roots into small pieces.

The Excelsior Root-
Cutter, exhibited at the
fair of the Housatonic
Agricultural Society, ap-
pears to me to be one of
the best that I have exam-
ined, on account of the
shape and condition in
which it leaves the roots
after they have passed
through it ; that is, in long
and slender strips of the
size and shape of a man's
thumb. This machine
cuts pumpkins, turnips
and other kinds of roots
of a size desired by the
operator. At the last
State fair at Buffalo it cut a bushel of potatoes fine enough for
sheep in twenty-six seconds. The roots are put into a box and
come in contact with a hollow iron cylinder, the upper side of
which is shown in the figure. Small gouge-shaped cutters are
fastened to the surface of this cylinder, and these slice out the
pieces of roots and pass them down into a basket below with
great rapidity. It is so easily worked that a small lad can cut
a bushel of roots in a minute with little exertion. If the

EXCELSIOR KOOT-CUTTER.

300

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

knives become dull they can readily be sharpened by the use of
a round file.

This excellent machine is made by J. R. Robertson, at
Syracuse, N. Y.

A convenient and simple bag-holder has been devised and
patented by E. C. Fairchild, of Sunderland, in this State. It
consists of a metallic tunnel to which is attached four hooks
which hold the mouth of the bag distended in a way to be ready
to receive the grain from the measure or shovel without the
inconvenience of holding and filling the bag at the same time.

The tunnel is attached to the
standard by means of an iron plate,
on which are placed three or four
lugs, one above the other, so as to
hold the tunnel at the desired
height. It is a compact and durable

arrangement, which must be very convenient on the farm,
where there is much grain to handle. Its cheapness and sim-
plicity will recommend it.

The above are only a few of the more recent inventions which
have attracted my attention at the exhibitions of different socie-
ties. The list might be considerably extended did space permit,
but it is sufficient to show that thought and skill and mechan-
ical ingenuity are constantly at work to develop the means of
lightening labor and saving time.

PRESERVING MEATS. 301

The wants of Western Europe, especially of Great Britain,
and the resources of the New World, have opened up a vast
field for enterprise and investigation in relation to the preser-
vation and transportation of animal food. For more than a
century various processes have been devised, introduced and
often patented, and it may not be unimportant to state generally
the principles which have been involved in the successful plans
hitherto suggested.

Drying meat in the sun, or artificially, forms the groundwork
of the simplest methods. The charqui or jerked beef of South
America and the lumps of beef preserved by savages, constitute
excellent examples. Travellers have often been amazed at the
absence of putrefaction and at the tendency to natural preser-
vation of the carcases of animals met with on many plains in
the South. Heat, with rapid currents of dry air not far from
the Atlantic coast, seems to furnish the conditions of this spon-
taneous process which has been modified in the hope of meeting
the wants of mankind in the manufacture of charqui. But
from time immemorial have the people in Scotland skinned and
cut up the carcases of sheep which had died of braxy, and
having squeezed much moisture out of the flesh, have smoke
dried the hams, once so eagerly sought after in the London
market. The fact that braxy hams were the produce of dis-
eased animals put an end to the trade when rapid communica-
tion with the British metropolis was first established.

Salting meats came into great request with the development
of the European navies. The trade in salt provisions of all
kinds is only limited by supply, but it is evident to all that much
of the meat-juice is wasted. Simple salting is almost impossible
in hot countries, and the production of scurvy from the use of
such food must lead to the introduction of other processes of
preservation. By Dr. Morgan's process of injecting the salt into
the blood-vessels of animals, it was hoped some of the incon-
venience arising from the ordinary curing process might be
overcome ; but it has not realized the expectations of commer-
cial men. Antiseptic salts, such as the hyposulphites of soda
and bisulphite of lime, have been recommended to a limited
extent.

Various plans have been successfully adopted for the preser-
vation of spiced and cooked meats. The Spaniards long since

302 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

packed sausages in cases layer by layer, intercepted with fat
poured on warm so as to fill up every interstice and completely
surround the mass. If I mistake not, adventurous explorers
in Australia have adopted a similar plan with meat which they
required on distant overland journeys ; but it is necessary that
the meat should be cooked. The most recent and beautiful
modification of this process is that of Dr. Redwood, of London.
Paraffine, that simple, neutral and delicate material, capable of.
resisting all ordinary temperatures, is used for a coating around
meat which has been cut up into parcels of a few pounds, and
has been raised to a temperature of 240° Fahrenheit. The
paraffine is easily melted off when the meat has to be used, and
it imparts no flavor to food, which can be dressed in various
ways as a palatable form of diet.

The system of filling tin cans with animal and vegetable sub-
stances, heating the whole first up to the boiling point, and then
to a higher point whilst the lid is finally closed by a drop of
solder poured on a pin-point outlet left for the escape of steam
and to prevent the bursting of the vessels, is one of the most
successful ever introduced. In order to raise the temperature
of the baths into which the tins are placed to be cooked, a solu-
tion of chloride of potassium or chloride of calcium is used
instead of water. This does away with much of the steam
which otherwise fills the atmosphere of the manufactories. The
tin cans are usually placed in testing rooms at 90°, and if they
resist this temperature for three or four days, will keep for
twenty or thirty years.

In Liebig's process the animal is slaughtered and dressed in
the ordinary way, and when the carcase is cold the meat alone
is placed in iron rollers, armed with points, whereby it is reduced
to a pulp. This is thrown into water, steamed for an hour, and
passed into a trough with a sieve at the bottom through which
the meat-juice oozes into another vat. The fat is skimmed off.
Steam-pipes serve to heat the pure gravy, and bellows are made
to blow on the surface so as to evaporate for six or eight hours,
when it is passed into a filtering vat and drawn off as extract of
meat. This is then packed in tins for exportation. Eight
small tins holding the juice of an entire ox, are valued at ninety-
six shillings, and make over one thousand basins of strong soup,
estimated to cost one penny per basin. This soup is probably

A NEW INVENTION. 303

more stimulating than actually nutritious, as much of the mate-
rial in meat which renders this a sufficient food for the support
of man is left behind in obtaining Liebig's extract. It is, how-
ever, an invaluable addition to our alimentary substances.

But heat, which has even in other ways been brought to the
aid of the meat-preserver, has not alone attracted general atten-
tion. The mammoth's flesh in the regions of eternal snow, and
the frozen animals in the caves of the highest mountains in
almost every part of the habitable globe, have suggested to man
the freezing system which we use for our turkeys and prairie
chickens, which is employed to preserve salmon and other fish,
and affords fresh meat to passengers across the Atlantic, has
induced the construction of ice-houses which can be brought
to as low a temperature as 24° Fahrenheit, and suggested the
establishment of refrigerator railway cars, whereby we in Boston
are to be furnished with the healthy beef of the West. But
frozen meat loses its best flavor, and putrefies almost instantly
on exposure to air.

The use of antiseptic and other gases for the preservation of
food in hermetically sealed vessels is of recent date, and hitherto
has only served, and that to a very limited extent, for the pres-
ervation of fruit. Meat has been preserved, but not so success-
fully as to lead to the development of a trade.

Another invention of a different character has recently been
brought to the attention of the people, and it promises to be of
immense importance in modifying our supplies of animal food.
It is that of a new process of preserving meat by the use of
carbonic oxide and sulphurous acid gas. This simple and
inexpensive process was devised by Professor John Gamgee, of
the Albert Veterinary College, London. It is to be applied
first, on a commercial scale, in this country.

It is easy to see that should it prove to be practicable, on a
large scale, as there seems no reason to doubt, it will do away
with the cruel system of live stock transportation over long lines
of railway, which is in the highest degree objectionable for many
reasons. The animals arrive at the market for sale, after five
or six days of travel, during which they are closely crowded
into box cars, often so that they cannot touch the fore feet to
the bottom of the car for hours in succession ; without a drop of

304 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

water or a mouthful of food during that time, and compelled to
breathe constantly a pestiferous air.

They arrive here, of course, in a highly feverish condition.
Their flesh is diseased, so much so that if there were an attempt
to keep them a few weeks and restore them to a normal condi-
tion of health, a very large per cent, would die, and the balance
would inevitably fall off in flesh.

By Gamgee's method of preservation, the carbonic oxide is
administered very much in the manner of giving ether, the
animal sufiers but slightly, if at all, and the flesh is preserved
fresh and sound for months, with less cost than the ordinary
mode of salting. The oxygen being entirely removed from the
body of the animal and displaced by the carbonic oxide, all
parasites, trichinae, <fec., are probably destroyed, and the flesh of
swine rendered as harmless as possible. This process of preser-
vation will avoid the necessity of the use of salted meats, and
enable both the city and the country consumer to have a supply
of fresh and healthful meats at a less cost than heretofore, while
whole carcases can in a very short time be preserved at or near
the place where the animal is raised — at the West, in Texas or
South America — and sent to a distant market at small expense.

This invention promises, therefore, to have an important
bearing upon the supplies of healthful animal food throughout
the world.

CHARLES L. FLINT,

Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture.
Boston, January 22, 1868.

" 6th duke of THOllNDALE." Bred by Mr. Samuel Thorne, Washington
Iloiiow, N. Y., the property of G. T. Plunkett, Hinsdale, Mass.

Got by 3d Duke of Thorndale, (exported,)
Dam 4th Duchess of Thorndale by 2d Grand Dulce,
" Duchess ( — ) by Duke of Gloster,
" Ducliess G6th by 4th Duke of Northumberland,
'■ Duchess 38th by Norfolk, .
" Duchess 33d by lielvidere, .
" Duchess 19th by 2d Hubback,
'• Duchess 12th by the Earl, .
" Duchess 4th by Ketton 2d,
" Duchess 1st by Comet,

by Favorite, .

by Daisy Bull,

by Hubback, (319,) dam by J. Brown's Red Bull,

(17749)

(12961)

(11382)

(3649)

(2377)

(1706)

(1423)

(646)

(710)

(155)

(252)

(186)

(97)

APPENDIX.

ii APPENDIX.

REPORTS OF DELEGATES

APPOINTED TO VISIT THE

AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITIOI^S.

ESSEX.

According to appointment, I visited the forty-seventh annual exhibi-
tion of the Essex County Agricultural Society, held at Haverhill, Sep-
tember 24 and 25. The society, one of the oldest and most flourishing
in the State, and the only one in Essex County, has no local grounds
for its exhibitions, but itinerates about the county from year to year, no
doubt to the advantage of the society in many respects, and to the
disadvantage, in others.

The show of cattle, though good, was not quite up to what I
expected to see, and hardly did the society credit, as I think. There
were a few good oxen on exhibition. A very good herd of eighteen
cows, by William B. Carleton, of Haverhill, and other single entries
worthy of mention. There was a good number of excellent young
horses and colts on exhibition, showing good judgment and care in
breeding and rearing.

The show of agricultural implements was quite large, induced, no
doubt, by a special premium of $25 offered by the president of the
society. There was, also, a very interesting trial of twelve or fifteen
ploughs on the first day of the fair, in which the people manifested a
strong desire to find out which was the best plough.

The ploughing match that came off on the second day, was a grand
affair, — by far the best tiling of the kind it was ever my good fortune
to witness. There were above twenty teams entered, among which
were six or seven entered by boys under nineteen years of age, who
competed for special premiums offered by the president of the society.

Notwithstanding the field of operations was a mile or more from
the village, there was a large number of spectators on the ground, and
a good degree of interest and even enthusiasm manifested on the part of
all concerned. The boys did exceedingly well, and were amply

APPENDIX. iii

rewarded for their efforts, not only by the liberal premiums awarded,
but by the golden opinions won from a large crowd of spectators.

But it was at the town hall that the interest and efforts of the
members of the society seemed to culminate.

The exhibition of a large number of most excellent specimens of
apples, pears, peaches, and especially of grapes, showed that the people
of Essex County had given a commendable degree of attention to the
cultivation of fruit.

The vegetable department was mostly supplied by Samuel A. Merrill,
of Danvers, and Richard Webster, of Haverhill, who did themselves
great credit by their exhibitions.

The bread and butter departments were by no means neglected, and
every available space about the hall seemed to be filled with articles of
domestic manufacturing and the fine ai'ts.

The floral exhibition was a magnificent affair, and needed to be seen
and studied to be appreciated. ^

Too great credit cannot be given J. F. "West, of Haverhill, for the
interest and good taste manifested on his part in this unusual display of
flowers. Large crowds were in attendance at the hall both during the
days and evenings of the exhibition. About noon of the second day,
a procession was formed in front of the town hall, and escorted to the
North Church, where the people were delighted with music by the choir,
and instructed by an able and very practical address by the Rev. R. H.
Seeley, D. D., of Haverhill, on the subject, " What shall we do with our
Fai-ms ? "

At the close of the interesting exercises at the church the crowds of
people were conducted to another feast of fat things prepared at Music
Hall. Here the physical man was not only regaled with the best the
earth affords, but excellent speeches by Governor Bullock, General
Banks and others, did all for the intellectual man that could be desired
on the occasion.

One excellent feature of the exhibition I would not pass in silence,
viz. : the promptness Avith which the programme was caiTied out. For
instance, the ploughing match was put down to come off at ten o'clock,
and though there were from twenty to twenty-five teams entered to
plough, in less than five minutes from the time the clock struck the
hour, the word " go ! " was given, and every team was at its work.

In closing this Report, I would not fail to express my obligations to
the president and secretary of the society, for the gentlemanly manner
in which they entertained me during my stay at Haverhill.

H. S. Ward.

iv APPENDIX.

MIDDLESEX.

As your delegate I attended the seventy-third exhibition of the
Middlesex Agricultural Society's cattle show and fair, held at Con-
cord, on the third and fourth of October last. Having visited them on
a similar mission at their sixty-ninth exhibition, it enabled me to judge
of the improvements in the past four years. I now found them located
near the railroad depot on a fine tract of land of sufficient extent to
enable them to erect every convenience for all departments in a perma-
nent manner, of which at present they have only the stables for valuable
horses, and hay lofts. The hay fed out by the society on the two days
amounted to about $100. The cattle were in covered pens, seeming as
well contented as they would be at their own homes. It is contem-
plated to erect a large shed or sheds with stanchions in which the neat
stock can be secured for the better view by committees and visitors.
Their half-mile track is as well laid out and graded as any in the State.
They have no hall as yet, but after the dinner was partaken of by a
large and . intelligent company, their president, Addison Gage, Esq.,
called the attention of members to a plan of a new hall that they
proposed to build, which call Avas responded to with such interest as I
never before witnessed. Over $5,000 Avere subscribed by gentlemen
who had means, and a desire to continue this old and useful society ; and
they were men without the horse-jockey in them. Was not the meet-
ing of such men by the farmers a great benefit ? Does it not engender
a feeling of pleasure to know that their occupation is one that can be
made the most pleasant and independent if they will but strive to invest
all their energies and capital in their business, the same that others do
in theirs ? And I will say that they had invested, when such teams of
oxen and horses as were there, either for trials of strength on the cart
or plough, and in both departments there was a feeling to win if a fair
opportunity was ofi^ered, and so far as I could judge, they had that
opportunity, and performed their parts in such good time and manner
that I felt relieved to know that it would not be my duty to decide who
should have the first premiums. I would suggest to competitors the
advantage of preparing themselves and teams with such ploughs as they
intend to compete with before coming out to the trials. AVhen they
know that their ploughs are set just to the desired width and depth, and
the team all trained to start with an assurance of success, such prepara-
tion will greatly conduce towards establishing such order in all the
ojierations on the farm.

In the large tent were exhibited as large a collection of fruits, flowers
and vegetables as I ever saw at a county show.

APPENDIX. V

In the pens were collected many of the finest animals of the best
breeds of neat cattle, swine and bi'eeding mares.

Oa (he track were exhibited some if not the best trotting and family-
horses in the country ; and while thousands were crowded together to
witness some feat or other that most interested them, I was unable to
detect the least intoxication by liquor or anger. Can it be said with as
much truth that a like crowd can be gathered in the city without a
broken head, if not bloodshed ?

In conclusion allow me to say that, when I left, on the eve of the
second day, it was with a feeling of pleasui-e that I could report that
this old and honorable society was becoming rejuvenated in a manner
that will repay the State for its bounty in a hundred fold.

I liere tender my thanks to the officers and members Avho contributed
so largely to the comfort of your delegate.

James Thompson.

MIDDLESEX NORTH.

The annual exhibition of the Middlesex North Agricultural Society
was held at Lowell, September 26th and 27th.

It will not be necessary for me to say anything about the fine grounds
and commodious halls of this society, as they have doubtless been
described by previous delegates.

In the hall the display of pears was very fine, most of the desirable
varieties being represented. There was also a very good show of
grapes. Of apples, I found the same report as in most other localities
of the State visited the past season, — a small crop and indifferent
quality.

The ladies had lent their usual aid in giving interest and variety to
the collection of beautiful articles on exhibition.

The shoAV of vegetables was not large, but very good. An ambitious
dentist of Lowell, not to be outdone by any farmer, displayed, as trophies
of his prowess, a half-bushel measure filled with human teeth, drawn
with many a sigh from the aching jaws of suffering humanity.

There was a very creditable show of milch cows, but of other cattle
not as good as I hoped to have seen. It appeared to me as singular,
that premiums should be offered for cows of the different improved
breeds, and none for thoroughbred bulls. If there were any on the
ground, (hey escaped my notice. I was sorry to see a number of grade
bulls.

vi APPENDIX.

I trust the time is not far distant when our agricultural societies will
cease to offer premiums for animals that can give no promise of
improvement to their progeny.

The show of poultry was not large, but very good. Swine were rep-
resented by a few specimens. Sheep, I am sorry to say, there Avere
none to speak of.

The dinner, which is a very pleasant feature of the exhibitions of this
society, was nearly over when I reached the hall, and I found a gentle-
man,— one of the representatives of the people of Massachusetts in the
Congress of the United States, — entertaining the company with a speech
in which he took occasion to say that he had always opposed the estab-
lishment of an agricultural college, and gave it as his opinion that it
would surely fail. That it could succeed he pronounced inconsistent
with the nature of things. Just what things, the gentleman did not tell
us ; but suppose it must have been the ungenerous things he had said
against it. He thought it useless, also, to teach anything of agriculture
in our common schools. The farmer must get his special education on
the land only. He represented the occupation of the farmer as hard,
coarse and repulsive, and thought as soon as our young men were edu-
cated enough to fit them for any other business, they would leave it on
the first opportunity. Hence the inference was, to keep men on the
farms they must be kept in ignorance. Therefore, he would have no
colleges for farmers. He would organize a corps of learned professors,
who should perambulate .the State during the summer season, and
observe the efforts of the untaught farmers to dig their education from
the ground, and in the winter give lectures on the soil and its wants,
and, like Dr. Hornbook, "just its disease and what would mend it, at
once they'd tell." But just how and where he expected to find and
educate those wonderful professors the gentleman did not inform us. In
the days when prophets were held in higher esteem than now, there
were false prophets, — prophets of Baal, — whose predictions came to
naught. Such, I trust, will be the fate of the doleful foreboding of the
gentleman alluded to.

I did not remain to witness the exhibition of horses which took place
the following day, but am informed that there were many fine animals
on the ground.

William Birnie.

APPENDIX. vii

MIDDLESEX SOUTH.

The annual exhibition of the Middlesex South Agricultural Society-
was held at Framingham, on the 17th and 18th of September, accord-
ing to assignment. Your delegate was unable to attend until the
second day. The exhibition was an exceedingly interesting one. The
collection of animals on the ground was large ; and it presented a
variety, which is rarely seen in one locality, in such perfection. It is
not easy to see how the same pastures and fields can feed, profitably, the
Shorthorn, the Ayrshire, and the Alderney, alike ; but there they were
on exhibition. And they presented themselves in a manner which
might well attract the attention of the most critical observer. The
well-known herd of Shorthorns in the town of Framingham, was pres-
ent, and indicated good care and attention during the past season. The
animals repaid well the most careful inspection.

The two herds of Alderneys, which appeared in rivalry, were
extremely attractive. It is seldom that so many rare and valuable
animals of this breed are brought together. "While both Avere good, the
difference between them was striking. One of these herds, which has
long been bred in this country, seemed to have reached a degree of size.
Strength and thrift, quite remarkable. Whether it is the result of cli-
mate, breeding, or feeding, it might be difficult to tell. But their solid
proportions, strong bones, and vigorous muscle, all showed that they
bad enjoyed some unusual advantages since their ancestors left their
native island. And yet one could not fail to perceive the admirable
structure of the competing herd of more recent importation. While a
peculiar delicacy was very observable, it was evident that some of these
animals had been developed to the best standard of a dairy cow of this
description. In the quality of their bone, shape of quarters, width of
hip, firmness of shoulder, and depth of carcase, they are almost unri-
valled. And it does seem to your delegate, that with a judicious selec-
tion of strong and vigorous males, this herd might be developed into
one of the best known.

The exhibition of horses indicated care in the selection, and judg-
ment in the breeding of this class of animals. Any departure from
coarse-headed, thick-shouldered, large boned, heavy gaited horses, is
agreeable ; and the development of style and quality in connection with
speed is always desirable.

A great deal might be said in favor of the swine on the grounds.
The combination of the length and weight of the coarse breeds, with
the thrift and rapid growth of the finer, has. been brought to a high
degree of perfection by the members of this society. And if there is

viii APPENDIX.

such a tiling as a hog that can be raised and fattened profitably in
Massachusetts, it might have been found in their pens.

Without enlarging upon the exhibition of fruit and vegetables in the
hall, which is always creditable with this society, your delegate cannot
but express his satisfaction -with the many indications which he found,
of care and attention to the accurate business of agriculture. System-
atic devotion to special objects, the only profitable scheme of farming
known in this State, was manifest everywhere. And in careful breed-
ing and careful cultivation, there was abundant opportunity for the
student to apply accurate and useful observation.

The address on the occasion was delivered by Judge French. It was
an account of the flowing of the Sudbury meadows ; and was listened
• to with that attention which might be expected from those who have a
personal interest in this long and difficult controversy between the
farmers and manufacturers of this section of the Commonwealth. This
address was delivered at the dinnei'-table — a plan which may have its
advantages — but it undoubtedly has its disadvantages. It is evident
that no address, whether upon agriculture, education, politics or religion,
can be equally adapted to a church, a hall, an out-door audience, and a
dinner-table. An address is one thing — an after-dinner speech another
and quite different thing. And a speech worthy of being called an
agricultural address, containing instruction and an appeal to the intelli-
gence and activity of farmers, should not form a part of a festivity or a
mere social entertainment. The old-fashioned mode of delivering these
addresses in the village church had great advantages ; so has the modern
one of delivering them in an appropriate hall. But no man can tell the
trial of instructing an audience in rivalry with trotting horses or a
tempting dessert until he has tried it.

Your delegate cannot speak too well of the activity and energy dis-
played by the Middlesex South Agricultural Society.

Geo. B. Loring.

WORCESTER NORTH.

The fifteenth annual fair of the Worcester North Agricultural Society
was held on the 24th and 25th of Septembei'. Both days were pleas-
ant, the attendance large, and an enthusiasm manifest, which augured
well for the future of this society. If the exhibition of stock, fruit,
vegetables, farming implements and domestic manufactures, and espe-
cially of men, is as good throughout the State as at Fitchburg, our
agricultural societies are not failures, and their epitaph need not be

APPENDIX. ix

written for some years yet. The attendance the first day was estimated
at some five thousand, and the second day at eight thousand. The very
presence of so many stalwart and intelligent yeomen, with their wives
and daughters, all in their holiday attire, behaving decorously, and
exhibiting inteUigence, manliness and self-respect, in their countenances,
words and actions, is one of the most pleasing features of these agricul-
tural exhibitions. At Fitchburg, we are most happy to say, everything
was done decently and in order. Though the crowd was large, we
noticed no boorish conduct, nor a single person under the influence of
intoxicating liquors. As we have passed through Worcester County
occasionally from our childhood, we have been led, from the appearance
of the lands, barns and houses, to put a high estimate upon the farms of
the county, and the conclusion was that the farms were an index of the
farmers. Our conclusion was verified on seeing them together at
Fitchburg, and our faith was lost in sight.

This was the first exhibition of the society on its own grounds, and
the attendance larger and more enthusiastic on this account. These
grounds comprise twenty-five acres, pleasantly located, well Avatered,
beautified with gi-oves on the north and south, and surrounded by a
substantial board fence. At pre-ent, the president, secretary and
exhibitors have to dwell, like Abraham, in tents, but we doubt not the
enterprise of the society will soon lead to the erection of suitable struc-
tures for the accommodation of man and beast. This struck us as the
great want of the Worcester North Society. Tents may have been
well enough for the patriarchs, with their nomadic habits and mild
climate, but New England is on a higher plane, both literally and figur-
atively, than Canaan, and ceiled houses for men and warm shelter for
stock are Avhat our latitude and civilization demand, and on our next
visit to Fitchburg we expect to see this demand satisfied.

The ploughing match occurred on the morning of the first day, and
we noticed a division of the teams into oxen and steers, the former com-
peting sepai'ately from the latter, a division which we recommend for
adoption by other societies.

The exhibition of neat stock, sheep, swine and poultry lasted only
through the first day, and was large and every way creditable to the
enterprise of the farmers of North Worcester. We respectfully suggest
to the managers that the exhibition of this kind of stock should continue
through both days. Every well formed, thoroughbred animal is an
educator, and should give lessons for more than one day, especially as
the number of scholars present is generally larger the second day than
the first. The original name of these exhibitions was " cattle shows,"
but a visitor on the second day may well ask, " Where are the cattle ? "
The exhibition on the second day has, in too many of our societies,
b

X APPENDIX.

degenerated — perhaps some would say has been elevated — into a horse
show, and an agricultural horse trot has come to be the leading feature
of the exhibitions. "We do not object to the culture and exhibition of
that noblest of animals, the horse, but if our fair grounds should degen-
erate into mere race courses, and jockeys are the leading characters on
these grounds, the farmers will be sure to retire in disgust. We are
happy to say that at Fitchburg the horse did not cast all other animals
into the shade. There were fine specimens of Shorthorns, Ayrshires
and Alderneys, as well as mixed and native breeds. "We were particu-
larly gratified to notice some full-blooded stock intended for exhibition
and not for a premium. Messrs. Whitman and Adams of Fitchburg
and Gates of Leominster set the noble example of contributing valuable
animals for the benefit of the public, without expectation of other reward
than the consciousness of doing a noble deed ; — ^by the way, a higher
reward than green-backs, silver spoons or golden goblets can possibly
furnish. We were glad also to notice that the committees on premiums
were not restricted to giving only one premium to one person, and com-
pelled, as in some of our societies, to pronounce a crop, animal or article
a second best which really should stand in a much lower grade. We
ai-e aware that the argument for the scattering of the premiums is, that
it enlists more competitors, but it does not seem to us that this reason of
policy should outbalance the weightier one of truth and justice. If one
person merits all the premiums in one division, justice demands that he
should have them all. At Fitchburg we noticed Mr. A. Whitman
carried off all the premiums for Shorthorns, Mr. E. T. Miles all for
Ayrshires, and Mr. John Brooks all, with one exception, for Alderneys.
After due respects had been paid to the stock, the officers and mem-
bers of the society, with their ladies and invited guest?, sat down in
patriarchal style to a bountiful repast, to which ample justice was done.
The feast of reason and flow of soul followed in due succession, intro-
duced by a neat and spirited speech by the president, Joshua T. Ever-
ett, Esq., of Princeton. These social dinners should constitute an
element at all our agricultural fairs. A good dinner is highly conducive
to good feeling, and the cultivation of our social natures, with charity
and all its train of graces, is carrying out the design of Him who nfiade
us social beings, and whose mission on earth was to bring peace and
good will to men. The great want of the farmer's life is intercourse
with his fellow-men. The farmer's wife especially leads an isolated
life, and these fairs should be made of such a social nature that they
will tend to furnish food for mental growth and for the development of
charity, good manners and all the amenities of life. We rejoice to say
that at the dinner table at Fitchburg the ladies seemed to be in the
majority, as they almost always are in every good cause. The interest

APPENDIX. xi

manifested by the ladies at Fitchburg is worthy of praise and ought to
be emulated in other places. "We desire to express our personal obliga-
tions to the efficient wife of the efficient secretary, Mr. Lewis H.
Bradford, not only for kind hospitality, but for driving us aroiind the
village and into the surrounding country. We shall vote for women's
rights, if men can always be so pleasantly driven.

We would suggest to the managers of the Worcester North that an
addition might be made to the interest and profit of their fair, if a meet-
ing could be held in the evening for social intercourse and agricultural
discussion. This has been tried in other societies with success, and we
trust increasing attention will be given to it throughout the State.
Thoughts should be sown broadcast at our fairs, and they will return
some thirty, some sixty and some an hundred fold. An ox may be
estimated by his girth and weight, but mind is the standard of the man,
and the development of man, and not his mere amusenient, must be the
object aimed at by our agricultural societies, if we would avoid the
criticisms of the " Springfield Republican " and the just condemnation of
the public.

On the last and great day of the fair at Fitchburg, came the horse, a
greater crowd, the address by George E. Towne, Esq., (which was a
business man's view of the farmer's occupation, replete with practical
suggestions for a thorough and systematic management of it,) the dinner,
with its after speeches, and the final adjournment, leaving a replenished
treasury and many pleasant remembrances.

Our thanks are due for kind attentions and hospitality shown by the
president and secretary, also by Messrs. Billings, Adams and many
others. Alexander Hyde.

WORCESTER SOUTH-EAST.

Your delegate, appointed to attend the exhibition of the Worcester
South-East Society, held at Milford, reports as follows : —

On ray arrival in the morning of the first day, I found the ploughing,
which was done with oxen, had already commenced, and not under-
standing the locality, did not witness that part of the exhibition, but
heard it well spoken of.

The park which the society occupies is a fine one, and the hall good
and substantial, — the grounds belonging to private individuals, the
buildings to the society.

The show at first appeared somewhat thin, but before eleven o'clock
the stock apartments were more than full. Their heavy oxen were not
up to the standard, which might have been expected, judging from the

xii APPENDIX.

display of steers and young oxen. Several herds, consisting of cows,
heifei's and calves, were on exhibition, Avhich would do credit to any
society. Some very choice specimens of the Jerseys, as good as I have
ever seen. Of their working oxen I cannot speak too highly. I think
I never saw so good training. It was truly surpiising to see what
command the driver had over his oxen, — not by the use of the whip,
but by the still small voice that seemed to inspii'e his team with life and
action. One incident was particularly noticeable. After trying twice
to back the load up the hill, and having almost succeeded, one man
withdrew from the conflict, saying that he would rather lose the prize
than whip his team. Would that we had more such men to train and
drive our oxen.

The show of swine was very fair. A few very nice animals.

There was only one lot of sheep on the grounds.

There was a fine show of breeding mares and colts, some of which
were held at fabulous prices, and most of them from noted stock. Judg-
ing from the young stock of horses on exliibition, as well as from some
old ones, Ave should think that in the future there would be no lack of
good horses within the limits of this society. Some very fine pairs of
matched horses were shown, as well as a large number of good single
driving horses. These all made a good display on the track.

As usual, the programme ended with a horse trot, which went off, we
think, to the satisfaction of the crowd.

The display in the hall Avas very good, but not as full in some depart-
ments as it might have been. There were some very nice specimens
of apples, good for any year, but particularly so for this. Some excel-
lent winter squashes, that looked good enough to eat. The ladies exhib-
ited some very fine specimens of domestic and fancy articles, which
showed no lack of interest on their part.

On the whole we consider the fair a success, and one which does
credit to the society.

The address, by Judge Russell, was one calculated to instruct as well
as interest, and was listened to with marked attention.

I will close this Report by acknowledging the courtesy of our friend,
Mr. Knowlton, and the officers of the society.

H. S. P OUTER.

HAMPSHIRE, FRANKLIN AND HAMPDEN.

As delegate from the State Board of Agriculture, I attended the
forty-ninth annual exhibition of the Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden
Society, which was held on their grounds at Northampton, October 3d
and 4th. I had seen some, and heard much of the Durham stock raised

APPENDIX. xiii

in this section of the State, " but the half had not been told me." In
conversation with the Hon. Paoli Lathrop, of South Hadley, an
extensive breeder, and one of the pioneers in improving the Shorthorns
or Durhams, he said he had been in the business of raising thorough-
bred Durhams for quite a number of years ; that the demand for the
first class of animals was always greater than the supply, and at the
present time the prospect for raising such stock is better than ever
before. The Durham bull owned by M. J. Smith, Esq., president of
the society, which took the first premium, was raised by Mr. Lathrop.

The Durham bull owned by Stephen Heyward, Jr., seventeen months
old, took the second premium. This was one of the finest animals I
ever saw. He was raised by George T. Plunkett, Esq., of Hinsdale,
from his famous bull valued at $5,000. The question may be asked,
why he is so valuable ? Because he is said to be best, known here or
in Europe. His stock is in demand for exportation. The tables are
turned. Old England's Johnny Bulls now send to Hinsdale for their
supply of bulls. Perhaps I should mention in this connection other fine
animals, — the Ayrshires and Jerseys were there ; but, in this locality,
the Durhams predominate.

One herd of fifty-nine Kentucky Durham steers, fatted there and
sent to Albany for beef, were purchased by N. Day and S. Alvord, for
the purpose of completing them by stall-feeding them this winter.

I was told that many farmers go into this operation, not only for the
growth and rise of the animals, but for the purpose of increasing their
manure, which must be had to grow that " dirty weed, tobacco ; " yet, I
suppose, the most profitable crop to raise on their river " meadow lands."

A town team from Deerfield, sixteen yoke, averaging about 4,000
pounds, I should judge, were mostly grade Durhams. The milch cows
were not so numerous, but there were some very fine animals, and great
reports were made of their product of milk and butter ; and one cow
with one-half of her milk, in June made seven pounds of butter ; this
reminded me of a man I once knew who kept but one cow and sold
about one-half of the milk to his poor neighbors ; he would always milk in
two pails — the first half to sell, the remainder for his wife to make butter.

The several herds, together with other young cattle, were all very
good ; and, on the whole, it was a real cattle show.

Sheep, swine and poultry were well represented.

The exhibition in the hall of agricultural implements, fruit, vegetables,
bread, products of the dairy, domestic and other manufactured and fancy
articles were in abundance, and was creditable to the exhibitors, but
time and space will not allow me to particularize. And there is no
necessity for it, for the whole tiling was ably reported and published in
the local newspapers at the time for the benefit of all concerned.

xiv APPENDIX.

The address at the town hall in the evening, by the Hon. Daniel
Needham, of Groton, Secretary of the New England Agricultural
Society, was listened to by an intelligent audience. His subject — " The
Necessity of Education to the Farmer."

The second day was devoted to the exhibition of horses, and, as
usual, brought together the greater number of people. The trial of
draught horses was good ; there were some very good horses on the
track, and, if we take the word of the owners or drivers, there were
many such ; " for my horse is, all things considered, the best."

The colts were present in large numbers, and went to show there was
a strong desire for improvement in raising good horses ; and, like raising
cattle, it is only the good ones that pay best.

In the afternoon came off the trotting and running, Avhich was very
well done, as every one said, so it must be true.

And with the very efficient officers, committees, marshals, and the
enlivening strains of music from the brass band, so at the close, the
verdict of the crowd was, a success.

I cannot close without rendering my thanks to the officers of the
society, and to Mr. Porter, member of the State board, for their
attention, courtesy and hospitality.

Thomas Billings.

HAMPSHIRE.

As delegate to visit the Hampshire Agricultural Society, I submit the
following Report : —

The eighteenth exhibition of this society was held on their fair
grounds in Amherst, September 24 and 25, two most beautiful autumn
days, and was pronounced the best ever held by the society.

"We were led to expect much from this society, from a knowledge of
the location, — the well cultivated farms and substantial farm buildings
indicating thrift and energy, — and were not disappointed.

This society is one of eight in the State out of debt, and embracing
as it does some of the best farming towns in the Commonwealth, a noble
yeomanry, many scientific men, the State Agricultural College, it has,
indeed, a bright and flattering prospect before it.

There were exhibited four strings, or in all 162 oxen, as town teams,
and fully 100 head of other neat stock. There were many noble ani-
mals, mostly grades. I had hoped to see more thoroughbreds. The
working oxen were not as large, on the average, as I expected to see.
There are two reasons, probably, for this. One is, the fact that many

APPENDIX. XV

farmers purchase their oxen more or less matured, instead of carefully
breeding and growing them themselves. The other reason is, that more
labor is required of them than by the hill farmers.

There was a large number of horses entered for premiums, making a
very interesting part of the exhibition. A number of two and three-
year-old colts were noble animals. More than one hundred and sixty
dollars were awai'ded for horses, not including premiums for speed.

Sheep, SAvine and fowls seemed to occupy their due proportion of
space and attention.

The display in the hall deserves as much notice as any part of the
exhibition. Many of the manufactured articles seemed to be from the
immediate vicinity. Among them, carpenters' tools, by William Kel-
logg, of Amherst ; repeating shot-guns, by Roper Rifle Co., of Amherst ;
gold pens, by Haskins Brothers, of Shutesbury.

The specimens of rye, winter wheat and corn were particularly fine.

A table extending the entire length of the hall was filled with a great
variety of products, by Sunderland people alone.

A few figures Avill give some idea of the display in the hall. More
than 150 varieties of plants, in pots and tubs, by President Clark, of
Amherst, and W. H. Lyman, of Leverett ; 58 entries of honey, wines,
jellies and pickles ; 34 entries of bread. David S. Cowles, of Hadley,
had the largest collection of fruits, comprising 46 varieties.

Professor John Bascom, of Williams College, delivered the annual
address on the afternoon of the first day. Subject, " The Peculiar Edu-
cation the Farmer requires." It was listened to with marked interest.

After dinner on the second day, the society was first addressed by the
president, Austin Eastman, who also introduced Hon. William B. Wash-
bui'n, of Greenfield. Mr. Washburn congratulated the society on the
success of the exhibition ; said it was better than he expected to see
here, especially the display in the hall. He referred to the interest felt
in the Agricultural College.

Dr. Nathan Durfee, of Fall River, one of the trustees of the Agri-
cultural College, and a member of this Board, was loudly called. He
remarked the striking contrast between the beautiful and fertile fields of
Hampshire and the rock-bound coast and sandy barrens of Bristol
County, stating also some facts, showing what careful culture, aided by
science, has done in some instances in turning those barrens to fruitful
fields.

Hon. Edward Dickinson, of Amherst, was then introduced by the
president as father of the society, — the preliminary movements sug-
gested by Mr. D., some eighteen years ago, having resulted in gaining
a charter from the State. Mr. Dickinson traced, as results of this
society, the growth and increase of important interests of the town.

xvi APPENDIX.

Professor Stockbridge, of the Agricultural College, made interesting
remarks in regard to practical agriculture.

President Clark was the last speaker, and called the attention of the
audience to a large life-like painting of Marshall P. Wilder, then hang-
ing upon the wall over the speakers' stand, which had recently been
presented to the Agricultural College by a Boston gentleman. And as
the audience seemed almost to be in the presence of the honored and
venerable man, President Clark recounted some of the noble acts of
Mr. Wilder, and some of the benefits resulting therefrom to the cause of
agriculture in this State, in the United States, and in the world ; and
remarked how fitting it was that his should be the first portrait to be
hung on the walls of the college.

C. Sanderson.

HAMPDEN.

Having by assignment of the Board attended the annual exhibition of
the Hampden Agricultural Society, holden at the Hampden Park in
Springfield, on the first and second days of October, 1867, and knowing
that to be a stock-breeding region to considerable extent, we had
expected to see a large number of thoroughbred animals on the
grounds. Our hopes in that respect were not fully realized. Yet it is
fair to affirm that in point of quality the show was good.

The cattle, we judge, were not on the grounds more than from three
to five hours, after which it was understood the track was to be cleared
for another purpose.

After Josh Billings had attended the Agricultural Fair at Billings-
ville, where he observed several strings of onions, bunches of turnips and
other vegetables, many yokes of oxen and sheep, none of which excited
any sympathy, he said it was evident the people " hankered after a good
Agricultural Hoss Trot." We cannot, judging from what we witnessed
at Hampden Park and elsewhere, regard the people of Billings ville as
singular in their passionate fondness for practical trotting.

In our view, the horse fanciers of Springfield and vicinity ought to
have been satisfied with one whole day, or at least have given one whole
day to other branches of the sUow.

So far as we observed, however, the trotting at Springfield on the
occasion of our visit was fairly carried on, and our ears were not saluted
with disgusting profanity, as had been the case at other places, and
enouo-h of it to sicken a well-bred dog. If we are to have trotting at
our fairs it seems to us that it should be so conducted as not to be an
eyesore to the better class of admirers of the noble horse.

APPENDIX. xvii

Np place in the State has better facilities for trotting than Hampden
Park, there being a mile and half mile track. Seats, also, which will
accommodate three thousand persons, recently covered with gravel roofing,
which, we trust, will prove convenient and durable.

Here we leave the horses and return to the neat and other stock.

Among the notable animals on the grounds were nine Devon cows and
heifers and two bulls, shown by William Mattoon of Springfield. Mr.
Mat toon also showed a most beautiful yoke of Devon oxen.

William R. Sessions of South Wilbraham, had eleven Shorthorns and
grades, among which was a pure bred bull, together with a herd of
young Shorthorns and grades. They were nice animals.

H. M. Sessions had fifteen pure bred Devons, old and young, and all
the progeny of one heifer since 1854. Mr. Sessions, it must be allowed,
has been very successful, both as regards freedom from disease and in
raising good specimens of the breed.

G. W. Convers of East Longmeadow, shoAved one pair of well-
appearing four yeai'S old Durham steers ; weight, 3,620.

George H. Estes of Springfield, had a cow, the net profit from which
was in one year ninety-seven dollars and twenty-five cents, ($97.25.)
She gave during the time 3,176 quarts milk.

William Birnie, of Springfield, showed thirteen Ayrshire heifers, two
bulls, (younn^,) two cows, and one three years old bull, all carefully and
skilfully bred, fine looking all. Some of the heifers, it seemed to us,
were the best we ever saw of that excellent breed of cattle.

Mr. Ashley, of W"est Springfield, showed a pair of oxen

Aveighing five thousand and eighty lbs., (5,080.) Fat truly, but how
long they had been in taking it on we did not learn.

P. Stedman & Son, Chico[)ee, were on hand with a Shorthorn bull,
Duke of Carlisle. This animal loomed up well in a distant view, and
upon a closer inspection we observed many points of excellence. The
pedigree was given, Avhich should be the ca<e wiih all blood stock, as it
facilitates the labor of committees.

The swinish tribe did not abouml extensively.

O. H. Chapin, of Chicopee, had one litter of fair-appearing pigs, nine
weeks old, Cheshire and Suffolk cro-sed.

J. C. Pease, of East Longmeadow, had a good boar, (Prince Albert,)
nine months old.

Of agricultural implements, there were the Clipper, (appropriate
name,) Buckeye, Union and Kniffin mowing machines, the Kniffin,
New England and Bay State horse-rakes. Two sizes of Grant's feed-
cutter, and a plough by the same exhibitor.

xviii ^ APPENDIX.

The fruit, flowers, fancy articles, household manufactures, vegetables,
sewing machines, &c., &c., were exposed in the City Hall, which was
well filled wiih tasty articles most tastefully arranged.

The fruit was good for the season.

In the display of pears, Rev. Dr. Ide, of Springfield, seemed to excel.
His plates of Sheldon, Beurre Bosc, Beurre d'Anjou and Beurre Clair-
geau, made the secretion vulgarily called mouth-water flow, though we
made an effbi't to suppress it. There were excellent dishes of Rebecca,
lona, Israella, Allen's Hybrid and Delaware grapes, which strongly
tempted and reminded us of the necessity of practising self-denial under
the circumstances.

Apples similar to those of other localities, ordinary.

Butter, of which there was quite a display, appeared remarkably well.

The Wilbrahara Manufacturing Company had on exhibition some
cheese which, in our judgment, will command a high figure in market.

The ladies, too, had spared no pains to make the hall attractive by the
exhibition of everything in their line, from a pin-cushion to a counter-
pane.

Serving and other machines were being operated by parties interested
in their sale.

On the whole, the show was a success.

Our thanks are due and cheerfully tendered to William Birnie,
President Dwight, Secretary Bagg and others, for courteous attentions.

Asa Clement.

HAMPDEN EAST.

The annual exhibition of the Hampden East Agricultural Society,
was holden at Palmer, October 9, upon the trotting park of that society,
near the village.

The exhibition of bulls and cows was very commendable; also that of
sheep and swine.

The most prominent in the department of stock, was a grand display
of oxen and steers, consisting of about sixty yokes of oxen and four
years old steers, nearly all of which were Shorthorn grades of a very
high order, indicative to every observing mind of the superiority of
blood stock.

Very fine collections of vegetables, grains and fruit>:, wiih the usual
variety of ornamental contributions fiom the hands of the ladies, were
on exhibition in the vestry of the vil'age church.

Tlie collection of agricultural implements was not large. Several
different patterns of mowing machines were noticed. Each specimen

APPENDIX. xix

was sustained by spirited arguments from its particular representative,
setting forth its peculiar merits and advantages.

The horse department was well sustained by the character and quality
of the horses on exhibition. Some very fine two years old colts, bred in
Palmer, were noticed.

The track was rendered attractive by the display of good action and
speed on the part of the several horses presented.

At three o'clock, P. M., we Avere invited to listen to an address by
T. S. Gold, Esq., Secretary of the Connecticut State Board of Agricul-
ture. Subject — "Advantages and Disadvantages of a Farmer's Life."
It was full of admirable suggestions, and was eminently instructive.

My thanks are due to the officers of the society, and many other
gentlemen, for kind attentions received.

John JonxsoN, Jr.

FRANKLIN.

In discharge of my duty as a delegate of the Board, I visited the
eighteenth exhibition of the Fi-anklin County Agricultural Society, at
Greenfield, on the 26th and 27ih of September.

I found the society to be the owner of a beautiful exhibition park
adjacent to the village, which, iu some of its aspects, has a striking
resemblance to the ancient Roman amphitheatre, and peculiarly adapted
to such an exhibition ; but which is hardly capacious enough to display
all the domestic animals of the county, as the rapidly growing interest
in agriculture and the society indicates it will be required to.

On first entering the inclosure, it was strikingly evident that I was
in the company of a Avide awake and thriving agricultural people, as
well as that it was a gala day for the whole county. The people Avere
there, male and female, all on the common level of intelligent humanity,
all on exhibition ; to see and be seen, to teach and to learn, seemed to be
the order of the day. The first day, as is usual, was devoted to neat
stock, sheep, swine, &c., and an address by the orator gf (he dny, Dr.
George B. Loring. The second to horses. The exhibition of neat
stock was very extensive and varied. There were many specimens of
all the thoroughbred breeds, and all sorts of grades and crosses. There
Avere on the ground nine distinct herds of carefully bred and nurtured
animals, four of Avhich contained more than a hundred animals. In the-
important department of young stock, the exhibition was unrivalled in.
variety, number and quality, indicating that the farmers of the county
are making a business of rearing catlle, and that skill, intelligence and

XX APPENDIX.

thought are being directed to that pursuit. Sheep were on exhibition
by the hundreds, of the fine, coarse, and middle-wool varieties, and in
the departments of swine and poultry the number was large and the
quality was excellent. The number of horses on exhibition the second
day was large, and the animals were fine, of the several classes. This
portion of the show had little of the fast horse and fast man about it,
but was a commendable exhibit of the efforts of the farmers in horse-
breeding, and showed skill in the selection of the stock-getters, and care
and success in the rearing and training of the animals. The exhibition
in the hall, of pomological, horticultural and mechanical specimens, and
of domestic manufactures, was highly flattering to the intelligent skill
and success of the exhibitors. It would be an arduous task to describe
in detail all that was worthy and commendable in this exhibition. It
was literally a cattle show, a horse show, a horticultural exhibition, and
it had about it an air of life, interest and competition that indicated
clearly that the people of this county are on a rapid march of agricul-
tural improvement, and that its every department is receiving the ben-
efit of intelligence, thought and study. Every facility was given me by
the officers and members of the society to examine all departments of
the exhibition, and to become acquainted with their plans of operation,
and the modes by which the degree of success in the different branches
of culture was attained.

L. Stockbridge.

HOUSATONIC.

T^our delegate, to whom was assigned the duty of visiting the Housa-
-tonic Agricultural Society, attended at the exhibition of the society at
Great Barrington on the 25th and 26th of September.

No one can enter upon the grounds of this society without remarking
how strikingly they are adapted to ilie uses to which they are devoted.
A fertile tract of land of about thirty acres, and as level as a threshing
floor, affords ample space and accommodation for all the purposes of an
agricultural exhibition. A range of lofty hills shuts in and seems to
consecrate the spot to the uses of intelligent and scientific agriculture.

The hall, situated on one side of the amphitheatre, and provided with
two covered balconies extending its entire length, furnishes excellent
conveniences for the spectator to observe the different portions of the
exhibition.

Of the display within the hall, tlie butter and cheese most attracted
the attfniion of your delegate. There were thirty-nine lots' of butter,
almost all of which was of great excellence. The display of cheese
was not so large, but ike quality was very fine. The farmers and

APPENDIX. xxi

farmers' wives of the Housatonic Valley may well congratulate them-
selves on such productions of the dairy.

Without the hall there was a good exhibition of the various kinds of
farm stock. The show of neat stock constituted the most noticeable
part of the exhibition. The Ayrshire?, Jerseys and native stock were
very fairly represented. On this occasion, however, the Durhams car-
ried off tlie palm. The dit^play of this breed of cattle was large. Their
full, well rounded, symmetrical and stately forms were worthy of the
highest admiration. The working oxen seemed to be capable of any-
thing that a combination of dociliiy and immense strength can achieve.
The fat cattle, from the large quantity and excellent quality of the beef
they afford, caimot fail to repay the farmer for his labor and expenditure
of money upon them.

There were many features of the exhibition to which jour delegate
would be glad to refer, but must content himself with saying generally
that it was a very admirable one. This fair of the society was attended
with great success, and the society has evidently been in the hands of
intelligence, energy and enterprise.

Your delegate was very courteously entertained by the society, and
he is under especial obligations to Mr. T. D. Thacher, of the State
Board, for his kind attention.

George A. King.

HOOSAC VALLEY.

As delegate from the Board of Agriculture, I attended the annual
cattle show and fair of the Iloosac Valley Agricultural Society, held at
North Adams September 17, 18 and 19, 1867.

I regretted my inability to be present on the first day of the fair. By
being deprived of this privilege, I failed to see the cattle and sheep on
exhibition ; but from the representation of officers of the society and
others I learned that this part of the show was highly creditable and
satisfactory.

The exhibition of horses was fine, and the colts shown gave evidence
of great care in breeding, and large promise of future usefulness and
beauty; and when trotted out, that their action and style might be
shown, apparently elicited almost as much interest as did the trotting
matches which followed.

The show in the several classes in the hall was large and creditable.
Fruit, flowers, vegetables, domestic and heavy manufactures, were all in
large abundance, and of high order of merit.

xxii APPENDIX.

The society gives evidence of vital energy and thrift. The attendance
at the show was large ; the action of its several officers was prompt and
energetic in carrying out the details of the fair. Good order prevailed,
and all present seemed to enjoy the occasion.

On the afternoon of the last day Dr. Loring delivered the annual
address. His subject — " Scientific and Practical Agriculture " — was
listened to attentively by a large and evidently appreciative audience ;
and although the address was delivered in the open air, and under rather
unfavorable circumstances, still the doctor held the attention of his large
audience to the end.

Your delegate has no time to give a detailed account of this fair,
enumerate the vast number of articles on exhibition, nor specify every
interesting ieature of the occasion; but would simply report, that the
society, as far as he could judge, is in a prosperous condition, notwith-
standing some serious drawbacks it has had to encounter, and if the
liberality hitherto shown by the State in its dispensation of bounty shall
be continued, it will continue to flourish and exert its wholesome influ-
ence on the agricultural interests of Hoosac Valley, and indirectly upon
the agricultural interests of the State at large.

To the president and officers of the society I feel indebted for kind
attention and courtesy. And especially would I return thanks to the
delegate to this Board from that society, and his amiable wife, for their
kind hospitality sho-wii me during my sojourn with them.

Daniel A. Cleaveland.

NORFOLK.

The nineteenth exhibition of the Norfolk Agricultural Society was
held at Dedham on the 19th and 20th days of September. The weather
was all that could be desired, the concourse of viiitore large, and the
proceedings of the fair satisfactory.

The fir^t day was chiefly devoted to the reception and examination of
articles by the various committees.

In the department of fruit, this society seems to have taken the lead
of most others, to such an extent that it may be said to be its specialty.
The display of 1867 was one of the best, and, in many respects, it
probably surpassed all previous exhibitions of the society. The tables
were, therefore, well filled, the pears alone exceeding three hundred
plates, the largest number of varieties being contributed by the presi-
dent, Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, of Dorchester., while F. & L. Clapp, of
Dorchester, Walker & Co., of Roxbury, and Aaron D. Weld, of West

• APPENDIX. xxiii

Eoxbuiy, had very large collections, which added much to the complete-
ness and beauty of the show.

Seventy plates of apples also graced the tables, many of the specimens
being of the highest excellence, and, considering the character of the
season, they were quite remarkable. In this branch of the fair, F. & L.
Clapp, of Dorchester, A. F. Stevens, of Welle>hy, Albert Crosby, of
West Roxbury, and "William Chatfield, of Dedham, were the largest
exhibitors.

The season having been unfavorable for grapes, the display of this
fruit was not large. N. B. White, of South Dedham, made the laigest
show of natives, though Warren Cobb, of Sharon, J. B. Wetherbee, of
Jamaica Plain, and Timothy Phelps, of Dedham, had many fine varie-
ties. J. W. Page, of Jamaica Plain, showed fine sam{)les of the Dor-
chester seedling blackberry. George E. Leonard, of Foxborough,
exhibited a stand from which hung six superb bunches of black
Hamburgs and one bunch of the Grizzly Frontignac.

But two plates of peaches were presented: one by N. B. Wilmarth,
of South Walpole, the other by George Ilewins, of Dedham. Some
fine plums were shown from the place of Col. Theodore Lyman, of
Brookline.

In tlie floral display, the department of cut flowers was striking, con-
tributions having been presented by George Craft, of Brookline,
Mrs. George Vose, of IMilton, Mrs. S. M. Stuart, of Fairraount, and
others.

The show of vegetables was highly creditable, the leading contribut-
ors being John Sias, of Milton, C. G. Upham, of Needham, John W.
Richardson, of Medway, and Nathaniel Smith, of Dedliam.

Leaving the hall, which adjoins the grounds, we found the display of
stock quite large and creditable. Fine Jerseys from the herd of Edward
S. Rand, Jr., of Dedham, M. S. Scudder, of Grantville, apd J. W. Wat-
tles, of Canton, added much to the completeness and attractiveness of
the show. Some good stock was also shown by Col. E. Stone and J.
W. Gay, of Dedham, and Henry Goulding, of Dover.

Of horses, there were thirty-eight entries, the Morgans and the Black-
hawks taking the lead. There were many superior animals.

The show of swine, though of limited" extent, was of excellent quality,
while Dr. P2ben Wight, of Dedham, and E. P. Burgess, of the same
town, made the best display of poultry, many of the specimens being of
remarkable excellence.

Returning to the hall, we found the exhibition of implements the
largest and most complete ever made by the society. It included an
extensive list of entries by Parker, Gannett & Osgood, the Ames Plow
Company, the Morse Plow Company, and others.

xxiv APPENDIX.

Among the mowing machines exhibited, we noticed the celebrated
'• Buckeye," made at West Fitchburg. This was in the collection of
Parker, Gannett & Osgood, the Boston agents of this mower. The
character of the manufacturers is a sufficient guarantee that it is made on
honor, and it gives such universal satisfaction that it is gratifying to see
it constantly improved and made with such faithfulness and care.

The ploughing match was arranged for 2 o'clock, on land of Dr. J. H.
Harrington, not far from the society's grounds. There were thirteen
entries, of which five Avere of double teams, four double ox-teams, and
four single horse-teams, — each team being required to plough one-eighth
of an acre. The work was done in a satisfactory manner by most of
them, notwithstanding the rocky character of the soil.

The morning of the second day was devoted to the exhibition of
horses on the track, Avhich drew together a large crowd of visitors, and
to the annual address and dinner in the hall. A procession Avas formed
at 12 o'clock, under the direction of Col. John W. Thomas, high sheriff
of the county, and proceeded to the dining-room in the upper part of the
hall, where a bountiful repast was provided under the immediate direc-
tion of the officers of the society. After an appropriate address of wel-
come by the president, Marshall P. "Wilder, in the course of which he
announced that the society was out of debt, and the invocation of the
divine blessing, full justice was done to the collation, when Charles L.
Flint, Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, was introduced to the
large audience as the orator of the day. The address was direct, pointed
and practical, and was listened to with undivided attention to the end.

Shorter speeches followed, making all the exercises in the highest
degree satisfactory.

This society seems to be accomplishing its work successfully. It has
manifested great energy in overcoming all obstacles and gaining a repu-
tation, in many respects higher than that of most other societies in the
State. Much of this is due to its indefatigable president, and to its
accomplished secretary, IT. O. Hildreth, Eisq., of Dedham. To these
officers and to many others we are indebted for kind attentions.

William Ivnowlton.

BRISTOL.

Delegated by the State Board of Agriculture to attend the Bristol
County Fair, and having been kindly furnished by Mr. Charles Talbot,
the secretary, witli tickets of admission and time-tables of the railroads,
I reached Tauntoii on the morning of October 1st, the first day of the
fair.

APPENDIX. XXV

I had no difficulty in finding the grounds, as the Aveather was fine
and everybody was going, so I had only to follow the crowd. I found
the entrance lined by a beautiful grove which, though containing some
underbrush and a surface somewhat uneven, afforded a fine shade for
horses. With a moderate sum expended in clearing up, grading and
providing seats at suitable places, this part of the inclosure might be
made more useful and attractive.

I ?oon recognized Mr. A. P. Slade, of the State Board, and acting
president in absence of Mr. Ames, who, together with Mr. William P.
Hood, of the committee of ai'rangements, accompanied me to witness the
ploughing match. There was a goodly number of competitors for pre-
miums, and the work was well done with Mead's conical plough, which
was the only one used in the trial, I think. We wei'e pleased to see
such an interest manifested in the ploughing by the farmers ; for
although it occurred in the early part of the day, there Avas a large
gathering present to Avitness the trial. We Avere also pleased to see
that in most instances the farmers or their sons were ho'ding the plough
instead of a foreign laborer, not forgetting Franklin's adage, that

" He that by the plough would thrive,
Himself must either hold, or drive."

The skilful guiding of the plough should be considered as valuable an
accomplishment to the practical farmer as producing a tAVO-forty gait
from a Avorthless nag. A ploughing-match should be included in the
programme of every agricultural fair.

The exhibition of town teams on the track consisted of eighty-four
yoke, — thirty-three from Taunton, twenty-three from Norton, sixteen
from Raynham, and twelve from Rehoboth. They Avere preceded by
the band, and made a very fine display. Most of these were native, and
were not, as a whole, of a superior quality. There were, hoAvever, a
few very fine yokes of thoroughbreds.

There Avas in the pens a good shoAv of stock. The yoke of cattle
exhibited by Mr. Jonathan Slade, of Somerset, Aveighing fifty-three hun-
dred pounds, attracted much attention. There Avas also on the grounds
from the State Lunatic Asylum, a fine yoke of fat cattle, one of which
dressed, on the first of this month, two thousand and four pounds.

Of cows and bulls there Avas not a large number of entries Avhen com-
pared Avith other divisions ; but some good specimens of the Alderney,
and also of the Ayrshire cattle, Avhich seemed to be the favorite breeds.

There was a good exhibition of coarse-wool sheep, but I Avas sur-
prised not to see a fine-wool sheep on the grounds, and still more so
Avhen informed that there was not a hundred in the county.
&

xxvi APPENDIX.

There was the longest row of poultry cages we ever saw at any fair,
and it attrncted a crowd of bird-fanciers, who engaged in animated
discussions upon the relative merits of the different families.

There was also a good exhibition of swine.

Of the horses and the trotting we will not attempt a description, as •
we are not accounted a good judge of horse-flesh ; but Ave do not wish it
understood tiiat they have no fine horses or fast trotting in Bristol, for
an examination of the programme will satisfy those who wish to see
what Josh Billings denominates a " purely agricultural horse trot," that
by attending the Taunton show they can be treated to that kind of
amusement at all hours, like the hungry public with meals at the village
restaurant.

There Avas a good collection of agricultural implements in the lower
story of the hall. This is a department not generally appreciated by
the farmers, and, in many of our fairs, consists of some half a dozen arti-
cles, which are frequently crowded in some corner by the managers, or
disposed of in some out-of-the-way place, where they are scarcely
noticed.

The exhibition of heavy manufactures, for which this society is noto-
rious, we were informed Avas not as good as in former years ; but Ave
think it Avould have been hard (o beat this year. The finely polished
and beautiful parts of a locomotive, by INIr. William Mason, of Taunton,
and also the case of silver Avare, attracted and deserved much attention.

Among the vegetables, the collection of one hundred and seventy-
three varieties of Mr. Charles Albro, of Taunton, Avas conspicuous.

The divisions above noticed, together with the household manufac-
tures, works of art, floAvers, fancy articles contributed by the ladies,
and that of bread, butter, cheese and honey, (of Avhich there Avas one
thousand pounds,) and the best collection of fruit Ave ever saAv, Avell
filled the second story of the hall, — 100 by 160 feet, — and could not
possibly have been placed in an ordinary sized hall.

The society have expended, the past year, in building a large and
commodious barn, purchasing 12 acres of land adjoining their grounds,
and other improvements, about five thousand dollars. They noAv have
sixty-three acres, on a part of Avhich a fine opportunity is presented for
experiments in draining and other improvements.

We Avere pleased Avith the interest manifested by the managers, the
clock-like manner in Avhich the arrangements AA^ere carried out, and the
o-eneral order Avhich prevailed. During the two days tbat Ave attended,
we did not see a single person intoxicated, and scarcely heard an oath.
We hope the delegate next year Avill be able to say the same.

We cannot close our Report Avithout noticing the annual dinner,
which Avas served on the second day in the third story of the hall, AA'hich

APPENDIX. xxvii

is comraodlously arranged, and devoted exclusively to that purpose.
The farmers of Bristol, with their wives and daughters, seated at seven
hundred feet of table, was really the best exhibition at the fair, and
must be seen to be appreciated. After all had been supplied, Dr.
Loring delivered an excellent address.

After taking a view of the people, — which were estimated at fourteen
thousand, — from (he window of the hall, we wended our way to the
depot, fully believing that the Bristol show is what its officers claim it
to be — one of the best exhibitions in the State.

"We were obliged to leave at the close of the second day, and cannot
report the proceedings of the third. We are informed that the receipts
of the society were nearly $8,000.

Every attention was rendered by the officers of the society to rendei
our visit agreeable, and we shall always remember our trip to Taunton
with pleasure.

John L. Cole.

BRISTOL CENTRAL.

The eighth anniversary of the Bristol County Central Agricultural
Society was held at Myrick's September 19, 20 and 21, under a
favorable sky, abundance to be seen, and a jolly crowd assembled.

Agreeably to appointment your delegate was early upon the grounds,
where he soon met the good-natured smile of the president, making all
happy about him.

This being the first report that has been presented this department
from the Bristol Central Society, it Avill be proper for pe to state, that
although the society has been in successful operation for the last eight
years, it has never before received the State bounty or a visitor from the
State Board, but has, by its own independent action, succeeded in
placing its annual exhibition among the most prominent in the State.

The site selected is beautiful, and well adapted for the purpose
required, with a substantial fence inclosing about foi-ty acres, upon
which is erected their magnificent hall, one hundred and fifty feet long
and fifty wide, two stories high, with an ell part attached, the granite
structure of which indicates most decidedly the permanent design of the
founders of the institution. The stables are numerous and commodious,
built partly of stone, furnishing comfortable quarters for the horse, with
a passable chance for the jockey and worshipful owner. The trotting
course is all that could be desired for the exhibition of the horse.

I learned indirectly that the whole was bought and constructed at an
expense of about twenty thousand dollars, drawn from the deep pocket

xxviii APPENDIX.

of their president, Avhich sum the society has continued from year to
year to refund, and now have only five or six thousand remaining
unpaid- The noble principle of generosity and persevering determina-
tion that knows no motto but success, has placed this society upon the
permanent ba-is on -which it is now represented.

My attention was first given to the thousand and one articles on exhi-
bition in the hall, which, being large, gave abundant room for the many
varieties of the useful, curious and ornamental, — among which could be
found the most approved patterns of ploughs, mowing-machines, horse-
rakes, carriages, &c ; the various productions of the different manufac-
turing companies in ih'at section, iron, cotton and wool ; the products of
the field and garden, bread, butter, cheese, honey, vegetables, fruit and
flowers, — all occupying the place assigned, doing credit to the producer
and honor to the exhibition.

The ladies contributed many specimens of household manufacture, —
painting, di-awing, needle, Avax, cone and shell work, &c., — which were
admired by all that passed that way. And a greater contribution still
was their glorious presence, crowned with smiles of enoouragement.

The exhibition of cattle was large, especially of oxen. The best
working cattle upon the ground were grade Devons. I am sorry to note
that there seems to have been a want of interest in this department in
former years, as much the largest portion was native stock, or slightly
mixed with the improved breeds of the present day. I noticed, how-
ever, the march of improvement had already begini. Among the
younger stock could be seen good specimens of the more popular breeds,
which will, ere long, change and improve the whole.

The show of swine was really enormous, and poultry the best I ever
saw, while sheep were scarcely represented at all, leaving a wide
margin for impi*bvement.

The horse seems to be a great pet in Bristol County. I think some
class was on exhibition constantly during the three days' fair, and am
able to report a very fine show of the most fascinating animal upon
earth — the horse. My attention Avas called to several popular stallions,
and stylish breeding mares with genteel stepping colts of different ages by
their sides; al.-o, the heavy draught horse, the walking horse, the fast
trotter and racer, — all having their admirers about them. The raising
of good horses should be encouraged, as no civilized community can do
without them, and this must ever be one of the most important branches
of farming. Speaking of good horses, I mean such as can be made useful,
possessing a suitable combination of strength, speed and endurance.

At two o'clock, on Friday, an hour was occupied by the speakers of the
day. Governor Bullock told us that agriculture needed special encour-
agement. President Clai'k told us of an agi'icultural college, and prom-

APPENDIX. xxix

ised to educate our sons that they might be farmei'S. Hon. Mr. Eliot
spoke of the dark past and the bright future. Dr. Loring spoke of the
rapid progress of agriculture. As an illustration, he told us that when
the prophet Elisha was called to the Lord he was found ploughing with
twelve yoke of oxen. " No wonder," he said, " that he quit forming and
Avent to prophesying, if it took twelve yoke of oxen to draw the ploughs
of those days."

In general terms, I can state that progress is the motto here. Where
squashes are produced that weigh 175 pounds; where hogs weigh 1,000
and steers 5,300 ; where 120 yoke of oxen are upon the grounds at once ;
where the Devon, Ayrshire, Shorthorn and Jerseys are taking the place
of the sharp, thin, slab-sided cattle of other days ; where horses want
only two minutes and twenty-six seconds to trot a mile ; where from
two to four thousand people assemble daily ; where such men as Nathan
Durfee are elected for president ; where Bullock, Clark, Eliot and
Loring come to visit the exhibition and address a fitting assembly, I
may as well state such an exhibition was a success, and its officers and
members may be proud of what they have already accomplished.

In closing I wish to express my thanks to families whose generous
hospitality your delegate enjoyed.

M. F. Watkins.

PLYMOUTH.

As delegate from the Board of Agriculture, I attended the annual
exhibition of the Plymouth County Agricultural Society, held at
Bridgewater, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, September 26, 27 and
28. I was present on the morning of the first day, and remained till
the afternoon of the second.

This society have very ample accommodations for holding their fairs,
having a lot of land containing nearly seventy acres, with a spacious
hall upon an elevated portion of the inclosure, which overlooks almost
the entire grounds. The hall is two stories high. The lower one is
used for the exhibition of the products of the farm and garden ; also
the handiwork of the ladies, the skill of the mechanic and manufacturer.
The display of butter and single dairy cheese Avas very fine. The rich,
golden butter I tiiink was as handsome as I ever saw.

There was a very large display of bread, — showing the skill of
the ladies, and the interest they take in this part of the exhibition,
which is very commendable. Without good bread and butter for our
tables, other food would seem hardly palatable. The display of fruit
was not large ; but judging from the looks, the quality must have been

XXX APPENDIX.

good. The apple crop suffei'ed perhaps more in the eastern, than mid-
dle and western sections of the State. The display of flowers was fine,
and attracted much attention from the numerous visitors who thronged
the hall. The display of inventions, agricultural implements, and man-
ufactures was not large, although the general appearance of this part
of the exhibition was good, and worthy the efforts of this or any other
agricultural society.

First in the programme outside the hall was the ploughing match,
which was contested by ten teams : — seven pairs of oxen, two pairs of
horses, and one three horse team. The land selected for the trial was
low and rather wet, with a turf not very strong, which required more
care and skill of the ploughman to lay the fuiTows handsomely. It, how-
ever, was all so Avell done, that it seemed to me that the committee who
had charge of this department must possess wonderful powers of dis-
criminiition to be able to decide Avho should be first and who second,
until they should complete the list of awards. There were eight
premiums, leaving two teams to try their skill at the next fair.

I next proceeded to the stock pens, where in cattle I found the
Jersey largely to predominate. In sheep, Oxford and Southdowns
with a few Leicesters. In the department of swine there were all ages
and conditions, from those of mature years to those whose first breath
Avas drawn upon the society's grounds. They were chiefly of the
Chester County breed. The number of cattle on the ground was not
far from one hundred. A large proportion of them were dairy and
breeding animals. I have spoken of the Jersey as predominating.
These are not so symmetrical in form or gigantic in proportions as the
Shorthorns of the Connecticut Valley and many other portions of the
State. But when I heard the reports of the richness of the milk, and
saw the golden butter in the hall, I was led to believe that the Jersey
stock was by no means to be despised.

The exhibition of horses received its due share of attention. Some
splendid matched and single horses were put on the track. The society
have a splendid place for showing their horses, and it is evident that
this animal is by no means neglected in this part of the State.

In the department of poultry there was a large exhibition, larger I
think than I have seen at any other feir. There were the large
Brahmas, Dorking, Black Spanish, and other varieties down to the
Bantams, which, although of small proportions, seemed to say by their
shrill notes that they were worthy of our especial attention.

At twelve o'clock the second day, the ofllcers, members of the
society and others, were marshalled in procession and marched to the
hall, where a sumptuous dinner had been prepared for the occasion .
After discussing the viands of the table for half an hour, the attention

APPENDIX. xxxi

of the assembly Avas called to brief addresses by the president of the
society and others. During the continuance of the fair, the Society
held their annual meeting ; and after electing their ofRcers, voted
unanimously to appropriate $200 annually for the establishment of
scholarships in the agricultural college. The reports of the society
showed that their receipts last year for entrance fees and at the hall
amounted to over $4,500, and that the ground rents for tents Avere
over $1,000.

It w^as estimated that there were not less than eight thousand on the
ground the second day of the show this year, which showed the interest
people in that section of the State take in cattle, shows.

I understood that on Saturday there was to be a farmers' meeting
for the discussion of various subjects pertaining to practical agriculture,
or any subject connected with the interests of the society ; but as I
left the evening previous, can give no account of their meeting, but
must rest satisfied with this hasty sketch of what I saw and heard
while in Bridsewater. N. S. Hubbakd.

BARNSTABLE.

It was my privilege as a delegate from this Board to visit the annual
exhibition of the Barnstable Society. It gave me the greater pleasure
to visit that county, and attend their fair, because it was the birthplace
of my parents, on both sid(is, and having a desire to compare notes with
the Cape farmers and observe the interest taken in agricultural pursuits
at the east. The days of the fair were unusually fine for the season,
and ever^ithing was favorable for the exhibition. At the starting point
I tried to keep in mind that farming is not the principal business of the
men of that county, therefore I must not expect too much from them in
their operations upon the land. The exhibition of cattle on the grounds
was not large, but in most instances of very good quality and of good
growth ; and yet a breeder of Shorthorns might have thought the stock
in most instances small, compared with his own. Having spent two
days visiting different parts of that section, I was fully prepared in my
own mind to witness a small exhibition of working oxen, and found but
four or five pairs upon the ground, where in Berkshire Couiity, oxen
being extensively used, we might expect a larger exhibition of that
cla>s. Some fine cows and bulls, mostly grades, were upon the ground,
and also some fine sheep and swine.

It was not my privilege to observe the ploughing match, not having
been notified at what hour it would take place. Only one team entered

xxxii APPENDIX.

for competition. Aftei- the Avork had been done, I visited the ground
ploughed, and found it well done in all respects. I now enter the hall
and find one of the best exhibitions of fruit and vegetables I ever
witnessed. The variety of Porter apples exhibited, exceeded anything
I ever saw. I noticed some sweet potatoes raised there, which would
compare with any Delawares or Carolinas. The ladies evidently
intended to sustain their part in the hall exhibition. The needle-work
and also artificial flowers furnished by them, served to interest the eyes
of all beholders.

The dairy department was also well sustained, both in the exhibition
of cheese and butter, and in fine, in all the departments in the hall a
well cultivated taste and a well directed effort has made the ladies'
department a perfect success.

I now come to the last part of the programme, yet not the least
interesting. I allude to the custom of the members meeting in this
upper hall, with their wives and children, to surround the tables loaded
with the substantial and inviting viands and luxuries to refresh the
inner man.

This was the pleasantest feature your delegate ever noticed at any of
our fairs. I think one of the greatest blessings arising from our socie-
ties is derived from the social influences which ought to be felt in thus
mingling together. Let us as men renew our acquaintance with each
other, from time to time, exchanging thoughts also upon the interests of
agriculture, and give and receive such information as we may have
gathered since the last annual festival. But let us never forget tliat
our ladies are entitled to the same privileges of social life and festive
gatherings, that we of sterner natures feel the necessity of, for our own
good. After the dinner was over, the annual address was delivered by
the Rev. James F. Clarke, of Boston. It was an interesting, able and
instructive discourse, and listened to Avith marked attention by his
audience. After the address proper, the Hon. T. D. Eliot, M. C, and
others, followed in short speeches, thus closing the exercises of the day.

In the evening, as is the usual custom, a large company gathered to
spend a short time and perhaps longer, in the pleasures of the dance.
But as your delegate did not receive an early education in that art, he
did not feel at liberty to engage with the merry party, lest he might
prove a stumbling block in the way of enjoyment ; and yet your
delegate enjojed the sight of such a party as Avell as could be expected
by one not instructed in that accomplishment. I have but to return my
thanks to our a-sociate, George A. King, and to the president, N.
Hinckley, Esq., for their kindness to me while I remained with them.

T. D. Thatcher.

APPENDIX. xxxiii

NANTUCKET.

The twelfth annual exhibition of the Nantucket Agi-icultural Society
was held on the grounds of the society on the 25th and 26th days of
September ; and notwithstanding the forbidding appearance of the
weather in the morning, the Nantucketers, who are accustomed to wet,
being entirely surrounded by water, failed not to appear in good time
and in good numbers to enter into the toils and festivities of the occasion.

A spirit of laudable ambition Avas brought to the fair in the hearts of
those who had long anticipated the day when each would vie with his
neighbor and rejoice the heart of his companion.

The clouds passed away, and left the afterpart of each day joyous in
the rays of the great luminary, and the faces of those present beaming
with delight and in thanksgiving to Him who rules the destinies of man,
that He had vouchsafed to them the clear air and the refreshing breeze,
which gave to all surrounding objects a beauty which they had feared
would appear in but simple deformity.

The occasion was honored by the presence not only of the dwellers
on the island, but by a goodly number from various sections, whose
presence added to the pleasures of the day. That strangers should be
attracted to this place, is not to be wondered at, when we consider the
many beauties it is capable of introducing to the eye and to the under-
standing.

The cattle presented for exhibition discovered a laudable enterprise
in the farmers of Nantucket. But few animals were on exhibition that
would not grace the pens at any county show. Most of the superior
stock was of the Alderney and Ayrshire breeds, which seem to be better
adapted to that locality than are the Durhams. There were some very
fine specimens of Ayrshires exhibited by Manuel Enas and A. M.
Myrick. Superior Alderney stock was exhibited by James Thompson,
Esq., president of the society, and by A. Franklin and Edward
Hammond.

The enterprise of these gentlemen in the way of stock-breeding is
doing much to benefit that society, and through it the community at
large.

It is difficult often for us to break away from our own old habits, or
to get out of the track trod by our fathers. This may be a reason why
so few of our worthy agriculturists do not enter more readily into the
improvement of their herds of cattle. The cost of keeping the improved
and approved breeds is no more than that of the less approved. When
every farmer shall have looked to his own interest in this matter, we
shall find our pastures covered with better stock, and our stalls filled

xxxiv APPENDIX.

with that wherein lies the stock-breeder's pride — sleek, handsome,
productive animals.

I would by no means be thought to speak lightly of grade stock. I
admire such — the higher the grade the better ; but of none do I think
so highly as I do of the thoroughbred.

Many fine grade animals were on exhibition — animals that the owners
may take pride in ; but that pride cannot well compete Avith the pride
of the thorough-breeder.

Attention was drawn to three native buffaloes offered on exhibition,
one six and two eight years old. With what success and with what
profit these animals can be reared on the island I am not able to report.

This island seems to be capable of producing fruits, not only of the
animal and vegetable kingdoms, but a multiplied variety of handiwork,
as was manifest by the exhibition of fancy articles by the ladies, all very
good, much of it very creditable to the milder sex and better half of
creation.

There seemed to be no lack of skill in the various arts. In the hall
of exhibition were eel-spears and photographs, rattan baskets and huckle-
berries, miniatures on porcelain and selves, and a great variety of useful
as Avell as ornamental articles.

This society, as well as some other societies in the State, offers pre-
miums on reports — for the best report. This practice will tend to elevate
the mental capacity of the society in the estimation of the public.

One great failure in those who write reports awarding the premiums
offered by agricultural societies, is they fail to report anything but the
award. They do not give the reason for the award, which the public is
justly entitled to. Perhaps they cannot do this, for the fact that the
competitor himself fails to give the facts that are important for the
reporter to know before he reports. All the facts that are important in
the case should be placed in the hands of the committee by the
competitor.

Such as the following is often the case : " To B we award the first
premium for the best fat cow, $3 ; for the best fat hog, $4."

These seven dollars which are awarded to B, did once belong to the
State, and were given to the agricultural society that it might in return
benefit the public. The society has given them to B because he had
the best fat cow and the best fat hog. How is the public benefited by
these facts ? The important facts are yet behind the curtain. The public
want to know — the State is entitled to know — what B has done, and
how long he has been doing what he has done, to entitle him to these
seven dollars.

The general features connected with the exhibition at Nantucket,
were highly commendable. They have ample grounds and a good
track, and on this occasion it was sacred to worth and merit.

APPENDIX. xxxy

Scrubs, old pelters and useless animals were not there. The family
horse, the farm horse, the good trotter, the saddle horse, the fast walker,
and the horse for all work were there. For general purposes, the
horse perhaps, of all animals, stands in the first rank. He is an animal
that no class in society can well do without. He is used in the ordinary
service, and may be in all the service on the farm.

He is used by the man of business and the man of pleasure. Like
other beasts, he was given for man's use, not for his abuse. The fact
however cannot be denied, that through man's impetuosity, he is often
made to suffer.

It is very desirable that more attention should be given to the breed-
ing of horses. The horse for all work is what we most need — the
good roadster is strongly desired, while the race-horse, fit only for the
turf, does not come within the catalogue of our necessities. Yet the
ambition of many is to urge this class of horses into the foremost posi-
tion of some of our agricultural exhibitions, to the detriment of other
animals of use to the farmer. The only race that was run at the Nan-
tucket exhibition, was by three pedestrian competitors, on the half mile
track. The first prize of $3 was won by Alvin Hull, of Nantucket,
time 2^§ minutes.

The second prize of $2, was won by William Eaton, of Sandwich.
The novelty of this part of the exhibition caused some excitement for
the moment.

The plough was but little used. Only two entries for oxen, and one
entry for horses, were made, all of which competed for the prize, and
each gained it, though not the first prize.

The display of fruit was very commendable, considering the season.
Pears were offered by Henry Cofiin, and Samuel King, twenty-three
varieties each. James Thompson offered sixteen varieties, and E. H.
Alley offered fifteen varieties. Fine specimens of the pear were offered
by various other individuals.

Apples of different kinds and grapes of various hue and cluster, the
flavor of which in connection with that of Ihe quince and the peach
(all of which were truly good specimens,) filled the air with a perfume
that drew the multitude together, and so did the Nantucket glee club,
which made the air to ring with strains most charming.

To be particular to notice everything that was exhibited, will require
more time than will be profitable to spend at the present time, but we
must be allowed to say, that the bread and butter commended not only
themselves, but those who made them, to the favorable consideration of
all who may chance to seek such skilful hands.

The farmers' holiday being past for the season, it is natural and prof-
itable to look back to the occasion and ask ourselves what all this has

xxxvi APPENDIX.

profited us. No reflecting, unbiased mind can ponder the scenes through
which we have passed, without gathering some ideas that will be useful
to him.

Not only have there been trials of skill and trials of strength exhib-
ited, but man's inventive genius has been brought to the test. It is
impossible for a man of inquiring mind to have viewed all that has
passed before him without in some way being profited, — without adding
something to the amount of his knowledge, however great that knowledge
may have been.

These are occasions on which comparisons are made, and with a small
degree, even, of emulation, a man will imbibe some new idea that will
occupy his mind during his leisure moments.

From thence arise the good fruits of these exhibitions, and he is a
dolt who will not partake of them.

Thomas W. Ward.

MARTHA'S VINEYARD.

The tenth annual exhibition of the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural
Society was held on the 15th, 16th and 17th of October last. It was
my privilege, as a substitute for my friend Sewall, to land upon this
island of the sea on the morning of the 15th.

Although limited in territory, this island possesses many interesting
features which claim our consideration. Its inhabitants have long been
reputed for their hospitable and generous character. They have here-
tofore derived most of their income from the treasures of the ocean.
They have been more accustomed to ploughing the sea than the land.
Deprived, in a great measure, of intercourse with the surrounding coun-
try, they find, when at home, a community within themselves. Here is
the true secret why this society, with its limited resources, has pros-
pered to such an extent. It is a family concern ; each one seems desir-
ous to add something to make the occasion instructive and interesting ;
no one has the fear that their offering, however small, will be over-
looked, or that they would have occasion to say. It is no use for me to
contribute, so long as some more favored one will claim the merit. One
of the most interesting and encouraging features in this exhibition was
the great number of contributors and variety of contributions. The
ladies were there in their every-day costume, not as carpers and idle
spectators, but anxious to show us their bread and butter, paintings and
drawings, preserves, pickles and wine, fruits and floAvers, and more
especially their wonderful skill in domestic manufacture and fancy
articles, slippers, shawls and tidies, mats and rugs, quilts and cushions,

APPENDIX. xxxvii

sacks and socks, in fine, articles too numerous to mention, all useful and
ornamental.

The specimens of butter were very numerous, — ^not in large quantity,
for I understand that two pounds was sufficient to enter for premium.

In the department of fruit, the specimens of apples and pears were
quite numerous and of excellent quality.

The example of a few enterprising men has already produced a won-
derful change in the agricultural products of the island ; lands once
barely worth possessing are now found capable of producing some of
the choicest fruits of the earth.

Retired sea-captains find it profitable to devote a part of their hard
earnings to the cultivation of the soil. Corn, rye, oats and vegetables
of every description are produced, not surpassed in any section of our
Commonwealth. A vast area of land, now lying waste and desolate,
might be made by the hand of culture to yield abundant harvests.
Enough has already been done to illustrate what can be done.

The stock exhibited did not come up to the standard I had expected.
Although measures have been taken to introduce the breed of Ayr-
shires upon the island, still I think not with that success desired ; they
did not seem fully developed, owing, no doubt, in a good measure to
their care and keeping. The sheep were of a very inferior quality,
although they boast of most excellent mutton.

The whole island might be converted into one great sheep pasture,
where with care and attention, some of the finest breeds, such as
Merinos and Southdowns, might be raised to profit. Let some enter-
prising farmer set the example, and before many years this island could
boast of as fine sheep as the hills of Vermont.

In closing this Report, I would express my gratitude for the kind and
hospitable manner in which I was received. Especially my thanks are
due to the family where I found such a pleasant and cheerful home.

Nathan Durfee.

KETUK:iNrS

OF

AGBICULTURAL SOCIETIES,
FOR 18 6 7.

xl

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APPENDIX.

Analysis of Premiums and Gratuities Awarded — Concluded.

MISCELLANEOUS.

SOCIETIES.

Amount awarded for
Agricultural Imple-
ments.

^1
■a ii

1 ^

i'

1°

lEi
<

u

3 3
O o

Am't awarded for all
other objects strict-
ly agricultural not
specified above.

Amount awarded for
objects other than
agricultural.

11

M P ■»

e S.2
og-s

Massachusetts,

-

$1,000 00

-

-

-

-

12

Essex, .

$88 00

30 00

-

$40 00

-

$149 50

412

Middlesex, .

18 00

-

-

-

-

CO 50

198

Middlesex North,

2 00

-

-

-

-

27 00

-

Middlesex South,

27 50

30 00

-

25 00

$8 00

66 95

193

Worcester, .

92 50

22 00

-

-

-

15 25

212

"Worcester West,

20 00

30 00

-

10 00

-

92 00

180

Worcester North,

51 75

50 00

-

-

24 00

92 62

236

Worcester North-West,

-

-

-

-

-

27 50

67

Worcester South, .

3 50

35 00

-

-

7 00

97 45

176

Worcester South-East,

-

30 00

-

-

72 09

207

Hampshire, Franklin )
and Hampden, j

11 50

-

-

-

-

40 25

210

Hampshire, .

16 25

15 00

-

40 00

-

44 00

190

Highland,

-

-

_

-

3 00

96 00

144

Hampden,

31 00

15 00

-

-

57 25

73

Hampden East,

19 50

25 00

-

80 00

-

39 00

75

Union, .

-

-

-

-

-

-

9

Franklin,

12 00

10 00

-

-

13 50

47 75

179

Housatonic, .

18 00

-

-

-

-

2.32 00

313

Berkshire,

02 00

-

-

-

-

423 00

475

Hoosac Valley,

-

-

-

-

-

150 50

300

Norfolk, .

23 00

15 00

-

-

-

29 00

160

Bristol, .

9 00

105 00

$43 00

60 00

-

242 25

378

Bristol Central,

35 00

-

-

-

-

103 00

271

Plymouth,

12 75

60 00

-

GO 00

-

220 12

366

Marshfield, .

-

-

-

-

-

67 75

218

Hingham,

-

-

-

-

61 00

137 89

650

Barnstable, .

3 00

7 00

-

12 00

-

60 63

227

Nantucket, .

-

13 00

-

12 00

45 00

63 50

114

Martha's Vineyard,

-

15 00

-

20 00

18 00

109 57

246

Totals, .

•

.$550 25

$1,507 00 1 $43 00

$365 00

$179 50

$2,704 32

6,491

APPENDIX.

li

NAMES of the Cities and Toxons in which resided the persons when
receiving the Premiums and Gratuities awarded hy the County Socie-
ties, and the several amounts as disbursed.

MASSACHUSETTS.

Brighton,

Danvers,

Dedham,

Milton,

Needham,

$200 00

25 00

15 00

15 00

100 00

Newburyport,
Newton,
Palmer,
Waltliam, .

Total, .
Also three scholarships, in Cambridge, Hadley and Sunderland,

$50 00
15 00

150 00
25 00

$595 00
153 00

ESSEX.

Amesbury, . . . . |5 00

Marblehead, . . . $23 00

Atkinson, .

50

Methuen, .

9 00

Andover, .

14 00

Middleton, .

14 00

Boston,

40 00

Newbury, .

38 00

Boxford, .

37 50

Newburyport,

24 50

Bradford, .

96 00

North Andover,

71 00

Danvers, .

122 00

Rowley,

12 00

Georgetown,

1 00

Salem,

21 00

Groveland, .

32 50

South Danvers,

10 50

Haverhill, .

399 50

Topsfield, .

23 50

Ipswich,

5 50

Wenham, .

6 00

Lawrence, .

. 20 00

West Newbury,

41 00

Lynn, .

1 50

Lynnfield, .

5 00

Total, . . . $1,073 50

MIDDLESEX.

Acton,

. $43 00

Boston,

. $8 00

Arlington, .

. 37 00

Boxborough,

2 00

Bedford,

. 13 75

Cambridge,

. 31 00

Belmont,

. 104 00

Carlisle,

6 25

Billerica,

3 00

Charlestown,

50

lii

APPENDIX.

MIDDLESEX— Continued.

Chelmsford, . . . $7 00

Sherborn . . . . ^0 50

Concord, .

205 75

Somerville, .

17 00

Fitchburg, .

3 00

Stow, .

26 75

Framingham,

49 50

Sudbury, .

5 50

Groton,

3 00

Waltham, .

16 50

Hudson,

5 75

Wayland, .

20 00

Lexington, .

132 25

Westford, .

8 00

Lincoln,

46 25

Weston,

3 50

Littleton, .

28 00

Winchester,

1 00

Maiden,

2 00

Woburn, .

31 50

Marlborough,

15 25

Worcester, .

1 00

Providence,

4 00

Total, .

. !^881 50

MIDDLESEX NORTH.

MIDDLESEX SOUTH.

WORCESTER.

Acton,

. ^8 00

Reading, .

. $5 00

Billerica, .

. 22 00

Tewksbury,

. 16 25

Chelmsford,

. 130 50

Tyngsborough, .

. 94 00

Dunstable, .

. 68 00

Wilmington,

. 25 00

Dracut,

. 38 50

Lowell,

. 121 50

Total, .

. ^528 75

Ashland, .

. $13 75

Out of the district.

. $12 50

Framingham,

. 343 08

Sherborn, .

. 10 25

Hopkinton, .

. 19 00

Southborougb, .

. 26 25

Holliston, .

7 50

Sudbury, .

. 20 68

Marlborough,

. 12 25

Wayland, .

. 26 81

Natick,

. 27 55

Total, .

. $519 62

Auburn,

. $2 00

Charlton, .

. $15 00

Barre,

. 21 00

Dudley, .

8 00

Bolton,

. 15 00

Fitchburg, .

. Ill 00

Boylston, .

6 00

Grafton,

. 15 00

APPENDIX.

liii

WORCESTER— Continued.

Hardwick, . . . .

$5 00

Shrewsbury, . . . $35 25

Holden,

3 50

Southbridge,

14 00

Leominster,

25 00

Spencer,

3 00

Milford, . . . .

35 00

Sterling,

50

Millbury, .

101 00

Sutton,

222 GO

New Braintree, .

22 00

Webster, .

2 00

Northborough, .

5 00

Westborough,

36 00

North Bridgewater, .

150 00

West Boylston,

. 32 50

Northbridge,

1 00

Worcester, .

. 481 75

Oakham, .

75

Other towns out of district, 28 50

Oxford,

22 00

Princeton, .

99 00

Total, . . . $1,517 75

WORCESTER WEST.

Athol, $4 00

Oakham,

$14 50

Barre,

372 75

Palmer,

55 00

Brimfield,

20 00

Petersham, .

1 75

Boston,

11 00

Prescott,

8 00

Brookline,

1 50

Princeton, .

27 00

Charlton,

37 00

Sturbridge, .

7 00

Fitchburg,

100 00

Sutton,

81 00

Hardwick,

100 00

Templeton, .

23 25

Hubbardston,

2 00

Warren,

14 00

Monson,

15 00

Winchester, N. H.,

25 00

New Braintree,

. 20 25
. 23 75

Worcester, .
Total, .

28 25

North Brool

ifield

(

81,022 00

WORCESTER NORTH.

Ashburnham, . . . |13 00

Northborough, .

. $1 00

Ashby,

8 00

Oakdale, .

1 00

Boston,

7 00

Princeton, .

. 217 50

Fitchburg, .

536 37

Royalston, .

6 00

Lancaster, .

2 00

Shirley, ...

. 14 00

Leominster,

64 25

Sterling,

. 11 00

Littleton, .

8 00

Westminster,

. 47 50

Lunenburg,

113 75

New Haven,

1 50

Total, .

$1,051 87

liv

APPENDIX.

WORCESTER NORTH-WEST.

Athol, .

Fitzwilliam, N. H.,
New Salem,
Orange,
Petersham, .

$38 25

58

1 00

2 67

1 58

Phillipston, .
Royalston, .
Springfield,

Total, .

^21 66
9 00
2 58

^77 32

WORCESTER SOUTH.

Brimfield, . . . . $40 00

Sturbridge, .

. $174 45

Brookfield, .

16 40

Sutton,

. 31 00

Charlton, .

152 55

Wales,

50

Dudley,

53 00

Warren,

. 45 90

Holland,

9 00

Webster, .

. 26 90

Millbury, .

50

Worcester, .

1 00

Southbridge,

99 50

Spencer, .

5 00

Total, .

. $655 70

WORCESTER SOUTH-EAST.

Bellingham, . . . $6 50

Providence, R. L,

$8 00

Blackstone,

11 00

Salem, Oregon, .

35

Charlton, .

17 00

Southborough, .

12 00

Franklin, .

4 00

Sutton,

20 00

Grafton,

19 00

Upton,

65 00

Holllston, .

31 25

Uxbridge, . . . .

15 00

Hopkinton,

88 25

Westborough,

68 00

Medway, .
Mendon,

3 12

125 00

Wrentham, .

3 25

Milford, .

229 87

Total, . . . .

$726 59

HAMPSHIRE, HAMPDEN AND FRANKLIN.

Amherst, .

. $18 00

Easthampton,

. $39 50

Chicopee, .

. 30 00

Granby,

4 00

Cummington,

. 11 00

Hadley, .

.. 60 50

Deerfield, .

. 136 00

Hatfield, .

. 29 50

APPENDIX. Iv

HAMPSHIRE, HAMPDEN AND FRANKLIN— Continued.

Leverett, .

m 00

Springfield,

. $21 00

Northampton,

269 00

Sunderland,

. 39 00

Plalnfield, .

19 00

Westhampton, .

5 00

Prescott,

3 00

Whately, .

4 00

Shelburne, .

53 00

Williamsburg,

. 34 50

South Hadley, .

17 00

Southampton,

26 00

Total, .

. $823 00

HAMPSHIRE.

Amherst, .

1352 65

Belchertown,

23 25

Enfield,

24 00

Chicopee, .

12 00

Granby,

9 00

Hadley,

62 75

Leverett, .

20 82

Monson,

5 00

Northampton,

1 00

Pelham,
Prescott,
Shutesbury,
South Deerfield,
South Hadley,
Springfield,
Sunderland,
Westfield, .

Total, .

$29 25

4 25
7 00

25 00

5 00
110 00
133 05

28 00

2 02

HIGHLAND.

Amherst, . . . . $5 50

Newton Falls, . . . $0 50

Becket,

71 50

Northampton,

6 00

Chester,

65 75

Peru, .

40 75

Dalton,

2 00

Pittsfield, .

20 25

Hinsdale, .

47 75

Russell,

50

Huntington,

4 50

Southampton,

10 00

Lanesborough,

2 50

Washington,

3 75

Lee, .

50

Worthington,

17 50

Middlefield,

144 75

Montgomery,

3 00

Total, .... $447 00

HAMPDEN.

Agawam, .
Brimfield, .

$2 00
3 50

Chicopee,
Holyoke,

m 00

13 00^

Ivi

APPENDIX.
HAMPDEN— Continued.

Longmeadow,

. $67 50

West Springfield,

. $122 50

Ludlow,

6 00

Wilbraham,

. 49 00

Springfield,

. 375 00

Westfield, .

9 00

Total, .

. $712 50

HAMPDEN EAST,

Belchertown,

.. $18 75

Monson,

. $217 00

Brimfield, .

. 34 00

Palmer,

. 167 25

Holland,

7 00

Wales,

2 00

Ludlow,

. 12 00

Total, .

. $458 00

UNION.

Blandford, .
Chester,
Otis, .

$10 00
3 00
2 00

Russell,
Total,

$3 00

$18 00

FRANKLIN,

Ashfield, . . . . $2 50

Montague, .

$15 50

Bernardston,

24 00

Nortbfield, .

33 75

Coleraine, .

17 50

Orange,

3 00

Conway,

98 50

Out of the county.

6 00

Deerfield,

157 50

Rowe,

6 00

Erving,

7 00

Shelburne, .

204 25

Gill, .

12 50

Shutesbury,

2 00

Greenfield,

189 50

Sunderland,

40 50

Leverett,

. 12 00

Leyden,

. 11 00

Total, .

$843 00

HOUSATONIC,

Adams,

. $2 00

Great Barrington,

. $399 00

Alford,

. 53 00

Lee, . . . .

. 114 00

Becket,

. 11 00

Lenox,

. 102 50

Egremont, .

. 151 00

Lanesborough, .

7 00

APPENDIX.
HOUSATONIC— Continued.

Ivii

Monterey, .

. $44 00

Stockbridge,

. 1177 50

New Marlborough,

. 35 50

State of Connecticut, .

. 16 00

Otis, ....

2 50

State of New York, .

. 13 00

Pittsfield, .

5 00

Tyringham,

. 16 00

Richmond, .

4 00

West Stockbridge,

. 12 00

Sandisfield, .

5 00

Sheffield, .

. 372 00

Total, .

$1,542 00

BERKSHIRE,

Becket,

$18 00

Peru, ....

$13 00

Cheshire, .

84 00

Pittsfield, .

. 577 50

Dalton,

68 00

Richmond, .

31 00

Glendale, .

2 00

Sheffield, . . . .

30 00

Great Barrington,

67 50

South Adams,

80 00

Hancock, .

20 50

South Williamstown, .

21 00

Lanesborough, .

233 50

Stockbridge,

135 00

Lee, ....

128 00

Washington,

2 00

Lenox,

261 00

West Stockbridge,

4 00

Monterey, .

3 00

Williamstown, .

104 00

New Ashford,

13 50

Windsor, .

2 00

North Adams,

124 00

Otis, ....

4 00

Total, .

12,026 50

HOOSAC VALLEY.

Cheshire, .

$37 25

North Adams, .

. $252 50

Clarksburg,

6 00

Pittsfield, .

1 00

Florida,

16 50

Pownall,

. 29 00

Hinsdale, .

6 00

Stamford, .

3 00

Horse Show, three days,

361 50

South Adams,

. 136 00

Lanesborough, .

24 00

Williamstown,

. 259 50

Lee, ....

22 00

30 75

Windsor, .
Total, .

2 00

Lenox,

$1,187 00

Iviii

APPENDIX.
NORFOLK.

Boston, . . . . $58 00

Needham, .... $143 00

Brookline, .

. 23 00

Quincy,

4 00

Canton,

39 00

Randolph, .

1 00

Dedham, .

137 50

Roxbury, .

76 00

Dorchester, .

197 00

Sharon,

11 00

Dover,

36 25

Stoughton, .

67 00

Foxborough,

1 00

Walpole, .

16 00

Franklin, .

1 00

West Roxbury,

140 00

Medfield, .

24 50

Weymouth,

57 00

Medway, .

6 50

Wrentham, .

11 00

Milton,

41 00

Total, .

$1,090 75

BRISTOL CENTRAL,

PLYMOUTH.

Acushnet, . . . . $59 25

New Bedford, . . . $390 50

Berkley, .

90 25

Norton,

53 00

Dartmouth, .

3 25

Plymouth,

10 00

Dighton,

14 75

Raynham,

14 50

Fairhaven, .

1 00

Rochester,

10 00

Fall River, .

288 50

Somerset,

29 00

Freetown, .

55 00

Swanzey,

190 00

Lakeville, .

122 75

Taunton,

464 00

Mansfield, .

8 00

Westport,

17 50

Middleborough,

6 00

Myrick's, .

13 25

Total, . . . $1,840 50

Abington, .

$88 00

Hingham, . . . . $3 50

Bridgewater,

622 05

Kingston, .

4 60

Carver,

13 00

Lakeville, .

21 00

Dartmouth, .

1 00

Marion,

10 00

Duxbury, .

17 25

Marshfield, .

6 00

East Bridgewater,

97 00

Mattapoisett,

50

Halifax,

43 75

Medford, .

9 00

Hanson,

1 00

Middleborough,

110 76

APPENDIX.
PLYMOUTH— Continued.

lix

New Bedford,

. $61 50

South Scituate, .

. 113 00

North Bridgewater, .

. 380 25

Stoughton, . .

. 20 00

Plymouth, .

. 40 63

Taunton, .

. 115 00

Plympton, .

. 42 00

Wareham, .

5 00

Rochester, .

. 43 75

West Bridgewater,

. 130 14

Pembroke, .

3 00

Total, .

$1,902 68

MARSHFIELD.

HINGHAM.*

Abington, .

. $0 25

Marshfield, .

. $167 86

Duxbury, .

. 37 91

North Bridgewater,

2 00

East Boston,

6 00

Pembroke, .

. 10 50

Easton,

50

Plymouth, .

2 37

Hanover, .

25

Scituate,

3 50

Kingston, .

2 25

Total, .

. $233 39

Cohasset,
Hanover,
Hingham,
Hull, .

Marshfield,

Quincy,
Scituate,
Weymouth,

Total,

BARNSTABLE,

Barnstable, .
Dennis,
Harwich, .

. $351 06

. 15 25

7 00

Sandwich,
Yarmouth,

Total,

$27 50
23 80

$424 61

NANTUCKET.

No towns specified in returns.

Total, .

. $506 75

MARTHA'S VINEYARD.

Chilmark, .... $180 00
Edgartown, . . . 91 02

Tisbury,
Total, .

. $335 25
. $606 27

* No disbursements in returns.

Ix INDEX.

INDEX

TO THE SECRETARY'S REPORT,

Page.

Adaptation of breeds of cattle, 21

Agassiz, Prof. Louis, lecture by, 145

Agricultural Colleges, 46, 47, 55

Agricultural College buildings, 227

Agricultural College of Massachusetts, 55, 61, 69, 224

Agricultural College, plan of study in, 58, 224

Agricultural College, report on, 224

Agricultural education, discussion on, 29,39,65

Agriculture an intellectual pursuit, 9, 46

Agriculture in Europe, 10

Alderneys, 51

Allen's weeder, 288

Amazon, valley of the, lecture on, 145

American hay tedder, 291, 292

Angora goats, 77

Angora wool and its qualities, 78

Animals, breeding of for special purposes, 21, 51

Animals, feeding for milk or butter, 71

Animals, feeding, 25, 31, 35, 37, 52, 81, 82

Animals, impregnation of, 47, 48, 49

Animals, in and in breeding of, 76

Animals, selection of for breeding, 23, 30

Apple culture, 88,121,251,256,259

Apple culture, report on, 251

Apple, failure of the 90, 91

Apple orchards, 88

Ashes as manure, 239

Ayrshires and their value, 21, 30

Ayrshires for dairy purposes, 21

Ayrshires, introduction of, 30

Bag-holder, improved, 300

Bay State rake, 294

Birds should be protected, 124

Birnie, Wm., essay by, 267

Birnie, Wm., experiments in feeding by, 28, 33, 37

Board of Agriculture, connection of with Agricultural College, .... 251

Board of Agriculture, history of, 8

Board of Agriculture, meeting at Boston, 223

Board of Agriculture, meeting at Concord, 7,70

INDEX. Ixi

Breeding, laws of, 27, 28, 48, 49, 76, 281

Buckeye mower, 290

Bull, E. W., address by, 7

Bulls and their management, 77, 78, 79

Cabbages as food for stock, 32, 81

Canning meats, 302

Cattle, adaptation of breeds of, 21, 279

Cattle breeding, 20, 30, 43, 44, 48, 49, 279, 281

Cattle, care of, 31, 32, 37

Cattle, characteristics of different breeds, 21, 24, 51, 279

Cattle, diseases among, 6

Cattle, food for and treatment of, 20, 44, 71, 82, 83

Cattle food, preparation of, 31, 35, 37, 51, 53, 82

Cattle, grade and scrub, 43

Cattle husbandry, discussion on, 19, 70

Cattle, oleaginous foods for, 73

Clayey lands, ploughing of, .• . . 167

Clement, Asa, essay by, 269

Compost of dead animals, 275

Committees of the Board for 1868, 284, 285

Contagious diseases among cattle, report on, 6

Corn, production of to the acre, 205

Cotton-seed meal, 26, 53, 72, 73, 84, 85

Cows and heifers, value' of in Massachusetts, 282

Cows, food for and treatment of, 26, 44

Curculio attacking fruits, 123

Delegates to exhibitions in 1868, . . . . 283

Development and training, 67

Doe plough, 286

Drainage and irrigation, 240, 241

Drainage, discussion on, 208

Drainage, essay on, 260, 261

Drainage, effect of on soils, 176, 213, 214, 219, 261

Drainage of lands lengthens seasons, 211

Drains, depths of, 215

Drains, varieties of, 212, 213

Drift origin, 155

Education in Massachusetts, . . . 62,63

Excelsior root-cutter, 299

Fairs, times of holding, 277

Fall and spring ploughing, essay on, 267

Feeding ofanimals, 25, 26, 37, 45, 53, 71, 74

Fences, durability of, 231

Food, preparation of, 31, 35, 37, 45, 52, 53, 76

Fruit culture, discussion on, 87

Fruit, value of in Massachusetts, 87

Gamgee's, Prof. John, method of preserving meat, 303, 304

Gas lime for manure, 200, 201, 239

Glass houses for fruit culture, 132

Ixii INDEX.

Page.

Grape culture, 89, 96, 98, 106, 103, 109, 111, 115

Grape, Concord, 102, 105, 110

Grape, Delaware, 102, 108

Grape, Diana and Catawba, 115

Grape, Hartford, 103

Grape, hybridization of the, 117, 118

Grape, protection of the in winter 119

Grape, Rogers' No. 4, 102

Grapes, diseases among, 89, 96, 97, 106

Grapes, seedling, 113

Grass, time to cut, 247

Green crops ploughed in for manure, 237

Hay crop of Massachusetts, 245

Hay crop, report on, 244

Hay-cutters, 298

Hay tea for calves, 37

Hay tedders, 291

Hedges and farm fences, report on, 229

Hen manure, value of, 184, 185, 199

Horse-rakes, 293, 294

Hyde, Alexander, essay by, 179

Imperial farm at Vincennes 11

Impregnation of animals, . ■ 44, 47, 50

Improved Danvers seed-sower and hoe, 287

Improvement of stock, essay on, 277

In and in breeding, . 76

Johnson, J. Jr., essay by, 277

Lactometers, 80

Lands affected by drainage, 209

Laying tile drains, 213, 217

Laws of impregnation of animals, 44, 49, 50, 51

Liebig's process for preserving meat, 302

Lime as manure, 238

Loring, George B., address bj', 18

Manure, a complete, 17

Manure and its application, report on, 232

Manures, absorbent, 275

Manures, discussion on, 179, 184, 198

Manures, essay on, by A. Hj'de, 179

Manures from the hennery and piggery, 184, 185

Manures on the surface of soils, 193, 198

Manures should be adapted to soils, 206, 207

Manures, waste of, 233, 243

Marl, 197

Meat, production of profitable, 22, 51

Merriam, H. C, remarks by, 45, 47

Mildew on the grape, 89, 96, 97, 106

Milk and its test, 80, 81

INDEX. Ixiii

Page.

Milk of cows affected by their food, 71, 80

Montgomery fork, 297

Morgan's, Dr., process of preserving meats, 301

Mowers, 290

Muck, its value and uses, 180, 181, 234, 235

Muck on sandy soils, 195

Mulching peach-trees, 131

Museum of comparative anatomy, 40, 41

National fodder-cutter, 298

Natural history, a knowledge of necessary, 42

Natural laws should be known 27, 28, 48, 49

Night soil and its value, 182, 183, 269

Night soil, essay on, 269

Old orchards, 252, 254, 255

Oleaginous foods for cattle, 73, 74

Peach culture, 125, 130, 134

Peaches in pots, 127

Pears affected by seasons, 93

Pear culture, 92, 93

Pears, diseases in, 94, 95

Peat muck, 187, 191

Plaster of Paris a manure, • . 237

Plough, Doe, 286

Ploughing, best time for, 136, 137

Ploughing, deep and shallow, 138, 139, 143, 164, 165, 173

Ploughing, discussion on, 134, 163, 165, 175, 178

Ploughing in autumn and spring, 136, 137, 141, 267

Ploughing in manure, 165, 190

Ploughs, kinds of for different uses, 142, 286

Plumer's adjustable hoe, 288

Potash and soda, 15

Preserving meats, 301

Product of dairy cows in Massachusetts, 282

Roots for stock, 83, 84

Salting meats, 301

Salt as manure, 237

Science and practice, 39, 43

Seaweed for manure, 203

Seedling grapes, 113

Sheep manure, 189

Sheep in pastures, 53

Specialties in farming, report on, 248, 249

Soap and old orchards, 253

Soils, distinction of, 163

Steaming food, 31,32,33,45,75,82

Steamer, simple and cheap, 38

Stockbridge, Levi, address by, 55

Student labor on the college farm, 58,59

Ixiv INDEX.

Subsoil attachment for ploughs, 171

Subsoil ploughing, 138, 139

Sulphur for grape-vines, 104

Surface manuring, 193

Tile-draining, 222, 223, 266

Tile-making, 223

Ville, Prof., experiments by, 15, 16, 39

Ville, Prof, six lectures on agriculture, 12

Vine, age of the, 99

Vine, management of the, 129

Vine, pruning of the, 107

Voelcker, Prof, experiments of, 54, 85

Walker's improved horse pitchfork, 296

Waste of woollen mills for manure, . . . 186, 187

Wheat, culture of, 137

Wheat in New England 9

Whittemore self-locking rake, 293

Wine as a beverage, 107

Young orchards, treatment of, 256

ABSTRACT OF RETURNS

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES

MASSACHUSETTS,

18 6 7.

EDITED BY

CHARLES L. FLINT,

SECKETAEY OF THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

BOSTON:

WEIGHT & POTTER, STATE PRINTERS,

No. 4 Spring Lane.

1868.

PEEFAOE;*

I am indebted to the owners of the several animals Illustrated in this volume
for the loan of cuts, a considerable part of which have been drawn and
engraved expressly for use in this Report.

" Aurora 2d," the head of which appears as the Frontispiece of the Report, is
red and white. She was calved April 7, 1864. She was got by " Matadore,"
5,002— out of imported » Aurora " by " 3d Duke of York," (10,160)—
" Allspice " by " 2d Duke of Northumberland, (3,646,) " Young Amazon "
by "Crusader," (934,) "Amazon" by "Sultan," (1,485)— " Bellona" by
" Mars," (411)—" RoUa" by " North Star," (458.)

Numbers inclosed thus ( — ) refer to the English Herd Book, and others to
the American.

" Hope 10th," bred and owned by H. G. White, of South Framingham,
was calved October 12, 1865. Got by "Monitor," 5,019— out of "Hope"
by imported " Usurper," 3,522 — imported " Hopeless " by " Horatio," (10,-
335)—" Lady Elizabeth " by " Earl of Essex," (6,955)—" White Rose " by
" Senator," (2,610)—" Red Rose " by " Columella," (904)— by " Shakspeare,"
(1,429)— by " Blythe Comet," (85)— by " Neswick," (1,266)— by " R. Col-
ling's," son of " Favorite," (1,033.)

The " 6th Duke of Thorndale " is considered by many good judges as the
best Shorthorn bull in the United States.

The Shorthorn bull "Windsor" is a roan, the property of A. J. Cass,
Holliston, Mass. Calved April 19, 1865. Got by " Monitor," 5,019— out of
" Windsor Lady " by " 2d Hiawatha," 1,660—" Windsor Belle " by Powhat-
tan," 829—" Red Romp " by " Agate 2,"—" Romp " by " Enchanter," (3,729)
—"Rachel" by " Washington," (1,566)— " Imported Pansy" by " Blaize,"
76— "Primrose" by "Charles," (127)— by "Blythe Comet," (85)— by
" Prince," (521)— by " Patriot," (i8Q.)— American Herd Book, Vol. 7.

" Monitor," 5,019 (bred by Samuel Thome,)— got by " 2d Duke of Thorn-
dale," 2,788— out of " Acacia" by " 2d Grand Duke," (12,961)— "Imported
Aurora" by " 3d Duke of York," (10,166,) &c.

" Windsor" weighed, at two years old, 1,946 pounds, being at the time in
*' moderate " condition. He now weighs about 2,300 pounds.

IV PREFACE.

The Jersey bull "Abraham," No. 1 Jersey Herd Book, is owned by the
city of Boston, and kept at Deer Island. He is fawn and white ; calved in
1863. Dam, " Buttercup 4th ; " sire, " Commodore," imported from stock
imported by John H. Henshaw, of Brookline, Mass.

" Lady Milton," 136 Jersey Herd Book, is a fawn and white, calved May
24, 1864, owned by James C. Converse, of Arlington. She was bred by
J. C. Aldrich, of Milton, from stock from the herds of Mr. Motley and Mr.
Henshaw. Her extraordinary yield of butter is given on page 155.

The AjTshire bull " Honest John," No. — , New Ayrshire Herd Book, bred
and owned by William Birnie, of Springfield, is a dark red and white ;
sire, " John Anderson," No. 33 Ayrshire Herd Book ; calved March 20, 1864 ;
dam, " Daisie 4th," No. 46 ; grand-dam, " Daisie 2d," No. 45 ; grand grand-
dam, " Daisie," imported by Capt. Randall. Sweepstakes at the New England
Fair at Brattleboro'.

" Flora," Ayrshire Herd Book, No. 74, owned by William Birnie, dark
red and white, calved 1857 ; bred by George Richmond, Scotland ; imported
in 1859.

The celebrated stallion " Draco Prince " is owned by John R. Poor, of
Somerville, Mass. "Draco Prince" is from Black Hawk and Messenger
stock. He Is seven years old, sixteen hands high, and weighs 1,080 pounds.
His color is black. He has trotted in 2.25^.

My thanks are due also to the inventors and manufacturers of the machines
illustrated In the Report, for the use of cuts designed to give some Idea of the
recent improvements in agricultural mechanics as shown at the various county
fairs.

CHARLES L. FLINT.

Boston, January 22, 1868.

OFFICERS OF THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.
18 6 8.

MASSACHUSETTS.

President— G'EOUGE W. LYMAN, of Boston.
Secretary— TETER C. BROOKS, Jr., of Boston.

ESSEX.

President— WJLLl AM SUTTON, of South Danvers.
Secretary— CHARLES P. PRESTON, of Danvers.

MIDDLESEX.

President— ATymSO'^ GAGE, of Arlington.
5ecretor?/— JOHN B. MOORE, of Concord.

MIDDLESEX NORTH.

President- ASA CLEMENT, of Dracut.
-Secretary— JONAS P. VARNUM, of Lowell.

MIDDLESEX SOUTH.

President— THOMAS J. DAMON, of Wayland.
-Secretarz/— JAMES W. BROWN, of Framingham.

WORCESTER.

PresiWeni— SOLOMON H. HOWE, of Bolton.
Secretor?/— CHARLES M. MILES, of Worcester.

WORCESTER WEST.

President— JAMES W. JENKINS, of Barre.
Secretary— CHARLES BRIMBLECOM, of Barre.

WORCESTER NORTH.

President— EUGEl^E T. MILES, of Fitchburg.
-Secretary/— LEWIS H. BRADFORD, of Fitcliburg.

Tl OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETIES.

WORCESTER NORTH-WEST.

President— FARWELL F. FAY, of Athol.
Secretary— E. T. LEWIS, of Athol.

WORCESTER SOUTH.

President— SYLYESTER DRAPER, of Southbridge.
Secretary— HE^RY HAYNES, of Sturbridge.

WORCESTER SOUTH-EAST.

President— WILLIAM KNOWLTON, of West Upton.
Secretary— ABRAHAM MEAD, of Milford.

HAMPSHIRE, FRANKLIN AND HAMPDEN.

President— MILO J. SIVIITH, of Northampton.
Secretary — A. P. PECK, of Northampton.

HAMPSHIRE.

President— LEYl STOCKBRIDGE, of Amherst.
Secretary— O. G. COUCH, of Amherst.

HIGHLAND.

President— CHARLES W. KNOX, of Chester.
5ecre?ar?/— JONATHAN McELWAIN, of Middlefield.

HAMPDEN.

PmiVZen^— GEORGE DWIGHT, of Springfield.
Secretary — J. N. BAGG, of West Springfield.

HAMPDEN EAST.

President— W. W. CROSS, of Palmer.
Secretary— J. F. HOLBROOK, of Palmer.

UNION.

President— GEORGE C. GIBBS, of Blandford.
Secretary— E. W. BOISE, of Blandford.

FRANKLIN.

President— THOMAS J. FIELD, of Northfield.
Secretary— EDWARD E. LYMAN, of Greenfield.

BERKSHIRE.

President— RICHARD GOODMAN, of Lenox.
Secretary— J OHl:i E. MERRILL, of Pittsfield.

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETIES. VU

HOUSATONIC.

President— E. P. WOODWORTH, of Great Barrington.
Secretary— EEl^iBY T. ROBBINS, of Great Barrington.

HOOSAC VALLEY,

President — B. F. MILLS, of ■Wllliarastown.
Secretary— WILLIAM W. GALLUP, of North Adams.

NORFOLK.

President— MAUSUALL P. WILDER, of Dorchester.
Secretary— REJ^iRY O. HILDRETH, of Dedham.

MARSHFIELD.

President— GEORGE M. BAKER, of Marshfield.
Secretary— J OIl^ BAKER, of Marshfield.

BRISTOL.

President— OLIVER AMES, of Easton.
Secretary— CHARLES TALBOT, of Taunton.

BRISTOL CENTRAL.

President— 'NATR AN DURFEE, of Fall River.
Secretary— ROBERT ADAMS, of FaU River.

PLYMOUTH.

President— CHARLES G. DAVIS, of Plymouth.
Secretory— LAFAYETTE KEITH, of Bridgewater.

HINGHAM.

Presirfen^— ALBERT FEARING, of Hingham.
-Secretar?/— FEARING BURR, of Hingham.

BARNSTABLE.

President— NATHAN CROCKER, of Barnstable.
Secretorz/— GEORGE A. KING, of Barnstable.

NANTUCKET.

President— AJJGVSTJJS FRANKLIN, of Nantucket.
Secretary— ALEXANDER MACY, Jr., of Nantucket.

MARTHA'S VINEYARD.

President— J ORN PIERCE, of Edgartown.
Secretary— DANIEL A. CLEAVELAND, of Tisbury.

AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS.

18 6 8.

Essex, at Newhuryport,
Middlesex, at Concord, .
Middlesex North, at Lowell, .
Middlesex South, at FramingJiam,
Worcester, at Worcester,
Worcester West, at Barre, .
Worcester North, at Fitcliburg,
Worcester North- West, at Athol,
Worcester South, at Sturlridge, .
Worcester South-East, at Milford,
Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden,

Northampton, .
Hampshire, at Amlierst, .
Highland, at Mkldlejield, .
Hampden, at Springfield, .
Hampden East, at Palmer,
Union, at Blandford, .
Franklin, at Greenfield, .
Berkshire, at Pittsfield, .
Housatonic, at Great Barrington,
HoosAC Valley, at North Adams,
Norfolk, at Dedham,
Marshfield, at Marshfield,
Bristol, at Taunton, .
Bristol Central, at MyricJSs,
Plymouth, at Bridgewater,
HiNGHAM, at Hingham,
Barnstable, at Barnstable,
Nantucket, at Nantucket, .
Martha's Vineyard, at West Tishury,

at

September 29 and 30.
October 1, 2 and 3.
September 23 and 24.
September 22 and 23.
September 17 and 18.
September 24 and 25.
September 29 and 30.
September 15.
October 1.
September 29 and 30.

October 1 and 2.
September 29 and 30.
September 10 and 11.
October 6 and 7.
October 13 and 14.
September 16 and 17.
September 24 and 25.
October 6, 7 and 8.
Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 and 2.
September 22, 23 and 24.
September 17 and 18.
October 1 and 2.
October 6, 7 and 8.
Sejjtember 17 and 18.
September 24, 25 and 26.
Sejitember 29 and 30.
October 13 and 14.
September 30 and Oct. 1.
October 20 and 21.

AGRICULTURE OF MASSACHUSETTS.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE FARM

From an Address before the Essex Agricultural Society.

BY R. n. SEELEY.

The ownership of land in itself is honorable. The retention
of a homestead and farm in the possession of a family is one of
the most desirable things, whether we consider it as a matter of
investment, or of a just and honest pride, as the foundation of a
sentiment of family respectability and honor, which successive
generations feel themselves bound to maintain, thus proving a
safeguard to the children, restraining them from conduct which
might disgrace the family name, or sacrifice the cherished
inheritance.

Having decided to retain the farm, the question what to do
loith it, returns ; and the solution of this question can be
reached only by taking into consideration the adaptedness of the
farm to this or that purpose, its extent, aspect, soil, and relation
to the market.

As it should be worked with a view to profit, the first thing
to ascertain is, lohat it may be made to produce that is worth
raising — that ivilt pay.

We may safely assume, at the outset, that no man in our*
good county of Essex can make his farm very profitable who
works it on the plan, too frequently pursued, of raising scatter-
ing patches of corn, potatoes, rye, oats, beans and grass, on a
small scale, and half starved soil ; with a large extent of cider
orchard, left unmanured and uncultivated, a perfect hotel for
caterpillars, borers, canker-worms, and apple-moths ; this lean
1*

2 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

plantation stocked with a few indifferent cows, a pair or two of
ordinary oxen, two or three pigs, and a horse of all work, the
whole establishment barely supplying the annual consumption
by the family through hard work and much economy on the
part of all its members.

This style of farming will not prosper in these days, when
steam and the iron horse have brought the prairies, with their
limitless extent of surface, and unequalled soil (and all for a
dollar and a quarter an acre,) within such easy reach of the
seaboard.

We must adapt ourselves to the change of circumstances
thus introduced, and raise something' that ivill pay, on a scale
large enough to pay, or New England farming will come out
" at the little end of the horn."

A farm in our county may be well adapted for dairy pur-
poses, or for sheep raising ; it may present facilities for growing
root crops, or for market gardening. It may include favorable
situations and soils for apples and pears, or for the cultivation
of hops, or grapes, and the other small fruits. Any of these
products, if the soil and aspect be suitable, and the access to a
market easy, can be made profitable ivilh the right management.
Grazing and dairy farms do pay nobly in New England. There
are towns which (without facilities ibr the sale of milk,) have
prospered and become rich by the manufacture of butter and
cheese. In certain districts, and under certain conditions,
sheep raiuing is profitable ; as the example of Mr. Edwin Ham-
mond, and other Vermont farmers, fairly demonstrates.
Market gardening, on the right kind of land, and in the vicinity
of a market, pays well. There are instances enough to show
that root crops may be remunerative in New England ; and, it
is worthy of remark, that the cost of transporting such bulky
products as these, saves us from the necessity of competing with
the West. It has been abundantly proved, also, by experi-
ments in France, that the cultivation of beets for the purpose of
making sugar, is not only feasible, but is also profitable to such
an extent, that the manufacturers of beet-root sugar ask no
protective duties to enable them to compete with the imported
sugar which is made from the cane. The time is coming when
this matter will be taken up in our Northern States ; and when
that time arrives, the cultivation of the sugar beet will form

WHAT TO DO WITH THE FARM. 3-

an extensive and lucrative department in the business of
farming.

I do not know that the soil and climate of New England
would prove favorable for the cultivation of hops on a large
scale, but judging from the luxuriant growth and fruitage of
single vines, here and there, in our neighborhood, tlie conclu-
sion seems reasonable that the ordinary kind of hops would
flourish in our old-fashioned fields, quite as well as another
variety of " hop " in our fashionable hotels, and prove much
more profitable to those engaged in " getting them up."

Then we have the finer varieties of apples and pears, with the
smaller fruits — the strawberry, the raspberry, the blackberry,
and the cranberry — most of which require nice management,
and some little enterprise to secure success ; but which yield
most generous returns for the care and expense bestowed upon
them. Of apples I need not speak — though I am informed that
one of the members of your society has received /owr thousand
dollars for his crop of apples in a single year ! A few years
since, at the counter of the Brevoort House, in New York City,
I saw nineteen dollars and the express charges paid for five
pecks of pears ; and I was not more surprised at the price paid,
than at the remark of one of the proprietors of the hotel, that
the fruit came from Boston, and that the finest pears and most
of the hot-house grapes used in that establishment, were brought
from the same city.

Those who are familiar with the facts, (and those who are not
should read the charming book, entitled " Ten Acres Enough,")
are aware that the cultivation of strawberries, raspberries and
blackberries, in large quantities, and in the neighborhood of a
large market, is exceedingly profitable, throwing into the shade
the gains secured by any of the ordinary farm staples ; while of
the profits afforded by cranberries I need not speak. And
where, we may ask, can a more favorable locality be found for
the ready and profitable sale of such fruits than our own county,
with its several cities and large manufacturing centres, and
withal so conveniently situated in respect to Boston ?

I cannot leave this part of my subject without saying a few ,
words concerning the vineyard cultivation of grapes.

It is not every farm that presents the right soil and aspect for
this purpose ; but a person who owns a piece of ground which

4 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

is well adapted for a vineyard cannot afford to use it for any-
thing else. Experiments are sufficiently numerous to show
that, even with the varieties of grapes we already possess, vine-
yards may be made exceedingly profitable. That of Dr. Under-
bill, at Croton Point, on the Hudson River, is, probably, one of
the most profitable in the country, but it is so largely devoted
to the production of wine that it can hardly be referred to as an
example. Dr. Underbill has between fifty and sixty acres of
vines in bearing at Croton Point, and several additional acres at
his farm three miles distant. He employs from ten to thirteen
men through the season, and during the vintage ; a number of
women also are employed to assist in selecting and packing the
fruit for market, and assorting that which is made into wine, so
that no unripe berry shall enter the wine press. The exact
amount received for the crop of any particular year cannot
easily be ascertained, since the wine is not sold until it is four
years old. But the statistics are sufficient to show that the
profits must be very great. About half of each crop is sold in
the New York market, and the other half is converted into
wine. The vintage of 1863 gave 5,550 gallons.* In 1864 the
product was 6,000 gallons ; in 1865 it amounted to 7,000 gal-
lons ; while in 1866 the total was diminished in consequence of
the severe winter of 1865-6.

It must be admitted that the situation" of this vineyard is
much more favorable than can be secured ordinarily ; and in
the vicinity of such a market as that of New York there arc
advantages which cannot be possessed by every one. But the
example is an interesting one on many accounts.

The practicability of cultivating grapes in vineyards, and on
a large scale, in our Commonwealth, is demonstrated by Mr.
Bull and his enterprising neighbors at Concord. There are in
that town more than twenty acres of vineyards. Experiments
are also being made in Haverhill, which will furnish additional
proof, we doubt not, both of the possibility and the profitable-
ness of this crop. Indeed, we hope ere long to see every suit-
able spot occupied, and the county of Essex adorned with vine-
yards, beautiful and remunerative as those which grace the
slopes of the Jura, as seen from Lake Geneva.

* The pure juice of the grape. We understand that Dr. Underhill does not
adulterate his wine with sugar, or water, or alcohol, or any form of drugs.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE FARM. 5

Mr. Bull, of Concord, to whose experiments and success and
intelligent communications on this subject the whole country is
under obligations, makes certain statements, (which have been
published in the annual reports of the State Board of Agricul-
ture,) to which I would invite your special attention. He
states : —

Firstly — That wherever Indian corn will ripen, there the
grape will also ripen. (He refers to the Concord grape.)

Secondly — That for field culture in our climate, trenching
and heavy manuring are not only unnecessary, but actually
injurious ; but that a soil cultivated to a sufficient depth, and
made sufficiently rich for producing a good crop of corn, is
deep enough and I'ich enough for grapes. Indeed, he claims
that, for our climate, the plants should not be set more than six
inches deep in the warm and dry soils, nor more than four
inches deep h\ those which are strong and moist.

Thirdly — That it requires no more labor and expense " to
take care of" an acre of grapes than to "make" an acre of
corn, since the latter implies the necessity of carting on manure,
ploughing and successive hoeings, while the grapes need fertil-
izing with a little plaster of Paris, bone dust and ashes, only
once in four or five years, and consequently require less work to
keep down the weeds. As to pruning', he says : " A little wise
neglect is better than a too frequent or too severe application of
the knife." " You plough and cultivate as soon as the frost is
out, and again in the summer, to keep down the weeds ; and
you pinch the growing shoots two or three times to consolidate
the growing wood ; this is all the care they need until the crop
is ready to gather." Moreover, he affirms that, when planted
in rows eight or ten feet apart, and six feet apart in the row,
and treated in the manner described, the Concord grape needs
no protection in winter ; and that " they find at the West that
one man can take care of five acres of grapes, and the same
thing can be done here."

Fourthly — As to pro/its, Mr. Bull makes the following state-
ments:—

From the records of the agricultural society of Wirtemberg,
(in Germany,) which records have been kept for more than four
hundred years — about one-half the number have been tolerably

6 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

favorable seasons for the grape, both as to productiveness and
the quality of the vintage.

The average yield of wine throughout Europe is about two
hundred and fifty gallons per acre, worth, at twenty-five cents
a gallon, sixty-three dollars an acre ; or, for the twelve millions,
two hundred and eighty-five thousand and seven hundred and
eighty acres under cultivation, somewhat more than seven
hundred and seventy-four millions of dollars.

But in this country, where such large quantities of the fruit
are sold for the table at good prices, and where the yield per
acre is much greater, Mr. Bull claims that the profits greatly
surpass those secured in Europe. He states that Col. Husmann,
of Missouri, fifty miles of St. Louis, gets nearly nine tons of
grapes, and makes a thousand gallons of wine to the acre !
This, however, is an extraordinary yield ; for the average prod-
uct of the vineyards in Missouri is from 250 to 600 gallons of
wine to the acre ; and the yield of the Catawba grape, on Kel-
ley's Island, Lake Erie, is only three and a half tons to the acre.
Yet Mr. Jode, of Burlington, Iowa, took 8,860 pounds of Con-
cord grapes from half an acre, which had been planted but four
years — this being the first crop — while a gentleman in Worces-
ter County, Massachusetts, has gathered crops from his vineyard
the value of which has averaged $1,700 to the acre.

Mr, Bull does not think the situation of his own vineyards
very favorable, but states that he has raised seven tons per acre,
and that last year, which was an unfavorable one for grapes, he
gathered five and a half tons per acre, while for seventeen suc-
cessive years he has not failed to have a good crop. He regards
seven tons of the Concord grape per acre as a fair average yield
for a vineyard well established, in a favorable aspect, soil, &c.,
and states that a ready market is secured for the crop at prices
which have steadily advanced from ten to twenty cents a pound,
while at ten cents the full crop of an acre would amount to
$1,400, and at twenty cents to |2,800.

These amounts seem fabulous. Nevertheless, Mr. Bull states,
on his own knowledge, that $2,000 per acre was realized in
1865. But let us suppose the average crop to be but three and
and a half tons per acre, and the price but ten cents per pound,
this gives 1700 to the acre.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE FARM. 7

I visited some of the vineyards in Concord last year, and, on
making inquiries as to the matter of profits, I was convinced
that Mr. Bull had not overstated the results. A proprietor of
one of the small vineyards informed me that his net profits for
the preceding three years — one of which had been unfavorable
for grapes — had been an average of $990 per acre.

But may not the market be glutted, and the prices be so
reduced as not to be remunerative ? This question is discussed
by Mr. Bull, and satisfactorily answered in the negative. More-
over, it is worthy of remark that no one apprehends a glut in
the market for apples, when planting an orchard of that fruit.
The truth is, that, ever since the temptation in Eden, the appear-
ance of good fruit awakens in beholders a desire for it ; and it
makes a market for itself to such an extent that, taking the
average of seasons, it pays well.

As I have referred to the apple as an illustration, permit me
to close this long digression with the remark, that an acre of
grovnd ivill produce more pure loine than pure cider, and begin
to yield several years earlier ; and that while a first-rate quality
of either article can be made only by the exercise of neatness
and care, wine may be made as easily as cider, and when made,
as it should be, from the right kind of grapes, well ripened, the
pure juice needs no water, nor sugar, nor extra ingredients, nor
" doctoring" of any sort, to preserve it.

Wlien I contemplate these facts, and see around me so many
localities that would be eligible sites for vineyards, used as pas-
tures, lean and poor, or planted with some of the ordinary crops,
I am reminded of the Spaniard who lived in poverty and died
of starvation on a piece of land that covered a gold mine ; and
when I see how slowly these facts attract the attention of our
farmers, I cannot but think of the long occupancy of California
by the Jesuits and Spaniards, without the suspicion that they
were actually in El Dorado, which for centuries had excited the
hopes of these adventurers, and where, with simple spade and
pickaxe, they might have dug more gold than they had dreamed
of in their wildest imaginings.

But let us return to our subject. Not every farm presents
the proper aspect and soil for a vineyard, and the most of our
cultivators must be content to raise some other products. Con-
sequently, having well considered what crops his farm is best

8 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

adapted to produce, the matter of concentrating capital and labor
upon it, is worthy the careful study of each farmer.

The common fault in New England is that of attempting to
cover too much surface ; to have too great a variety of crops, so
that the cultivation is not so neat, so thorough, nor so profitable
as it ought to be. I have referred to a style of planting which
gives to the fields the appearance of a checker-board, with very
small squares, and which, apparently, proceeds on the principle
that a large variety, though planted on a thin soil, insufficiently
fertilized and half cared for, will make iip for heavy manuring,
deep ploughing and clean, careful cultivation.

In keeping with this mode of raising the crops, is that method
of selling them, which for the sake of getting the retail prices,
spends valuable time in taking small quantities to market and
peddling them out, frequently occupying a day, which would be
worth two dollars if employed in getting out the muck, working
it over and spreading it on the farm, in disposing of articles
that do not bring more than two dollars in cash. But while we
could not approve of such a style of doing things, neither would
we recommend ordinary farmers to attempt competition with,
or even imitation of, those of their neighbors who pursue
expensive methods — methods which look rather to the style
than to the profits of farm management. The latter, ordina-
rily, are gentlemen farmers, who have a prosperous manufactory
or mercantile establishment, or a quantity, of stock in banks
and railroads, on which they can rely for the means, so that in
the farm buildings, the laying out of their fields, the fences, the
fertilizers employed, the trees planted, the implements and
animals with which the farm is stocked, and the hands by which
it is worked, little regard is paid to the expense, but the
endeavor is to have everytlyng excellent of its kind.

It is very pleasant to have such establishments sprinkled in
among the farms of a given district. They furnish striking
examples of what may be done in the field, the garden and the
stall ; and their infl[uence in improving the general style of
cultivation and management around tliem is confessedly very
great. Those who can afford to establish and maintain them
are or may be public benefactors ; but our farmers generally
must be content to learn what they can from both the successes
and the failures of such high farming, and to follow at a

WHAT TO DO WITH THE FARM. 9

respectful distance. Thej can neither put up such fences and
farm buildings, nor go so largely into drainage and irrigation ;
nor purchase such costly fertilizers ; nor own such expensive
horses, cattle and sheep. Nevertheless, they can see the impor-
tance of concentrating expenses and labor on a smaller extent
of land, and in a smaller number of animals. If the same
amount of manure and labor will give as much profit on one
acre as if spread over two acres, leaving the one acre in better
heart, and the two acres more exhausted than when they were
taken in hand, then it is manifestly advisable to work half the
number of acres in the superior manner ; for, in a few years,
both the amount of the products and the value of the land would
be greatly enhanced. If a man can secure greater returns of
cash from an acre of vineyard than from eight acres of corn or
potatoes, then the cultivation of the single acre is better than
that of the larger number. If the same amount of money
expended in five sheep of a particular breed, will give more
wool and much better mutton, than if invested in ten of the
ordinary lean, thin-woolled, long-legged fence-jumperS; better for
his pockets and for the dispositions of his neighbors to purchase
the five. If a few good cattle, of superior breed and qualities,
will furnish more milk and butter or more and better beef than
twice their number of " the common run," and if their increase
is worth more at three months old, than the progeny of the
latter at six months or a year old, then the profits to say noth-
ing of the satisfaction enjoyed by the proprietor would indicate
the desirableness of having the better breed of animals.

There are men in Florida whose herds of cattle are numbered
by the thousand, and one proprietor, about fifty miles south of
Jacksonville, is said to own about forty thousand. But the
animals, like all those of that region, are poor little starvelings,
scarcely equal to respectable goats ; and it is said a dozen of
them give not much more than a gallon of milk. Tliis is worse
than anything in New England ; but we might find, in our own
Commonwealth, perhaps, examples as little deserving of com-
mendation. Concentration of capital in animals is evidently as
wise as the concentration of expense in the cultivation of a few
acres well, rather than spreading it over many acres. The
advice of Virgil — " Praise large farms but cultivate a small

2*

10 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

one," — is as applicable to our age and country as to Italy iu his
day.

It is time this matter was pondered by our farmers. The
cheapness of land in this country has led to an ambitious mode
of extending a superficial tiltli over large surfaces, and congre-
gating worthless animals on lean pastures, without proper
regard to appearance or to profit. The consequence is a
slovenly style of conducting agricultural operations, on the
part of many, that is without a parallel in any civilized land.
Take a drive in almost any direction, in almost any neighbor-
hood, and behold the numerous orchards festooned with cater-
pillars' webs, scorched by canker-worms, and dying out from
the borers ; and see the fields covered witli the ox-eye daisy
(white weed,) the golden rod, and broad clumps of savin
(juniper,) while the road-sides are decorated with Canada
thistles, and rendered dangerous by wild parsnips, poisonous
sumachs and dog-wood, or disgusting witli stagnant pools, and
with vermin that seek refuge from the dying orchards in the
superior fertility of the higliway.

Why do we behold such things ? They are the results of
attempting too much. The man who tries to work more land
than he can properly work, and to keep more animals than he
ought to keep, can afford no thought nor time nor expense, for
defending himself from the evils to which we have referred.
Clean farming and a due attention to his road-sides, are as
impracticable for him as thorough farming.

Now tlie public has no right to prevent him from impover-
ishing himself by his mode of management ; but it has a right
to demand that he shall not make his farm a nuisance to his
neighbors — and a nuisance it is if he converts it into a seed-bed
and nursery for these plants and insect pests, so that his neigh-
bors are constantly supplied with fresh accessories, no matter
how much pains they take to keep their own plantations clear
and clean.

I believe it is admitted that the destruction of these evil
plants and insects is possible in any given instance. It follows,
therefore, that under certain conditions they might all be
exterminated. I have therefore thought that it might be
expedient to enact laws offering bounties for the clearance of
each farm and the highways contiguous thereto, from these

WHAT TO DO WITH THE FARM. 11

pests, for the period of five years, and at the end of that,
declaring them public nuisances, which may be abated like any
other offence of the same class.

If by some such measure each one should be induced to
attempt no more than he can do thoroughly and well, there can
be no doubt that the interests of individuals and of the public
would be promoted. The results of a well-planned concentra-
tion would improve both land and stock, and the gradual
extension of operations would mark the increase of wealth, and
not as is now too frequently the case, be an advertisement of
incapacity and poverty. In this connection, the suggestion may
be worth heeding, that the Neio England farmer should not
expect too large profits from his farm.

Retired manufacturers and merchants are not a little prone
to be impatient with their agricultural investments. In their
business heretofore they have been accustomed to quick returns,
and if " successful men," they have probably made large profits
on short credits. Hence they are tempted to feel a little
" grouty " when their farming operations are not attended with
like results. But they overlook several considerations. It is
manifest, e. g., that outlays for the purpose of display, or for
the mere gratification of aesthetic tastes in farming, have in
them no tendency to secure profits, while in the warehouse and
counting-room, the contrary may be true. In the latter case,
the architecture, the furniture and arrangements which attract
attention and please the eye, may be a species of advertising,
and as such, may pay well. But analogous expedients will not
increase the showers or sunshine, or the crops of a farm.

Our gentleman-farmer may also overlook the fact tliat actual
improvements, whether in the quality of the land itself, by
manures, drainage or extra cultivation, or in the fences, build-
ings, implements, and farming conveniences generally, are of
the nature of permanent investments, which may add to the
intrinsic value of the farm without immediately increasing its
profits. If so-called improvements do not add to the intrinsic
value of the farm, they surely should not be set down in the
account against it. For it is not answerable for the mistakes of
its proprietor. If a gentleman puts up shooting-boxes, boat-
houses, kiosks, fancy barns, massive walls, with extensive
conservatories and flower gardens on his place, and indulges in

12 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

fancy horses and showy equipages ; these must be regarded as
so many expenditures for personal gratification ; and ought no
more to be included in the outlay for which the farm should
yield returns, than the amounts which are expended for pictures
to be hung in the parlor, and for concert tickets, or in visiting
Saratoga, the White Mountains, and the sea-side, should be
reckoned as capital invested in business, on which the ledger
must sliow a fair balance of profits.

Moreover (and none know it better than do our business
men,) the amount of returns justly to be expected from an
investment, depends somewhat on the safety of the latter ; if it
be perfectly secure, the income may very properly be much
Waller than where there is more or less risk. But if this
principle be applied to the matter of farming, it will follow that
the profits derived from it ouglit to be smaller than those of
most other forms of business in which capital is employed.
Nothing can be safer than a well-advised investment in a farm ;
since the intrinsic value of tlie land is subject to none of the
mutations which affect almost every other form of investment,
in the midst of those political and financial crises which sweep
over our land like successive tornadoes.

Again, it is worthy of notice that all the returns received from
an' outlay of capital, are not in the form of money. An expen-
diture made in one direction may result in honor and influence
— as when an aspirant for public favor contributes to an elec-
tioneering fund. Made in another direction, the return may be
in the form of personal enjoyment — the gratification of taste in
the appearance of a splendid equipage or in works of art, as
paintings and sculptures or architecture. But why should not
the pleasure afforded by the appearance of flocks and herds of
fine animals, by the sight of grassy meadows and growing
crops, waving harvests and flourishing orchards and purple
vineyards ; why should not the enjoyment which these things
always afford to the lover of nature, be regarded as an impor-
tant item in reckoning with the farm ? I think myself not
entirely a stranger to the fascination there is for certain minds
in works of art. I am not wanting in those impressions which
the artist seeks to awaken, when with a master's hand, he
rounds the marble into magic forms of life, or makes the canvas
glow with the varied features of the landscape ; but were I

WHAT TO DO WITH THE FARM. 13

possessor of a well-situated and well cultivated farm, I know
that from the contemplation of its changing aspects — the swale
and swell of meadows green, the waving luxuriance of culti-
vated fields, the thrift of trees and vines, bowing and swaying
under their burdens of purple and gold ; and the show of
animals (sheep, cattle and horses,) browsing on the pastures, or
reposing in the grateful shades ; I should derive more pleasure
than from all the sculptures and pictures that ever crowded
palace halls and palace walls.

Finally, we would suggest that each proprietor of a farm
should read and think about his calling and his farm. There
is, or has been, a senseless prejudice among certain farmers
against books and treatises devoted to their calling ; a vast deal
of " cant," and not a little attempted concealment of mental
sluggishness, by an outcry against " book-farmers " and " book-
farming." If there is any man or set of men in danger of
trusting too entirely to books, and discarding practice in their
agricultural operations, then let some one whose methods are
faultless, and whose success is great, exhort them to drop the
books and follow his example. Till such cases occur we must
think that the reading of well-written works on his calling, and
devoting much careful thought to the subject, will be necessary
to the highest success of every farmer. The truth is, the world
is greatly indebted to those who have thought and written upou
agriculture, and also to those whose studies have related to the
general topic, whether their field has been that of natural history
or natural philosophy ; whether comparative anatomy, entomol-
ogy, meteorology, botany or chemistry. The improvements in
stock, fruits, crops, implements and methods of farming, are
made by men who read and think ; and the man who talks most
about the superiority of practical farming, is indebted to some
" book-farmer " for that which is most valuable in the animals,
the crops, the fruits and the implements on his farm, and for the
best modes he pursues in working it. Nay, the grain crop and
the hay crop of the present season, which have saved the natiou
from famine, from calamities greater even than those of war,
could not have been gathered without the aid of those machines
which have been given to the world, by ingenious inventors, i. e.,
by men who have devoted long and intense thought to these
things ; and who, seeing the demand, have sought to meet it,

14 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

and thus to lighten, facilitate and render more profitable the
toils of those engaged in cultivating the soil. In saying that the
farmer should read and think upon his calling, we only affirm that
in common Avith every other man who pursues a regular vocation,
he should thoroughly understand his business in all its details
and relations, and should make the most of it and of himself.

It is too late in the day for ignorance to conceal itself behind
a false issue on this subject, or to secure honor and success in a
pursuit so respectable and so difficult as that of farming. In
one of his admirable and instructive Annual Reports, Mr. Secre-
tary Flint quotes the saying of a celebrated painter, who, on
being asked what he mixed his colors with to render them so
perfect, replied, " I mix them with brains.''^ That is the
material with which every man should " mix his colors," and
the farmer no less than any other man. He should rear and
use his animals, fertilize and cultivate his fields, select and dis-
jDOse of his crops " with brains ; " and for these purposes he
should use both his own brains and those of other men to as
great an extent as possible. Let him, therefore, co-operate- in
the establishment of farmers' libraries and reading clubs. Let
him take and read the best agricultural journals ; let him use
wisdom in selecting and industry in studying the best works on
agricultural chemistry, horse, cattle and sheep raising ; on bees,
and on grapes and other fruits ; also the various writings of
practical farmers, gardeners and nurserymen. If he can, let
him procure and carefully read the Annual Reports of the Mas-
sachusetts State Board of Agriculture, and especially tlie discus-
sions of that Board. Let him pursue such a coui'se of reading,
meanwhile not neglecting his Bible. In other words, let him be
a thorough, intelligent New England farmer, and a good, intel-
ligent New England Christian, and he may enjoy as much of
Eden here in Essex County, Massachusetts, as any of Adam's
race have enjoyed since the gates of Paradise were closed.

AIDS TO FARMING. 15

AIDS TO FARMING.

From an Address before the Worcester West Society.

BY SIMOX BUOWN.

Farmers do not generally realize the fact that good tillage is
about equal to an application of manure to lands cultivated in
an indifferent manner. We must realize the fact that tillage is
manure ; that the literal meaning of the word " manure " is
hand labor, as well as of a dressing. To enrich the land is to
hoe it, to stir the soil, to expose it to the atmosphere, to plough,
to harrow, to cultivate, in addition to what we can get from the
stalls.

In butter and cheese-making localities the articles of prime
importance must always be good pasturage and abundant crops
of herdsgrass and redtop hay ; but these may be greatly aided
by the cultivation of root crops, as these form a succulent and
nutritious food which gives the animals tone and vigor, and
increases their productive povi^er during the season when they
are at pasture. The great agricultural prosperity of England
is imputed mainly to the cultivation of the turnip.

Among the devices of great practical value, and one of the
substantial helpers on tiie farm is the moiving machine. You
can rely upon it to cut one acre of grass per hour, as an
average, whether it be heavy or light, lodged or standing. A
good machine, with horses and driver, is equal to six good men
in the field. But there are other reasons why we should use
this machine. Most farmers grow old too fast. They perform
too much hard work in their youth and early manhood. Con-
stant labor that is light and cheerful promotes health and lon-
gevity, but overtasking the powers induces disease and abridges
human life.

It is often said that mowing machines are economical on larg-e
farms, but not so on small ones. Is it so ? The farmer who

16 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

has a large estate is presumed to have capital corresponding
with his acres. He is neiw.r single-handed and alone. If sick
or disabled he has stout arms to depend upon in his hired men.
still to cultivate the crops or secure the harvests. If there is,
therefore, any class of farmers who can dispense with the mowing
machine, and not sensibly feel its absence, it is the larg-e
farmer.

Such, however, is not the case with the small one. His suc-
cess centres in his judicious management, aided by his own
.muscular power. The hard jobs as well as the easy ones, and
the duties that incessantly come, late and early, are also his.
Perhaps he has passed middle life, and although in good health,
his cheek is farrowed and gray hairs sprinkle his temples. He
does not feel like cutting his acre before dinner ; stops to whet
his scytlie oftener than he did twenty years ago, and rests
longer in the shade. His mowing machine does not work as it
formerly did. He has plenty of luill but less poiv 67' .

The mowing machine comes to such a farmer as a real bless-
ing. It enables him to keep up with his younger neighbors ; to
cut his crops in season and secure them without loss. He is
encouraged, because he can go on with his work as successfully
as he did in his younger and stronger days.

I have for several years known an elderly farmer who could
not divest himself of tlie idea that machinerij is a plague on the
farm. So he has bent over the scytlie until he has acquired a
bend in his back that no medicament can cure. This year the
pressure was too strong for him. His prejudice gave way —
machinery was triumphant ; and he could be seen in the fresh
morning under his beautiful trees, feeding the poultry, or slowly
following his fine herd of cows on their way to pasture. He is
in no hurry ; sits twice as long at the breakfast table as he did
last year, and thinks his food tastes better than it did then. He
thinks he can earn more in the time he has to bestow upon his
stock, and his care of " little things," as he calls them, than he
did in tlie mowing field. Indeed, it seems, he says, as if he had
'' nothing to do."

The tedders and horse-rakes, devised and constructed by your
own people, stand in the same relation. They are not only
labor-saving, but they are civilizers as well ; they tend to elevate
and refine, and lead the people on and upward in prosperity,

AIDS TO FARMING. IT

because tliey save human toil and afford opportunity for more
intellectual attainments. Among the great variety, of machines
in use, those of your towns-people sta.nd deservedly high, and
ought to be found in the fields of every progressive farmer. .

If time permitted, I should be glad to say something of the
value of several smaller implements — seed-sowers, wheel-hoes,
ploughs, harrows, and something of the enormous cost of the
fences in our State. In the State of New York their cost has
been estimated at $100,000,000, and their annual cost $10,000-

000 ! I should like to speak of the value of forests, not only
in reference to building materials and fences, but of their influ-
ence upon the climate, crops and general health of the people.

1 could dwell at considerable length upon the imperfect manner
of cultivating the soil which prevails ; of occupying too much
land ; of working that which lies too far from the buildings ;
and, in some cases, in a want of sympathy in the business of the
farm by the women and children of the family.

In the midst of these imperfections, however, great changes
for the better have taken place. New ideas are put in practice
in breeding and rearing stock ; better and more abundant fruits
and vegetables have been introduced, and are enjoyed more as
sustaining food than as luxuries.

In-doors, as well as out, the genius of our people has intro-
duced into the kitchen, dairy, sewing and wash-rooms, so many
labor-saving- helps that women have derived as many benefits
from them in their domestic duties as men have in their out-
door labors. The sewing, washing and wringing machines,
crimping-irons, mangle for ironing, button-hole cutters, apple-
parers, cheese-pressers, churns, butter-workers, &c., are civili-
zers, because they avert human toil and leave the mind free to
engage in other pursuits.

The sewing-machine came to the never-ceasing work of
women as a boon from Heaven. It has taken an inexpressible
burden from thousands of mothers, whose harassing duties
excluded them from society, denied them access to books and
opportunities for the cultivation of those graces which adorn
them the most. In the late war our vast armies could scarcely
have been clothed without its aid.

The contrasts which I have attempted show great changes in
farm life, in the house as well as in the field. Another change

3*

18 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

has been wrought equally important. It has taken place in the
public mind in regard to the respectability and dignity of the
employment. All useful labor is honorable. " 'Tis no sin for
a man to labor in his vocation." The educated farmer is quali-
fied to take an active part in the political affairs of life. Not
long since the heroic and upright reformer, John Bright, in the
British House of Commons, fearlessly denounced the English
aristocracy and nobility as of all others the most incapable of
being intrusted with the duties and responsibilities of govern-
ment, no portion of which, said he, can they manage with
common ability. Educated] farmers are the right men to be
elevated to stations of official trust and honor, because they
have gained experience from their practical management of the
common affairs of life. I decry no profession. All useful
labor is honorable. We are parts of the great whole, and essen-
tial to each other. My plea is, that none shall be elevated at
the expense of another.

All reflecting persons admit the importance of our profession,
— that it is the basis of all prosperity ; commerce, manufac-
tures, the arts, power, wealth, — that the cultivation of the soil
leads people out of an aboriginal condition and gradually
civilizes man, — establishes family relations, builds up society
and creates a desire for the higher cultivation of our moral and
mental powers.

Several things have conspired to awaken a new regard for
rural employments, but especially so the attention which the
press has given it, the institution of farmers' clubs, and such
associations as you are celebrating to-day. It only remains for
the farmer to improve his mind as well as his soil to place him
in the positions he ought to share with his fellow-men, and lead
the country to look to him for a fair proportion of its statesmen
and leading men. In order to do this, he must understand the
principles of free government, be a fair scholar in the branches
of education usually taught in our high schools, be able to write
readily on the topics in which he is interested, make his own
reports to agricultural societies, and embody his experiments
or opinions for publication. He must remember Rousseau's
maxim, that " it requires a great deal of philosophy to observe
once what may be seen every day." He must be a daily reader
of a good newspaper, keep a general knowledge of the progress

AIDS TO FARMING. 19

of State and national legislation, and of current political events,
and then he is qualified to become a good farmer and a good
citizen. This is what your association is attempting to do.

Let him remember that " he who makes agriculture not
merely productive but honorable ; who surrounds his farm with
images of the most attractive happiness ; who dwells in a neat
abode, such as a republican might build and republican simplic-
ity ought to desire ; who, in addition to the song of the robin,
can make the music of contentment flow around his calm dwell-
ing ; can unite it with the intelligence of a citizen who knows
his rights, and is determined to defend them ; who shows that
this business is favorable to mental culture, and as fair a road
as any to political eminence ; — such a man does more to encour-
age the profession than all other causes combined. He touches
the springs of action in their centre, and blesses his country
and mankind. He plants the laurel beside the plough, and
allures thousands to come ; and, after having toiled within its
fragrance, to sit beneath its shade."

And now, if I have excited you to consider more carefully
the enviable position which you occupy as cultivators of the
soil ; your exemption from corroding mercantile responsibilities
and cares ; your freedom from the surging slough of political
turmoil, and from the risks and losses which attend the manu-
facturing portion of our population, I shall have gained the
point at which T aimed.

If a word has been said to induce you to temper the labor
and recreation of your children so as to make the young life
harmonious and healthful, or to induce them to regard the
paternal home as the spot on earth where the most cherished
feelings of the heart are clustered, and to which the memory
will fondly return through all the later years of life, then,
indeed, will my labor be abundantly blest.

To accomplish this let me invoke all who hear me, and espec-
ially the gentler sex, upon whom our domestic felicities so
greatly depend, to

" Make home beautiful — gather the roses

That hoard up the sunshine with exquisite art ;
Perchance they may pour, as your dread darkness closes,
That soft summer sunshine down into your heart ;

20 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

If you can do so, O make it an Eden

Of beauty and gladness — remember 'tis wise ;
'Twill teach you to long for that home you are needing,

The heaven of beauty beyond the blue skies.

^ Make home a hive, where all beautiful feelings

Cluster like bees, and their honey dew bring ;
Make it a temple of holy revealings,

And Love its bright angel, with ' shadowy wing ; '
There shall it be when afar on life's billow.

Wherever your tempest-toss'd children are flung,
They will long for the shades of the home weeping willow,

And sing the sweet songs which their mother had sung."

Make home beautiful. Surround it witli all that is appropri-
ate in the floral world, with trees and fruits and flowers. Fill
it with books and music and healthful recreations. Then will
it become the centre of interest to the youngs — will bind them
to the old roof-tree as with hooks of steel, once more to gladden
your fields with the labor of your own kindred, and the cher-
ished spot to which each wanderer will return with increased
love and affection.

FARMING AS A BUSINESS. 21

FARMING AS A BUSINESS.

From an Address before the Worcester North Society.

BY GEORGE E. TOWNE.

The distinctive feature of agriculture is the multiplication of
of products by suhjecting them to the action of natural causes.
This is true of the production of field crops. The farmer is also
a manufacturer, to the extent of his butter, cheese, cider, curing
of hay and general preservation of his crops. Indeed, it seems
to me that really scientific farming requires a knowledge of more
things than does any other branch of business. Mineralogy, so
far as is concerned the nature and treatment of soils ; chemistry,
at least the simpler forms of chemical action and combination
governing the laws of growth ; botany, at least the botanical
structure of the plants he wishes to grow ; the habits, wants and
diseases of all kinds of domestic animals ; a little about insects,
and a good deal about getting rid of them, are but a few of the
forms of knowledge essential to the farmer. I do not say that
all farmers know all these things ; I only say they ought to.
Something very like instinct, convictions born of observation,
precedent and necessity, and developed, it must be confessed, to
a condition of remarkable accuracy and correctness, have gen-
erally supplied the place of science to the farmer, and served as
his guide to action. But I am speaking in the belief that, as in
meclianics, so in farming, the day of estimates, guesswork,
allowances and " working by the eye," has gone, or is going by,
and in place of these, scientific rules, based upon known princi-
ples, are to govern and lead to precision and absolute certainty
of results.

Besides these features in farming, there is one important
difference between it and most other kinds of business. While
with the manufacturer and the merchant, home and all the

22 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

expenses of living are usually entirely separate from the busi-
ness, and easily kept so, with the farmer, home and its expenses
are so closely united and blended with the farm and the busi-
ness, and so many of the products of the latter enter directly
If into the consumption of the former, without passing, as in the
other case, through the intermediate stage of bank bills, which
are easily kept account of, that entire accuracy of accounts, to
show the exact product or result of the year's or quarter's
operations, is rendered extremely difficult.

Here again, you will likely say, what difference does it make ?
Why not let expenses and income all go right in together, and
if there is anything left at the end of the year, call it profit ?
Simply because, while income and expense should bear a certain
relation to each other, they are two separate and distinct things,
and should be kept so, to the end that the amount of each may
be always ascertainable. For instance, if the two are jumbled
up together, and no record kept of either, who can tell if a possi-
ble deficiency is due to the diminutiveness of one, or extrava-
gance in the other. I submit that as often at least as once in
each year, every business man should, by careful inventory and
estimate of value, ascertain the exact result of the year's opera-
tions. The value of the business and the feasibility of continu-
ing it, depend entirely upon the amount of income arising from
it, and this cannot be determined, unless expenses are kept by
themselves and entirely separate. I may be wrong when I say
that perhaps not one in ten among farmers ever takes a regular
account of stock, while nine out of ten merchants and manufac-
turers do it annually as a matter of course. I may at any rate
safely assert that it is as uncommon in the one class as it is
common in the other. Now why is this ? Is there necessity
existing in the one case and not in the other ? Is it not as
important for the farmer as for the manufacturer, to know if he
is making or losing money ?

The manufacturer not only makes it his constant study to
know the cost of his various products, but at least once in each
year verifies his estimates of cost, by ascertaining actual
results. He is thus enabled to control his losses, and make his
gains larger, by reducing or increasing his business, in this or
that direction, according as he may find this or that article
among his products, more or less profitable. Is there any

FARMING AS A BUSINESS. 23

earthly reason why the farmer should not follow this example ?
Yet I am much mistaken if he does to any great extent. The
manufacturer, when he sends his cloth to market, knows within
a fraction of a cent per yard, what it has cost him ; he thus
knows at just what price he can afford to sell it. The farmer
goes with a load of hay, apples, potatoes or wood, and, possibly y
guesses they cost about so much — probably he neither knows,
thinks or cares anything about it. He sells it for what he can
get, and never knows how much that particular article con-
tributed to, or possibly diminished, his yearly gains.

I recollect a discussion, at one of our society meetings, upon
the question of the profitableness of raising corn. One of the
most intelligent farmers of Worcester North, and one, from his
experience in that direction, best fitted to tell all about it, rose
to the defence of King Corn. The best thing that he could find
to say was, in effect, that he had raised corn for many years ;
had produced so many bushels to the acre ; had developed a
new and clioice variety, and had generally thriven ; and he
should continue to raise corn, as he had no doubt many of his
brother farmers would, unless they could be shown something
better to do.

All very well, but not convincing, as the question would arise
in my mind, whether he had thriven by the aid of corn, or in
spite of it. The fact was, that he, like others, raised corn with
the other crops, and they all went in together ; and so long as
at the end of the year there was seemingly a balance on the
right side, all was satisfactory. I doubt if in any other business
but farming that same gentleman would have been satisfied,
unless he knew not only his aggregate annual gains, but the
exact proportion which each of his products had contributed
towards the result.

Let us now invest an imaginary farmer, with a farm equally
so, and hastily follow him along, and apply the rules and princi-
ples we have tried to enunciate. We will be generous with him,
and give him a good farm, well stocked, and money enough to
carry it on easily and well. He first divides his farm into sec-
tions, numbering or naming his wood-lots, fields, pastures and
dwelling-house and lot, for convenience sake. He then esti-
mates the valne of each, fixing the same proportionate to the
whole. He opens an account with each one, charging to each

24 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

its valuation. He also opens an account with his barn, his
stock, his vehicles and tools, charging to each its value. He
must, of course, keep a cash account, and charge or credit to
some one of his various accounts every cent he pays out or
receives.

He charges to each field expenditures for seed, manure and
labor, for share of tool account, and each day's work of himself
or his oxen for planting, cultivating and harvesting. If he sells
his crop, he credits the cash received. If he stores it for family
use, or to feed to his animals, he charges it to family expense,
or to the barn account, at whatever he could have sold it for.
After the crop is cleared he estimates the value of the field,
making allowance for whatever gain or loss in its condition and
crop-bearing capacity may have occurred since the previous
valuation, and the balance of the account shows what has been
made or lost from that section of his farm.

His wood-lot he treats in the same manner. Starting with
the cost valuation, he charges the expense of clearing, thinning
out, cutting and hauling, even though he does it himself, and
credits all cash received for sales of wood or timber, and all
wood cut for his own family use, which he charges to family
expense account at the current rate. True, this is merely taking
from one pocket and putting into another ; but he is desirous of
ascertaining the exact cost of every product, and if there be
aggregate gain or loss, where it comes from or goes to. Accord-
ingly he treats, for instance, wood taken for his own use, so far
as the wood-lot is concerned, precisely as though he had sold it
to somebody else ; so far as family expense account goes, just as
if he had bought it of somebody else. At the close of the year
he credits the value of the wood-lot, making due allowance for
wood cut, on the one hand, and the growth on the other ; and
the balance of the account is the gain or loss, as the case may
be, arising from that portion of his farm.

The barn account is charged with valuation and with every-
thing that goes into it — hay, grain, straw, &c., — at what it is
worth at the time of delivery, just as though it had been sold ;
with all labor, taking care of stock, &c., and all repairs upon
buildings, even though done with his own hands. It is credited
with all sales of produce made from it, with manvire sold or
delivered to various parts of the farm, (which latter is at the

FARMING AS A BUSINESS. 25

same time charged to various sections or fields at a fair current
price,) and with the valuation of the barn and contents at the
close of the fiscal year, which should be about the 1st of March.
The balance of this account, of course, would represent the net
cost of whatever the animals had consumed, and should be
charged to their account.

The reason for charging the valuation at the commencement
of the year, and crediting it at the close, is to show in the
account the depreciation and repairs. For instance, a barn is
valued at first at |1,000. It needs repairing, and you expend
$250 in sliingling, &c. It is hardly fair to charge the whole of
this to the repairs for the year of its payment, as the barn is
worth more for the expenditure. By charging first the original
value, $1,000, then the repairs, $250, and at the close of the
year crediting a fair valuation, which, under all the circum-
stances, improved as it is by the repairs, may be properly called,
say $1,200, you have a balance of $50, which very nearly
represents the depreciation and wear of the building.

The stock account should be charged with the value of the
animals at the outset, and with cash paid for additions and for
food, with balance of barn account, as shown previously, and
credited with sales of animals, milk or meat, with milk and
meat consumed by the family, with labor performed by the
teams, either for others or for the different sections of the farm,
to which it is to be charged as shown, and finally with a fairly
estimated valuation of stock on hand at close of year. The
balance shows the gain or loss arising from the keeping of stock.
The value of such an account would be something surprising.
For instance, a simple calculation and sifting of the details
would show the exact cost of feeding or rearing any animal.

Vehicles and tools should be charged with valuation at outset,
with repairs and renewals, including cash actually paid and
labor performed by the farmer himself, or his men, and credited
with value at end of year. The balance would show cost of
use of tools and vehicles, which sliould be properly divided up
and charged off to the various sections of the farm. The home-
stead and lot should be charged with valuation, with interest,
and its share of taxes and insurance (as indeed should every
other section of the farm,) with repairs and labor expended,
and credited with valuation at close of year. The balance

4*

26 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

would show the cost of rent, properly chargeable to family
expenses.

Family expense account should be charged with valuation of
furniture, with cash paid during the year for additions to the
same, with balance of homestead account, representing the rent,
with all expenditures for food, clothing and the supply of all
the miscellaneous wants of the family, and with everything
produced upon the farm, which is consumed by them, estimat-
ing as nearly as may be, in cases where entire accuracy cannot
be attained, and credited at close of year, with valuation of
furniture, increased as it may be by additions, or diminished by
breakage, wear and depreciation. The balance of this account,
would show the exact expense of living, for the year.

Here then you have, very roughly sketched, a system of
accounts for a farmer. The balances of his various accounts
taken in detail, show just where he has made or lost money,
and if the same or similar results follow the operations of suc-
cessive years, he is thereby warned, and can profit by the expe-
rience. From these accounts he can calculate with unerring
certainty, the exact cost of everything produced, including even
interest, taxes, and repairs of tools. He has the entire business
tabularized, and can at his leisure during winter evenings,
march his columns in review before him and study to some
purpose, to reduce costs and save expenses.

Of course the first thought that arises in reference to all this,
is that it is too complicated, and thoughts perhaps not compli-
mentary to the speaker, will flit through your minds, to the
effect that it is absurd to expect the farmer, at the close of a
hot day's hard work, to devote the necessary time to book-
keeping ; and I fancy I can trace on the countenances of some,
evidence of a feeling near akin to this : that it is well to talk
about having plenty of capital, but how is one to get it, if he
does not happen to have it ; and another, moved by the holy
horror of being in debt, which almost universally actuates the
New England farmer, repudiates any system or plan for
improvement, which includes that among its possibilities.

Well, I cannot wonder at this, as new ideas, urged upon the
consideration of any class of men, by one confessedly not prac-
tically acquainted with the details of their calling, might natu-
rally be received by them with suspicion ; but bear in mind,

FARMING AS A BUSINESS. 27

that if these suggestions seem new and untried, they are only
so in their application to farming. They constitute the chart
by which every man engaged in every other business steers his
course ; and in the very considerable thought I have given to
the subject, I fail to sec wherein you differ essentially from
other business men, or why the system and method, found to
be necessary to success in other branches of business, are not
equally so in farming.

You may not, but I do, believe that a system of accounts
similar to what I have suggested, would save to the farmer ten
times the trouble and time of keeping them, by showing him
just where he makes, and how he loses money, thus enabling
him to save the days of drudgery and exhausting toil, expended
upon crops which hardly return a new dollar for an old one.
Perhaps I have elaborated too much, and suggested classifica-
tion to an extent greater than would be found desirable ; but I
believe, to use a homely phrase, that every tub should stand
upon its own bottom ; and that if a farmer does not make as
much money as he thinks he ought, he should be able to trace
the loss to its proper locality, and let corn, fruit, hay, animals,
or family expense bear the burden which belongs to each.

Without the accounts he can only " kinder guess " that he
did not cut so much hay as usual, or it didn't seem to go so far,
or his cattle didn't sell well, or his labor cost too much. Now
would it not be much more satisfactory to the farmer, to be able
to turn to actual results expressed in figures, and by reference
to account with field No. 10 for instance, find that it cut so
many tons of hay by actual weight, or estimate sufficiently
accurate worth so many dollars per ton and that it actually cost
— including interest and taxes, labor, depreciation of productive
capacity by the exhaustion of manure &c., — so much money,
showing for field No. 10 a good fair profit. He then turns to
the stock account, and finds that part of his loss occurred there,
by the low price of beef perhaps ; (" this is writ sarcastical,
A. W.") and he takes courage, as he reflects that it probably
will not occur again (and it doesn't,) and he looks further, and
finds that his family expenses have been large ; that after
reckoning the interest and taxes and insurance on his house,
his rent is pretty heavy, and that on the whole his farm paid a
fair income, but that his expenses have eaten up too large a

28 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

share of it, and then he studies expense account, to see if
retrenchment can be effected there ; and possibly he fancies
that his wife might get along with one less bonnet or shawl or
dress, and if he is a bold man he holds a consultation with her
iipon the subject, and probably retires from the interview,
musing deeply upon human weakness, and liability to error.

So much for the idea of a system of accounts in farming ; and
now let us briefly consider the question of capital. What is a
farmer to do, who has not got it of his own, and cannot or does
not dare to borrow it ? Well, this is a fair question, and
deserves an answer equally so. You shall have it. He must
farm at a great disadvantage all his life, or until he acquires it,
as compared with one who has it. Is this hard and
discouraging ?

If it seems so, recollect if you please, that no one is to blame.
It is true, and we are bound to state facts as we find them.
Farming in this particular, does not differ essentially from any
other business. Here at least, the conditions are the same ;
and if it seems discouraging to a young man just starting in
life, to be told that capital is essential to success, let him bear
in mind, that it is not so in farming only. What would you
think of a man who should hire a store, and buy on credit a
large stock of goods, and start a large business, without any
capital ? You say at once he would fail, and whether you say
so or not, he would. There would hardly be one chance in a
thousand for him, and when the crash came, the unanimity
with which the community would decide that he was a fool, if
not something worse, would be such as is seldom seen outside
of a political caucus or a parish sewing circle.

Is it then reasonable to expect that a young man can buy a
farm and stock it and carry it on without money ? Is there
any guardian angel who presides over the destinies of agricul-
turists and exempts them from the common lot of humanity ?
Are they not subject to the same laws, based upon principles
as simple and immutable as that two and two make four, that
govern other business men ? Let us see. A young man buys
a farm, and owes for the whole of it, agreeing to pay interest,
and a certain share of the principal each year. He perhaps
has money enough barely to stock it. Tlie farm is in good
condition and produces for him full crops, but he has his family

FARMING AS A BUSINESS. 29

expenses to provide for, and liis payments, and these must all
come out of his products. He tugs and sweats and studies to
save, but his want of money is ever pressing. He is obliged to
sell a portion of his hay to raise money. Then he reduces his
cattle in number, to make up further possible deficiencies, and
because he has not hay for them, and perhaps finally makes up
in full the needed sum, by selling wood and timber which is
growing and increasing rapidly in value.

In the spring he finds he has lived through the year and met
his payments, but he also finds that selling his hay, stock and
growing timber, was equivalent to paying a ruinous rate of'
interest for his money. He finds that could he have retained
his hay and cattle and converted the former into beef and milk,
he would have netted nearly twice as much for it, as he actually
received and he would have had besides, a plentiful stock of
manure, with which to keep up the productive capacity of his
farm. He also estimates tbat the rapidly growing timber, cut
to meet his payments, would have nearly doubled its value in
three years. Thus his second year is started, with the same
thing to be done again which so severely taxed his resources,
and under circumstances not as favorable as at first ; and so
on ; there is no need to follow him further. The story of his
toils, his struggles, his privations, are better known possibly to
many of you than to me. For there are very few New England
farmers whose lives have not been a realization of the same
story told over and over again, of hard work and severe
economy and labor but poorly requited. Insufficient capital is
very largely at the bottom of this. A pressing need of money,
too often chronic, and a consequent necessity for skinning the
farm to raise it, tells the sad story of impoverished lands and
diminished products.

A word here, explanatory of a seeming inconsistency, may
not be amiss. I have advised borrowing capital in preference to
going without it ; and it may be said that owing for one's farm
is but borrowing capital. This is true ; but a debt for money
borrowed permanently — that is, with no immediate necessity for
paying the principal or any part of it, so long as the interest is
duly cared for, is a very different thing from the mere tempo-
rary indebtedness of one who buys a farm or mercluindise,
agreeing to pay at a fixed time, or contracts to pay at stated

30 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

periods. If the farmer owes money permanently, he has only
the interest to care for, and the business ought to earn and
enable him to pay it easily. If it does not do this, it is not
worth pursuing. If it does, the payment will not embarrass
him, and thus, comparatively at his ease, he lays broad and
deep the foundations for a productive farm, which, in later
years, will enable him easily to pay his debts and own his capital.
In the case we have cited, it was not the payment of interest,
but of a portion of the principal, which compelled, by prema-
ture sales of hay, stock and timber, the virtual payment of from
twenty-five to fifty per cent, for the raising and use of money.
Still, you will say, it is hard and discouraging, if true, that suc-
cess in farming depends upon possession of capital. I grant
it, but must still adhere to my proposition — that the full
measure of success is not to be accorded to him who starts any
business without the absolute command, (either by owning or
permanently borrowing,) of sufficient capital. But is there no
remedy ? Most assuredly ; and here we are brought face to
face, with what seems a great mistake in the education and
training of our young men, and an idea developed thereby,
which has done and is doing great mischief in their minds.

The error is in trying to make mature men of them too early,
and the false idea thus developed, is that they must do or try to
do everything that full-grown men attempt. In accordance with
this idea, they must commence business on their own account
at the earliest dawn of manhood, and be ready to retire and
enjoy themselves in entire freedom from care before they are
forty. Too often they recover from their delusion to find them-
selves bankrupt at thirty. It might afford an instructive lesson
to such, could we ascertain by careful inquiry what proportion
of men who find themselves rich at sixty were even " square
with the world " at thirty. I may be mistaken, but I have an
impression that very little of the property owned by men is
acquired during the decade succeeding their majority. A large
proportion of successful men either engage in business for them-
selves after they are thirty, or are forced to build up success
upon the ruins of a failure, and in either case profit by their
experience.

And most assuredly is it the best policy to make haste slowly,
when delay may bring capital, in the form of accumulated earn-

FARMING AS A BUSINESS. 31

ings. The demand for skilled and intelligent labor is and must
be for years to come, in our growing country, in excess of the
supply ; and the first few years of early manhood cannot be
regarded as mis-spent, nor can the labor crowded into them be
as hard, or the anxiety of life so wearing, if given to that
mechanical employment which most naturally and easily prom-
ises a fair return, as would surely be the case, if, in the haste to
embark on his own account, the over-zealous young man were
to plunge into farming or other business, destitute alike of
experience and capital.

I might dwell upon these topics almost indefinitely, for they
are directly in the channel in which the thoughts of a business
man most naturally run ; but, alas ! there is a limit even to the
patience of a farmer, and there must be a corresponding one to
an agricultural address. The suggestions which have been
made are such as have seemed to me best calculated to serve the
farmer and lighten his cares and toil. They have been applied
and their value tested in all directions, save perhaps in farming ;
and I can see no reason why system and accuracy are not
equally applicable to that as to other branches of business.

Agriculture is the most important interest in the world,
because it is the basis upon which all others rest. Ask a shrewd
merchant as to the prospects of business in days to come, and
he points to the crop reports for his reply. Improvement and
progress in agriculture, then, is improvement and progress in
all directions ; and it really seems that it is or would be a long
stride forward in the direction of progress, at least, could the
farmer, by the introduction of the system and method which, in
other branches of business are found indispensable to success,
but which in farming are, to say the least, not common, be
enabled to see and know that labor, which in this direction
means success and rich returns, in that is utterly wasted and
thrown away or worse.

Complaint is often made that the boys leave the farm ; that
other modes of life have greater attraction for them. I doubt
not that it is so, and I know it will continue to be so, till you
reverse the conditions and make the attractions of a farm life
greater than can be found elsewhere. This you can only do by
giving the brains more and the hands less to do. We live in an
age of thought, and we must not expect, after lavishing money

32 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

upon the schools and colleges, to which we send our boys to
learn things their fathers never dreamed of, that they will be
satisfied to be fitted to the old time grooves, to accept convic-
tions a half century old, or to settle down contentedly to the
raising of a dull routine of crops in regular rotation, and for no
particular reason, save that their fathers and grandfathers did
the same before them.

It seems to me that the discovery and application of steam to
locomotion and transportation has imparted to the age some-
thing of its own fastness and rapidity, and that even as the
employment of this tremendous agent in mechanics has revolu-
tionized all mechanism, so the swiftness which it has somehow
imparted as a characteristic feature to the age, has rendered
necessary to the farmer, as to others, new modes of thinking and
acting, new methods and new manners.

I believe that the New England farmer of the future must be
a very different man from the New England farmer of the past,
in order to do the work that the future calls for, as well as it
has been done in the past ; that the keen, shrewd, hard-working
man of instinct, guess and observation must give way to the
man of system, science and exact knowledge ; that in short,
agriculture in the near future is to be conducted upon the same
principles, and governed by the same rules which underlie and
control all other business interests. Pardon me, if, in this
belief, and actuated by a desire to be of such use as I might,
in speeding a change which seems to me inevitable and neces-
sary, I have seemed too freely to offer advice and suggestions to
men of capacity and intelligence, fully equal, if not superior to
my own.

ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS. 33

ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS.

From an Address before the Union Agricultural Society.

BY C. O. PERKINS.

Massachusetts is a manufacturing State. Tliere are only one-
fourth as many persons engaged in agriculture as in manufac-
turing. With a population of 1,267,000, not less than 217,500
are engaged in manufacturing, and only 68,600 engaged in
agriculture. Consequently, manufacturing is the leading, and
farming the secondary, occupation of the people of Massachu-
setts ; and we see more of the manufacturing element in our
communities than of the farming, and we are dazzled by tho
display of the few manufacturers who are making large income
returns, dress expensively, and drive fast horses. But, farmers,
think for a moment of the hard toil of hundreds whose real
wants are inadeqviately supplied, whose toiling hands add to the
luxury of those few. We see the display of the few but not the
wants of the many. Does the fact that we are in a manufac-
turing State need to make us dissatisfied with our lot ? There
is no State, no country, no nation on earth, where labor receives
so great a reward as in our own State. There may be more
uniformity in the West, where farming is the leading occupa-
tion ; there may be more equality there ; but labor does not net
as good nor as sure returns. With them increase of population
does not increase prices of ppduce, but rather the reverse,
because it increases producers. But the increase of population
in a manufacturing community increases prices of produce.
Every new factory lays additional claims upon the farmer for
produce, and while we cannot get the same number of bushels
for the same labor that they get at the West, our access to
market enables us to get the full price without sacrificing the
profits to the carrying trade.

6*

34 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

In 1838 the annual industrial products of Massachusetts were
valued at $86,000,000 ; in 1845, $124,000,000 ; in 1855, |295,-
000,000 ; and in 1865 they had swelled to the enormous sum of
$517,000,000 ; which give an annual income of over $400 for
each individual person in the State. And I find, by comparison
of statistics, that the amount per individual of those engaged in
agriculture, and those in manufacturing, to be very nearly equal
in the aggregate, but may be more evenly divided among the
manufacturers than among the farmers.

As I remarked, the entire industrial products of Massachu-
setts in 1838 were valued at $86,000,000. Now our agricul-
tural products alone, in 1865, were valued at over $92,000,000,
which is $6,000,000 more in value than all the industrial earn-
ings of the State were less than thirty years ago. All this rapid
increase of material interest is encouraging to the farmer. It
adds to the value of everything he produces. His surplus prod-
uce finds ready sale at the highest prices and in a home market.
In remote markets the manufacturer has greatly the advantage
over the farmer. His articles are of more value and less bulk.
Take the farmer West, who wishes to purchase a suit of clothes
made here. Suppose the suit to cost fifty dollars. The trans-
portation from here to Chicago on that suit might be fifty cents,
or one one-hundredth part of the first cost, to be paid for in
corn, worth one dollar a bushel here, making fifty bushels,
which, at the rate of two dollars freight for twenty thousand
pounds, would make the transportation twenty-five dollars, or
one hundred per cent, upon the value of the corn at Chicago.
That is, the cost of moving the suit of clothes is fifty cents, and
the cost of moving the corn is twenty-five dollars.

This shows that it is for the mutual advantage of both parties
that producers and consumers should live in close proximity.
It would be better for the farmers of Blandford that they should
have factories here, whose operatives should consume their sur-
plus produce, than that that surplus should find market in
Westfield ; better find market in Westfield than Springfield ;
better in Springfield than Boston ; better in Boston than in
Europe ; and until the West becomes a manufacturing commu-
nity, we need not envy them their markets nor wish to exchange
our prosperity for theirs ; nor need we envy them their views of
political economy, until they see that it is better not only to

ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS. 35

encourage manufacturing in their own midst than in Massachu-
setts, but also that it is better to encourage it in Massachusetts
than to pay the half-fed, half-clad labor of Europe for manufac-
turing articles that must be paid for in corn or other bulky pro-
ductions, to be produced and forwarded at a price to again
compete with said depressed labor.

The West is envious of our prosperity, but they need not be,
for nothing less than our prosperity will furnish them with an
adequate market for their surplus produce. Their thrift is
wholly dependent upon the prosperity of the East.

Imagine, for a moment, that our surplus produce had to be
conveyed inland one thousand *niles to find market. Do you
think we should live as well as we do now ? Should we dress
as well as now ? Should we spend money as freely as we now
do ? I think not. But rather let us comfort one another with
the assurance that we are the best clad, the best fed, and the
most enlightened yeomanry on earth, and have the most home
comforts. And let not the thought that we are mingling with
a prosperous manufacturing community (whose alimentary
wants are feeding our pockets,) in any way discourage us ; for
we who are farmers to-day can be manufacturers to-morrow if
we will only venture the experiment : but statistics show that
they as a mass, fare but little better than we do.

For the benefit of those farmers and their families who see
more attractions in village life and more densely populated
places, and for the comfort of all who like ready markets and
good society, I will say : We are living in the most densely
populated State in the Union ; a State increasing in population
to the square mile more rapidly than any other State in the
Union ; a State in which the earnings are greater per individual
than in any other portion of the known world ; a State where
the social and literary advantages are greater, and where
knowledge is more universally diffused ; a State where the
poor, the unfortunate, and the friendless are more thoroughly
cared for ; a State where agriculture receives greater pecuniary
and direct public aid than in any other State in the Union ; a
State whose public treasury is ready with open hands to lend
aid to the society which is here this day represented.

" A contented mind is a continual feast," and fearing that
with the uneasy inclinations which we have inherited from our

36 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

primeval ancestors, we might not realize the extent of the
prosperity, comfort and individual happiness which we may
and perhaps do really enjoy, I have endeavored to show you
that your lot is cast in pleasant places and that the rigor of this
climate and comparative sterility of your soil is more than
compensated by surrounding favors, and that the farmers of
Massachusetts have little cause for discontent, and having
assumed that content is the first requisite to the prosperity, the
comfort and general happiness of a community, we now propose
to consider some of the points which will be likely to make us
better and more successful farmers.

One point worthy of consid^ation with the farmer is the
determination to do his work at the proper time ; to be always
in season. Better drive your work than that your work drive
you. Those who planted corn and potatoes the earliest have
the best crops. Those who sowed oats earliest have the most
oats and the best quality. Crops hoed before the weeds have
started are hoed with one-half the cost. Early cut hay is better
for stock, and the after-math is good for the soil and for stock.
Pumpkins and squashes suffer severely if exposed to the frost.
Apples gathered early are saved from frost, and not wasted by
exposure. Stock should be brought to the barns in the fall,
before they have wasted in flesh by cold weather and frosty
feed. Prosperity in farming can only be attained by close
attention ; and this applies to all trades as well.

Another element of success with the farmer is a resolute,
determined and persevering industry in one and the same
direction. The success of man is only limited by the amount
of persevering thought and determined resolution he possesses.
To the persevering man there is no doubting or waiting ; he
knows no to-morrow or next week, but it is one determined and
resolute now. To him, mountains are but ant-hills, while ant-
hills are mountains to the vacillating and fearful. Mature
your plans ; work with a calculation beforehand. Have a fixed
object in view at the beginning of the year, and bend all efforts
towards that object. He who has an object in view at the
beginning of the year, will have an object to view at the end of
the year. Close planning will save much hard work ; and if we
allow other men to do nearly all the thinking, we must expect
to do nearly all the work.

ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS. 3T

Many farmers are too diffuse in their labors. Their pros-
perity would he increased and cares lessened and simplified hy
concentrating their efforts upon one point ; by making some
one of the diversified operations in farming a specialty. We
find the profits of manufacturing very much increased by con-
centrating individual labor upon individual points, and it will
apply with equal force to farming. And as this is a grazing
section, cheese-making may be worthy of a few moments' consid-
eration. When I say cheese-making, I mean factory cheese;
for twenty-five years hence, cheese-making in private families
will be as little known as cloth-making now is. By reference to
the industrial statistics of Massachusetts for 1865, we find there
was kept in Blandford at that time a stock equivalent to 2,394
cows. Now, allowing that 2,000 cows could be furnished to
stock four cheese factories in the different parts of the town,
giving 500 cows to each factory, and that the net produce of
those cows was $60 each, the farmers of Blandford would
receive the snug sum of $120,000 yearly. You may at first
look upon this as visionary ; but it will bear investigation.

There is another point in this connection to which I would
call your attention ; the strife and emulation which would be
induced to see who should get the greatest amount of milk
per cow, and who should keep the most cows. If one man
was sending to the factory an average of thirty pounds of milk
per day per cow, and another only twenty, the latter would soon
be looking for better cows and better keeping. If one man was
keeping twelve cows on a farm of one hundred acres, and
another only eight, quite likely one would be looking to see
where improvements would justify another cow ; and soon two
more cheese factories would spring up with the additional five
hundred cows each.

There are those in Worcester County who realize $100 per
cow annually from cows whose milk goes to the cheese factory ;
and I have the cow in view, from a dairy of thirty cows, and
nothing but pasture feed, that gave, in the month of June, an
average of 71| pounds of milk per day for ten days in succes-
sion. The most given in any one day was 77} pounds, and at
one milking 41| pounds.

I think an accurate account kept by the farmer of all farm
transactions would put him on a track of thinking which would

38 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

do more to raise the standard of farming than any other one
thing. You may say you cannot afford to go through all that
process. Allow me to say there is not a farmer in this house
who can better spend ten minutes of each day, and one whole
day at the end of the year, than in just such business. Just
try it, and at the end of the year compare notes ; review your
accounts, and see which pays the best ; see where you would
have saved money that you did not ; see where you have spent
money that you need not. Farmers have no business to be
guessing at conclusions all their lives. There is an old adage
that " figures won't lie." One reason why farmers are so little
inclined to keep accounts is, because they have not been
educated to it. Book-keeping should be a branch taught in all
our district schools. Its study would be vastly more useful
than the study of algebra and higher mathematics. To be able
to add, subtract, multiply and divide rapidly and correctly, and
a knowledge of keeping accounts, together with a knowledge of
fractions, is of vast importance to tlie practical man.

We sometimes see no less than some ten or a dozen buildings
and appurtenances scattered about to make up a complete farm
set. Neither for looks nor convenience is it desirable that the
farmer should surround his premises with a multiplicity of
small buildings, small yards and small lots. Let the farmer
surround his home with thrift, neatness and order. Let it be
embellished with fruits and flowers. Let there be a supply of
desirable books and papers, that his children may be storing
their minds for future usefulness, and not forced to seek in the
bar-room and grocery an apology for that society they should
find at home. The degree of civilization, the wealth and the
general taste and refinement of a community, or of individuals,
may be judged with great accuracy, by a glance at the surround-
ings of their home. From the Indian living in his wigwam, the
Greenlander living in his hut of ice, the wandering Arab taking
his tent with him, or the cottage of the domestic peasant of the
uobility-owned soil of Europe (so domestic that his brutes are
tenants of the same roof,) we pass through all the various
stages of civilization to the clean, comfortable, beautiful, con-
venient and best arranged premises of the New England
farmer ; tastefully kept, carefully designed with reference to
convenient location, convenience of internal arrangement,

ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS. 39

beauty of form and proportion ; the house, perhaps, draped in
tasteful simplicity, with festoons of living vines, and with
surrounding ornaments of flowers and of shade and fruit trees,
occupied by the intelligent and warm-hearted farmer, with his
neat, tasty, frugal, industrious and affectionate housewife, their
cares and labors being lessened by the aid of sons, bearing the
image of the mother, and by daughters in likeness of the father,
and who, through the diligent training of the experienced
parents, are the aspiring candidates to like positions. All these
may be seen in the rural portions of New England ; and in no
place on earth do we find nearer approaches to the garden of
Eden, or a nobler and purer type of that being who was made
in the image of God.

The farmer should feel that his employment is an honorable
one ; that in no class of society are found so many of the
elements of human enjoyment as in that class who deal with
the soil and all that pertains to animal and vegetable life. It
is the common nurse of all persons in every age and condition
of life. It is an innocent pursuit. It detracts from no man's
reasonable enjoyment. It is an honest pursuit. It has nothing
to do with the ills, the wills or the temptations of man. It
makes no depredations upon the peace, the happiness, the
safety or the purse of others. It was the primitive employment
of man. The farmer should feel that labor is dignified, when
associated with intelligent action. There is no employment
which calls for so diversified and general knowledge as agricul-
ture. As a science it has no limits. To make agricultural
labor popular, it must be associated with the highest degree of
intelligence, and the widest attainments in knowledge. There
must be more thinking and less hard toil. We must promptly
seize upon any new and useful inventions and mechanical
improvement by which labor is lightened or made more effective.
Every such improvement will increase the leisure of the farmer,
and also his ability to supply his personal wants. " Knowledge
is power," and the more extensive our attainments, the more
easily shall we continue to acquire. The object of the farmer
should be to increase the production and improve the qualities
of animal and vegetable life, and to add thereby to the amount
of his comforts and enjoyments. And this can best be accom-
plished by the acquisition of knowledge, which will give him

40 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

greater power in his special employment, and also, a better
position and more influence in society. Agriculture should be
regarded more as an intellectual employment. Man makes a
given force accomplish a greater piece of work in proportion as
he is intelligent. Skill takes the place of muscle. A better
product is obtained with less labor. Make men intelligent,
and they will find a shorter process for obtaining results. They
will become inventive. Make labor intelligent and you will
enhance its value, inasmuch as mind is superior to matter. We
yield to superiority of intellect, but not to brute force.

In society, men should not be known as farmers, as doctors,
as lawyers, &c., but should be known as men. These are only
the avenues by which they seek to promote their comfort and
prosperity and gratify personal wants. To judge of a man, it
is not necessary to inquire what he does, but how he does it.
It is the man that determines the dignity of his occupation, and
not the oocupation that measures the dignity of the man.
Knowledge exalts; ignorance degrades. It is man's intellect
that raises him above the brute. Knowledge gives position.
We like to associate with our equals or superiors in knowledge.
We must not be slow to make superior skill and knowledge
take the place of hard labor. Many of our substantial farmers
work too hard. We sometimes find men who can do an
immense amount of hard work, and also of continued and close
thinking ; but they are " like angels' visits, few and far
between." Farming will be esteemed honorable just in propor-
tion as it is associated with refinement and intelligence. There
is no reason why the farmer should not be an aifable and polite
man. To be so, he must practise a continued effort in that
direction.

Let the farmer strive to make others pleased with themselves
while they are in his presence. True politeness consists in the
kindness of the heart, kindly expressed. The isolation of the
farmer and his toilsome life render him liable to become coarse
and awkward in manners and speech. The ability to converse
with force and clearness, with grace and propriety, should be,
therefore, a part of his study. It is not enough that we merely
have knowledge. We must be able to impart that knowledge
to others. Many farmers have native good sense without the
power of using good language, and consequently they do not

ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS. 41

take that social position to which their good sense would other-
wise entitle them. Speech is the grand distinction between man
and the brute creation. But this is the result of cultivation and
social intercourse. Our social rank depends very much upon
our power to use correct language. An easy, fluent, graceful
utterance gives one access to many social advantages ; and
these, in turn, afford aid to his utterance. A clear expression
of thought enables us to exert a greater influence upon others,
and at the same time strengthens the distinctness of our own
perceptions.

Farmers should improve every opportunity to cultivate their
social natures. Here we have one great use for agricultural
fairs, farmers' clubs and farmers' festivals. It should not be the
main question at our fairs : Did they have large cattle and fast
horses ; but was there a display of beautiful humanity ? Were
the people there with their joyful, friendly, familiar, social
greeting ? Was age, with silvery locks and fond memories of
the past there ? Was youth, glowing with vigor in high expec-
tations of the future there ? Yes, fathers and mothers, sisters
and brothers, sweethearts and lovers, were all there ; and as
friend greets friend, there is an increase of self-respect, an
exuberance of feeling, an intellectualized, reinvigorated flow of
spirits, which send their shadow back ten degrees in the dial of
Ahaz.

It is the attrition of mind with mind which polishes and gives
vital force to man. He must take time for social intercourse
and intellectual improvement. Conversation is the great recre-
ation of life, stirring us to activity, cheering us around our
hearthstones, moving the heart gently, often deeply ; crowding
the memories of years into moments, and kindling the purest
and happiest emotions. Laughter and tears, smiles and blushes,
are instinctive acts of man. He who can give the most intelli-
gible expression of his ideas in the fewest words has the best
command of language ; and his command of language may be
made more forcible by proper muscular action. There is a lan-
guage in action, in the features of the face, in the expression of
the eye — a language which speaks from the heart, and is beyond
the utterance of the voice.

Encourage industrious habits in children with reference to
usefulness. We are not sufficiently aware how immense is the
6*

42 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

benefit which would result in every way from this encourage-
ment. Industry is the great preventive of poverty and crime.
"Were it universally inculcated and fostered in youth, there
would be much less need of doctors and lawyers, and, as we
think, of ministers.

Sons and daughters ! strive to be useful. Let it be your
pride in after years that you lent a willing hand to lessen the
cares of the parental home.

And finally, man is an admirer of all that is beautiful in
nature ; and in the last manifestation of creative power and
divine skill, there is a display of beauty unrivalled in any por-
tion of God's works, and in that countenance in which are
commingled beams of kindness, purity, good humor and modest
blushes, going and returning like flashes of heat lightning in
the summer twilight of a western sky, with the flashes of genius
sparkling in the eye with a splendor which the brilliancy of no
diamond can equal — transparent windows to the soul of intelli-
gence and noble thought — such to man, is gentle, modest, pure,
heroic and loving woman, reflecting her loveliness upon all
around, like as the setting sun upon a world made richer and
more glorious by the lingering radiance, casting reflecting rays
of unwonted gorgeousness and splendor upon azure skies and
gold-tint clouds. And for what did the Creator make objects
so beautiful but to be admired, and for what has he endowed
man with an exquisite sense of beauty, but that he may
cultivate it and find therein a source of pleasure and delight.

It may be well that married men should speak their general
admiration in modest tones, for who shall advocate the cause of
that woman who is jealous without cause ?

Modesty and beauty are woman's greatest adornments ; but
I am not sure that these always go together ; and beauty with-
out modesty may be repulsive, while modesty in woman is
never repulsive to man. And for the benefit of those who may
think themselves not handsome, I will say, " Handsome is that
handsome does."

CULTURE AND SOCIAL POSITION. 43

CULTURE AND SOCIAL POSITION.

From an Address before the Berkshire Agricultural Society.

BY ALEXANDER HYDE.

In conversation with an aged farmer recently, he complained
that his sons had all left the homestead and gone into the neigh-
boring villages and to distant cities to improve their social posi-
tion, and despondingly asked, " What can be done to render
agriculture more popular, so that our youth may remain at
home and feel that they are as much respected while handling
the plough as though measuring tape and ribbons ? Unless
something is done to elevate the occupation of farming, the soil
of New England will soon pass into the hands of aliens, and
Yankee yeomanry will be counted among the things of the
past." This conversation gave the key-note to the following
strain of thought : —

We sometimes hear the complaint that farmers are not appre-
ciated ; that they do not hold that social position to which they
are entitled by their merits and numbers ; that they are a
minority in the halls of State legislation, and congressional
honors are entirely beyond their reach. An indefinite feeling
seems to prevail that society is wrongly organized ; that it has
an upper and an under crust, between which there is an impas-
sible barrier ; that some are destined to labor, and others to
enjoy the fruit of their labors. This is a superficial view of
society. The truth is, all men, both individually and collec-
tively, are appreciated in the long run according to real worth.
Outside of the conscience there is no tribunal before which a
more accurate estimate of men is made than that of the com-
munity at large after an acquaintance of years. For a time
individuals, like Dedalus, may make for themselves wings of
wax and soar towards the sun ; but like their prototype, they
are sure finally to be plunged into a sea of confusion and

44 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

shame. The talents and worth of others may for a time be
latent, but if the fire of truth is in them, it will follow the law
of caloric — diifuse itself and be felt. The mass of society is
like a mass of water — it will find its own level. It may be true
that farmers do not hold a share of the political offices of the
country in proportion to their numbers ; but political office is
not the criterion by which the valuation of man is to be decided.
We should be loth to believe that the highest office in the gift
of the people is always filled by the wisest and best of men.
This estimate of men by the offices they fill is too common even
in republics. There is no criterion more uncertain.

" Pigmies are pigmies still though perched on Alps."

We have had instances of men high in office, but low in char-
acter, and low in the estimation of their fellow-men, sufficient,
one would suppose, to dispel the illusion that office is the stan-
dard of the man. There is keen satire in the sentence of Dr.
Young, —

" Has place or lessened or aggrandized thee ?
Then thou before wert something less than man."

Place, however, does aggrandize us in that it gives an oppor-
tunity for the exercise of the powers that are in us. It creates
no new faculties, but it does give opportunity for the develop-
ment of those we already possess ; and if there is any truth,
(and we are inclined to think there is,) in the common com-
plaint that farmers do not have their share of the places of honor
and emolument, we desire to do all in our power to remedy the
injustice. But don't let us whine and complain that we are not
appreciated. We are appreciated. We pass for what we are
worth as well as any class in the community. When churches
and school-houses are to be built, the farmer is sure to be
remembered and to have his full share of the honor and expense
of their erection. When taxes are assessed for the support of
the government, the farm is not hid in a pocket-book, but stands
out in bold relief and is always levied upon. When the honor
of the country is to be maintained on the field of battle, the
yeomanry are sure to constitute the rank and file of the army.
It is not true, then, that farmers are not appreciated. They are

CULTURE AND SOCIAL POSITION. 45

acknowledged on all hands to be the backbone of community —
the substratum of all society. The occupation of agriculture
lies at the foundation of all other industrial pursuits. Mechan-
ics, manufactures and commerce would find no material to work
upon, did not agriculture furnish it ? It is the primeval occu-
pation of man, and the favorite pursuit of the wise and good
from Adam down to the present time, and if we do not hold the
social position to which we think we are entitled, let us not
blame society, but rather say with Cassius, —

*' The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves that we are underlings."

To point out some means of elevating the character and
improving the social position of the farmer, is my object on this
occasion.

In the first place, the prevalent notion that farming is merely
a practical art to be studied in the barn and field, must be
discarded. It is true of agriculture as of every other art, that
science without practice sometimes leads astray, and practice
without science never attains to leadership. It is only when
theory and practice are combined that the highest success may
be expected. It is said that a distinguished professor of mathe
matics in a college not far distant from here, who had taught
his classes year after year the art of navigation, was once cross-
ing the Atlantic and desired one day to heave the log and keep
the course and distance of the ship. The reckonings were
accordingly intrusted for a time in his hands, and as might
have been expected, were not very accurately kept, though the
sky was clear and the wind moderate. This is an example of
science without practice. But would the result have been
more satisfactory had a common sailor, accustomed all his days
to the practical details of navigation, but unacquainted with the
science, been intrusted with the command of the ship ? It is
the skillful captain alone, who understands not only the prac-
tical handling of the ropes, but also the laws of navigation, to
whom we can safely trust our lives and property on the ocean.
If his mathematical tables are lost, the scientific commander
can make new ones. If his needle loses its polarity he can
apply his magnet and remedy the defect. In his own brains he
has resources for every emergency, to which the ignorant sailor

46 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

cannot resort. The contrast between the common sailor and
the skillful captain is no more striking than between the igno-
rant farm-laborer and the scientific agriculturist. The former
may possibly, from long practice, handle the hoe and plough
more dexterously than the latter, but he knows little more of
the composition of the soil he is hoeing and ploughing than the
horses and oxen in whose company he loves to spend his leisure
time. Unless some seed-yeast of thought is introduced into
his brains and they are set fermenting, he will continue the
same routine of labor year after year that his father did before
him, much as the oxen on the old Roman threshing floor went
round and round treading out the grain. Progress and
improvement are watchwords, the significance of which he
cannot comprehend. It is brain work, or theorizing, which
leads on to progress in agriculture, as in every other art. Not
every theory tried by practical tests proves correct, but because
some are visionary we must not condemn all theory. Had not
Fulton first contrived in his brains the theory of the application
of steam to the propulsion of boats, his boat had never been
propelled up the Hudson. That was a trying time when he
invited some of his friends to test, by practice, the truth of his
theory. I never read the account without admiration of the
genius and self-reliance of the bold theorist. Doubt and anxi-
ety were depicted on the face of his friends, and when, after
advancing a few rods, the boat stopped, they began to whisper,
" I wish I was out of it," " it is all gammon," " gas," " moon-
shine," Fulton calmly replied, " Have patience, gentlemen,
there is something wrong in the adjustment of the machinery ;
the boat will soon go ahead." And go ahead it did, and led
the inventor to fame, and many a boat-owner to fortune.

Some may say this is all true with regard to navigation and
the mechanic arts. They require some science in their investi-
gation and development, but farming is a simple matter,
demanding only stout hands and a willing heart. Never was a
greater mistake. It has led to the ruin of many a farmer, and
more than all other causes combined has operated for the
depression of the farming interest, and the social inequality of
which complaint is made. If tlie bright boys are selected for
the professions and the blockheads for the farm, we must
expect inequality — it is inevitable. But it is not true that

CULTURE AND SOCIAL POSITION. 47

agriculture calls into exercise solely or mainly the muscles and
will. It is mind that governs matter, and no art demands for
its perfect development so wide a range of science as the art of
tilling the soil. This is not merely my assertion. It is backed
up by the highest juflicial authority of the State, for Chief
Justice Bigelow says : " In order to be a good farmer a man
must possess the best natural ability, and should have more
information on a greater variety of subjects than a person in
any other profession." If I remember rightly, I learned the
art of navigation in one short college term, and thought I
understood the theory as well as Captain Cook, or any other
navigator who had sailed around the world, but agriculture
has been my favorite study for years, and I still feel that I am
a mere novice. The chemical laboratory of nature is a perfect
mystery to me. The growth of a blade of grass is a miracle.
How does it derive from the dead soil its wonderful life ?
Whence comes its perfect mechanical structure, its delicate
coloring, exquisite perfume ? How do the roots and leaves of
barley and wheat imbibe from tlie same soil and air different
properties, and produce such different grains ? How does the
tree convert the vile, decayed matter in the soil, into the
fragrant, delicious, health-giving peach ? These are processes
beyond the ken of the chemist. Science has labored for years
on the more practical questions. What does each crop take
from the soil ? What are the most economical means of restor-
ing to the soil the elements which each crop must take away ?
And how can an original deficiency for the production o.f any
specific crop be most easily remedied ? Much progress has
been made in elucidating these points. Liebig in Germany,
Johnston in England, and Johnson in our own country, have
devoted the energies of their lives to the development of the
theory of agriculture, and their works are worthy of most
careful study. Johnston's Agricultural Chemistry should be a
text-book in every farmer's family. It is full of instruction on
every point connected with our noble occupation, and I cannot
too highly commend it for your perusal. None are so poor
that they cannot afford three books in their library, and the
first of course should be the Bible, the second Webster's
Unabridged, and the third Johnston's Agricultural Chemistry.
The library will not be complete without a fourth volume, and

48 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

for this I name " The works of the immortal Shakspeare," the
great delineator of human character, who played with the pas-
sions and humors of men as a skillful violinist plays with his
strings. It is a mistaken notion that the farmer's library should
consist of works on agriculture solely.* These are good so far
as they go, but perusing these alone we should become men of
one idea. Farming is our occupation, and with its principles
and practical details we should endeavor to be as familiar as is
the skillful physician with the anatomy and physiology of the
human body. But the world is wide, and there are other
sciences and other pursuits besides agriculture, and if we wish
to be men among men, we must educate the whole man. If
some of our faculties are developed and others dwarfed, we
become terribly one-sided. We become monsters, not men.
For the perfect development of our manhood we shall need,
besides the four books already mentioned, a live agricultural
paper, to keep us posted as to the latest inventions in machin-
ery, the recently discovered seedling fruits and tubers, and
fresh suggestions from the practical culturists of the present
day. A daily newspaper is also an essential educator in these
fast days. Tlie local weekly is good in its place, and we hope
the " Sun " will ever shine and the " Eagle " ever soar over
Pittsfield, but no man, whether farmer or mechanic, should go
to bed without knowing what Queen Victoria had for dinner ;
and what were the last movements on the political chess-board
of Louis Napoleon and Count Bismarck. The newspaper of
the present day is the great educator of the masses. The
quarto sheet contains a volume of miscellanies, and treats of
more subjects than Solomon ever dreamed of, though " he
spake of trees from the cedar that is in Lebanon, even unto
the hyssop that springeth out of the wall, and of beasts and of
fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes."

We rejoice in the assurance that this matter of agricultural
education is receiving in our day, and especially in our State,
something of the attention which its importance demands. We
have long had our schools for the prophets, oiir normal schools, and
schools for the lawyers and doctors ; and yesterday was opened,
under most favorable circumstances, the first session of the
Massachusetts Agricultural College. A telegram received from
President Clark this morning announces that thirty-four young

CULTURE AND SOCIAL POSITION. 49

men were yesterday examined for admission into this college.
Thus one bugbear that the opponents of the college have always
brought out, that farmers' sons would be unwilling to devote so
much time in a thorough preparation for their profession, has
disappeared at the outset. We call farming a profession now,
for why is it not entitled to rank among the learned professions,
since we have a school specially designed to educate men for
this calling ? We hail the institution of this college as an omen
of the highest good in the future of the farmers of New Eng-
land. We have a rigorous climate and sterile soil ; but this
very rigor and sterility, though great drawbacks in the produc-
tion of crops and rearing of stock, are stimulants to mental
activity and bodily vigor. A lazy, shiftless farmer in Massachu-
setts must either move West or starve. As the cold, bleak hills
of Vermont have a tendency to produce fine wool not only on
the backs of sheep but on their faces and legs, and in folds all
over the body, so that although the Yermont shepherd cannot
compete with the Texan in the wool market, he has succeeded
in producing a breed of sheep which has taken the first premium
at the world's fair, and is sought for at fabulous prices on both
sides of the Atlantic, so we here in Massachusetts, if we cannot
compete with the fertile valleys of the West in raising wheat
and corn, can raise something far more valuable — we can raise
men — and the demand will come up for them from all parts of
the country as educators. As the Vermont merinos are needed
South and West to restore the quality of the flocks deteriorated
in the warmer climate and by the coarser herbage, so Massachu-
setts men will be called abroad to teach and practise the princi-
ples of restoring a soil wasted by unskilful cultivation. Mil-
lions of acres of such soil, worked by ignorant laborers under
the management of negligent masters, are now in the market,
only needing intelligent and energetic men to make them bud
and blossom like Eden.

There is one feature in our Agricultural College to which I
desire to call the special attention of the men before me. It is
the popular course of lectures to be given each winter by the
most scientific and practical agriculturists of the country, each
discoursing on the topic with which he is most familiar. It is
too late for those of us who have reached the meridian of life to
think of going to college and graduating with our bachelor's

7*

50 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

degree — our wives have driven all bachelor notions from most
of us — but we are not too old to learn, and Amherst is just the
place for us to learn, and this course of lectures is just the
mode for teaching us. The social influence of such a gathering
of the best farmers of the State as will be seen at Amherst each
winter, will more than pay for all the trouble and expense of
attendance, and the lectures promised by Professor Agassiz,
Secretary Flint, Dr. Loring, Mr. Bull and others, cannot fail to be
of the highest interest. The course is designed not so much
for the students of the college as for those already engaged in
the pursuits of agriculture, and we hope the farmers of Berk-
shire and of the whole State, will appreciate this effort made in
their behalf. "We need such an annual re-union to get out of
the ruts of thought in which our minds are inclined to run in
our solitary life, and by contact of mind with mind, to mould
and polisli each other. It will be a farmers' club on a large
scale and of the highest order.

We have dwelt somewhat at length on intellectual culture as
a means of elevating the social position of the farmer, because
it is emphatically the means sure of accomplishing the end ; but
there are one or two other means eminently conducive to the
same result, to which I desire briefly to call your attention ; and
the first is, good manners. I have sometimes feared that as a
class we have deserved the sneer implied in the phrase, " rustic
manners." We have prided ourselves on our plain, honest,
blunt ways, and possibly have undervalued the polished, affable
manners which mark the gentleman. Our isolated mode of life
also is conducive to strength rather than polish. The latter
comes mainly by intercourse with our fellow-men. By good
manners I do not mean the scraping and bowing and outward
show which bespeak the fop, but the ease and grace which dis-
tinguish the gentleman from the boor. They are the natural
outgrowth of a benevolent disposition, and are by no means to
be despised. They are essential in the pleasant intercourse of
man with man, and if we desire a higher social position we must
make our manners a subject of thought. A clown introduced
into polite society is fitted neither to give nor receive pleasure.
He feels like a cat in a strange garret, and is on the lookout for
some opening through which to make his exit. Good manners
are the oil which makes the machinery of society move without

CULTURE AND SOCIAL POSITION. 51

friction. They are the " minor morals," as Miss Sedgwick calls
them, not as essential as integrity and purity, but tliey add
vastly to the comfort of all social intercourse. There is a heresy
somewhat prevalent in the community that supposes integrity
and politeness to be incompatible. We have all met with men
who prided themselves on being above deceit, and speaking out
bluntly just what they felt, no matter how ungracious and
"uncharitable their feelings must be. To all such we desire to
commend the Scripture injunction, " Speak the truth in love."
If we study to act out the precept of loving our neighbor as
ourselves, we shall become truly polite ; for Witherspoon defines
politeness as " real kindness, kindly expressed." We have no
admiration for the Lord Ciiesterfield school of manners, which
studied effect and outward show. The Christian school is infi-
nitely superior, which commands us to " be kindly affectioned
one towards another, in honor preferring one another." This
lays the foundation upon which the superstructure of good man-
ners should ever be built. There is no question but that there
is as much genuine kindness of heart in the country as in the
city ; still rusticity, which, by its etymology, signifies life in the
country, is now the term for coarse, awkward manners ; and
urbanity, which originally signified life in the city, is now defined
by Webster as " that courtesy which is acquired by intercourse
with well-bred people." Benevolence, therefore, though lying
at the foundation of good manners, is not a guarantee for the
superstructure. We need, as the unabridged indicates, " inter-
course with well-bred people." We need to put a just estimate
upon the value of polished manners, and make them a subject
of thought, not giving all our mind to them as the fop does to
the tying of his cravat, but that attention which their importance
demands. We need to observe how others conduct who are
more favored with natural grace, and are placed in circumstances
to acquire polish of manner, and imitate their example. For-
tunately, the country is not so rustic that we are totally deprived
of examples of the greatest urbanity. All the older portion of
those present will bear me witness, that no brigliter example of
courteous manners need be sought for either in city or country
than was furnished by the late Sheriff Brown of this place.
Whether conducting the judge to his seat on the bench, or
assisting an old lady into her carriage at the church door, the

52 . MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

true gentleman marked all his movements and all his words.
I well remember the bland smile with which he used to pass us
boys, playing ball in the streets of Lenox, turning his horse out
of the road so as not to interrupt our sport, while other travel-
lers often seemed to take a malicious pleasure in dashing over
our wicket sticks, (base ball was not in fashion then.) As the
sheriff rode by, the universal feeling was, and it often found vent
in expression, " He is a gentleman." If Sheriff Root were not
present, I would add the county has great reason for congratu-
lation that the mantle of Sheriff Brown has fallen upon so
worthy a successor. We might conclude from the gentlemanly
bearing of our sheriffs that there was something in the air of
our courts necessarily leading to courteous manners, but the
wrangling of the lawyers forbids such a conclusion.

A Christian should ever study to be a gentleman. We are
poor followers of our meek and lowly but divine Master if we
do not strive to imitate the only perfect example of courtesy
that was ever exhibited on the earth. When he was reviled, he
reviled not again. When mocked, scourged and crucified, his
feeling for his enemies was a mingled one of pity and compas-
sion, and his prayer was, " Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do." Still there was no cringing fear in the pres-
ence of those who were above him in station ; no want of
decision and manliness, as the Temple bore witness when defiled
by those who had made it a '' den of thieves."

If the isolated life of the farmer tends to make him awkward,
he should study all the more to overcome this obstacle to his
advance in social position. Tbe command, " Be courteous," is
binding upon all men — is just as applicable to the farmer as to
the attendant upon the kings' courts., Nor are we wanting in
examples of polished gentlemanly manners among those who
follow the plough for a living. I have in my mind's eye a
farmer living not two miles from my own home, now past his
threescore and ten years, all spent in hard labor upon the farm,
whom I never approach without the feeling of respect which the
courteous, dignified air of a gentleman always inspires. I have
met him frequently from my boyhood and under varied circum-
stances, in his barnyard and in his parlor ; but whether seated
on a three-legged stool milking his cows, or in a more undigni-
fied position shearing his Cotswolds ; whether clad in towcloth

CULTURE AND SOCIAL POSITION. 53

or broadcloth ; whether tending his stock or waiting upon his
guests, the feehng always is, you are a gentleman. What one
farmer has done another farmer may do. Good manners will
always introduce a man into good society ; intelligence and
virtue only can sustain him there. Let these three requisites
be combined in our rural population, and I have no fear for
their social position. They will rise to the top as naturally as
cream rises to the surface of a pan of milk.

There is one other means of elevation for the farmer to which
I desire briefly to allude, and this is, a determination to magnify
his occupation and excel in it. I have sometimes met with
tillers of the soil who seemed to feel ashamed of their business,
as though there was something degrading about it. All such
may expect to be inferior farmers, and to hold an inferior posi-
tion everywhere. A man is valued in society much as he con-
tributes to the good of society and excels in his calling. In
order to the attainment of excellence in any occupation, we
must have a love for it. Enthusiasm may sometimes lead to
failure, but never to inferiority. So far is agriculture from
being a degrading employment, we hesitate not in pronouncing
it the most elevating and dignified of all manual pursuits.
Kings, emperors and presidents may follow it without compro-
mising their dignity, and may leave their high offices and
engage in its pursuit without any feeling of degradation.
Washington, looking after his broad acres at Mount Vernon,
was the same gentleman and commanded the same respect as
when directing the army or guiding the ship of State.

In order to the attainment of excellence in agriculture, we
must not only have enthusiasm for the pursuit as a whole, but
must follow the dictate ^of circumstances and the bent of our
genius in some particular line. Farming is a comprehensive
term, including many distinct pursuits. The rearing of young
stock, the fatting of beef, sheep husbandry, dairy, grain and
fruit farming, are only samples of the branches into which
farming runs. Now the trouble with many, I might say with
most farmers is, they undertake to ride too many horses at once.
As science and civilization advance, there comes a greater
division of labor, and consequently greater excellence. Dent-
istry, surgery and medicine, were only a short time since all
included in one profession ; now we do not trust our teeth ia

54 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

the hands of tho surgeon who gives his whole attention to the
bones and muscles, much less in the hands of the physician
who furnishes pills, powders and drops for the stomach. If
farmers desire to keep up with the times they must study this
division of labor, and by concentrating their energies on some
specific branch, rise to eminence. We have among us some
notable examples of the success attainable by this concentration
of effort. Some ten miles south from here lives a friend of
mine on liis broad ley — contracted into Bradley — who for years
has made the bees his study. The consequence is, he knows all
about them, handles them with impunity as a child does the
kitten, makes an abundance of honey, and what is better au
abundance of money. His fame may not be as extensive as
Solomon's, and we never knew the queen of Sheba come to visit
him, but the she bees go at liis bidding to all parts of the coun-
try, and he has more kings and queens as his guests daily than
Solomon ever heard of. If my friend has not a high social
position, then daily association with royalty cannot confer it.
At all events, he has the consciousness of eminence and useful-
ness in his line, adding sweetness to the life of multitudes, and
governing a hundred colonies that cheerfully pay him a large
income tax. I know of no other farmer in the county who has
so many laborers in his service, or directs his employees more
skilfully. But we cannot all associate with kings and queens,
nor have sucli a retinue of servants, as the broad-ley farmer.

I will refer you only to one other example of great success in
turning attention to one line of farming. Some ten miles east
of us, on the hills of Hinsdale, lives a young farmer who has
made a specialty of raising stock. Though scarcely out of his
teens, his name stands high on the list, if not at the head, of
breeders of Durhams. He surely has no reason to complain of
his social position, for dukes and duchesses constantly share his
hospitality. So well bred is his stock, that a single animal is
worth more than a large herd of the common grade. We do
not all have the facilities for special farming which the young
Hinsdale farmer possesses, but we all liave tastes which incline
us to one branch of farming rather than to another, and I am
sure if we cultivate this taste and bend our ejiergies in this
one direction, we shall have more satisfaction in ourselves, do
more good to society, and consequently stand higher in the esti-

CULTURE AND SOCIAL POSITION. 55

mation of our fellow-men. I would not advocate exclusive
attention to one branch of farming. This would be putting all
our eggs in one basket, but let there be one leading pursuit, to
which all others are subservient, and with common skill and
industry we must excel and make for ourselves a name and
a place among our fellow-men. Let us all labor with the dili-
gence and system of the examples to which I have alluded, and
we shall have no complaint to make about our social position.
Let us act well our part, and honor will follow us as a shadow
does the substance. If we are only true to ourselves, our
country and our God, our social position will regulate itself.

66 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

From an Address before the Hoosac Valley Agricultural Society.

BY GEORGE B. LORING.

Agricultural societies have constituted the most useful agri-
cultural schools for the last century. They have appealed to
the practical agriculturist in the most direct and forcible man-
ner, and they have furnished opportunities for observation to
the old as well as the young. When well endowed they • have
diffused knowledge, both by publications and by exhibitions, and
in this way have they enabled the landholder, who is obliged to
confine himself to his business to obtain his information, and to
apply it to his daily practice. They constitute the best of
schools — those in which all are teachers and all are learners.
And they may be made the great depositories of theories con-
firmed by experiment, of facts obtained by observation, and of
rules of practice laid down by successful industry, from which
every farmer may draw his knowledge, and which will be as far
superior to an organized school, as their sphere is larger and
more diverse, and their teachers more numerous and more
devoted to the business of farming as an honest and honorable
means of subsistence.

In claiming for an agricultural society superiority over an
agricultural college as a means of collecting and diffusing agri-
cultural knowledge, I do not intend to undervalue the latter.
The foundation of all knowledge of agriculture is the accumu-
lation of fixed facts, suggested perhaps by accident, discovered
perhaps by science ; but however obtained, proved or confirmed
by the practical farmer on his land. Now to the records of an
agricultural society may come the tests of every theory advanced
from a large territory, from a variety of soils, and from a con-
siderable number of different modes of farming. A theory

THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 67

which bears this test may become a law at once for the farming
community, and until it has borne such a test it is theory still,
no matter what its origin may have been, whether college or
farmyard. While, therefore, an agricultural school can be no
more than a collection of intelligent gentlemen, devoted to sci-
ence as a guide to agriculture, and engaged in cultivating a
single farm according to the best known principles, it must
depend upon a wide-spread community of farmers for the last
grand process of proving and diffusing its theories. And when
we remember that agriculture is not an exact science, and can-
not be until the skies and seasons are subdued by man, and that
the facts discovered in the field by the diligent cultivator are
often of more practical value than those laid down by the student
in his closet, we shall not be surprised at the superior success
wliich societies have thus far met with as compared with schools
in the work of advancing agricultural education. I say have
thus far met ivith, because I think there is valuable work yet to
be done by the schools, which it would be well for our States to
remember in founding their agricultural colleges.

Why, gentlemen, all the literature of agriculture goes to con-
firm this view. The books to which the farmer turns most
eagerly for knowledge are those which contain just those facts
to which I have referred as a part of the treasury of an agricul-
tural society. Arthur Young, traversing all England for the
materials out of which to write his admirable volumes ; Jethro
Tull, toiling with his own hands in order to extract from the
soil itself the doctrines of horse-hoeing and drill husbandry with
which to enrich his native island ; Mr. Cully, devoted to the
improvement of cattle as the best college in which to learn how
to discuss their breeding and feeding; Fitzherbert, who,
although chief justice of common pleas, was, as he tells us, " an
experyenced farmer of more than forty yeares," and wrote the
" Booke of Husbandrie ; " and so the admirable writers of mod-
ern days, all write from the great standpoint of experience.
What richer fountain of agricultural knowledge can be found
than the transactions of the Royal and Highland Societies ?
Where can a better lesson be read than is contained in those
modest volumes issued annually by our local societies, and con-
taining the recorded experience of the successful farmer of the
neighborhood ? We turn to this with confidence and hope, and

8* . .

58 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

we turn from it with new light and courage for the pursuit of
our calling. Levi Bartlett, writing from Warner, N. H., Dr.
Holmes, in his lifetime making his weekly record in a quiet
town in Maine, furnish that kind of knowledge which, gathered
from the experience of every surrounding farm, is made useful
to all farmers. What a treatise on sheep-husbandry might be
written by sitting at the fireside or roaming over the pastures
of Vermont farmers, and taking notes of their experiences and
labors in the business which they have brought to such perfec-
tion ! What funds of information upon the cultivation of crops,
the management of orchards, the use of manures, the conduct
of the dairy, lie concealed in the farmhouses along these valleys
and hillsides ! The practical teacher and the truly scientific
explorer know this. And the great naturalist of America recog-
nizes its trutli, when, with constant and unwearied toil he gath-
ered a long array of facts from the breeders and exhibitors of
the remarkable collection of animals at Springfield a fevy years
since, and stored them away as valuable material for his lectures
and investigations daring the coming winter. Agassiz learning
of Lang how to breed horses, and of Lathrop how to breed
cattle, and of Hammond how to breed sheep, was the greatest
tribute of science to practice that has yet been seen, alike signi-
ficant of the wisdom and humility of the great savan, and of the
sound sense and success of the intelligent farmers.

I behold in this that rare combination of " practice and sci-
ence " which should be tlie desire and motto of every farmer
and every farmer's association, and is the foundation of the
farmer's best knowledge. Let the example thus set bo followed
always and everywhere. Let our scientific teachers learn to
respect the practical knowledge of the farmer ; and let the
farmer lay aside his jealousy of the learning of the scliools. To
this just and proper combination of mental forces, how would
the earth unfold her secret, how would the fields rejoice under
well directed cultivation, how would the whole animal economy
of the farm be developed and improved, how would the whole
business of agriculture be brought into subjection to systematic
laws, and what was before dark be illumined by the higliest
light vouchsafed to man by the great Creator and Preserver of
all ! And not this alone. How would the farmer learn to
respect his calling, and to feel that the work intrusted to his

THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 59

care is worthy of the most profound thought and the most
careful investigation ! I can conceive of the intellectual and
moral and social elevation which would follow, and the material
prosperity which would attend upon such elevation. For to us
of all people, free-holders, endowed with all the sacredness of
domestic and civil rights, possessed of our own lands, depen-
dent each for himself on our own intelligence, is the oppor-
tunity given for this development and general diffusion of
knowledge.

Without this combination, deprived of the accumulation of
facts of which I have spoken, science in agriculture becomes
powerless ; with it, it becomes a most important ally to the
farmer ; in fact it is reduced to one mode of practice itself, and
thus becomes of the highest \alue, and meets with its highest
success. For it is easy to see why practice is so powerful in
providing the best of agricultural knowledge, and why it has
thus far outstripped science in the advantages it has bestowed.
It is becj^use the real foundations of agriculture cannot be
explored by any human power. In whatever the farmer does he
is obliged to recognize an influence which the hand of man can-
not reach, which no investigation can fathom, no human power
guide. Agriculture obeys the laws of nature, and can do no
more than use the natural forces with ingenuity and skill.
Science endeavors to explain them ; and to ascertain if possible
the natural laws upon which the farmer depends. In doing
this it advances into that great region where lie the vital forces
which are shut against all human intrusion. And on this
account it is very apt to be overthrown by agricultural facts.
Liebig goes on from one theory of fertilization to another, and
the growing crops of the neighboring farmers pronounce them
all to be false. Science may attend upon agriculture as a stim-
ulus to the best exertion, as a guide in the use of fertilizers, as
an aid in the selection of soils. But it is the patient, and
prudent and experienced farmer after all who knows what land
he needs, has unbounded confidence in that great receptacle to
which he consigns his manure, and to the vivifying power of
that great mother into whose lap he casts his seed, and who
gathers his crop before his scientific neighbor has half finished
an analysis of his soils. It is the judicious observer of cattle,
and the wise and observant judge of their necessities and

60 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

capacities, who, regardless of the theory of the physiologist,
secures animals adapted to his own locality, and perpetuates
and improves them by confining himself to his own herds for
means of increase.

It is important to bear this in mind in our estimate of what
the community requires in the way of agricultural education.
We may so misdirect our attempts to enlighten the people on.
this matter as to lead them away from the farm instead of
encouraging their hearts and strengthening their hands for the
business of agriculture. We may become so confused and
shaken in our trust in the laws of nature by our investigations
as to lose that love of all her works, which lies at the foundation
of good farming. But if by steady progress in the accumulation
of facts which are indisputable, and by patient devotion to the
work of drawing sound deductions from those facts, the wonder-
ful attractions of nature are revealed, and her unerring fidelity
is confirmed, the student of agriculture may go forth from
the college to his occupation, bound not by necessity to the
drudgery of his farm, but devoted with all his powers to the
business of agriculture as an ennobling, useful and profitable
art.

In saying this I endeavor to estimate science aright. We all
know the value of scientific men. We all know that they have
revealed to us those great laws, a knowledge of which has ele-
vated us above the grovelling regions of superstition and igno-
rance and terror, into the high heaven of Christian admiration
and reverence. They have taught us how to purify our cities,
how to retain our health and how to regain it, what we are in
the scale of being, and to what a marvellous system of grand
and subtle forces in the animal and vegetable and mineral
kingdom we belong. We know how much they have done to
enlighten and civilize mankind. But when they enter with us
upon the field of agricultural investigation, we ask them to
pause with us before that unexplored region where lie the
strange forces which we and they admire, obey and leave with
the great God who made them.

Come now, 0 practical farmer with me, and see what you
have done for the development of your calling, guided by the
light of experience alone. You have discovered that remark-
able system of drainage by which the hard and unyielding bed

THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 61

of clay becomes, through the agency of a simple circulatory
tube, as obedient to the hand of the cultivator, as the warmest
and most fertile loams. You have brought out of wild and use-
less classes of plants the nutritious grains and luxuriant fruits
which nourish and delight. You have seized and tamed the
species of animals adapted to your wants, and have produced
every variety of breed which diversity of soil and climate and
market may require. The heavy Shorthorn makes haste to
repay you for his food by a rapid production of beef. The hardy
and patient Ayrshire devotes all her faculties to an abundant
supply for your dairy. The clumsy draught horse learns read-
ily the duty which you have imposed upon his phlegmatic
family. The racer and roadster aVe ever alert in the service to
which you have especially assigned them. You have learned
the capacity of your lands, and understand what fertilizers they
require, as well as you know the food which will best nourish
your domestic animals. You have discovered how to subdue
nature, and go forth to the first step of the process with axe
iipon your shoulder, as confident of the result of the contest as
if the blooming fields were already before you. Out of your
number came Cavour, who, in the intervals of his public life,
was the most successful farmer of Northern Italy ; and Mechi,
whose practical operations as recorded have become one of the
text-books of farming ; and Marshall, who learned to manage
his own lands, and who declared that " attendance and attention
will make any man a farmer ; " and John Johnson, who has
taught us all how to raise wheat on drained lands, and Parmen-
tier, who was obliged to turn farmer before he could overcome
popular prejudice and introduce the potato into France.
From among your number have come the clear-sighted and
unerring and quick-witted workers, who have made immediate
application of every good suggestion and have brought agricul-
ture to a high standard. To you belong especially that class,
who, having acquired their knowledge, reproduce it in some
useful form for the practical benefit of mankind ; that class
whose minds are not so burdened with theories that when the
moment for action comes they lose sight of the very object for
which their theories were constructed.

Bulwer, in one of his essays, tells an admirable story to illus-
trate the readiness with which some of you do, and all of you

62 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

should, apply the knowledge which comes to your minds when
they are intent on your occupation.

"A certain nobleman, very proud of the extent and beauty of
his pleasure grounds, chancing one day to call on a small squire
whose garden might cover half an acre, was greatly struck with
the brilliant colors of his neighbor's flowers. ' Ay, my lord,
flowers are well enough,' said the squire, ' but permit me to show
you my grapes.' Conducted into an old-fashioned little green-
house, wliich served as a vinery, my lord gazed with mortifica-
tion and envy on grapes twice as fine as his own. ' My friend,'
said my lord, ' you have a jewel of a gardener ; ' let me see him.'
The gardener was called — the single gardener — a simple-looking
young man under thirty. ' Accept my compliments on your
flower-beds and your grapes,' said my lord, ' and tell me, if you
can, why your flowers are so much brighter than mine, and
your grapes so much finer. You have studied horticulture pro-
foundly.' ' Please your lordship,' said the man, ' I have not had
the advantage of much education ; I been't no scholar, but as to
the flowers and the vines, the secret as to training them just
come to me, you see, by chance.' ' By chance ? Explain.'
' Well, my lord, three years ago master sent me to Lunnon on
business of his'n, and it came on to rain, and I took shelter in
the mews, you see, and there were two gentlemen taking shelter
too ; and they were talking about charcoal, and one said it had
done a deal of good in many cases of sickness, and especially in
the first stage of the cholera ; and I took a note on my mind of
that, because we'd had the cholera in our village the year afore,
and I guessed the two gentlemen were doctors. And one of the
gentlemen went on to say that charcoal had a special good effect
upon all vegetable life, and told a story of a vine-dresser in
Germany, I think, who had made a very sickly, poor vineyard
one of the best in all those parts, simply by charcoal dressings.
So I naturally pricked up my ears at that, for our vines were in
so bad a way that master thought of doing away with them alto-
gether. Well, before I tried the charcoal on my plants, I went
to our nurseryman, who has a deal of book learning, and I
asked him if he'd ever heard of charcoal dressing being good
for vines, and he said he had read in a book that it was so, but
he had never tried it. He lent me the book, and I tried the
charcoal in the way the book told me to try it, and that's how

THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 63

the grapes and the flower-beds came to please you, my lord. It
was a lucky chance that I ever heard those gentlemen talking
in the mews, please your lordship.'

"' Chance happens to all,' answered tlie peer, sententiously,
' but to turn chance to account is the gift of but few.'

" His lordship returned home, gazed gloomily on the hues of
his vast parterres ; he visited his vineries and scowled at the
clusters ; he summoned his head gardener, a gentleman of the
highest repute for science, and who never spoke of a cowslip
except by its name in Latin. To this learned personage my
lord communicated what he had heard and seen of the benig-
nant effects of charcoal, and produced in proof a magnificent
bunch of grapes which he had brought from the squire's.

" ' My lord,' said the gardener, scarcely glancing at the
grapes, ' Squire 's gardener must be a poor ignorant crea-
ture to fancy he has discovered a secret in what is so very well
known to every [professed horticulturist. Professor Liebig, my
lord, has treated of the good effect of charcoal dressing to vines
especially, and it is to be explained on these chemical princi-
ples,'— therewith the wise man entered into a profound disser-
tation, of which his lordship did not understand a word.

" ' Well, then,' said the peer, cutting short the harangue,
' since you know so well that charcoal dressing is good for vines
and flowers, have you ever tried it on mine ? '

" ' I can't say I have ; it did not chance to come into my
head.'

" ' Nay,' replied the peer, ' chance put it into your head, but
thouglit never took it out of your head. ' "

His lordship knew very well that a man who makes good use
of the ideas received by chance will make a still better use of
ideas received through study. Ho therefore discharged his
learned but thoughtless gardener, and employed the observing
and intelligent young man who had conducted the squire's
plants with such brilliant success. You can imagine the result
which followed.

The peer and the gardener have both learned the value of
observation, the usefulness of theory and practice combined, and
the folly of ascribing a successful experiment to chance. And
we may learn from this lesson to cherish those hints which are
derived from experience, and to apply them witli that activity

64 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

and skill which make our successful, practical farmers. Ascribe
nothing to chance, but, with minds ever open to new impres-
sions, accept the thoughts of others, and use them with industry
and skill in your daily toil.

I present this view of the value of practical information as
the basis of our progress in agriculture, because it is the only
foundation upon which we can build. We, as a people, are
rooted upon our soil. We have the agricultural traditions of a
long line of hardy, industrious and prosperous farmers. The
laws by which they have subdued the earth are our text-book in
all our operations on the land. The mode of cultivation by
which they raised extraordinary crops, and their selections of
animals by which they secured remarkable herds, are a part of
our instruction, handed down by tradition, or imprinted on the
farms which they bequeathed their children. We may dwell
with delight upon the power of education to elevate and refine
a people ; we may elaborate our system of schools ; we may
spread knowledge broadcast over the land ; but we should never
forget that the best rules of New England farming were laid
down here by the sturdy yeomanry whose strength civilized
these hills, in whose hands the material prosperity of our State
rested half a century ago, whose ample abodes still remain in
our villages and along the roadsides, whose social position was
won by solid merit, who constituted that intelligent rural popu-
lation from whom the merchants, the lawyers and divines, and
statesmen of our day have sprung, and whose homes are still
waiting for a return of that wealth and intelligence which long
ago deserted them. We of New England should never forget
this. In our busy and restless and ambitious life, we have
poured all our best powers of mind and body into our towns
and villages, and exhausted them in the counting-room or the
forum, or in the hard toil of the inventive arts. We have
forgotten our old rural homes — those broad fields, those over-
shadowing trees, that substantial New England dwelling, whose
very presence even now tells of the staunch and reliable virtues
of those who have long since gone to their rest. We should
know that the charm of life is not in our cities and large towns.
Neither our moral nor our religious nor our physical natures
can be developed with that beauty of proportion of which man
is capable, so long as we prefer the feverish excitement of the

THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 65

busy concourse of men, to the healthy and placid and refining
and ennobling influences of a cultivated rural life. There are
charms in the unceasing current of life which flows through
the forum and the market-place. There is a fascination, as
Mr. Choate once said to me, in " the newspaper and the post-
ofiice," above the music of the sounding sea and the silence of
the lonely shore. But, when we remember the annoyances
which meet us at every corner, the petty strifes of men, the
struggles and distresses, the efforts and disappointments, shall
we not sigh for the rural respectability of our fathers and
exclaim with Cicero, " There at my Laurentium, I hear nothing
that I repent to have heard, say nothing that I repent to have
said ; no hopes delude and no fears molest me. AVelcomc then
life of integrity and virtue ! O, dulce otiiim, honestumqne, ac
pame omni negotio pulchrius ! " We must learn once more to
love the land ; to love it as our fathers loved it, to love it as the
people of old loved it, whose great men enjoyed their favorite
retreats, and " listened many a returning spring to the night-
ingales that tenanted the dark ivy and greeted the narcissus,
ancient coronal of mighty goddesses, as it burst into bloom
under the dews of heaven." When from our New England
cities which have received their life-blood from the country,
there flows back a current of wealth and intelligence to beautify
our towns, and cultivate our fields, we shall make our land still
more the fit abode of a free and intelligent people.

And now one word in behalf of agricultural societies, as
nurseries of this rural love and taste of which I have spoken.
Not alone ambition excited by a peaceful strife for supremacy
on the fair grounds here ; not alone the desire to excel,
awakened by some successful competitor ; not alone that useful
knowledge which may be gained by the observation and discus-
sion on occasions like this ; not all this alone constitutes the
benefit of your exhibition. There is the exhilaration which the
blood receives from association ; where, divested of all care,
" face answereth unto face." These cheerful assemblies, do
they not gild the way of youth, and make the old feel young
again ? Do they not enhance the value of our lands and crops
and flocks and herds in our eyes, and do they not, moreover,
give us renewed interest for the enjoyment of those possessions ?
Here, then, let us have our annual rural sports. And when

66 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

the formalist or ascetic charges upon the people of New Eng-
land a growing mania for the track and trotter, let us point to
our hilly pastures, which produce the hardiest horses in the
"world, and then ask him whether, amidst the cares and toils of
farming life, after diligent study of the more sober products of
our fields and stalls, we may not take this other gift aright, and
learn to develop, and cherish, and enjoy, and protect that
favorite animal, which is intimately associated with all our
enjoyments and sorrows, and whose comfort in this world
depends on the respect which a kind-hearted master knows how
to entertain for him. Let this then be our New England rural
sport, if need be, properly conducted as a feature of our exhibi-
tions, and controlled by propriety, honesty and good judgment.
But let us have our pleasure Mill, and not hope to rise to supe-
rior moral excellence by chilling the blood in our veins, and
regarding the sunny side of life as overgrown with frivolities,
beset with temptation and blackened by crime. In this way
shall we love our calling the more. In this way shall we
educate ourselves into the bright and cheerful regions which
belong to a free rural population, and in this way shall we learn
how to make such anniversaries as this, more useful, more
influential, more instructive, more agreeable and attractive.
If we would know each other better, let us unite in giving new
vigor to these associations ; if we would know our occupation
better, let us rouse all our faculties by joyous intercourse here,
and thus become enthusiastic recipients of the knowledge which
belongs to our occupation. For this association may be a
source of much advantage to you as a fraternal assembly, all
loving the land, all devoted to the honor of our State, all
understanding the capacity of our people for advancement and
for kindly social regard. Said Governor Holbrook, of Vermont,
in an address delivered at the opening of the State Fair, in
1851 :

"And now, farmers of Vermont, what is our object in coming
together on this occasion ? Is it not to become better acquainted
with each other, and to form ourselves into a permanent organ-
ization for our own mutual benefit and improvement, and for
the advancement of the agriculture of the State ? Dr. Brewster,
in enumerating the advantages which had resulted from the
establishment of the British Board of Agriculture, remarks,

THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 6T

that ' before the board was instituted, the bond of connection
among agriculturists was slender and served few useful purposes.
Bach trusted to his own information, and knew little more about
the practice of conterminous districts than that of China, or
the most distant country. The establishment of the Board
removed at once all these evils and difficulties. It made farmers
who resided in the most distant quarters of the kingdom
acquainted with one another, and caused a rapid dissemination
of knowledge among the whole profession. The art of agricul-
ture was brought into fashion ; old practices were amended and
new ones introduced, and a degree of exertion manifested which
had never before been exemplified on this island.' All history
teaches us that it is of the first importance in the accomplish-
ment of great objects of improvement, to collect men together
and bind them in an association for that purpose. An institu-
tion for the improvement of our agriculture will bring the intel-
lect of the State to a more powerful bearing upon that subject.
Thus collected and organized, we shall see and hear and learn
new things, and learn them in such a manner as to make an
indelible impression and to exert a practical influence. Instead
of resting upon ways as good as any in our immediate neighbor-
hood, we shall compare ourselves more extensively with others
and improve accordingly. An enthusiastic zeal will be awak-
ened, useful knowledge in all departments of husbandry will be
scattered broadcast over the State, our farms will be made more
valuable, our homes more pleasant and comfortable, and our
income more abundant."

As we meet thus in fraternal council and congratulation, and
gaze upon the collections in the various branches which consti-
tute an agricultural exhibition, we must wonder at and admire
the forces which are constantly at work for our calling. How
has the earth labored in all haste during the short summer
season, " the sixty days of corn weather," to bring forth those
fields, even now " white unto the harvest." With what patience
and endurance and obedience has the animal kingdom resigned
itself to its imperial master, and allowed its forms to be moulded
and its intelligence guided for the comfort and convenience and
necessity of man. Summer and winter, day and night, seed-
time and harvest, come and go for us and our fields. By fire
and water, by decay and change, by secret and hidden chemical

68 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

process, by heat and frost, and by the vast mechanical powers of
the revolving globe, are our soils prepared for our cultivation.
The ingenuity of man exhausts itself for us. The wheel, the
pulley, the lever, the centrifugal and centripetal forces, every
curve and angle are brought into the construction of machinery
to aid us in subduing a hard and obdurate soil, and in gathering
in our crops. In nothing is the profound interest of man in the
great art which feeds and clothes him made more manifest than
in his constant endeavors to strengthen the hands of those
engaged in it. The appeal to us is great. The good God opens
liis storehouse of land and sea and sky, and man dedicates his
most cunning faculties — all that we may become intelligent and
successful farmers.

FARMS. 69

F A K M S .

ESSEX.

From the Report of the Committee.

The farm of Richard Webster, situated in Haverhill, west
parish, having been offered for premium, was visited by the
committee, on the 27th of August. Mr. Webster's statement
which is appended, presents most of the facts connected with
the purchase and the improvements made upon the farm. It
will be seen that this farm is a small one, about forty acres being
the whole amount included in tillage and pasture, and a consid-
erable portion of this is still unreclaimed. The condition of
the land prior to its passing into Mr. Webster's hands in 1859,
was not very inviting, being poor and rocky.

What has Mr. Webster accomplished? His brief statement
affords a tolerably clear idea of what has been done. A con-
siderable area of his land is now under clean culture ; the rocks
are removed ; portions are under-drained ; the stone walls have
been to a large extent rebuilt ; orchards have been planted ;
pasture land cleared of bushes and stumps, and planted with
corn and other grains. He has also erected a substantial and
convenient barn during the past year, and the Committee found
it well filled with hay and grain. The barn is admirably
arranged with the view of affording comfort to stock, storing
roots, as well as hay and grain, and saving manure. Mr. W.
like all sensible farmers, makes a great point of economizing
and increasing manures. The receptacle in the barn cellar for
holding the excrement of his animals, is of brick, with cemented
bottom ; thus adapting it to retain the liquid as well as the
solid portions. No point in successful husbandry is more
important than this. The liquid excrement of an ox or cow, is
actually worth more than the solid, as a fertilizing agent, and
every ounce of it should be saved. A manure bin, like that
of Mr. W's, below the stalls of a dozen animals, will, from its

70 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

liquid condition, require the daily admixing of large quantities
of chaff, muck, soil or peat, to act as absorbents ; and the
amount of active plant aliment thus secured, is surprising to
those who treat their manures in the ordinary wasteful manner.

The Committee in the examination of Mr. Webster's farm,
were highly pleased with the results of his labors. It was
evident, however, that the work of renovation was but partially
completed. The element of time must enter into all under-
takings for the improvement of lands, and a few years more
are required to place the farm in a condition to meet the
society's requirements as a premium farm. There is much to
be done in connection with lands immediately around the farm
buildings. In the march of improvement, the fences, gates,
drive-ways, &c., have not been reached. These will doubtless
soon receive attention at the hands of the industrious and
persevering owner, and the Committee cherish expectations that
the time is not far distant when it will be a model farm, and
entitled to the society's highest premium.

In view of the energy and intelligent industry displayed by
Mr. Webster, resulting in so many farm improvements, the
Committee award a gratuity of thirty dollars.
For the Committee,

James R. Nichols.

Statement of Richard Webster,
The farm I enter for a premium, I bought in 1859, for
$1,950, and it contains about forty acres. Fourteen of this
was called field land ; the remainder bush pasture, with alders,
birches, &c., and about one hundred cords of oak, pine, and
maple wood standing, and would pasture three head of cattle ;
and I wintered the first year I was on the farm — 1860 — one
cow and horse, by buying about a ton of hay. Around all of
the walls in the fields, was a margin of bushes from three
to fifteen feet wide, being sprouts from oak, ash, cherry, and
other stumps, which I had to dig out by the roots ; and by many
of the walls loads of stone had been dumped for the sake of
convenience. In one field I hauled off over thirty cords ; in
other fields were a large lot of boulders, and I blasted about
three hundred, around many of which were bunches of bushes
growing. In one of my best mowing fields of four acres, I cut

FARMS. 71

in 1860, less than three quarters of a ton of poor hay. The
blasting has been done principally by myself, and required
over seventy pounds of powder. When I commenced on this
farm, I had no experience in farming, having spent my time
previously mostly at mechanical jjursuits, and went to farming
on account of ill health. I had done no work of any amount
since the spring of 1857, and was far from well when I began
farming. I commenced a series of accounts with different
crops to see which was the most profitable to raise, and have
kept accounts on crops five years, and on farming up to the
present time. The first four years' work, as will be seen by
my expenses, was done at a loss, but since then there has been
some improvement. My losses have been partly on experi-
ments, of which patent manures have formed a prominent
part, as I have tried all the different kinds which I heard
recommended, from Pacific guano down to poudrette, which I
found expensive experimenting, though it may be profitable in
the end. In experimenting on crops I found out some things
that did not correspond with views I heard expressed by those
who claimed to be posted in farming, and very different from
what I had myself supposed. To convince some of this, I
have planted crops *side by side in the different ways. I have
labored under a great inconvenience sometimes in help, as it
was a hard task to get the sleight-of-hand way of doing work
as practised in some parts of Maine and New Hampshire, out
of their heads. Some think it profitable to half hoe, half
manure, and half do work generally, but I do not. I think it
more profitable to take care of one acre well tlian to have two
acres half taken care of. I have been over all of the farm
thoroughly, taking out stone, under-draining, &c., excepting
about twelve acres of pasture, which I intend to improve as
fast as I can, taking up some each year. I have under
cultivation about eleven acres this year, and cut from the bal-
ance of the field land (estimating 525 feet for a ton in bays,)
some over thirty tons of hay, and have fed three horses with
hay since June 26th. In expenses of farm, is reckoned taxes,
interest, depreciation of stock, wear of tools, board of help,
blacksmith's and other bills ; and in income from the farm all
crops, milk, labor done from farm by help, mowing, &c. I
have set out 450 pear trees at a cost of 1420, and 280 apple

72 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

trees costing $75, and in 1865 built a barn at a cost of about
$3,000, in which the saving of manure alone has paid the
interest of it since it was built. In 1860, all I sold and har-
Ycsted as shown by the farm account taken January 1st, 1861,
amounted to $873.31, and expenses aside from building, were
$464.25. My crops were mostly corn, potatoes and grain.
The same year I built a house at a cost of $550, and a granary
which cost $150. In 1861, 1 sold from the farm the amount of
$652.33, and my expenses were $688.33. In 1862, 1 sold from
the farm the amount of $693.67, and my expenses were
$834.16. During this year I built over most of my line walls,
put in under-drains, cut bushes, &c. In 1863, 1 sold $1,115.80,
and my expenses were $1,083.80. In 1864, 1 sold $1,945.50,
and my expenses were $1,371. In 1865, 1 sold $2,274.16, and
my expenses were $1,763. This year I built my barn, and we
had considerable extra work in digging cellar, hauling stone,
lumber, &c., besides working on the farm. In 1866, I sold
from the farm $2,595.83, and expenses were $1,647.70. This
year, 1867, my crops are not as good as in years previous, but
prices have been better, so that my sales will not be far from
what they were last year. What the farm is worth now, I
could not exactly tell, and as it is not for ^ale, I do not wish to
set a price upon it, but others call it worth all the way from
$5,000 to $8,000.

WORCESTER NORTH.

From the Report of the Committee.

There was but one farm entered for our inspection, and that
was by Cyrus Kilburn, of Lunenburg. On the 26th of June
the Committee visited Mr. Kilburn's farm, and found him
engaged in his hay field, as he thinks his earliest cut hay is the
most valuable for making milk. His farm contains 122 acres,
about twenty of which is woodland. His crops were looking
well, and had been well tended. One acre of winter wheat upon
land broken up the previous August, and upon which he spread
sixteen loads compost manure and one hundred and fifty pounds
phosphate, gave promise of a large yield. He has been very
successful in raising winter wheat, and thinks it worth ten per
cent, more than spring wheat. For corn he spreads his manure

FARMS. 73

and applies two hundred and fifty pounds phosphate to the acre
in the hill, and intends to put just twenty-five hills to the square
rod. He has some low land subject to early frosts, upon which
he raises buckwheat, and considers it a valuable grain, partic-
ularly for fowls. He has a large amount of muck, which he
uses in various ways for manure, and thinks it valuable. One
feature in Mr. Kilburn's farming is worthy of note. He has
kept no swine for five years, thinks it costs him twenty cents per
pound to make pork, and that the refuse from the kitchen pays
much better when fed to poultry. He has six swarms of bees,
and one spring took from his hives two hundred pounds of nice
honey. Mr. Kilburn is a working man, and although threescore
and six years old, is full of enthusiasm for the future, and we
think him one of the men who make farming pay.

"We also called on Mr. Simon Black, who has a farm of 112
acres not entered for premium, but by request we visitecl it ; and
although it has been in his possession only about three years,
he has made some valuable improvements. He thinks he has
doubled the capacity of his pastures by the use of plaster, and
the appearance of his ten cows showed that it was a paying
operation. He has also improved his low grounds by ditching,
ploughing, removing stones, pulling willows and top-dressing ;
and the Committee think that if his zeal for improvement does
not abate soon, he will be under the necessity of providing more
barn room in which to store his crops. His cows are stabled at
night, and as he uses sand for an absorbent, they are compara-
tively clean. Tliey were looking well, and some of them had
the appearance of being deep milkers. On the 4th of October
we again visited Mr. Kilburn, and found that his acre of winter
wheat, (by the estimation of the committee on grain,) yielded
thirty-four bushels, and the grain, as we examined it in the bin,
appeared to be a first-rate article. His corn was most of it cut
and stooked in the field, which he thinks is much the best way,
and usually gets from sixty to eighty bushels of shelled corn to
the acre. He is making some experiments in topping corn, and
also stripping off the leaves, which we hope the society will get
the benefit of at some future day. He raises no roots for his
stock — thinks it does not pay. He keeps sixty hens, and realizes
a profit of two dollars each annually. He keeps no account of
the total sales from his farm, but from the proceeds of the same
10*

74 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

pays for his labor and other necessary expenses, and is con-
stantly making improvements upon his farm. We accordingly
recommend that the first premium of $25 be awarded to Mr.
Kilburn for the best cultivated farm.

Abel F. Adams.

Nathan Upham.

Thomas Billings.

IMPROVING PASTURE AND WASTE LANDS.

ESSEX.

From the Report of the Committee.

The Committee on Improving Pasture and Waste Land have
had no entry for the former, and but one for waste land — that
of Richard Webster, of Haverhill.

Tliree of the Committee visited this piece of land in Septem-
ber, and were pleased with the improvement made upon it. It
will be seen, by the statement of Mr. Webster, that he was lib-
eral in his expenses, having spent over twelve hundred dollars
for labor, seed and manure on less than three acres, in three
years ; but large as the expenditure was, the income was still
larger. We have looked at the amount of sales from this piece
for the three years with some care. It will be seen that the
prices were the highest retail ones, so that he must have carried
them to the consumer. He was fortunate in having a large
part of it planted with potatoes in 1864, which he sold for $430.
Again, in 1865, he was fortunate in having so many squashes
when they sold high. In 1866 his crops appear to have been
much larger, but his sales were not so great. He has not given
us any estimate of the expense of marketing the crops. In the
balance which he has struck, it appears that he has made
$965.15 by his operation. The Committee think that twenty per
cent, should be deducted for marketing ; and if we leave out
of the account the $350, the estimated improvement of the
land, we shall have about $350 gain.

Mr. Webster says that he was not bred a farmer, but he
appears to have the faculty of disposing of his produce well. It

IMPROVING PASTURE AND WASTE LANDS. 75

is pleasing at the present time, when so many are disposed to
live between the producer and the consumer, to find one who
deals directly with the consumer. The Committee would award
to him the first premium of $15.

For the Committee,

William R. Putnam.

Statement of Richard Webster.
Account with Pasture Lot No. 4.
1863.
To labor, ploughing, &c., . . . . $26 25
turning sods at odd jobs, . . . 10 00

1864.
To harrowing, digging out roots, hauling
off stones, <fec.,
furrowing, dunging out and planting,
30 bushels potatoes for seed,

6 quarts corn, .
15 cords manure,
hoeing, &c.,
harvesting, .
interest and taxes,
ploughing in the fall,
digging out bushes ; stone and under-
drain, ......

1865.
To ploughing and harrowing in spring,
furrrowing, dunging out and planting,
20 cords manure, ....
hoeing and weeding, ....
potatoes, corn, squash, pease and
tomato seed, .....
interest and taxes, ....
ploughing and draining in the fall,
harvesting, .....

$15 00

35 00

30 00

60

110 00
40 00
38 00
15 00
18 00

100 00

$18 00

30

00

160

00

42

00

20

00

17

00

75

00

35

00

Dr.

$36 25

401 60

397 00

76

MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

1866.

To ploughing and harrowing in spring

J

$18 00

17 cords manure,

170 00

furrowing, dunging out, planting,

&c.,

40 00

corn, cabbage, squash, pease, beans

, for

seed,

18 00

hoeing, transplanting, &c., .

45 00

interest and taxes,

18 00

harvesting, ....

30 00

ploughing, harrowing, brushing

and

rolling land and grass seed,

28 00

labor in getting out stone, .

25 00

70 pear and 60 apple trees, .

90 00

1867.

To labor cutting and getting in hay.

.

^10 00

interest and taxes.

.

20 00

picking stone, hoeing, manure, seed.

&c.,

•

40 00

$482 00

70 00

21- acres land, worth, 1863,

11,386 85
120 00

1864.
By 50J- bushels potatoes, |3, .

350 bushels late potatoes, 80 cents,
20 bushels corn, $1, .
early corn, .....
fodder and turnips, .

1150 00

280 00

20 00

15 00

20 00

1865.

pease sold, and seed, .

. $45 00

tomatoes,

. 90 00

6| tons squashes, $60,

. 370 00

170 bushels corn in the ear.

150 00

2| tons fodder, ....

20 00

125 bushels potatoes, .

105 00

^ acre fodder corn,

15 00

$1,506 85
Cr.

$485 00

795 00

RECLAIMING SWAMP LANDS.

77

By 180 bushels potatoes, 60
8|- tons squashes,
sweet corn sold, .
cabbages sold, .
pease and beans,
turnips,

1866.
cents, .

1867.

&c., estimate

. $108 00

255 00

. 105 00

160 00

22 00

12 00

$662 00
14-5 00

By 3|^ tons hay, estimated,
carrots, beets, tomatoes,

. $70 00
75 00

stone hauled off,

2| acres land, worth, .

$25 00
350 00

375 00

, ^

Dr., . .

$2,462 00
1,506 85

Balance,

$955 15

This piece of pasture land was as rough as any on the farm,
being mostly overgrown with alders and birches ; the balance
with huckleberry bushes, and all more or less covered with
stone, some one hundred and fifty being necessarily removed by
blasting. It is now all under-drained with stone drains, three
and a half feet below the surface and about eighty rods in
extent.

RECLAIMING SWAMP LANDS.

MIDDLESEX SOUTH.

Statement of I. V. Adams.
The acre of improved meadow which I enter for premium, is
a part of a seven acre lot which I purchased in 1864, at a cost
of seventeen dollars per acre. It is also a part of Little Cedar
Swamp, a tract of two hundred acres of swamp land upon
which certain improvements were made in 1862-3 by a board
of commissioners appointed by the superior court of Middlesex

78 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

County. As the improvements made by them have been fully
described in the published transactions of this society, and also
Secretary Flint's Report of the Agriculture of Massachusetts I
will not repeat them here but will enter at once upon an
account of the improvements for which this lot is entered for
premium.

In the spring of 1864, the owner of an adjoining lot set fire
to his land, and the fire getting beyond his control, extended to
my land and burned over about one-half of this acre. In the
autumn of the same year I had a ditch dug on each side of the
piece, and as the ditch is of equal benefit to the adjoining lands,
I have charged only half of its cost to this experiment. In
June, 18G5, I harrowed the portion which had been burned
over, furrowed one way and planted with potatoes. I did not
plough nor manure it. I hoed them only once and that without
ploughing or cultivating. When I dug them the peat was so
dry and light, that I could paw them out of the hills with my
hands as though tliey were covered with saw-dust. That part
of the lot over which the fire did not extend was covered with
a growth of flags and bushes and its surface was very uneven
there being many places where water would always stand after
a heavy rain. I cut the brush and tore up the flag-roots and
other tough places with a hand puller, cut off the bogs with the
bog knife and filled up all the holes with mud which had been
thrown up from the ditch. I ploughed and harrowed the
tough spots until they were well loosened, the turf was then
allowed to dry for a few days and then burned ; it was then
harrowed and burned again. After taking the crop of potatoes
from the other part I spread the potato vines on the ground
and burned the whole lot again. These repeated burnings
left the surface level and in a good condition. The following
winter I carted on one hundred and twenty-five loads of twenty
bushels each, of coarse sand, and spread it evenly over the
surface ; the expense of carting and spreading the sand was
twenty cents per load. In the spring of 1866, 1 harrowed the
piece thoroughly so as to get the sand well mixed with the peat,
and sowed a portion of it with barley and tlie balance with oats,
sowing twenty quarts of grass seed with the grain. The grain
did not fill out very well and I cut it early for fodder of which
there were two tons. Upon taking off the grain crop it

EECLAIMING SWAMP LANDS.

79

appeared that the grass-seed had taken much better with the
barley than with the oats, and this difference was quite apparent
up to the present season. The seed took with the oats, how-
ever, as well as it usually takes upon the uplands. During the
fall of 1866, 1 cleaned out the ditches which had been filled up
by constant washing from above with a mixture of sand, ashes
and peat, which I considered worth more than enough to pay
for throwing it out and carting it away. In the spring of 1867,
I sowed three bushels of plaster and two bushels of salt upon
this lot, and this is all the fertilizing it has received. The crop
this season was two tons of good English hay, which I cut
August 1st, mowing and raking with horses.

EXPENSES.

1864. One acre of land.
One-half cost of 40 rods ditch,

1865. Harrowing and furrowing, .
Six bushels seed potatoes, .
Two days planting.
One day hoeing, .
Two days digging potatoes, .
Three days with team ploughing.
Three days burning at 11.50,

1866. Carting 125 loads sand at 20 cents,
One harrowing and bushing.
Two bushels seed oats, .
One bushel barley.
Grass seed and sowing.
Three days getting hay,

1867. Plaster and salt, .
Applying the above, . . .
Three days getting hay.

Interest and taxes, ....

PROFITS.

1865. Sixty bushel potatoes at 70 cents,

1866. Two tons green fodder,

1867. Two tons good hay.
One acre of land.

$17

00

6

67

1

50

4 50

3

00

1

50

3

00

9

40

4

50

25

00

3

00

1

50

1

25

2

50

4

50

2

75

33

4 50

4

00

$100 00

142 00

40

00

50

00

100

00

S232 00

80 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

ORCHARDS AND FRUITS.

MIDDLESEX.

From the Report of the Committee.

The Committee on Orchards has to report only one entry, and
that made by Capt. George Pierce, of Arlington, who entered
his apple orchard.

A visit was made to his orchard when the harvest of the Wil-
liams apples was being gathered. The trees were nearly all
loaded with fruit, which consisted of Baldwin, Hubbardston,
Porter, Williams, and a few other varieties. The Baldwins
were loaded down with fruit ; the Hubbardstons and Porters
with fair crops, while the Williams had been about half gathered.

By reference to the detailed statement of sales herewith
annexed, it will be seen that this orchard of less than five acres
has yielded its owner the past season over three thousand dollars
for fruit and vegetables. Nor is this all. We were told by the
exhibitor that he had gathered fair crops every year for the last
five years, while very few orchards had yielded any fruit in this
county.

The first thought was, How is this done ? Nothing in the
soil or location would seem to indicate this to be more favored
than hundreds of other orchards. In reply to the question,
Capt. Pierce says, " I have taken care of it." If that is the
only answer, it would be well to inquire what he means by
" taking care of it." By his statement, it will be seen that the
land has been kept in tillage for the last thirty years. His
method has been to dress broadcast every second year, not
extravagantly, and to manure in the hill every year with the
best manure. It was plainly manifest that he had cultivated
witli skill and care. He had not allowed any weeds to grow,
and his squashes were planted only in the open spaces, and cov-
ered only a small part of the ground. All the trees that had
fruit were well mulched with meadow hay, thus keeping the
ground moist by preventing evaporation, keeping the weeds
down, and saving the dropping fruit from harm. So valuable
did he think this, that he would do it " if the hay should cost
forty dollars a ton."

From what we saw of the orchard, we should not think a
large amount of labor had been bestowed upon it. It did,

OECHARDS AND FRUITS. 81

however, manifestly appear that careful and skilful hands had
done the work. This was seen in the neat and clean cultiva-
tion, in the well-shaped trees, and in lack of dead or diseased
limbs or bad, unhealed wounds.

In gathering the Williams apples, none were picked from the
trees ; all were allowed to drop. Larger or fairer fruit is seldom
seen. It was duly appreciated, as will appear by reference to
the account of sales annexed.

The question still comes to us. Why has this orchard such
harvests, while most others have borne little or no fruit ? Have
not other orchards been as well located, and as well cultivated,
that have yielded no fruit ? As regards cultivation, we think
not ; at least not every year, as this has.

The winter of 1863 and 1864 was very cold. Most of our
apple-trees were injured by it. The two following summers
were very dry. Very little new wood was made by our trees.
Although we have seen our trees blossom, we have had little or
no fruit ; and this, as it seemed, for want of vital force in the
trees. If the trees were examined during that period, it was
found, by cutting off limbs, that a very small amount of sap-
wood (alburnum,) was formed. The sap-wood formed pre-
viously appeared yellowish and not in a normal condition. As
the sap flows by endosmose, and only, or nearly only, through
the sap-wood, we may well imagine extreme cold to so freeze the
cells as to destroy or greatly injure the power of endosmose. If,
after being so injured, we may also see the importance of giving
the tree, by cultivation and a proper supply of moisture, all the
assistance to make new sap-wood as soon as possible. The
writer has not unfrequently seen young apple and pear trees so
injured by the cold of winter, that, although a considerable
growth of new wood had been made, the tree would break down
by a little bending, and the old sap-wood would be found
entirely rotten, proving, as we think, that the functions of the
cells had been destroyed by the severe freezing. If this theory
is correct, we think we may account for Capt. Pierce's success
in cultivation.

We have awarded to Capt. George Pierce, of Arlington, the
society's premium, $12.

For the Committee,

John Cummings, Chairman.
11*

82 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

Statement of George Pierce.

The orchard which I present to you for premium comprises
five acres of land. The younger part contains eighty-seven
trees, which have been set fifteen years, and have been in
bearing about eight years. Thirty-eight of the trees are the
Williams variety, and the remainder are miscellaneous varieties.
The older part contains about sixty trees, which are about
thirty years of age. Most of them are Baldwins and Porters.

The soil is a sandy loam, and the subsoil is light and sandy.
My mode of cultivation is a thorough jiloughing in the spring
and fall, and a thorough cultivation through the summer. I
spread on about five cords of stable manure per acre every
other year. The ground is planted mostly with squashes,
which are manured in the hill with two shovelsful of as good
manure as I can get to each.

My mode of pruning is to cut out all the superfluous limbs
and suckers. Where one limb crosses or rides upon another,
I invariably take it out. I do not hesitate to prune at any
time of the year, but never cut in close except in the latter part
of May or the first of June, when I re-cut all the limbs that
have been cut at other seasons of the year, and were left two or
three inches in length, as the sap is in active circulation then,
and the healing process goes on more rapidly.

I make it a chief point to keep the trees clear of all cater-
pillars, canker-worms, and other vermin. I have contended
with the canker-worms for twelve years, and by so doing I have
been able to get ja good, fair crop of apples during the whole
period.

1827 00

Account of the Product of the Orchard of George Pierce, in Arlington,
for the year 1867.

217 bushels of Williams apples, sold for

78 bbls. of Porter apples, sold for

87 bushels of Hubbardston Nonesuch, .
207 bbls. No. 1 Baldwin apples,

45 bbls. No. 2 Baldwin apples,

26 bushels miscellaneous varieties, , ,

93 bbls. cider apples,

:99 bushels pears, difierent varieties,

12,439 18

300

64

145 00

716 50

101

54

39 50

136

00

172

95

CULTIVATION OF THE PEAR. 83

Marrow and Hubbard squashes, raised on

the ground, 1415 61

Potatoes, beans, pease, cauliflowers, &c., 250 80

--- 41

13,105 54
Arlington, September 1, 1867.

CULTIVATION OF THE PEAR.

MIDDLESEX.

From the Report of the Committee.

The cultivation of the pear is engaging more and more the
attention of the orchardist. Bearing while yet quite young,
and easy of culture both on the quince root and the pear, it is
peculiarly adapted to small gardens, and will bear frequent
removals, if necessary, without harm, if not even with benefit ;
so that all may have them, since they may remove them as
easily as their household goods.

Pears prefer a strongs moist and rich soil ; but they may be
made to thrive on any soil, not too dry, by aid of high cultiva-
tion and plenty of manure. No fruit requires so high feeding,
and very few will bear it without harm.

Shelter is of great service to the pear, which always thrives
better in a still atmosphere. Its leaves are very tender, when
partly grown, and are bruised by high winds, and sometimes
destroyed by them. Some few kinds do better in a warm,
sandy loam ; but they are the exceptions to the rule, and it is
generally found, in such cases, that their birthplace was in such
a soil.

The show of pears was very fine for the season, which has
not been favorable to the ripening of this fruit to its usual
good quality. Indeed, all fruits are this year flat, insipid, or
acid beyond all account. Still, those shown by John R. Poor,
of Somerville, Davis &, Bates, of Cambridgeport, Warren
Heustis, of Belmont, Jacob Eaton, of Cambridgeport, and
others, were particularly handsome and large.

84 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

Mr. Edward Kendall, of Cambridgeport, exhibited superb
specimens of Dix, Doyenne Cornice, and Swan's Orange, and
John N. Merriam, of Cambridgeport, also showed very fine
pears and apples, but too late to compete for the premium, as
they did not reach the exhibition until afternoon.

The Committee regrets this, and also that it had no gratuities
placed at its disposal. It can only express its obligations to
the gentlemen for aiding the exhibition with their fine specimens.

Warren Heustis, Belmont, says his pears are grown on a
good loam, with clay bottom ; uses hog manure ; trees six feet
apart ; thinks they should be at least twelve feet apart ; trees
on quince root, but have made roots from the pear, and are
likely to become standard trees.

Paul Harris, Lincoln, says his trees are standards on a light,
sandy loam ; cropped with roots ; manured with twenty-five
loads compost to the acre, and ten quarts of ashes to each tree.

Davis & Bates, Cambridgeport, grow on a gravelly soil ; use
stable manure fall and spring ; never allow any weeds ; think
good cultivation the main secret of success.

Jacob Eaton, Cambridgeport, grows on a black, marshy soil ;
top-dresses in autumn with horse manure.

Milton C. Walker, Lincoln, top-dresses in autumn with
meadow mud and bone dust.

Edwin Wheeler, Concord, plants ten by seventeen feet ;
manures annually ; crops with roots ; soil heavy.

A. C. Collier, Concord : soil, light, sandy loam ; manures in
spring with night-soil.

J. R. Poor, Somerville : soil, clay loam well trenched and
manured ; keeps the fruit in a dark, dry and cool room.

George S. Paine, Concord : strong, moist soil, under-drained
and worked ten inches deep ; top-dresses annually with a
compost of stable manure and meadow mud.

Thomas F. Hunt, Concord : trees on the quince root ;
trenches one and one-half feet ; top-dresses yearly with stable
manure.

For the Committee,

E. W. Bull, Chairman.

FRUITS. 85

FEUITS.

FRANKLIN.

From the Report of the Committee.

THE ANTIQUITY OP THE APPLE.

That the forbidden fruit of Paradise was an apple, we think
is commonly believed, but as the belief rests upon no certain
evidence, other valuable fruits, such as the fig, the peach and
the pomegranate, have each found their advocates as the kind
of fruit that had the honor — or dishonor — of being the instru-
ment of the introduction of evil into our world.

Whatever the truth may be in this matter, the apple is fre-
quently mentioned in Scripture and in ancient history. Alex-
ander the Great, we are informed, was exceedingly fond of this
fruit, and found in the country around Babylon the finest apples
he had ever seen.

The apple was held in sucli high esteem with the ancient
Greeks, that in some of their celebrated games, apples consti-
tuted the only prize awarded to the victor. What would be
thought of a committee of award in our agricultural society
that should award as a premium for the best article exhibited a
bushel of apples ?

Among some of the ancients the gift of an apple had a tender
signification, being a symbol of affection. The historian Gibbon
relates that the Emperor Theodosius caused one of his distin-
guished subjects to be put to death for receiving an apple from
his Empress Eudocia.

The apple has acquired great celebrity in some of its historical
associations. The thrillhig story of William Tell shooting an
apple from off the top of the head of his son, has often been
recited as an interesting incident in the history of the republic
of Switzerland ; and the fact that Sir Isaac Newton, the
renowned English philosopher, in seeing so common an occur-
rence as an apple falling from its branch to the ground, was led
to give the matter such attention as to discover from it the great
law of gravitation, has often been narrated.

86 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

MULTIPLICATION OF VARIETIES.

Such attention has been given to the cultivation and perfec-
tion of this valuable fruit, that, while the number of varieties,
which at the commencement of the Christian era is believed
not to have exceeded twenty, had increased in 1650 to five hun-
dred kinds, there are at present classified in the published cata-
logues two thousand five hundred different varieties, and never,
perhaps, have the varieties multiplied so rapidly as during the
present generation.

THE BEAUTY OP THE APPLE.

In all the floral kingdom, where can be found a more beauti-
ful sight to behold than an apple orchard in full bloom — each
blossom perfect with its delicate shades of coloring, and the
whole grand mass of blossoms forming a perfection of beauty
which a maiden's cheek well might covet, and wasting its sweet
fragrance upon the gales of spring-time.

And when the season of the ingathering of the fruit returns,
what beautiful tints of crimson and gold — of pink and green
and russet — of mottled, striped and spotted with every rich and
beautiful hue ! "What can excel the feast they offer to the eye,
unless it be the rich, juicy flavor which they bring to the taste ?

USES OF THE APPLE.

But the beauty of the apple will not, with the generality of
cultivators of this fruit, bear a comparison with its economic
value in the multitude of uses in which it is found so exceed-
ingly desirable. It is, when fully ripe, an excellent preventive
of disease, and its value in this respect is becoming better appre-
ciated, and it is also not without its important curative varieties.
It would seem to have been provided by nature as the chief one
of those fruits intended to supply the system with some of those
elements so necessary for its healthy condition. What multi-
tudes of invalids have found comfort, invigoration and strength
in a roasted apple !

In all the circle of fruits in our climate, perhaps none are
preserved in their natural condition during the whole year with
so much ease as the apple, and this quality of its being com-
paratively so imperishable, adds immensely to its value ; while
the great variety of berries — the peach, plum and grape — are

FRUITS. 8T

very valuable in their season, the apple is in use almost the
entire year.

CULTIVATION OF THE APPLE.

The cultivation of the apple has increased so mucn during the
last ten years that many have anticipated a superabundance of
this fruit.

If all, or even a good proportion of the apple-trees which are
transplanted received proper cultivation and care, this might
occur. But the work of setting the trees is so often done in a
careless and improper manner, and the young trees in so many
instances perish from neglect, or from the browsing of cattle or
other causes, and the market on the other hand is so rapidly
extending, that we apprehend there is little to fear in that
direction.

Very great progress has been made in the cultivation of
nurseries during the present generation. The writer remem-
bers that when about thirty years since his father wished to
purchase some twenty-five apple-trees for transplanting, he was
unable except by much inquiry to find them, and when found
it was but a small, uncared for patch of ungrafted trees in an
adjoining town. Now, excellent nurseries of all kinds of fruit
and ornamental trees are abundantly at hand, some of them so
extensive as to cover hundreds of acres.

In regard to the manner of cultivation from the time of
transplanting onward, very much might be said, but as very
excellent directions are given in the fruit books now before
the public, we will only make some general observations upon
that subject.

1st. How far apart should apple-trees be set ?

We think thirty feet plenty near enough and two rods about
right, and if set in regular rows it adds greatly to the beauty of
the orchard and to the convenience of cultivation, &c.

2d. We think that some kind of litter kept under a tree to
cover the roots, and prevent the earth from drying up the first
summer after transplanting, very important — much better and
easier than watering.

3d. Apple-trees need examining at least once a year to cut
out unnecessary branches, thereby preventing the top from
becoming an unsightly jungle of brvish. Let a saw be used

88 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

instead of an axe in trimming ; cutting off the branch smoothly
that the wound may soon heal.

We consider any season of the year better for pruning than
March and April — the time when it is most commonly done,
at which time the sap flows freely from any wound which is
made, to the great injury of the tree.

PROFITS.

Aside from the great convenience and pleasure of having a
succession of good apples in their season, a surplus may readily
find a market either for feeding to stock if very plenty, or for
cooking and eating. As the population in our cities and
manufacturing villages is constantly increasing, and at the
same time the value of the apple becoming better appreciated,
the demand for it increases with the production.

For the past three years, owing to a short supply, apples have
sold readily at from four to six dollars per barrel. Those
orchardists who have been so fortunate as to have apple-trees
under their care that were only moderately productive, have
received from them a handsome income. Even the poorest and
knottiest specimens are worth at the present writing sixty or
seventy cents per bushel for making cider.

An important question concerning the cultivation of this
fruit is. What kinds shall we cultivate ?

We think it not desirable to multiply varieties greatly. A
few of the approved varieties of each season are far better than
a large number of kinds of second or third rate fruit. The
following kinds have been proved and found valuable for this
vicinity, viz :

For summer — Early Harvest, Red Astrachan and Golden
Sweet.

For fall — Porter and Gravenstein.

For winter — Hubbardston Nonesuch, Rhode Island Greening,
Baldwin and Roxbury Russet.

BERKSHIRE.

From the Report of the Committee.
No fruit shows greater improvement under careful cultiva-
tion, nor pays better for such cultivation, than the pear. Pliny
speaks of the pears of his time as astringent and indigestible,

FRUITS. 89

only fit to be eaten when cooked, and we still have native fruits
answering to this description, but most of our cultivated pears
are the perfect antipodes of those of the old Roman, and well
deserve the epithet of beurr.e or buttery. They fairly melt in
the mouth. We never were privileged to taste of ambrosia, but
we doubt whether this fabulous food of the gods could bear a
comparison with our modern pears. This great improvement
is the result of careful propagation from seeds, and to Knight
in England and Van Mons in Belgium, we are indebted for
bringing this fruit to its present state of perfection. There is a
margin for greater improvement, and Mr. Poote of Williams-
town, exhibited in his large collection at our fair, some seedlings
of the Seckel which certainly equalled the parent in flavor, and
in size and buttery quality were superior. If some one will
turn his attention to the production of a summer pear of high
order, and give us something which will answer in this latitude
for August, as well as the Bartlett does for September, he will
prove himself a public benefactor. A good early pear is still a
desideratum. The Bloodgood, Doyenne d'Ete, and indeed the
whole list of our first ripe fruits are small in size and rather
insipid in taste. The Dearborn seedling is the first really good
pear that we have, and this is not in perfection with us till the
first of September, and is too small for a good market fruit.
We desire, however, in passing, to bear testimony to the great
hardiness and exceeding fruitfulness of the Dearborn, and
cannot too highly recommend it as well adapted to our Berk-
shire climate. Planted by the side of the Seckel and Plemisli
Beauty, it shoots far above them, although bearing early and
profusely.

The pear loves a deep loamy soil and high cultivation. The
difference in size and flavor of specimens grown in favorable
and unfavorable circumstances is truly remarkable. The pear
has a delicate organization, and will not bear neglect as well as
its coarser-textured cousin, the apple. Mineral manures add
greatly to the quality of pears. The late G. P. R. James,
while occupying the Ashburner place in Stockbridge, which is
well stocked with this fruit, found the trees inclined to be
drooping, and the fruit to crack, and restored health to the
trees and fruit by the free use of copperas (sulphate of iron,)
so that this is now one of the most productive pear orchards in

12*

90 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

the county. The refuse of a blacksmith shop or an iron foundry
is just the food the pear-tree loves. Sulphate of lime (gypsum,)
is one of the cheapest and most efficient manures for the pear.
"Wood ashes, however, contain the greatest variety of mineral
matter, and cannot be too carefully treasured for the use of this
as well as other fruits. When these ashes are leached, their
virtue is not so much exhausted as is generally supposed. The
phosphate of lime, one of their most valuable constituents, is
insoluble in water, and therefore remains intact.

The past summer has not been favorable for the perfect
development of the pear. The trees blossomed and fruited
bountifully, but there has been an unusual tendency to crack,
and the want of flavor has been noticed in all parts of the
country. The cracking of the fruit is the most alarming fact in
pear growing. The Flemish Beauty and even the hardy Seckel
have this year suffered much from tliis malady. As to what is
the cause of this disease the P. D's (Pyrorum Doctores)
disagree, " and when the doctors disagree who shall decide ? "
Whether it is the result of atmospheric influence or some
defect of the soil, is not determined. The subject deserves
careful investigation, and our agricultural societies cannot offer
a premium for a more valuable object than a remedy for this
disease.

PLYMOUTH.

From the Report of the Committee.
No crop within our limits has suffered more from the wet-
ness of the season than the pear. The fruit did not set well.
When small and tender it became spotted and blotched with a
fine mould which destroyed much that remained ; and later in
the season many kinds began to crack and grow distorted.
When not more than half grown, leaf-blight appeared ; and
some trees were as destitute of foliage in August as they usu-
ually are late in autumn. The display of pears, however, was
creditable as a whole, and particular varieties were of fijie size
and quality. The Bartlett, not usually seen at our exhibitions,
was well represented. The Sheldon, Lawrence, Noveau Poiteau,
Doyenne du Comice, and Beurres Easter, Clairgeau and d'An-
jou, with others that might be named, were beautiful specimens
of their kind, suggestive to those who are reluctant to venture

FRUITS. 91

beyond the Bartlett and Flemish Beauty, of what may be done
by any one who has a piece of ground sufficiently large to set a
few trees and enterprise to cultivate them. We hail with
pleasure the fact that a large number are planted annually, for,
notwithstanding the enthusiasm of some has been checked by
their failure to realize all they expected in the culture of this
noble fruit, it has proved, in many localities, a more constant
bearer than the apple. That it needs higher culture is the uni-
form testimony of those who have been most successful. It is
well known that Mr. Stetson always raises fine pears. His gar-
dener informed a member of the Committee that it is his cus-
tom to place a wheelbarrow load of well-rotted manure, which
has been used in the hot-bed in the spring, around each tree in
the fall. The following spring it is worked into the ground.
This generous treatment, continued from year to year, secures a
certain result.

The Committee offer the following suggestions to those about
to plant gardens or orchards : —

1. If your ground is not what it should be, make it so. Let
it be under-drained, naturally or artificially, deeply worked and
thoroughly manured.

2. Plant no more trees than can receive the best attention,
and select such varieties as have secured a reputation m your
own vicinity^ reference being had to their bearing qualities as
well as general excellence ; for it is more enQouraging and
profitable to have an abundance of good fruit than little that is
best. Buy good trees, of a responsible person, and set them well.

3. Prune annually, to give shape and strength to your trees,
and suffer them to bear no more fruit than they can sustain
without propping or help of any kind.

Without the pure light and heat of the sun really good
grapes cannot be raised, and they have not ripened well the
present season. Even those grown under glass have failed to
come up to the usual standard of excellence. There was but
one collection entered — that which received the first premium.
In the small lots of others, the Black Hamburg and Barbarossa
were best developed. Of the natives, the Concord took the lead
in this respect. A lot exhibited by Ramsdell & Packard attracted
most attention. Seven bushels, as good as the sample, were
taken from eighty vines, three years old. B. W. Keith, who

92 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

was the largest exhibitor of natives, says his first choice is the
Concord ; second, tlie Hartford Prolific ; and, third, the Dela-
ware, which, with him, ripens a week earlier than the Concord,
both having the same aspect. Dr. Puffer, who has given con-
siderable attention to the Rogers' grapes, says they do not mil-
dew ; and he regards No. 3 with most favor. The Concord is a
grape of great promise, and it is safe to plant it. It does not
need as high culture as most varieties. The same may be said
of the Hartford Prolific ; but it has the bad habit of dropping
its fruit. The Delaware is very small, but of fine quality. The
Isabella and Catawba do not ripen except in sheltered situations
and favorable seasons. Those who plant or rely upon wild
grapes, cannot have compared them with the best improved
natives.

It was a pleasant sight to many eyes to see peaches which
were grown in the open air on the tables of the society. So
seldom is this delicious fruit on exhibition, that no premium is
offered it. The Committee adjudged the exhibitors deserving
of gratuities. The disappointment which attends all attempts
to raise peaches with regularity, suggests the propriety of trying
an experiment, which, we learn, has been attended with success.
Plant trees in pots or tubs, say twelve inches broad and deep,
with an orifice in the bottom at least three inches in diameter.
Set them in a part of the garden which has a good exposure to
the sun, six inches deep in the ground. The soil should be
well prepared and the trees occasionally watered with liquid
manure. Take up the pots about the middle of November, cut-
ting off the roots which have pierced through the orifice, and
set them in a place in the cellar of pretty uniform temperature,
where they are to remain until it is time to set them out in the
spring. Trees treated in this manner are said, on good author-
ity, to bear well ; and fifty handsome peaches have been taken
from a single one. To those who pursue the ordinary course of
cultivation, we say : select the best trees, plant in warm situa-
tions, and take every precaution to exterminate the borer.

So far as we are able to judge, the crop of quinces diminishes
annually, and there is a proportionate increase of price. They
have sold the present season for four and five dollars per bushel.
The borer has been allowed to make sad havoc with the bushes
in many gardens, and few are planted to replace those that die

FRUITS. 93

out. Desirous to give encouragement to exhibitors, the Com-
mittee awarded gratuities.

The different varieties of cranberries were well represented,
as usual, and we do not remember to have ever seen any larger
or more beautifully colored than those which received the first
and second premiums. We advise those who contemplate the
improved cultivation of this fruit to obtain plants of Messrs.
Hunt & Stetson.

In concluding their report, the Committee wish to call the
attention of the executive officers of the society to the wholesale
destruction of birds' eggs which is annually carried on to such
an extent as, in the judgment of many, to call for legislative
interference. Intelligent observers concur in saying that many
useful birds are diminishing in numbers, while insect-s which
prey upon vegetation are increasing. In some parts of the
county much of the fruit is stung, and kinds that were not
molested ten years since are now seriously injured.
For the Committee,

P. Lincoln Cushing.

maetha's vineyard.

From the Report of the Committee.

The kinds of fruit designed to furnish the principal topics tor
this report, are such as are on exhibition. Still a passing
reference to a few kinds whose times of ripening do not allow
them to appear upon our tables, may not be out of place. Some
of these, if not all, may be classed under the head of garden
fruit ; yet simply naming them may not be regarded as a tres-
pass committed upon the particular province of another com-
mittee. Among the sorts which may be mentioned are the
raspberry and the blackberry. Of the former, which is a very
palatable fruit, choice specimens might be cultivated in our
garden lots. To preserve and perpetuate the vines some care
is needed, but in the gathering time none will regret the pains-
taking. With regard to the blackberry, although it grows
spontaneously in the fields and by the roadside, and is thence
supplied to the market, yet those of us who live in the villages
would find it a very convenient thing to cultivate a few good
vines of the taller species by our garden fences, whence we

94 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

could gather fruit fresh for use. One member of your Commit-
tee, and perhaps others, can speak from experience. The
strawberry none will forget. Of shrub fruit, none can be more
easily cultivated, and none more fully repays the labor
bestowed, than the currant. The shrub can be grown in any
amount from cutlings, and once fairly started, a little pruning
and light dressing annually will insure an abundant yield. Of
plums, there are some delicious species, but the trees are not so
easily brought to maturity as some others, and when mature
their years for bearing are apt to be but few. Still, every
considerable, fruit-grower does well to have a few good varieties,
such as the Italian Damask and the Green Gage.

Children all love to sing " Cherries are ripe," and usually
children of a larger growth are not backward about picking
them. If you can keep the robins away till you get your
share, a nice Tartarian, or even a ripe Red, will not burn the
tongue of the eater if it do not quite melt upon it. The cherry
is the fruit of the prune or plum kind, the original stock of
which is the wild cherry. One author says, " The best kinds
are the May-Duke, White-heart, Black Tartarian, Honey-heart,
and Black-heart cherries." The cherry was first brought from
the southern shore of Turkey in Asia, about two thousand
years ago. The tree needs but the well adapted soil and a little
care to insure success.

From these hasty glances, your Committee pass to the pleas-
ant task more especially assigned to them. They have however
felt, that, to be true to their trust, they should seek to be useful.
They were not satisfied simply to assign premiums and gratu-
ities to the producers of the specimens which load your tables ;
they wished to ascertain and tell something about the growing
of these fine samples. And then, as, owing to the lateness of
the season when our fair is held, many of the choice varieties of
some kinds of fruit, if not of all, cannot be preserved for exhi-
bition, it follows that a much greater number of varieties share
the attention of our people than perhaps any of us have sup-
posed. Then, again, it is of interest to all who would raise
fruit to know what are regarded by the larger growers, who
have made it somewhat of a business, as the varieties best
adapted to our soil and climate. In order to gain and shed
some light upon these topics, pains have been taken within the

FRUITS. 95

last few months to see" or correspond with some of the principal
fruit-growers on the island, and gather from them such facts as
were supposed to be of utility. The chairman has also been in
communication with some few gentlemen of large experience
abroad.

Although there are certain varieties both of trees and vines
which are very sure to be found in the lot of nearly every
grower — small growers as well as large ones — yet there is not
perfect accord as to the superior quality of all of them. These
slight differences of opinion doubtless arise in part from varie-
ties in soil, and partly from differences in position as to shelter
by means of buildings, hills, or shelter trees. Abating these
circumstances, there is very general agreement as to the best
varieties.

THE QUINCE.

This fruit is said to require a climate neither too warm nor
too cold. And it has been demonstrated by experience, your
Committee think, that our island climate is just that which is
best adapted to its successful cultivation. Our soil is also of
the right kind. Some of the best produced on our soils last
year brought $12 per barrel. It has been estimated by one of
our larger exporters that about $3,000 worth was sold from the
island last year, besides the many consumed here. The tree,
as is well known, is easily cultivated, and if with so little effort
as is now made, such proceeds as those named are realized,
what might we not do a few years hence, were we to set our-
selves about the work of cultivation in earnest now ? The
principal varieties now grown among us are the native quince,
the orange quince, the pear quince, the Connecticut, and the
apple quince ; all of which are good. Mr. Edward T. T. Smith,
of Tisbury, has 120 trees of the orange quince.

THE PEACH.

The tree bearing this excellent fruit is in this climate apt to
be. rather short lived, and yet some varieties are grown with
success. Comparatively few trees, however, until recently, have
been set out by our citizens. The peach is said to be derived
from Persia, where it still grows in its natural state — small,
bitter, and without poisonous qualities. But this fruit, under

96 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

the hand of cultivation, as is the case with other kinds, is no
stinted affair. And in this country, especially in the softer
atmosphere in latitudes just south of ours, it is in great
abundance, and, when fully ripe, most delicious.

The native peach, the Clingstone, and the President, are
among the varieties named to the Committee. Undoubtedly
quite a number of young trees of different varieties have been
lately set out. May the planters of them live to eat the fruit
thereof, and that of the successors of those now planted, for
very many years to come.

THE APPLE.

Whether the different kinds of fruit now known to us had
their origin at the time referred to in the first chapter of the
Bible, we have probably now no means of ascertaining, but it is
not unlikely they are quite similar. " And the Lord God
planted a vineyard eastward in Eden ; and there he put the
man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the
Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and
good for food ; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden,
and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." It is an interest-
ing fact that the Lord God made " ornamental " trees to grow
— those " pleasant to the sight " — for the fact is an intimation
to us, his children, that if He made them, it cannot be beneath
our attention to cultivate them ; and we show our appreciation
of God's blessings to do so. But it is true also that the trees
more important for the use of man were those " good for food."

Some in their pleasantry intimate that the fruit the eating of
which by mother Eve was fatal, was the apple. But we shall
never know in this life, at least, what it was, nor is it essential
that we should know. But of this we are fully apprised, that
our Heavenly Father has given to us this useful esculent to
cultivate and to use wisely for food. And we may safely add
that there is no species of fruit adapted to the climate in which
we live, which is so permanently useful as the apple. It is said
that the apple, in all the varieties in which we now cultivate it,
is derived from the crab-tree, which is found wild in most parts
of the world. If it would not be regarded as too much in the
style of speculation, we would suggest that probably the fruit
as now found wild has greatly degenerated from its original

FRUITS. 97

perfection, and that our efforts at cultivation are tending to
restore it to its primal state. How wonderful that by the hand
of cultivation, that less desirable article is brought into so
many and so rich varieties !

As the result of very considerable labor it has been ascer-
tained that there are on this island at least eighty different
varieties of the apple, besides many trees whose names are not
known to the owners. Among the former are many of the best
known to New England growers. As with other fruits, there
may be some shades of difference in opinion as to the relative
quality and productiveness of even the best varieties, owing to
local causes. But, so far as known, there is a very general
agreement. A few of those which" are regarded by our people
as among the best, are the Baldwin, the Bunch apple, Hubbard-
ston Nonesuch, Porter, Rhode Island Greening, Pippin, Roxbury
Russet, the old-fashioned Russet, Pignose, Gilliflower, Summer
Sweet, Winter Sweeting, and Tallman Sweeting. These have
been named by some of our farmers ; probably there are others
in our long list equally as good.

THE PEAR.

In speaking of this as of all the other kinds of fruits herein
named, the aim of your Committee is to be practical, and
thereby to make their report useful to those to whose knowl-
edge its contents may come.

The pear is one of the most luscious of esculents, and the
extent to which it is preferred is indicated by the fact that it is
cultivated so generally, not only by the larger farmers, and
gentlemen of property who have retired with their competence
from their wonted avocations to their country-seats, but also by
numerous persons in their small garden lots, and by those of
limited means. It is said that the pear grows wild in Europe,
and that it is now cultivated in all temperate climes. It was
known to the Greeks and Romans more than two thousand
years ago. Probably no species of cultivated fruit upon the
globe is grown in so many varieties. In the year 1851, Mr.
Plenry H. Crapo, of New Bedford, who is now governor of a
Western State, published in pamphlet, with other matters, a list
which probably contained about all in his large nursery, num-
bering about one hundred and sixty varieties. His successor
13*

98 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

in the nursery business, Mr. John McAffee, lately informed the
chairman of your Committee that there were three hundred or
more varieties. In examining a volume on " The Pear-Tree,"
by Thomas W. Field, printed in New York in the year 1859,
we count up one hundred and sixty-eight native varieties and
six hundred and eighty-two varieties of foreign origin, besides,
interspersed among the last named, six hundred and fifty-three
synonyms, or those similar to others but of different names.
These all foot up one thousand five hundred and three varieties.
Deducting the synonyms, we have left, native and foreign,
eight hundred and fifty substantial varieties.

From the lists collected from about thirty of the fruit-growers
on this island, we find nearly eighty different varieties cultivated
here, besides, as in the case of the apple, the statement that
there are more or less whose names are not known to the owner.
There are, therefore, not many less than one liundred varieties
of pears in the county. From our collected list we add together
the testimony of a very considerable number of fruit-growers
who have been questioned as to the best varieties for our soil
and climate ; for the man who designs to plant a few trees will
certainly want those best adapted, and the one who plants exten-
sively will want to do the same. We may omit some as good,
but name the following : —

Doyenne d'Ete, ripe in July and August.

Jargonelle, English, ripe in July and August.

Dearborn's Seedling, ripe in August.

Bloodgood, ripe in August.

Tyson, ripe in August and September.

Bartlett, ripe in September.

Flemish Beauty, ripe in September.

Trescott and Buffum, ripe in September.

Seckel, ripe in September and October.

Louise Bonne de Jersey, ripe in September and October.

Belle Lucrative, ripe in September and October.

Beurre Clairgeau, ripe in October.

Duchesse d'Angouleme, ripe in October.

Vicar of Winkfield, ripe from November to January.

Lewis, ,a great bearer, ripe from November to February.

Catillac, will keep from December to April.

FRUITS. 99

The State Agricultural Report well remarks, that " after a
most diligent inquiry it will be found that few, very few, vari-
eties, well chosen, will prove much more profitable for general
culture than many sorts."

THE GRAPE.

This much coveted fruit, which is so universally known, also
demands our consideration. Perhaps no fruit is more perfect
in its wild state, as it grows in the swamps and forests, and yet
it is greatly improved by cultivation. And this work of cultiva-
tion has greatly increased of late years. The last State Report
says : " The cultivation of the grape has, during the last ten
years, increased with a rapidity unparalleled in the case of any
other fruit, and is destined to still further extension." For
what was this island' called Vineyard, if it was not that grapes
once grew here in abundance ? If there are not now so many
wild as formerly, wefmust cultivate. If we cannot gather clus-
ters as large as those found by tlie spies in " the valley of
Eshcol," a bunch of which was enough for two men to lift, ws-
can nevertheless appropriate rich varieties from our gardens^ and
arbors. Although our climate is a little rigid, and we cannot,
therefore, vie with those living in tropical regions, yet we have
already proved that we can grow many rich varieties of the
hardier kinds. It has been ascertained that there are now culti-
vated in our county at least twenty-nine known varieties. There
are probably some others whose names have not been obtained,
and yet others whose names may not be known to growers.
Among those on our collected list, and those most generally
approved as adapted to our soil and climate, are the Concord,
the Delaware, the lona, Hartford Prolific, Dracut Amber, Diana,
Rogers Hybrid, Nos. 15 and 19, Northern Muscadine, Union
Village, Catawba, Sage, Logan, and, last but not least, the Isa-
bella, which should not be despised for its old age. The last
State Report says : " Varieties with, a thick skin are preferable-
for keeping, and among these noae have succeeded better than,
the Diana."

GENEPvAL RESLARKS..

Having passed briefly over the series of fruits assigned to
to them, your Committee wish to add a few general remarks.

100 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

PRUNING.

Most people prune in the spring. Some writers recommend
other seasons of the year. Undoubtedly the spring is the best
time for tlie severing of very considerable branches, and even
then the wounds should be well covered. But for the heading
in of young trees, some tliink the best time is when the growing
ceases for the season, and immediately after the fruit is gathered.
Then, it is held, the ends left bare have a good while in which
to harden, and the trees and vines will be all ready in spring-
time to put forth vigorously without the loss of time. Others
thinly thfit pruning trees at tlio season named, the ends of the
twigs left bare by cutting are apt to winter-kill, and that fruit is
lost thereby. All agree that autumn is the time for pruning
grape-vines. As to trees, as in other things, experience is the
best schoolmaster.

VfORK WILL PAY. ■»

Allow us to suggest : Set out young trees, protect their roots
from the hard frosts, and dress with old dressing. Tlius mul-
tiply your number of trees. Graft and bud extensively ! Mr.
Christopher R. Beetle, of Edgartown, lias, by grafting, thirty
different varieties of pears on one tree. Raise your own grape-
-vines from cuttings of the best varieties, and thus save
j)urchasing.

WE SHOULD WORK BOTH FOR OURSELVES AND FOR OTHERS.

Some say they have not the time. It is rather, probably, in
many cases, the lack of an inclination. IIow nuich more time
is squandered in various ways than would suffice to make every
land-owner a good orchard and garden. Persons somewhat
advanced in life neglect to plant trees and vines because they
think they may not live to eat the fruit. Is not this selfish ?
And do we not almost all of us work for posterity by endeavor-
ing to add to our possessions in some way ? Continue, fellow-
citizens, to improve your premises in the matter of fruit-growing,
as well as in other things. Somebody will reap the benefit.

Hebron Vincent, for the Committee.

GRAPE VINERIES. 101

GRAPE VINERIES.

NORFOLK.

From the Report of the Commiilee.

The cultivation of the foreign grape ^yas once thought to be
the nice point in horticultural practice ; but the success which
has attended its cultivation where it has received the practical
judgment and care which is necessary in the culture' of any
plant requiring, as this does with us, an artificial climate, has
dispelled the mystery which was thought to attend its culture.
Experience has proved that no crop is «nore sure, and.that there
is no luxury more within the means of the classes, in moderate
circumstances than this ; and the time will come when the
cheap cold vinery will be considered indispensable to every good
family garden. In the line of the small fruits the grape fills a
larger space in the season than cither the strawberry, raspberry,
currant or blackberry, lasting, with proper management, from '
the first of September until winter, and it .is the universal
favorite of the whole season.

The vineries of Charles B. Shaw, Thomas Barrows and Ira
Cleveland, Esqs., all of Dedham, were entered for our inspec-
tion. These houses have been under the general supervision of
Mr. Robert Watt, of West Roxbury, from their first start, and
they attest his superior skill in their management. The house
of Mr. Shaw was built in 1851, and is consequently sixteen
years old. The remarkable success attending this house, it
never having failed to produce a full crop of well-ripened fruit,
induces us to present to the society Mr. Watt's own account of
its management.

" The house is sixty feet long and twenty feet wide ; the
borders all on the outside, twenty feet wide and three feet deep
in its whole length, and composted of top-spit of pasture manure
one-quarter, and three tons of bone thoroughly mixed. There
are nineteen vines of the following varieties : Hamburg's, (the
Black, Victoria and No. 16,) Chasselas of Fontainbleau and
Zinfandale. Two years old when planted, small but finely
rooted, the first season they made a growth of about twenty

102 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

feet. In the fall they were cut back to three eyes ; the second
year they made fine canes, reaching the top of the rafter. At
the fall pruning they were cut back to about six feet. The third
year they bore from eight to ten bunches each of good, well-
ripened fruit. Succeeding years, at the fall pruning, they were
allowed three or four feet of the new wood until they reached
the top of the rafters. Since coming into full bearing, they
have yielded more than six hundred pounds yearly of well-
ripened fruit."

They are grown on the " spur system," which Mr. Watt con-
siders the best. They give entire satisfaction and show no signs
of deterioration.

This house is built in accordance with the old English system,
with heavy sliding sashes, and in the most thorough and costly
manner, the. vinery itself costing about $1,000. The yearly
expense for labor is about f 25. The continued success of this
vinery, no doubt, is owing to the faithfulness of Daniel Murry,
who has had charge of its ventilation from the beginning, and
for which he is entitled to much credit.

The grape house of Mr. Barrows has been built six years. It
is forty feet long by sixteen wide ; the border nineteen feet wide
and three feet deep, of the same materials as the former. It is
built without sashes, the glass being set into the rafters. Air is
given at the top, the same as raising a skylight, which is consid-
ered much better than the sliding sash. It cost, with shed
attached, about $600. It has thirteen vines, viz. : Hamburgs,
(Black, Victoria, No. 16,) and Wilmot's Black Hamburg and
White Frontiguac. The Wilmots are not considered worthy of
cultivation when there are so many superior kinds to be had.
The yearly cost of keeping this house is about $20. It has
proved an entire success.

Mr. Cleveland's house was started in the spring of 1863. It
is on the same plan as that of Mr. Barrows, and cost about
$500. Its border, however, is on the inside, to give chance for
extra vines on the back wall. It has twenty-two vines, eleven
on the rafters and eleven on the back wall. The varieties are
Black, Victoria and Golden Hamburgs, Royal Muscadine, White
Frontignac and White Toke. The crop this year is most
extraordinary.

CRANBERRIES. 103

Mr. Watt would not recommend an inside border for a cold
grapery under any consideration. It is a great extra cost to
keep it watered, and requires much additional care with no
corresponding advantage in its results.

Your Committee regret that they have no house to present

constructed on a cheaper scale, as they are of the opinion that

houses may be built at a cost of about ten dollars per foot that

would answer the purpose, and thus bring this great luxury

within the means of the million ; as they believe there is no

plant that will give as good returns as the vine under good

management, and none that will stand so much maltreatment

and yet give good returns.

For the Committee,

Eliphalet Stone.

CKANBEKEIES.

PLYMOUTH.

From the Report of the Committee.

There were four entries for the premiums, " for the most
successful experiment in preparing meadow and covering not
less than one-quarter of an acre with cranberry vines," viz.:
Messrs. Gifford & Loring (Stephen N. Gilford and John S.
Loring,) of Duxbury, Andrew J. Hadley, of Marion, Ephraim
Stetson, of Halifax, and Austin J. Roberts, of Lakeville.

The meadow of Messrs. Gifford &, Loring has been annually
visited by the Supervisor, at or about the time of harvest, and
has uniformly presented a most satisfactory appearance. Their
experiment has proved, beyond all question, the most successful
of any entered for premium. If there have been experiments
in the counxy more successful than this, those who have made
them have been most truly fortunate ; but none such have come
to the notice of the Supervisor. When last visited, Sept. 10,
1867,' their meadow presented an exhibition worth travelling
miles to witness, by any one having a taste for the beautiful or
an eye to the possibilities of profit in cranberry culture. The
whole surface was covered with a carpet of bright green, thrifty
vines, scarcely a weed or a blade of grass being visible amongst

104 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

them, while the vines themselves were laden from top to bottom
with the finest of berries, already changing from white to
spotted and from spotted to red or scarlet, giving indications of
early ripening and of entire exemption from worms or rot, whose
ravages so often blast the hopes of cultivators of this most
wholesome and popular fruit. Messrs, Gilford & Loring were
not without experience in this business, having prepared and
cultivated successfully a portion of the same swamp before
comniencing this experiment. They have also this fall set
vines upon another portion, prepared during the "past summer.
They say in their statement :

" The piece of cranberry meadow which w^e present for
premium, contains about seven-eighths of an acre. The meadow
was originally what is called a whortleberry swamp, being
covered with these bushes, together with a few pines and
maples.

" Our first operation was to remove the bushes, cutting them,
saving such as were large enough for fuel, and burning the
remainder upon the ground. The turf with the roots was then
removed down to the peat, which fills the eatire basin compris-
ing the meadow, and is from six to ten feet deep. The turf we
used in making a fence around the meadow, which serves the
purpose admirably well, making a durable structure, and also a
defence against cold winds.

" We then ran parallel ditches, two feet wide, and some thirty
feet apart, from the upland to the central drain, which had
been dug in the preparation of another piece for the same pur-
pose. The meadow was then made as level as possible, and
covered with about two inches of sand taken from the upland
adjoining the meadow.

" There is much care to be used in the selection of the sand,
getting that that is called ' dead,' containing no clayey
particles, and the coarser the better.

" The swamp was cleared in 1861, and the vines set in 18G2.
This piece was set in drills about eighteen inches apart. We
think it not material whether this plan is pursued, or that the
vines be set in hills from eighteen inches to two feet apart.

" We got no fruit from the meadow of any consequence, until
1865, when we picked about forty-five barrels, which we sold for
about $9 per barrel, net. In 1866, we took about twenty-five

CRANBERRIES. 105

barrels, whicli yielded about 88 per barrel. This year we
gathered nearly fifty barrels, which we have not yet sold, but
from present appearailces, we shall probably realize something
like |8 per barrel.

" The cost of clearing the swamp and setting the vines, as
near as we can come at it, has been nearly $500. The result
after three years' crops, is something like the following : —

The cost of the land, &c..

.

8500 00

The crop of 1865,

. $405 00

of 1866,

. 200 00

of 1867,

. 400 00

1,005 00

Leaving a balance of, . . . . 8505 00

" We would add that the vines are now in fine condition, and
promise to do as well for the future as they have done for the
past three years."

The first premium, 815, is awarded to Messrs. Gifford &
Loring.

Mr. Hadley had also been a successful cultivator of cranber-
ries before commencing upon that portion of his meadow which
he entered for premium. His experiments have been made
partly upon salt marsh, protected from the intrusion of the sea
by a dike. His location gives him advantages not possessed by
many other cultivators. A considerable portion of the surface
is cleared and levelled to his hand, in advance, saving him the
large preparatory outlay necessary in most situations in this
county where experiments have been made. After exposure
to the rains for a few years the marsh becomes so far divested
of its saline properties that vines set in the pure peat will grow
rapidly, overpower the native grasses, and produce fruit com-
paring favorably with that grown upon the most carefully pre-
pared meadows. In fact, some of the finest berries noticed
upon his grounds were upon vines thus set and left to fight their
own way into possession. If he chooses to sand his meadows
before setting the vines he has an inexhaustible supply of excel-
lent gray sand below the peat, which he can obtain by sinking
small pits wherever necessary, to be afterwards filled with other
material, care being taken to give the surface as nearly as pos-

14*

106 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

sible its original characteristics. He has also facilities for flow-
ing his meadows, although he has not often resorted to them
except for winter flowage.

The last and greatest of all his advantages is in the immunity
of his meadows from frosts. Situated as they are, immediately
upon the shore of Buzzard's Bay, he finds it safe to leave the
fruit upon the vines till fully ripe, whereby its flavor and its
keeping qualities are both greatly improved. What are called
" white frosts " injure only unripe berries. Where the fruit can
safely remain upon the vines till October, as it can here, it
acquires sufficient hardiness to bear exposure to such frosts with
a good degree of impunity.

Mr. Hadley's experiments, if not fully answering his expecta-
tions, have been decidedly successful, and few cultivators have
more reasons for encouragement than he, or greater inducements
to perseverance. He says in his statement : —

" I have about two acres of land inclosed. When I bought
it, about one-half was swamp, covered with alders, laurels, dog-
wood, water-bush, briers, &c. ; the other half was where the salt
water flowed at full tides ; where the square and two-ended
grass grew. I have expended on the above as. follows : —

Land, .........

Diking, ........

Cutting and burning bushes, turfing, ditching and
grading, ........

Vines and setting, .......

Hoeing, .........

$275 60

" About three-fourths of an acre of the above swamp land I
have entered for premium on cranberry meadow. Cost and
expenditures as follows : —

Land, at the average, ......

Diking, at the average, . . . • .

Cutting and burning bushes, ditching and sanding, .

Vines and setting, .......

Hoeing,

1164 62

$15

00

95

00

106

60

50

00

9

00

84 62

35

00

68

00

48

00

9

00

CRANBERRIES. 107

" On one-half an acre the vines were set in the spring of
1862, and on the other quarter of an acre in the spring of 1863.
In 1865 I picked 95 bushels of berries ; in 1866, 11 bushels ;
in 1867, 108 bushels.

" In the fall of 1865 my vines looked very finely, but during
the winter of 1865-6 they were very much damaged, by what
or how I cannot say ; and, in the summer following, the fruit,
upon most of what were alive and blossomed, was destroyed by
the berry-worm."

To Mr. Hadley is awarded the second premium, $10.

Mr. Stetson entered for premium about sixty-five square rods,
upon which vines were set in 1864, '65 and '66, and from which
he harvested, the present season, nine bushels of cranberries.
This plot, together with an adjoining piece, containing about one
hundred and sixty-three rods, he has changed from an old and
very rough cedar swamp bottom to its present condition, at a
cost of nearly ten years' continuous labor. In effecting this he
has not only cleared the surface of very large quantities of
bushes, stumps and trees, but with his wheelbarrow and shovel
has covered the whole with gravel, from one to two feet in
thickness, removing for this purpose almost a mountain of earth.

His selection of a location seems to have been an unfortunate
one. Portions of his swamp, at the commencement, appeared
as if afloat, undulating perceptibly beneath the tread, and the
whole was but slightly above a permanent water-level. To
obtain an even and in his judgment a sufficiently elevated sur-
face, he began by applying gravel in such quantities as to place
the original peat bed far below the reach of the vine roots. In
this condition it was evidently as unfit for the growth of cran-
berries, aside from additional moisture, as the base of the hill
from which the gravel was taken. With an indomitable and
characteristic perseverance, he has endeavored to overcome this
difficulty by covering the gravel bed thus formed with a layer
of peat and swamp moss, and this again with another layer of
gravel in which his vines have been set. But this layer of peat
and moss, although some six inches in thickness when first
applied, must, under the pressure of an equal thickness of gravel
above, and through the decomposition of the moss, be soon
reduced to a very thin stratum. If, in this condition, his vines
ever yield abundantly, it will be made certain that cranberries

108 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

will thrive upon a great deal of gravel very slightly sandwiched
with peat. As yet, however, ho has received but a meagre
return in fruit for all his years of toil. His vines look well, and
annually, in the early part of the season, gite promise of yield-
ing well, a promise thus far unfulfilled at harvest time, the
worms, frost and rot, the latter especially, making sad havoc
with his crops.

For the prevalence of the rot here, neither cause nor remedy
is known. Experts are fertile in suggestions ; but they can
only suggest, not demonstrate. One thinks it may be owing
to excess of moisture ; but many natural meadows, not as dry
as this, produce abundantly and mature their fruit perfectly.
Another would find the cause in the want of a free circulation
of air. But known facts, as to both natural and cultivated
meadows more completely sheltered than this, are at variance
with this theory. Still another suggests some peculiar property
in the gravel applied. Tlierc may be something in this sugges-
tion, as the gravel used by Mr. Stetson is much coarser than
that used in most other instances, and of a different color. It is
earnestly to be hoped that those who are preparing cranberry
meadows will cause a careful analysis to be made of the sand or
gravel with which they are covered, in order that the effect of
different mineral substances upon the growth and productiveness
of the vines may be ascertained.

It is recommended that a gratuity of five dollars be paid to
Mr. Stetson.

Mr. Roberts having sold his meadow and no statement having
been furnished, the entry is considered as withdrawn.

In a report on this subject, made by your Supervisor four
years ago, the cultivation of cranberries was stated to be a very
uncertain business. No good reasons are yet apparent for a
different conclusion. Success is more than possible, and when
secured the profits are almost fabulous. But the conditions
necessary to success are so imperfectly understood that, at' the
outset of an experiment, it is virtually a mei-e matter of chance
whether it will prove a success or a failure. In proof of this it
may, and perhaps should be stated, that neither of the two
experiments for which premiums were awarded in 1863, as being
the most carefully conducted and as promising the best results,
has proved remunerative to any considerable extent ; and the

FOREST TREES AND SHRUBS OF HINGHAM. 109

four years which have since elapsed certainly include that stage
of growth when cranberry vines are in the most favorable con-
dition for productiveness. Both these meadows were prepared
at considerable cost, and in both, owing to the location, the
quantity of gravel was made greatly to exceed the quantity of
peat accessible to the vines. Mr. Gifford's meadow, on the con-
trary, which has more than twice paid for itself in three years,
received only a thin layer of sand upon a level bed of clean
peat. Mr. Hadley's meadow was prepared in a similar manner.
These facts seem to indicate that the presence of peat in con-
siderable quantities, if not essential to the growth of vines, is at
least conducive to the perfecting of their fruit.

Notwithstanding the uncertain nature of the business, the
cultivation of cranberries is well worthy the attention of any
one having a suitable location, and sufficient means for prose-
cuting it without interfering with other and more certain avoca-
tions. A few days spent in the examination of meadows already
prepared, and in acquiring a knowledge of the methods pursued
and the material used in their preparation, would enable begin-
ners to profit by the experience of others and to avoid many
mistakes to which they would otherwise be liable.

Alden S. Bradford, Supervisor.

FOREST TREES AND SHRUBS OF HINGHAM.

HINGHAM.

The society appointed a committee to prepare lists of the trees
and shrubs of Hingham, with a view to create a taste for. the
study of this branch of our natural history. The committee
consisted of James S. Lewis and Fearing Burr. They have
labored with great diligence to perfect a catalogue, which was
reported to the society, accepted and ordered to be printed with
the " Transactions " of 1867. The report which follows was
drawn up by Mr. Lewis, and is believed to be as correct as a
laborious investigation for a series of years and an extensive
knowledge of the subject could make it : —

110 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

1. CoRNACE.E, Dogwood Family. Cornus Florida, Flowering
Dogwood ; Ni/ssa multijiora, Tupelo, Sour Gum Tree, Hornbeam.

The Cornus is not a large or very common tree, but is easily
recognized by its display of large white flowers in the latter part
of May or in early June. Its wood is of a close texture, and is
susceptible of a fine polish.

The Nyssa, best known in this place as hornbeam, deserves
attention as an ornamental tree.

2. Aquifoliace.e, Holly Family. Ilex opaca, American Holly.
The Holly is not abundant ; its wood is compact, close-
grained and of a satin texture, much used in the mechanic arts.

3. Urticace.e, Nettle Family. Ulmvs Americana, American
White Elm ; Celtis Occidentalism Nettle Tree, Hoop Ash.

Few trees will bear transplanting so well as the elm, and no
other perhaps assumes so many striking and beautiful varieties
of form. Its blossoms appear before the leaves, and as soon as
the leaves are fully grown its fruit is matured.

The Celtis is found growing sparsely in the north-western
section of this town. Its cultivation in France is said to yield
a large return.

4. LauracEuE, Laurel Family. Sassafras Officinale, Laurus
Sassafras.

5. RosACEiE, Rose Family.* Primus Pennsylvanica, Wild
Red Cherry ; Pruniis seroiica. Wild Black Cherry ; Amelanchier
Bolnjapium, Shad Bush, June Berry.

The wild red cherry is a small tree, rarely thirty feet in
height, of frequent occurrence in our forests.

The wild black cherry flowers in racemes, like the currant.
Its ripe fruit is very palatable.

6. Leguemixos^, Pulse Family. Rohinia pseudacacics,
Common Locust, or False Acacia.

This appears to be the only tree of this family that is natu-
ralized in Hingham. It is distinguished for the beauty of its
leaves and the fragrance of its flowers ; but is subject to the
attacks of insects which threaten its extermination.

7. Cupulifer.e, Oak Family. Quercus alba, White Oak ; Q.
bicolor, Swamp White Oak ; Q. castanea. Chestnut Oak ; Q.
wowtowa. Rock Chestnut Oak ; Q. chinquapin. Little Chinquapin
Oak ; Q. tincloria, Black or Yellow-barked Oak ; Q. coccinea,
Scarlet Oak ; Q. Rubra, Red Oak ; Q. ilicifolicl. Bear Oak ;

FOREST TREES AND SHRUBS OF HINGHAM. Ill

Q. obtvsiloba, Post Oak ; Fagus ferruginea, American Beech ;
CarpinuS. Americana, American Hornbeam ; Ostrya Virginica,
American hop hornbeam ; Castanea vesca, Chestnut.

The above-named oaks constitute ten of the eleven species of
oaks described by Emerson in his work on the trees and shrubs
of Massachusetts. The chestnut oaks are rarely to be found,
and only one. specimen of the post oak has been positively
identified. Mr. Emerson says (and it strictly accords with our
own observation,) that the oaks are divided into two well-defined
sections according to the character of their leaves ; the first
comprising those species whose leaves are destitute of flexible
points or bristles ; the second, those the segments of whose
leaves are mucronate, or terminate in bristles. A very impor-
tant difference is also observed in the length of time required
for the blossoms to bring their fruit to maturity. The oaks
which belong to the first section blossom in the spring and
bring their fruit to maturity in the fall. In those included in
tiie second section, on the contrary, the fertile blossom makes
its appearance in the axils of the leaves on the new shoot, and
remains a whole year without change. In the spring of the
second year after a new shoot has been produced, and new
barren and fertile flowers have made their appearance, it is
probably for the first time fertilized, and then begins to increase,
and brings its fruit to maturity eighteen months after its first
appearance. The wood of the white oak is much used in the
structure of articles in which strength, firmness and durability
are essential properties. The swamp white oak is fine grained
and possesses great strength and elasticity. The little chin-
quapin seldom exceeds ten feet in height, produces small acorns
in abundance. It is found at Cobb's Bank and at other places
near the seashore.

The yellow-bark oak is distinguished from all otliers, by the
rich yellow color of its inner bark ; for fuel it is nearly equal to
walnut. The scarlet oak for fuel is decidedly inferior to the
above-named. The red oak is of the least value for fuel, but
no oak in this climate surpasses it in beauty of foliage ; and
none attains to more magnificent proportions. The bear oak
seldom reaches the height of eighteen feet. It grows in various
soils and situations. The American beech does not abound.
Its wood is very close grained and is much used in the mechanic

112 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

arts. The American hornbeam, sometimes called blue beech,
is a small and somewhat rare tree. Its trunk is bluish and is
marked with longitudinal, irregular ridges, resembling those on
the horns of animals of the deer kind. The hop hornbeam, or
iron wood, is readily recognized, when in fruit, by the resem-
blance of its spikes of seed-vessels to those of the hop. The
chestnut is here of rare occurrence as a forest tree. We have
no knowledge that any cultivated tree in town, of which there
are several, has ever matured its fruit.

8. JUGLANDACE.E, Waluut Family. Carya alba, Shellbark
or shagbark hickory ; C. totnentosa, Mocker-nut or white heart
hickory ; C. g-Iabra, Pig-nut, or broom hickory ; C. amara,
bitter-nut or swamp hickory.

The shagbark bears a fruit, the best varieties of which are
equal to any imported nut, and it has been thought that by
careful selection and cultivation it may be made superior to any
nut now known. The mocker-nut tree is not very plentifully
distributed. It may be distinguished from the shagbark by tlie
less shaggy nature of its bark, and by the number of its leaflets,
it having seven or nine while the shagbark has but five. The
pig-nut hickory is most abundant. The bitter-nut hickory is
very rare.

9. Betulace^e, Birch Family. Betula alba, American white
birch ; B. excelsa, Yellow Birch ; B. lenta, Cherry-Birch,
sweet or black birch ; B. papijracea, Paper birch, canoe birch.

The white or gray birch is very common ; makes good fuel
when properly prepared and housed in season. The yellow
birch occurs less frequently. The black birch is distinguished
for the spicy odor and taste of its bark. The canoe birch, may
be found near Hewitt's Cove. It appears to be limited to that
locality.

10. Pla':j^\nace.e, Plane-tree Family. Plaiamis occidentalism
Buttonwood or Sycamore.

A favorite ornamental tree of former times, fast becoming
extinct, owing to the want of vitality in its buds.

11. Conifer^e, Pine Family. Pinus strobus, White Pine; P.
rigida, Pitch Pine; Abies Canadensis, Hemlock Spruce;
Ciipressus thijoides, Wliite Cedar ; Jimiperus Virginiana, Red
Cedar, Savin. ^

FOREST TREES AND SHRUBS OP HINGHAM. 113

The white pine may be found in all, or nearly all parts of our
forests. It is in great demand for manufacturing purposes.
None of our forest trees would sooner or more generously repay
the cost of cultivation. Pitch pine is scarce. It is said to be
an excellent material for floors, as durable as the Southern, and
more beautiful. Hemlock, as a fuel for close stoves, is not
much inferior to maple. White cedar timber has become
scarce, probably owing to the increased use of it in the manu-
facture of wooden w^are.

12. Salicaceje, Willow Family. Salix alba, White or Yellow-
Willow ; Populus tremiiUfoi'mis, American Aspen ; P. grandi-
dentata, Large Toothed Aspen ; P. candicans, Balm of Gilead,

13. Sapindace^, Soap Berry Family. Acer saccharinum,
Sugar Maple, or Rock Maple ; A. rubrum, Red or Swamp Maple.

The sugar maple is not common in our forests. It appears to
be growing in favor as an ornamental tree. The red maple
thrives in a variety of soils.

14. OLEACEiE, Olive Family. Fraxinus Americana, ^hxio. Ash ;
F. sambucifolia, Black or Water Ash ; F. pubescens, Red Ash.

The white ash occurs most frequently and in the greatest
Variety of soils. It will bear transplanting as well as any tree
with which we are acquainted. The black ash is not so widely
diffused as the white. Its wood is not so good for fuel. It is
of use in the manufacture of baskets. The red ash has a very
limited range.

15. TiLiACEiE, Linden Family. Tilia Americana, Bass Wood.

SHRUBS.

1. Oleace^, Olive Family. Ligustrum vulgare ; found near
Martin's Well and in other places in the north part of the town.
Flowers in May, June. Naturalized from Europe.

2. RuBiACE.E, Madder Family. Cephalanthus occidentalis,
Button Bush ; flourishes in marshy places ; July, August.

3. CoRNACEyE, Dogvvood Family. Cormis alternifolia, C. pan-
icidata, C circinala, C. sericea, C. stolonifera; river-banks,
swamps, <fcc. ; May, June.

4. Hamamelace.e, Witch Hazel Family. Ha7na7nelis Vir-
ginica, Witch Hazel ; October, November.

5. Aquifoliace^, Holly Family. Ilex verticella, Black Alder,
Winter-berry ; May, June. /. glabra, Ink-berry ; an evergreen

15*

114 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

used in bouquets. June. 1. IcBvig-ata, Smooth Winter-berry ;
flowers in June. Neinopcmthes Canadensis, Mountain Holly ;
May.

6. Caprifoliace^e, Honeysuckle Family. Sambucus Cana-
densis, Common Elder ; S. pubescens, Red-berried Elder, rare ;
May. Diervilla trifda, Bush Honeysuckle, rare ; June, Aug.
Viburnum lentago, Sheep-berry ; May, June. V. dentatum,
Arrow-wood ; V. acerifolium. Maple-leaved Arrow-wood ; May,
June. F. nudum, Withe-rod ; May, June. V. lanianoides,
Hobble-bush, American Wayfaring-Tree, South Scituate, near
the south bounds of Hingham, in cold, moist woods ; May.

7. GROSULACEiE, Currant Family. Ribes hirtellum, smooth
wild Gooseberry ; May. • R.Jioridum, Wild Black Currant ; May.
R. lacuslre, Swamp Gooseberry ; June.

8. Rhamnace/e, Buckthorn Family. Ceanothus Americana,
New Jersey Tea, Red Root ; found growing near Water Street.
A pretty shrub, flowers white ; July.

9. Celastrace^, Staff Tree Family. Celastrus scandens,
Wax-work, Climbing Bitter-sweet.

10. ViTACE^, Vine Family. Vitis labrusca. Northern Fox-
grape ; V. cestivalis. Summer Grape ; Vxordifolia, Frost-Grape ;
Ampelopsis quinquefolia, Virginian creeper, American Ivy ; July.

11. Anacardiace^, Cashew Family. Rhus typhina, Staghorn
Sumach ; R. glabra. Smooth Sumach ; R, venenata, Poison
Sumach or Dogwood ; R. copallina, Dwarf Sumach ; R. toxi-
codendron, Poison Ivy, Poison Oak.

12. Berberidace^e, Barberry Family. Beberis vulgaris,
Common Barberry ; Nat. from Europe.

13. Ericace^, Heath Family. Gaylussacia dumosa, Dwarf
Huckleberry ; G. frondosa, Dangleberry ; G. resinosa, Black
Huckleberry ; Vacciniuni virgatum. Blue Huckleberry ; V. corym-
bosum, Common Swamp Blueberry ; V. macrocarpon, Cran-
berry ; F. vacillans, Low Blueberry ; F. Pennsylvanicum, Dwarf
Blueberry, South Scituate ; Epigaa repens, May Flower, woods
near Whiting and Ward Streets ; April. Clcthra alnifolia,
common ; flowers terminal, fragrant, white ; July, August.
GauUheria procumbens, Box-berry ; July. Cassandra calycidata,
Leatherleaf, evergreen, roadside. Gushing Street ; flowers in
April. Kalmia latifolia, Mountain Laurel ; Rhodora canadensis,
May ; Kalmia angustifolia, Sheep Laurel ; Azalea viscosa.

FOREST TREES AND SHRUBS OF HINGHAM. 115

Swamp Honeysuckle ; July, August. Arctostaphilos uva-ursi,
Bear Berry ; May ; rare. Andromeda lignstrina ; June, July.
Leucothoe racemosa ; May, June.

14. RosACEiE, Rose Family. Prunus Virg-iniana, Choke
Cherry ; P. maritima, Beach Plum ; Cratagus coccinca, Scarlet-
Fruited Thorn ; C. tomentosa, Pear Thorn ; C. cnis-galli, Cock-
Spur Thorn ; Pi/rus arhutifolia, Choke Berry ; Spirea salicifolia,
Common Meadow Sweet, Eu. ; S. tomentosa, Hardhack ; July.
Rosa nibinginosa, Sweet Brier ; June, August ; Nat. from Eu.
R. Caro/ma, Swamp Rose ; June-Sept. R. lucidajDwavi Wild.
Rose ; Rubus occidentalis, Thimbleberry ; black cap, R. strigo-
sus, Wild Red Raspberry ; R. villosus, High Blackberry ; R.
Canadensis, Low Blackberry ; R. hispidus, Running Swamp
Blackberry.

15. LAURACEiE, Laurel Family. Benzoin odoriferum, Ginger
Bush, Spice Bush ; March.

16. RANUNCULACEiE, Crowfoot Family. Clematis Virginiana,
Common Virgin's Bower ; July, August.

17. Myricace^, Sweet Gale Family. Comptonia asplenifoUa,
Sweet Fern, common ; April, May. Myrica eerifera, Bayberry,
Wax Myrtle, common ; May.

18. BETULACEiE, Birch Family. Alnus incana, Speckled or
Hoary Alder ; A. serrulata, Smooth Alder.

19. CuPULiFER^, Oak Family. Corylus Americana, Wild
Hazel-Nut ; C. rostrata, Beaked Hazel-Nut.

20. SALiCACEiB, Willow Family. Salix tristis, Dwarf Gray
Willow ; S. humidis, Low Bush Willow ; S. discolor, Glaucus
Willow ; S. serica, Silky-Leaved Willow ; S. petiolaris, Petioled
Willow ; S. purpurea. Purple Willow, adv. from Eu. ; S. longi-
folia, Long-Leaved Willow; S. pedicellaris, Stalk-Fruited
Willow.

21. Smilace^e, Smilax Family. Smilax rotundifolia, Green-
brier, Horsebrier ; >S. herbacece, Carrion Flower, flowers fetid ;
June.

22. Conifers, Pine Family. Juniperus communis. Common
Juniper. This shrub, which is troublesome in some places
farther north, is fortunately of rare occurrence in this town ;
Eu., May. Taxus baccata, American Yew, Ground Hemlock,
found in South Scituate, not far from the Hingham line, and
probably exists in Hingham ; Eu., April.

116 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

GENERAL CEO PS.

HIGHLAND.

From the Report of the Comiiiitfee.

In some cases your Committee have been asked if the pre-
mium was to be awarded " by the eye," or according to the
written statement. Our reply uniformly has been, that we
should adhere to the regulations of the Board. Various
responses have been made to this reply, some approving and
some condemning, partly because the labor required was more
than the value of the premium, and partly because they did not
know how to fill out the statements. After the experience your
Committee have had, they are more firmly convinced that the
regulations of the State Board are neither onerous nor unrea-
sonable, and that the faithful compliance with them will con-
duce to a more accurate, thoughtful and scientific manner of
farming, and will lead the farmer to a more careful study of
cause and effect. In this connection, the Committee regret that
all those who made entries of crops have not seen fit to make
statements of the same, even though the amount of crops would
not seem to justify a premium. More useful scientific knowledge
is often gained from a failure than from a success, and it is only
by carefully studying the causes of failure as well as success that
absolute knowledge is obtained. We also are satisfied, from an
examination of the statements, particularly in reference to root
crops, that the farmers in the limits of the society can raise as
productive crops as any other in the State, and we can but
commend this branch of agriculture to the more careful atten-
tion of our farmers. Even though grazing forms the principal
business in this society, we believe large root crops will be found
a powerful auxiliary, neglecting to cultivate which will be found
poor economy.

M. J. Smith, /or the Committee.

GENERAL CROPS.

117

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118 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

GRAIN CROPS.

ESSEX.

Statement of Oliver P. Killam.

The land upon which was grown tlie crop of corn which I
offer for premium, possesses a dark, gravelly, loamy soil ; and
in the years 1865 and 1866, English hay was raised upon the
same without the use of any manure. For a corn crop, the
ground was ploughed once eight inches deep, just before plant-
ing, and seventy-six loads of manure turned under. The
ground upon which the corn grew measures three and three-
fourths acres. The land was harrowed and fnrrowed, and
manured in the hill with twenty loads of compost. The cost of
ploughing was 122.50 ; of harrowing and furrowing, $10 ; and
the value of the manure — twenty-four cords — on the ground,
was $192. The field was planted from the 20th to the 30th of
May, three and one-half feet apart each way, with thirty-seven
and one-half quarts of yellow eight-rowed corn. The cost of
seed and planting was $25. The field was cultivated three
times each way, and hoed twice before haying, and the weeds
were also knocked out with hoes on the 10th of August. The
cost of cultivation, including weeding, thinning, and clearing
out weeds, was $30. The top stalks were cut off from the 16tli
to the 21st of September, and the corn was got in and husked
from the 20th of October to the 7th of November. The cost of
cutting and securing the stalks, was $15 ; of harvesting and
husking, $35. Amount of corn produced on three and three-
fourths acres, six hundred bushels in the ear. Estimated
amount of top stalks, forty tons ; valued at $60. Estimated
amount of butt stalks, eight tons ; valued at $64.

Statement of Eugene W. Day.
The land upon which this crop of oats was raised, was for-
merly covered with a heavy growth of oak timber, and it was
next used thirty years as a pasture. Within a few years it has
been converted into a field. In 1865, it was planted with
corn and potatoes, the quantity of manure used being forty

GRAIN CROPS.

119

cartloads of common barnyard manure upon the lot. In 1866,
it was again planted with corn and potatoes, with the same
quantity of manure. The crop each season was excellent. In
April, 1867, it was ploughed to a depth of seven inches, and
sowed with oats (upon the furrow,) and then harrowed twice.
The crop measured one hundred and sixty-four bushels of good
oats, thirty-two pounds per bushel and several bushels of a
lighter quality. No manure was used in 1867. The amount
of seed used was ten bushels, one bushel of which was Delaware
oats, which rusted badly, grew rank and lodged, and were
otherwise very much damaged by a flock of thirty hens and
turkeys.

From actual measurement, I hereby certify that the land
which the above crop of oats covered, contained three acres
and forty-one rods, and no more.

B. P. Chad WICK, Acting Surveyor.

COST OF CROP.

Ploughing, .....

$12 00

Harrowing,

5 00

Cost of seed and sowing.

10 00

Harvesting,

13 00

Threshing,

14 00

Marketing, . . . ...

5 00

•

$59 00

THE CROP.

164 bushels of oats.

. $164 00

2| tons of straw, ....

45 00

Total, ....
Cost, ....

$209 00
59 00

.

$150 00

MIDDLESEX.

Statement of John B. Moore.

I offer for your consideration one bushel of winter wheat ;

name of the variety unknown to me. This kind of wheat I

have grown on my place for the last five years, with uniformly

good crops, having twice during that time raised at the rate of

120 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

more than forty-five bushels to the acre. This year I had just
an acre, and have threshed by estimation about one-half of the
crop, and there will certainly be thirty-five bushels, and prob-
ably more, per acre. I have, by necessity, been obliged to grow
it on rather low land for wheat, but have selected such pieces as
had a slope, so that there would be no standing surface-water in
the winter, which I consider very injurious to the wheat crop.
The soil was a strong and rather moist sandy loam. The
previous crops had been treated, and were as follows : spring of
1864, grass sod, upon which was spread thirty-five horse-cart
loads of green manure to the acre and plouglied in ; planted
with potatoes ; crop quite heavy, but cannot state how much.
In 1865 ploughed in another dressing of green manure ; planted
with sweet corn ; crop very good ; sold 126 barrels ; average
price, $2 ; fed the refuse and stalks to cows. In 1866, wishing
to sow to wheat, the first of September I ploughed and seeded
to millet about the first of June, without manure, and had a
very heavy crop. The last of August ploughed and spread on
fifty bushels of leached ashes and two hundred pounds of home-
made superphosphate to the acre ; sowed one bushel of wheat ;
ploughed in with a horse plough three inches deep ; harrowed ;
sowed grass seed ; covered with brush harrow and rolled down
smooth ; and this is a sample of the wheat raised. I have since
mowed the rowen, of which there was at least a ton to the acre.
I attribute the success that I have had to the following, which
I consider necessary conditions : 1st, a good, strong soil, well
pulverized and well manured ; 2d, no standing surface-water in
winter ; 3d, a hardy wheat of good quality, and early, so that
it will escape the fly ; 4th, deep planting, to prevent heaving.
Two years ago I harvested the crop the 3d of July ; this year
about the 12th.

WORCESTER NORTH.

Statement of Luther Page.

SPRING WHEAT.

The crop on this land in 1866 was grass ; no dressing used.
This year the crop was spring wheat. The soil is yellow loam
with rough clay bottom. I broke up from five to six inches
deep the last of September ; spread fifteen loads of manure
from the barn cellar upon the soil ; harrowed it well. The last

. $1 50

2 83

. 25 00

9 50

$44 83

2,120 lbs.

GRAIN CROPS. 121

of May I sowed two bushels of wheat which came from Canada,
the name of which I do not know ; it makes nice bread. I har-
rowed it in well and rolled it ; commenced to cut and stook
about August 1st. Raised one and three-quarters tons straw,
valued at $14. The piece of land on which my wheat grew
contains 160 square rods.

Cost of .seed and sowing, .....

of ploughing, (fee, .....

of manure, ......

of cultivating and harvesting, .

Weight of crop, as certified by W. Baker, Nov. 6,
Statement of Cyrus Kilbiirn.

WINTER WHEAT.

The crops of 1865 and 1866 on this piece of land were hay ;
no dressing. The soil is clayey loam. I ploughed in August,
1866, only once, six or seven inches deep ; applied sixteen loads
of compost manure and about two hundred and fifty pounds
superphosphate of lime ; manure and superphosphate spread
and harrowed in with wheat. On the 27th of August I sowed
two bushels of blue-stem winter wheat. I mowed the lodged
part, cradled what I could, and reaped the remainder. Raised
two tons of straw. The piece of land on which my wheat grew
measures one acre.

Cost of seed and planting, $9 00

of ploughing, &c., 6 00

of manure, .. . . . . . . 25 00

of cultivating and harvesting, . . . . 15 00

155 00
Weight of crop, as certified by Thos. Billings, Nov. 5, 2,040 lbs.

My wheat sells readily for seed or flour at $4 per bushel. I
have sowed the blue-stem wheat yearly for twenty years, and
there is no deterioration. I raised the same amount on the
same acre seven years ago. I find, by experience, that the last

16*

122 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

■week in August or first week in September is the best time to
sow. I mowed the above acre six years, then ploughed and
sowed on the sod. I think this is the better way to sow. If we
wait for the corn to come off it makes it late for wheat sowing.
I sow my grass seed on the wheat land in the spring. If it is •
sown with the wheat it gets the start of the wheat in the spring
and chokes it. I wash and lime or ash my seed wheat, thinking
it necessary to prevent any tendency to smut, which tendency
may possibly be produced by using manure composed partly of
chaff of smutty grain. If we sow smut, we reap smut.

Statement of S. R. Damon.

WHEAT.

The crop on this land in 1865 was corn and potatoes ; in
1866 it was corn. The dressing used for both these crops was
stable manure, twenty-five loads to the acre. Soil, yellow loam.
I ploughed once, May 3, seven inches deep ; cultivated and har-
rowed three times ; applied twenty loads of manure spread
broadcast after ploughing. I sowed. May 9, two and one-half
bushels. Cradled the last week in August ; stooked in the field
till dry. Straw, 34 cwt. The land on which my wheat grew
measures one acre, five rods, forty feet.

Cost of ploughing, &c., . . . . . . |8 00

of manure, . . . . . . . 30 00

of cultivating and harvesting, ♦. . . . 21 00

$59 00
Weight of crop as certified by Wm. Baker, Nov. 6th, 2,093 lbs.

Statement of Joseph Goodrich,

CORN.

In 1865 and 1866, the crops on this land were grass ; no
dressing used. Soil, clayey loam. Ploughed first, September,
1866, from six to eight inches deep ; cross-ploughed the follow-
ing spring ; harrowed and furrowed one way. Applied fifteen
loads of manure spread and ploughed in ; also, two hundred
and fifty weight of superphosphate applied to the hill, and about
the same of plaster. Planted, May 6th, six quarts seed, called

GRAIN CROPS. 123

Carter corn. Cultivated twice with the cultivator one way ;
band hoed twice. Cut stalks September 12th, gathered corn
October 2-4th. Two tons stover.

Cost of seed and planting, ....

of ploughing, &c., .....

of manure, ......

cultivating and harvesting,

13

00

10

00

39

25

18

50

170 75

6,240 lbs.

"Weight of crop as certified by W. Baker, Nov. 6th,
Statement of Luther Page.

CORN.

In 1866 the crop was grass ; no dressing used. This year
the crop was corn. Soil, black loam, clay subsoil. I broke up
the land about the 1st of October, six inches deep ; harrowed
well ; applied eighteen loads compost from the barn cellar,
broadcast. Planted by hand nine quarts, six or eight kernels
to the hill, of eight-rowed corn of yellow and red mixed kind.
Cultivated twice, both times the same way ; harvested the 5th
of October ; cut stalks the middle of September. Three tons
stover, value, $27. The land on which my corn grew measures
one hundred and sixty square rods.

Cost of seed and planting, ....

of ploughing, &c.,

of manure, ......

of cultivating and harvesting, .

Weight of crop as certified by W. Baker, Nov. 6th,

The above acre of corn which I entered for a premium was
broken up October 1, 1866, about six inches deep. The follow-
ing spring I put on eighteen loads of compost from the barn
cellar ; gave it a good harrowing ; furrowed lightly one way
only ; put a small handful of Bradley's superphosphate in the
hill, used about three hundred pounds ; hills about three feet
apart each way ; put from six to eight kernels in each hill ;

, 13 00

1 50

. 27 00

. 18 00

149 50

6,240 lbs.

124 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

thinned at the last hoeing to five stalks — I think five better
than four.

Statement of Albert Stratton.

CORN.

The crops on this piece of land in 1865 and 1866 were grass ;
no dressing used. Soil, gravelly loara. Ploughed one-half the
last of November, 1866, and one-half in April, 1867, seven
inches deep ; harrowed and furrowed both ways ; applied
twenty-two loads barn manure, spread, and two hundred and
fifty pounds superphosphate, in the hill. Planted with corn-
planter. May 23d and 24th, twelve quarts Carter corn. Culti-
vated with cultivator and hand-hoe twice ; cut stalks the last of
September, and harvested 19th of October.

Cost of seed and planting, ....

of ploughing, &c.,

of manure, ......

of cultivating and harvesting.

Weight of crop as certified by W. Baker, Nov. 6th,

The field was ploughed part late last fall, the other part early
in the spring. I could see no difference.

Statement of Luther Pag-e.

WINTER RYE.

The crop on this piece of ground in 1866, was grass ; sixteen
loads of manure from the barn cellar was used. The crop of
this year is rye. No dressing used. Soil, black loam, clay
bottom. I broke up the land six inches deep, the last of Sep-
tember ; harrowed thoroughly ; spread broadcast, sixteen loads
of manure from the barn cellar. Sowed the last of September,
one and a half bushels of the white rye ; seeded down to grass
again. Harrowed thoroughly three times and rolled. Com-
menced cutting and stooking the 20th of July ; carried to the
barn the last of August. One and three-fourths tons straw,
value, $17.87. The land on which my Avinter rye grew
measures one hundred and sixty rods.

. 83 08

. 12 00

. 58 50

. 20 00

193 58

5,280 lbs.

4

GRAIN CROPS. 125

, $2 50

2 00

, 24 00

, 12 25

$40 75

2,400 lbs.

Cost of seed and planting,
of ploughing, &c.,
of manure,
of cultivating and harvesting,

"Weight of crop as certified by "W. Baker, Nov. 6th,
Statements of Cyrus Kilburn.

WINTER RYE.

The crop of 1865 on this land was potatoes, and in 1866 corn.
In 1865 ten cartloads of compost manure was used, and in
1866 twelve. Soil, sandy loam. Ploughed once, six or seven
inches deep, in September ; no other preparation for the seed ;
no dressing for the rye crop. Sowed the last of September ;
harvested about the 25th of July. One ton straw. The land
on which my winter rye grew measures 159 square rods.

Cost of seed and planting, $5 00

of ploughing, &c., . . . . . . 6 00

of cultivating and harvesting, . . . . 10 00

$21 00
Weight of crop, as certified by Thomas Billings, Nov. 5, 1,370
lbs. to the acre.

I had another acre in the same inclosure sowed to winter
wheat, and treated in a similar way as to manuring and crop-
ping, and the wheat crop was much more valuable than the rye.

WHITE BEANS.

On this land the crop in 1865 was grass ; no dressing was
used. In 1866 it was horticultural beans ; used two cartloads
of composted manure. Soil, gravelly loam. Ploughed once in
May, six or seven inches deep ; applied two loads compost
manure and forty pounds superphosphate of lime. Planted the
first of June, in the drill, three quarts of the early white
pea bean ; pulled and stacked the beans the first of Sep-
tember. Raised four or five hundred weio-ht of bean straw.

126 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

The quantity of land on which I raised my beans measures
twenty square rods.

Cost of seed and planting, $2 00

of ploughing, &c., 50

of manure, ....... 4 00

of cultivating and harvesting, . . . . 5 00

$11 50
"Weight of crop, as certified by Thos. Bilhngs, Nov. 5, 183| lbs.

I find that white beans planted on a light, sandy loam are less
liable to blast than those planted on black, moist land. A blast
on the pod occasionally injures the crop.

BOOT CEOPS.

WORCESTER NORTH.

Statement of Martin Johnson.

ONIONS.

In 1865 and 1866 the crops raised on this land were onions ;
the dressing used, horse and hog manure, about twenty-five
loads to the acre. Soil, sandy loam ; not ploughed but culti-
vated before planting in the spring ; harrowed and levelled with
the back of the harrow ; used about twenty-five loads of manure
to the acre. Planted April 10, with machine, yellow Danvers
and another yellow variety, name unknown. I hoed with
Wheeler hoe three times, and weeded three times by hand.
Harvested the first of October. The land on which my onions
grew measured forty-four rods at the outlines ; there were six-
teen fruit trees on the land, which I think would reduce the
measure to about thirty-five rods, there being no onions under
the trees. I have measured the onions and have one hundred
and two bushels of sound onions ; about two bushels are
small.

11 60

2

00

10

00

20

00

ROOT CROPS. 127

Cost of seed and planting, . . . . .

of ploughing, tfec,

of manure, .......

of cultivating and harvesting, ....

$33 50
"Weight of crop, as certified by Cyrus Kilburn, Nov. 6, 5,304 lbs.

Statement of Ebenezer Bird,

RUTA-BAGAS.

The crops of 1865 and 1866 were grass; no manure used.
Lightish, gravelly soil ; ploughed six inches deep, the 21st of
June, after mowing the grass off. Four loads of manure, of
fifteen bushels each, and two of thirty bushels, were applied in
drills. I planted, the 21st of June, four pounds of ruta-baga
seed in drills ; cultivated and hoed twice. Harvested, pulled
and cut tops the 2d of November. The piece of land where
my turnips grew contains twenty square rods.

Cost of seed and planting, ....

of ploughing, (fee, . . . . .

of manure, ......

of cultivating and harvesting, .

Weight of crop,

12 00

75

2 00

5 00

89 75

2,

745 lbs.

Statement of Abel Marshall.

POTATOES.

The crops of 1865 and 1866 were grass ; no manure was
used. Soil, black and yellow loam. Ploughed, May 28, five
inches deep, with a common plough. Applied twelve loads of
manure, spread evenly on the grass before it was ploughed, and
then turned under the sod with the grass. I planted, June 1,
nine bushels of potatoes, the "Garnet Chili" variety, cut in
pieces and dropped in between the furrows as deep as was
ploughed. Harrowed once and hoed once. Harvested October
18, The piece of land where my potatoes grew contains forty
square rods.

128 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

Cost of seed and planting, ....

of ploughing, &c., .....

of manure, ......

of cultivating and harvesting, .

$47 50
Weight of crop, as certified by Cyrus Kilburn, Oct. 18, 2,880 lbs.

$9 50

2

00

25

00

11

00

FLOWERS.

WORCESTER WEST.

From the Report of the Committee.

Not a home so humble or so lowly but it may claim a flower
garden ; and the wealthier and more prosperous a people, the
more munificent their expenditure upon public parks and
gardens. Thus the flower garden becomes a national feature,
and with the aid of a stereoscope, we may sit by our firesides
and learn its various peculiarities. We find that the English
remove the turf from the lawn upon which so much labor and
expense has been bestowed, and realize a beautiful effect by the
velvet greenness of the grass, contrasting with the brilliant
colors of the flowers ; the French arrange theirs with gravelled
walks, borders, cut trees and grassy slopes ; the Italians with
marble walls and terraces, fountains and flights of steps ; the
Spanish with light and airy tressel work ; while in tropical
India the gardens consist of squares of grass, under protecting
shade. Central Park, in New York City, combines in its
immense area, the spacious lawn, the parterre of flowers, the
Chinese pagoda, the tresseled arbor, flights of marble steps,
fountains, caves, shaded retreats with flowers and shrubs and
trees from each zone and every country, and in its whole
magnificent adornment, aims to copy nature. Its beautiful
rock-work suggests to our Worcester County people how its
many rocky localities, now repelling and forbidding, may be
made elegant by labor and taste. The scraping of the rocks,
the filling of crevices with strong, rich soil, the planting of

FLOWERS. 129

columbines, ivies and flowering vines, converts these rough
places into charming ornaments.

One element of the perpetual pleasure, of floriculture is its
progressive character. The flowers that claim popular atten-
tion tliis year of 1867, thirty years ago were scarcely known, or
the changes produced in them are so wonderful that we barely
recognize them.

Humboldt, the learned and noted traveller of the last and
present century, found in the year 1785, on the table lands of
Mexico, a pale, purple flower, of coarse appearance, with an
unpleasant odor, whose large tuberous roots were only edible to
the natives, but which was interesting as a new form of floral
structure. This flowej-, belonging to an order numbering ten
thousand species, received the name of Dahlia, in honor of the
Swedish botanist, Dahl. It has had a most remarkable success,
two thousand varieties being now enumerated, and the changes
produced in it have been splendid and brilliant, although the
blossom is set and prim, the leaves coarse, and the odor
continues disagreeable.

The gladiolus is now a leading flower, and the catalogues
announce hundreds of varieties, where a few years since only
three were known, and those of no pretensions.

The asters are old favorites, and will continue to be cultivated
in every collection ; they have been, and are constantly being
improved, and finer varieties are known than are offered at our
annual fairs.

In this vicinity we have a great abundance of wild flowers,
which for variety and beauty are worthy of careful search. In
the month of September we have nearly a hundred species, of
which the wild asters, the golden-rods and the gentians are the
most numerous. Many of them richly repay cultivation, and
are easily naturalized. The wild honeysuckle increases the
number and size of its blossoms so greatly by culture, that it
becomes elegant. The unrivalled scarlet cardinal flower, the
purple gay-feather, the blue fringed gentian and the primroses
are known to bear transplanting, and improve by the change.
The common red lily of our pastures, now showing but one
flower, by rich culture will produce ten, and the yellow meadow
lily twenty, in place of three or five.
17*

130 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

"What an ample field for the professional florist or the amateur,
and how truly worthy their labor, enthusiasm and love !
Flowers ! beautiful flowers ! We thank our Heavenly Father
that they are everywhere, and that all may love them and learn
from them the sweet lessons that

" Will lead us from earth's fragrant sod
To hope and holiness and God."

Like the gentle dew, their influence falls upon all, of every
age and station. "We find them in the deep forest, and on the
dusty road, in the parlor and in the garden, and in every spot
on this wide earth consecrated by human joy or sorrow.

" Bring flowers ! They are springing in wood and vale,
Their breath floats out on the southern gale.
Bring flowei's to strew in the conqueror's path,
He hath shaken thrones with his stormy wrath !
Bring flowers to the captive's lonely cell,
They have tales of the joyous woods to tell,
And a dream of his youth — bring flowers, wild flowei's.
Bring flowers, fresh flowers, for the bride to wear,
They were born to blush in her shining hair.
She is leaving her home — bring flowers, fair flowers.
Bring flowers, pale flowers, o'er the bier to shed
A crown for the brow of the sainted dead !
They are love's last gift — bring ye flowers, pale flowers !
Bring flowers to the shrine where we kneel in prayer,
They are nature's ofi"ering, their place is there !
They break forth in glory — bring flowers, bright flowers ! "

PLYMOUTH,

From the Report of the Committee.
1\\ the beginning plants lived, blossomed, and passed away,
leaving their imperishable records on the rocks to demonstrate
their existence, probably a million of years before man was
created. Oeology teaches us that for ages vegetation only
lived to prepare minerals and food for our use. Burning with
heat, saturated with moisture, and charged with deleterious
gases, as yet the world was in no condition to receive man, and
it was by the agency of plants that these apparently insuperable
objections were to be removed. Not in the twinkling of an eye,
but by immutable laws working for ages, was the result to be

FLOWERS. 131

accomplished. With the sea teeming with animal life, at whose
death continents were to grow, other continents elevated from
the ocean were covered with a gigantic vegetation, unknown at
the present time except in the tropics, and to-day we see the
result, in coal-fields scattered all over the world. The earth
and waters cooled, the air we breathe assumed the present form,
when God's most perfect creation, ma?i, came forward to assume
dominion.

Previous to his being called to be master of the world, God
prepared a place for him to dwell, and here at the creation we
have an example set us by the Architect of the Universe. The
first impression to be made on man, was to be in, and come
from a garden. About to be the progenitor of a race formed in
the image of the Almighty, it was decreed that his bewildered
vision should first behold God's creative power, wisdom and
love in flowering plants, whose perfect beauty, first unfolded in
a sinless world, should from that time to the present exercise
such a singular and marked influence on our whole lives.
Sacred and profane history abound in descriptive passages in
which flowers take a prominent and leading part. Even the
brilliant magnificence and wondrous splendor of Solomon was
eclipsed by a lily, who " was not arrayed like one of these."
But it is only when we call the microscope to our aid, that
flashing on our perceptions, we see tints that no artist can pro-
duce, lines that no engraver can copy, and we behold living,
pulsating vessels in vegetable life. Destined to play so important
a part in the economy of nature, we see them covering everj-
part of the globe ; reaching from the icy north to the torridi
zone, from the valley to the mountain top, we find flowers scat--
tered with a beautiful profusion, each in the locality best adapted:
for its perfect development. Nothing was made in vain ; all
were pronounced good. Flowers are never out of season and
never out of place. A welcome and charming gift at the sick
bed, indispensable at the bridal party, as emblems of purity and
beauty, a gift that can never offend, they adnxonish us to walk
uprightly, for like them from dust we were formed, so like them,
shall we blossom in immortality.

Probably most of the farmers of Plymouth County would be
surprised when told that the sales of flowers in the United States,
yearly amounts to over $3,000,000., Eo^ston selling 1200,000*

132 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

and New York over $400,000 per annum. Plymouth County
pays over 15,000 per year for flowers. Two to three hundred
dollars are quite commonly expended in cities for floral decora-
tions, for weddings, funerals and parties ; and at a reception in
New York a few months ago, $1,500 were expended for these
indispensable, beautiful, fragile creations that graced the rooms.
Their influence on our lives, so marked in its character, con-
duces to the best results. In the past we see it in the archi-
tecture of the ancients, in the ruins of their temples, finished
thousands of years ago, copies of living vegetation, carved with
a correctness that finds no rival to-day. Man first got his crude
ideas of building from trees. We pride ourselves on our smart-
ness, but from the dusty records of the past might we not learn
a lesson ? We copy from others. They copied from nature.
Flowers they worshipped, and in so doing they looked from
nature up to nature's God.

This beautiful, Christianizing influence is felt in community
in many ways. Education, the culture of flowers, exquisite
taste and refinement of character, go hand in hand. Who ever
saw an untidy house with flowers in the window ? The instance
is not known of a person thoroughly bad who loved flowers.
The good and the beautiful are inseparably connected. Farmers
of Plymouth County, why do your sons leave the homestead so
distasteful for other occupations ? Why do they behold visions
of ease in the merchant's or manufacturer's residence, and look
forward to the time when they, too, shall be gentlemen ? It is
because they have a false idea of the farmer's vocation. The
surroundings are repulsive, not necessarily so, but from habit
that prevents expenditures for anything that will not sell. The
fajrmer's profession is the most noble and elevating one on earth.
Maiii was created a farmer. He cannot live in health unless he
tills ithe soil. He need not emulate the beast in labor, and so
unfit the mind for intellectual culture. Intelligent labor, with
modern machinery, should shorten the season of severe labor,
and give more time for mental improvement. Go to the city.
The merchant, weary in his counting-room, and fearful lest
some midnight robber should deprive him of his stocks and
bonds, seeing notliing but brick walls on every side, sighs for
pure air, for pastures green, and flowers. He remembers with
pleasure the girl that brought him roses at school when a boy,

FLOWERS. 133

and looks forward to the time with inexpressible longing, when
released from business, on a farm in the country, surrounded by
fruits and flowers, he can spend the remainder of his life in
cultivating these first and best gifts of God to man. As a rule,
flowers on a farm are tolerated, many times to keep peace in the
family, very seldom to be shown as a feature, like blooded stock,
the fields and the wood-lot. This is radically wrong. Let the
farmer's home be pleasant — a well-filled library, with pictures
on the walls, to provide entertainment for minds always hungry.
Above all, let the arrangement of the grounds and the flower
garden be a prominent feature, that the eye may ever behold it
with delight, leave it with regret, and always return to its pro-
tection with a new pleasure. Besides — let me whisper it — your
FARM WILL SELL FOR MORE. The ameliorating influence of hor-
ticulture and floriculture on the character is always underrated
and sometimes entirely overlooked. There is a love for the
beautiful in every person created, and if latent it should be
developed.

There should be a slight modification in the premium list —
bedding plants grown in pots not being entitled to premium, as
understood by the Committee. I have prepared a revised list
that I think will be acceptable to those exhibiting, and making
the duties of the next Committee less arduous. There should
also bo some arrangement whereby exhibitors from a distance
can have accommodation. All the space being filled the day
before the exhibition, bushels of flowers were not and could not
be exhibited for want of room. Bringing plnnts for sale, unless
entered for premium, should be prohibited. There has been a
marked improvement both in the amount and character of the
floral display for the past few years. The most attractive part
of the v-hole exhibition, at once pleasing and refining, it should
be zealously fostered by the trustees.
For the Committee,

L. W. Puffer, Chairman.

134 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

MAlSrUEES.

ESSEX.

From the Report of the Committee.

The question how can the farmer maintain and increase the
fertility of his fields, and also secure an annual remunerative
crop, is one of paramount interest to every cultivator of the
soil, and at the same time difficult to answer. The result of
the carefully conducted experiments before alluded to, and
many others which, after the ice was once broken, were made
public by modest experimenters, who did not care to stem the
flood-tide of popular advertisements and endorsements of the
various nostrums for securing universal fertility is, that they
do not answer the desired end. What little fertilizing quality
they possess will not pay the cost of them. We mention, for
instance, the flour of bone. No one questions the great fertil-
izing properties of bone, but that the flour of bone is in a condi-
tion to be immediately assimilated by plant growth; it therefore
fails to answer the purpose required of it. Hence the farmer
who earns his money cannot afford to pay the high price
demanded for it when he can buy the pure unground bones for
one-third the price, and reduce them at a small expense to a
condition readily assimilated by all plants.

Mr. Henry Coleman uttered a valuable truth when on being
asked, " What has chemistry done for the farmer ? " he replied
that it had dissolved bones by sulphuric acid.

Nor is it for a moment questioned that Peruvian guano is a
very valuable specific fertilizer, but as a general thing its high
cost places it beyond the reach of the practical farmer. Fish
pomice or guano, is sold at a comparatively low price, is unadul-
terated, makes a valuable compost, and may perhaps be afforded.
Many of the articles offered in our markets as fertilizers at high
prices, recommended as being entirely inoffensive to the most
fastidious, may be well adapted to those who would farm with
kid gloves on, and to such only can we recommend them.

What then are the resources of the farmer for manure? We
answer — the barnyard, the stable, the privy, waste animal and

MANURES. 135

vegetable material, whether grown upon the land or in the sea,
all of which should be husbanded with the utmost care, their
volume and power multiplied by composting with peat, loam,
and in some cases sand. As much poudrette can be made from
a single load of night-soil by composting it with meadow mud
or muck, as can be purchased for twenty-five or thirty dollars ;
and of as good quality. Sea manure, consisting of kelp and
the various sea mosses, or rock weed when mixed with an equal
quantity of muck, will make a compost equal in quality with
the best stable manure. The farmer having secured as great
a quantity of these materials as possible, has yet another
resource, unlimited in extent, easy of access, and with the
materials already at hand, may increase .the fertilizing capacity
of his manures immensely.

Chemistry informs us that plants are enabled to absorb large
portions of three of the four organic elements which constitute
them, through their leaves, viz., carbon, oxygen and hydrogen,
while the fourth, nitrogen, though constituting four-fifths, of the
surrounding atmosphere, is not thus absorbed, as has been proved
by careful experiment ; but must be supplied through their
roots. According to the estimate of a careful chemist, three-
fifths of the value of barnyard manure is the nitrogen that it
contains. Now the question arises, how can the farmer within
his own means, draw from the never-failing fountain that nature
has so generously provided, and appropriate to the growth of
his crops. It is well-known that nitre or saltpetre is manufac-
tured by composting animal and vegetable manures with loam,
meadow muck and other earthy substances. In short, a good
thorough compost heap, well worked, will accumulate nitric
acid from the atmosphere in proportion as it is worked over
and exposed to it. France has in time of war manufactured
two thousand tons of saltpetre annually in this way. Why not
make the same effort to promote the peaceful art of agriculture ?
An economical, and it is believed a successful method of accom-
plishing the same end, is to apply the manure made during the
summer, directly to the land, and ploughing it in after harvest,
and then ploughing twice in the spring before planting, thereby
making a nitre bed of the whole surface of the field. This
process seems to be justified by the principle upon which every
good farmer composts and pitches over manure to increase to

136 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

the utmost its fertilizing power. This method would not be
advisable on what is called leachy land, but on other soils it has
been practised with much success. Some of the largest root
crops ever known to your Committee, were grown upon land
where this method of applying manure in the fall was pursued.
The object of the Committee at this time, is not to treat this
great subject at length, but simply to draw attention to a few
important points. Benjamin P. Ware,

Henry Hobbs,

Committee.

NANTUCKET.

Statement of James Thompson.
I enter for premium the five pens of manure at my Grove-
land stock farm. On the 15th of last May all the pens were
cleaned out. We then commenced to cart in seaweed, sods
from rich ridges where fences had been, and peat mud, with the
droppings of four cows, one horse and one bull, with an average
of six hogs. Tw8 months of the latter part of the time two
sows have had eleven pigs. In the eight months there have
been, as near as we could keep the run, thirty loads peat mud,
fifty loads seaweed, fifty loads sods, and all the refuse bedding
and green matter that is around the farm. In addition to the
droppings above mentioned, the cost is about as follows : —

For 30 loads peat mud, at 10 cents, . . . . |3 00
50 loads seaweed, at 35 cents, . . . . 17 60
50 loads sods, at 15 cents, . . . . . 7 50

128 00

The value of the droppings from the animals we cannot esti-
mate, and the sods, peat and seaweed have been hauled at such
odd times that the man and horse would have done but little
else in the time. There are now (as consolidated,) about 2,700
cubic feet of manure, of as good quality as I should have to pay
one dollar per load for. By allowing twelve cubic feet for a
load, we have two hundred and twenty loads of twenty bushels
each, at a cost of $28, aside from the droppings of animals.

The question is asked, " How was it possible to make so much
manure in the past eight months ? " I answer, from several

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 137

causes. First, by stabling all cows and horses at night, and by
carefully saving all refuse matter that is usually thrown aside,
forming unsightly heaps. When you look around my farm you
will see everything that can rot is cleaned up and put into the
hog or manure pens. By thus saving, at a cost of but little
time, every farmer can make a hundred loads more manure
yearly than he usually does. I hear him say, " I can't stop to
collect all those matters ; they don't amount to much, anyhow."
I say, collect every turnip-top, green weed and animal dropping,
and at the time of planting or top-dressing grass lands you have
increased the year's crop five tons of hay, or fifty bushels of corn,
and one hundred of roots. Will you not have been well paid
for the labor expended ? If you are still an unbeliever, go and
see my manure pens.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.

ESSEX.

From the Report of the Committee.

No subject should receive more attention from those interested
in progressive agriculture than farm implements. It lies at the
very foundation of all improvement. We may have new ferti-
lizers, new modes of applying them, and increased products ;
but the cost of tilling and harvesting must be kept down by the
use of labor-saving machines, or there will be little or no profit.
So with the hay crop, for example — every implement that facil-
itates cutting, curing and gathering tends to make the crop
more remunerative.

The greatest outlay on a farm now-a-days is for wages. To a
great extent these must correspond to wages in other occupa-
tions or our farms will be deserted. And yet every farmer — we
do not include market-gardeners — well knows that he cannot
pay extravagant or even comparatively high wages and make
both ends of the year meet. Hence he is greatly interested in
the substitution of horse power and steam power for man-
power ; and where this can be effected on the farm, it is no det-
18*

138 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

riment to the latter, as there are always other avenues in this
country for its profitable employment.

In the West, where farming is carried on on so grand a scale,
horse and steam power and improved implements and machinery
are used to an extent to which we in New England are unac-
customed. With tljem it is a necessity, or their work could not
be accomplished. Our farms and crops are so small we do not
so generally feel this necessity. We can " rub and go " with
the same tools that o^ir fathers used, but then we make no head-
way either in filling our barns or pockets. Thus it is that so
many complain of farming as a poor business, and they always
will complain till they set their brains at work to devise the
means to help their hands.

But we are not obliged to invent new implements ourselves ;
we have only to select from those already invented, or which are
constantly invented to meet the wants of the farm. True, it
costs considerable money to get these implements ; but the first
cost is not the question. The question is whether it will be a
good investment. Again, you fear to buy lest a better imple-
ment will shortly be introduced, and you will wait for that.
But, by the same rule, when that comes, you will wait for its
successor, and so on, till you miss your opportunity. So fares
it with some farmers, and you can easily tell whether they are
among the most thrifty. Others run to the opposite extreme,
buy every now implement that comes along, and have a good
deal of useless machinery to fill their sheds. Of course there
is discretion to be exercised here, as in other things, and by it
you must direct your path.

Of implements of acknowledged utility, we say, in the words
affixed to the advertisements of Webster's dictionary, " Get
the best." Depend upon it, the best is in the long run the
cheapest. Only be sure to use and house your tools carefully.
As a- general thing you will be more likely to do this if you buy
the best than if you buy the cheapest. Yet we would not be
understood as claiming that high cost is an infallible guarantee
of the best quality. There may be fixtures about tools, as well
as tools themselves, that are more ornamental than useful. A
farmer needs to have his eyes open when he is shown a churn,
-for example, that has a variety of arrangements by which it is
asserted that butter can be churned by a small child, and that.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 139

too, in five or ten minutes. He may be wheedled into a pur-
chase, but after a few trials he will be no mote proud of it than
Franklin was of his whistle.

A farmer, of all men, needs to have a wise caution in pur-
chasing things that promise large results. He must look into
them for himself, or must rely upon the judgment or experience
of others who have tested them. If he takes only the word of
the vendor, or the certificates of persons unknown to him, he
will be liable to be swindled, as some in our county have been
this very season.

With reference to new implements, it may truly be said that
one trial will not fully test them. " One swallow does not make
a summer," is a good adage for farmers. Many new agricul-
tural tools, like new brooms, work well at first, but before long
one defect and another come out where you little suspect it, and
unless it be remedied they must be abandoned. Pope's very
conservative rule with regard to fashion might perhaps be
recommended in the use of farm implements, —

" Be not the first by •whom the new is tried,
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside ; "

only we should be glad to know, if everybody adopted this rule,
how any improvement is to be introduced ? There must be a
first one to try every new thing, and generally it is tlie most
enterprising and thrifty — sometimes, too, the most notional —
who is ready and willing to do it. And the whole farming com-
munity are under obligations to such men — men who at great
expense of time and money, and sometimes at the risk of preju-
dice and ridicule, go forward with a new horse-mower, or a
horse-rake, or hay-tedder, and by their example revolutionize
their neighborhoods. All honor to such men ! They are bene-
factors of their race ! Let the Essex Agricultural Society ever
encourage such men by prompt and appreciative attention, and
by a liberal award of premiums.

At an exhibition of agricultural implements the committee
labor under a difficulty in making their awards. It is seldom
they can assign reasons for their preference of one implement
over another of the same class, founded on a trial of them on
the spot. They must rely, therefore, on a careful inspection of
the implements and such reliable testimony as they can gather

140 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

from those who have used them. And this, with a single excep-
tion, is all we have been able to do on the present occasion.
We award the premium of ten dollars for the best mowing
machine to Whittemore, Belcher & Co., of Boston, for Wood's
new jointed bar mower.

PLOUGHING AND DRAINING.

WORCESTER NORTH.

From the Report of the Committee.

Before speaking of the subject of ploughing, we would allude
to another that underlies it, to wit : field draining. As food
enters all plants through the medium of water, a proper regula-
tion of it is of paramount importance.

Rain water is not only a powerful solvent, but it extracts
ammonia from the atmosphere which increases and elaborates
those elements of fertility in the soil on which vegetation
depends for health and fruitfulness. We quote the following
from Mr. French's " Farm Drainage." He says : " Although
we usually regard drainage as a means of rendering land
suflUciently dry for cultivation, that is by no means a compre-
hensive view of the object of the operation. Rain is the prin-
cipal source of moisture and a surplus of moisture is the evil
against which we contend in draining.

"But rain water is also the principal source of fertility ; not
only because it affords the necessary moisture to dissolve the
elements of fertility, but also because it contains in itself, or
brings with it from the atmosphere, valuable fertilizing
substances.

" About forty inches of rain water may be taken as a fair
general average of the rain-fall in the United States. If this
supplies as much ammonia to the soil as three hundred weight
of Peruvian guano to the acre, which is considered a liberal
manuring, and which is valuable principally for its ammonia,
we at once see the importance of retaining the rain water long
enough at least upon our fields to rob it of its treasure. But it

PLOUGHING AND DRAINING. 141

has a further value than has yet been suggested : ' Rain water
always contains in solution air, carbonic acid, and ammonia ;
the two first are among the most powerful disintegrators of the
soil ; the oxygen and carbonic acid being both in a highly
condensed form by being dissolved, possess very powerful
affinities for the ingredients of the soil ; the oxygen attacks and
oxidizes the iron," the carbonic acid seizing the lime and potash
and other alkaline ingredients of the soil, produces a further
separation and renders available the locked up ingredients of
this magazine of nutriment ; before these can be used by plants
they must be rendered soluble, and this is only effected by the
free and renewed access of rain and air. The ready passage of
both of thesef therefore, enables the soil to yield up its latent
nutriment.'

" Hence, we see that the rains of heaven bring us not only
water, but food for our plants, and that, while we would remove
by proper drainage, the surplus moisture, we should take care
first to conduct it through the soil far enough to fulfil its
mission of fertility. We cannot suppose that rain water brings
to our fields precisely the same proportion of the elements of
fertility, because the foreign properties with which it is charged
must continually vary with the condition of the atmosphere
through which it falls, whether it be a thick and murky cloud
which overhangs the coal-burning city, or the transparent ether
of the mountain tops."

Now the question arises. What lands need drainage ?
Evidently those lands that retain the surface water until late in
spring or early summer, so that teams cannot work upon them
to good advantage, require at least, superficial drainage ; it is
frequently necessary as well as convenient, to be able to culti-
vate a field a week or ten days earlier ; by so doing the extra
crop in one season would, in many cases, pay the expense ;
fields that are known to grow willows, rushes and alders indicate
deep drainage, as these aquatic plants would not grow and
flourish were it not for the water in the subsoil that encourages
their growth ; again, where trees or grain leave badly in
spring, or when the foliage presents a sickly appearance, it is a
strong index of stagnant water in the subsoil.

A member of this Committee having decided to transplant a
pear orchard at some future day, and having learned that the

142 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

roots of pear-trees have a great aversion to standing water, the
field was first drained as was supposed, sufficiently ; but to
make a sure thing of it, about one year ago a shaft three feet
deep was sunk in the field and stoned in the form of a well, and
the movement of the water noticed during the winter and spring
following. Now, as the water at the highest point was found to
rise only one and a half feet, and to remain at that height not
more than forty- eight hours, it is conclusive that pear-trees may
be transplanted with safety. As the expense is small it may be
a safe criterion for other plants.

THE PLOUGH.

Of all implements used upon the farm, the plough stands
first and foremost ; yet, strange to say, that, in the majority of
cases, its use is not yet appreciated. It is also equally strange
that we find so many young men -at the present day so totally
inefficient in this work. If a farmer has a field that requires
anything above and beyond mere superficial ploughing, he is
himself obliged to take the plough into his own hands, or call
upon some middle-aged or old man to perform the task, other-
wise be satisfied with very inefficient ploughing. It has been
truthfully said tliat it requires more mechanical skill and
ingenuity to govern, gauge and give proper draft to the plough,
than it does for the mechanic to build one. And all this must
be acquired from practice and observation, and taking an inter-
est in the work ; and to this end your Committee would recom-
mend a higher rate of premiums, and a greater number ; malce
it an inducement for our young men and boys to present
themselves in the field and compete for the premiums.

In preparing a field for a corn crop many plans are suggested
and as many adopted, but in the minds of your Committee,
who have had some experience and made some experiments, we
would adopt the following, not only for the corn crop, but for
those crops that follow : turn the sod in August as light as it
can possibly be done, say three inches deep, and before the
" setting in of winter," turn the furrows back or " tilt them up
edgewise " ; by this process the action of frost in winter and the
thawing in spring causes the sod to yield easily to the harrow ;
the field is now ready for thorough ploughing, which should be
done on our best lands with a heavy team equal to that of four

PLOUGHING AND DRAINING. 143

oxen ; and for very good reasons the swivel or side hill plough
should be used, whether our fields are side hill or comparatively
level ; by this operation our fields are left without dead furrows,
and are made level and in good preparation for the horse
mower, which very useful farm implement is fast coming into
use. If the field has never before been ploughed more than six
inches, it is now the proper time to sink the plough to the depth
of seven or more inches, thus giving the surface soil one inch
more of depth, which is in effect, adding about one hundred
loads of thirty bushels each ; this may be considered sufficient
both for the corn crop and for those crops that follow for the
next seven, eight, or ten years, as the case may be.

The use of the subsoil plough, we believe, would prove a val-
uable acquisition to many of our fields ; the operation is expen-
sive but effectual in the end, as in field drainage ; it requires
the same amount of team and the same time to subsoil a field
as it does to plough a grass field seven inches deep on our best
grain and grass lands — that is, in soils where it can be used ; it
serves to loosen the soil to almost any desirable depth, thereby
making a pasture ground for the smaller roots to feed upon.
It has, heretofore, been the popular doctrine that cereals did not
extend only a few inches below the surface. But this theory
now being strongly confuted by those that have examined it, it
is pretty well conceded that the roots and small fibres extend
several feet. Hence, if this theory be true, it is manifest that
by loosening and pulverizing the soil to the depth of one and a
half feet or more, it will produce a much stronger root and
stalk, consequently a greater yield. In case, however, where
field drainage is necessary, and the work has not been done,
perhaps subsoiling in many.cases would not be effectual, as this
treatment would serve to make channels in the subsoil, and
cause the stagnant water to remain, or not find so ready passage
as it otherwise would have done, and thereby making the soils
more pernicious to the plant.

The more effectual method of preparing the soil for plants,
doubtless, is by spading ; but this mode of cultivation is far too
expensive to warrant the outlay to a very great extent, except
to that class of farmers that have a floating capital and are satis-
fied in adopting the principle of sowing dollars and reaping

144 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

dimes, perhaps for a series of years. Yankees generally favor
the maxim of quick returns, although the profits are small.

If green sward is to be turned up for winter wheat, it should
be ploughed in August with a good team and an expert plough-
man ; the soils should not be turned at a less depth than seven
and a half inches, and the furrows laid as flat as circumstances
will permit ; that is, the furrows should not lap upon each other,
as this would cause extra labor in making a smooth surface.
About twenty-five loads of compost manure incorporated with
seventy-five or one hundred bushels of leached ashes or its value
in some other fertilizer, will produce an amount of wheat equal
in value to seventy-five bushels of corn ; by turning the sod to
a proper depth, or about an inch deeper than at former plough-
ings, we have a surface soil of seven or eight inches ; the manure
and fertilizers produce a strong growth of the young plant in the
autumn after sowing ; and as the roots of all grains extend to
comparatively great depths below the surface, in the course of
the next summer they find a rich pasture ground in the sod
that is constantly decaying to feed upon ; besides, through the
influence of solar heat there is constantly a " sucking or draw-
ing up " of the nourishment of the decomposed vegetable
matter that encourages the growth of the young plant.

We recommend comparatively deep ploughing in all cases, in
order to give a deeper and more friable soil for the small root-
lets to make their researches. It is noticeable in fields where
the stumps of trees have stood for a long time, and where we
should expect to see the stronger plants, we notice the very
opposite, and the cause may be attributed to inefficient plough-
ing. If spring wheat is to be sown "on stubble," we recom-
mend not only deep but frequent ploughing ; a thorough pul-
verization of the soil, and the last ploughing to be cut so fine
that the field may have the appearance of being harrowed.

The writer of these remarks became satisfied of this operation
from being obliged to plough a field three times in conse-
quence of frequent rains in spring, where one ploughing in the
majority of cases would have been considered sufficient ; the
result was, when it became time to cultivate and hoe the field,
with a very little effort upon the handles of the horse hoe, the
teeth or cutters could be penetrated into the soil, to the depth of
the wood work, and the whole field was very similar " to an ash

STOCK. 145

heap," or garden mould. A deep pulverization of the soil is
necessary to the germination of the seed and the ready exten-
sion of the roots, to the free circulation in it of moisture and
air and the admission of solar heat, all combining to prepare
and transmit food to the growing plant. If the soil is lumpy or
coarse, and does not come in close contact with the seed to keep
it moist, the seed cannot germinate ; the roots cannot freely
extend in search of food, nor can this food be properly prepared
and transmitted to the plant unless the soil is so pulverized as to
permit the free circulation of air and moisture through its inter-
stices and through its mass. The air and dews are charged with
elements of fertility, and the more freely they are permitted to
penetrate the soil the more be^iefit they will impart to the crop.
For the Committee,

E. Graham, Chairman.

STOCK.

MIDDLESEX.

From the Report of the Committee.
I
Three herds were on exhibition : one of the three, that of

Winthrop W. Chenery, Esq., having once taken the society's
premium, was entered simply for exhibition. It might be
deemed superfluous for your Committee to speak particularly of
this celebrated herd. It is too well-known throughout the
country to need comment at our hands. What the owner
claims in regard to the superior qualities in this rare breed
seems to be clearly admitted by the community, as the increas-
ing demand for them at enhanced prices fully proves.

The other two were entered for exhibition and premium :
one by Mr. Francis B. Hayes, of Lexington ; the other by H.
M. Clarke, Esq., of Belmont. It was somewhat difficult for
your Committee to come to a conclusion satisfactory to their
own minds in regard to these very creditable herds. That of
Mr. Hayes was composed of eleven pure blood Jerseys, one
splendid cow, seven-eighths Jersey and one-eighth Durham,
besides several Dutch grade heifers and a pair of oxen.

19*

146 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

The Jerseys were, for the most part, finely bred animals from
some of the best herds in the country, and they show their
blood distinctly and the good taste of the owner in their selec-
tion and breeding. If the feeding and care taken of some of
them had been equal to their breeding, they would have pre-
sented even a better appearance. The calves had evidently
been overfed with grain. Taking into consideration the num-
ber of animals, together with the quality of this herd, your
Committee award it the first premium of prize diploma and $30.

Mr. Clarke's herd was all pure Jerseys, well bred and in
high condition, showing skill and good judgment in the selec-
tion and breeding as well as in the care taken of them. The
bull " Champion, 2d " is a credit to any herd : such an one as
Mr. Motley, or other celebrated amateur breeders, would select.
The cows are handsome and very rich milkers, demonstrating
very clearly the superior butter-making qualities of the Jersey
breed. The cow " Beauty " has few equals ; combining as she
does elegance of form with a remarkable product. For this
herd Mr. Clarke was awarded the second premium of $25.

It is gratifying to notice that so much attention is being paid
in the county to this breed, unquestionably superior to all
others in the production of one of the greatest of all luxuries,
namely, rich milk and butter. This fact has long been known
in England, as shown by the value placed on the animals there,
and the comparative price paid for their product. It is also
fast becoming known in this country, as proved by the increased
value of the animals here, as well as by the price that their
products will command. The milk, the cream, and the butter,
if delivered pure, will find plenty of customers at about double
the price paid for any other. In view of these facts, we argue
that the farmers who produce not only for their own use, but
for the market, may find it to their advantage to introduce more
generally this breed among their herds.

For beef and working oxen, to be grown upon the broad
acres and rich soil of the West, the Holstein or Durham should
undoubtedly take the lead. But for rich milk, cream and
butter, to be produced upon New England soil, the Jerseys
should unquestionably be ranked the highest.
For the Committee,

James C. Converse, Chairman.

STOCK. 14T

MIDDLESEX.

Statement of John W. Adams.

I offer for the society's premium my grade lieifer,
" Katlirina," three years old.

My method of raising calves is as follows : They are taken
immediately from the cow and taught to drink, first, warm
milk directly from the mother, four to six quarts per day, and
continued about a month ; then about a great spoonful of rye
or oil meal with a handful of shorts is thrown into a pail, boil-
ing water poured upon it (frequently a very little salt thrown
in,) cooled off by the addition of a quart of milk, and water
enough to make three quarts of drink of about the tempera-
ture of milk right from the cow. This is given, morning and
evening, to each calf, and continued for two or three months ;
then gradually withdrawn, and a little dry shorts, or meal, and
roots are substituted. It seems to me to be necessary, in order
to have good and thrifty animals, that during all the time of
raising, and ever after, either good, grass or English hay should
be accessible. This last matter I deem of vital importance ; for
no more can a calf be starved, or given barely enough to live
on, with impunity, than can a child. I would add, also, that
gentleness and kindness, without too much petting, should
always mark your dealings with the brute creation.

This heifer was raised by myself. I have owned her dam
and grand-dam, both of whom were extra cows in quantity and
quality of milk.

WORCESTER SOUTH.

From the Report of the Committee.

cows, HEIFERS AND BULLS.
Ayrshires.
It is conceded that the cow affords more luxury to man than
he derives from any other source. Without her, berries and
milk, strawberries and cream, the fine cheese and the golden
butter, would never grace our tables. Without butter our beef-
steak would be indifferent. Our vegetables we should think
unpalatable, our toast tasteless, and our bread unbuttered we
should hardly think we could eat. But with butter it forms
more than half of man's living. Then if milk and its products

148 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

are the luxuries of man, the groat question arises, how this can
be produced in the greatest quantities and still be rich in quality.
Within the past fifty years great progress has been made in
perfecting the good qualities of the cow. Tlien, one that would
give 1,000 quarts in a year would be a fair cow. Even now,
nine-tenths of the cows in the rural districts do not average
more than 1,500 quarts in a year. But these are not profitable
to tlie farmers. We should not be satisfied with less than 3,000.
This may look large, but we have cows in the State that have
given 1,000 quarts in thirty days, and probably give nearer 5,000
than 3,000 in a year. Youatt estimates the annual yield of an
Ayrshire cow at 3,400 quarts ; Aiton sets it much higher, and
says that thousands of Ayrshire cows give 4,000 annually, beer
measure. One of the four cows originally imported into this State
by J. C. Gushing gave in one year 3,864 quarts beer measure,
and another made her sixteen pounds of butter a week on grass
alone. It is conceded by all farmers who have had any expe-
rience in the different breeds, that an Ayrshire cow generally
gives a greater return in milk for the food consumed than any
other breed of cows. We will now make a few figures on profit
and loss. A cow that gives only 1,500 quarts a year, will, at
five cents a quart, yield an income of $75, which will leave but
little profit after taking out the keeping. The one that gives
3,000 yields an income of $150, while one that gives 4,000 yields
an income of $200, or a net profit of $125 over the first. But
allowing that we give this one $25 worth of extra feed, then we
have $100 left, and a profit of $1,200 on a dairy of twelve
cows, an item which would satisfy any of our farmers.

The question now comes, how shall we obtain such cows ? It
is conceded by breeders that a cross of native cows with an Ayr-
shire bull produces nearly as good milkers as full-bloods. Then
all you have to do is to select the best cow you have and put
her to a full-blood Ayrshire bull, and if she has a heifer calf
with a small and long head, eyes not large but dark and lively ;
neck long and slender, tapering towards the head ; shoulders
and fore-quarters light and thin ; hind-quarters large and broad,
with skin loose, thin and soft, raise it ; but if it has not most of
these points, reject it and try again, and in a few years you will
have a dairy that you will be proud of, besides giving you a well
filled purse. To succeed well there are two things more which

STOCK. 149

should have been included, viz,, proper care and feed. Bj
proper care I have reference to the habit farmers have in letting
their cows be out in cold, windy or stormy days. I have seen
cows stand all day in a March wind without any protection.
Let a man stand there so many hours and it would unfit him for
labor for a week. In relation to feed, farmers often turn their
cows out on a frosty morning to eat frozen grass, or eat old fog,
and, so long as this bloats them up and makes them look full,
they think they have feed enough. Cows should never be
turned out on a frosty morning, but should be fed in the barn ;
and whether cold or hot, after the grass has been spoiled by
frost, they should be fed daily in the barn and kept up all cold
days, and thus keep up their health and flesh, otherwise they
will soon lose all they have gained during the summer.

L. W. Curtis, Chairman.

FRANKLIN.

Fro)n the Report of the Committee.
We have uncultivated or half-cultivated land enough in this
county to employ every man and woman and child in improv-
ing it profitably, and it is altogether too late in the day to say
that farming " doesn't pay," and pay better too on the average
than any other pursuit. But whatever may be the necessities
of the professions and all other callings outside of ours, no boy
or girl is so well fitted to act well his part in them even, as he
or she who has been well brought up on a farm, taking an
active part in all its labors, in-doors and out, till fifteen or sixteen
years of age. Then let us induce them by all means in our
power, to engage in this most honorable and independent
calling. As our able and honored predecessors say in their
report, " give the boys each a pair of calves, a lamb or colt,
and let them see what they can do." We happen to know of a
case to the point, in our vicinity. A boy only eight years old,
was given a beautiful pair of steer calves (Herefords,) costing
at a week old, five dollars, by his father, being told he might
take care of them, feed, break and train them to his heart's
content, and when they came of age to sell, a moderate price
should be deducted for pay for keeping, and the balance he
might lay in the savings bank to pay his tuition at college or do
some other good with. He took great delight in rearing and

150 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

training and showing them, and at a little less than four years
of age, he sold them for $300, full |100 more than they were
worth for beef, settling readily with his father by paying him
their value for beef ($200,) and putting in the bank $100, the
pay for training, and is now enlarging his operations by break-
ing two pairs of the same sort.

Now, the gist of th& matter is, don't let our boys and girls
learn from us that we are ashamed of our business, that farm-
ing is degrading, dirty work, and that we long for some higher
sphere in which to move. But contrawise, let us show them
that we love our calling, that we will ennoble it and honor it,
that we do not desire to exchange the farm and its toils and its
independence, for any of the tempting professions, the " glitter-
ing generalities " which so easily take with children and weak-
minded men.

Let us train them to habits of industry and perseverance,
keeping them tame even by hard work, thus qualifying them
for any pursuit in life, so that if you would have the very best
ministers or merchants, doctors or lawyers, let their first fifteen
years of service, if possible, be iinder the instruction of good
old dame agriculture ; then when the Lord calls upon us for a
minister, a king, a president, as He always does when He takes
his pick, why then " let 'em slide " — give them up of course.

Of thoroughbred Shorthorns, the show was meagre, less in
number and inferior in quality to last year, while other breeds
were in excess of other years. A beautiful Ayrshire, owned by
J. S. Grennell, our former secretary, the first ever exhibited at
our fair owned in the county. The thanks of the society are
due our worthy friend for his efforts to introduce this valuable
breed of cattle into the county. Of Herefords, two good
animals worthy the premiums awarded them. Too much can
hardly be said in favor of this breed of cattle ; crossed with our
large, coarse Durhams, they greatly improve the quality, and for
matched cattle they are unrivalled. The only drawback to
them is the cows are second quality of milkers. A Hereford
calf at six weeks old or an ox at six years, is the best selling
meat in the market. Next we come to the despised Jersey.
Only four years ago old Chancellor, one of the best Jersey
bulls that ever stood in New England, stood in our shed all
day, the only bull of his blood on the ground, without spot or

STOCK. 151

wrinkle or any such thing in his look or pedigree, and remained
" unhonored and Tinsung," not even " honorable mention " made
of him, the Shorthorn committee saying they " didn't think it
worth while to encourage the introduction of such looking
creatures into the county." To-day, we had seven entries and
six shown, fine animals of their kind, and it is gratifying to the
lovers of good butter, to see how fast their progeny is working
in among the persecuting Durhams, till now many of the
Durham herds are using little Alderney heifers, instead of carrots,
to color their butter. Devon bulls, only one entry, and he
didn't come, for fear he would be swallowed up by the great
cattle we suppose. We shall not mourn greatly at their
absence, as we thiiik they are no improvement on the Herefords
for working, and not up to the Jerseys for milk ; but when they
do come they shall have a chance for their lives, a fair trial.

GRADE BULLS.

The only animals of this class exhibited that we recollect
seeing, were grade Shorthorns, bulls of mammoth size, indeed
in our view too large for comfort or profit. "We think a bull
of 1,500 to 1,800 pounds weight, is heavy enough, and is all
these same animals would weigh if properly kept and worked.
All bulls should be broken to the yoke and kept tame and
under good subjection, by a reasonable amount of hard work.
We speak whereof we know, as the writer of this has done
his work on a large farm this season, with a pair of four-year-
old bulls (Hereford and Jersey,) running in pasture and doing
service as stock-getters at the same time. The Jersey bull's
" descriptive list " for one year, is one hundred and three cows
with only three failures. Then all the accidents that have
come to our knowledge, such as mangling and death by goring,
have been by unbroken, un worked bulls. But the main point
of controversy, between the bull men in this county and society
is, shall we use, or rather shall we offer premiums to grade
bulls of any breed ? This question is being rapidly settled in
the negative by the great majority of agricultural societies in
New England. The luxuriant pastures of Franklin County
make splendid grade cattle, called by many even better than
thoroughbreds. So some of our best farmers use high grade
bulls and boast of it, believing that they are the best for them.

152 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

" As a man thinketli so he is ; " let every many enjoy his own
opinion. For the argument in favor of grade bulls, we refer
the reader to the very able report of the chairman of committee
on grade bulls of this year.

cows.

Never since our organization have we had the pleasure of
seeing such an array of fine cows, forty-two individual or single
cows entered for premiums and shown, besides the three dairies
of twelve good animals, making sixty-one in all, each worthy of
a premium, and only seventy-nine dollars to be awarded to them
all. The cow is really our step-mother, and no beast kept in
the county is more profitable than the cow ; with butter and
cheese at the present prices, a good cow certainly pays ; a poor
one should not be tolerated at all. The crying sin of our dairy
or cow men is the indiscriminate slaughter of the calves. But
few comparatively are raised, thus diminishing yearly the num-
ber of good cows in the county, and probably is one cause of
the exceeding high price of good milch cows among us. We
think the raising of our best heifer calves an item of great
importance, and should be encouraged by the society. Of thor-
oughbred cows there were shown six Shorthorns, four Herefords, ,
Ayrshires two, Jerseys two, showing that our farmers are begin-
ning to realize the value of blood. It costs no more to raise a
cow worth two or three hundred dollars than one worth only
fifty. We leave the matter of premiums, of particular items,
to the committees upon the several classes of cows, only adding
one remark in general : that is, there is no animal coming to
our fairs so liable to injury by want of attendance as the milch
cow ; they need constant care and watching and cannot come a
great distance without more or less damage. We ought to bear
this in mind when we offer our premiums.

The great attraction of the show was the splendid exhibition
of fine herds, nine in number, comprising 180 animals. Three
of the herds, T. J. Field, of Northfield, J. S. Grinnell, of Green-
field, and J. Fogg, of Deerfield, were pure thoroughbreds. This
department, we are pleased to observe, was better represented
than at any previous show of our society. Four of the herds of
grade animals, numbering more than a hundred, were from
Shclburne ; as many more, and probably the best herd in this

If

MILCH COWS. 153

" little round world," remained quietly at home, feeding in their
rich pastures — so that when we will we can show the most and
the best neat cattle that can be produced at any county fair in
New England. All we want is unanimity and harmony — a dis-
position on the part of every member to do all he can to pro-
mote the interests of the society, without regard to any slights
of committees or abuses that may have existed in the past, but
kindly suggest any improvement in the management of its
affairs. See to it that the best men fill the committees, attend
all the meetings of the society and write some sort of a report
every time it is required, and we shall soon boast a society and
a cattle show that will honor our farmers even beyond anything
we have ever possessed or enjoyed.

In regard to cattle and steers, the show was fully equal to
former years, though Shelburne failed to produce a town team
as usual, and Deerfield was left alone in her glory with no com-
petition. Of other neat stock, the yearlings and two years old
were as good as ever — the heifers especially ; there were thirty-
one entries of them, some most splendid creatures. We are not
blacksliding in this most important feature of the show ; but it
was not possible for us to observe in particular all these beautiful
animals — the other appropriate committees must do them justice.
Kespectfully submitted,

D. Orlando Fisk.

Joel S. Sanderson.

MILCH COWS.

MIDDLESEX.

From (he Report of the Committee.
By the rules of the society, " the Committee, in making the
awards of premiums, is directed to take into account the size of
the animals, the richness of the milk, as well as the quantity
given." Under this rule, the Jersey cows exhibited, had they
been properly entered, would have taken all the premiums
offered — the larger breeds standing no chance for a prize. The
Jersey, as a breed, is of small size, and many of them are large
milkers, and would be so considered for much larger cows.

20*

154 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

The statements appended show the prize cows to be very large
milkers of very rich milk, as shown by the quantity of butter
made per week — from fifteen to eighteen pounds. There were
others brought to the notice of your Committee which were
worthy of premium ; particularly the cow " Buttercup," owned
by N. Foster, Jr., of Belmont ; others of J. C. Converse, of
Arlington, and H, M. Clarke, of Belmont, showing good points.

The Jerseys have long been esteemed for butter-making
qualities. The Committee is of opinion that they will soon
become favorites for milking qualities. They universally hold
out longer than other breeds — seldom going dry more than
thirty days — and giving more milk in the year. Without
exception, they come in at two years old, and without detriment
to their growth or milking qualities. They are as hardy and as
easily kept as other breeds.

The Dutch cows entered by W. W. Chenery, of Belmont,
fully maintained their high reputation, and were every one well
worthy a premium.

There were but two entries of Shorthorns (the best breed
for beef in the United States — maturing early, and with com-
paratively little offal,) both by J. A. Harwood, of Littleton,
and both showing fine points and worthy of notice.

Of Ayrshires, the milk-farmer's favorite, but one entry was
made, and that taking a prize. It is to be regretted that no
more of this fine breed was on exhibition.

It is gratifying to see the interest and improvement in
thoroughbred stock. It costs no more to keep a good cow than
a poor one, and the profit is largely in favor of the good one,
even at the present prices of blood stock.

The Committee deems it proper, in this report, to urge upon
those who keep cows — whether few or many — the importance
of the root crop for feeding ; particularly the mangold-wurzel
and the parsnip, from both of which large crops may be rmsed.
The parsnip gives the richest and best-flavored milk and butter,
and is very desirable to feed out in spring after standing in the
ground through the winter. Corn fodder, particularly sweet
corn, cut fine and steamed makes a savory mess much relished
by cows, and increases the yield and quality of milk materially.

A much larger quantity of valuable fodder may be got from
an acre of good land in roots than in any other way. Cows

MILCH COWS. 155

kept on such feed are always healthy, come in and do well in
spring, and slinking calves is not common, and perhaps never
known where such is generously fed out.

The Committee concludes by hoping that next year there
may be a much larger number of entries, with full statements,
according to the rules of the society.

For the Committee,

D. B. Flint, Chairman.

Statement of J. C. Converse.

Allow me to offer for your inspection and for the society's'
premium, the Jersey cow, " Lady Milton," No. 136. Her
product during the first week in June was milk, 120 quarts,
butter, 15 pounds ; first week in July, milk, 144 quarts, butter,
18 pounds ; first week in August, milk, 115 quarts, butter, 16
pounds ; first week in September, milk, lOT quarts, butter, 15
pounds. She has been kept in pasture in June and July, and
in August and September has received green fodder corn at
night in addition.

Her aggregate yield in butter in July, on grass feed alone,
was 79 pounds. From the 1st of June to October 7, on green
feed without grain, was 293-|- pounds, or an average of ISj^q^q
pounds per week for eighteen and three-sevenths weeks. The
product of the above weeks is not an exception to the general
product. The quality of her milk and butter may be seen by a
sample on exhibition. I claim this to be an extraordinary yield,
considering age and feed, entitling her to notice and a high
premium. My custom in winter is to feed on good hay, steamed
roots and corn fodder, mixed with a small quantity of shorts.

Arlington, October 1, 1867.

Statement of James S. Munroe.

I wish to offer for premium my Jersey cow " May-Day," twelve
years old, out of David Dana's cow " Kate," by Thomas Mot-
ley's bull " Colonel," both imported. She calved in April.
Her average yield of milk for June and July was twenty quarts
of milk per day. Her yield of butter for July and August was
fifteen pounds per week, made from sweet cream. She is free
from any faults either as regards disposition or milking qualities.

156 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

She took the sweepstakes premium at Providence this year.
Her feed has been grass, with one quart of meal and shorts each
per day.

Lexington, October 1, 18G7.

WORCESTER WEST.

From the Report of the Committee.

It is of the utmost importance to have cows milked quick and
clean, (that every dairyman knows,) for, unless they are, it will
soon ruin the best cow we have. Many a poor fellow has lost
his place in consequence of being a poor milker. The cow is
one of the best gifts of God to man. She is indispensable to
the support of the human family. She feeds millions witl^ a
large part of their food in various forms. Her products are
carried wherever civilized man goes. She supplies many of the
richest dainties for the epicure, as well as the principal living for
the poor man with his large family of little dependents. There-
fore she ought to have her place in the affections of man to cor-
respond with the benefits she confers on the human family.
The cow is no friend to the credit system ; she pays her bills
every night and morning. The better treatment and keeping
she receives the larger return she makes. Therefore it is econ-
omy to give Ijer the best of care both in summer and winter ;
not leave her out, as many do, exposed to the severe changes we
have in the weather, half starved or kept on food hardly fit to
bed a horse with through the winter ; then, when she calves,
complain because she does not give more milk, when in reality
it is strange she gives any, considering her miserable keeping.
Very many farmers have been in the habit of killing their calves
for veal, it has brought such high prices for a few years past ;
therefore few calves have been raised ; and when they were
obliged to replenish their stock of cows, were obliged to buy
such as they found for sale in market.

I believe it is much the best way for every farmer to raise his
own cows. By so doing, with judicious management, ho can
always have a good milking stock. Raise from the very best
cows in your lot, and keep them in a good, healthy, growing
condition until they arrive at maturity. Many think a young
calf can live on little or nothing, and give it food just sufficient
to sustain life. The consequence is, they always have a miser-

MILCH COWS. 157

able looking animal. I believe a calf will make a better cow for
being kept in a growing and healthy condition when young.
It gives her growth in all the elements together that constitute
a good cow. I am not in favor of doing as some of our stock-
raisers do, let a calf have the milk of one or two cows and all
the meal it will eat until it is eight or ten months old, to see
how large an animal they can get, almost worthless, except to
relieve some fancy farmer of a few hundred dollars surplus
funds. If farmers would make it a point to raise their own
cows we should have a much better milking stock than we now
have.

My mode of raising calves is this : I let them suck until they
are four or five weeks old ; then I teach them to drink, which I
can do with very little trouble ; I then add a small handful of
pudding made from two parts of oat, one part corn, one part rye
meal, boiled similar to pudding for family use, which prevents
them from scouring, and 'they will eat it very readily. As to
the best breed for a man to keep depends upon circumstances,
whether for butter, cheese-making, or selling milk, and the
keeping to be furnished for them. Large breeds of cattle require
better feed than some of the smaller kind. In this vicinity the
grade Durhams have generally been considered as good for
dairying purposes as any. The Ayrshires are getting to be quite
common, and are liked very much by those that have had them.
Some farmers are introducing the Dutch breed, which are said
to be famous milkers, but have not been used in this vicinity
sufficiently to judge of their true merits. Good keeping and
kind treatment are very necessary to get large returns from any
breed of cows.*

I will venture to suggest to the trustees of this society the
propriety of offering a premium for the best herd of cows raised
and owned by the exhibitor, for the purpose of encouraging the
raising of their own stock, by requiring the herd to consist of a
certain number, say not less than fifteen or twenty.

Benj. p. Hamilton, Chairman.

NORFOLK.

From the Report of the Committee.
The Committee are sorry to report that with four premiums
at their disposal, of the value of over $50, the first being the

158 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

" Wilder Cup," there was but one entry made. Mr. J. "W.
Gay, of West Dedham, entered his fine herd of fifteen cows, as
follows : One native, from New Hampshire ; one grade Devon,
from Vermont ; one native, raised in Dedham ; one Ayrshire
grade, also raised in Dedham. The remaining eleven were all
raised in Dedham, and are Jamestowns, varying from three to
eight years old. Like most of the cows owned by regular milk
farmers, these were part dry, and others nearly so, the herd
giving from two to eighteen quarts each per day. According to
Mr. Gay's statement, their feed has been rather short pasture
with one peck of brewers' grains per day, and after-feed in its
season. He feeds for profit rather than for fancy ; is not a
breeder and has no stock for sale ; but he has drawn together
such a herd of cows for use, as it would be very difficult to
match.

As this herd was so largely made up of Jamestowns, and so
few farmers know precisely what Jamestown means, when
applied to stock, the Committee felt it a duty to gather what
information they might in relation to the history of this breed,
hoping the society would see the importance of making a record
of the facts in its Transactions. This seemed the more important
as it is luiderstood that this society has acknowledged the
Jamestown as a distinct breed.

In looking over the back volumes of the Norfolk Transactions
we have found but one allusion to the Jamestown stock. Mr.
Sanford Howard, in an essay on Cattle Breeding, published in
the volume for 1859, says : " The Suffolk breed is without
horns. It was formerly somewhat noted for dairy properties,
but it is not extensively kept at the present lime. It is not
absolutely known that any of this breed have ever been imported
into this part of the country ; but polled or hornless cattle,
which were formerly quite common here, bear more resemblance
to the Suffolk than to any other breed. They certainly have no
claim to the title of Galloway, which is sometimes applied to
them, being different in color (the Galloways are almost
invariably black,) shape and characteristics. Near the close
of the last century Joseph Russell, Esq., of Boston, imported
from England several hornless cattle, which the late Col.
Jacques, who was well acquainted with them, believed to be of
the Suffolk breed. They were kept in Chelsea, and some of

MILCH COWS. 159

the descendants of the herd are now in the possession of Ben-
jamin Shurtlefif, Esq., of North Chelsea. A cow was also
brought to this country from Ireland, several years since, in the
ship Jamestown, and hence was called the " Jamestown Cow,"
which closely resembled the Suffolk I have seen in England.
A bull from this cow by a Jersey bull has been kept in Dedham
several years, and has left a progeny which in general appears
to possess superior dairy properties."

In preparing this report your Committee are under obliga-
tions to Dr. Wight and Col. Stone, of Dedham, for most of the
history of the Jamestown stock.

In answer to inquiries. Col. Stone writes, Nov. 12, 1867, to
the Committee on Herds, as follows : —

" Sir : — I have, at this moment, received from Dr. Ebea Wight, the
account of the stock of cattle known, in this vicinity, as the Jamestown.
It is a cross between two thoroughbreeds — the Suffolk (no horned)
on the part of the female, and the Jersey on the part of the male.

"In 1847, Capt. R. B. Forbes, as commander of the U. S. ship
Jamestown, went to Ireland with a cargo of provisions for her starving
inhabitants. On his return, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, wishing to
confer some favor on the commander, made him a present of a fine
Suffolk heifer, which proved to be one of the deepest milkers, giving
in her flow, twenty-six quarts beer measure of the richest milk. She
was a remarkably fine specimen of this superior stock, which stands
high and prominent for the dairy in that country.

" Every one knows with what alacrity Capt. Forbes undertook this
voyage of mercy, and on his return, he disposed of the cow, and gave
the proceeds to the Irish Charity Fund. John Marland, of Andover,
Mass., was the purchaser, and when he disposed of his farm she passed
into the hands of John D. Bates, of Swampscott, Mass., and afterwards
into the hands of Mi\ Osborne, of Danvers, Mass.

" We are not aware that she ever had more than one heifer calf.
This one was owned by Mr. Wallace Thaxter, of Boston, and proved a
superior dairy cow. Several of her bull calves were raised in this
vicinity ; one that I have seen, by Benjamin Shurtleff, Esq., of Chelsea
Mass. Nearly all her progeny are without horns, showing the remark-
able strength of the Suffolk strain.

"In 1854, this remarkable cow dropped a bull calf, which was
secured by Dr. Wight, and brought to this town, and raised by Thomas
Smith and named Jamestown, after (he noble ship that brought his
mother to this country. He proved himself as remarkable in his

160 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

progeny as that of his kind on his mothei-'s side ; his sire was
' Beverly,' a thoroughbred Jersey, out of ' Flora' by the ' First Prize
Bull,' at the Royal Agricultural Show in Jersey. ' Flora,' the mother
of ' Beverly,' was imported by Mr. Motley, and proved one of the
most remarkable of that celebrated stock, having made sixteen pounds
of butter a week."

Col. Stone says in conclusion : —

" I have but little to add to this account, which I think is entirely
correct. You know the strong prejudice I have in favor of this stock,
and you have seen some good specimens of the same. They possess
quahties which I consider very valuable in a dairy stock. They are
very gentle, I never having known a vicious animal, unless they were
too strongly crossed with the Jersey. When 'Jamestown' was five
years old, a four year old boy could manage him in safety ; he was
worked in harness and perfectly handy. They are perfectly hardy,
good feeders, and hold out in their milk remarkably, which I consider
the great recommendation. I know of several that give milk the year
round."

Your Committee are glad to learn that Col. Stone is endeav-
oring to preserve and perpetuate in its purity as far as possible
this remarkable Jamestown stock.

Your Committee award to Jeremiah W. Gay, of West Ded-
liam, for his superior herd of milch cows, the first premium of
the " Wilder Cup."

For the Committee,

• A. W. Cheever.

THOEOUGHBRED BULLS.

WORCESTER WEST.

From the Report of the Committee.
The question with us farmers is, Shall we breed from " thor-
oughbreds," or shall we breed from what is most convenient for
the time being ? When we inquire what cause has produced
such excellence in certain breeds of horses, cattle and sheep,
we are led to acknowledge the superiority of the former course.
From what has sprung the best horses of New England but

THOROUGHBRED BULLS. 161

from Messenger, Justin Morgan and Black Hawk ? And we all
know what results have followed by pursuing the course adopted
by the originators of the Shorthorn cattle. So also with the
Ayrshires : sprung from an ordinary race, by scrupulous care in
breeding, the breed has, in the minds of some, attained the
highest type of dairy animals. So with the Jerseys : in their
native island home, the law forbidding the importation of cattle
has preserved the race in its purity, and the highest point in
one direction is here obtained — the richness of milk.

These are facts which everybody knows about, and yet why
are we so slow to profit by their teachings ? Now the classes of
animals to which we have alluded can be as profitably bred here
as elsewhere, if the New England farmers will but apply them-
selves to the business of breeding, as the English and Scotch
farmers apply themselves to breeding the very best animals
possible.

There is no doubt that this whole business of breeding is one
which requires the utmost care, the keenest discernment and
closest observation ; yet all that is wanting is to set about it
with determination — yes, with enthusiasm — and then we shall
make rapid advancement. Our herds, instead of presenting
here and there a few first-class animals, will all be made up of
a corresponding high type of excellence.

The English agricultural societies offer premiums for nothing
but thoroughbred animals of some specific breed ; and many of
the New England societies are doing the same, believing there
is no real progress in any other direction. Be that as it may,
can we not improve upon what we have within our reach — in
our hands ? A man must be " master of his own situation ; "
must determine in his own mind what breed is best for his local-
ity, and apply himself to the selection of animals for breeding
purposes ; and then to reproducing and increasing them on his
farm. How to do this successfully — how to obtain the best
dairy cow — is a question of the first importance. A few
suggestions which occur to us may not be out of place here.
We are mainly dependent upon the male for the improvement
of our stock.

We believe that there is a great error committed by the too
early and too great use put upon bulls for them to get strong
and healthy calves, full of vitality, as they would otherwise.

21*

162 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

Is not the larger part of our stock got by (calves,) yearlings
before they are eighteen months old ? It is to be regretted that
when the male begins to exhibit his full masculine development
in perfection, and arrives at an age when he might be reasonably
expected to impart vigor and stamina to his progeny, he is set
aside because he is a troublesome fellow.

In the selection of a bull from which to breed, mere external
form, however necessary, is by no means the only requisite ; if
we wish him to impart special qualities to his progeny — for
instance, milking qualities — we must look to his ancestral
record ; neither is it sufficient to know only immediate parent-
age ; you must, before you are sure of the right kind of an
animal, know his ancestry for at least three or four generations,
else you will have the poor qualities of immediate preceding
ancestry cropping out where you do not want it. Tiiis is a
point of great importance, for if we can trace a long line of
good milkers, without any intervening poor crosses, we may be
very sure of success.

One great source of mischief we apprehend, arises from
allowing our heifers with their first calf to become pregnant by
an indifferent bull ; facts go to prove that the impressions made
on a heifer, got with calf by an inferior sire, may exhibit them-
selves in after productions, although a different male is used.

The greatest progress in the improvement of our dairy cows
in this vicinity was made by the introduction, in 1841-2, of the
thoroughbred Durham bulls " Monarch " and " Hawthorn," by
Mr. Ayres, and in 1845, the " Duke," through Mr. Twichell.
The impress which they left is still to be seen in our best herds.
But much of what was then gained we fear has been lost by
indiscriminate crossing and recrossing.

What is true in relation to these animals and this breed may
prove true in relation to the recent introduction among us of
the thoroughbred Ayrshire and Holstein breeds. We would
say, preserve your fine specimens from " entangling alliances ; "
do not couple your choice grade heifers with mongrel natives,
or Devons, or Durhams ; keep your breed " in the line," for it
must be constantly kept in view that we must always breed
towards the stronger or better blood, or otherwise we are con-
stantly deteriorating ; breeding your best cows with thorough-
bred bulls, coupling their progeny with an animal of the same

FAT CATTLE. 163

breed, distantly connected, reject second and third rate animals
for breeding purposes ; persevere until you have thoroughly
inbred every good quality and bred out every undesirable trait
and point.

This is a work of time; but t\\e price — of reward — in the
pleasure and profit it will afford, will more than amply repay
the husbandman. We know of no reason why tlie farmers of
Worcester West may not more than rival Bakewell, the Ceilings
Brothers, and Bates, of English fame in breeding, and our own
prince of breeders this side the water, Thorn of Thorndale.

A want of space would seem to forbid a more elaborate dis-
cussion of the principles here suggested ; but if, by these few
thoughts, we can awaken a greater interest in this most important
department of agriculture, or by these means draw from others
that which shall enable us to avoifl the failures of the past, and
in the future arrive at a higher standard of excellence, our

object will be accomplished.

T. P. Root, Chairman.

FAT CATTLE.

WORCESTER WEST.

From the Report of the Committee.

The majority of the fat oxen entered for premiums at this
fair were, in fact, working oxen ; cattle, as some of their owners
told us that day, that had done all the work on their farms the
past season, and yet they were good beef. This may seem
strange to some. I have had men ask me how it can be done.
I reply, select smart, thrifty, well-made cattle, with good dispo-
sition, active, matched for strength, with thin, soft skin, with
considerable Shorthorn blood. Such cattle, well cared for and
well fed, will do all any farmer ought to do and grow fleshy.

There is a great change for the better in the general manage-
ment of working cattle within fifteen years ; then I remember
seeing a teamster driving a pair of oxen, and the snapper to his
whip was a tenpenny nail ; now we see, at the late fair, cattle
do all in their power, and the driver had nothing but a cotton
string on his whip-handle. Perhaps these are extreme cases,

164 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

but it is well known that cattle are now treated with much more
kindness than years ago. People differ very much in their
manner of getting profit on their cattle. In the year 1866 I
knew a man who did all the work on a large farm with a pair of
cattle, and realized over $200 gain on the same. I also knew
another man who said his cattle and himself worked out, aside
from his own farm work, to the amount of something more than
$200. Here is quite a difference in the manner of gaining the
$200.

This is an imcommon case, but farmers do not generally get
the gain on their cattle that they ought to. The time has come
when all farmers can raise or buy the best kind of cattle, and a
good pair can be raised as cheap as a coarse, sharp-backed, thin-
thighed pair, which the farmer will sell for from fifty to one
hundred dollars more than the latter for beef or for work. This
fact ought to be enough to put every farmer, who has not duly
considered the matter, on the right track.

To have cattle do well, they should be fed regularly and lib-
erally. Everything they have to eat, and the place where they
eat, should be kept neat and clean, for they are truly neat cattle.

My experience in making beef successfully is that it depends
more on feeding such kind of food as best suits their appetite
and health, than a great quantity of meal. My best experiment
in fattening cattle was in the winter of 1866. I fed twice per
day ; first with early cut hay, as much as wanted ; then, after
being watered, fed them one peck of some kind of roots with
two quarts meal. The same at night, and fed in the same way.
That is, hay, half bushel roots, four quarts Indian meal to each
ox per day, and they gained to my satisfaction. The pair
weighed, when dressed, 3,228 pounds. This is the best gain I
ever made on one pair. I have sold my working oxen fourteen
years out of sixteen for either extra or fine quality of beef.

This is no more than every farmer can and ought to do.
Beef made with some roots added with the meal, and careful
tending, so as to gain fast, is much the best beef. It causes the
fat and lean to be nicely mixed or marbled, (as the butchers
say,) and will eat rich and juicy ; while the animal which is fed
longer and with a larger quantity of meal will have more tallow
and more outside fat, and will not eat as sweet and juicy.

J. T. Ellsworth, Chairman.

HORSES. 165

HORSES.

NANTUCKET.

From the Report of the Committee.

There are many members of this society who can look back
and see the race of small-sized and awkward nags that were
once bred in this county. The owners had the same ideas that
some people have with reference to raising children. They
thought exposure to the rigors of winter would toughen them.
A horse turned out on the commons in winter, without shelter,
and dependent on the precarious supply of herbage that the
winter offers, will of necessity be stunted in size and weakened
in spirit. Some may live in spite of the exposure, as some
children live in spite of their exposure ; but the crows take a
large proportion of the one, and the graveyard of the other,
long before the " time allotted " for their stay.

We do not mean to convey the idea that the more nursing
and the more pampering horses have while young, the abler
they will be for service. The " happy medium " is what is
required. They should be exposed reasonably, in good weather,
regardless of cold, and fed sparingly on stimulating grains.
They should be handled continually while young, and petted
upon the farm. Horses need to be taught, " not broken."
They are animals of considerable intelligence, and of a kind,
affectionate and docile spirit. If they only knew what you
wanted them to do, they would do it most cheerfully. Kind-
ness and firmness and continual handling will train them to
whatever is within their capacity ; and, almost without excep-
tion, under such treatment, when harnessed for the first time,
they will go off as well and as steadily as older animals. The
way colts were used long within the " memory of man " was
cruel beyond measure. In fact, their whole life, from the cradle
to the crow, in many instances, was one continual walloping.
The mare was turned out into the pasture in early spring to
foal. When the colt was born, and baptized with two or three
days' sleet, and well fanned by a chilly north-easter, both mother
and offspring were driven up into the barnyard to shiver under

166 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

the lee of a dilapidated shanty by day, and to lie at night in the
cold muck of a weather-beaten barn, just as impervious to the
weather as a five-rail fence, and not more so. When a few
months old, he was kicked out of the back gate to be seen no
more, except accidentally, for two or three years. The wild
pastures of summer gave him some comfort and some fat, but
the winter reduced him to a skeleton. The second year he was
a little bigger in size, but no mortal man could tell a two-year-
old from a yearling by appearance. When the spring of his
affliction had come, when he was to be " broken," as it was
called, some old fellow was sent out to Mattaket or Koskata
(local places east and west of the town,) to look him up and
drive him to the owner. After being duly emasculated, and
thb wounded arteries and cords tied up with a ropeyarn, he was
left for awhile to get well as he could. A very little hay was
given him, which luckily kept down the inflammation, and in a
month or so, he was put into the hands of the professional
breaker to be " broken." This important instructor was usually
a blear-eyed savage, measuring about four feet across the
shoulders. He came with his great shaggy whiskers and fist
like a top-maul, the blood apparently bursting through his red
and varnished face, and his nose blazing like the lightship on
Brandywine Shoals. Armed with his loaded whip and diabol-
ical bitting bridle, and occasionally a cart-stick to knock his
pupil down when circumstances required, the poor pot-bellied
victim was put into his hands. Then he was whipped to make
him go, when he did not know how to ; and whipped to make
him stop, when he did not know he must. He was knocked
down when he reared, and knocked down when he " balked."
The wales on his body gave him the appearance of a zebra^
while the scars and chafes on his back and shoulders made him
more spotted than a leopard. After all the spirit and brains
and blood were beaten out of him, he was delivered into the
hands of his owner, a poor, timid, ignorant, weak, stubborn
and good-for-nothing beast. The proprietor took him at once
to the blacksmith to be cruelized a little more. He did not
know how to eat hay very well, and was totally ignorant of
corn ; and, under the advice of some ignorant neighbors,
backed up by a horse-jockey or two, the whole roof of his mouth
was burnt and mangled with a hot iron to cure him of the

HORSES. 167

" lampers," and " restore his appetite ; " the ignoramuses not
knowing that there was no such disease as the " lampers," as
they are called, except what exists in the brains of stupid grooms
and conceited stable boys. If they looked into the mouth of
every young horse, they would find the same ridges and in the
same state ; that they were perfectly natural ; that they had no
connection with the horse's feeding ; and that nothing but
stupidity ever thought they had. We hope our farmers will
remember that the burning of " lampers " (or cutting them
either,) and the burning of witches, belong in the same
category, and that scientific farriers have long ago put them
there.

The intelligent and inquiring farmer might fairly expect in a
report of this kind to have some suggestions on the best breed
of horses, as they have had heretofore on the best breed of cows
or sheep. To go into this would require more time and more
information than the Committee have. While a pure breed of
cows or sheep is best for the farmer, a mixed breed in the horse
is requisite. Our farmers require one horse to do everything.
In England they can have a breed of hunters, and they do noth-
ing but hunt. They can have a breed of race horses, and they
do nothing but race. They have dray horses as a breed and
coach horses as a breed, which we cannot have. We require
one horse that will do everything. He must be a good. traveller
and a good dray horse. He must not let his neighbor's horse
beat him while going to town, and he must draw the plough as
well as he. He must be docile and not upset the family, and
patient when placed before the oxen.

We have only one " thoroughbred " in the county — the mare
" Fanny," owned by Joseph C. Palmer, Esq. The rest of the
horses here are of mixed breeds, and much more desirable for
farm horses. We will trespass on your time enough to describe
very succinctly the common horse as seen about New England.

A " thoroughbred " horse is one that comes from the hot blood
of the Arabian desert. There are the Arabian, the Barb and
the Turk — names from the location of their birthplace. Some
of these were carried to England, and from England brought to
America. There are very few in this part of the country.
They are beautiful horses, and extremely valuable.* Their
endurance is very much superior to that of our breeds of horses.

168 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

There were some pure and many half-breeds in the Southern
cavalry during the war, and that fact accounted for the rapidity
with which the Southern cavalry clianged their points of
attack.

We have only space to name two horses and say a word in
regard to them. We name these two because they have marked
the horses of New England infinitely more than all the rest.
We speak of the " Morgan " horse and the " Messenger " horse.
There are very few good horses in the Northern States that do
not have in their veins the blood of one or the other of these
celebrated horses, or of both.

The first Morgan horse was called " Justin Morgan," from his
owner of that name. He was born in Springfield, Mass., in
1793. In 1795 he went with his owner to Randolph, Vt. His
sire was a " thoroughbred " stolen from Gen. DeLancy at King's
Bridge. The mother was a part "thoroughbred" and part
Canadian. From the Canadian mother the " Morgans " get
probably their hairy legs and heavy mane and tail. A descrip-
tion of this " Justin Morgan " may be acceptable. Flint says
he was a small horse, a trifle less than fourteen hands high, and
his weight nine hundred and fifty. He was a beautiful dark
bay, with hardly a white hair on his body. His legs were black,
his mane and tail were black, coarse and thick, with long,
straight hair, free from curls. He had a good head, not large,
but lean and long, with a straight face, broad and good forehead,
and fine small ears set well apart. He had a very short back
with wide and muscular loins, rather a long body but round
and closely ribbed up. He was compact or snug built, with a
deep, wide chest and projecting breastbone, short, close-jointed
legs, wide and thin, but very muscular, with some long hair
about and above the fetlocks. This peculiarity is to be noticed
in most of his offspring. He was a fast walker, but a short step
in trotting, a low, smooth gait, but square and fine ; what on
the whole is called " pony-gaited." He was sure-footed, and his
style of movement lofty, bold and energetic, full of life and
spirit, but of so mild a temper that any lady could drive him
with perfect safety. This is really the description of a good
horse to-day, and if any one in selecting a horse observes these
points, he will be much aided when he desires to purchase.

HORSES. 169

This horse was the father of many colts. But three of them
"were famous, and each became the progenitors of a long line of
horses very marked and very famous in New England.

" Bulrush Morgan " was born in 1813. He had more mus-
cular development than his brothers. His mother was a dark
bay mare, bought in 1812 out of a six-horse team that carried
merchandise between Montpelier and Boston. She weighed a
thousand pounds, and was a hardy, rugged and enduring
animal. Of the Bulrush Morgans, the " Morrills" have gained
great popularity. His stock, which was widely distributed
through Vermont and Maine, he marked strongly with his own
powers of endurance.

" Sherman Morgan " was foaled in 1808. He was a bright
chestnut. He was a beautiful animal, having most of the good
points of his father, and was the father of many colts that were
raised in New Hampshire and about Boston. He died at Lan-
caster, Mass., in 1835. His descendants were remarkably fine
horses of all work, and were the best stage horses between
Boston and the East.

The third colt of " Justin " was the " Woodbury Morgan."
This horse was fifteen hands high, of a dark chestnut color, and
a white stripe in his face. His style of action was superior to
his brothers ; it was bold and resolute, and he was very much
sought after as a parade horse.

One other horse we must mention, because we shall connect
the two families with Nantucket before closing ; that is '• Black
Hawk." No horse is more prized as a trotter in New England
than a " Black Hawk." The old Black Hawk was foaled in
Greenland, N. H., in 1833. His skeleton is now in the office of
the State Board of Agriculture, at the State House in Boston.
He died in 1856. He was a remarkable horse, beautiful in
appearance, and whether in harness or out, attracted universal
admiration. He could trot his mile in two minutes forty sec-
onds without training, was of great intelligence and great
endurance. He possessed the power of transmitting his speed
and other characteristics to his offspring in a degree unsurpassed
by any horse in the country.

We said that the " Morgans " and " Messengers " were the
leading horses. " Messenger " was a thoroughbred. He was
imported into Massachusetts, in 1791. He was a beautiful gray

22*

170 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

horse. He was the son of " Membrino," one of the most superb
running horses ever on the Enghsh turf. It is enough for us to
name among his immediate descendants, " Hambletonian,"
" Abdallah " and " Engineer." The renowned " Lady Suffolk "
was his great-grand-daughter. The Hambletonians are a cross
between the Morgans and Messengers, having the beauties of
both.

"We have been thus explicit because we are bound, as part of
our duty, to notice the stallion entered by the president, James
Thompson, Esq., for a premium, and to which we cheerfully
awarded the first one of fifty dollars.

This excellent animal was foaled July 6th, 1863. He is of a
beautiful bay and dappled in the summer ; heavy black mane
and tail ; weighs eleven hundred and sixty pounds, and is
sixteen hands high. He is short back, close built, well ribbed
up, and a coat fine and silky. His two hind feet are white
nearly to the fetlock ; he is admirably well broken or trained,
and bids fair to be a remarkable traveller. His sire is Taylor's
Berkshire " Black Hawk ; " his grandsire " old Black Hawk ; "
his great-grandsire " Sherman Morgan," the son of the famous
" Justin Morgan."

On the maternal side, his mother was " Lady Swan," a fine
Hambletonian mare. So you perceive he has the " Morgan "
and the " Black Hawk" from his sire, and the " Messenger "
from the Hambletonian mother. And he shows the best points
of both stocks. He has shown himself to be one of the best
stock getters ever in this county ; his colts are very vigorous
and healthy, strongly marked by the sire, and, as far as they
have been shown at the fairs, have taken the highest premiums.
His capacity for travel, the power he has of transmitting his
excellent marks so strongly to his progeny, and his high pedi-
gree, give to him so great a money value, that we fear our
small community cannot offer sufficient inducement for the
owner to keep him in this county. We hope the society will,
if possible, retain him, by making compensation from its own
funds sufficient to satisfy the proprietor. In closing, we say to
the farmers of Nantucket, that they should look very much to
the qualities of a stock horse when they intend to raise a colt
for market. Speed is what now sells in the market at most
fabulous prices. Bonner of New York, has just paid fifty

SHEEP. 171

thousand dollars for " Dexter." If you want fast colts you
must have the sires at least, from fast stock. It would be better
if you could have both marc and horse too from stock remark-
able for speed. After the colt is born, then take care of him ;
keep him in comfortable quarters ; feed him on fine food ; keep
up his growth and courage with care and delicate feeding ;
handle him often and make a pet of him ; train him early to
trotting, only be careful not to. strain him, and if he does not
make a remarkable trotter, he will make a fine horse. The
Arabs stand at this day, at the head of the horse breeders.
Let us give heed to those who are masters of the art. With
them we find more stress laid on the quality of the mare than
the horse. A first-rate mare cannot be bought from an Arab.
As the farmers of our county have to use such mares for breed-
ing as they happen to have, they can only rely for improvement
now on the qualities of the sire, when they propose to raise a
colt. But let them seek carefully for the very best pointed mare
they can find, and with a good-blooded stock-horse, they will
very much improve the progeny.

For the Committee,

E. M. Gardner.

SHEEP.

HAMPSHIRE, FRANKLIN AND HAMPDEN.

From the Report of the Committee.

Sheep-raising should attract the attention of every farmer, as
sheep will subsist on herbage that is rejected by other stock ;
sorrel by them is esteemed equal to clover. On dry, gravelly
soils, producing mostly sorrel and weeds, where other animals
would starve, sheep thrive, and become the favorites of epicures.
As most farms have pasturage suited to their wants, the raising
of a few sheep at least is worthy of consideration ; large fi.ocks
may not be desirable in this locality, (the great West being the
appropriate field, especially for growing wool,) a suitable num-
ber proportioned to the capacity and circumstances of the farm

172 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

have and ever will give a good result. Who has not noticed the
remarkably fleshy condition of a few cossets, kept with a herd
of cattle, living mostly upon what would otherwise be a total
loss ? In what other way can meat be raised so cheap per
pound, after deducting the value of tlie wool, and what meat
commands a higher price than that of a fat lamb ? Taking into
consideration that the villagers are around about us in all direc-
tions, who can hesitate to avail themselves of the opportunity to
increase their income by furnishing the delicate ladies with as
delicious food as Palestine ever produced ?

Raising sheep for the purpose of speculation has become so
common that its evil influence should be noticed. Its tendency
is to cause persons who have flocks of good sheep to become
dissatisfied with them, because some other person has sold a
difierent breed at a much higher price than they can obtain for
theirs, whereas very likely they were of less intrinsic value.

Vermont is notorious for high-priced sheep. The consequence
is, the breeds considered less valuable are being sent to cities
and villages to be slaughtered and sold for what they will bring,
thus depressing the sheep-raising business in the lower valley of
the Connecticut for the time being. This state of things will
not last, as the Irishman remarked, in relation to the swamp
lands, that the Americans have yet to learn that their poorest
lands are their best. Possibly it may be found that the flocks
now considered of less value are actually the most valuable.
Manufacturers have learned that Yermont twenty pound fleeces
contain only four to six pounds of wool, and farmers will soon
learn that it is more profitable to raise sheep that will deposit
their fat inside than on the outside of their skin. The sheep
that produces a large amount of yolk on the surface cannot be
expected to produce a large amount of milk. The yolk-pro-
ducing sheep must therefore soon yield to a better breed. This
Yermont sheep speculation reminds one of a fool and a knave
at a mock auction, the former bidding upon the supposed judg-
ment of the latter until the fool and his money parted. Merino
sheep are not worthless — far from it ; they are valuable if crossed
judiciously with other breeds ; they have splendid constitutions
— an essential quality. Southdowns, for practical purposes, are
very much improved by being hybridized with Merinos, giving a
better constitution to stand our severe winters. A friend, who

SHEEP. 173

has kept the different kinds of coarse and fine woolled sheep,
having purchased a flock of hybrids, (from Southdowns and
' Merinos,) is positive that they were the most profitable that
he ever owned. Our experience is that no coarse-wooUed
sheep can stand two years in a flock of three hundred Merinos
without becoming diseased. The Southdowns, being of a cyKn-
drical form, appear to the eye in better flesh than the fact
warrants ; it requires but the toucli of an expert to detect the
error.

The exhibition of sheep was very limited. It was difficult to
dispose of the premiums from the want of numbers. This state
of things will probably induce a good and full representation
another year. As the premiums are the magnet, we will sug-
gest a revision and extension, if found practicable. Very few
persons can compete for the premium offered for fifty ewes.
Would it not be well to reduce that number to twenty-five, and
divide the premiums, thus increasing competition ? If premi-
ums on single sheep were so arranged that twice as many were
offered, it might induce twice the competition. The sheep
exhibited this year were mostly in good flesh, and very fair
specimens of their kind. The flock of fifty ewes exhibited by
J. A. Morton, of Hadley, gave evidence that their owner had
not ceased to be a good shepherd, and continues to look well to
his flock. The Southdowns exhibited by Messrs. M. J. Smith
& Son, of Northampton, were of unexceptional form, the anat-
omy being perfect with the exception of a slightly too great
length of legs for the size of the body. The sheep exhibited by
Parsons West, of Hadley, are a mongrel breed, gathered perhaps
from the four winds of heaven, forming a most happy and valu-
able combination, giving evidence of possessing a splendid
constitution, good fattening qualities and fine size.

We will venture to suggest to the society the importance of
assigning some point or place as a rendezvous for the committees
to meet and organize for their work. It will be a very great
convenience to those acting on committees.

Charles Eastman, Chairman.

174 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

s w I :^r E .

MIDDLESEX SOUTH.

From the Report of the Committee.

That the fattening of swine is a matter of vital interest to
dairy farming, every thoughtful farmer feels ; and that it pre-
sents some difficult and uncertain problems, both his experience
and his balance-sheet testify. Whether on the whole, the rear-
ing and fattening of his swine results in a direct profit or a loss ;
and whether the permanent advantage to his lands is more than
offset by his trouble and the low price he seems to realize for
his grain, are points he greatly desires to have cleared up.

Some facts and considerations, to aid tlie farmer in deter-
mining these questions are herewith submitted.

That, to keep up his farm and make it pay, his milk (the
cream excepted,) and grain or their equivalent as well as his
hay and vegetables, must he put back on the land, no observing
farmer doubts. And he soon ascertains that the equivalent is
not easy to find. He can easily find substitutes, but tliey are
not equivalents. He may spend his capital to buy specifics ; he
may sell his milk and buy grain ; with the aid of concentrated
stimulants he may raise roots, &c. ; but it is not precisely the
thing ; he fails to put back into tlie soil what he takes from it,
in the shape in ivhich the plant g-roivth demands it. As a shrewd
man once said, " Corn is the best judge of manure." Plants
have their demands in the elements of food, and also in the
peculiar condition and combination of these elements. They
relish what is according to their taste, and it gives a vigorous,
healthy growth.

Feeding his milk and a generous portion of his grain to
swine, to be transformed into their kind of manure, is his
readiest means — and in the long run it will probably prove his
cheapest means — of getting precisely what his crops need : of
supplying the exhaustion which results from feeding milch
cows. Hog manure has the property of acting quickly from
the large per cent, of nitrogen it contains ; it is rich in phos-
phates ; and it is nearly as lasting in its effects as the manure

SWINE. 175

of cows. Its value, as compared with that of cows, may be seen
in the following table : —

CONSTITUEKTS. Excrements Excremtnta

of Cowa. of Hogs.

Solid dry substances,
Nitrogen, . . . .
Minerals, as potash, lime, &c.,

Where the piggery is supplied with loam, peat, or road scrap-
ings, and mixed as growing hogs are apt to mix the mass, the
more volatile parts of these excrements are all utilized, and a
large amount is cheaply obtained. A thrifty hog, if you will
furnish him the materials, will make one cord of first quality
manure in a season. And it will not interfere with his health
and condition. He enjoys the exercise, and digests his food all
the better. The farmer may go to chemistry, or to Coe, or to
the Chincha Islands, to find a supply for the waste of his crops ;
but he will find nothing to take the place of the pig-sty.

In estimating the profits of fattening swine perhaps the most
important preliminary inquiry is. Shall the farmer fatten and
kill his pigs at from eight or ten months old ; or shall he keep
over and send to market at from fifteen and eighteen months ? .

Undoubtedly so far as money profit is concerned, he will
realize the greatest net gain at from eight to ten months.
With the smaller breeds and thrifty pigs, he can get a weight of
from 250 to 300 pounds, while as commonly managed, the
additional eight months only add about 100 pounds. Indeed,
experiments show that it costs but a trifle more to grow and
fatten a weaned spring pig to ten months old, than to fatten a
ten months' store hog from July to December. Under favor-
able circumstances, it may cost less ; and the net profit be in
favor of the pigs.

One of our most careful feeders (Joseph Jennison of South-
borough,) put three shotes, Suffolk and Mackay, to fattening,
July 1. Their weight then was 200 pounds each. He fed
them fifty-three bushels of mixed grain, two-thirds corn and
one-third oatmeal, which cost 147.15. Their dressed weight

176 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

after five months' feeding, was 395, 380, 343. A bushel of meal
made nine and three-fourths pounds of pork. His pork cost
him nine cents per pound.

One of your Committee bought three six weeks old pigs,
Mackay and Chester County, in early spring. Their weight
was thirty pounds each. He fed them forty-six bushels of
grain, two-thirds corn and one-third oatmeal, which cost $43.78.
Their dressed weight, at eight and one-half months old, was
321, 295, 271. A bushel of meal made sixteen pounds of pork.
His pork cost him five and one-half cents per pound.

In the first case the corn cost 11, the oats fifty-five cents
per bushel ; in the second, the corn cost $1.08, the oats seventy
cents per bushel. This makes the advantage still more decided
on the side of the pigs.

Unless we have a warm piggery, the waste of winter feeding
is a large item — in too many cases a dead loss. A shivering
pig kept on slops through the winter, must necessarily open the
spring with an impaired constitution ; and with a poorly devel-
oped frame for laying on fat. And it may as well be said in
this connection, that the success of any system of feeding and
fattening will depend essentially on warm, dry, sunny quarters.

But with the dairy farmer, the manure profit is equally
important as the money profit. In order to realize the most
from his skimmed milk, of which he has the greatest abundance
in spring and early summer, he must have stock pigs, of from
six to eight months old : otherwise he defeats his main purpose.
His only alternative is, to keep the requisite number of breed-
ing sows, and depend on the extra number of small pigs to
consume his milk ; and take the risk of finding a market for
such surplus as he does not wish to keep over. With warm
snug quarters, store pigs may be carried through the cold
weather at a reasonable cost ; and by providing plenty of sods
in the fall, or throwing in horse manure, &c., he will find a big
pile of rich compost ready for his spring planting. What he
feeds them in the cold weather will thus return to him in season
to finish their fattening in November. And the more corn fed^
the more corn returned at harvest. The means expended
furnish the means of increasing the productiveness, and of
course, the real value of the farm. It is money at compound
interest.

SWINE. 17T

The difficult part of the problem is to carry his shotes through
the winter months at such an expense as to make the first two
hundred pounds cost about two-thirds as much as the last two
hundred pounds, or whatever the addition is, thus reducing the
actual cost of the dressed pork to a paying rate. To accomplish
this, the first essential, as already stated, is warm, dry, sunny
quarters, so that all the food given goes to growth and fattening.

The second essential is perfect regularity in the times of feed-
ing, so that the pigs shall not fret and squeal away their flesh.

The third essential is to give enough of nutritious food to
satisfy the natural appetite. Any attempt to save by short com-
mons or " extended " rations will make both pork and purse
without breadth and thickness. These three items, which are •
matters of care and judgment rather than cash, will make a
difference of at least one cent per pound in the cost of his pork.

In selecting the kinds of feed, he will remember that growth
is a primary object, and take such as naturally produce bones
and muscle, and such as are adapted to generate animal heat.
And the mess should be fed warm for the same reason. On the
farm there is more or less milk, even in the winter, and this of
course goes into the swill-tub. Next to this, as a chief reliance,
both in goodness and cheapness, comes sugar beets. These are
highly relished by swine, in both a raw and cooked state, though
for winter feeding they should be cooked. The sugar of beets
goes to keep up the temperature and vigor of the system, as
well as afford nourishment. Sweet apples are of the same gen-
eral nature. But these alone will not satisfy the hunger and
insure growth. The animal must have gluten and lime and oil
as well as sugar. And these are most plentiful in the grains.
What kind of grain should be most relied on, will depend on
the ruling prices for the time being. Wheat bran, oat and bar-
ley meal more directly produce bone and muscle, and scraps and
corn meal supply the oil for producing fat. Variety is relished
by growing pigs, and a mixture of grains seems necessary to
keep up a healthy condition. The mess should be salted twice
a week. With corn at one dollar per bushel, and oats at sixty-
five cents, it is safe to depend mainly on them and the beets, as
these two grains contain in large per cent, both growing and
fattening properties. His pork thus made, the first two hun-
dred pounds will cost him under six cents per pound.

23*

178 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

Whatever method is adopted, he must feed so as to keep them
growing and fattening all the time. A daily gain should be the
fixed rule. Too commonly, if any stock is neglected, it is the
young, growing animals ; and the fattening stock is pushed.
Push them all as fast as health will permit. An animal fed
high from first to last will consume less in total amount than if
stinted in his pighood.

And in no one point, perhaps, is the value of the improved
breeds of swine seen more distinctly than in the economy of
feeding for growth. The small bone, the compact form, the
quiet disposition, the tendency to take on fat, are all material
items in the cost of raising. Which breed is best, your Com-
mittee are not called upon to decide.

Another practical question is. Is cooked or uncooked food best
for fattening swine ? Science, both chemical and physiological,
settles this question in favor of cooked food. Some years since
the details of an experiment made by a careful and reliable
farmer, and published in the State Agricultural Report, seemed
to settle the question in favor of raw food. "The meal used
was composed of one-half corn, one-fourth oats, one-fourth
broom-seed. In cooking, the meal was boiled thirty minutes.
The pigs selected were all doing well upon uncooked food. I
put four in two pens, side by side, and weighed them four
different times. I fed two of them with cooked meal four weeks,
and they weighed less by eleven pounds than when I commenced.
They ate four bushels of meal. I fed eight and one-fourth
bushels of meal, uncooked, to the others, and they gained eighty-
two pounds. I then fed the last named pigs three and one-half
bushels of cooked meal, and in three weeks they lost four
pounds. I fed five and one-half bushels of raw meal to those
first fed on cooked food, and in three weeks they gained sixty-
one pounds. I think this proves conclusively that we cannot
fatten swine with profit on cooked food."

Before accepting this as conclusive in favor of raw food, it
should be considered that it lacks the essential elements of a fair
trial. First, because any sudden change of diet with fattening
hogs is injurious. The stomach and absorbents seem to adapt
themselves to a given habitual food, and a sudden change, even
from a poorer to a more nutritious diet, is evil in its first effects.
If it does not impair the appetite, it arrests the fattening process.

SWINE. 179

till the digestive organs can accommodate themselves to the new
regimen. To make such an experiment conclusive, the two
lots should have been kept separate, and fed, the one on cooked
and the other on raw food, from beginning to end, and the
results compared.

It should be considered, secondly, that cooking adds three
times its bulk to meal ; so that with the same quantity of food,
the hogs got only one-third the amount of nutriment in the
cooked as in the raw state. Swine will consume a larger quan-
tity of cooked than of uncooked food ; but the excess will still
leave a deficiency equal to one-half as compared with meal in
its natural state. If a hog will eat four bushels of raw meal in
a month, he will eat only two bushels of cooked meal in the
same time. Admitting, then, that meal is greatly enhanced in
value for fattening by cooking ; that the starch and oil and
gluten and other nutritious substances are brought into condi-
tion to be more readily taken up by the system ; still, that the
increased value of cooking meal in digestibility and ready assim-
ilation, is equal to a gain of one-half, is, to say the least, doubt-
ful. Science may be definite and certain in its laws, but in
dealing with the vital functions, and the transformation of food
into flesh and blood and bone, actual results sometimes set at
naught all the fixed principles of science. No one is more
indebted to science than the farmer, and in no department of
his labor is its aid more available than in raising and feeding
stock. But it should not be forgotten that the chemical labora-
tory and the stomach of a live animal are not identical in struc-
ture or solvents ; and each may evolve its peculiar products,
which, with much in common, may yet have differences that
will upset the most careful calculation.

The conclusion above stated is predicated on the supposition
that time is an important element in the calculation : i. e., that
the greatest weight of pork is to be made in the shortest time,
and that this time comprises the warm months. With the ordi-
nary imperfect conveniences for cooking large quantities, and
w\i\\ finely ground meal, i\\Q farmer can probably push forward
his hogs for an early market to best advantage with uncooked
food.

But where time is no object, and one has a large, convenient
boiler, where the only test is the greatest weight of pork from a.

180 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

pound of meal, probably the advantage will be in favor of
cooked food ; but it will take at least one-third longer time, to
say nothing of the trouble and cost of cooking.

Experiments on a large scale in the West with whole corn on
the one hand, and cooked meal on the other, have demonstrated
the greatly increased value of the latter. It is generally agreed
that the gain is about thirty per cent.

To bring the three different modes of feeding into direct
comparison, the results of three recent experiments are here
given : —

1. Field feeding on ivhole corn. Says a large feeder in Ham-
ilton County, Ohio : " As soon as the corn is ripe, I divide my
stock of hogs into lots according to condition. Having fenced
off about five acres of corn, I turn in the fattest lot, and let
them eat till the best part is consumed ; and then put them in
a new piece, and let a poorer lot take their place ; and so on till
the stock is ready for market — the different lots going off at
different times. It takes from two to three months to bring
them up to from 175 to 200 pounds live weight. A bushel of
corn adds eight pounds to the weight of the animal."

2. Cooked corn meal, by a successful farmer of Ogle County,
Illinois. " I raise the Chester Whites. I can make hogs at
eighteen months old average 350 pounds, live weight. From
what experience I have had with ground and cooked feed, I am
satisfied it is preferable to whole corn by at least four pounds of
pork per bushel of corn. I do not, however, confine my hogs to
.cooked food entirely, as after eating a full meal of this, they
eat whole corn greedily. Hogs are better to moderately salt
their jcooked food. I would prefer to let pigs run with the
mother until she weans them herself. With good thrifty hogs,
I am satisfied I can make fourteen pounds of pork from one
bushel of meal. I fattened a pen of twelve hogs last spring,
that gained in weight over 100 pounds each in seven weeks, the
twelve weighing 3,610 pounds, live weight."

3. Uncooked corn and oatmeal, by a member of the South
Middlesex Society. " I bought four pigs, Mackay and Chester
County, in April, at six weeks old. Fed on skimmed milk,
with a handful of whole corn to each pig daily, till July 1st ;
after which they had meal as they would bear it. The meal
was a mixture of two-thirds corn and one-third oats. Fed

POULTRY. 181

three times a day, and aimed to be punctual to the allotted
hour. I gradually lessen the proportionate quantity of liquid
as I increase the quantity of meal — as fattening hogs require
hut little drink. Probably I do not feed more than two-thirds
the quantity of swill that most of my neighbors do to hogs of
the same size and condition ; and as a result, I fatten quicker
and have at least that proportion less of squeal. Killed my
pigs at nine months old. The dressed weight of the four was
1,104 pounds. Tiiey ate in all sixty-one bushels meal, which
cost $58.37 — reckoning corn at $1.08, and oats at seventy cents
per bushel. One bushel of meal made eighteen pounds of pork.
Cost of pork per pound, including the first cost of pigs, seven
and one-half cents."

For the Committee, J. H. Temple.

POULTRY.

MIDDLESEX SOUTH.

Statement of Lewis Jones.

The following statement covers a period of ten months, from
November 1, 1866, to September 1, 1867.

Number of hens kept, fifteen, mostly Leghorns, a few Black
Hamburgs. Number of eggs laid by the fifteen hens in ten
months, 191 dozen.

EXPENSES.

18 bushels of corn, $21 60

2 bushels of cracked corn, 2 40

$24 00

PROFITS.

62i dozen eggs, sold to set, . . . . . $28 41

126 dozen eggs, sold at market, . . . . 44 40

Set 2^ dozen eggs, raised 17 chickens, sold 5 of them, 5 00

12 chickens on hand, 12 00

81
24 00

Net profit on 15 hens, ten months, . . . $65 8 1
Net profit per fowl, ten months, . . . . 4 32

182 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

Keeping. — I let my fowls run at large both summer and
winter; I never coop them up not even when they have
chickens, I think they do much better^to run at large and pick
up bugs and seeds to suit their taste.

Feeding. — I feed my fowls three times a day, winter and
summer, and I think there is no animal that will pay better for
being well fed, than a hen. When they are kept well fed, they
are always ready and fit to be killed, either for the table or for
market, and there is just as much difference in the appearance
of a well fed fowl and one not fed, as there is between a well
fed horse or ox and a lean one ; a well fed fowl's feathers will
shine and glisten in the sun, and any person can tell that it is in
a healthy state. It is necessary always to have plenty of clean
water for them to drink.

In the winter when the ground is covered with snow, I give
my fowls cabbage leaves, or if I have turnips where the tops
have started, I cut the tops off of them, and cut them up and
mix them with meal, and give them about twice a week.

In the winter to help them make their eggs, I pound up
oyster shells and old mortar ; I also give them all the refuse
bones from the table together with scraps of meat chopped up
together. Since I commenced feeding my fowls in this way,
there has not been a day but what some of them have laid,
which is now over two years.

Statement of S. B. Bird.

The following statement of the cost of keeping and income
of my fowls, is for eight months, from January 15, to Sep-
tember 15.

Number of eggs sold and used, 181 dozen, at an aver-
age price of 38 cents, $68 78

16 chickens, at 50 cents, 8 00

mQ 78
Cost of keeping :
9 bushels corn and meal, 6 bushels barley, . . 18 75

Net profit, $58 03

POULTRY. 183

My flock consists of fifteen hens and one crower. They are a
mixture of the White Leghorn and native breed. In cold
weather I feed twice a day with corn or barley, but in the
summer season I find once sufficient, as my fowls are not con-
fined, but are allowed the range of the barn and adjoining
fields, thus saving several bushels of grain ; they are also kept
supplied with clear water, and old plastering, or air-slacked lime,
and in the winter occasionally some fresh meat and bones cut
fine, which they seem to relish. I feed but very little meal,
believing that whole grain is the most natural and healthy
food.

Statement of C. P. Fiske.

The ten fowls which I present for exhibition are of the
Brahma breed, and are out of a flock of 163. I keep but one
breed, and let them run the year round. I feed on barley,
corn, scraps and oyster shells, twice a day. The 1st of Septem-
ber, 1866, 1 had 113 fowls, which I valued at 1213, the market
price.

EXPENSES.

Cost of keeping, 1145 03

PROFITS.

Eggs sold, to the amount of .
Fowls sold alive and dead,
Licrease of flock, 50 chickens,

Net profit in twelve months, .... $263 05

Leaving out of the account the droppings of my hens which
is quite an item.

My fowls after they are one year old are fat all the time, so
that I do not have the trouble and expense of shutting them up
to prepare them for market. I consider the Brahma fowls the
best breed of fowls that we have, taking everything into
consideration.

$232

80

75

28

100

00

$408 08

145

03

184 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

BRISTOL CENTRAL.

From the Report of the Committee.

The show of poultry this year was, upon the whole, superior
to that of last year, both in variety and quality. It is gratifying
to observe, from year to year, increased evidence of a growing
appreciation of pure-bred fowls. It is now comparatively rare
to see coops filled with the mongrel poultry of former years.
The farmers of this section have discarded very generally the
long-legged, misshapen fowls, whose sole merit consisted in a
certain clumsiness of size, without any compensating merit to
redeem their general ugliness. They seem to have realized very
generally the fact that, as a rule, disproportionate size is gained
only by the sacrifice of more useful qualities. The Leghorns,
Black Spanish, Dorkings, Dominiques and Hamburg's have
replaced the Shanghai and other Asiatic breeds, with the excep-
tion of the best of the race, the Brahma Pootra. This variety,
which is identical with the Chittagong, is well adapted to all
localities where the range is limited. It is hardy, easily raised,
and comes to a marketable size so early that, where raising
spring chickens for the table is the chief object, it is perhaps
more profitable than any other, the Dorking breed not being yet
sufficiently well known to command the better price that it
deserves. It is rather a sluggish breed, and on that account it
may be doubted whether it will prove as profitable as some other
more active races where there is ample range. It is the testi-
mony of some of the best breeders, that after two years they
begin to degenerate, the strong setting proclivity of the Asiatic
races developing rapidly after that time.

The Leghorns an^ Black Spanish, which are varieties only of
the same race, are very valuable for their laying qualities. The
immense size of the combs in the males of this species may be
considered, to some extent, a disability in our climate, as unless
they are protected with unusual care they almost certainly freeze
in winter, and this makes the birds more or less sickly and dull
in the spring, when they should have a redundance of health
and vigor. The Black Spanish must have a face entirely white,
black plumage with a greenish lustre, and dark blue legs. The
Leghorns, whatever their color, must have yellow legs, and their

POULTRY.

185

ear lobes must be pure white. The young of this breed are
remarkably precocious.

The Dorking is a fowl comparatively little known among our
farmers. It takes the lead of all other breeds in England, and
should be held in much better estimation than it now enjoys
with us. Prize birds not unfrequently bring, in England, from
two to three guineas each, and successful breeders sell their
eggs readily at fifteen dollars per dozen. The cocks have been
brought up to twelve pounds in weight.

There are two principal varieties now in the country — the
white and the gray, with several smaller subdivisions. In the
Sir John Cathcart variety the males have hackles and saddles of
red, with black breast and tail feathers, and the hens have dark
buff breasts, more or less splashed with white. The Gray
Dorking is a larger and finer bird than the white variety.

The following table of live weights of some of the most prized
fowls, taken from the excellent work of Martin Doyle, will be
found interestina; : —

Maximum,

Average,

Height,

Weight of

lbs.

lbs.

inches.

eggs, oz.

Shanghai cock, full grown,

12

10

26

Shanghai hen, .

9

7

22

2i

Dorking cock, .

lOi

8

22

Dorking hen, .

8^

H

16

2f

Black Spanish cock.

7

6

22

Black Spanish hen,

6

5

19

3

Poland cock,

6

6

21

Poland hen,

5

5

18

^

Game cock,*

6

5

20

Game hen,

H

4

15

2i

Golden Spangled Hamburg cock,

6

5i

18

Golden Spangled Hamburg hen,

H

H

15

If

Malay cotk,t

13

10

28

Malay hen,

10

8

20

^

From this table it will be seen that the Dorking ranks third
in point of size and weight. It is an indispensable requisite that

* The writer has a game cock in his possession, three-quarters Derby and
one-quarter Sefton, that weighs seven pounds and one ounce, and the hens
average five pounds each,

t The Malay breed is so inferior in flesh and other respects that we cannot
recommend it.

24*

186 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

this breed should have white, with a tendency to pink legs, the
slightest tinge of yellow denoting impurity. They should have
five toes, the fifth pointing upwards like a spur. The cocks
should have silver-gray liackles and saddles, and dark breasts
and tails, though these are not indispensable, some being
splashed with white ; the hens, more or less gray on the back.
The color of the breast varies indefinitely, though in many of
the most admired there is a tendency to a warm bufif color.
The white Dorking must be perfectly white. It is important, in
this breed particularly, to avoid breeding in and in. A fresh
cock, of another strain or locality, should be introduced every
second year. The Dorking is a remarkably plump, well-made
fowl, and has more white meat on the breast than any other
variety, commanding, on this account, the highest price in the
London market. Its flesh is of superior delicacy, retaining a
remarkable tenderness and juiciness even when five or six years
old. These hens are excellent layers and mothers. "We hope
to see the evidence of a large increase of this valuable breed at
our next exhibition.

The Hamburg, which embraces among its varieties the Bolton
Gray, or Creoles, is a valuable breed. They are excellent
layers. Of these, the Golden Hamburgs are perhaps the most
desirable for the farmer, being larger and more hardy. Some
of the pencilled varieties are of great beauty. It is essential
that all fowls of this breed should have blue legs.

The Game breed is a valuable one, being conspicuous for
its beauty of plumage. It is remarkably hardy, and there are
no better layers and mothers than may be found among this
race. We have found that quite an erroneous opinion prevails
in regard to their fighting propensities, many farmers objecting
to keep them on this account. The thoroughbred Game, though
a courageous bird, is usually not a quarrelsome one. Towards
the young cocks that grow up under him, he is not more
despotic than the average of breeds. It is true, that if a
stranger dares to dispute his supremacy, he will fight to the
death ; but he is not more pugnacious till his blood is aroused
than many other races. The little Bantam is far more quarrel-
some. He is particularly gallant towards his flock. It is
exceedingly rare that he takes a prejudice against a particular
hen, as is quite often the case with other breeds. The flesh of the

POULTRY. 187

Game is notoriously the most delicate of all poultry. If any
one has a stock of poultry which has degenerated by breeding
in and in, there is nothing like a good game cock to rejuvenate
the yard. There are many varieties of Game, but perhaps the
most desirable for the farmer are the English, Derby, Lord
Sefton, and L'ish varieties, as these are of larger size than the
others, with the exception, perhaps, of the Sumatra. The last
is not so hardy a bird, and therefore not so reliable.

The Dominique is an excellent breed, too well known to need
a particular description here. They should have yellow legs,
and the cocks should have neither red nor yellow upon their
wings ; rose combs are preferred, though not indispensable.
The Poland breeds are beautiful, but not usually profitable for
the farmer.

There have been lately imported three French breeds, the
Houdan, Lafleche and Crevecoeur. They have a high reputa-
tion in France, and are very beautiful birds. The Houdans are
speckled, and have large top-knots and muffles. Their legs
should be slate-color, with five toes. We hope, another year, to
see some specimens in our poultry exhibition.

We have taken the liberty to describe briefly a few of the
prominent breeds, because from year to year, specimens of some
of the above are exhibited as thoroughbred which have not the
requisite marks of purity. For instance, coops of Dorkings
have been exhibited having yellow legs. Breeders should
remember that pale pink-colored legs or nearly white are more
indispensable than the fifth toe. It is a singular fact that
frequently a bird, not more than one-quarter Dorking, will have
the fifth toe well developed, while many pure bred birds have
this imperfectly formed.

IMPORTANCE OP RANGE.

Perhaps there is no greater or more common blunder made
by the inexperienced, than in the estimate they make of the
space required for a flock of poultry. Not less than half an
acre of ground, at the very least, and of this two-thirds should
be in grass, is sufficient to keep a flock of twelve in perfect
health the year round. An advantage would be gained by
giving even more than this. Yet how often do we see flocks of
thirty and forty confined, during the whole year, to a space

188 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

hardly one-half of this. To keep a flock of such a size in
health, it is no test even if they thrive the first season in such
limited quarters. The second or third season, at most, roup
and vermin will begin to make their inroads, and after losing
half his young broods, the farmer concludes that raising
chickens does not pay, and it ought not to under such bad
management.

One of the most important requisites is a good supply of
grass. If fowls are shut up for any length of time in a barn-
yard, fresh sods should be given them daily or they will not
thrive. The question whether some other vegetable product
might not answer is hardly to be entertained by the farmer,
since in nearly all situations there is nothing so cheap and
readily available as grass. We frequently see quite elaborate
inclosures made for poultry during the spring and summer
months. We are of opinion that if farmers would fence in
their kitchen gardens instead of their poultry, they would be
great gainers in the long run. The additional expense would
soon be saved in the greater number of eggs procured from the
poultry. In cold weather meat, in some form, is necessary, if
eggs are desired. For this purpose scrap cakes from the soap-
makers, in which there is no salt beef, will be found the most
economical form. Indian corn is the best regular staple for
food, but this should be occasionally varied by a feed of oats,
wheat, barley, or a warm mash of meal and hot potatoes. The
last will be found particularly useful in the winter. We are
not advocates of stimulants to any extent. We do not believe
that much permanent advantage is gained by forcing nature.
If by high feeding of meat, cayenne pepper, &c., eggs are
procured out of season, a period of rest is nevertheless neces-
sary, and the fowls so fed will show the ill effects of this stimu-
lating process sooner or later.

Another very important point is to be careful not to allow too
many fowls to roost in one house. It was only a day or two
since that a farmer was complaining of two of our hardiest
breeds. " They got through the winter pretty well," he said,
" but the roup or something else took a good many off in the
spring." On inquiring, we found that he kept one hundred
and fifty in one house. It was no wonder that the roup and
other diseases took them off.

POULTRY. 189

If we were intending to keep such a flock of poultry, we
would have at least four different roosting places. Indeed,
twenty or twenty-five are as many as should occupy the same
house, unless extraordinary care is taken by whitewashing and
cleansing frequently. Their roosting-places, in any event,
should be whitewashed and thoroughly cleaned twice a year, and
fresh earth put in every spring under their roosts. If a strong
decoction of tobacco be mixed with the whitewash it will be
found an excellent ingredient. Rubbing the roosts with kero-
sene oil is a good practice, and black sulphur scattered over the
nests and roosts is also an excellent preventative for vermin or
lice. These last are the greatest pest of the poultry-fancier,
beside which roup and all other diseases sink into insignificance.
If the hens ever get infested, two-thirds of the young chickens
will almost inevitably die. Nothing so demoralizes, so to speak,
a flock of poultry as this pest. Thousands of chickens die
every year from this cause within the first three weeks of their
hatching, which might be saved if the above precautions were
sedulously taken.

Another important point in the rearing of chickens is to have
them hatched early in the season. The hot days of July and
August are not favorable for very young chickens. It is better
to have broods hatched in September than in either of the above
months in this locality.

BREEDING IN AND IN.

It is too often the practice with farmers to kill ofi" their older
poultry every two years, and continue to breed from the young.
This will certainly cause the breed, whatever it is, to degenerate.
If possible, when commencing with a new stock, get the hens
from one locality and the cocks from another. It is better to
keep the old cocks for breeding until they get superannuated
than to breed from the young of the same brood indefinitely.
When fowls are bred in and in they deteriorate in size, plumage
and constitution.

Another important consideration in beginning with a new
stock is to be sure of the purity of the breed, as there is no
security if there be ever so little mongrel blood. We have
known hens crossed with the Game which threw pure Leghorns

190 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

in appearance certainly six months after they could have been
associated with a Leghorn cock.

DUCKS.

There are three strains of ducks which are especially valuable
— the White Aylesbury, Black Cayuga and Rouen. The first
of these commands the highest price in the London markets.
They differ from other white ducks in their greater size and the
flesh-colored tint of their bills and legs.

The Black Cayugas are large ducks, so nearly black that they
appear entirely so to the casual observer. The only white about
them should be under the belly, though there is a tendency to a
few spots on the breast.

A flock of White Aylesburys and Black Cayugas in the same
pond present a beautiful contrast.

The Rouen is larger than either of the above, and in color is
precisely the same as the Wild Mallard.

The wild black, or dusky duck of Audubon, is a valuable
duck to cross with one of the larger species.

The varieties of geese are so well known that it is hardly
necessary to mention them. The large Bremen, or Embden
geese, are perhaps the finest breed known — certainly the hand-
somest to our eye.

We trust the above hints may be of some service to those of
the society who take an interest in this subject. We have
selected a few of the prominent points concerning which we
believe there is need of enlightenment. There is an increasing
interest rapidly developing itself in this county with regard to
pure-bred poultry. Let every farmer remember that it costs no
more to feed a pure-bred fowl than a mongrel, while the results
in the former case are far more certain. Let him consider what
breed will be most profitable for him in his circumstances.

If we were asked to condense our experience in a few words,
we should say the Brahmas and Dorkings for the table, the Leg-
horns and Hamburgs for eggs, the Games and Dorkings where
all qualities are required of a high degree of excellence ; and if
pure-breeds are not wanted, at least a game cock to improve the
stock of any yard. The Houdan, La Fleche and Crevecoeur
breeds are undoubtedly capital breeds, being plump, compact
birds and excellent layers, but they have not yet been sufiiciently

POULTRY. 191

acclimated to warrant us in giving an opinion as to their profit
for the farmer. There are many breeds of great beauty which
are desirable only for the poultry-fancier. The raising of poultry
can be made as profitable, under a judicious system, as any
other branch of husbandry.

Edmund Rodman, Chairman.

BAENSTABLE.

From the Report of the Committee.

The varieties of barnyard fowl are so numerous, and so many
kinds have their advocates, that it is almost impossible to gather
from the various owners facts sufficient, when well authenti-
cated, to be able to lay down any directions as to the best kind
and how they should be cared for. Among those kinds of fowl
which, on the whole, seem to bear best the test of close scru-
tiny, we will mention the Dorkings, the Bolton Grays, and the
Black Spanish.

The Dorkings are a very favorite variety in England. A few
of these were imported from England, where the town of Dork-
ing is situated, in 1839. Since that time a considerable number
have been brought over, so that they are quite readily to be
found at the present time. Most of these fowl can be known
by the fact of their having Jive claws on each foot. The color
is usually white or light speckled, and the flesh fine and of
excellent flavor. This breed feed well, fat well, and lay well.
One of the best breeders in the country says : " In regard to
the Dorkings, I am still strongly prepossessed in their favor ; as
layers they are certainly very prolific. As an instance, one of
my neighbors had a pullet that was hatched in May. In the
same year the pullet began her litter of eggs, and hatched out
her chickens before the first of the December ensuing."
Another breeder says : " The Dorking fowl stand first in the
estimate of those who have raised them with other varieties."
Another large breeder says : " Although in the depth of winter,
with over a foot of snow on the ground, the hens lay daily,
running out in the severest cold."

The Black Spanish is another very popular variety. These
are a variety of the Poland or crested fowl. Tliey lay large
eggs and their flesh is highly esteemed. A farmer who has

192 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

just hens enough for his own use, will find the Black Spanish
suited for his use. The flesh is very excellent and the eggs
very delicate. Their size is more favorable to him who eats
them at his own table than for market. When eggs are sold
by the dozen, as they usually are in the States, a large egg is no
advantage.

The Bolton Grays came from Bolton, in Lancashire, England,
and are the crack breed of their vicinity. The color of the
genuine kind is invariably pure white about the neck, the body
white, thickly spotted with bright black, with one or more
black bars at the extremity of the tail. They are very constant
layers, but perhaps not quite so good for the table. Among the
three breeds we have named — and the three best in the opinion
of your Committee — this last variety is the least inclined to set.

After procuring a flock of hens the first object is to make
them lay. The question is often propounded, " Why hens
cannot be made to lay in the winter as well as in the summer ? "
Our answer is, that they can to a very great extent. But to do
this there are certain conditions that must be complied with.
They must be provided with loarm and comfortable lodgings.
They must have clean apartments. They must be supplied with
a plenty and a variety of food, consisting of grain^ vegetables
and animal food. They must have pure water, and gravel, lime
and sand to roll and bask in. For grain feeding, corn is well
enough. Oats or wheat will supply its place if they are more
readily procured. The vegetable feeding should be on boiled
potatoes, turnips, carrots or parsnips. The animal food, when
worms are not to be procured, should be the flesh of any animals.
When a sheep has died, skin him and chop him up in quarters
or less, and throw him in your hen-yard, either in winter or
summer. Take your axe and chop out a quarter or more of a
dead cow, or ox, or horse, and put it within reach of your fowls.
They will know exactly how to dispose of it. They must have
calcareous matter to form the shell of their eggs. In winter,
when the ground is covered with snow, they cannot find this
necessary element. Then you must pound up the bones from
your table and give them. Tliey will eat it most greedily. In
the summer hens find many of these requisites without your
aid. Buffon says that a hen well fed and attended will produce
one hundred and fifty eggs in a year and two broods of chickens.

POULTRY. 193

Their greatest capacity for laying is in the second and third
year. It is never profitable to keep them after they are four
years old. After they are five they generally cease laying.

We have spoken of the Dorkings, the Bolton Grays and the
Black Spanish as the best of the fancy breeds of hens. It may
seem strange that no mention is made of the common barnyard
fowl so generally found about the Cape. All we have to say of
them is, that for delicacy of eating they are not to be beaten by
any of the varieties named, and, if well cared for, they are a
profitable fowl to keep.

Spring-hatched chickens, if kept in a warm place and well
fed, will generally commence laying about Christmas, or perhaps
a little earlier. To be sure, the difference of the season will
affect them. If the spring is very late and cold and stormy, it
will influence their early laying.

Good feeding and good breeds will avail but little without a
good shelter. A good poultry house and yard are requisite to
make any great profit by hens. In selecting a situation for this
purpose, get it, if possible, on the south side of a building, or
what is better, dig into the south side of a hill and build into
the cavity. If you have stone enough about your farm, use it
for the sides, as it is more free from vermin than wood. Choose
a dry place, as there is nothing so likely to produce disease in
fowl as dampness. Cold simply benumbs them and diminishes
their laying, while a cold, damp hen-house or yard, produces
most of the diseases they are liable to. If you build of wood,
lath and plaster the structure. A spring of pure water, or if
you have not that, some vessel of water placed within their
reach is indispensable. The want of good water gives the hens
the pip, produces costiveness and some inflammatory troubles.
Dickson says : " In order to unite all the advantages desirable in
a poultry yard, it is indispensable that it be neither too cold
during the winter, nor too hot during the summer, and it must
be rendered so attractive to the hens as to prevent them laying
in any chance place away from it. The extent of the place
should be proportional to the number of fowls kept, but it will
be better to be too small than too large, particularly in the
winter, for the mutual imparting of electricity and animal heat.
There is no fear of engendering infectious diseases by too much
25*

194 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

crowding, and it is found, in fact, that when fowls are kept
apart they are much less prolific."

We have no doubt that some will give instances of hens
suffering, as they suppose, by too much crowding. But on
examining the facts closely, and remembering that each fowl on
the average requires one gill of grain a day, it will be found
that light feeding has had more to do with their suffering than
overcrowding. But whatever be the cause of disease, there
seems to be but little general knowledge as to its cure. Every-
body's flock will occasionally have sick hens, and every neigh-
bor will have something to suggest to cure them. When
disease seizes an individual, Bosworth says, it should be removed
from the others as soon as discovered, and put by itself, or it
may spread over the whole flock. Under proper management,
nature is a prudent guardian to fowls in health, a kind nurse to
them in weakness, and the most skilful physician in disease.
The most common disease is the gapes or pip. The best
chicken-doctors say this is produced by a small red worm in the
windpipe. For this, one excellent authority says, " Tear off the
scale on the tongue with your thumb and finger, and then push
down the throat a lump of fresh butter that has been well filled
with Scotch snuff." Another says : " These worms may be
dislodged and the disease cured, by the introduction of tobacco
smoke into the mouth until the chicken becomes insensible.
The operation may be repeated without danger, and the second
application is always sufficient to produce the death of the
worm." Mr. Eli Westfall, of Rhinebeck, gives the following
remedy, in substance, in the " Cultivator " : " Take a hen's
feather and strip it, except about an inch at the end. Strip
back the end after wetting. When the chicken breathes, the
windpipe will be open. Enter the point and push it well down,
with the neck in a straight line. Turn the feather as you draw
it out, which will loosen the worms, and the chicken will sneeze
them up." Major Chandler, in the " Tennessee Agriculturist,"
says : " Keep iron standing in vinegar, and put a little of the
liquid in the food every few days."

For the snuffles, in addition to the remedy for the pip, melt a
little assafoetida in fresh butter, and rub the chicken about the
nostrils after cleaning them out.

DAIRY PRODUCTS. 195

For the roup or catarrh, keep them near a warm fire, wash
the nostrils with castile soap-suds as often as necessary, and the
swollen eyes with warm milk and water.

For lice, ashes or lime or sand, or altogether, to roll in. But
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Keep
them drjir and warm, especially at the moulting season. Clean
out their roosts often, and whitewash inside. You will then
have a healthy flock, that will fully repay you for your trouble.

LoRiNG Crocker, Chairman.

DAIRY PRODUCTS.

ESSEX.

From the Report of the Committee.

It is a fact well known that the production of butter and
cheese is not a leading agricultural interest of this county. Our
numerous cities and villages require a large proportion of the
dairy product in the form of milk, and this proportion is con-
stantly increasing. And yet it does not necessarily follow that
less effort should be made to produce the best qualities of butter
and cheese. Most of the farmers, and many who are not farm-
ers, produce their own butter ; and as no poor article of food —
always except'ing poor bread — so injures an otherwise good meal
as does poor butter ; and as our enjoyment in life depends
largely on the quality of the food we eat, it perhaps follows that
excellence in the manufacture of butter will contribute quite as
much to our comfort and happiness as if it were the leading
agricultural product.

We were struck with the similarity of the statements of the .
contributors of butter — both of those who received a premium
and those who did not. The manner of making seems to be in
most cases essentially the same. And yet there was a wide
difference in the quality of the different samples — a difference
which could not be accounted for by any difference in the
methods of making. We suppose the highest excellence in the
production of butter requires three things : 1st, cows that give

196 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

the best quality of milk ; 2d, feed of the best kind ; 3d, the best
method of making the butter. The first named requisite is no
doubt the most essential. We want for butter purposes a good
stock of cows, whose chief excellence consists in giving milk
rich in butyraceous particles. This is the first step towards
improvement, and here arises a practical difficulty. H)»w shall
we get such a stock? If we could have cows which ^would
average as the best we now have, either for the production of
milk or butter, the dairy would be the most profitable branch of
farming. Is this result attainable ? If so, how ? "We believe
it is, but not by going to Brighton, or the country, and buying
the cheapest looking animal to be seen ; neither is it generally a
profitable operation to pay extra prices, because cows are highly
recommended. Most farmers do not sell their best cows until
they grow old, or something befalls them to impair their useful-
ness. No doubt the best cow is the cheapest, even if a high
price is paid, but the difficulty is to be reasonably certain that
the cow is as good as the price. We believe the best way and
the only way in which we can make any real improvement in
our stock is to raise it ourselves. It is true that many of our
Essex County farmers think that stock-raising does not pay.
Undoubtedly it does not pay to raise inferior or even average
stock here, and sell it as soon as it arrives at maturity. But
experience and observation both convince the writer that it
pays to raise good cows. By putting our best cows to a bull
from good butter or milk stock, and raising the heifers, we shall
be pretty certain to get a better stock than we can -readily buy,
and by a systematic and judicious management vastly improve
the quality of our cows. If it is said that cattle can be raised
somewhere else cheaper than here, we admit it. But the cattle
are not raised with reference to milk or butter. Breeders gen-
erally are not careful to breed only from the best ; and if we
want the best we must breed them ourselves. Even if it does
not pay at once, we shall be making permanent improvement,
which in the long run will be sure to tell. It will create an.
interest, and by raising the standard will lead stock-raisers to be
more careful in the selection of their animals. This matter lies
at the foundation of all improvement, either in the production
of butter or milk. It costs but little more to keep a cow that
makes three hundred pounds of butter per year than one that

DAIRY PRODUCTS. 197

makes but two hundred, or that averages ten quarts of milk
per day than one that gives but six. How to obtain such cows
is the practical problem to be solved. Much might be said rel-
ative to the other points mentioned. We imagine that if our
farmers had a better paying class of cattle they would naturally
feed better ; and when we furnish our wives and daughters with
the best material for the manufacture of butter and cheese, we
do not believe they will be found lacking in their part of the
business.

For the Committee,

Joseph S. Howe.

Statement of Hannah Lambert.

This parcel of butter, consisting of fifteen pounds, was
obtained by the following process : First, the milk was strained
in nicely scalded tin pans to the depth of two and one-half or
three inches, then set in a cool room, where the air was kept as
free as possible from all impurities, to stand about thirty-six
hours ; after which the cream was removed to an earthen jar,
and stirred twice every twenty-four hours, until the time of
churning, which was eight days after the first cream was
collected. It was churned in " Davis's Patent Self-adjusting
Churn." When the butter was well collected, the buttermilk
was drawn from the churn, and the butter removed by hand,
care being taken to press all the buttermilk possible from it.
The butter was then weighed and one and one-quarter ounces
of salt added to each pound of butter. The whole lump was
then put in a cool place to remain twenty-four hours ; when
each pound was taken separately and all the remaining butter-
milk removed by hand. The lumps were then left for twelve
hours to partially harden, when they were put into their present
form, by the use of common butter-clappers.

Statement of Mrs. Nathaniel Carleton.

I present for your inspection fifteen pounds of butter made
from the milk of six cows in two days and a half. The milk
after being drawn is strained in tin pans, set in a cool, well
ventilated room, and after standing thirty-six hours the cream
is then taken off and kept in a cool place till churned ; the

198 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

butter is then taken from the churn and salted to the taste.
In from twelve to twenty-four hours it is again worked over
with the hands till it is perfectly free from any moisture. Then
with clappers it is made into the shape that is presented to you.

Statement of Mrs. Farnham Stiles.

I present for your inspection, a box of September butter,
containing sixteen and one-half pounds. Process of making:
The milk is strained into well scalded tin pans, and placed in a
well ventilated dairy room, to remain from twenty-four to thirty-
six hours ; the cream is then removed into a stone jar and
stirred twice a day. We churn once a week. The butter is
taken from the churn into pure cold water, and the buttermilk
thoroughly worked out with the hands and salted to the taste.
After remaining about twenty-four hours, it is worked again,
and made into lumps as presented.

MIDDLESEX.

Statement of Mrs. John S. Hartwell.

The milk room is on the north side of the house, with a
window on two sides, giving a free circulation of air — the
windows being screened to keep, out the sun in hot weather.

The utensils used are of wood, with the exception of pans
and cream pails, which are of tin. The milk is strained into
pans and allowed to stand in cold weather thirty-six hours, and
in warm weather twenty-four hours. The cream on being taken,
from the milk, is carried into the cellar, stirred every day, and
remains there until the day before churning, when it is hung
in a well, the temperature of which is about fifty-five degrees.
We churn three times a week. No water is used at any time
about the butter. The butter is salted with one ounce of salt
to the pound, which is added after the buttermilk is thoroughly
worked out. The butter is worked with the hands. The feed
of the cows is, in spring, hay with two quarts of corn meal
each, per day ; in early summer, pasture grass and one quart
of meal ; later in the season, green corn fodder is fed twice
a day.

DAIRY PRODUCTS. 199

Statement of Mrs. H. L. C. Green.

This butter was made from the milk of three native cows.
The milk is milked into tin pails, carried to the milk-room in
the cellar, and strained into tin pans, filling each pan about
two-thirds full. We aim to keep the temperature of the room
at about sixty degrees. The milk is allowed to stand thirty-
six hours, when the cream is put into a stone jar, where it is
thoroughly stirred twice a day, and allowed to accumulate one
week. It is then strained through a linen strainer into a
common crank churn, and churned usually about forty minutes,
keeping the temperature of the cream, during the time, at
about sixty degrees. The buttermilk is drawn off, and the
butter taken out by hand into a wooden tray, and worked over
by hand. The butter is then salted at the rate of one ounce of
sifted salt to the pound, and thoroughly worked in by the
hands. It is then allowed to stand six hours, when it is worked
over again ; and after another six hours it is again thoroughly
worked over by hand. It is then put thraugh a mould into the
box. No water is used about the butter.

The cows were fed entirely on common pasture feed, and
without roots or grain of any kind.

WORCESTER WEST.

From the Report of the Committee.

What is required to produce the best quality of butter ? My
answer is : —

First. Good cows. As to what breed is best, I shall not
attempt to discuss.

Second. Good feed. English grass, cornstalks, Indian meal,
pumpkins and carrots are among the best kinds.

Third. Pure spring water for drink.

Fourth. A dry, cool, well-ventilated room to set the milk in
for the cream to rise.

Fifth. The utmost cleanliness about the dairy-room and
utensils.

Sixth. Temperature and length of time for cream to rise is to
be considered.

Seventh. Churning and removing buttermilk.

Eighth. Salting.

200 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

Every dairyman should know the exact quality of the milk
of each one of his cows, for there are cows from whose milk
good butter cannot be made under any circumstances ; all such
he should rid himself of at once, as their cream would spoil the
butter of a whole dairy. The butter from such cows is soft and
oily, has a strong smell and taste and. a white color.

Food, — Among the grasses of our pastures, white clover is
deemed the best adapted to the secretion of rich, good-flavored
milk ; hence the importance of securing its growth in our pas-
tures. This can be done easiest and cheapest (where pastures
are so rough and rocky that the plough cannot be used,) by the
application of ashes or plaster, according to the n'ature of the
soil. Pure running water is indispensable to the production of
good milk.

Raising of Cream. — In regard to this point three things are
essential : First, good light. House cellars are unfit for the
keeping of milk ; there is not sufficient light. Second, a free
circulation of air. Third, proper temperature. The tempera-
ture should not be over eighty degrees Fahrenheit, and not less
than sixty degrees. At this temperature the cream will all rise
in twenty-four hours or less. The pans should be set upon
slats, to allow the air to circulate under them. The depth of
milk in the pans should not be over* one and one-half inches.
Cream that is produced at a less temperature than has been
spoken of contains caseine, which will cause offensive products
by fermentation.

There should be the utmost cleanliness about the dairy-room.
It should be whitewashed annually, and the wood-work painted
with oil paint. One practical dairyman says : " Cleanliness may
indeed be regarded as the chief requisite in the manufacture of
good butter. Both milk and cream are so exceedingly sensitive
to the air, in everything with which they come in contact, as to
impart the unmistakable evidence of any negligence in the taste
and flavor of the butter."

Utensils. — All utensils should" be made of tin, to prevent
milk turning acid. Wooden vessels should not be used, as
they cause acidity.

Churning'. — Tlie object in churning is to break the little
sacks containing the particles of butter. This is done by con-
tinued agitation, and is best facilitated by previously allowing

DAIRY PRODUCTS. 201

the cream to become slightly sour. This sourness takes place
in the caseine that is with the cream, and does not injure the
butter.

The quality of the butter is largely influenced by the tem-
perature of the cream. It is generally admitted that cream
must be at sixty-two degrees before separation can take place ;
also that it is better to raise it from fifty to fifty-five degrees by
churning than to have it at a higher temperature when put into
the churn.

The only secret in making butter that will keep a long time
lies in thoroughly separating the buttermilk from it. Butter-
milk contains caseine, which is liable to decomposition ; hence
the necessity of the separation of the buttermilk.

Salting-. — It is an erroneous idea that salt will preserve
butter. Salting is a mere matter of taste.

Work out all the buttermilk, salt the butter to suit the tastes
of those who eat it, and all will be well.

For the Committee,

J. P. Reed.

WORCESTER WEST.

From the Report of the Committee.
Cheese. — The reputation of Worcester County cheese has
long been a source of honorable pride to the agriculturists of this
region. The price it has commanded in the markets of the State
and nation has rendered it the best business for profit a farmer
could pursue. The topography, the soil and the climate of
these, our hills and valleys, have had much to do with this
result. That far-seeing enterprise and public spirit which,
years ago, introduced at a personal sacrifice, the imported
breeds of cattle which have so much increased the quantity and
improved the quality of the milk for dairy purposes, is an
element of present prosperity that is worthy of a kindly and
grateful remembrance. The Durham stock, which fills so many
of the requisitions of profitable dairy and farming purposes,
has been a source of incalculable benefit to this community,
and as the grade Durham cows and oxen, heifers and steers,
mingle with the more beautiful and docile Devons, the nervous
Jerseys, the rich milk-producing Ayrshires, and the stately

26*

202 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

Dutch cows, each rivalling the other in some particulars, the
memory of him who first introduced it here will be associated
with them, and warmest wishes that health and prosperity may
attend his declining years in his home, near the old battle-field
of Bull Run, in Virginia, will find a place in every manly
farmer's heart. And while we deem it not unfitting to pay this
tribute to him who first brought within reach the improvement
of our native stock of neat cattle by Durham crossings, it will
not be inferred that the claims of later improvements are denied
or overlooked. In view of the adaptedness of our soil for
grazing and dairy purposes, it would seem to be worthy of con-
sideration whether it would not be advisable to breed cattle
here, especially for their milking qualities, and rely on the
cheaper pastures of Vermont to furnish our working oxen, and
tbe rich bottom lands of the Connecticut Valley and the West
to supply our tables with beef. The experiments which have
been recorded would seem to establish that the Ayrshire stands
at the head of breeds for yielding rich milk, and wc may look
forward to continued improvement in the future as has been
seen in the past, as this splendid stock becomes no longer an
exotic, but an acclimated element of our famous herds. That
careful scientific breeding will improve the quality, increase the
quantity, and so enhance the profits of cheese-making, must be
apparent.

But a good cheese is not due alone to the soil, the pasture,
or the cow. Its production requires a resolute will, a strong
arm, a steady nerve, an active mind, a retentive memory, a
correct and self-reliant judgment, a pure, cultivated taste, and
habits of steady, faithful industry. The various considerations
of weather, of strength of salt, of virtue of rennet, of time of
probable market, each requires adjustment : while the little
globules in the milk, which contain the butter that gives the
richness of taste to the cheese, are easy to escape in the whey
under the treatment of a careless or inexpert dairywoman.
And here your Committee would take occasion to protest against
the doctrine promulgated in an essay published in the last vol-
ume of the " Agriculture of Massachusetts," that the successful
manufacture of dairy cheese is a thing of chance. It is, on
the contrary, a matter of such exact science that dairies in our
midst have preserved their uniform peculiarities of looks and

DAIRY PRODUCTS. 203

flavor and taste for successive generations, and some of them
are as well known in the market as the marks that designate an
Ayrshire or a Devon, or the brands of flour or tobacco.
Whoever, in the varied pursuits of life, accomplishes the work
before him in the manner that uniformly produces satisfactory
results, deserves to be hailed as a skilful workman, and such,
we emphatically assert, is the award due to the contributors of
cheese for the society's premiums.

The progress of improvement in husbandry, in agricultural
implements and methods, has not passed the dairy room
untouched, but the cheese factory has come in its wake to relieve
the farmer's wife of a constant source of anxiety and responsi-
bility, of toil and perplexity. Many a generous mind, in view
of the years of toil his mother has endured in care of her
cheese, has left for other and less certainly remunerative occu-
pations, the home of his boyhood and the business in which his
father had lived and died rather than subject his chosen part-
ner to the life-work which in so many cases brings old age ere
yet the prime of life is past.

These will hail with warm welcome a relief so much to be
desired. Lightening the toil, and rendering it possible for the
farmer's wife to share the dignity as well as the responsibility of
his vocation, it would seem to add new inducements to the many
that favor its selection as a pursuit for life. And we can but
express the hope that more and more of the sons of New Eng-
land may as they come upon the active stage, be induced to
tarry at the old homesteads where their fathers and mothers
have with more difficulties to surmount, achieved an honorable
distinction as the intelligent, enterprising and prosperous
yeomanry of the centre of the Commonwealth.

We would by no means be understood that the cheese factory
has yet reached its highest development, or that there are no
drawbacks to its substitution for the dairy-room. In spite of a
temporary popularity common to new things which has caused
the factory cheese to command a higher price than the dairy,
we are constrained to believe and put on record our conviction
that in the richness and flavor, in adaptedness to the purest
taste, the dairy cheese of Worcester W^est still maintains its
long honored position of pre-eminent excellence, and the speci-
mens we have examined are worthy to be cited as example.

204 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

We are not sufficiently skilled in the process of manufacture to
determine whether the mode of cooking the cheese before sub-
jecting it to the press sends more of the butter into the whey
than the slower process of the dairy, but the taste of the differ-
ent kinds of manufacture, as well as the superior results of
feeding it to pork at the factory over that at the farm would
suggest the inquiry whether the pigs do not gain what the
cheeses lose. It is claimed, indeed, that cooking the whey
increases its nutritious qualities, and it is no doubt true, as this
seems to be a general law for man and beast. The cost of
carrying milk to the factory is no inconsiderable element, and
the value of the swine on a farm to keep up the replenishing
of the soil, will not be overlooked by those farmers who regard
their lands with kindly care, whose producing power is to be
nourished and kept good rather than to be exhausted and
abandoned. These various considerations will not induce an
abandonment of this new system of clieese-making and return
to the old one that exhausts and wears out the wife and mother
while it fills the purse and improves the lands, but will rather
serve as a stimulus to inquiry as to the best methods of obvi-
ating the objections and still continue to improve and elevate
the business of d§,iry farming.

In behalf of the Committee,

Edwin Woods.

' HINGHAM.

From the Report of the Committee.

In so important a matter as butter, — no longer a mere lux-
ury, but a recognized agent to health, — it is indeed surprising
that so little interest is felt. A constituent of health it ought
to be regarded, and poor butter as well as poor meat be thrown
to the dogs.

One of the greatest difficulties in coming to a right judgment
in this matter of butter is the excessive use of salt ; it fairly
amounts to an abuse ; in some instances, none but a tongue
which had been in pickle a week could bear it. If, in the
Dutch penal settlements, total eclipse of salt is the most griev-
ous punishment devised by human ingenuity, excess of it is
equally bad : and your chairman would respectfully suggest —
feeling confident of the approbation of the rest of the Committee

DAIRY PRODUCTS. 205

— that a rule should be Imposed upon future contributors.
Your chairman does not wish to go to a Dutch penal settle-
ment, but must decline to serve again if there is no limit to the
saline furore or mania of these exhibitors ; and, moreover, he
would humbly suggest that the rule should be rather in inverse
than direct ratio to the bulk. In Europe, where no humbug or
sham is allowed in articles of food, and a good many other
things too, salt is added at table. We might not like this ; still
it has the merit of making every one his own seasoner. I know
one will say, " If you like less salt, stipulate for it and you will
get it." I reply, " So high is the saline standard to the pound,
that I have for nine years labored in vain to get it lowered in
my favor. Spasmodic effort produced only temporary relief :
the disease is chronic."

It may again be well to know how far coloring matter is
legitimate. We personally regard it as " a delusion and a
snare," and as much out of place as on the cheek of a fair maid
in her June heyday of life. In old butter it may be a debatable
point, and on old women from parity of reasoning. Let us
have none of the " adulteries of art " in butter, at least.

We so far disagree with one of our predecessors in his report,
when he ascribes the want of good butter to the adherence to
old methods ; for, to our way of thinking, the butter of to-day
is not so good as the butter of the elder day. Good butter can-
not be made without a good conscience. The golden age of
butter is gone, and will not return in this age of disloyalty to
common sense ; for the conscientious labor it requires is at a
discount, and is held disreputable where once it was honorable.
We all know that the hands which once would " have driven
the team afield" prefer too often to gamble in stocks or trade ;
and those which held the churn, to quiddle over equivocal
finery, or dilute their sympathies with fictitious woes. Let the
epitaph of such be, not those blessed ones to her of old, " She
did what she could," but " They did what they wanted to."

We may be thought to have written a diatribe, but not so ;
for we have no spite to gratify. But, as we hold consistency in
men (and butter too,) to be the acme of virtue, we ask the sim-
ple question, man-fashion. Does any agricultural society fulfil
its mission by annual shows of surpassing excellence, unless
these noble beeves and herds and firstlings of the flock, fruits.

206 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

vegetables and produce are a sample and earnest of what any
one, for a fair price, can purchase in open market for his daily
needs ? Chas. F. Shimmin, Chairman.

BERKSHIRE.

From the Report of the Committee.

The importance of the dairy interest to the farmers of Berk-
shire, and the demand in market for a different quality of cheese,
seem to call for an extended report in this department.

In noticing the report of the Boston market for the last week
in September, the range of prices is from five to fourteen cents
per pound. Taking into account the price of labor, cost of
living, taxes, &c., making cheese at fourteen cents per pound is
not considered a very profitable business for the dairyman. If
this is so, making cheese for five cents must be an up hill
business.

Why this difference in the price of cheese ? Various causes
may arise to produce this result, but the main cause is in the
mode of manufacture. Without assuming to know all about
making cheese, we propose to offer a few suggestions which we
hope will awaken more interest, and perhaps call out discussion
on this important branch of agriculture.

It is an old saying that " tastes differ," and this is particularly
so in regard to cheese ; but if consumers were aware what
produced certain tastes and odors in cheese, they would take as
sudden a dislike to them as a gentleman did to a certain kind
of sausages when they were mentioned in connection with dogs.

At present, different markets may require different qualities
of cheese, but probably the time is not far distant when a more
uniform style and quality will be required in all our principal
markets.

Within the last few years the foreign demand has largely
increased, and is likely to increase still more, and it is equally
certain that our home market will greatly improve when all
branches of industry are favored with continued prosperity. A
large proportion of the cheese made in Berkshire during the
last thirty years has been sent to market green, but owing to
the demand for cheese to export, the market has undergone a
change, and when consumers shall become more acquainted

DAIRY PRODUCTS. 207

with the relative value of green and ripe cheese, such as is
required for export, our home market will undergo a like
change.

A cheese manufactured expressly for the purpose of being
sent to market green, and which may sell for a good price in a
green state, may become a very bad cheese when it is thoroughly
cured. For this reason some dairymen, whose cheese has com-
manded a good price in market green, have been disappointed
in not getting higher premiums at our annual fairs.

Within the last few years the factory system has been intro-
duced, and has come into such favor that cheese factories have
sprung up like magic in most of the dairy districts of New
York, Ohio, and some other States, besides several hundred in
Canada. A few factories are in successful operation in Berk-
shire, and there seems to be information wanted in regard to
them, in some dairy districts, which we propose to give.

In a neighborhood where there are from one to ten hundred
cows or more kept for dairy purposes, they may advantageously
adopt the factory system. Four or five hundred would be
better than a less number, if they could be obtained. Possibly
an individual might be so situated as to make it more profitable
to make his own cheese, but there is no doubt but dairy districts
would fi}id it for their mutual advantage to adopt the factory
system. The requirements are : First — a neighborhood should
be agreed to adopt the factory system. A situation should be
selected which will accommodate all, as near as may be. Some
way must be provided for cooling the night's milk during warm
weather, and the best mode is where a cool spring can be
obtained at no great distance, with a fall some ten feet or more,
so that water can be conveyed around the vats. Some factories
obtain water from wells, but this requires additional labor and
expense. In some localities warm water could be filtered
through ice, but where springs can be obtained they are much
the best. Milk may be carried without souring four or five
miles or more, but two or three miles is about as far as most
people would think best to carry it. Most of the milk should
be carried night and morning in warm weather, but if the
night's milk is thoroughly cooled and carried in a separate can,
it may be carried perfectly sweet several miles. Much expense
may be saved if an arrangement can be made for one to carry

208 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

several dairies wliere tliey live on the same road. Wliere self-
heating vats are used, a building one hundred by thirty feet,
two stories high, is sufficient for five hundred cows. A good
frame, double boarded, matched or battened, is sufficient for all
purposes. The expense of such a building, witli all the fixings
required, would be about twenty-five hundred dollars. Proba-
bly the best vats made for either factory or private dairies, are
the Oneida, manufactured by Wm. Ralph & Co., Utica, N. Y.

An experienced cheese-maker is necessary for the successful
management of a factory, and no one should ever undertake to
manage a factory who has not served a faithful apprenticeship.
Rules may guide, but experience and good judgment are neces-
sary to manufacture a uniform and good dairy of cheese, be it
a factory or private dairy. In the first place, everything in and
around the establishment should be scrupulously clean. Tubs
should be entirely discarded, and tin vats used.

Milk is composed principally of cream, caseine and water, or
whey, and to make a good cheese the cream and caseine sliould
be united and entirely separated from the whey, consequently
whole milk should be used ; and a good rich cheese cannot be
made where any considerable portion of the cream has been
removed from the milk.

In making cheese, the night's milk should be strained into
the vat and cooled to about sixty-eight degrees. What cream
arises during the night sliould be skimmed off and placed in the
strainer, and the morning's milk strained through it, which
will warm it sufficiently to incorporate it with the milk, and the
whole warmed to eighty-two degrees. It is very important to
use good sweet rennet, which is prepared as follows : The calf
should be at least four days old, and killed ten or twelve hours
after sucking the cow ; the curd and everything unclean care-
fully removed, the rennet well salted and dried in a warm place.
A clean jar or cask should be used for preparing the liquid for
use, and for every hundred cows prepare from four to six
rennets ; add one gallon of water, which has been boiled, to
every two rennets, and more rock salt than the water will
dissolve ; let it stand, rubbing the rennet occasionally with the
hands, and stirring every day for several days, when it will be
fit for use. It should be of sufficient strength for one common
teacupful to curdle sixty gallons of milk. Some use whey

. DAIRY PRODUCTS. 209

instead of water for preparing rennet. The rennet must be
well stirred into the milk, and the surface of the milk gently
stirred until it just begins to curdle (to prevent any cream from ,
rising,) which should be in about fifteen minutes. In ab™t
one hour the milk should be thoroughly coagulated and ready
to be cut, coarsely at first, then left to settle and then be cut
very fine. If this is nicely done and at the right time, the
whey will be and remain of a deep green color, showing that
no cream has passed into the whey. The temperature should
then be raised gradually to one hundred and four degrees,
stirring it gently while it is being heated, and after to keep it
from packing. A gang knife or some sharp instrument ought
to be used for cutting, and the cheese never should be broken
or squeezed with the hands, as this will diminish the quantity
and injure the quality. An old lady used to often remark that,
" a long scald was just as good as a short boil." Tins might
not be true in boiling dinner, but it is certainly better in making
cheese.

If the cheese is to be exported or kept through warm weather,
the curd should remain until the whey becomes slightly acid,
which will make a firm cheese, and prevent fermentation from
taking place afterwards.

After the curd has been sufficiently cooked, it should be
cooled to about ninety-four degrees, then drained, and salted
with three pounds of salt to one hundred pounds of cheese.
Some use three pounds of salt to one thousand pounds of milk ;
but, as eight pounds of milk in October will make as much
cheese as ten and a half in April, or nine and a half in June,
judgment is necessary in salting. Cheese sent to market green
requires less salt. After the cheese has been pressed two or three
hours, it should be turned, and bandaged with light, firm,
bleached cloth, then remain in the press until the next day.
The place for curing should be dry and airy, of an even tem-
perature, and not too warm. The size of cheese should be
suited to the market to which they are sent, the depth about
half the diameter ; but, whatever size or shape is adopted, they
should be uniform.

Whey-oil is best for rubbing cheese, and but just enough used
to prevent them from cracking. Some markets require coloring
on the inside ; and a preparation of anatto is used for this piir-
27*

210 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

pose, put into the milk just before the rennet. This should be
nicely prepared and well stirred into the milk, and not too
much used. Coloring on the outside seems to be unnecessary,
b^some practise it. This is best done by using annate with
the oil.

When the cheeses are ready for market, they should have a
clean, neat appearance, and not be daubed over with nasty,
filthy grease, as some appear to be. Use good strong boxes,
with covers nicely fitted to the box.

The foregoing remarks apply more particularly to making
factory cheese. Smaller quantities of milk may require more
heating, especially in cool weather ; and less salt is required for
small cheese. The best salt for butter or cheese is Ashton's
factory-filled.

When a cheese is rightly made, it will retain its original
shape, be solid and firm on the outside, yet soft and rich on the
inside, with a mild, pleasant taste.

Some of the advantages of factories are these : Few if any
farmers are inclined, or could find time, to make their own
cheese, and it is difficult to hire help to do it ; and farmers'
wives generally have more work than they ought to do, without
making cheese, and ought to be relieved from this heavy bur-
den. The superintendent of a factory devotes his time to tliis
one thing, and makes this a business and study. Factory
cheese commands a higher price in market than the best dairies,
and very much more than the average price of dairy cheese.

There are undoubtedly many places where cheese can be
made with less expense ; but, with our sweet pastures, pure
water and many other advantages, Berkshire ought to be as
much celebrated for making superior cheese as Cheshire in
England has been, or as Orange County in the State of New
York now is, for making superior butter.

Dairymen should profit by the example of other manufactur-
ing classes, hold meetings, form conventions, for the purpose of
comparing notes and discussing matters pertaining to their
interests, and success will crown their efforts.

For the Committee,

S. W. Lincoln.

DAIRY PRODUCTS. 211

BARNSTABLE.

From the Report oj the Committee.

The products of the present year were equal in quality and
quantity to that exhibited in past years. Perhaps we may
say that in quality it was in advance of preceding years. But
there is much yet for the farmer to do to get the most butter
from any given number of pounds of hay. The great desider-
atum is to turn the least amount of grass into the greatest
amount of gold. This can only be done by great care and
exact knowledge. The best way, too, is not always the most
costly. Perhaps, on the first start, a small outlay may be
required, but in the end it will pay many fold. The making of
good butter and of a large amount from a single cow, or from
a herd, is not the easiest thing imaginable. The feeding of the
cows, the milking of them, the carrying of the milk, even, the
setting- of the milk, the time and manner of skimming, the
temperature of the dairy, the churning, the washing of the
butter, and the packing for winter can all be done well by
the careful, tidy dairy-woman, or ill by the slatternly sloven.
In fact there is not a single detail of the whole process of turn-
ing milk into butter and cheese that cannot be so done as to be
profitable to the husbandman, or so done as to waste his labor
and capital.

Feeding the Coivs.
With poor feed, — with salt hay or black grass alone, — the best
cow will produce miserable milk, and worse butter. She should
be fed on food that will make her thrive. You could feed a
cow, and perhaps keep life in her, so that she would not average
a pint of milk a day, and so lose your feed and your labor, just
as you might feed a hog so that he would not grow a pound in
the whole year, and thus lose all the corn you had given him.
To be sure, we cannot lay down an exact rule of feeding,
because some farms produce different crops from others ; but
we will take the liberty to suggest how one of the greatest
dairymen of the United States feeds his herd, who grows regu-
larly rich in the operation. His plan was to give each cow two
quarts a day of mixed provender, consisting of one-third each
of corn, oats and buckwheat, ground together, with hay up to

212 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

May lOtli ; from May to early in September, grass alone ; from
September to midwinter, corn, sowed broadcast for forage, and
carefully cured in the sap or when green. When that was
expended, carrots and pumpkins to the time of their exhaus-
tion ; and then, say the first of February, he commenced on
this mixed provender, and continued it, w4th hay, to the 10th
of May.

Milking the Co%vs.
No one but a careful observer is aware how much there is in
the mere milking of a cow to make a good yield of milk. One
of the greatest requisites is gentleness. A harsh, rough hand-
ling by a coarse man or a coarser boy will pinch a cow's milk
almost one-half. The cows, then, should have a gentle milker.
If you have a hired man who kicks or cuffs them, or swears at
them, discharge him at once. Then she should always, if pos-
sible, have the same milker. She should be milked as quick as
gentle usage will permit, and, in rough weather, always in the
stable, with some food before her. And, lastly, she should be
milked at regular hours. Going home to milk one night at
five o'clock and another at seven, and so on, will do very much
to diminish the milk of any cow.

Carrying in the Milk.
It is better, if convenient, to have some one to carry in the
milk when you have a herd sufficient to furnish a number of
pailfuls. To stop in the middle of milking for any purpose will
cause the milk to cease flowing. Then it should be strained
into a large can ; and, when you have strained in the whole
mess, it should be well stirred with a ladle till the foam disap-
pears. The foam impedes the rising of the cream, and the stir-
ring is necessary, as the milk of some of your cows will require
more time to separate than others ; but, if stirred, you will not
have to watch each separate pan. When the cream is ready on
one, it will be ready on all.

Setting the Milh.
The best-sized pan is one holding about seven quarts, with
flaring sides and large diameter. In hot weather, put about
two and a half quarts in a pan ; in cold weather, three quarts.

DAIRY PRODUCTS. 213

In cool weather, the milk may stand longer, so that it may be a
little deeper in the vessel. "We hope none of our farmers will
deride this proposed accuracy. "We say to you that shallow
SETTING produces the most cream. If you don't believe it, try
it and you will be convinced.

Time to Skim.
"When the milk has become somewhat thick at the bottom, it
is time to skim it. Some let it stand too long ; and, although
this does not diminish the cream, yet, if you wait till the milk
has begun to turn to water, it will produce a bitter taste in the
butter, which no washing will destroy.

Temperature of the Dairy.
It is well to have a thermometer in every room where milk is
set for cream. As near to sixty-five degrees of our common
thermometer as the room can be kept the better. To be sure,
in winter it will be somewhat below, and in summer something
above ; but a well-located room, and well protected, may be
kept so that it will not vary more than eight degrees. In win-
ter, when this temperature cannot be got, it is a great help to
the rising to set the milk-pan inside of a larger one, and pour
into the outside pan some scaldin'g water, and so increase the
warmth.

Churning.
In churning, it is desirable to have the temperature of the
milk and churning-room at about sixty degrees at starting. In
hot weather this can be produced by ice. By agitating the
milk in a warm atmosphere it will become a degree or two
warmer and about right.

The Butter.
Here comes the nice part for the dairy woman to perform.
She can do this in clean pans, with " clean hands and a pure
heart," with a snow-white apron and her hair brushed neatly
and every filament secured so that not one will fall into the
sweet and agreeable mass which she is about to manipulate ; or
she can come to her work with dirty finger-nails, and a mop-
head, and a filthy dress, and greasy utensils. To the one

214 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

latterly arrayed we have nothing to say ; but to the former our
advice is, to wash her butter in clean cool water three times, or
until the water brings away no buttermilk. Then sift some fine
salt (Ashton is the best,) and salt it by using one ounce of salt
to a pound of butter. In the summer time a little more salt
may be added, as some will be dissolved by the last buttermilk.
After salting put the butter in pans on a cool floor, and after
four or six hours, work out the last buttermilk. Then let it
stand till next day, and make it up into balls for sale, or pack
it for future use.

We have thus far said nothing about the kind of cows which
is best for the farmers of Barnstable County. This would come
more appropriately in a report upon " Milch Cows," but we
cannot close without saying a word upon this subject. As far
as the production of cream is concerned, and a kind of cream
that will produce the sweetest and yellowest butter upon fair
feeding, there is no cow so good as the Alderney. When
quantity of milk only is required for daily sale, we perhaps
should prefer the Ayrshire, because our pastures are not rich
enough for the Durham. But as our subject is only the dairy,
we should leave the question of quantity of milk to other com-
mittees and confine ourselves to butter alone. Well, then, the
cow that makes the best butter is the Alderney ; and any gentle-
man who wants but one cow for family use, and can afford it,
had better procure one. It would be well for any farmer who
has a herd of native or grade cows, to have one Alderney to
color and flavor his butter. The sweetness of butter depends
very much on the sweetness of the grass and hay. Some farms
produce very sweet feed, and such will make good butter from
any good cows, whether blood cows or natives. Where the
grass of a farm is poor and sour, as it is on many farms, not
even Alderneys would produce very sweet butter, and so the
cow might suffer in character when the cause was the food.

Daniel Scudder, Chairman.

INDEX

TO THE ABSTRACT.

[For Index to the Report, see end of First Part.]

Agricultural College of Massachu

setts, ....
Agricultural education, .
Agricultural implements, report on
Agricultural societies and theii

uses,

Agriculture and manufactures in

Massachusetts compared,
Apple, cultivation of the,
Apple, varieties of,
Ayrshire cows, and their j'ield of

milk, ....
Ayrshires, and their characteristics,

Beans, statement on.
Blackberry culture,
Bulls, reports on, .
Burr, Fearing, essay by.
Butter, requisites for producing s
good quality, 196, 199, 204, 205
Butter, statements on, . . 197

Calves, and modes of .raising.
Cattle, management of, .
Charcoal for grape vines.
Cheese factories, . • .37
Cheese, methods of manufacture,
204, 207
Cheese, reports on, . . 201
Cooking food for swine.
Cranberry culture, reports on,
Cranberry swamps, management

of, 104

Cranberries, statements on, . 104

Dahlias, varieties of,

Daii-y, proper temperature of,

Dairj-, reports on the, .

Deep pulverization of the soil

necessary, .
Diffuseness in farming should be

avoided,

48,

Page.

48,49
49,58
137

56,65

33, 34

87,96

86

148
147

125
93

160
109

211, 214
198, 199

157

163, 164

62

207, 210
202, 203

208, 209
204, 211
178, 180
103, 106

105, 106
106, 108

129

213

195, 199

145

8

Draining lands, . .

Ducks, varieties of, . . .

Farm accounts, importance of,

Farm accounts, method of keeping.

Farm improvements,

Farms, reports on, .

Farms, statements on, .

Fat cattle, report on,

Flowers, reports on.

Flowers, annual sales of, in the

United States, ...
Forest trees and shrubs of Hing

ham, .....

General crops, report on.
Grade bulls, .
Grain crops, reports on, .
Grape house, description of.
Grape vineries, report on,
GraMs, yields of, .
Gu^ro, ....

118

Hingham, forest trees and shrubs

of,

Horses, management of,
Horses, Morgan, history of, .
Horses, report on, .
Horses, thoroughbred, .
Hyde, Alexander, address b}*.

Page.
141
190

22 24
27,71
24,25
71,73
69,72
70,72
163
128, 130

131

109

116

151
119, 120
101, 102

101
6

134

109
165
168, 169
165
167
43

Importance of agricultural litera-
ture, ...... 13

Importance of concentration, . 8, 9
Improvements on the farm, . 11, 72, 74
Industrial products of Massachu-
setts, 34

Indian corn, statements on, . . 118, 122

123, 124

Jamestown cattle.

158, 159

INDEX.

Land, preparation of, . .
Lewis, James L., essay by, .
Loring, George B., address by,

Machinery on the farm.
Management in farming.
Manufactures and Agriculture com

pared, ....
Manures, constituents of,
Manures, report on,
Manures, statement on,
Milch cows, statements on, .
Milch cows, reports on, . . 153
Milk, treatment of,
Morgan horses.

Oaks in Hingham, . . . Ill

Oats, statement on, . . . 118

Onions, statement on, . . . 126

Orchards and their treatment, 80, 81, 82

Orchards and fruits, reports on, . 80

Page.

144

109

56,59

16
2

33

135, 175

134

136

155

156, 157

213, 214

168, 169

Pear culture, . . . .83,

84, 88, 97

Pears, \

arieties of,

89,98

Peaches

grown in pots, .

92

Pasture.

! and waste lands, reports

on.

. 74, 77

Perkins

C. 0., address by, .

33

Ploughing and draining.

140

Ploughs

, . . . . .

142, 143

Potatoe

5, statement on, .

127

Poultry

breeding in and in,.

189

a

Black Spanish,

184, 191

(1

Bolton Gray, .

192

((

characteristics of differ

, 186*187

ent varieties, 184, 185

(i

Crevecoeur,

187

<(

diseases among.

194

"

Dominique,

187

11

Dorking, . . .185

187, 191

11

Game,

186

ti

Hamburg,

186

"

Houd^an, .

187

(1

importance of range for,

187

i(

kinds most profitable,

190

"

Lafleche, . . . .

187

i<

Leghorn, .

184

Page.

Poultry, reports on, '' . . . 184, 191

" statements on, . . .182,183

" treatment and food of, 182, 188

189, 192

" weights of different kinds

of, .... 185

Practice and science, ... . 58

Pruning fruit trees, . . . 100

Quince, culture of the, .

95

Rain water, effect of, on lands, . 140, 141
Reclaiming swamp lands, report

on, 77

Root crops, report on, . . . 126

Ruta-bagas, statement on, . . 127
Rye, statements on, . . . 124, 125

Science in agriculture, . . 56, 58, 60
Seeley, R. H., address by, . . 1

Sheep, characteristics of different

breeds, 172,173

Sheep, reports on, .... 171

Sheep, treatment of, . . . 172, 173

Shorthorns, 150, 151

Spading and its utility, . . . 143

Stock-raising by young men, . 149

Stock, reports on, . . . 145, 147, 149

Swamp lands, reclaiming, . 77, 78, 79

Swine, fattening of, . 174, 176, 179, 180

" feeding, . . 174, 17G, 179, 180

" field feeding of, . . . 180

" most profitable size of, . 175

" reports on, . . . . 174

Thoroughbred bulls, ' . . . 160

Thoroughbred horses, . . . 167

Towne, George E., address by, . 21

Vineyards and their profits, . • 4, 5, 99

Wheat, spring, statements on, . 120, 122
Wheat, winter, statements on, . 119, 121«
Wild flowers, .... 129

Working cattle, .... 103, 164
Work on the farm, proper time for, 36